Gatsby's Girl by Preston
Summary: The novel looks at the life of Ginerva, Fitzergerald's muse for many of his characters. The story spans her jilting Fitzgerald to their deaths.
Drawbacks: I struggle with historical fiction because I always feel that as a genre it is really broad; you can have one histotical truth and a lot of fiction or tons of history and not a lot of fiction. At the end of the book, the author does list the facts.
Kudos: The book takes an interesting look on the idea of not wanting illusions to die. I think the book would have been better if read concurrently with one of Fitzgerald's works.
Me and Mr. Darcy by Potter
Summary: The novel follows a bookstore manager as she chooses an Austen book tour instead of singles vacation.
Drawbacks: The book at times is gimmicky in paralleling the Austen favorite; sometimes it mirrors the book too much, sometimes it doesn't seem close enough, making it both predictable and wanting.
Kudos: An poignant look at the idea of fantasy versus reality. Some of the methods used to modernize P&P were impressive, as were some of the plot twists.
Undecided Comment: The author implies that Darcy is not real, but a fictional character. As a true Darcy lover, this grates on my nerves; as a realist, I acknowlege the truth of the statement.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
My Life
Yesterday morning began in a way typical of my life; I was angry at the alarm. Rolling over, I decided to face the day as best I could while feeling under the weather. After getting ready and putting on a cute outfit (my mother told me that my job for the day was to take the baby, aka my dad, out to eat since she was out of town), I decided to check my mail. As has been noted before, I do this rarely. Due to late nights and weekends away, I haven't checked my mail since early February. In all actuality, I only checked because I thought I might be getting some information about a class I am taking.
I grabbed my key, and upon opening my garage door saw that it was raining. My whole parking lot was filling up with puddles. I am not the smartest girl in the world, so even though I was wearing slip ons, I decided to try and navigate the puddles without getting my socks wet. Balancing on my tiptoes and doing quick little jumps to the mailbox resulted in favorable results. So, with my arms now full of mail (and the book for my class), I began the dash back. Not even half way to my garage door I slipped. Evidently, which I had slightly noticed on my way to the mailbox, the puddles of water only managed to cover and not melt the patches of ice underneath. My neighbor asked me if I was okay (add to the humilation), with a quick jump up I said, "Yes, I just have to change." I got inside my house and surveyed the damage. One whole side of me (the part that had decided to take a quick dip in the lake of my parking lot) was soaking wet. I had absorbed so much water that my fleece jacket had soaked thru to the sweater underneath it. Off went the cute outfit, while I quickly surveyed for blood, and on went a cuter outfit.
Just another typical day and reason why I don't check my mail.
I grabbed my key, and upon opening my garage door saw that it was raining. My whole parking lot was filling up with puddles. I am not the smartest girl in the world, so even though I was wearing slip ons, I decided to try and navigate the puddles without getting my socks wet. Balancing on my tiptoes and doing quick little jumps to the mailbox resulted in favorable results. So, with my arms now full of mail (and the book for my class), I began the dash back. Not even half way to my garage door I slipped. Evidently, which I had slightly noticed on my way to the mailbox, the puddles of water only managed to cover and not melt the patches of ice underneath. My neighbor asked me if I was okay (add to the humilation), with a quick jump up I said, "Yes, I just have to change." I got inside my house and surveyed the damage. One whole side of me (the part that had decided to take a quick dip in the lake of my parking lot) was soaking wet. I had absorbed so much water that my fleece jacket had soaked thru to the sweater underneath it. Off went the cute outfit, while I quickly surveyed for blood, and on went a cuter outfit.
Just another typical day and reason why I don't check my mail.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Strap on your clogs, Joost, we’re getting married!
Background: February 10-12 was Girl’s Weekend in Grand Rapids
Disclaimer: Names have been changed to protect identities; in addition, I used names that although they don’t seen appropriate, I was told by the internet (and how could that be wrong?) that they are Dutch names.
