Stories

It’s been so busy at work recently.  I’ve been making extra money, which is awesome, but my body is even more worn out than normal.  I’m also completely terrible at Christmas shopping.  I always put it off until the last minute.  I can never think of great presents to buy that I can actually afford.  I have mild panic attacks when I think about all the money I’m spending.  And I haven’t even bought the groceries for Christmas dinner.  Yikes.  I’m broke.

But I’ve been distracting myself with some pretty good stories lately.  It’s the only way to get by.  Monday, I watched The Help.  I haven’t read the book yet.  It is, no doubt, far superior.  This was a well-crafted story all on it’s own.  The whole “boyfriend for Skeeter” thing seemed a bit unnecessary to me.  Perhaps they took more time with it in the novel.  But overall, I enjoyed the film.  I was surprised by how much Bryce Dallas Howard was able to make me hate her.  Her character is truly vile.  Viola Davis exemplified courage, and Emma Stone was simply precious, as always.  I just love her.  The costumes were great, and oh, the hair.  How did women walk around with all of that on their heads?  Go ahead and watch The Help.  It will make you feel.

I’ve also started reading Beloved by Toni Morrison, and I’m enjoying it thoroughly.  It’s interesting to see a touch of magical realism in an African American novel.  I’m only about a quarter of the way through, but I’m really appreciating the unique voice created in this novel.  It’s such a nice change from the 60’s beatnik stuff I’ve been reading lately.

I’ll never be too old for fairy tales  I’ll never stop secretly believing in magic.  I’ll never be convinced that books and movies are a waste of time.  Not if they’re good.  Not if they’re true.  What are you reading?  Just curious.

On Saturdays and Such

Sleeping in is ace.

The quality of Target’s Christmas decorations has declined since I’ve been away.  Either that or all the good stuff is already sold out at Honolulu’s one and only Target.  Seriously, why isn’t there one on this side of town?  They’d make a fortune.  Off of me.  Wait, maybe that’s a bad idea.

If you’re stuck in traffic on Ala Moana on your scooter and getting a sunburn, go ahead and cut through the parking lot at Fisherman’s Wharf and Ala Moana Beach Park.  I don’t know whether or not it’s actually faster, but there’s a lot less standing still and the view is vastly improved.  I love the feel of this park.  It’s very urban.  And the aroma from people’s grills isn’t too bad either.

Go ahead and blow your weekly food budget on groceries for a Star Wars marathon.  Don’t invite people over with advanced warning without giving them awesome food.  That’s just my personal philosophy.

It’s totally okay to want to go to bed at 8:30 on a Saturday night.

Jack Kerouac is pretty awesome.  Norman Mailer is no Hunter S. Thompson.

Only a few days left until the Golden Globe announcements and I’m starting to get giddy.  I want to see Drive, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, My Week with Marilyn, Hugo, and Melancholia.  I also hope some of my favorite TV shows make it back on the list so I can catch up on them.  Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, and Big Bang Theory would be nice.

I’m a total total nerd and definitely not awesome.  But I love my life.

Do Your Homework

A little bit about my continuing library drama.  Not sure those two words have ever been put together before.  Part of the reason that I normally buy books instead of going to the library is that I’m a slow reader.  I like to take my time with a text and really immerse myself in it.  I don’t want to merely skim over the words.  I want to savor each one, much like the author labored over choosing precise words in the crafting of the work.  I want to take the time to really enjoy it.  I play a book out in my head as I read, sometimes doing voices and everything, which is much easier to do in your head than it is out loud, by the way.

I can usually finish one book in three weeks, if it’s not too terribly long.  It’s normally not a problem.  However, four books in three weeks is a bit more of a challenge.  I did finish two of the original four that I had stacked up at once, but the last time I went in to the library, there was yet another novel waiting for me, Ulysses by James Joyce.  Side note:  I’m liking the first fifteen pages of it about as much as I liked Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which is to say, not at all.  I may well give up on this book at the end of its three weeks, as it’s about the size of a paving stone, and I think it sucks.  Joyce is just a bit too pretentious for me.

Couple this with the fact that in my movie list, I was actually on a TV series, Boston Legal, which was entertaining, though decidedly unbrilliant.  But watching two or three episodes of that each day was yet another homework assignment I had to finish within a limited amount of time.  Why do I do this to myself?

