It’s figured out

So I finally figured out how to get my list of books for my goal of 100 books in a year.  I was discussing my goal with a co-worker and he pointed out that a lot the so-called “great books” are not really books that you’d want to read for pleasure.  Although they may be good literature, they may be boring, such as Moby Dick or anything by the Bronte sisters.

So instead of reading 100 classics, I’m going to read 100 books that others think are good books.  The “others” that I’m talking about are Oprah Winfrey, the AP Board and the New York Times Bestsellers list.

The first of those is easy.  I simply pulled up Oprah’s Book Club list, deleted any that I’ve already read or seen as movies and the few that Bill Cosby wrote b/c those are kid’s books.  That left me with 56 books that I will read.  Even better is that I already have 5 0r 6 b/c I had planned on reading them before, but didn’t get around to it.  Now I will use the AP books lists, and the New York Times best seller’s lists to fill in the other 44.  I think I can do that easily. 

I’m so close to having a list that I can’t wait to get started.  I might not wait until 2010.  I might just start at the beginning November.  That’ll give me time to make sure that I can get at least some of the books from the library until I get my Kindle for Christmas.

I”m so excited!!

100 Books in a Year

I’ve decided I want to try to read 100 novels in a year.  Originally I was going to read 100 classic novels, because as someone with an English degree, there are just a lot of books that I think I should have in my repetoire that are not, like The Fountainhead or Moby Dick.  However, I’m having a hard time finding a good list to work from.  There are so many lists of “classic novels.”  Who’s do I trust?

When thinking about writing this post, I thought about reading all the books on Oprah’s Book Club list, but there are only 68 and some of them I think are kid’s books.  I don’t know.  Maybe I’ll just go with the Modern Library that I found online.  Time Magazine also has a list.  Some of these repeat, so maybe I’ll start with those and then figure out what to do next when I’ve finished those.  I could also choose 100 books from the suggested reading list for the AP Literature test.  There are like 200 of those, so I could have more flexibility and eliminate books that I’ve already read or that really just don’t sound interesting.

I can’t believe that its so difficult just to decide what list to go from.  I thought that would be the easiest part.

Natural Hair

I am convinced that the texture of my hair has changed over the years.  Before, as my hair grew and it got closer to my next relaxer, my hair would become increasingly more difficult to comb.  Now that is not the case anymore.  Now my hair just gets wavy. . . little waves, similar to my cousins natural hair.  There hair has never been nappy.  They have “good” hair. 

The idea that my texture has changed, kind of makes me wonder what would happen if I stopped getting relaxers and just let my natural hair grow out.  I could cut it short like I typically do every other year and then just let it grow and see what happens.  As it grows out, just have a bit more cut off until all I’m left with is my own hair.  It’s an interesting idea, but I don’t know if I’m brave enough.

This Christmas. . . The Kindle

It’s decided. . . I HAVE TO HAVE A KINDLE!  I’ve been an avid reader since I was a child.  My mother often tells 2 stories about me in relation to my love of books.

1.  When I was young, around 4 or 5 years old while other children were in the grocery store line begging for some cheap water gun they’d noticed or a doll I was begging for a book or a notepad and paper.  I was like that in toy stores too.  She would take me and let me pick out anything I wanted and I would always pick a book.  I would beg desperately to have and in her words “Who could say no to that?”

2.  One day when I was about 10 or 11 she took me to the library.  We went weekly b/c I have two aunts who are librarians and well, taking your daughter to the library is cheap, easy and educational quality time.  I was having a hard time picking a book so the nice children’s librarian was trying to help.  She kept offering Babysitter’s Club and Nancy Drew books and my mom says I looked at her like she had grown two more heads.  When she gave up I went out to the adult section and picked up a Stephen King novel.  (Yes I was reading Stephen King at that young age.  He was my fave author until I discovered Octavia Butler in college.)

I remember being taken to the library weekly and having to spend hours choosing b/c my mother would only allow me to have 3 library books out at one time unless they were specifically for school.  I would always read all three at once, but would finish them at different rates depending on their enjoyability and length.

The Kindle is the perfect gift for me.  Not only does the cheapest one at only $299 (less than my iPod touch) hold over 1500 books, but the battery life is apparently days long, but it’s small, light and has a wireless connectivity so you can download books anywhere.  Plus you get the convenience of having your library stored to your Amazon.com account.  So if something happens you can re-download anything you’ve already purchased without having to pay for it again.  PLUS the books are much more cheap that way being 9.99 or less.  Plus they have cute covers for them.

I’m absolutely in love.  I can read as many books at once as I want w/out having to carry them all around.

