Symphony, Chocolate, and June

Euonymus fortunei
'Silver Queen'

Celastraceae
(Staff-tree family)

American bittersweet.

"Its rootlike holdfasts enable it to climb on any rough surface." 
    The Book of Outdoor Gardening p. 472

June, you were bitter.

And sweet.

Book NYC

A friend of mine was recently in NY and we spoke about our love of Strand Books.  Once upon a time a boyfriend's brother worked there, and on a trip with him to the Big Apple around the year 2000 (aka the end of the computing world), I discovered one of the most beautiful places in the city...if you like books.

One of the site's features is "The Author's Bookshelf" and today I wanted to share Nora Ephron's list.  You will have read at least a few of these.  [Jane Austen alert.]

I Remember...

      Arms wide open

      Swirling, turning

      Head back, laughing

      Eyes bright, twinkling even

      Debating, explaining, listening.

      Laughing, loving,

      Loved.

Peace and big love from the GBC to one of our own.

En-titled to be Wrong

People would likely stop talking about the HBO series when I mention my current read if I would manage to get the title correct:  In Cold Blood (not True Blood).  Apologies, Truman Capote.  I blame my recent fever.  This book has been on my shelves at least five years and has never been read.  The combination of the heat and my recent illness spurred me to lift it from its horizontal position (library overflow) atop a variety of other novels and in doing so, continues my habit of "real book" after e-book.

I think In Cold Blood might have been a GBC read from years past.  If so, I'm catching up.  We'll see how it goes.  Hope you have managed to avoid the heat of the weekend and made time for a little couch reading.

Energy Drinks

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have...Always say "yes" to the present moment.
      - Eckhart Tolle from Practicing the Power of Now

In Search of a Vortex in Sedona, AZ,
June 2012

The Show Must Go On

The downside of searing throat pain is that you cannot sleep.  The bright side (cue Monte Python) is that you can spend an entire evening in bed to finish a book.  In this case, it was Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

I had no expectations for this read and will admit was, at times, surprised (and perhaps blushed) with our author's frankness in setting scenes. (I am sure it is still far from a popular 50 book in the spotlight.) Like the author (previous to her writing this novel), I have no recollection of having ever been to the circus. [It could also be that I am suppressing a memory which includes clowns. I'm not a fan of clowns thanks to reading It perhaps a bit too young but that is another story.] The characters, the work, the risk, and hope of reward became vivid to me as I hit "Next" on the Kindle (which is admittedly not the same as saying "turned the page" but we have to let go a little of these). I was eager to know how Marlena would make out and whether or not Jacob's story would "fair" a happy ending. Until reading the author's notes, I completely missed the Biblical parallels. A quick search leads me to believe I was not the only reader to do so.

In the end, this novel was perfect travel reading. The noises of children, animals and those occasional plane smells drove me deeper into the book and added a bit of 3-D enhancement to the story threads. I did find the anecdote about Edison and the elephant disturbing, but I'm trying to chalk it up to knowing history better arms us not to repeat it.

Author's note: Side effects of throat pain sometimes include bad puns, disjointed, jumpy texts and insertion of personal parenthetical anecdotes.

Home is Where You Are

It turned out that when my younger self thought of taking wing, she wanted only to let her spirit soar. Books are the plane, the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.

            Anna Quindlen from How Reading Changed My Life

Did You Pack the Trunk?

In the mad rush of last minutes items (and perhaps celebratory sparking reading water), I was at a loss for books to download for weekend reading.  I have a personal objection to the price point of $12.99 for an ebook (ahem, Amazon) and their lenders reading library failed me on any of the more recent items from my book list.  So I searched for Seabiscuit (only purchase) but fourth down from the list from the search was (and I don't understand the SEO behind it) Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.  With apologies to Reece Witherspoon, I did not recall a movie, and I could not have told you at midnight anything about the book's premise, however I went with instinct and borrowed the book.

