The Book of Ruth

I finished reading "The Book of Ruth" a few days ago. I was not that impressed. It was a good story, and ended up very shocking, but it took the entire book to get to the good stuff. I constantly felt myself thinking, "Hurry up and get through this, there are other (better) books waiting for you on your bookshelf!" So I finished it, and that's that.

I'm now reading "The Virgin's Lover", about Queen Elizabeth I when she began her reign. Historical fiction has to be my favorite, and Philippa Gregory does a great job with these books. I loved "The Other Boleyn Girl" and breezed through it in a matter of days. So far "The Virgin's Lover" is pretty good and very politically detailed.

I'm excited for some good movies that are coming out, like "Funny People", and mostly "The Time Traveler's Wife". The book was AMAZING, and I want to read it again, actually. But, I loaned it to my sister, who is in Texas, so I'll have to wait. I've got a lot of other unread books to read, anyway.

Speaking of Texas... I'm going to visit in less than a week! I'm excited to see everyone and see the revamp of "House of Several Stories" that I've been working on from afar. I also get to see Theresa, who just bought her first house with her husband! I get to help them move in, I'm really excited!

Also, I'm sure my parents will be moving this fall. This puts me in between a rock and a hard place. If I could find a job here, I would stay. I've been going crazy looking, but they make it so ridiculously hard to be a teacher, and school starts on Monday for most Valley schools. :( If I knew it was going to be so hard to be a teacher I would have started the process in January. So far my options are 1) God is good and I find a great job here and stay, 2) move with my parents, 3) move back to San Marcos/Austin and live off my friends until I find something there. I don't want #2. I could use some prayers. :(

Vacation?

I haven't posted in a while because I was in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, for a colleague's wedding, and then a week after that we had family from Wisconsin visit so I was spending time with them. Now it's quieted down a bit (except for the crazy weather) so I should update.

I finished reading "My Antonia" and really liked it. I loved Cather's writing style and the way that it was set in Nebraska and not in an upper-class drawing room. Which is probably why I haven't read any of Jane Austen's novels yet. I read some of Edith Wharton's work, but it's the same upper-class-drawing-room stuff of the time. I went to Border's to see if they were hiring and ended up buying "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy. It's going to be a great feat to tackle that one, but I hear it's one that I cannot pass up. Right now I'm reading "The Book of Ruth", and although it's interesting, it's been slow-going. I can't seem to get into it, even though it takes place on the border of Wisconsin and Illinois. Maybe it's the language or writing style, but I'm hoping I get into it so I can finish it soon.

I already mentioned the crazy weather, and it is monsoon season, but it's been crazy! While family was here we went out to dinner to eat mexican at On the Border and saw the storm coming, and as we sat down and ordered, we looked out the window and saw the dust just spinning out in the air-- you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you! By the time we finished, it died down a little bit, and mom turned on the pool pump right away so we went for a night swim as soon as little Addy was asleep.

The first picture is my favorite of Addy swimming by herself with those arm floatie things! And then the picture I got of the dust storm as we were driving out of the parking lot from the restaurant.
It's dinner time, so I'm going to go eat! I'm sure I'll update more tomorrow or later this week!

I'm such a nerd!

So... when I was in high school, I was OBSESSED with the film "Titanic", as all of my friends know. However, not everyone knows that I used to write stories about it... yeah. And to top it all off, I had a website where I put them up for the public to read. I found one of my stories that is hosted at another site, and I'm thinking I'm going to rummage through the garage to find where I stored all the rest of them. This is evidence that I cannot write original thoughts. I'm not even sure I should post this link because I'm afraid of being made fun of, but here it is, for your reading enjoyment, my favorite Titanic fiction that I ever wrote: Formality

I'm leaving for Fort Walton Beach, Florida, tomorrow to attend the wedding of one of my colleagues from Texas State. She's the only one I will know there, and I wanted a little mini vacation to clear my head and find my confidence to tackle the crappy employment situation here. As it turns out, some of my high school friends will be there: Krystal and Colby! So hopefully we can have dinner together or something. And it's supposed to rain the entire weekend. So that's nice.

I'm reading "My Antonia" by Willa Cather and I am really enjoying it! It's so refreshing since I've been reading depressing novels, like "The Road" and "Revolutionary Road". I'm thinking of buying another one of her famous novels, "O Pioneer!". But we'll see.

I've figured out that if you play MarioKart Wii enough that you can "unlock" your Mii and race as yourself! And there's a "Mirror Mode" where all the tracks are flipped! Pretty cool. More proof that I need a job...

I booked my flight to Texas!! August 4-12! I'm so excited to get back and see everyone! (and maybe find out if there are jobs out there...)

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

This was a surprisingly fast read, although I think that's because it kept me awake at night, even if I wasn't reading it! It really made me think, and as I was trying to fall asleep I would sit and listen to every noise in the house. I'm not really sure how they made a film out this, as I feel that it should be left in literary form. It's been a while since I've read a novel with this sense of style and aw. This truly is a work of art, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was included in the high school reading canon. After reading this, I wanted to dig through the boxes in my garage to find Camus's "The Stranger" and reread it. But, it's 110 degrees today, so I'll save that task for another day. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the art of literature.

My parents and I watched the film version of "Revolutionary Road" last night, and I must say that Sam Mendes did a fantastic job in creating the mood of the piece. However, I felt the beginning moved a little too fast and we never got to see the powerful scene where April is mowing the lawn when Frank wakes up with a hangover and discovers she's slept on the couch. To me, having the wife mow the lawn, which typically was a man's job in the 50s, says something about the couple. Also, there was a scene in the book that I felt was powerful, and it didn't come out that way in the film for some reason.

It's HOT! My mom is playing Mario Kart and I might join her. I think later I'm going to stop by a few restaurants and see if they're hiring and are willing to hire someone without any experience (meaning ME!).

My next novel: "My Antonia" by Willa Cather.

Revolutionary Road: The Novel

I'll admit, I read this book because I was interested in the story after I saw a trailer for the film. Usually I enjoy books better than their film versions, so I quick read this book because my parents had just purchased the movie. With that said, the entire time I was picturing Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet the entire time. It's not a bad thing, but when I see the film I think I'll be disappointed because it will be different.

This story is heartbreaking. There really is no alternative for the actions of the characters to break free from their confinement in the suburbs. This novel is a perfect example of how the 1950s were all about conformity and "normalcy", while the government was on a rampage to end communism throughout the world. What they did not know was they had created their own small form of it right in America.

I could go on and on about feminism in this novel, but I think April Wheeler is a great character, and any actress with talent would LOVE to play her. I also feel that the dialogue is so rich in this novel that a play could easily be extracted from its pages, and it would be powerful.

We'll be watching the film sometime this weekend, I think, so I'll let you know how Sam Mendes' version compares to the novel.

It's raining the desert!! I'm listening to thunder as I type this, and I had no idea how much I missed it. I loved the Texas thunderstorms. I remember one Friday in April that was just stormy all day, and when I got home from school I took the most wonderful nap... falling asleep to thunder is a wonderful thing.

Still no job. And I'm running out of places to apply. I've already applied to Target, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, a few pre-schools, and some random desk jobs. I guess I could bag groceries with a Masters degree. How awesome would that be?