A Superb Read

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

To give you an idea of how good this book is, let me say this:  I bought it in the airport on my way home this weekend.  With the exception of Vampire Diaries (duh), I haven't even bothered to catch up on any of my TV shows since I got home.  No Downton Abbey.  No Nashville.  No Revenge.  Perhaps a glance at Big Bang Theory because it's not very long and I'm co-habiting with a nerd and must make sacrifices.

That's how good this book is.

No spoilers - read on.

The book is told from the perspective of a woman who was 11 years old when the earth's rotation began to slow down.  She explains the story in hindsight which accomplishes two significant things: (1) the point of view of a pre-adolescent girl trying to figure out the world when it unexpectedly goes bonkers, and (2) a sophisticated writing style that wouldn't exist if she didn't frame it within the hindsight narrative.

One day in October, the earth's rotation slows down.  No one can figure out why; no one can make any predictions about what will happen next.  And as it turns out, the rotation continues to slow, making a "day" 72 hours long (and still growing in length) and sizzling as the atmosphere decays, making nights just as long and freezing cold.  Of course this begins to affect plants, animals, the magnetic field.  Which in turn affects how humans try to live in the midst of constant change.

Walker takes the most basic thing that we take for granted (the sun will rise, the sun will set) and turns it on its head.  How do people respond, cope, live in the face of absolute disorder?  What happens to them physically, psychologically when nothing is the same as it was before?  Could something as simple (or as complicated, depending upon how you look at it) as our circadian rhythms make us sick if the body no longer "knows" how much daylight or dark to expect?  What happens to society when the scientists don't have any answers for the phenomenons and the doctors can't even speculate why people are dying?  What happens when we realize all those answers we thought we had dissolve, and we're left with no explanations and no solid expectations for tomorrow?

As morbid as the theme sounds, Walker strikes a balance between the fear (terror) of events and the innocent experiences of a young girl still trying to figure out friendships, school, and her parents' rocky marriage.  Sometimes the apocalyptic fades into the background as she simply tries to navigate everyday life.

I highly recommend this book.  It will bring to the surface all you take for granted and you will find yourself thankful for just another ordinary day.

Enjoy!

That's more like it

This is the first Monday in about 5 months that G and I woke up together and one of us isn't getting on a plane to leave today.  Does that sentence even make sense?  I haven't had my coffee yet.  G has already hit the road so it doesn't feel weird yet - it will feel weird when we both get home tonight and stare at each other like, "Hey...what are you doing here?"

Meanwhile Orca is basking in it because she gets loved on twice as much every day.

I'm reading one of the best books I've read in a long time and expect to finish it tonight.  A review is on its way!

So last night I went to a Supper Club.  Have you heard of this?  I was invited by a new friend, but apparently invitations aren't all that common because the groups are supposed to stay small and somewhat intimate.  (The introverts just perked up.)  Also, the Club is not supposed to be made up of friends inviting other good friends; the intent is to comprise it of acquaintances who then get to know each other better over the year.

The Club meets once a month at a different member's house for a night of dinner and drinks.  Last night, we planned the entire year and all the themes and assigned each night to a member - it's a Type A's dream! Next month is Fondue Night at my place!

Happy Monday!

*yeah, right

A Chinese Story

G's quote when he picked me up at the airport last night:

"The apartment is perhaps not as pristine as you were expecting."

Good thing I wasn't expecting pristine at all.  When would he and Orca have possibly found time to clean or, you know, unpack, with all the XBox playing??

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan

After my years and years of reading Ghost Wars, I wanted a purely fictional story that I could get lost in.  Amy Tan is good for that (go read The Joy Luck Club immediately).  As a testament to her writing power, let me just say that as I traveled over the last week, I hardly even looked up as the plane took off and landed.  I won't even tell you what a miracle that is.  At night in the hotel room, I would fall into bed, thinking I was moments from sleep (heck, I live my life mere moments away from sleep), but I would lay there and read for hours.

The story starts with a Chinese-American woman (Pearl) struggling with whether or not to tell her aging mother that she (the daughter) has been diagnosed with MS.  She assumes her mother would not handle the news well, and decides to keep it a secret and not bother her with it.  Until her old Chinese auntie threatens to break the news if she doesn't handle it herself.  And she mentions something about Pearl's mother being no stranger to secrets...

