yoga, books, movies, tv & too many crime procedurals – not necesarily in that order
I have never left a tl; dr comment anywhere. Not because I haven’t thought something was Too Long and therefore Didn’t Read but I figure if you’re going to comment – don’t be a dick. Read the whole thing and THEN comment rather than going off half-cocked.
Lately though I HAVE used something similar (though not in a commenting sense). Back when I attempted to read Jonathan Strange & Dr. Norrell, I realized life is too damn short to read things that are too boring or too dumb to justify my time. The third parameter is “too gross” which I thankfully don’t come across that often. The first tG; dr I ever found was American Psycho. Disgusting. I didn’t need any more visuals to haunt me the rest of my life besides the ones I’d managed to get through before quitting. *shudder*
Just recently I used tB; dr on Battle of the Network Zombies. It was also a little too gross but I’ve got to figure if I’m a quarter of the way through and the only thing you’ve been able to do is make me mildly queasy (and not at ALL interested in your world/characters) that there’s nothing in the finale that could possibly redeem it. So I quit. I finished According to Jane but I’ve got to include it on my tD; dr list because of the sheer amount of skimming I did. The last most recent tB; dr candidate was The Angel Experiment by James Patterson. It was pretty much awful from page one. I get it was written for a YA audience but DAMN it was terrible. Don’t get me wrong – not as bad as TWILIGHT, just too awful for me to gut through it.
I’m in the midst of The Passage, which started slow but has picked up nicely. I sort of stalled on Between Sisters (Kristen Hannah) mostly because I started it on my phone Kindle app and it’s not my medium of choice. I DID break my $9.99 Kindle book rule for One Dharma by Joseph Goldstein. I LOVE the book and I can’t wait for the Kindle release. While I’m jonesing for a reread of Eat, Pray, Love I can’t see myself shucking out $13.00 for it – especially when I probably have the paperback lurking around here somewhere. Alas, I prefer reading on the Kindle so much that I actually get mildly irritated to have to pick up a physical book.Who’da thunk?
I’ve gone on to pretty much everyone who will listen about how much I enjoyed the Steig Larsson trilogy. I love that they’re mystery and suspense but set right now and crafted in such a way as to call into question all our biases about mental illness, women’s rights and the corporate stranglehold on media. Love.
I’m out of town doing training and – as a result -a bit closer to Aspen than usual. While on break yesterday I was flipping through the local rag and noticed that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was playing at the Isis. Now this film has been on my ‘want to see’ list since before we went in Seattle. On the west coast I looked longingly at showtimes. Did the same thing in the midwest. Time crunches and family time take priority over films, alas, especially when I’m the only one who wants to see the film. That’s not to say Spouse wouldn’t have joined me but it’s not the same as making a movie outing for something we BOTH really want to see.
After I got off work this afternoon I headed up (down, actually. Or wait- both. Uphill, headed south.) to Aspen and got my tix. Despite TWO idiots having their phone go off during the film (and DUDE. I didn’t even know that shit STILL HAPPENED anymore.) it was as gripping as the book. It’s an excellent adaptation and I’m going on the record to say I fucking LOVE the chick who played Salander.
So. If you’re down for a great film, I give it two thumbs up. If you hate subtitles however, it’s not for you. If you aren’t sure you’ll like the books, check this out. If you like this film, you’ll love the books.
First, no blogging because I’ve been working like a dog – if a dog would climb up and down ladders all day carrying incredibly heavy cases of things like laundry detergent. Workouts have been rendered obsolete.
Second: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest came out this week.
It is no secret that I am a huge book nerd. That said, I cannot remember a time when I’ve been so anxious for a new release. This series of novels has been brilliant, intense, engaging and thought-provoking. You can’t say THAT about your average mystery book – which is what makes them brilliant. They are, on their face, a great series of mysteries. They are, but they’re SO MUCH MORE – incredible social commentary on prejudice, social justice and journalism. They are a bit like what The Wire was aspiring to in its last season of journalistic commentary, just as hard-hitting and tackling a wildly unpopular topic in abuse/mistreatment of women.
There are very few books I’ve recommended in the last several years as much as I’ve recommended these. I’m glad to hear there may be another manuscript floating around (despite the truly terrible treatment of Larsson’s partner) and I’ll be keeping an ear to the ‘net to see if it’ll be emerging.
With so many things to blog about, where do I start?
How about this: I’m watching I Hate Valentine’s Day and I think maybe the only thing Nia Vardalos has changed since My Big Fat Greek Wedding is her eyebrows. Alas, it’s not a change for the good. I find these eyebrows or the makeup or something about it to be weirdly distracting.
Books! I finally finished Finch. While I enjoyed the story I loathed the fragments. I will not reread it and I won’t be looking for more of VanderMeer’s work. Also finished The Year of the Flood, Atwood’s latest and I really enjoyed it. In fact, it made me want to reread Oryx and Crake (again) and then YotF right behind it. I didn’t though – I read Silver Borne, the latest Mercy novel from Patricia Briggs. Pretty happy with the whole novel but I think I put more details on my 2010 reading list page.
I’m also in the middle of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Not sure if I just hadn’t heard anything about it but I was expecting something really different. Thus far, engaging protag and interesting story.
Our flights were uneventful. Against what must be the largest number of odds, on each flight I was seated next to someone who was going to be visiting our new hometown in the near future. I really loathe seating process of Southwest. Frankly I don’t see anything wrong with being able to check and and get my seat assignment early, INCLUDING a spot next to my spouse, rather than depending on the kindness of strangers allowing me to sit next to him. Add unnecessary seat-partner anxiety to all the least fun parts of air travel (cattle call loading and unloading) with a dose of ‘whoever gets there first, wins’ and yeah, it’s not my most enjoyable travel. I was also not enamored of the Southwest/Kevin Smith debacle, where they were dicks and he was unjustly thrown off a flight. Those things mean I’m not sure we’ll be flying Southwest again.
Seattle was lovely as are my long-distance friends. Probably I’ll upload some pictures soon and then get on with the whole yoga post.
Tomorrow I begin a new work schedule for January, which requires my getting up at o’dark:30. On the bright side, I’m done with work in the early afternoon with plenty of time to run errands and cook dinner. Downside? I’ve got to be in bed by 10pm in order to be functional.
In an attempt to be responsible, I’ve already packed my lunch. Two Pb&Js, some Cheez-its, dark chocolate covered almonds, and a bottle of water. I’m hoping that’ll get me through two breaks and a lunch. When I do my grocery shopping tomorrow afternoon, I can stock up on breakworthy food.
Spouse’s truck isn’t totaled but we won’t have it back until sometime next week. It turns out our auto insurance rep isn’t much good for anything so we’ll likely be in the market for new insurance soon. Luckily a coworker was generous enough to offer him the use of their truck until his is repaired, so we at least aren’t having to pay for a rental or juggle schedules. It’s one of the nice differences here- back in Saginaw, Spouse was the guy who’d made that offer but never had it reciprocated (even from neighbors). Here we had two such offers and it’s very nice to be in that kind of community.
Not much reading progress today on Middlemarch, though Finch is turning out to be quite interesting. Turns out George Eliot is precisely as boring as I remember her being but I’m making an effort.
