bookshelf love

I rearranged my bookshelf this time according to color. I see it is all the rage, this arranging by color on the spine, rather than by size. I have this tiny little ladder like bookshelf thingy. This is really a shame considering I LOVE my books.

I want to buy this bookshelf; I think it would be perfect in my 1960s style home. Just think of all of those little cubbies filled with different colors!

inventory

While I was at the school library a few weeks ago, we were doing the manual inventory of all the books on all the shelves. During this process, the librarian was also "weeding." This weeding meant that we were pulling out old books and those that hadn't been checked out in years and years. Some of the books had not been checked out since I went to school there (27+ years ago!) Unfortunately, some really cool books were pulled. I understand that there are books that kids would never check out based on the story, or the condition of the book, or the "style" of the book, however, I jotted down the names of a few that I thought had really cool illustrations that I would have loved to taken with me. Also unfortunately, our district does not allow for books to be sold or given away. All of these books have to go to the district office to be taken out of circulation and "recycled." Whatever that means. Enjoy!

The Woman with the Eggs by Hans Christian Anderson,

adapted by Jan Wahl, illustrated by Ray Cruz

(buy it here)

The Little Hen and the Giant by Maria Polushkin, illustrated by Yuri Salzman

(Buy it here)

And my favorite:

One Kitten for Kim by Adelaide Holl with illustrations by Don Madden
(Buy it here)

quote

We are off to Colorado for the long holiday weekend (and to celebrate Carson's birthday, ON Memorial Day this year), but I wanted to leave you with this quote from The Reader by Bernhard Schlink:

What is law? Is it what is on the books, or what is actually enacted and obeyed in society? Or is law what must be enacted and obeyed, whether or not it is on the books, if things are to go right?

hmmm, deep thoughts for the long weekend!

quoted

"you're not even close"

"close to what?"

"to what you were really put here to be...not to do, to be. Doing is overrated. Being is where God works, what he's most concerned about"

I love this bit from the book I am currently listening to in my car. Dogwood by Chris Fabry.

*image from here...the dogwood is the official flower of the state of North Carolina

sex on the beach

...and no not that kind!

I just finished listening to On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. Boy was it good. Really good. At some times, it was uncomfortable to listen to, but I digress. My favorite line from the whole story was this:

"This is how the entire course of a life can be changed by doing nothing."

Now, sit and chew on that for a while...

Quote

"How much more interesting life is when one has an occasion to write about it, or someone to describe it to."

From A Family Man written by Amanda Brookfield. That's how I feel about you, my friends. Thank You.

A Family Daughter

Last week I finished A Family Daughter by Maile Meloy. Yet again, it was a library book, continuing on my drive to read more books from the library rather than just buying them.

This book was recommended to me by SGM's mom, and I think SGM gave it to her to read. If you read it, you might wonder why in the world someone would recommend a book about incest, but the story line was original, and it was a fairly easy read. Characters in the book were very well developed, and the book ended very naturally.

The more books I read about families, the more I realize that most families are not normal. I grew up loving my extended family, and thinking everyone was so cool, and normal. After college, I started noticing things about family members that when viewed as an adult were really strange. I have one aunt who is really selfish and unstable, an uncle who is all about my grandmother's money, and another who is married so someone who is just plain annoying. All of these things are clues into my own history, but are also so different than what I saw when I was a child. I suppose some day my own children will say the same things.

Maile Meloy also wrote Liars and Saints. I don't think this is a sequel, but I wonder if I should have read it first. Has anyone read Liars and Saints? What did you think?

House and Home

So, I read a lot this weekend and so far this week. Last night I finished House & Home by Kathleen McCleary. It was (obviously) a quick read. Since I am one for a lot of character development, quick reads don't often do it for me, but I did like this one. The story a is little on the obsessive side, but fun to read and could provide for some good discussion about what does make a house a home?

I was thinking about how much I loved, loved the last house we lived in (the first one we bought, the house where my first child game home to). Sometimes I still dream about it. I like the house we are in now, but does it really feel like home? You know, HOME? I know home is where my family is with me, snuggling on the couch, but this house is not warm, it is not cozy, we can't really use our fireplace, and I don't love my bedroom. There are lots of windows, but not much light. I often wonder if It doesn't seem like home because I keep comparing it to our first house, or because I am ready to move on to the next house/project?

The Zygote Chronicles

Yet another book on my list that I finished this past weekend. This was a good one. It reminded me a lot of Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions . Since I am not currently pregnant (nor planning on it again) I think it lost a little bit on me. Her style is journalistic, not too many words, and a quick read for someone like me who has "been there done that." I would recommend it for someone who is currently pregnant, but doesn't want to read (or re-read)all of What to Expect...

