3 posts tagged “books”
I finally have a new fridge. Yay! The new part would have taken 15 days to get in, and apparently was more expensive than the fridge itself. Finally. The other maintenance men (who for some reason had to repair and replace my French door in the kitchen) made me mad, though. I'm going to have to let the office know. I came home and found that they had moved my table without putting it back, and placed my blinds in one of the rooms. I had closed the door before I went to work. If the door is closed and you do not have a maintenance job related to that room, then you have no business opening it. I have a glass table, and even though I may sound like a wimpy girl, it's heavy to lift that glass up again. I did it but I would rather not do it again. There's two maintenance men, they should have no trouble putting that table back in a minute. People live here, assholes. Put everything back the way you found it.
I went on a good run today. The weather was cooler so it wasn't as bad, but my legs were so sore from Monday's workout (and I think even from dancing a little yesterday, because we worked on bouncing in rhythm.) So I've decided that I'm definitely going to try and make it to the downtown swing dance next week. Yeah! I've heard that these dancers are amazing, so I really want to see what I can learn. Eventually I want to take lessons down there as well, because they have this amazing lineup of Lindy classes. My major concern is parking; I've heard it's challenging in this area, but I'll ask people at my class next Tuesday and see where the best places to park will be. Worse comes to worse, I can be a major nerd and show up super early to snag a good spot. I would like to go tomorrow, but since I have a long day ahead of me on Friday (what with work and travel), it'd be best to get a good night's rest. Dancing always leaves me keyed up for a couple of hours, and unlike my good old college days, I can't dance until midnight, go to sleep at 2, and then wake up nice and late. I have a JOB. BOO responsibility.
Work has been keeping me busy. I finally have a use for a planner. It used to be that I could just remember things for school and activities, but now there's more important things riding on my memory, so writing everything down is key. Plus, it's terribly satisfying to look at my planner at the end of the day and see how much is crossed off (and a little depressing to see how much I have yet to do). There's one major project that pretty much takes up all my time. It's a huge project and I'm doing some engineering and real estate support work on it, and there's always something to do with it. Always. But I love being busy!
I finished a mystery novel and really enjoyed it (I need to start doing book reviews again, I'm so lazy). It is from the Maisie Dobbs series, a series that I enjoy immensely. It is about this woman detective in the 20's and 30's and they are really good books. I really like the character and the stories don't get bogged down with any romance either. There are some books where I don't mind romance being a key plot (i.e. Gone With the Wind), but in others, I find it a pain if it interferes with mystery or action stories.
Crap, it's already 11 and I'm wide-awake. I need to go simmer down before bedtime. I'd like to try to get another run in tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.
I've written book reviews on this blog in the past about books I really liked, but what about the really terrible books that aren't worth a second glance? In this volume, I'll tackle the overrated classics. Obviously this post contains SPOILERS, so don't whine to me like a dumbass if I ruined the ending of a book you happen to be reading.
1. Where the Red Fern Grows
Why does this book suck? Technically, it doesn't. It has a decent story-a little boy buys two bloodhounds and raises them as his own. But it's a terrificly awful book to read as a fifth grader, when the two dogs you become all attached to throughout the story die sad and miserable deaths. One gets disemboweled by a mountain lion, and the other dog dies of a broken heart. How heavy is that? I mean, Wilson Rawls, couldn't you have killed off only one dog? But no. I was stuck reading this crap in both the fifth and sixth grades. I would have to say that the second time was worse. By then I actually had a red little puppy, Max, and would think about him as I read the book, effectively making it much more depressing. So since this book made me cry and has a twisted ending about dead dogs, it sucks.
2. Gulliver's Travels
This is one of the few books I didn't finish in a high school English class. I was supposed to read this book for my senior AP English class. That class was such a joke. My teacher used to bitch about how much we students talked too much and never did our work, and after her bitchfest, she'd walk to the back of the room and flirt and talk with the boys for the rest of the period. As for this book, I just physically could not make myself turn another page. It is one of the most boring books I have ever attempted to read. The day before the test, I got the Sparknotes and read them frantically. I got an 85 on the test. Thanks, Sparknotes! For some reason, I thought it'd be a good idea to tell my teacher that I was able to pass her test solely off of Sparknotes. Cue a lecture to the entire class about how irresponsible it is to read Sparknotes instead of the book and how you're cheating yourselves from the actual story. Cheating myself out of what, Mrs. C? INSUFFERABLE BOREDOM?
What gets me is that everyone else I talk to professes their love for this book.
3. Grapes of Wrath
You know, this book didn't actually suck...only the first 300 pages did. In the first chapter, every other word must have been "dust." Okay, we get it. There is a lot of fucking dust.
4. Jane Eyre
I can sum up Jane Eyre in one sentence: "Oh Mr. Rochester, blah blah blah, I love him, blah blah blah." There's a lot of nonsense in that sentence for you to get the gist of what I'm saying, right? That's how the how the entire novel is.
5. The Great Gatsby
Maybe this book sucked only because it had been listed as the 2nd greatest novel of the twentieth century. Take it from me-it isn't. What a letdown.
6. A Tale of Two Cities
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." To be honest, I can't say whether or not this book sucks, because I never got past the first sentence.
Now it's your turn-what were the books that you couldn't get through in English class?
I went to Cheddar's tonight with Meg and Matt. I can't resist their Honey Dijon Chicken. Honey Dijon Chicken + Cookie Monster + Dr Pepper = Heaven + really full tummy. I have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch...yum.
I bought this book today at the student bookstore. I've been eyeing it for awhile, and now that it is 50% off, I couldn't resist.
I also bought the Virginia Tech t-shirts that they had on sale. It's a nice benefit...the money goes towards the victims in Blacksburg. Our two rival schools banded together to make the t-shirts, because together we have the same colors that VA Tech does. I bought one each for the whole family.
Dance classes are officially over with. I had my last lesson last night. My Lindy has improved enormously since last week thanks to Doug's suggestion, so that fills me with more confidence. We learned some rather difficult turns yesterday. My problem is sometimes I get so nervous on Thursday night dances that I forget all the cool stuff I've learned in class. I actually like West Coast now...I didn't think that I would at first, but it's actually really smooth and sexy, and I think it's a really versatile dance to learn (because let's face it, I shake my booty like a white girl). I asked my West Coast teacher, Jamie, if there were any places she'd recommend in my home town to learn swing. Unfortunately my hometown completely lacks a swing scene. Oh well. I'll just have to take the ballroom/swing class that the local dance studio offers (which seems like a really odd pairing to me...ballroom dancing is much different from swing.) This weekend there's going to be a five-hour workshop with instructors from Austin, and it's going to be all Lindy. So I'm really looking forward to that.
I have to go do laundry...and grade...excitement! I have one more test on Friday in the class I'm auditing before finals. Gah, I can't believe this year is almost over with. As my old roomie Rabia would say, craziness.
I've made this entry entirely too long.
