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A Pause

Sometimes I think about my life and am absolutely amazed. Amazed at how lucky I am, how loved I am and how much love I have to give. This year has been a bitch and I thought it would probably be the worst year ever. You know what? It might be one of the best. I have rediscovered passion, rediscovered what matters more than anything and I have rediscovered me.

I almost finished Eat, Pray, Love. But I just couldn't do it. Liz Gilbert tells a good story, but it ended up being too much about her. In an annoying sort of way that is hard to describe. You could relate to her one minute, but the next she would say something to show that she is way out of your league. It felt intentional. I didn't like that.
Rating: 4/10

Up next is Born to Run. I could not be more excited about a book right now. I have been wanting to read this for a while and now I finally am...YAY!

:D

Life is so funny. It has ups and downs and in-betweens that you never see coming. But somehow it all works out. I like where my life is right now. All this crazy stuff that has happened lately has put me here. Guess it wasn't so bad after all :) Try to live in the moment and enjoy everything. It makes things easier.

I feel like something clicked in my brain recently that has allowed me to just laugh at everything crappy. 90% of bummer situations are not real bummers, so just deal and move on... ya know???

Still reading Eat, Pray, Love by the way...

Catch Up

It's been about a month since my last post and man, am I doing better. It's kind of remarkable what time can do. I still have some sad moments, but as a whole I feel mighty fine. I have been working out every day and eating mostly all natural, low sodium, gluten free food. That pairing has made a world of difference. I had been running nearly every day, but I got shin splints... so now I am resting my legs for a month. Two weeks to go! I'm very excited to run again. I very recently bought a new pair of running shoes and a pair of Vikram FiveFingers. I would really like to start running in those if my body will let me.

Sooo, the books I have read! I am still not mentally at the point I had been for reading. I find myself drifting off a lot or getting massively tired when I sit down to read. Hopefully this aspect of my life will also get back to normal soon :) Here are some quick reviews of the novels I have read in the past month:

The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson- Watch the movies. The old one and the new one with Ryan Reynolds. The book is not very good or scary. It's also written in a very odd way. It's worth reading if you have extra time and read tons of books. Otherwise skip it.
Rating: 4/10

Lamb by Christopher Moore- Hilarious! Christopher Moore is fabulous and rarely has written anything other than awesome. I think if I knew the bible better I would have liked this even better. But as it stands, I have no bible knowledge (pretty much) and I still loved it. If you have never read a Moore novel, go do so. Now!
Rating: 8/10

Currently I am reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I'm about halfway through it. Liking it quite a bit. I thought given my recent life situations it would be fitting or at least relatable. Both these assumptions were true.

I hope you all have a lovely summer day :)

Update

Since my last post a lot has happened. My relationship ended. I moved back in with my father. And craziness has ensued. I have had my heart crushed and any hopes for a friendship with my now ex shattered. Deceit, ddishonesty and stupidity have plagued my life. I wish so bad that I could have my old relationship back, with the man I knew and loved. I don't think he exists anymore though...
So what have I learned through this hardship? That we don't know anything. Everything is subject to change and everything changes. Do not be cocky about or take for granted what you think you know. I also learned the importance of real friends and family. I have a teeny family and only a couple close friends. But they have given me the power to change my life. They comforted me, moved me back to my dads quickly and have surrounded me in profound love. I would be nothing without them. The third thing I now know is just how strong I can be. I had to change the way I was looking at my bleak situation. Yes, it makes me sick and it makes me want to curl up in defeat and pain. But I wont. I can handle this. I am alive, I have things to be grateful for and I have so much love to give. Everything will be okay. Fall down seven times, stand up eight...right? :) Right.

I haven't been reading anything, and I know I won't make my 75 books in 2011 goal. But that's just fine. I'm finally getting to the point where I can read again without my mind wandering. I am not setting a new goal for now. Just taking it day by day. I will still update this blog once I begin to read more, but for now it's kind of hard to even think about.

Blue

Sorry for the lack of anything good lately. Going through a very rough patch right now. 

