Friday, December 30, 2011

The Beginning in the End

Last note of 2011.

Behind us has been a year of good reads, mediocre titles, and outstanding memories together with the GBC.  Ahead of us are (excel) lists of books to check out, shelves from which to select the next unread item, and unlimited reading potential with libraries and Amazon.

It has been a year of travel, new experiences, taking chances and crazy life lessons.

So as the year comes to the close, my wish for you is to be in the moment, enjoying that which is at present and not t+1 or t-1 (for my fellow math geeks).

Best wishes for 2012.  We may even read the books.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Going Hungry

I read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins in three sittings.  I managed the first few chapters by iPhone flashlight the night before Tuesday's post.  I read a few more chapters after moving furniture for mom and just before moving the Christmas tree.  [As an aside, Mom had cleverly decorated one of the trees with old Christmas family photos; it was really neat and of course included a picture snapped of my awkward 15 year-old self.  Egads, the hair. ]

I started Part II just before going to sleep.  Little did I know I would stay up to finish.  I was hooked and there was really no good place to stop after the games begun.  GBC K1m and P@1ge had warned me; I should have had better planning. In addition, the book cleverly set up the segue to the next novel in the trilogy which means the next two days will be spent squeezing in one more book before the holidays come to a close and I transition to other genres.

I would recommend the read.  It has been some time since I was lost in a book and I have a soft spot for any strong female lead characters from Appalachia which are not stereotyped into moon-shine making, cousin marrying, husband killing Southern girls.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Boxed In

I started Hunger Games last night which means I was up later than intended and I'm now sipping my third cup of coffee.  Mid-morning conversation included a partial (no spoilers) review from my (new) neice, revelation that my sister had also purchased the book for holiday reading, and a comparision of this novel to The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.  (Sis always had the better memory.)  The Lottery was originally published in The New Yorker in 1948.  For those of you who have also read HG, I am eager to hear your thoughts on story parallels (after of course, I finish the book).

Good luck boxing, bagging, and discovering old articles to re-read. 

Happy Boxing Day.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Twas the Day Before Christmas

Wishing everyone a happy, merry, warm, content, loving, and peaceful Christmas Eve day.  Hope your journeys are uneventful and your destinations full of little suprises.  May you find time to sneak in a few pages from your favorite books. 

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Prepping Steps

The December GBC meet was a success by Paige's description.  Best wishes to all in the group for a lovely holiday season - I did miss sharing poetry with you.

In preparation for a lack of viable wifi, I am downloading books for my Kindle.  As three of you are currently moving through Hunger Games, I have added this (and the sequels) to my one-click list.   This should balance the other items of a more serious nature (the brain, leadership, business).

Good luck with your last minute holiday preparations.  Hope you maintain your balance.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

December is poetry month for the GBC.  In this vein, today's blog is dedicated to two verses.  The first comes  you from GBC P@1ge.  She sent this to me yesterday just before I left Nashville causing me to linger a few moments more with my latte to think about it.  The second author? Well, he just seems fitting for a night at the GBC.

Courtesy of GBC P@1ge:

Witch-Wife
  - Edna St. Vicent Millay

She is neither pink nor pale,
    And she never will be all mine;
She learned her hands in a fairy-tale,
    And her mouth on a valentine.

She has more hair than she needs;
    In the sun 'tis a woe to me!
And her voice is a string of coloured beads,
    Or steps leading into the sea.

She loves me all that she can,
    And her ways to my ways resign;
But she was not made for any man,
    And she never will be all mine.


    **********

Stone Airplane
  - Shel Silverstein

I built an airplane out of stone...
    I always did like staying home.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Curry On My Wayward Son

Today was my first visit to Parnassus Books.  I knew it would be a good experience because 1) it felt like home and 2) it smelled like a bookstore.

The store was busy.  I perused.  I accidentally bumped people with my extra large bag.  I noticed that there were more than a few of us in search for that book for that someone (not knowing with certainty the item and person who would match our selections).

I bought a book because it was sitting out of place like a castaway toy.  I bought another book because I saw the person in front of me buy it.  I bought a book because I had been carrying the title in my purse notebook since I visited an independent San Francisco bookstore two years ago.  I bought a book I knew I loved and hoped that the recipient would love it too.

It was a great experience.  I felt welcome and for a few long moments I was a bit homesick for my former town and the GBC.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Snow Place Like Home

...or New York for the holidays. Today's photo was snapped in Brooklyn last December.