In other list news, it’s nearly time for the announcement of the Golden Globe nominations, which means I’ll have a whole new batch of more recent movies to watch, which has me really excited.  Have I mentioned I love films?  I love films.  I love story telling.  It fascinates me.  Always has.  So get yourselves ready to hear my completely unexpert reviews of this years awards hopefuls.  I’ll be living in them.  If I can finish my reading.

If you were wondering, I’m currently reading The Bostonians by Henry James, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, and Ulysses by James Joyce.  The next film I’ll be watching is Iron Jawed Angels, a television movie for which Anjelica Houston won a Golden Globe in 2004.  Opinions to follow.

Overstocked

I have a lot of lists.  They keep me from making important decisions like what I should read or which movie I should watch.  The book list started probably ten years ago when I had a baby at home and was taking 23 credit hours a semester, doing a double major, and working two part-time jobs.  I was up to my ears in reading for school, but there were so many other books I wanted to read, so many other classes I wanted to take but didn’t have time for.  So I started keeping a list of them all.  It used to be in a notebook, but eventually grew so much that I had to put it on the computer.  My list currently stands at 261 books to read before I die.

I also believe one can never own too many books.  I tried to count all my books once before moving to Taiwan.  There were over 250.  And those were all books I’d actually read, not ones I just bought to keep around because they were pretty.  I also acquired quite a few books while in Taiwan, but once again found myself moving to another island with only what I could fit in my suitcase.  So only about half of them survived the cut.  Now I have one sad sparse shelf of books.  And my acquisition has been severely slowed down by my pledge to read books from the library rather than buying them.  Life on the islands is expensive.  I need as much free stuff as I can get.

The problem is, at my most recent visit to the library, three books that I had been waiting weeks and weeks for all arrived at once.  Now I have four books to finish in three weeks.  I’m a pretty slow reader.  This is going to be more like my college days.  Don’t expect to see me much.  I’ll be too busy with Greene, Ford, James, and Kerouac.  I love a challenge.  Not sure if I’ll be able to manage this one, but I’ll give it my best shot.

Early to Bed

Even when we run out of things to do at 7:30 and find ourselves heading to the bedroom to relax with our computers for the rest of the evening, I find that I’m still tired in the morning.  I sleep so poorly sometimes.  I’m not sure what the cause is.  I just can’t seem to shut off my brain, which is odd since I’m not doing anything that requires me to be terribly intelligent lately.

Partly I blame Suzanne Collins for once again depriving me of so much needed rest.  I’m actually pretty excited for the film to come out in March.  There’s not even a trailer yet, but the people making the film are so impressive, they’d have to try pretty hard to screw it up.

I got to come home from work early today, which means I didn’t get to make as much money, but I also got to take a nap, so that was a big bonus.  That may be part of why I have a hard time sleeping at night.  On the other hand, I feel that it’s important to sleep when you can.  For some reason, I always feel more rested when I sleep during the day than after a regular night’s sleep.  Does this make sense to anyone?

I’m thinking of making a peanut butter pie in the very near future.  I found a recipe that sounds delicious.  Making dessert is pretty much my favorite way to spend my time.  I don’t work until 5 tomorrow evening, so I intend to spend some time researching some stuff for the bakery, as well as making some inquiries about wedding plans.  I wish it could all just magically happen.  Alas.

Sometimes I feel a little guilty that I’m not really doing any important work.  Perhaps an opportunity will present itself for me to actually do something meaningful with my life.  Adjusting to a new place is stressful and a bit discombobulating.  I feel like I’m not really sure where I should be going or what I should be doing.  Perhaps I need to make a list.  I guess I’ll title it “Things To Do With Your Life.”

Real Quick

Real quick, I’m gonna throw something down before I start a long day of opening boxes and bags.  I actually look forward to going to Island Sole.  It gives me a chance to interact with people I really enjoy.  Also, on a day like today, I get to enjoy something challenging, solve puzzles, and make things work.  Unlike yesterday, which was mind-numbingly boring.

Because my boss had to unexpectedly go to the mainland, I had to cover her shift and then do mine which meant I worked from 10 to 5 at Magnolia.  For those of you working real jobs, a seven hour shift must seem like a luxury, but the boredom of this store is exhausting.  In seven hours, 24 customers came in and I made three sales.  I was the only one there, so no breaks either.

