In which I find embarrassment is a constant state of being.

I am, if nothing else, an opinionated person.  There are very few things that fall into a purgatory of indecision in my life: I know what I like and I'm even keener at what I do NOT like.  The one glaring caveat is that saves me from utter jerk-dom is that I allow myself to change my mind.

At a recent book club, which deserves multiple posts all its own, I brought up the subject of books I had read as a teenager that really affected me and after rereading them as an adult, how much they (and I) had changed.  One utterly embarrassing example was The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand. 

As a young woman, I identified with the protagonist, an architect named Howard Roark, who was true to his vision and creativity.  He would never be a part of "the collective" that stole the ideas of these creative few.  On the surface, I thought as a teenager, this book was a-maz-ing.  Be yourself!  Don't follow the crowd!  Middle finger to the man!  It was only after a reread as an adult, when the subtext of Rand's individualism and objectivism was fully realized by me, the reader. 

I was appalled that I had allowed this book into my favorites list as a kid!  The xenophobia and disgust with the "weak" in The Fountainhead really scared me.  I was utterly embarrassed to admit to my book club that this had been a book that I truly enjoyed the first time I read it.  Of course, my perspective and opinion of the book has changed, but it got me wondering: what other books (or movies) did I adore when I was younger only to be embarrassed or bored by now?

Do you have any books that you loved as a kid, but on the second read as an adult they just don't hold up?  I'd love to hear your opinions!  I promise I don't think all of my opinions are the right ones anymore! (Pinky-swear!)

Book Club: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Remember how I was sooooooooo excited for book club?  Well, our first official book club was a success!  I really don't need to mention the fact that we only spent 20 minutes of the 4-5 hours we all were together actually discussing The Hunger Games, do I?  I think the book, being youth fiction, was probably not "meaty" enough to really get some good conversations going. 

The main points that were brought up revolved around the simplicity of the book's main character, Katniss.  She's really portrayed as a product of her surroundings: a killer, unidirectional in her goals, and a heartless survivor.  Most of the book club agreed that they found Peeta, Katniss' "love" interest in the reality killing games, more interesting and much easier to care about.  I did enjoy the commentary on reality television and the rampant voyeurism that is a part of our current pop culture; this theme is central to the "importance" of the Hunger Games.

Some of our book club attendees couldn't help but read the next two books in the trilogy, just to find out the resolution between the characters.  I was tempted to do the same, since the first book was such a page-turner!  But again, as much as we tried to dig deeper into the subtext of The Hunger Games, we realized there wasn't much else to discuss.

In light of that, the next book selected is The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery, and having finished it last night I have no doubts that this text will spark some interesting banter!  Have any of you read this or heard anything about it?  I'd love to hear what you think!  If you haven't read it yet, get reading!  Book club will be in a couple weeks, so you have time!

Book Club!

It seems it's taken a year of talking, but a book club has finally been created and I get to be a part of it!  While I'd like to think my organizational skills are admirable, I just couldn't seem to get book club off the ground.  Lucky for me a friend, Vie, was much better at rallying our friends for a night of conversation, wine, and book talk.

The group decided on The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.  It should be a fast read, since it's youth fiction AND every adult I know has been losing their minds over this book.  I'm hoping it's not another Twilight, but I'm already through the first hundred pages and the protagonist, Katniss, is a strong, young woman who can take care of her self and her family...a far cry from the shell of a girl Bella is portrayed as, who seems to be in a constant state of distress and a need to be rescued.

So I was thinking, those of you who can't make it in person to book club, would you like to read along and post your thoughts on the book?  We'll be having book club on December 17ish and I'll do a post about our opinions and the next read!  So get reading!  I can't wait to hear what you think!

Earth Day Tribute to Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson was a woman way ahead of her time.  She studied to become a marine biologist in the 20s, a time when women in science was not only unexpected, but scoffed at.  Her love of writing and of nature helped her create some of the most beautifuly written works about nature, including Under the Sea Wind and The Edge of the Sea.