Here is a funny. CLIIIIIIIIICK.

"When tears come, I breathe deeply and rest. I know I am swimming in a hallowed stream where many have gone before. I am not alone, crazy, or having a nervous breakdown . . . My heart is at work. My soul is awake." - Mary Margaret

Slump

I am in a reading slump. Nothing sounds good and everything I have started I haven't been able to get in to. This usually happens to me a couple times a year and it always sucks. I tried reading Raptor Red and Hotel World- both novels I was very excited about. I got about 20 pages through both of them and had to stop. I just cannot get in to them. It's a bummer. Also, the weather is AMAZING right now and I have had the house open all week and have been going for walks and stuff. Guess what? My allergies are back :( My throat hurts so bad! I'm considering allergy shots this year.

So I am really not feeling the best emotionally and physically. At least my pneumonia seems to be all the way better. My parents are divorced and everything. So that's done. I also registered for college today. I feel very stressed out and crabby and tired and a lot of other things. I'm not even really sure why. Just a lot happening.

I finished How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff sometime last week. I liked it a lot, although it wasn't really how I thought it would be. I really don't feel like reviewing it.
Rating: 7/10

I will cut this post short. I feel like it's just one big annoying rant. Oh well. It happens.

Keeping it Short

I finished Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help. A very pretentious little book. It seemed really forced... like it was trying to be really unique and off the beaten path. Unfortunately, I think it failed. I know it was supposed to be funny. Some parts of it were, but mostly it was annoying. The best I can say about it really is that, being a young adult novel, kids who read it will learn some big and new words. A lot of adults will too. It was readable, just not great. Too bad...
Rating: 4/10

Tonight (hopefully) I will be starting How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. Another young adult novel. I wanted to read one of her other novels, I'm forgetting the name of it, but for some reason I picked this one. So, I suppose in hindsight, that was weird of me. Anyways, this one is supposed to be about a teen girl in England between wars. It also has something with incest. Lets be honest here, I really don't know what it's about.

On a totally unrelated note, what the hell is Chris Brown doing on Dancing with the Stars? He is a moron and is despicable person. Yuck. I am pretty grossed out that ABC is having him after his sick little rant on Good Morning America. Way to support a disgrace of a human, ABC. Boo. Also, his lip-syncing is HORRIBLE.

"Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking.  There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. " -J.C. Watts

"Don't try to be different.  Just be good.  To be good is different enough." -Arthur Freed

"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." -James D. Miles

Smokey Robinson & Bed Rest

So here is something that sucks: I am still sick. This pneumonia just will not abate. I had to miss yet another week of work. I feel so bad! I went in for my shift Tuesday and immediately realized that being there was a mistake. Thankfully I work with understanding people who gave me the rest of the week off. I still feel bad though. My checking account will also feel bad. What can you do though? Just get better, I guess.

The good things about being home sick are that I get to be with my dogs and I get to drink a lot of delicious juice that I would never drink otherwise. Other than those things though, nothing is very good about this. I can't really even read more than normal because I am so flipping tired all the time. When I do have energy I basically just stare at the T.V.

I did finished The Pact by Jodi Picoult today. So that was kind of productive. For being sick at least... I really liked it. The last half was basically unputdownable. I'm very surprised. I didn't expect to enjoy a Jodi Picoult book. I'm not sure if I will read more of her stuff, but this was definitely good. My one critique is that the ending was a little sappy for my taste. That's okay. We can all use a little sap once in a while.
Rating: 8/10

Up next I am reading Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help by Douglas Anthony Cooper. I got this book a long time ago and totally forgot about it. It is a young adult novel about a boy who talks to dead people and has to see a psychologist. It is supposed to be really funny and awesome. Ideally I picture it being a bit like Neil Gaiman style. That would be nice...

I also wanted to say that I loved The Silent Land by Graham Joyce. I finished it earlier this week and rated it, but didn't review it. It was so different and creepy. I could not put it down and immediately bought a couple more novels by Joyce. It was a super refreshing take on creepiness. The story was really neat too. I believe it is considered a horror/fantasy novel. I don't think that is accurate though. You can't really place it in a category. Kind of hard to explain, but it's true.