It was such a relief to finally come home.  My husband was camped out in the back bedroom spying on the finches he’d lured into our backyard.  There were probably 20 of them.  He was in heaven.

Even though I was exhausted, I still managed to make us an outstanding dinner.  Buffalo chicken enchiladas were supreme.  They’re definitely spicier than your average enchilada, and I’m sure nobody’s surprised that I went a bit overboard with the cheese.

My favorite part of the day is definitely lying in bed reading with my husband.  I’m so glad I got him to read another book, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.  I’m also happy that now that he’s finished, I can read it again myself.  I stayed up way too late reading The Hunger Games.  You’d think the suspense would be less compelling the second time, but it still draws me in, and I can’t put it down.

There’s so much to do today.  I’ll tell you all about it later.  It will probably be boring.

Successful Avoidance

We went out again last night to the Irish pub to meet up with Geoff’s zoo harem.  I was apprehensive about going out with a bunch of people I’ve never met, especially since they all had something in common that I didn’t share, but it turns out the night was quite successful.

I’m quite sure I’ve mentioned before that I’m no fan of small talk.  I don’t really see the point of wasting my energy to open my mouth and talk about things that are uninteresting and inconsequential.  Luckily, the evening was full of interesting conversation about important things.  And a little bit about Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, which I find immensely important.  Nobody asked me questions that were too personal, and yet I still felt as if I connected and shared within the confines of my own personal boundaries.  For somebody who is intensely socially awkward, I give the night a big A+.

Previous to that, I managed to sell absolutely nothing for four hours at work.  Instead, I spent most of my time thinking about how I don’t actually like it there, and I don’t care much for my boss, and I don’t know how I’m going to get out of that situation if the circumstance ever arises, which my other manager has suggested is quite possible.  As soon as I can get on full-time at Island Sole, I’m going to have to leave Magnolia.  It’s the best thing for me.  Unfortunately, I still feel immensely guilty about it.

I spent the morning walking along the entire two mile stretch of beach in Waikiki looking for seals.  We didn’t find any, but we did spot some amazingly beautiful, large, electric blue fish.  Nobody knew what they were, but they were gorgeous.  I enjoyed getting to spend some good quality time with my husband.  I really like that guy.

So now my throat is killing me, and I smell like an ashtray, but I have a rare day off, so I intend to recover by taking in some historical sights downtown, walking hand in hand with my husband.  Life is sweet.  And that was a long sentence.

Adaptation

Before we get started, let me rewind two minutes and tell you what just happened.

I scoff, “I got six views yesterday.”

Geoff replies, “You suck.”

And it’s true.  It’s really true.  And yet I’m still writing.

The library is thwarting me.  The book I requested has been “in transit” for like two weeks now.  Pretty sure it’s coming from Tahiti on the back of a turtle.  I finally finished my other in between book, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.  So I had nothing to read.  This, my friends, is a tragedy.  I skulked out to my shelf looking for something to re-read and chose The Hunger Games.

I had forgotten just how bleak this book is.  Every single sentence is filled with pain and tragedy.  But naturally, as I began reading, I started thinking about the film adaptation.  I think Jennifer Lawrence will be a fantastic Katniss.  I saw her in Winter’s Bone, and she was amazing.  She showed she definitely has the guts to play a cold, conflicted character.  I’ve seen promo photos of Gale and Peeta.  I have no opinion on those two actors.  I’m not familiar with either of them.  Elizabeth Banks drives me nuts, but so does Effie Trinket, so maybe it will all work out.  I am absolutely thrilled with the casting of Woody Harrelson as Haymitch.  I think he will be perfect.

My concern is how they will convey all of the exposition Katniss gives us in the first few chapters.  There’s a whole apocalypse to explain, followed by the development, rebellion, and suppression of a new civilization.  Not to mention the incident with Katniss’s father, and her mother’s subsequent debilitating depression.  It’s a lot to explain.  It’s done brilliantly through Katniss’s first person narration in the novel.  Yet I wonder how all of this is going to be accomplished on screen.    Will they have narration?  Katniss doesn’t really talk to anybody but Gale.  Will they do it through conversation between those two?  Will they have some sort of prologue?  I’ve noticed that they have cast someone to play Katniss’s father, so I’m assuming there will be flashbacks.