What Carson is known for is her book, Silent Spring, in which she attacks the use of petrochemicals in farming and agriculture.  Published in 1962, this book still rings true today about caring for our environment and the adverse effects of using pesticides and fertilizers.  Any environmentalist should read her books, it will renew your love of nature and reinvigorate your resolve to protect the precious resource we have.

Have a happy Earth Day!

A Book for the Reading Pile: Everything is Illuminated

Honestly, I was skeptical about Jonathan Safran Foer.  I just wasn't ready to accept that this twenty-five year-old kid could have written such a lovely AND tragic AND hopeful AND disjointed AND seamless tome.

Upon urgings from Supermodel and that our friendship would be rendered moot if I did not take the time to read this book, I took a Sunday to devote to Jonathan and Alex, two young men on the brink of, well, everything.  The butchered prose that Alex, a Ukrainian translator, uses is hilarious and oftentimes even BETTER at emoting and describing than proper English grammar would allow.  I found myself waiting for the chapters that were narrated by Alex and even more so for the letters he penned to Jonathan as he reads Jonathan's first draft of his book.

I would finish passages and seriously thank my lucky stars that I existed long enough to read Foer's description of sex viewed from outer space or the view of a small grandchild from underneath his grandmother's protective skirt.  It is staggeringly beautiful as it is honest and raw.  The human need to love, be close, rage, and protect...that is the thread, or umbilical cord rather, that connects progeny to progenitor in this book.  We are taken far back to a shetl celebration in the 1700s and then fast forwarded to the 21st century where vegetarianism is being defended in a matter of pages.  And, you know, it really works.

If you read just one book this year, let it be this one, Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel.

Ruby Sunday

What are you doing today?

I'm going to finish a very good book Supermodel lent to me!

I'll tell you all about it next week!

xo.

CoverSpy

Have you seen this new blog Coverspy?

It's made by people who snoop on other riders on the subways of New York!

It's kinda brilliant and kinda embarrassing.

I'd HATE to be caught reading a lame book, aka ANYthing by Stephanie Meyer.

What would you be caught reading right now?

I'm reading Everything Is Illuminated. Sooo good.

Vegan Feast

AND it was gluten-free to boot! How'd the engaged lovebirds, Supermodel and Shug's BBF, handle this feat? Well, first off, they had to invite two of the most awesomest peeps in the universe over for dinner, *ahem* that would be us...don't laugh, we are awesome, ok, maybe not THE awesomest, but we hang out with people that could very well be considered "the -est" on many fronts, the engaged lovebirds, for example.

Then, they had to finish reading a veryimportantbook, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. Not only has Supermodel touted this as a life-changer, BBF has gone from fast-food carnivore and carnitas taco-stand regular to 90% vegan. Yup, folks, that's no meat, no dairy, no honey, no refined sugar. Sound positively Puritanical? It's not.

The lovebirds made us an amazing dinner complete with gluten-free pasta with an almond cauliflower pesto, broiled tomatoes with a garlicy topping, and (for the glutens) a sauteed mushroom bruschetta that had been rubbed with fresh garlic cloves and olive oil. Vegan chocolate chip cookies rounded out the night.

Is your mouth watering yet?

They whipped this meal up while also preparing their week's worth of dinners. Multi-tasking and planning has allowed them to free themselves of the comforts of a microwave. They use their stove and oven to prepare their food and remain more connected to the process that went into making their delicious, healthy fare. While their move to whole, healthy foods may seem extreme to some, I think it's a conscientious and responsible decision. Take a look at a few of these facts if everyone in the U.S. ate vegetarian, not vegan, for JUST ONE DAY would conserve:

• 100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months
• 1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year
• 70 million gallons of gas -- enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare
• 3 million acres of land, an area more than twice the size of Delaware
• 33 tons of antibiotics kept out of our water supply and environment
  

The very best statistic is this: if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads. How easy it that to start making a difference?

If we aren't ready to go vegan, maybe we can be ready to eat vegetarian just one or two days a week. Shug and I are already trying to reach that goal and honestly we've been compelled to cut the meat and dairy out more...Do you have any ways you've been cutting back and conserving?