Disclaimer #2: The Dutch are great. I mean, if you're not Dutch, you're not much, right?
From various people in ministry or regarding life in general, I have heard it said that you should never say that you’d never do something. It just sets you up for the potential of having to eat crow. I remember saying I would never step foot in a certain building, only to find myself teaching there four years later.
Thus, when Titi said she would never marry a Dutch person, we graciously let it slide the first time. Second time though was asking for trouble, and we pounced. Before we knew it, we were planning the bachlorette party and how clogs would look under a wedding dress (while of course wearing the appropriate bonnet and taking pictures in front of a windmill). Before long, we were bent over laughing at all the possible last names Titi could acquire: VanDynHoven, Van Dyke, Dykstra, DeHoop, Vandenhousen, DeVoss, and countless other Vans and names ending in sma or stra. Then of course was the tragedy of marrying a man of Dutch descent with a hyphenated name leading to Titi Dykstra-Vandenhousen. We were besides ourselves as we tried to think up the most outrageous names and other results of marrying Dutch. Titi’s only recourse was to assert that Elsa was also going to marry Dutch since she was moving up to the GR area. Looking back on the conversation, I realize how impacted it was by lack of sleep. More importantly, the conversation was impacted by the chance to spend time with true friends and reflect on the early years of our friendship, the memories we were currently making, and the possible, albeit, wooden possibilities of the future as our friendship cries and laughs through another decade.
Disclaimer: Names have been changed to protect identities; in addition, I used names that although they don’t seen appropriate, I was told by the internet (and how could that be wrong?) that they are Dutch names.
Disclaimer #2: The Dutch are great. I mean, if you're not Dutch, you're not much, right?
From various people in ministry or regarding life in general, I have heard it said that you should never say that you’d never do something. It just sets you up for the potential of having to eat crow. I remember saying I would never step foot in a certain building, only to find myself teaching there four years later.
Thus, when Titi said she would never marry a Dutch person, we graciously let it slide the first time. Second time though was asking for trouble, and we pounced. Before we knew it, we were planning the bachlorette party and how clogs would look under a wedding dress (while of course wearing the appropriate bonnet and taking pictures in front of a windmill). Before long, we were bent over laughing at all the possible last names Titi could acquire: VanDynHoven, Van Dyke, Dykstra, DeHoop, Vandenhousen, DeVoss, and countless other Vans and names ending in sma or stra. Then of course was the tragedy of marrying a man of Dutch descent with a hyphenated name leading to Titi Dykstra-Vandenhousen. We were besides ourselves as we tried to think up the most outrageous names and other results of marrying Dutch. Titi’s only recourse was to assert that Elsa was also going to marry Dutch since she was moving up to the GR area. Looking back on the conversation, I realize how impacted it was by lack of sleep. More importantly, the conversation was impacted by the chance to spend time with true friends and reflect on the early years of our friendship, the memories we were currently making, and the possible, albeit, wooden possibilities of the future as our friendship cries and laughs through another decade.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Why I Don't Watch News
I rarely watch the news. Last night I remembered one of the reasons why.
We have had a lot of snow this winter, and I wanted to find out how much snow the news said had fallen in the previous snow storm. I watched the first ten minutes of the news; it was all snow related: how to shovel correctly, people getting plowed into parking spots, how much snow had fallen in the area, and the kindness of people during the latest snow epidemic. All I can say is it is obvious that we are out of football season and the Bucks suck (though I heard they are encountering an injury malaise).
So, what finally made me stop watching? I have decided that the news makes me paranoid, or more realistically, makes me aware that I am a paranoid person. They were providing a community service by warning people to make sure their furnace vent wasn't covered by snow due to the risk of carbon monoxide. The fireman glibly said, "If you don't uncover it, you probably won't wake up." My mind went into panic mode, and I ran to my front door, which incidently really seems to be my back door. I ripped the door open and looked around. Where was my furnace vent? Was it covered by snow? Was I going to die tonight? My eyes scanned the wall, where was it? My furnace vent was gone! Who took it? I was completely mystified. Should I call the police or the glib fireman? Do I have a furnace vent? Yes, I think so. And if I do, it is definitely covered in snow. Do the groundskeepers know not to kill me by covering the vent? Maybe it was a plot to encourage my demise.