Have a good evening everyone!

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book."  -Irish Proverb

Pneumonia

For the past week I haven't had the internet and I have had a horrible case of pneumonia. We now have internet, but unfortunately, I still have pretty bad pneumonia. I took all last week off work in hopes that it would make me better. It didn't. I have to return to work tomorrow and I am not looking forward to it. Firstly because I feel like shit. Secondly because I doubt customers are going to want their lattes made by someone coughing up a lung. I just want to sleeeeeeep :(

If I attempt to write a long blog tonight all that is going to happen it a ton of complaining. I don't want to be sick and that is basically the only thing I have to say. Here are the books I have read while being sick and what I rate them:

• Help! A Bear is Eating Me! by Mykle Hansen 5/10
• UR by Stephen King 5/10
• Riding the Bullet by Stephen King 6/10
• The Silent Land by Graham Joyce 9/10 

Now I am reading The Pact by Jodi Picoult. I have never read anything by her. So far it's fine.

Haruki

Haruki Murakami is safe :)

Hmmm

I really don't have a ton to say today. On top of all the weird stress I have been feeling lately, this awful stuff in Japan has just kind of stopped my motivation to blog. It seems kind of pointless, doesn't it? It is surreal to know what all those people are going through... and here I am in my comfy house, with the people I love and my dogs all safe. Just sitting here drinking some diet pop and blogging. It makes one realize just how incredibly fast life can change. So send good vibes to Japan. When you start to bitch about lame crap happening in your life, think of the people over there.

If you can, please, donate to the Red Cross by clicking here.

Here is some news that is making me worry that is coming out of Japan: Haruki Murakami has not been heard from since the earthquake and tsunami. A lot of people who are close to him have been trying to reach him with no success. This may not seem like a big deal when you compare it to the scope of what is actually going on there, but to me it is. Murakami introduced me to the Japan that I love. He has motivated me. He has entertained me and relaxed me. I know I am not the only one who feels this way about him, so the second something is heard of him, I will post it. Hopefully he is okay :/

Now to the book reviews (short ones today):


Jaws by Peter Benchley- I liked it better than the movie. If you have never seen the movie you probably will enjoy this even more. I thought some parts were a bit draggy and some parts were strangely graphic. All in all it was pretty good. I don't know that I would ever recommend it though.
Rating: 6/10


Neighborhood Watch by Cammie McGovern- This novel sucked. I have been waiting months to read this because the plot sounded great. However, the characters were terrible. They were underdeveloped and had no motivation for most of their actions. The main character drones on and on about her miscarriages for absolutely no reason. I don't understand how this was published without editors fixing these problems. I almost just stopped reading it half way through. It is that bad.
Rating: 1/10

Now I am reading Help! A Bear is Eating Me by Mykle Hansen. I really don't know what I think so far. I am about half way done with it. Some bits are hilarious, others are just so-so. I need a good book :( I am getting into a stupid old rut.

I hope you all have a good day. Please, don't forget to think about what you are thankful for. What you have that you take for granted. The chances you have that others don't. The fact that you are alive.


"If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem.  Everything else is inconvenience."  -Robert Fulghum

Bummed Out

Life is stressful right now.
I have read:
Jaws by Peter Benchley
&
Neighborhood Watch by Cammie McGovern
Reviews soon!

In the mean time, please vote for my dog Sonic in this smile contest :)
Here is the link!

My Custom Van

The other night I finished My Custom Van by Michael Ian Black. It is a bunch of short essays and stories and it was hilarious. Michael Ian Black is one of my favorite comedians. I love Stella and I have seen him do stand-up in person twice. So...I might be a little biased. My only complaint is that if you have seen his stand-up in the past few years, a few of his essays in this book are from that. Which makes them less exciting and surprising. Still funny though :)
Rating: 6/10

Now I am reading Jaws by Peter Benchley. So far it's better than the movie. This does not seem to be the popular opinion based on other reviews I read, but I didn't like the movie very much. Hopefully it doesn't get lame. I don't want to read any stupid books for a long time.
 

