Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello all and a happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Since I don’t have to host a dinner for the first time since moving to New York, Zak and I have decided to have the anti-Thanksgiving. We are starting our day with a movie for $6 and then heading to an Indian buffet for curry and happy hour and then home for the only traditional part of our day, the annual viewing of Home Alone. Everyone else is out of the city and Zak and I are looking forward to our untraditional day!

I’ll let you know how our day goes. Best of luck to you all today. My fingers are crossed for no kitchen fires or deep fried turkey traumas.

 

Pulitzer’s

The following is a list of the Pulitzer prize winners for the last 20 years. I have read 13 out of the 20 and have at home 3 more that are on the list of things to read. I have just started 1997’s winner, Martin Dressler and am looking forward to it as it takes place in New York City in the late 1800’s. And, on top of that, look at what the New York Times Book Review had to say about it, “The wonderful, wonder-full bok is a fable and phantasmagoria of the sources of our century.” I’m not even sure what that means, it sounds so lovely.

1989: Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

1990: The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos

1991: Rabbit At Rest by John Updike

1992: A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

1993: A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler

1994: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx

1995: The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

1996: Independence Day by Richard Ford

1997: Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser

1998: American Pastoral by Philip Roth

1999: The Hours by Michael Cunningham

2000: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

2001: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

2002: Empire Falls by Richard Russo

2003: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

2004: The Known World by Edward P. Jones

2005: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

2006: March by Geraldine Brooks

2007: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

2008: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

2009: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

In case you were wondering, my favorite books on this list are: The Shipping News, The Hours, Interpreter of Maladies, Olive Kitteridge and The Road. All great books. I also seriously recommend reading The Road before the movie comes out as Pulitzer winning books don’t always make for the best movies and you’ll want to read it before you see it. (Of course, I never think any movies are as good as the books, so I am a little biased). I am looking forward to reading the rest of the winners of the past two decades but, looking only at title, I’m most excited about The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. How great does that sound? The Pulitzer began awarding prizes in 1948 but didn’t award one every year, which I love. It’s like the Pulitzer is a hard-ass and isn’t just going to give you the award if you were the best of the year because it may have been a crappy year for books. I think that’s so fantastic. I’ve read a few of the much older winners such as To Kill a Mockingbird and one of my favorite books of all time, The Old Man and the Sea. Seriously, man, woman, child, whatever you are, you should read this book. It’s about 4 pages long, so you could knock it out in no time at all.

Happy Reading, friends. I only wish that the Reading Rainbow theme would play in the background everytime I talked about books. That would make this blog-reading experience perfect. (Well, as close to perfect as you can get without Levar Burton telling you about the books!)

 

The Known World

Last week I finished my third Pulitzer installment and again have to say that it was great. One common thread in a lot of the Pulitzer’s I have read in the past is that they are just pieces of a whole story and while you get enough to be satisfied with what you’ve read, you don’t get a neat little packaged ending. I like that. A lot. This book was great. For those of you who don’t remember, I’ll retype the back cover of the book and then continue with my favorite quotes from the book.

1. “He was thirty-five years old and for every moment of those years he had been someone’s slave, a white man’s slave and then another white man’s slave and now, for nearly ten years, the overseer slave for a black master.”

2. “He believed whistling inside or outside the house was bad luck, but right then, as he worked, he was tempted to whistle.”

3. “She did not know the history of eons about herself; there was only the feeling in her bones that for some time she had been venturing into a place unknown and that feeling made her hope for a road that would not cut too deeply into her feet and her soul.”

4. “He wanted to die but he really didn’t want to catch a cold to do it.”

