Book Review – Eat Pray Love

Title: Eat Pray Love
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert

All I’m going to say now is that I absolutely LOVED it. This book resonated with me on a level that a book has not done in a LONG time. Like, since… well, I don’t even know. I’m not only touched and inspired by Elizabeth Gilbert’s amazing story and incredible ability to tell a story, but I learned more than I expected and have whetted a thirst for more knowledge on every single thing she wrote about, whether it was an interest of mine already (yoga, Italy) or something I’d never even really thought about (the socio-economical state of Bali).

That’s all I’m going to say for now, staying pretty vague because I know my book club (aka the Girlfriends’ Dinner Club… aka… Steph) hasn’t finished the book yet, and I don’t want to share any spoilers.

But this book is at the top of my list of favorites, of books I will share with anyone who asks if I’ve read any good books lately (actually, I might just force it upon them), and will probably be read and re-read many times.

Spring Fever

Today is the second day of two days that I’ve enjoyed weather warm enough to sit on the porch for awhile.

Last night, pinot grigio by my side and laptop hosting Facebook and gmail pages in my lap, I sat on the porch for an hour or better, enjoying the mild pre-Spring-y-ness and calmness of my St. Paul neighborhood.

Just prior to my porching, I’d just gotten back from a work happy hour with a well-respected manager and two of her associates from the “other” side.  We cheers’ed to a great team effort on a recent pitch as we clinked our Sacre Bleu pinot noirs, but in my head I was cheers’ing to the merging of the planners with the buyer.  Incest I can really get behind.

Anyway, (oh! my neighbor and his lovely lady friend just home!  Perhaps, they’ll join me out here)… I came home, changed into sweats, grabbed the rest of my bottle of wine, and came out on the porch to enjoy the Thomas Kincade-esque lamp posts and calmness of my neighborhood streets from my wicker throne on the porch.

Roomie Angie and her bf showed up a bit after and joined me.   We discussed many important things, did a yoga demonstration, and ultimately decided that LOST is the most addicting show.  EVER.

Today, I put in a half day, ran some errands (ok, Target for some uber cute Leprechaun chic attire for tomorrow’s debauchery and bar crawling), and am now back on the porch.  I came back to a book I recently started (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young), read about 2 chapter and then decided to do this instead.

So here I am.  No pinot grigio this time, but I do have a glass of REALLY crappy champagne next to me.  And I’m listening to 89.3 The Current’s live broadcast from SXSW.  This music, this overly sweet bubbly concoction, paired with this amazing late Friday PM sunshine and the kids on my street I’m watching on their bikes = pure Twin Cities heaven.

My Point

I finished vacation book #2 (Ellen’s). It was pretty much a complete 180-degree turn from the previous cultural analysis I read. What’s fun about this one though – it was written 12ish years ago, yet could’ve been written yesterday. She doesn’t really talk about current events that benchmark any particular time period except mentioning her sitcom, but instead talks about behaviors and thoughts that seem to be universally understood – feelings about being in an elevator, fears of flying and some of the ridiculousness of airline travel, talking to yourself, and her recipe for French toast.

Overall, the book feels like one big A.D.D.-laced tangent, but definitely made me chuckle when it didn’t make me dizzy. It’s also a really quick and easy read.

Moving on to vacation book #3!

La la la

“Sometimes it’s because you’re singing with a group of people and you don’t know the lyrics to the song. Then you have to play that little game we always play. We mumble through the words we don’t know, but then to make up for it, we sing the chorus really, really loud.

We’re hoping the others are thinking, “I guess she didn’t wanna sing on that little mumbly part back there. Obviously she knows the song – she sang the chorus really loud. She is cool.”

Ellen DeGeneres – My Point… And I Do Have One

“No Woman Will Ever Satisfy Me…”

I’ve been reading Chuck Klosterman’s Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs since July. Not because it’s bad, not because it’s long (it’s not), but because that’s the last time I had free time until this week. I started reading it while the half-posse and I were Cabin Weekending up in Park Rapids, and while we weren’t boozing, bocce-ing, volleyballing, or bonfire-ing, we were all catching up on brain candy – Vogue, US Weekly, Real Simple. Sean tossed CK’s book my way, and I started it then. I’d picked up a couple of chapters over the fall, but between two jobs that took up a combined total of 60+ hours/week, the only reading I’ve been doing is my morning dose of Cynthia Turner and Facebook’s newsfeed.

As promised, here’s my two cents worth regarding Chuck Klosterman’s Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs:

I [finally] finished the book this morning before takeoff on our second flight.