Psycho & Big Fish

I finished Psycho. I thought it was well done. The novel is much more cohesive than the movie, although they are very similar. I liked this novel for the same reason I like Dashiell Hammet's novels and others written around this time in similar genres- they get to the point and keep the ball rolling. The characters never develop into 'real' people, but they develop enough to keep the story going. It's a nice piece of light reading.

Rating:8/10

Just this afternoon I finished Big Fish by Daniel Wallace. At first I wasn't so sure whether I liked it or not, but after about 30 pages I was hooked. This is a marvelous little novel. It is more charming than it should be and so optimistic. I really enjoyed it. So far this year I have read 16 novels and this is definitely one of the very best so far.I hope it has staying power. I think everyone should read this! It is such a fun read. Much better than the movie, which I never really cared for.

Rating:10/10

I'm not too sure what I am going to read next. I was thinking In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami, but I don't think so... Something more whimsical sounds about right. I will have to figure it out :)

Have a good night everyone!

Do not forget little kindnesses and do not remember small faults.

-Chinese Proverb

 

Sunday!

I just got a bunch of new books! I have been wanting funny stuff to read and because Christopher Moore doesn't have anything new coming out, I needed to branch out. Here are some of the new funny novels I got:

• A Practical Guide to Racism by C.H. Dalton
• Help! A Bear Is Eating Me! By Mykle Hansen
• Apathy and Other Small Victories by Paul Neilan
• Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg

I am very excited :) I also got some new books that aren't funny. Some of them are:

• Big Fish by Daniel Wallace
• The Boys in the Trees by Mary Swan
• Wise Children by Angela Carter
• Hotel World by Ali Smith

Some dog tracks on my deck

I'm really hoping they are all great. I don't think I can handle a bunch of bad novels. I already feel like I'm in a little slump and that would just make it so much worse.

Sonic and Chew

We were supposed to get a huge snow storm in MN today, but nothing happened. Not in my part anyways. It has been snowing, but nothing major. Maybe we will wake up to a surprise. I was kind of looking forward to having some snow around here! 

 This is a funny link 

This is a lovely link 

Preparing for the Snow

"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event.  You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?"  -J.B. Priestley

Tomorrow Minnesota is supposed to get a blizzard. Specifically the part of MN where I live. So that's awesome...kind of. I am getting kind anxious for summer. I want to start running and going for walks! And I'm pretty sure my dogs feel the same way. I love the snow, but I also love being outside in nice weather.

I finished I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced. It was really good, but very bittersweet. I think the length of this book was just right. Any longer and it would have gotten draggy.
Rating:6/10

I also started reading The Neon Bible by John Kennedy Toole, got about 3/4 way done with it and had to stop. It was so boring and nothing was developing. I usually do this a couple times per year. I just can't handle boring books. So that was a bummer. I really wanted to like it.
For what I did read of it, I give it 2/10

Now I am reading Psycho by Robert Bloch. I just got to the shower scene, which in the novel turned out to not be much of a scene at all. So far it is almost identical to the original movie. I am enjoying it, but I think I might like the movie better. We'll see :) This is also the first paper book I have read in months. Probably close to a year. It feels weird. I prefer my Kindle :)

It seems like maybe I am in a little book funk right now. I haven't loved the past couple and I just feel really busy with life. It happens. The next few books I'm reading are paper books because they aren't made in e-book format yet. They are all by new authors and stuff (new to me).

I just ate some Liz Lovely gluten-free coconut & lemon cookies. They were AMAZING. If you want to try a gluten free/vegan cookie, I recommended these. Yum! Yum! Yum!