*Thanks to huntingforporkchops for the post inspiration and veggie stats here.

A book for the reading pile: Middlesex

A few years ago, under prompting from Bestest Best and Oprah, I tried to start Middlesex. I must not have been feeling as fortified as one should to read of metaphorical, literal, and cultural genocides. I threw in the towel a mere hundred pages in.

I regretted it.

Last week, at the urgings of my abominable cold, I tucked into my couch and started Middlesex from the beginning. I was so happy I did.

I don't want to give too much away about the characters or the plot, but I will say you will be pulling for characters and their horrific actions with irreparable consequences just a few chapters in.

The nature of straddling two worlds is explored in depth in this book: the Old World vs. the New World, Eurocentric "Americanism" vs. Hellenic assimilation, gender roles vs. biological sex classification, incestuous love vs. forced pair bonding, and being a man vs. being a woman vs. being both. Um, LOTS was covered in this amazing multi-generational story.

The beauty of Jeffery Eugenides's writing had the pages turning at a rate unnoticed to me. I was so compelled to keep on with Calliope's journey...and her grandparents', and her parents' journeys, I was shocked when I had reached the last page.

I truly believe Middlesex will become a modern classic. It traces the history of a young country along with the mutation of a human gene, passed from generation to generation - the only remnant of a rich heritage so quickly forgotten in the name of homogeneity...the American way.


Also, thanks to Kenzie for the post on the benefits of reading the printed word. I hope to never live in a world without books.

A book for the reading pile: I Heart Your Style

I had a "best day" last week when my sister, S., came to Salt Lake and spent the afternoon with me. We had lunch at our favorite little restaurant in the Avenues, stopped for a cup of fresh-pressed coffee, and shopped our little hearts out at the Gateway. The 2.5 hours we spent in Anthropologie (they were having a sale, ok?) resulted in a few sale items, some glorious candles, and this lovely book!

My sneaky sister bought this, unbeknownst to me, and presented it right before she scooted off to have dinner with her hubby! She truly is a sweetheart, that one.

Anyway, the REST if my best day was spent poring through this fashion tome. Amanda Brooks, the author, has had the most enviable life: she is nouveau riche, was a fashion muse to the designers at Tuleh, was creative director at an Italian accessories designer, and married even richer...While I should scoff at whatever opinions this gal has to offer, after reading I Heart Your Style: How to Define and Refine Your Personal Style, I really like her take on fashion!

She explores the different categories and elements of personal style: classic, bohemian, minimal, high fashion, street, and eclectic. She even breaks down the methods behind cheap chic and investment pieces. Homegirl knows how to bargain and thrift shop! She also follows my own personal calculations of cost-per-wear!

If you are looking for a great coffee table book and you love fashion, get this in your life.

A book for the reading pile: Look at Me

I thought it only fitting to celebrate my Bestest Best's birthday today by posting about a book I loved...she is one of a sadly dwindling population of voracious book readers in a society of text-based communication and Twitter, where you get 140 characters to tell your story.

Look at Me is truly a modern classic. Written in 2001, on the cusp of the explosion of MySpace, facebook, Twitter, and blogging, it's a cautionary tale about the duality of the American life: what we want people to see and what goes on behind the facade.

The book begins following a traumatic automobile accident in which Charlotte, an aging model, has smashed every bone in her face. Surgery and 80 titanium screws later, she is repaired, but looks so unlike herself even her sister and agent don't recognize her. We follow Charlotte thorough her recovery and attempts to salvage an already waning modeling career.

The book also allows us to peek inside the mind of a partially-deranged history professor that has written study upon study linking the invention of glass windows and reflective surfaces (i.e. mirrors) to the conception of self-image and self-awareness...and how damaging that has been for society.

The book even postulates a society where there are websites for "Ordinary People" and "Extraordinary People," where online readers can learn about the intricacies and minutia of other people's lives. Voyeuristic and interactive. Sound familiar?