Now S amd M (especially you S) I know you’re thinking, but what about physical books.  I really want to have a great physical library to pass on to my kids and grandkids, so my plan is that if I love a book or think that it’s important somehow, I’ll still buy it so that it’ll be in my collection.  But now, I won’t waste nearly as much money buying books that I don’t finish reading or think aren’t worth the time to finish.

I’m not even sure I’ll be able to wait until Christmas.  I might be ridiculous and buy if for myself.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Okay I’m back

I recently read a post by M on her blog mentioning that she wishes S and I would write more often so that she would have something to read.  So I apologize for being absent for 4 months.  It’s not that I haven’t had anything interesting to write about, but when my laptop had to have its hard drive replaced and I didn’t have it for 3 weeks, I lost the habit and it broke.

Anyway, I’m starting on Christmas early.  I got a good idea for something to make my cousins and I’m starting today so that I’m not pressed for time when the holidays finally get here.  I”m really excited b/c I”m making them berets and I think they’ll really like them.  I’m just going to make the same pattern in different colors and let them pick which one they want.  When I have the practice run finished, I’ll model it for you.  I’m really glad to be knitting again.  With the job I have now, I don’t make as much money as I used to, so I couldn’t afford yarn for a while, but God has balanced my budget and now I can. 

So, I’m back to writing again and periodically will have a cute video of my cat Candace being wacky for you.  She’s an endless source of love and entertainment.

TTYL

Kitty Update #2

They’re making great strides.  Hannah comes out from under the bed regularly now.  It used to take quite a  bit of coaxing, but now she practically comes out as soon as she sees my face, unless she doesn’t feel like moving at all.  Even that makes me happy b/c that is typical cat behavior.  They don’t do anything they don’t feel like doing.  Yesterday she poked her head out and even though she saw me looking she went on and did what she wanted to do.  I’ve also caught her exploring my closet. 

Last night she kept running back and forth from their room to mine to eat.  But she would run to her room, eat a little and run back.  I imagine that explains all the running I hear at night.  It also makes me wonder if she’s the one that throws up occasionally.  4 times I’ve found a partially digested pile on my carpet somewhere, but you can still see the shapes in the food as if whoever threw it up had just eaten.  I wonder if Hannah doesn’t let her food digest before playing.  That definitely sounds more like her than Candace.

Candace is really chill.  She doesn’t do much, but desperately loves to be petted.  She is happy with me just being in the same room as she is.  She used to spend her day between my bookcases and would purr quite loudly if I hung out in there.  Since CW accidentally scared her she’s been under my bed with Hannah and I wake up to her purring now.  Now she and Hannah take turns coming to me when I go down to visit and when its Candace’s turn she is selfish.  If I start to pet Hannah with my other hand, Candace will go to that one and push Hannah out of the way.

Candace as come fully out from under the bed twice now.  She only stays out for a few seconds and is clearly very nervous for those few seconds, but its a start.  She does love to be petted though.  Is petted the right word or is the past tense of pet still pet?? Hmmm. . .

Anyway my girls are fabulous.  They are slowly testing their boundaries while I’m awake, i assume to see if I’m going to be mean to them like their previous owners.  Hannah is really enjoying testing me and getting more comfortable with it, but I wonder if she trusts CW.  Of course it could just be b/c they spend a lot more time with me.  The other night she was about to come back into my room, and he was trying to tell her that it was okay for her to come in.  She started talking, which is unusual for her.  As soon as I peaked my head out so she could see that I was also in the room, she came in.  I guess seeing me made her feel safe.

I’m getting closer to having crazy playful kitties in my house all day

A Bad Witness

My pastor is always reminding us that we are to be good witnesses for those who do not believe in God.  That as believers we need to live our lives so that others can see how faith and see how God is truly a consistent part of our lives.  If we want to lead others to God then we must always live our lives right.  Its the “do as I do” principle.

Yesterday, I went to DSW and found some fabulous sandals.  While CW and I were in line the woman in front of us was frantically trying to find the coupon that she had.  She had found a pair of shoes in clearance that were 50% off and she had had a $10 off coupon.  Well, she’s discussing this with the cashier, who by the way is being genuinely nice, and starts to include me and CW in the conversation as well.  Then she acts like a bad witness and says

“That’s what I get for changing my G**d*** purse, before going to church”

REALLY??!!  Not only did she curse, which would have been easy to ignore, but she uses God’s name in the curse and mentions that she had gone to church that morning.  That is wrong on so many levels.  She behaved exactly how we are instructed not to.  Of course, we don’t know what church she goes to, but I pray that it isn’t mine.

Kitty Update #1

This is the fifth day that the kitties and I have lived together and I think we are making great progress.  Monday at some point they hid themselves under my dresser in my bedroom.  In order to get under there, they had to go back behind it b/c that access is blocked from the front.  When we chased them out from under it, Hannah went under my bed, and Candace went back to their room.  Well, Hannah has claimed the space under my bed for herself.

