I ♥ Reading

I love to read.  I gobble up books like I gobble up fast food breakfasts (I'm addicted to that too...but that's a story for another day).  Books are so wonderful...and there are so many of them out there!  If there is one thing that I can be sure of, it is that I'll be busy reading for the rest of my life.

I have a yearly goal to read one book per week.  I haven't quite reached that goal (in July 2009- June 2010 I read 48 books, in 2010-11 I read 44), but I keep trying.  I don't have a particular reason for setting that goal, it is just something I keep in mind.

I have to keep a journal listing the books I read because I used go to the library and check out a stack of books and then get home and realize I had read most of them.  The journal helps me keep track of the goal I mentioned, but also helps me avoid duplicates.

Speaking of the library, I am a library fanatic.  The librarians at my local branch don't necessarily know me by name, but they definitely know my face.  I am there at least every other week checking out books.  I've started requesting the books that I want to be sent to my favorite branch and then I just have to pop in and pick them up.  I love that I can do this!  Browsing the stacks is fun, but I don't always have time for that.

The hardest part for me is finding titles that I want to read.  I look at online lists, lists in magazines, Oprah's book club, Today Show book club, etc. to find titles that appeal to me.  It is hard work sometimes.  The other thing that helps is looking at the comments about the book I am currently enjoying.  Authors who have commented on their own enjoyment of the book are good leads for me in finding other novels to read.  Sometimes I go to the bookstore and just look at the popular titles, write them down and then go to the library to get them.  (I should tell you I don't buy books.  I read them once and don't really have the budget to buy the number of books that I read every year.  Not to mention a place to store them!)

This week I read three books.  Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, The Moon in the Mango Tree by Pamela Binnings Ewen, and Breakfast with Buddha by Roland Merullo.  They were books that I was sort of saving for my vacation next week...but I didn't have others, so I plowed through all three.  Now I am trying frantically to get my hands on 7 or so titles to take with me to the beach next week.

I would love to make reading and making lists of fabulous books into a career.  Maybe someday I'll figure out how to do it.  In the meantime, I'll just remain a voracious reader.

What is a Real Housewife Anyway?

photo courtesy of bravotv.com

I know you watch them.  I know because I do too.  Those "Real" Fake Housewives of whatever city you prefer.  My latest obsession is the New Jersey gals.  The show is a train wreck!!  That's why I can't stop watching it.  I do watch with a somewhat analytical eye...I am trying to figure out what the heck the angle is besides the fact that everyone loves a good drama.

I just watched the episode where Teresa and Danielle get into a fight at a fashion show.  The fight turns into huge drama and another housewife's daughter, Ashley, pulls Danielle's hair.  (Her defense was that she didn't really pull her hair, she pulled her extensions "which really isn't a part of her.")  I hadn't seen this particular episode before, I had only seen the discussions afterward about going to court, pressing charges, etc.  The actual fight was hilarious!  I was watching it thinking about how staged it was.  It is so staged that I almost bought it.  But who would ever do anything like this and who would stand around and watch it happen?  My own answer is nobody...unless they were being paid a lot of money to do so.

So I decided that if I am going to watch the show I really need to have an objective.  I must learn something from the show if I am going to spend time with these women.  So here is my list of things I've learned so far:

1.  Be sure to have multiple friends named Kim so that they can be referred to as Kim G. and Kim D. and Kim (insert letter).

2.  Don't call anyone honey unless you want them to think you want to kill them after you say it.

3.  Refer to your breasts as "buh-bies".

4.  Hire an "energist" to be a personal trainer for your spirit.  Then you have an excuse to be a bitch because your energist told you that you need to get rid of some of your negative energy.

5.  Hire a bodyguard named Danny who served time in prison.  Make sure he has a volatile side so that he can fight all your catty battles for you.

6.  If you want people to think your are super classy, wear really tall shiny "f***-me" boots.  The taller and shinier the better.  These should be just like the ones in Pretty Woman except use real shoe polish (not a black magic marker) if you scuff them...or just throw them away and get a new pair.

7.    If your son gets kicked out of law school because of his poor grades, hire a lawyer to sue the school to make sure he can either get back in or get into another law school.  This shows him how important his future career as a lawyer is to society.  (Don't worry about talking to him about what got him kicked out in the first place.)

8.  If you are scared of someone because you think they want to cause you bodily harm, be sure to get as close as possible to them and put yourself in situations where you can tease them into "hurting" you.  Then freak out and call the police so that you can be a victim.

I can't wait to put these things into place in my life and continue to use the show as a basis for learning.  I will continue to watch the New Jersey gals and enjoy every move they make.  I hope you will too!

The beach

I love the beach.  Especially Mission Beach in San Diego, CA.  I have been vacationing, sailing, swimming, enjoying myself there since I was very small.  I recently celebrated my 40th birthday and the first thing that came to mind for that celebration was spending time in MB.  We rented a house for a week right by the ocean and had a great time...enjoyed family and friends who spent time with us there and just basically hung out and did whatever we wanted to do.  Some of my besties were missing from the celebration (they know who they are), but they were there in spirit.  I cried when we left, like I always do, and my husband reminded me during my teary musings about wanting to live there that it wouldn't be so special if we were there all the time.  He's right, I guess...but a girl can dream.