Read Look at Me. It explores the unfair advantage that beauty has in our society and how we've let it take the reigns of our morals and values, all while keeping the ride exciting and fast-paced. It will have you thinking about it for days after you finish the last page.

P.S. Happiest Birthday to Bestest Best!

48 Hour Break!

It's a celebration! Why you ask?

Because not only is my paper on time,
but I received a cookbook in the mail.


This isn't just any ol' cookbook.
.
.
.
.
.
It's a gluten-free cupcake cookbook.

I know.
I just died a little myself.

So, I'm going to occupy myself with a few baking experiments and reading this.

What are your plans?

Photo via Cupcake Social.

Where the Wild Things Were

Yes, we FINALLY got to see a canon of my pre-school existence. And, of course, I was let down.

Big surprise, right? But in all honesty, I tried sososo to not have any lofty expectations going into the theatre. Readying a TEN SENTENCE book for the screen is no small feat. Spike Jones even shrugged off the task a few times before buckling down with Maurice Sendak (the author) to make the movie. I would have passed on this project, too. Why? Well, here's the original text:

"The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another. His mother called him "WILD THING!" and Max said "I'LL EAT YOU UP!" so he was sent to bed without eating anything. That very night in Max's room a forest grew and grew- and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around and an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max and he sailed off through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are. And when he came to the place where the wild things are they roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws- till Max said "BE STILL!" and tamed them with a magic trick of staring into their yellow eyes without blinking once and they were frightened and called him the most wild thing of all and made him king of all wild things. "And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!" "Now stop!" Max said and sent the wild things off to bed without their supper. And Max the king of all wild things was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all. Then all around from far away across the world he smelled good things to eat so he gave up being king of where the wild things are. But the wild things cried, "Oh please don't go- we'll eat you up- we love you so!" And Max said, "No!" The wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws but Max stepped into his private boat and waved good-bye and sailed back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day and into the night of his very own room where he found his supper waiting for him- and it was still hot."

It's kinda ok, but without the amazing illustrations it's just another kid's story without the dumb "hidden morals" (I'm looking at YOU Hansel and Gretl, thanks for scaring the crap out of me!). You also are taking holy words to kids everywhere that had imagined and dreamed up poly-plots, sequels, prequels, and subtext to this amazing and vague little story and make it into a movie for the masses. Touching this with a film is a very, very, very difficult thing to take on.

I really felt like I was watching two movies simultaneously. The A-MAZ-ING wild things truly had me in goosebumps. Seeing these beasts that I had loved so dearly and shared so many bedtime stories with move, and talk, and roooooar was thrilling! And maybe that's the problem. I had such a visceral and emotional response just to the damn previews for this movie, a feature length endeavor just couldn't hold up. And, as expected, the dark plot was also much to rickety to support these wild things in their wild rumpus.

But, go see this movie. Seeing the wild things in "real life" makes it worth it. Let me know what you think!

Wait for it...

...A book I actually liked!!! I know! Crazy, right? Well, before you think the book is about gene splicing or the political maneuvers of the Shining Path, I'll let you know this book is a work of fiction! And it's not even by Dostoevsky!!!

This was a "honeymoon read" that I didn't get around to reading. I mean, it has the perfect title for honeymoon fare: A Happy Marriage. I picked this up right before the insanity of the wedding thinking it would be a great lakeside read. Wrong.

Luckily, as we were listening to NPR the afternoon after we arrived in Idaho, Terry Gross was interviewing Rafael Yglesias about his new book, A Happy Marriage. I listened long enough to find out the book is about his late wife's battle with cancer and his inner turmoil with the nasty leftovers of an affair. So, um, yeah, this book was probably not what I needed to read mere days into my marriage. So I tucked it back in my suitcase for later.

"Later" turned out to be one of the most crazy weeks of the semester so far, so instead of doing my homework, I read this book. It was lovely. It recounts a beginning and an end of a marriage. This marriage was far from perfect and I really liked that. Margaret and Enrique (Rafael's pseudonym) are not perfect, either. They are infuriating at times! The book is brutally descriptive about the dying process for the individual suffering and their family, as well. It's visceral and raw, both the beginning and the end of this marriage.