This book was about a plantation and all of the people working in it, with it and in any way involved with it. That’s a lot of people to keep track of, but the author never mentioned anyone in passing. Someone who was mentioned in an aside in the early pages would come back with an entire story later. While I at first thought the man referenced on the back cover of the book was the main character, the further I got into this book the more I realized that there isn’t a main character. At different times you could say that the plantation owners, the owners friends, the town sherrif, the neighboring slaves were each the main character and that made for a very interesting read to be so invested in what happened to so many people. This was a very well written book and I definately recommend it to all, especially Erica. (Ever wonder what kind of book I could read that would not end in a recommendation to Erica?)

 

A Final Effort

Today was the final day of my classes for this semester. And I am nothing short of thrilled to be done with that stupid statistics class. On top of the fact that I hated the subject matter and sucked at it, the professor did not follow several of the university policies when it came to grading and weekly submission of assignments which put a real damper on my grade and may be why my class of 24 slowly made its way down to a final total of 7 students. Hmmm…surely that reflects on the teacher, no?

Moving on from that bitter tirade. Okay, no I’m not. I am going to say that I can’t wait for my course evaluation to fully express my dismay at this course and the way it was run by this professor. This reminds me of the nursing school evaluation I wrote when done with nursing school that was a full 2 pages long. How cathartic that was and I assume this one will be as well.

Now really moving on from that rant. In the ongoing battle of “what’s the lesson?” with my quiz grades, I took my final two quizzes recently and decided to employ both methods. You know, the half-assed guessing method and the full effort actual work method, even though I’ve been getting mixed results. So, on my first quiz, I went through it quickly, guessed and made a 60%. Okay, that makes sense. Then on my final quiz, I took my time, really thought things through and made a 90%. That’s right, 90%. I guess the lesson is clear after all. Guessing on quizzes and bad grades go hand in hand and that one time I made a 90% with the guess method was probably a fluke. In fact, I think we can call it a statistical anomaly. That’s right, I did learn a thing or two even though I didn’t like the class.

 

Hello

I know I often say hello to my readers, but today is a very special hello because today is World Hello Day! Today I challenge us all to say hello a little more often. For example, instead of smiling at the doormen I pass on my way to work, today I will say hello. Perhaps I will even say hello to strangers I pass on the street (well maybe, that seems like an odd thing for a New Yorker to do). So today friends, let’s put on our friendly caps and say hello. Or you can try some of my other favorites:

1. “hello-hi” : this is from the movie Never Been Kissed and Autumn says it all the time and now I say it all the time. It’s a good one.

2. “bonjour-hi”: this is a Maren favorite when talking to me and we have, as yet, to take it outside of ourselves, but today seems like the perfect time.

So, take your pick and wow someone with an unexpected Hello today!

 

Name Your PC Day

Hello all. Today is National Name Your PC Day and I’m telling you about it because I support it wholeheartedly. I’ve also been naming my electronic devices for quite some time and can now encourage you all to do the same on this, it’s national day. A few years ago, Amber and I decided to name our electronics after Harry Potter characters which brought us:

Sirius Black-my last laptop

Buckbeak-my ipod nano

Mrs. Weasley-my current iphone

Neville Longbottom-my current laptop

Now, keep in mind that you don’t need a book theme for your computer. Just a name that you like or don’t like depending on your feelings towards your computer. I find it handy to have a name. That way when Neville angers me, I can yell “Neville!” instead of “computer!”. It’s much more satisfying to have a name to yell rather than an object. Give it a try. You don’t have to tell anybody. Just do it.

 

Going All In

Last night, as I was doing my weekly picks for ESPN’s College Pick Em that Amber and I have been doing for years and this year everyone plus Jeff is doing, I came to an important decision. I’ve decided to go all in for my team. Every week that the Michigan game has been a pick, I have picked them. It’s an unwritten rule that Amber and I have that we pick our own team to win every week. As this has been a rough season, I always pick Michigan to win with a confidence rating of 1-the lowest you can go. Every time that I have done this, Maren has said that giving Michigan a confidence rating of 1 is like not picking them at all (which is, by the way, what she does). So this week, when I looked at the games to be picked and saw the Michigan/Ohio State game as a pick, I decided to go all in for my team. That’s right, other group members, spoiler alert, I picked Michigan over Ohio State as my 10 (that’s the highest!). That’s like saying I am 100% sure that Michigan will win. And until a final score tells me different, that’s my story.