Yesterday

Yesterday, I stayed home from work for a much needed mental health day. I walked the kids to school then took the dog for a long walk, didn't answer my cell phone, put a roast into the crock pot, and took a bath in the middle of the afternoon!




The best thing that happened was that I finished The Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga. It is a good read, a little DaVinci Code like, with much better/more character development (which is what I like in a book). For a book that I just picked off the shelf at the library because I liked it's cover, it was a success!



I also have to say that it was the second library book in a row that I have finished. I might be on to something here. I tend to be one who buys books, but I have been trying to get myself to check them out. We go to the library all of the time for the kids, and I check out audio books, but I have just recently been checking books for me to read out.



Up next (actually I am already 1/2 done) is The Zygote Chronicles by Suzanne Finnamore. Will review when finished.

the design of a wine label

As I sit here drinking a glass of wine in one of our Target knock-off Riedel wine glasses, I hearken back to a conversation that took place at book group on Friday night (yes, admittedly, it is often actually wine group). The conversation started when I was perusing the selection of wine available for consumption during the evening.

There were 11 people in attendance, and there were 13 bottles of wine available (make what ever assumptions you want to here about our consumption and the quality and volume of our ensuing discussion). There were several bottles of wine with expensive, ivory colored, papery-looking labels, with Italian sounding names (like Chateau Leoville Las Cases) embossed in either dark burgundy or black. You see, back in the old days, I would have bought those bottles of wine because: a:) I know nothing about wine, and as we have been taught by the likes of People Magazine, the more expensive looking, the better quality; and b:) the older it looks, the better is to supposed to taste (you know, that whole aging thing) more expensive it actually is.

The rest of the bottles of wine had glossy, irregularly shaped labels and sported names like Red Truck, Tin Roof, Pure Evil, Pillarbox Padthaway Red, and Boarding Pass Shiraz. I mean, for under $20, why wouldn't you try one of these bottles, for the name alone? As a matter of fact, I tend to discount the "fancy name" bottles of wine that are under $20.

Then comes the label design itself. Here are a few of my favorites:

I know that I have certainly spent $20 on worse looking things that can't even be consumed. I mean, really, how poor can these wines be? If they have someone in their employ that can come up with these designs, don't you suppose they have a tiny little bit of wine making talent?

I don't know who was the first winemaker to "break the mold" when it came to naming and labeling their wines, but I can tell you this: they have sold many a bottle of wine to this thirty-something consumer (and many of my friends) by name and label alone. Happy drinking! (and shopping!)

I have to tell you something. I just picked up a new book on Tuesday at one of my all time favorite stores (Urban Outfitters, but more on that later). I had just finished this month's Book Club book, and I was needing something little light, and a quick read. Of course, while perusing the insanely crazy book collection at UO (I thought I would die the first time I saw the word fuck in print at that store), I came across the perfect book:

I Hope They Server Beer in Hell by Tucker Max

(I think MLA would say that a book title needs to be underlined, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to do that right now).

I am traveling for work at the moment so I have a good plenty of time to read in the evening without my kiddos begging me to play a short game of monopoly. I started the book last night and I almost peed myself after reading the acknowledgements in the front of the book. As a matter of fact, I had to call my friend 2 timezones to the west to read the first chapter aloud to her. I laughed my ass off. This guy is such a total asshole, and I can't believe that someone has actually published this for him.

So, anywho, I am so revelling in my great book find, and so excited to tell you all about it that I decided to get on the author's website: http://www.tuckermax.com/ to see if there was anything good there.

Well, once there, I discovered that every single one of the GD stories in this book (which I paid $12.95 plus tax of my hard earned money for) are right there on his website. WHAT A RIP OFF!

However, I am still going to read this book and laugh my ass off, and then I will burn it and mail the ashes to the author with a piece of my mind.

Go on, go to the website and read it...I mean, really...why spend your $13 when you can get it for free?

OK, so I am a sucker for marketing. I pick my books by their covers, I buy my magazines for their cover fonts, and I eat at restaurants whose signage is catchy...

It is my goal to hook up with others of you who have an "eye" for all things fine and wonderful. Don't get me wrong, I am not talking about over-the-top, haute couture things here, just good ole' design.

I am a lover of books, and wonderfully photographed objects and people. I love to surf the web and just see what there is to see!

Here's to those marketing guru's out there!