Rafael needed some absolution for his adulterous ways, so he wrote this book. I'm so glad he did.

ANOTHER Book to Stay Far, Far Away From...

So I knew that a few people would be disappointed in me for my extreme distaste for "Eat, Pray, Love." And I could continue in my arguments that she still is one of the most self-centered women in the world*, but instead I decided to read the other side of the story.

Let me first alert you to the fact that "Drink, Play, F#@k" is a FICTITIOUS account by a comedic writer who wrote something he thought Ms. Gilbert's jilted ex SHOULD have written. I totally didn't know this until after I'd researched the book...and this research occurred after the fact. This changed my thoughts on this book completely. The real Slim Shady is publishing a memoir in January of 2010 about his divorce disembowelment and I'll probably read that too!

At first, I was absolutely rooting for Bob (that's Mr. Elizabeth Gilbert). He was just a hard-working schmuck who liked his Audi and loved his wife. He never cheats on Ms. Gilbert, provides for her new-agey pursuits, and only looks at her sister's ass once, but claims it was to marvel at the body-shaping powers of bulimia. Nice guy, right?

Mmmmm, not really. He's just kind of...boring. He goes to Ireland and drinks. He goes to Vegas and gambles. He goes to Thailand and falls in with a Hollywood screenwriter and has the opportunity to have an orgy. So essentially this book was supposed to be the BEST. REVENGE. EVER. Supposed to be, anyway.

He is just as vacuous and greedy as his ex. Knowing now that this is a fictitious account, the "Get Out of Jail Free" card I was going to award Ms. Gilbert is still in the deck. I reeeeealy want that written affirmation that she's super-horrible, but after reading "Drink, Play, F#@k," I would have left Mr. Elizabeth Gilbert, too.

*Yes, Ms. Gilbert did raise money for a single mom in Indonesia, but then waffled on her "generosity" (read: the money her friends gave her) when the single mom decides she needs to take Ms. Gilbert for all she was: an American Cash Cow. It comes as a shock to Ms. Gilbert that ANYone in an impoverished country couldn't see her halo radiating from afar. Luckily, we have Gilbert's rich boyfriend to verify, that indeed people are in need in Indonesia and will find any way to survive - and if that means bleeding a self-righteous American dry, than so be it! The power differential, where the white westerner holds the key for a native Indonesian's salvation just grosses me out.

A Book to Stay Far, Far Away from...

It's an absolute impossibility that you haven't heard of the massively popular book, Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's been on Oprah, airport book shelves, and (most unfortunately) my "to-read pile."

I do have a valid excuse as to why I was lured by Ms. Gilbert: I was extremely travel-hungry at the time. I had picked it up while roaming up and down the cement aisles of Costco and it seemed like a nice reprieve from the impending wedding(s), house buying, and finals. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Gilbert is probably the most self-obsessed and ungrateful woman I have had the displeasure of reading about.

She was able to convince her publisher to give her a hefty advance to travel for over a year to Italy, India, and Bali. Not ONCE does she mention the impoverished state of her surroundings and individuals in India. The only time she looks up from her plate in Italy is to lament the fact that she has gained 20 pounds after a steady diet of pasta and self-soothing-self-centered-ness. In Bali, she finds a "Guru" and finds a way to only discuss how he can help her achieve enlightenment and to "please make his wife smile at her more."

The cultures, the countries, the beauty, and the issues these countries face are never really discussed. I felt I was in this aseptic pod, traveling with Gilbert, to all these different locations, and was being forced to NOT look out the window. (Do "aseptic pods" even have windows? Apparently, in my mind, they do.) All these travels ended up being was an excuse to talk more and more about herself. She could have traveled to Lavan, Utah and the book would have been just as entertaining.

Yes, memoirs are about the author's life and experiences, but I don't think Gilbert has any room to talk about loss, pain, suffering, and resurrection. She is an upper, middle-class yuppie, who lived in New York City, left her husband and got to travel the world. Cry about it! Have you read Angela's Ashes, Ms. Gilbert?