She was there most of the day on Tuesday and yesterday, even though I was also in the room most of the day.  By the end of the day on Tuesday if I laid on the floor with my arm under the bed and called to her, she would come so that I could pet her and purr like a motorboat.  I haven’t been able to really pet Candace b/c she spends most of her day behind the bookscases where I can see her, but can’t really reach.

What makes me the most sad is that even though Candace will come to me so that I can pet her, she regularly looks behind her as if she’s checking for an ambush and if she gets too close to poking fully out from under the bed, she retreats a little bit.  It’s so sad to think what used to be done to them.

Well, they’re definitely warming up.  This morning I found them cuddled together between the bookscases.  Even though, I can’t fully reach them, I can stick my fingers in there.  Hannah began rubbing her head on my hand, then Candace pushed her out of the way to get to me, then they both started purring.  Candace also likes to talk to me.

They’re progressing much more quickly than I expected.

Meet the Girls

Meet my girls, Hannah (on the left) and Candace (on the right)!!  I’m so excited about them!! 

I’ve been wanting a cat for years, but the circumstances were never quite right.  Well, months ago CW and I started discussing me getting one.  I’ve been frequently visiting the website of one of our local cat charities and longingly looking at the pictures of the cats they have available for adoption.

Well, Monday or Tuesday CW mentioned that a guy that he works with had two cats that he didn’t want.  Apparently someone he knew didn’t want them anymore and left them with him.  Well, this guy didn’t like cats.  He just wanted them out of his apartment.  So, Thursday after dance rehearsal we went to see them.  I just thought they were going to be two random cats.  It was immediately apparent upon seeing them that they were siblings.  We asked what gender they were, which wasn’t an easy question b/c the guy is Mexican and speaks very little English, but he eventually understood and said girls.  Once they were coaxed from under the couch, they ran and hid at the end of the hall.  The guy went to get one of them, and she was terrified.  I knew immediately that they were nice cats though b/c typically when a cat is scared it will bite, scratch, claw, hiss do anything to get alway.  She was scared and tense, but didn’t try to injure him at all.

We didn’t take them then, b/c I had only planned on taking one, but I knew I wouldn’t feel right separating them.  The guy was begging us to take both of them anyway. 

So Friday, we went out and bought all the things you need for kitties. 

 

 

A litter box and a cute mat to go underneath that helps catch the litter that’s stuck to their paws.

 

 

 

 

a “diaper genie” type canister for what comes out of the litter box, food dish with matching mat, and an auto-waterer.  It has a resevoir that holds about 2 liters of water and automatically refills the dish when the level goes down.

 

 

 

 

and of course when I saw it at Walmart I couldn’t help but purchase the 8ft. tall cat tree for them to claw and climb on!

 

We took the bed out of my second bedroom and b/c the carpet in there is the only carpet in the house that wasn’t replaced before I moved in, its the perfect cat room.  Now all I have to do is convince them that I’m safe. 

Their previous owner and the guy that I got them from weren’t very nice to them.  Although they were fed and kept clean they weren’t cuddled with or played with.  They were basically ignored and the guy that we got them from used to kick them if they got too close.  They are emotionally scarred and I can see in their pretty faces that they are still very nervous that I’ll turn on them.  They love to be petted and purr like little motorboats, but they are afraid of being picked up.  It is of course promising that they are exploring my house.  They mostly just hide.  In their room I left the dressers and night stand for them to climb on and hide under b/c i know cats like to do that.  That pic of them is of them under one of the dressers.  Today they’ve been hiding behind the two bookcases in my living room so at least they’ve made it to the front of the house.  I will continue to talk to them and pet them everyday and I know that one day they’ll be the sweet playful and free kitties that they really want to be.

I’ll let you know when that happens.

movie vs. novel

So I’ve been told by my mother and CW both that I’m supposed to write a novel.  My mother has been saying it for my whole life, all she does is change what she thinks the novel is supposed to be about.  She used to worry that it was going to be horror b/c when I was 10 I started reading Stephen King novels and he was my favorite author back then.  Currently I have two ideas and they’re both science fiction.   Now the only other choice is to write a novel or a movie script.

When I write stories I can always “see” what I’m writing happening in my imagination.  My stories play out before me like watching a movie, complete with dialogue, scenery, and a soundtrack.  I agonize over the settings of various scenes, what the clothing should look like and how the music should sound.  I already know that one thing I really need to do is learn to draw.  If I could draw things out it would definitely help.  Maybe I could pick that up while I”m not working.

Anyway, I’ve started working on one of my ideas and plan on finishing the rough draft by the end of the year.  Wish me luck!