So, if you could all send out some positive Michigan and negative Ohio State vibes until Saturday that would be greatly appreciated. And for those of you who think this is a fools errand, I say that sometimes you have to take one for the team to show your support. With that said, I think Michigan is a way better team than what their record shows and since beating Ohio State would not only be the only game that counts anyway but make them bowl eligible, they’ve still got a lot to play for and I, for one, think they have a chance.

Wish me luck on Saturday.

M Go Blue!

 

Peanut Butter

Amber and I once had a conversation where we seriously debated which was better: Indoor plumbing or peanut butter. And you’d be interested to know that we decided on peanut butter. Peanut butter rocks! It’s so yummy on it’s own or with apples or bananas or with chocolate or on bread or with jelly or with nutella or on a cracker or with marshmallow fluff or in a salad dressing or on cold noodles. Sometimes I open the jar of peanut butter just to smell it. (I also do this with coffee but don’t tend to smell most other foods in case you were concerned for my mental state.)

My all-consuming love for peanut butter is what makes me so happy to tell you that November is also Peanut Butter Lovers Month! How great is that? A whole month just for me to appreciate one of my favorite things? Genius!

Another Amber peanut butter tidbit: when we were in college, she used to put peanut butter on her pancakes and I used to judge her for it. Then I tried it and loved it so much that I have done it ever since. Let me take this opportunity to apologize to Amber for doubting her and for doubting the yumminess of peanut butter. That was wrong and I hang my head in shame to you both.

Let’s all do our part to love peanut butter: let’s eat some reeses; enjoy a spoonful as a snack; eat a pb&j for lunch; smell it when no one is looking. I’ll be doing all of these things and can only hope you will too.

I heart Peanut Butter!

 

What a Month

In college and high school I used to pay attention to those weird and random monthly and daily celebrations that go on in the months. Like national skinny-dipping week in June. So, I thought I’d look up November and share with you some of the good ones.

November is also known as:

International Drum Month

Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month

National Georgia Pecan Month

National Impotency Month

National Novel Writing Month

Vegan Month

If we are to fully celebrate this month we have a lot to do in a short time. In order to give November its due, I will try the following: I will try to drum on some things whenever I can; I will try to avoid gluten one day; i will eat a pecan; I will not change the channel during that viagra commercial where the mans own reflection talks to him about his erectile dysfunction; I will work more on the idea for a children’s book that I have; And, in a funny turn of events, a few days ago (before I knew about this) I decided to give Vegan a try for a month, so I’m already celebrating Vegan Month accidentally.

So, those are my plans. Make some of your own and I’ll be sure to keep you posted on what is happening in December.

 

No Visitors?

So, I have off most of the week of Thanksgiving and I realized yesterday that this is the first Thanksgiving since I’ve lived in New York that I haven’t had multiple visitors. In fact, several people are leaving New York for this holiday this year. I sort of can’t believe that there won’t be a full house with someone sleeping in the loft and in all the beds and on the couch. It’ll be very strange. Maren is going to the Grey Cup (if Jeff makes it) and Lisa is going out of town and John isn’t coming for the first time in a few years. It’s just me and Zak this year. How weird is that? We’re going to have an alternative Thanksgiving. We’re pondering a day trip or a just an entire day in the movie theatre. Either way I’m sure it will involve drinking and the movie Home Alone, as is our usual tradition. I’m not sure what to do with a two-man Thanksgiving. What will we do when there aren’t 6 of us crammed into the tiny kitchen trying to find stovetop and oven space for all the food? What will we do without the challenge of mashing the potatoes in the dining room? Will there even be pumpkin pie? It’s sure to be an interesting day and I’ll let you know how it goes.