I started the book early the next morning and was surprised to find myself reading back-to-back novels on circus life. The story is unfurling like a hot air balloon filling and I am not far enough through the tale to give fair review...only to say that I'm hooked. 

They Say It's Your...

It's crunch time (aka the moment I remind you that you should be finishing your monthly read).  How's your progress on Down the Garden Path by Beverley Nichols?  Mine is akin to Pilgrim's Progress but hopefully yours is better.  I will spend time this evening abusing my Amazon one-click to load up the Kindle for weekend reading.

In the interim, here are 13 June reasons to be happy:

• Swimming (finally)
• Cookies in the mail
• Garden tomatoes
• Random photo ops
• Plane flights where no one interrupts you
• Lattes
• Fried eggs in the shape of a daisy
• Long bike rides
• Frozen Yogurt with kiwi
• Rocking the impromptu presentation
• New (and old) knitting projects
• Getting caught in the rain at the end of the day rather than the beginning
• Finding the thing you thought you'd lost

Momentarily

I needed something from The book of Awesome today.  Neil Pasricha's selections of 1000awesomethings can be pretty inspiring and never fails to make me smile.  I flipped through the book and the website nodding to myself that the moments noted were pretty good (fresh cut grass, burst of cold air on a hot day, perfect pancake stack) but they weren't exactly what I was looking for.

Then I saw this #1 entry and I thought, "that's very close...but not quite."

So what about #2:  Remembering how lucky we are to be here right now?

Yes.

Life is so great that we only get a tiny moment to enjoy everything we see. And that moment is right now. And that moment is counting down. And that moment is always, always fleeting.

You will never be as young as you are right now.

So whether you’re enjoying your first toothpicked turkey cold cuts and marveling at apples from South Africa, dreaming of strange and distant relatives from thousands of years ago, or staring into the blackness of deep, deep space, just remember how lucky we all are to be here right now.

                             - Neil Pasricha, 1000 Awesome Things

It's Not a Tuna

...or maybe it was.  I spent the day at the aquarium with two young girls who reminded me that life is more fun when you laugh, sing off-key with heart, ask for entry for the show you don't have tickets for, be fearless, and take lots of pictures.  

So long girls, and thanks for all the fish.

Hope your weekend went swimmingly.  

Crossing that Bridge

I think memories can be more haunting than cemeteries.  Today's Friday photo was taken on Memorial Day.

World War II
Greeneville, TN, Memorial Day 2012

He(y)-la

I'm fairly certain Monday's flight was the first early morning transit that did not include a nap.  The culprit:  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.  This was a GBC read from early last year that I finally purchased over the Christmas shopping holiday from Parnassus Books in Nashville.  Eighteen months later I pick up the book on the way out the door.  After boarding my flight, I was immediately drawn into the Lacks' lives and by the time I connected and landed, I was to the halfway mark in the book (aka the photo section).

The familial dynamics and the impact on DNA studies had me torn between the progress of science and its cost.  The story is particularly interesting in light of my current day job and my closer proximity to Tuskegee (whose 1932-1972 syphilis experiments were unknown to me until this read).  The return flights allowed me to both finish the story and let other passengers see my "soft side" with a tear (or two) as the book drew to a close.

Better late than never as they say, so if you too were delayed on the GBC schedule, I highly encourage you to pick up the read.

Flying High

Best things about early morning flights:

• tarmac naps
• reading on the plane
• scoping out what other people are reading on the plane
• perusing the airport bookstore
• imagining yourself to be on a trip anywhere you'd like (until you land of course)

Hope your Monday flies by.

Swooning June

Two days in the 70s to begin the birthday month = gift from the Universe.

On the menu for the weekend:  running, biking, swimming, dining, brunching, #readingwater-ing, and catching up on a few reads.

With this morning's (okay, noon-time) coffee, I paired this Yahoo (don't judge) news article on the 40 year anniversary of the "napalm girl" photo via @barelywashed on Twitter. Powerful story.

Hope your first June weekend is lovely.