What do I do? Obviously, I do the only thing to do. I lock the door, and instead of digging out the furnace vent, I dig out the carbon monoxide detector. I put in new batteries and test it. It works; but, unfortunately, the beeping is so loud and high pitched that I am now partially deaf, so I might end up not waking up for the simple fact that when the carbon monoxide detector goes off, I won't hear it.
I guess I'll just stay uninformed, I mean did I really need to know we got 16" of snow? Not really, people had been telling me that all day.
We have had a lot of snow this winter, and I wanted to find out how much snow the news said had fallen in the previous snow storm. I watched the first ten minutes of the news; it was all snow related: how to shovel correctly, people getting plowed into parking spots, how much snow had fallen in the area, and the kindness of people during the latest snow epidemic. All I can say is it is obvious that we are out of football season and the Bucks suck (though I heard they are encountering an injury malaise).
So, what finally made me stop watching? I have decided that the news makes me paranoid, or more realistically, makes me aware that I am a paranoid person. They were providing a community service by warning people to make sure their furnace vent wasn't covered by snow due to the risk of carbon monoxide. The fireman glibly said, "If you don't uncover it, you probably won't wake up." My mind went into panic mode, and I ran to my front door, which incidently really seems to be my back door. I ripped the door open and looked around. Where was my furnace vent? Was it covered by snow? Was I going to die tonight? My eyes scanned the wall, where was it? My furnace vent was gone! Who took it? I was completely mystified. Should I call the police or the glib fireman? Do I have a furnace vent? Yes, I think so. And if I do, it is definitely covered in snow. Do the groundskeepers know not to kill me by covering the vent? Maybe it was a plot to encourage my demise.
What do I do? Obviously, I do the only thing to do. I lock the door, and instead of digging out the furnace vent, I dig out the carbon monoxide detector. I put in new batteries and test it. It works; but, unfortunately, the beeping is so loud and high pitched that I am now partially deaf, so I might end up not waking up for the simple fact that when the carbon monoxide detector goes off, I won't hear it.
I guess I'll just stay uninformed, I mean did I really need to know we got 16" of snow? Not really, people had been telling me that all day.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
I'm taking a Snow Day
Yesterday, I decided that I deserved a snow day - all the schools were off, why not me? So, I put in three hours of work and headed to Target. After looking at curtains, cameras, and movies, I headed home. Vehicles were fishtailing all around me, a SUV had plowed a light signal, and the world was covered in white.
What ensued was a relaxing day, typical of what this month has been. Last weekend I went up to the Twin Cities to visit Tom and Katy (Gnorizo and Theophilus) and took Monday to drive back. I had to see the Giants beat the Patriots. I had a great time. I received some book suggestions which I thoroughly enjoyed. The introduction to A Ticket to Ride:Europe was fun. And, although we didn't get to snowshoe, we had a great time catching up. On Saturday, I am flying out to Grand Rapids to see friends. All said and done, it would appear that work is not a priority this month, good thing it is a short one.
What ensued was a relaxing day, typical of what this month has been. Last weekend I went up to the Twin Cities to visit Tom and Katy (Gnorizo and Theophilus) and took Monday to drive back. I had to see the Giants beat the Patriots. I had a great time. I received some book suggestions which I thoroughly enjoyed. The introduction to A Ticket to Ride:Europe was fun. And, although we didn't get to snowshoe, we had a great time catching up. On Saturday, I am flying out to Grand Rapids to see friends. All said and done, it would appear that work is not a priority this month, good thing it is a short one.
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