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Girls - This is a new HBO show that directly counters the slick excesses of Sex In The City. Although funny enough, this too, covers sex in the city. It's a nutty little half hour about a group of smart but somewhat awkward yet confident 20-something college graduates making their way through their 20s. It's about the nature of friendships and relationships in 2012.
Something Borrowed - Sweet chick flick with Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin. If nothing else is on, this has just enough entertainment value to stick around to find out what happens. Kate plays the partying friend, and Ginnifer plays the straight smart girl. Somehow John Krasinski (Jim from the Office) plays Ginnifer's sidekick. Kate doesn't know that she's in a love triangle. Colin Egglesfield is the Tom Cruise look-alike at the center of the action.
Summer - This is a collection of short stories and poems about summer. Summer is my favorite season, and someday I hope to live in a place where it's summer all year. It's almost here this year, and I have no expectations after the past few years of dashed ones. All I know is that I'm going to get all this stuff out of the house at the beginning of it. I hope it stretches long and relaxing like the summer stories in this book, which will be available for purchase at my sale. Unless you're a good friend, and mention this blog. Then you will have to take the book off my hands for free.
On the purge front, I've gotten rid of a number of black clothes that had been clogging my closet with pleats and big shoulders. I have a couple of dresses that look great on the hanger, and GREAT from the side. However the minute I see myself from the front or back, forget it! Too bad I can't just be viewed from the side at parties. I'd keep them. But I can't, so I'm not. The closet is no longer full, but there is barely an inch to hang anything new, which works out perfectly because I no longer shop the way I used to. Still love it, just don't have the time for it in a changing and fickle marketplace.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer - I've always loved novels that are narrated by precocious children, and this is no exception. It is narrated by an 11 year old New Yorker, Oscar Schell, whose life is complicated by his incessant thoughts and creativity, and sometimes hindered by his lack of emotion. Then something big happens in his life, and he can't wrap his mind around it, and has to come up with a way to understand his changed world. There is a modern existentialist bent to this story that is quite appealing. It's a very fresh read in between the themes, and I found it to be a rather wild ride.
This week I am continuing my whole house purge. Yesterday I got Steve to give me almost the entire day in the basement, and it looks much better. Today I am going through my closets. Last night I read a few online posts about clothes purging, and it helped. I am trying on every single thing, and looking at myself in the mirror, and if it doesn't look great, then goodbye and good riddance. My driveway sale clothes customers will love me this year! All I have to do is decide which things to throw on the table rather than on the hanging rack. I think the table offerings sell better and for more. Maybe two tables. One for the things I would have put on the table anyway, and the other for the things I would have put on the rack. OK, back to work. After I get rid of 5 or 10 more things (I'm in the guestroom closet which I had turned into the dressy closet a couple of years ago), I'll do my next post.
Emerald City and Other Stories by Jennifer Egan - I love short stories. You get into them and out of them. There's a little thinking, and always a way to put the book down between stories. This is a very modern group of stories. Their home base is Chicago, but they are not Chicago stories; most of them happen in other places or on vacation. Each of these stories was a perfect little jewel.
This week I got back out into our yard. I'd lost the gardening bug the year before, and last year I hurt my foot, so things had long been neglected. My basic designs have held up pretty well, and this year's small goals are to tweak and fill in. The larger goals are first, to clear out the huge overgrown yews in the corner next to our screened porch and create a lovely vignette anchored by a Japanese Maple tree, and second, to do something with our empty cement fountain. Pictures to come soon!
Our beautiful spring break in Puerto Vallarta was enhanced by two wonderful books.
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli - This is a love story, a Vietnam story, and a photographer's story about a young American woman who went to Vietnam during the war and made a life for herself as a photographer for Life Magazine. It's beautifully told and the characters and the land are very real and mostly appealing, and when they cannot be real or appealing, they are sympathetic. The love story is layered yet uncomplicated, and weaves through the story that is the war and the photography in the most seamless way.
American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar - What it's like to grow up Pakistani American and sort of Muslim. I loved this coming of age story about a kid who has to make sense of so many mixed messages from so many sources, that you wonder how he is going to make it in life. Will he buy into the craziness and contradictions, or will his innate skepticism save him? It sometimes reads like a movie, which is fine, as long as they make it into a good movie. It's sad and funny and maddening, just like life.