The verdict? Did I LOVE it and find it utterly compelling like others did? No. Did I hate it and find it grossly overrated? Absolutely not.

What I did think, is that maybe I’m 10 years or so too young to REALLY appreciate it. His current (current in 2003) cultural snapshot is often juxtaposed against bands I didn’t grow up on and memories I’ll never have (seeing the original Star Wars in the theater at 8 years old. I do, however, remember seeing Disney’s The Little Mermaid in a theater when I was 8 or so…). So I don’t know that I totally “got” it. His Gen-X platform and perspective is a decade or two ahead of my Gen-Y/Millenial point-of-view.

However, I do really, really enjoy his writing style and will absolutely seek out more of his books (IV is next on my list). He’s a (former? current?) writer for SPIN and no doubt has a good grasp of pop culture, taking a smart, witty, and smart ass-y take on events, bands, movies, and people.

I liked it. I didn’t love it. But I liked it.

Next read? Ellen DeGeneres. It’s a little outdated, but I love her.

‘Bama or Bust

Well, we made it to the dirty dirty without any trouble. My dad works for Northwest, so while I am too old and quote-unquote independent to fly free like he and mom do, I fly on a cheaper companion pass and we all fly standby. Try THAT on Christmas Day the year they reduce the number of flights in general. The flight this morning was supposedly oversold, but we still managed to not only get on, but to sit up front. That was always the perk about dealing with not knowing whether or not we’d actually get ON the flight – knowing that there was always a little chance of sitting in first class.

And I hate take-off. HATE it. Something about the initial force of power or height or something, but my whole body just kind of silently freaks out. So what if it’s 7 in the morning? I’m sitting in first class, stomach in knots, dressed UP (because we are “representing the airline” or something) so dammit, I’m having a drink. And I did. I thought about a bloody mary, but vodka seemed fairly intense for barely being 7AM – even for me. I opted for Bailey’s and coffee instead.

I don’t know if it was the alcohol or just the coincidence that we “reached a final cruising altitude of 39,000 feet” at the same time I finished my coffee, but 25 minutes or so after take-off, I’d finally calmed down enough to read my book. *see next entry for my totally unqualified and abbreviated review of Chuck Klosterman’s Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs.

So I read and we flew, and eventually we ended up in Memphis. We switched planes, and headed to Mobile, which is where we are now and have been lounging for the past few hours.

I brought books, magazines, and my laptop. I’m planning to read, read, write a little, dig up trashy celebrity gossip, and watch whatever the rest of the family is watching on whatever TV is in the room. Right now, it’s something on PBS about the Vanderbilt hunting lodge (aka MANSION) in North Carolina. Before this, it was Alton Brown’s “Good Eats” (about sushi!) and then Marc “I’ll-Take-the-Physical-Challenge” Summers’ “Unwrapped.” *more on this later – I totally found my dream job.

So, Day 1/Travel Day of Vacation has been a success in that I really haven’t accomplished much except finishing one book and starting another – My Point… and I Do Have One, Ellen DeGeneres’ 1995 book that was updated (or something?) and re-released last October.

My goal is to finish that and start The Audacity of Hope by lunchtime tomorrow.

Merry Christmas!

If Only I Had Time to Read

Books. I just got new books. Two of them, I bought, and two are on loan from a friend. I bought “4 Blondes,” by Candace Bushnell. You might recognize her as one of the writers and creators of “Sex and the City.” I bought this one because a girl I work with asked me to join in a book club that’s she got going with some of her college girlfriends. She said there’d be wine, food, and girl talk. I didn’t hesitate. So, I’m in the book, through the first 27 pages or so and pretty hooked. It’s 4 different stories, about 4 different girls and I’m on the first one still. It’s about a girl named Janey, who’s a NYC socialite. She’s kind of annoying how consumed she is by the rich-people world, but at the same time, she’s hilarious and addicting and I find myself enjoying her little escapades. Well, sexcapades.

The second treasure I picked up at Barnes and Noble was a book on Tapas. I fully intend to host a wine and tapas party with this book by my side. I’m inspired – and hungry. However, this won’t happen until the Fall sometime. Maybe a housewarming party whenever I move into a new place.

The other two books are webdork books that Paul is letting me borrow. I’m making it a goal to learn a little web design, and until I can afford going back to school for it (holy $$), I’m going to do the self-taught thing (and some help from teacher Paul).

Tonight, I’m going to do a little side project scribbling, and then putz around between my new books. I’m kind of excited to have a quiet at-home night. I almost brought work home, (well, technically I do have it with me), but I’m not going to touch it.