Happy Valentines Day :D

“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”

-Mother Teresa

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."
-Lao Tzu

"Who, being loved, is poor?"
-Oscar Wilde

Sonic is Four

Today is Sonic's (one of my wiener dogs) fourth birthday. These things always make me sad when it comes to pets. It's a reminder that it is one year closer to them not being around and I don't like that. It's always a more blue time for me. And I try to not have favorites between my three dogs, but Sonic pretty much is my best little guy. He is awesome. So I am not having the worlds best day. Certainly not the worst either, though.

Sonic with his birthday presents

I finished The Five People You Meet In Heaven and I liked it. I was expecting it to be as good as Have a Little Faith, which it wasn't. I enjoyed it though and would recommend it for a bit of light reading. I don't have too much to say about it. It's a unique story, but the writing is a little run-of-the-mill.
Rating: 6/10

I also read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir by Haruki Murakami. It was spectacular. First of all, Murakami is an amazing writer, so the writing alone is nice to read. Secondly, the story is highly inspirational and motivational. And third on the list is that you get to know Murakami as a person a little more. The third item may only be interesting to his fans, which I am. It is a memoir that is mainly about his running and how that specifically has changed and shaped his life. It's pretty incredible. I think anyone could take something memorable from this little book. I know that I did. Eventually I may even consider this as a favorite.
Rating: 10/10

Currently I am reading I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali. I will be finishing it sometime today. It is really interesting. Here is a link about her story.
Basically, she is a 10 year old girl from Yemen who is sold to be some guys wife and she fights to get a divorce. It is a true story that took place not long ago. It is a sad insight into the culture of that area. I'm sure my review of it will be short, seeing as I am about 75% done with it already. I am just blown away by the way women are treated in parts of the Middle East. From a western standpoint, it seems insane. I wish I could better understand how this happens and continues to happen. It's wild. In the worst possible way.

I am proud of myself, because so far this year I have read more nonfiction than I read in the past 5 years combined. And I have been really enjoying it too. I am trying to expand my world in a lot of different ways, mostly in little ways, but already I feel like I am growing :)

This is a link about food.

Kiiiind of interesting. And gross.

I hope everyone has a nice Valentines Day tomorrow. 

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you."
-A. A. Milne

Caution: Everyone's Sick

Hey everyone. Guess what? I'm still sick. Hence not blogging for a week. I have been going through roughly one box of Kleenex per day and had to miss another day of work last week. I finally feel like I am getting better, but man has this lasted a long time!!! Turns out a ton of people are dealing with pretty much the same thing. A horrible cold that is lasting 2+ weeks. It is the worst. Feel better everyone. And for gods sake, take a couple days off of work so it stops being spread around. If I get sick again I'm going to throw a fit!

I finished Deadeye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut. It was fine. I had a good time reading it, but I had much higher expectations for it. When I read Vonnegut I never know exactly what to expect, but this one was sort of flat. Maybe it wasn't as funny as I wanted it to be. It certainly had less of a story than his other novels I have read.

Rating: 5/10

Last night I read The Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman. It is around 200 pages and it is super captivating. It is about a man who had something traumatize him as a child that he suppressed. Now as an adult he 'paints the darkness away'. Basically, he is a man with serious issues and this is a horror/creepy book. I was very into it the whole time and couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen...and then it ended... WHAT? Yeah. It just ended. With no ending or anything. My thought on this was the author planned on it being a much longer novel and then he didn't know how to wrap it up so he just stopped writing. It was that abrupt. So I have really mixed feelings about it as a whole. Go ahead and read it, but expect the 'ending' to be super disappointing.

Rating: 7/10

Now I am reading The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom. My mom says it is really good and the past few books she has recommended have been really good. I'm just a few pages into it. Hopefully I will read a bunch tonight. I thought I would be reading this afternoon, but sick-brain is just making me watch T.V. and sit. Like a zombie.

Here are some good links about dreams/sleep:

Amazing Dream Facts

Sleep Facts

(I literally sat and read about sleep and dreams for two hours the other evening. Totally dazing out while on cold medicine. These were two of the most interesting articles. I also read about serial killers for a couple hours, but this stuff is more happy :))

To everyone who is sick: Take time to rest and feel better.