How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu - So happy this wasn't a vacation book. I started it the night we arrived home, and over 100 pages in, just flipped to the last chapter to see if anything ever happened that I needed to know about. The writing is somewhat inconsistent, way to wordy, way to conversationy, way to repetitious. It's two stories; one about a quiet guy whose marriage is breaking up, and the other about a trip that the guy's parents took before he was born. Although it's an African immigrant and second generation story, for me the layers didn't work and the parent part is all speculation. It's getting some press, but I couldn't get into it.
A Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhava - I was halfway through this book, wondering where the story was going and wondering why I was reading it because there was nothing happening to make me turn the pages. I kept at it, though, and when almost finished, realized that it is a memoir, a true story, and not fiction. It's a so so memoir, about a woman who grew up in the U.S.S.R. either middle class or a little higher, since her mother was a Dr., and they had their own apartment in Leningrad, and a Dacha close to the Finnish Sea. It's a little more exciting than the grey that one imagines the Soviet Union to be, but not much. I read it and told you about it, and now you don't have to read it.
Unless you have a connection, interest, or burning desire to know about life in Russia in the 1960s and 70s.
Parisian Chic by Ines de la Fressange - I'm pretty sure that Ines is a french socialite fashionista (actually I just googled her and Wiki tells us that she was a model and is now a fashion designer). Her book is light reading, something an avid shopper might like since she lists her favorite somewhat off beat shops in Paris. To her, all designer matchy matchy is not the best fashion. She says that Parisian chic is a little more funky, converse shoes, skinny jeans and a jacket with the sleeves pushed up. You know the look. You know the drill. There was nothing new here, and it didn't even come close to the entertainment offered by Vicky Tiel in her book. So if you want to read a book about Parisian, get the Vicky Tiel, and she'll tell you her stories, and that will be your Parisian chic.
I am desperate for a good story. I hope at least one of the five books that are lined up on my nightstand will satisfy. You know I'll keep you posted.
Like Crazy - I needed a chick flick the other night, so rented this one which always looked dramatic and romantic on the trailers. And it was! And I really liked it. Urban Cowboy meets International Romance, specially for the younger set.
Faithful Place by Tana French - I don't often read murder mysteries, but I needed books to read, and this was on the bookclub shelf, and many of my other choices were bad non-fiction. It takes place in Dublin, and it's written with lots of conversation between Frank Mackey, an undercover detective and his family. The dialect is wonderful, and coincidentally I was reading it on St. Patrick's Day. Perfect for the murder mystery crowd, and I'll go back to my usual fare of stories.
Whateverland by Alexis Stewart and Jennifer Koppelman Hart - I read this while Steve watched Suburgatory the other night. I was really desperate that day at the library, and curious. I'd heard Alexis and Jennifer on satellite radio a few times, and they can be weirdly attractive. This is a book about nothing, though. You'll learn that Alexis felt ignored as a child and Jennifer was chubby and her family knew Barbra Streisand. Read at your own risk. I promise you are not missing a thing. Bad non-fiction.
Tales of the New World by Sabina Murray - This book of short stories was a tough read for me. These stories are fictional accounts about explorers, but the toughness is in the writing itself. The first story about Mary, an odd Englishwoman who explores Africa even before the colonial times, and the last story about Chekhov spending three months on a Siberian prison colony island, were my favorites, and the easiest reading. The others are rather dark and gloomy. I had just enough comprehension to get through each one, but not enough to care greatly or to rave about the book. Take a pass unless you love to read about explorers and want to get into their brains and to go on their rugged dirty journeys.
I am in the middle of my third day home alone without Steve, sunny warm days that motivate me to get things accomplished. I've sold some software and crystal on Craigslist, so I have a few bucks in my pocket, but no empty space gained after all.