Hope your weekend is full of holiday party cheer.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Spinning My Wheels

If the material did not have keywords such as DNA, Genomics, Knitting Patterns, Top 10 Last Minute Unique Gifts, or Cancellation Policy, chances are high that I have not read it in the last few days. Leisure reading has taken a backseat to All Things End of Year and/or Holiday. Nevertheless, I still received a book tip this morning at my 5:15 spin class. Run Faster from the 5K to the Marathon: How to Be Your Own Best Coach by Brad Hudson was mentioned as the motivation behind the instructor's success at his last race. As my legs are still twitching from the session, I'll trust him on it.

Good luck with your holiday planning and hope you are working hard on your poetry selections for the next GBC meet.

Side note: Please forgive the lack of formatting and link to the book - the interface has been a little less than cooperative this morning.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Knit Picking

The title grabbed my eye because it's something I hope to say in the near future. With the realization this morning that Christmas was less than 14 days away and my only preparations having been two metallic trees and the formation of a holiday card, my heart rate became slightly elevated. There are things left to knit.

What then is the best way to handle this holiday stress?

[Cue the music.]

Song and Dance (and finally segueing back to my original line). Look, I Made a Hat by Stephen Sondheim is the second volume of collected lyrics and commentary for the period 1981-2011. [Finishing the Hat was the first volume released last year for those of you who like to read things in order.]

Although it won't help me with knitting, it just might serve as a backup gift in the event holiday shopping unravels.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Getting Carded

It was a smoothie, running, coffee, cheering kind of Saturday morning preparing to move into an eating, drinking, merry, laughing Saturday night.

Sharing advice from a friend: Don't waste the day.

In other news, I now have local library access. [Insert card acquisition between coffee and cheering.]


Thursday, December 8, 2011

Duly (and sometimes Dually) Noted

I carry a small notebook with me for those ideas, suggestions, names, and figures which pass by in fleeting discussion or observation. I have a similar list of random items in my iPhone however these words that are captured with varied penmanship seem to be more permanent. My book has no lines and I do not write in sequential page order but rather items are grouped in sections like my bookshelf...a system of nothingness that perhaps even will not make sense to me in ten years. For now, I remember the "when" of each note and where I was when writing. The book contains the practicality of my father's hat size and the vision of my next two year's goals captured after consumption of a small carafe of wine in Florence.

Items that rarely appear in the book are drawings. Sketching is a skill that I have not yet quite mastered. [See also: recent attempt to draw road reflectors on a receipt at lunch.] I admire those who with a few strokes of lines can illustrate a point, emotion, or map path. No surprise then that this NYT review caught my attention. The author describes Bento's Sketchbook by John Berger. The book is a collection of Berger's drawings, musings, experiences with a few significant omissions intertwined in helical fashion. Between Cole's review and Amazon's preview, I'm hooked.

The opening line: "This autumn the quetsch plum trees are overburdened with fruit." Though this selection is offered electronically, I think this is a book which requires a physical copy which is likely to be shelved near The Faraway One.


Tuesday, December 6, 2011

It's All Relative

I have the literary equivalent to chaos theory beside my bed with the morning thought that there could be a little topological mixing. [Apologies. With strong coffee and without an editor, I am afraid that sometimes you are left with geeky blog openers.]

I have been surfing through The Lexicographer's Dilemma jumping to The Power of Babel with a side of various Kindle books. Last night I added Deepak Chopra to the mix. The common thread seems to be a one to many relationship. [A database reference before seven? I may need less coffee.] One course of language evolved to a number of others. A plenitude of words and manners of communication evolved into a few formal rules for grammar. The love of self translates to love in or for a group.

The moral [other than stay away from the morning math]? Things can be more related that they first appear, and sometimes you can find a solution in an unlikely source.


Sunday, December 4, 2011

Paper Planes

Any conversation that involves book lists, book recommendations, book reviews, and/or optimization of audio books is a pretty good chat.

In the event you missed the NPR tale of the mystery Book Sculptures in Edinburgh, you can check the link here. [Note: It is possible that after viewing, your origami will seem very much sub-par.]

Hope you had the opportunity to learn something new this weekend.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Lost in Translation

Because GBC K1m and T1m have me thinking about Tokyo. Happy Friday and hope new journeys ahead.

Tokyo, July 2007