Guess what? I still
haven’t signed up for internets at home. But, I possess a thumb drive, so
everything is ok.
Crafts:
I worked on a few crafty items this past month. I finished
an item for a different blog, so once that’s up and live, I’ll talk about it
here. The other project I worked on was a knitted dishtowel that has a frog
pattern worked into it. It’s kind of hard to see, but here ya go:
 |
| I made it from the pattern and I still can't totally see it...not even when I squint. |
I’m starting to think about Christmas gifts I want to make,
so I may be posting less and less crafty goodness until post-holidays. Don’t
want to ruin anyone’s surprise!
Movies:
There were still plenty of good movies for me to see…even
after all the ones I saw last month! First up was Ted. It was offensive, crude,
profane, nostalgic, heart-warming, and hilarious all at the same time. While I
wouldn’t recommend it for conservative folk or children, I plan to watch it
over and over again once it’s out on DVD. I know I laughed through some crucial
hilarity and I need a do-over.
My groups got separated and I ended up having to see Magic
Mike twice. I am not even going to apologize for it. Joe Manganiello didn’t
have a large role, but he made up for in abs…and moves…and, well if you like to
look at extremely pretty male bodies in motion, then this is the movie for you!
If you like movies that have a small, underlying plot and an attraction story
with actors who look so good you could cry (remember Out of Sight?), then this
is the movie for you. If you like only foreign documentaries on stopping world
atrocities, this might not be your movie…unless you’re taking a break from all
that seriousness.
Dark Knight Rises. First off, watching the news the morning
after the midnight opener was so sad. I don’t like for that much reality to
intrude on my main escape from said reality. My heart goes out to all the
victims and their families and friends. And, as much as I’ve knocked Christian
Bale for his public persona in the past, I feel the need to give him mad props
for going to the town and not making it about him being there, but keeping it
about solace and the victims. A class move from an occasionally not so classy
guy. Well done. In the wake of all of
that, the movie was pretty anti-climactic for me. It was too long and loud enough
to give me a headache. Was I glad I saw it? Yes…the last 40 minutes or so made
it worthwhile, but I most likely could’ve waited until it was on DVD.
And yes, I saw The Avengers again because I feel it slowly
leaving our town and I won’t be able to see it again until September 25 when it
comes out on DVD. Don’t judge me.
Books:
I got The Confession
by John Grisham, but again, I’m mostly still reading things from my stash, my
friends, or getting items from the library. The pre-order/order from Amazon
came in so I have Size 12 ad Ready to Rock
by Meg Cabot, Here Lies Bridget by
Paige Harbison, Off the Menu by
Stacey Ballis, I’m Kind of a Big Deal and
Other Delusions of Adequacy and It’s
Not Me, It’s You by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. I got one other book, but I
might be giving it as a Christmas gift, so I haven’t decided if I should list
it or not.
I read some really great books this month (and had a special
reaction to one in particular): The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner, Girl Walks
into a Bar...: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle by Rachel
Dratch, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, Rapture by Lauren Kate,
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson, Here Lies
Bridget by Paige Harbison, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and Off the Menu
by Stacey Ballis.
I’d been listening to The Red Necklace as read by Tom
Hiddleston (see: reason #9 to love The Avengers; reason #5 to love Thor; reason
#3 to watch a lot of British Masterpiece Theater DVDs; reason #1 to rent The
Deep Blue Sea; and reason to live, mine). I realized I had become bewitched by
his voice and had no idea what he’d been saying somewhere around chapter 5. The
book is actually not bad, although I think I prefer his dulcet tones. The book
is about a gypsy boy and his adventures and coming of age in and out of
revolutionary France. I don’t really know how to describe it…it’s not totally
history or adventure; it’s not totally magic or theatre; it’s not totally
France or Britain; but it’s all of these things with some mystery and romance
to boot. I enjoyed it.
Rachel Dratch’s book was quite funny and very, very hopeful.
As a single lady of a certain age, it was nice to read a book about someone
close to my age group, struggling with dating and life and still managing to
fumble through and come out looking, well, not rosy, but certainly not like the
dirt around the rose in the ground. Some parts made me laugh out loud and a
couple of parts made me cry…she warns you about that though, so it’s ok.