I cleared out the upstairs hallway, finished ironing my regular pile as well as the things I'd brought down from the attic and washed in anticipation of selling at the driveway sale. I hadn't remembered that in the old days, the seams in clothing were not serged, unless it was a tee shirt or high end clothing with finished seams. Turns out I bought a lot of low end clothing when I was young. I went back through a pile that I'd previously decided to save, and let more go. There is still so much, and May is only 6 weeks away. I cannot wait to be finished with this major purge and to get back to creating. Onward!
I am going to go in a new direction today and hit the sunroom pile of scrapbooking, photos and paper crafting materials. It's all heaped on a three shelf rolling lucite cart, and it's been there for a long long time. It's time to fill the scrapbooks and put them out into the world. Yesterday I stayed home instead of go to the Housewares Show where I would have gotten more stuff, and that was like a major step toward countering this addiction of getting things that are fun and interesting but then don't use. I'll take Before and After pictures. Stay tuned.
OK, I know what you're thinking. Or what I'm thinking. Dianne, why start on a new area before you've completed the upstairs sunroom and guestroom? And I've got an answer. All these areas are about hobbies and creating and art, but there is only so much time to do hobbies and creating and art. So if I start on the new area, I may find those supplies to be more important than some that I am indecisive on in other areas, and when I come back to the other area, it may be easier to clear out things in order to make room for things I like better. This is about x amount of space and only having x amount of stuff to put in it from now on. No more x amount of space and 3x amount of stuff. No more. 2x amount of stuff has to go. Or even 2.5x amount of stuff so that I can have cleared off shelves ready and waiting for new stuff.
Forgot to mention that I went through the papers from the attic yesterday. I have all my High School and College papers from English, as well as materials from most of my college courses. Yes, this is madness. I'll start through these in detail in front of the TV tonight. I can reduce it all by half. I love looking at my old writing though. From the looks of it, grade inflation is nothing new! There is some bad bad writing there.
Remembering the Music, Forgetting the Words Travels with Mom in the Land of Dementia by Kate Whouley - A friend loaned this to me a few years ago, and I just now got around to reading it. It's a true story about a mother and daughter and what happened to them as the mother became increasingly forgetful and unable to care for herself. Kate's mom had a strong personality to go along with her condition, but Kate met the challenge with love and care. She made a vow to keep her mom safe and happy, and then made choices and decisions that always kept that vow in mind. A very quick and comfortable read, considering the uncomfortable subject.
The Artist - Finally! My friend Amalia got me out for a walk the other day, and then we went to see the winner of this year's Best Picture Oscar. It's a silent movie in Black and White which is funny if you think too much about it, so you don't. It's entertaining, thoroughly watchable, and for me, that day, just a tiny bit tiring. Of course I'd been on that cold walk, and there is constant background music in the movie, and hardly any word boards. Even so, with the little naps, it was easy to follow, a great little riches to rags and back story, completely charming. So happy that movie-wise, we don't live in the silent movie era, though. The combined experience of watching and listening is what we know movies to be all about. Hurry to see it because it's probably easier to experience in the theater than at home.
Look At Me by Jennifer Egan - I enjoyed Goon Squad, liked Invisible Circus well enough, but Look At Me was a drag. I must confess that about 150 pages into it, I skipped to the last chapter and got it over with. I immediately felt a weight lift off me. Sometimes when a book isn't working, one must cut her losses and move on.
The Disappearing Spoon and other true tales of madness, love, and the history of he world from The Periodic table of the Elements by Sam Kean - Last summer I happened to be talking about Chemistry with my good friend Susan and her amazing daughter Alice, and I mentioned that I'd had a glimpse of the Periodic Table, and there were about 40 new elements on it since I'd taken Chemistry in 10th grade. Oh, they thought that was so funny and so wrong. For Christmas they surprised me with a beautiful coffee table book of the elements, as well as this little book of short stories. Just like Chemistry, it starts out easily enough with a little story about the Disappearing Spoon and how kids used to play with Mercury. Then, just like Chemistry, it started not being as interesting until finally it ended. I think I got a C in Chemistry, and I give it a C, too. I still can't get that every single thing is made up of atoms and stuff, and that it has equations. One minute you're memorizing abbreviations, and the next minute you're doing complicated math. Give me art and reading and writing any day over science and math. The author loves his subject and tries to make it palatable for a person like me. I appreciate his efforts, but I'm hopeless when it comes to Chemistry.