To everyone who is not sick: Be nice to the sick people!

Have a good day people :)

Watching The Blue Planet

I haven't been sleeping good lately. And I'm pretty sure that is a huge understatement. That being said, I am insanely tired. Very much like a zombie. Being sick really through off my sleep schedule apparently. Usually I would be taking a nap right about now, but I really want to sleep tonight, so instead I am watching the BBC series The Blue Planet. I love stuff like this. The world is amazing. It's crazy how much we don't know about it.

I finished The Man Who Loved Books Too Much. It was excellent. I was totally sucked in to the story. This is probably the shortest review I have ever done. Sorry...zombie today :)
Rating: 10/10

I also finished Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom. I loved it. Short and to the point and happy things. There is no reason for someone to dislike it. I consider myself an atheist and I thought the religious nature of the book was very nice. I am now planning on reading all of Albom's books. I like his writing.
Rating: 10/10

Currently I am reading Deadeye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut. Kind of a change of pace. I have read a few things by Vonnegut and I enjoy them. Always humorous and unique. I have no clue what this one is about so far. Other than what Kurt wrote in the intro. I am only 4% into it.

Please join and participate with Love Bomb:

www.DropALoveBomb.com

It is a wonderful idea to brighten up peoples day when things are going rough. It is easy and only takes a couple minutes/week to make someones day. Really, I can't imagine why people wouldn't do this. No excuses!

Have a good day everyone.
If you live in Minnesota, drive safe! Lots of snow today and ice tomorrow. Yikes!

Being Sick

This has been an insane week. I am super sick. It is a huge pain in the ass. I have had to miss a couple days of work, which is no good and makes me sad. I do not like to call in sick! I also have a ton to do to get ready for college. Including financial aid stuff that is confusing. I guess looking at this all written down, it doesn't look very insane. It just feels that way. Probably because I am seeing through sick colored glasses.

Reading on my Kindle has been awesome so far. Literally no complaints. I definitely prefer it to the Nook, which is a nice bonus, because I only changed e-readers due to customer service issues. I didn't think that the devices would be that different, but they are. Here are some of the biggest differences as far as I'm concerned:

• The Kindle is a lot more basic. You don't customize things as much and it doesn't have games.
• 
  The Kindle is much, much smaller. Very nice for reading one handed.
• It also has WAY nicer buttons for turning pages if you like to read one handed.
• Speaking of buttons, I prefer Kindles buttons to the Nook touch screen that works only half the time.
• Navigation on Kindle is a lot more simple.
• On the Kindle, fonts are way more customizable. You can change every little thing about them.
• Kindle shows percentage read as opposed to pages read on the Nook. This makes more sense because on e-readers, sometimes one page is actually four page clicks.

There are a lot more differences, but unless you have an e-reader, you could probably care less, so I won't go on and on :)

I finished the Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson. I liked it a lot, didn't love it. It was a little bit slow getting into and I preferred the flashback parts to the present. This novel held my attention and it was a lot of fun. I was surprised how much sexual stuff the movie left out. Pedophilia, midget sex, more pedophilia... you get the point. It had a great ending. This book did not disappoint!

Rating: 7/10

Last night, while in a Nyquil haze, I started reading The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession by Allison Hoover Bartlett. I am 25% into it and am loving it. This may be due to the fact that I too am obsessed with books and can somewhat relate to the book thief. I don't know if this was meant to be a book you relate to, but for me it is. Since getting my Nook, and now my Kindle, my obsession with owning physical copies of books has dissipated, but it used to be somewhat out of control. It still kind of is even with an e-reader. Books are my passion. That is basically what this book is about. It is a true crime story, so it also fits into my year goal of reading more nonfiction. Go me!

It seems like everyone is sick right now, so get better!!! Hopefully these flu bugs and colds will go away very soon.

Here are some quotes:

"How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being."- Oscar Wilde

"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life."- Albert Camus

"If you want to be happy, be."- Leo Tolstoy