A Discovery of Witches is a really, really, really great
book! I couldn’t put it down…even when I realized that the last library patron
had essentially booby-trapped the book for me. How, you ask? Well I envision it
as he or she rubbing his or her cat over each page, individually, to capture
the maximum amount dander (and occasional fur) the pages could hold…and then
having the cat lick every available surface of the book at any given time until
it was returned to the library and put on hold for me. The sinus and allergy
reaction to this was epic. EPIC. But I had to finish it. I was so engrossed in
the storyline that I wanted to get through the whole book…and once I realized
it was the allergic reaction catalyst (heh…catalyst),
I tried to read faster so I could be done. If you can find a clean copy, I highly
recommend it. There are witches and vampires and daemons and they even hint at
werewolves. It takes place mostly in Oxford, England, but ventures into the
states and to France. The author took a lot of time developing these characters
and she did it well. The next book in the trilogy is already out and I can’t
wait to read it. I’m hoping for a dander-free copy this time.
Rapture was the last installment (I sincerely hope) of the
Fallen series by Lauren Kate. In this last book, we get the full history of all
of the angels and why the main two characters were cursed to live as they have
been for centuries. It was a decent wrap up and I’m glad I read the
series…it was kind of a lot to take in because of the curse consistently and
continually messing with them for so long and you having to read about all
those doomed loves over and over again. It was nice to see a conclusion, and,
spoiler-ish, I wasn’t sad when it was over.
Jenny Lawson. She is a bloggess. She is, in fact, THE
Bloggess. Have you ever read http://thebloggess.com?
No? Stop freaking reading this and go over there now. It’s way funnier than I
could ever be! And famous people send her pictures of themselves doing inane
things! And giant, metal chickens, saving you from towels! GIANT. METAL.
CHICKENS. (Knock, knock… for those in the know.) This book, at times had
sadness, but most of it, well, my friends were on the lake in single-person
paddle-boats and could hear me laughing from the dock. Out loud. I was outside,
alone, laughing out loud and I couldn’t stop. Read her blog and then go buy her
book. Support her. She is awesome.
Here Lies Bridget was on a
summer reading list a while ago. It was a fun teen book that passed a few
hours. Bridget was the meanest of the mean girls…pretty much everyone feared
her. She took no responsibility for her actions or her words. Once she makes a
very bad decision, she gets shown, Scrooge style, how things truly were
and she can ether make amends or get out forever.
The Night Circus. I can’t even. This might be the best book
I’ve read this year…and I’m saying that in July, effectively cutting out the
upcoming five months when I know I’ve got some really good things to read! It
was beautifully written. Just beautiful. The level of detail may put some of
you off, but it’s described that way so you can picture all of the circus
elements in your head. The simple version of the plot would be two magicians
compete within a circus without knowing what the game is or how it will end.
That’s it, and yet it’s nowhere close to describing it properly. The night
circus is ONLY open at night. Everything is black and white except for the
attendees. The tents, the performers’ clothing, the props, all of it: black and
white. And yet, what the circus itself is,
is anything but black and white. It’s a game; it’s a lifestyle; it’s a career;
it’s love; it’s death; it’s life; it’s joy; it’s sorrow; it’s youth; it’s control;
it’s wild abandon. If you don’t have this book…and have not bought it by the
holidays, there’s a really good chance this is what you’re getting from me. I
absolutely loved it. I think my only complaint was that it ended in a way that
seemed more black and white than it should’ve been…but that doesn’t change my
mind. Definitely time well spent.
And finally, I read Off the Menu. If you read the Jen
Lancaster books like I told you, then you already know about Stacey Ballis. She
is Lancaster’s BFF. Their blogs and madcap antics? Are hysterical. This book is very,
very good. A chef’s assistant has good friends, an extremely demanding boss, a
great family, and a loving doggie. The main character checks
the dating site to make fun of the people they send her (since I also have been
known to do this, I had no problem believing that others do it as well…don’t
judge) and eventually runs across one that seems like a possibility. Their
relationship plays out via email and then in person and the way her life adapts
because she was open to letting him in is amazing. It was a great end of the
month book…it’s positive and funny and you want to be friends with the
character and her friends. If you already have The Night Circus, maybe I’ll buy
you Off the Menu. At the end of the book are some awesome recipes that they
talk about…some even from famous chefs! I pre-ordered the book in hopes of
winning lunch with Stennifer. Sadly I did not win but maybe next release? Cross
your fingers for me!
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