Jane By Design - The season has ended on my favorite new show, and I can't wait for the story to pick back up. I love this little show about high school, mistaken identity, fashion and growing up. It continues to be immensely entertaining.
Cartier Commercial - During Celebrity Apprentice last week, there was a commercial for Cartier Jewelry that was like a movie short. I loved it. The jeweled Cartier Leopard comes to life and roams around a mystical world.
The Time In Between by Maria Duenas - This is the story of Siri, raised by a single mother who works as a seamstress for a dressmaker in Madrid. It takes place in the 1930s in the years between the two World Wars. Siri's mundane life takes a twist when she meets a new man while engaged to a safe one, around the same time that she comes into a large amount of money. The characters, (Rosalinda Fox, Juan Luis Beigbeder and Surrano Suner were real people during that time), the history, the story and the settings are unforgettable, so yes, yes, read it.
I've just been googling, and hope that Rosalinda Fox's book, The Grass and the Asphalt will be reprinted, because currently it is virtually impossible to obtain a copy. It also appears that there was a Spanish Made for TV movie of The Time In Between, and today I'll see if our wonderful librarians are able to track down a copy of that. I don't care that I don't know Spanish. I'll watch it for the love of the story, and I'll understand almost every word.
Getting Organized. AGAIN
A couple of days before I left on my second trip to California, I emptied our attic of almost all my stuff. This little chore had been concerning me for a couple of years, so finally, impulsively, I pulled down the rickety stairs over the back stairwell, and ventured up there. It was cold and yucky, because Steve has filled it up to hoarderdom. There still exists a main path, but the stuff in the corners and against the walls has expanded out to the path. What a mess. Thinking about that, I hope I die first. Thinking about that, I get very sad for whoever will have to deal with our attic, including and maybe especially myself. I brought down everything except the box of my childhood dolls and something else that was heavy. I'll get those in the next day or so, though, even if I have to bring them down one by one. Here's what my office and the upstairs hallway looked like after I'd emptied the attic: 
(By the way, it really is a mystery to me why my Mac Mini desktop computer takes ages to load in my iPhotos. . The computer is only half full of data. I would think at 80 or 90% it could start bogging down, but not before then. I do like the different desktops, though. I think they came with that last upgrade.) ANYWAY, all this stuff, or at least 90% of it has to GO. I washed all the clothes, and ironed them, and today I'll try them on, or tomorrow. I really want a sunny day to try on. Most of them are summer things. (Did I think I'd be wearing them in my retirement?) Probably because it's my favorite season, and saved sweaters still have a place in my regular closet, or in my project pile for shrinking, felting, making into purses, pillow covers and I don't know what else. I really want to take some "after" pictures that show this room cleaned up. Don't know when I'll get to it. As motivated as I am, it's a grey day, my hands are freezing, and I'm still in Morocco because I moved into that book last week, and don't want to come out. A little while ago, I had every intention of walking to the library today, but I suppose I'll drive. Yesterday I did my first PX90 workout, which was more painful than difficult. Phone's ringing...just a minute.
It is now an hour and a half later. My friend Liz was on the phone, which was an appreciated distraction from the tasks at hand. (Thanks, Liz!) I was hoping that she might be able to go for that walk to the library, but no such luck, or perhaps it was lucky since I don't want to go anyway. I took my shower and have been trying on the clothes that I washed and ironed. So far half of them are going into the garage sale pile, including a vintage Coca Cola tee shirt that I never liked and never wore because it has red trim at the neck and arms. A Sweet Baby Jane top all cotton, cool looking because it has an appliqued tiger on the back. (for the Detroit Tigers plus I liked the applique idea). I saved a couple of tops temporarily to use as garden tops, and a couple of tee shirts that might make it into a tee shirt quilt or other memory of the shopping I did and things I wore in other places and times. I'm still nowhere near ready for the "after" picture, still have clothes to try on, and haven't read the paper yet. Sitting her looking at a pretty colorful pile of silk ties that I used to wear with my business suits. Could I do a poster sized color block and frame them? Do I want to? Why am I writing rather than doing? OK. Once again. Here I go.