I really hope this movie is good.  The director/writer, Gary Ross, has some great credits including Seabiscuit and Pleasantville, and Suzanne Collins is also given a writing credit, so it seems that they’ve put a great team together.  The book definitely has a lot of cinematic potential.  I’m worried that they’re going to go too far and add in a bunch of things that didn’t really happen to make it more “exciting.”  I also hope they don’t skimp on the gruesome terror of the games themselves.  The stark horror is what makes The Hunger Games such an intriguing book.

I will see the movie, regardless, and I’m confident it will be worth my time.  If you haven’t read The Hunger Games yet, go get it right this very second.  And just go ahead and pick up the other two because you’ll want to pick up the next one the moment you finish the first.

Throw in the Towel

It’s only October.  I still have three months to write every single day in this blog.  Absolutely nothing interesting is happening to me these days.  I have nothing exciting to report.  So why am I still writing?  I think it might be time to give it up.  Blogs should be interesting and well-written.  They should have cool pictures of cool stuff taken by cool people who are cool.  They should not be boring.  It’s time to quit.

Here’s the thing.  I’m a terrible terrible quitter.  I have a bit of a compulsive nature.  I can’t give things up.  I can’t let them go.  I’ve read thousands of pages of Dickens, each one of them torture, just because I said I would.  I’ve suffered through a lot of bad books and movies because of my inability to quit.  So the likelihood of me leaving the blogosphere before the end of the year is unlikely, unfortunately for you.

I’ve been reading Ruth Hall by Fanny Fern.  It’s sort of the American version of a Victorian novel.  Same period, similar style, but with a considerable amount of independent spirit thrown in, lest you mistake the characters entirely for British snobs.  After a series of tragedies, Ruth supports herself by writing for a number of local newspapers.  She quickly gains fame and finally collects her articles in a book and makes her fortune.  She discovers a talent in herself that she didn’t know she had, and it saves her family.

I also listened to an interview on Fresh Air in which Terry interviews an author about a book in which a failed rock musician continues to record in secret and creates and elaborate fantasy around his fake band.  Terry asks if a person isn’t really good at the art they pursue, should they even continue to pursue it.

Ruth was a naturally excellent writer.  I am not.  So should I continue to pursue this art?  Should I continue to devote my time to something that is of no ultimate consequence?  On the one hand, the audience is so small, its effect on others is rather inconsequential.    On the other hand, random strangers occasionally stumble across this blog and are exposed to it.  Perhaps it’s better to spare the world of my boring life.

I probably won’t.  I’ll probably keep writing.  Because I said I would.  And I can’t quit.  It’s not in my nature.

Magic+Food=Great Fiction

With all the excitement of birthday phone calls and what not this morning, I nearly forgot to write my post.  Gosh, I’m getting so bad about that.

I recently started reading Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.  I’ve been wanting to read this book for ages, and I finally got around to it.  I realize it was published in the mid  80’s so most of you have probably already read it, but in case you haven’t, you should definitely pick up a copy.  It’s absolutely delightful.

The book takes place on a ranch in Mexico.  Like nearly every piece of Latin American literature I’ve ever read, it’s set amidst a rebel upheaval.  Geurilla warfare seems absolutely pervasive.  What’s up with that?  It follows the sad life of Tita, the youngest daughter  doomed to serve her mother until she dies.  Tita spends most of her time in the kitchen, and her emotions have an astounding affect on the people who eat the food she prepares.

This book could not be more perfect for me.  It combines two things that I absolutely adore, food and magic.  It’s always so difficult to explain magical realism to people who don’t know what it is.  You really have to experience it to understand it.  Fantastical things happen in the everyday world, and people just accept it as normal.  It’s not spells or wizardry, more like supernatural elements permeating real life.  Nobody ever questions whether ghosts exist or that food cooked by someone with a broken heart could make the person who eats it ill.  That’s just how it is.

This story is told through the traditional family recipes that Tita prepares.  Each chapter is based on a certain recipe, and the preparation of that recipe and the ensuing action are what moves the story forward.  It’s romantic and heartbreaking and delicious.  Get lost in Like Water for Chocolate.  You’ll love it.