Then the mother begins to narrate, guiding us back to her life in China as a child in the 1940's, struggling under Japan's attacks and impending oppression.  She was born into one of the richest families in the area, and was later abandoned by her mother and forced to deal with the shame and low-level that brought upon her within the family.  A few years passed and she was able to "escape" the family via a marriage arrangement that ended up trapping her in an abusive marriage for years.  The marriage, though, took her around China during the war and introduced her to some key characters within the story.  Trust me, you will find yourself transported to China.  You will find yourself frantic about what is going to happen next.

Tan builds suspense very well and her dialogue is superb.  I used to work with an older Chinese lady and Tan aptly portrays the mixture of bossiness, hard-headedness, shrewdness, and outright hilarity that can exist within one person all in a sentence or two.

I have so enjoyed my transition back to fiction that I just may never read non-fiction again.

Enjoy!

TGIF, people!

It's the little things

I came back to the hotel last night and saw this:

I was like "Oooooooooh!  A gift!"  It could have been filled with someone's trash and I wouldn't have cared; it was such a nice surprise.

Turns out it was geared toward "professionals" so obviously they got my room mixed up with someone else's but I don't mind.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, G and Orca are having one big love fest without me.

Could you die or what?  I am IN LOVE with this pic.

I am the third wheel in their love and cuddles with each other.  At night on the phone, G will go, "Hold on.  I'm going to put you on speaker while I give her her meds."  A few minutes later, "Hold on, I'm going to put you on speaker while I go check on her in the library."

I know what's going on.  The phone is sitting on the table with me chattering away, and they're quietly playing Halo in the background, exchanging knowing glances and chuckling together.

Hotel Livin'

G started his "new" job yesterday.  When I asked him how it went, he told me he had Chipotle for lunch.  He knows that's all I really care about anyways.

The best part of my Monday:

I take that back, THIS was the best part of my Monday:

Classy, right?  Drinking Cabernet Sauvignon out of a hotel glass?  Well, it's a step above swiggin' it straight out of the bottle, so...

The best thing I could find to watch on TV last night was Seinfeld.  I forget how old that show is now; I can remember when it came on.  I was in high school and Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer all seemed so edgy, funny, yada yada yada.

Now, look closely at this:

He's on a phone with a cord.  Hard to see b/c of my crappy phone pic, but still.  A cord.  The show is ancient.

When I come back to VA for work, I use up my word quota by like 10:00 a.m.  The office is incredibly busy and not only do I work long hours, but I talk a lot, and listen a lot, and then talk a lot again.  So when I get back to the hotel room, this is what I do:

I lay on the bed and "read." Then someone will text or G will call and I'll wake up and we'll chat, then I'll go back to "reading" until I wake up around midnight and turn off the lights.

Time for another busy busy day.

Yelling on a plane, and kicking off the week

Hello from my home this week:

My flight was delayed last night and we didn't land until about 11:00 pm. Combine that with renting a car and driving practically across the state of VA, and I'm very, very tired this morning.

Last night on the plane, of course most people were watching the Super Bowl.  I was tucked into my seat over by the window, alternating between reading and trying to doze.  Even though I do great when flying these days, I don't ever watch TV or listen to music because it raises my anxiety.  Something about the external stimulation.  So I usually create a silent little bubble after I finish the pleaseGods, and it's all good.

When we started to land, I had put on my glasses and was gazing at the city below and out of nowhere, the guy next to me shouts, "Oh my God!  Noooooo!"  I jumped into the stratosphere.  Once I realized he was yelling at the game and that our plane was not plummeting to the ground, I got a good chuckle out of it.  I still wanted to slap him, though.  Who yells that on a plane?  I mean, really??  I think God was laughing too btw.

My blogspot:

It's going to be both an incredibly long and an incredibly quick week.  It always is.  I'm trying to get the wheels into motion and although it's rough, I know that once they start spinning, I'll look up and be in the airport waiting to go home.

And I love the fact that Denver is now home.

Speaking of home, look what is put together now:

It started off as a bunch of random pieces in that box in the background and I give G all the credit for putting it together.  I see myself burning many calories while catching up on all my shows next weekend.  The pounds will just drop right off and everyone will ask me what my secret is and I'll say I don't know, that all I do is sit around and watch TV...

Enough procrastinating; time to face the monster.

Happy Monday, peeps!  Wait - there is no such thing!  :)