Infected

I did it again! Besides reading a book in a day, i mean, i read Infected by Scott Sigler and realized it is apparently the first in a series! ack! The basic premise is people are becoming infected with some parasite, which starts as an itchy rash but eventually turns into blue triangles under the skin and causes the victim to become paranoid and suicidal.

I had thought this was a medical thriller but it is really a sci-fi novel. It is on the same line as Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I liked it, I'll say it's a 5, and I will definitely pick up the next one, called Contagious.

Sigler writes Infected from several perspectives. We follow the CIA agent, the CDC doctor, the progression of one victim, even a little bit from the nasty little parasite itself. Each chapter, only a few pages long normally, covers a different perspective. It makes the story move very fast but you loose out on getting close to any of the characters. While i felt bad for the character that the bugs infect, i didn't really connect with him. I wouldn't have acted at ALL like him in the early stages of the illness. Trust me, if i ever have an itchy patch of skin the texture of orange peel my butt will be headed straight to a doctor.

SUPER BIG WARNING: while not Exactly a spoiler, i'd say there's one part towards the end that any adult male is not going to enjoy reading. so you're warned.

We're all so dumb

Sometimes I do just want to cry for the world. Or America. Or Americans. I finished up The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby yesterday. She discusses the anti-intellectual, anti-reason section of American society from the 1930's on forward. She gives a very full portrait of how intelligence and knowledge has gone from being a wanted and admired trait to being something alien and threatening to many people. This book was scary and enlightening; i give it another 6.

It astounds me the breadth of knowledge that normal, middle class people had just 40 years ago. I feel like i'm pretty educated, pretty well read, but pluck a someone who was 32, with a college education, in like, say, 1974 and compare my knowledge of the world, history, geography and art and i'll do horribly! I might be able to match on politics (me on my modern vs them on their modern) and i'm sure i'd do well in anthropology/archaeology type questions, but that was my major. I know very little of American, or for that matter world, history between the civil war and WWII, at least from school. why? Because my history classes always started at the beginning of America, got up to about the Civil War, at which point we started running out of time for the school year and skipped to WWII.

She also links the laxity of American mental life to mass media, which encompasses tv, internet, magazines, newspapers. Whereas before the 1980's people experienced a lot of tv, movies, or music in groups, now everyone has their own tv, Ipod, portable video player, etc. I can even see the difference in my own family over the course of my life. We had 1 tv the entire time i lived at home, through age 18, which was in 1994. Now, my parents have 4: 1 in the living room, 1 in my parents' bedroom, and 1 each in my brother's and sister's room. They have 3 computers. As kids my family all at least started dinner together (though once people were into seconds we could ask to be excused from the table) and rarely was the tv on. Now it's more casual, usually my mom and sister eating together and my dad coming in later in the evening. (my brother works evenings so he gets a pass on this bit) And the tv's on. So there is less interaction and talking but i feel we're pretty much just as close. We just don't experience culture together.

It makes me want to read Anti-Intellectualism in American Life by Jacoby's mentor Richard Hofstadter. That book is from the perspective of a writer in 1966 so i wonder what trends he saw from that point. Also, i want to read a few good, general history books. Why does that always happen? I read one and then it gives me a bunch more to read!

A Life Post

I haven't really done a post just about what's going on in my life for a while. I know some people have read/commented/followed my various levels of down and depressed and i want to say something good.

Things are not bad. It is strange. Sometime last month there was a morning i woke up and felt good. it actually took a few hours to figure out what was "wrong", which was nothing. I hadn't felt good in a really really really long time. I've had a few more days like that. I'm not saying it's consistent, or even predictable, but it has happened.

on the other side, i haven't had a really bad time, full on crying, laying on my couch staring at the ceiling for hours day since October. I've had a few real crying jags, several teary eyed episodes as well. I haven't had any that lasted more than maybe 30 minutes or so. So that is an improvement.

So another thing i'm looking at is my job. Being a Customer's Bitch is a really exhausting occupation sometimes. also, i'm so so burned out i'm not even doing a very good job anymore. I'd like to do something more REAL, more MEANINGFUL, if you know what i mean. So, looking around a local college, TSU, offers a teacher training program. You can do a full on 2 yr Master's degree or a shorter one just to get the teaching certificate. So, either this Friday or next i'm going to go over there and see what it takes to apply, costs and etc. Who knows if i'll do it but it's a step.

Lastly, i'll do another meme. It's the 6 things that make me happy one that i pulled from Nymeth.

1. Flannel Sheets. all warm and snuggly.
2. Homemade caramel sauce. I'm addicted!
3. The fact that Neil Gaiman and i use the same cel phone!!
4. LOST. As an aside, i just started crying when it voted on ABC's LOST showdown. I voted watched the Charlie Drowning moment and couldn't help it. Bring Back Charlie!
5. Rachel Maddow-so smart, so awesome.
   
6. bonuses! I'm going to buy a bike.
   

maybe tomorrow i'll do things that make me angry! :)

I Cave...

so this meme has been running about for a few weeks. A yahoo group i am part of has been discussing this article from The Guardian. Carl over at Stainless Steel Droppings did this one so I've decided to give it a go. Now, these are Sci-Fi and Fantasy, and are in alphabetical order. Ones i've read are in bold, ones i own but haven't read are italicized.

1. Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1979)

2. Brian W Aldiss: Non-Stop (1958)

3. Isaac Asimov: Foundation (1951)

4. Margaret Atwood: The Blind Assassin (2000)

5. Paul Auster: In the Country of Last Things (1987)

6. Iain Banks: The Wasp Factory (1984)

7. Iain M Banks: Consider Phlebas (1987)

8. Clive Barker: Weaveworld (1987)

9. Nicola Barker: Darkmans (2007)

10. Stephen Baxter: The Time Ships (1995)

11. Greg Bear: Darwin’s Radio (1999)

12. Alfred Bester: The Stars My Destination (1956)

13. Poppy Z Brite: Lost Souls (1992)- I'm like 90% sure i've read this

14. Algis Budrys: Rogue Moon (1960)

15. Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita (1966)-I'm right in the middle now

16. Edward Bulwer-Lytton: The Coming Race (1871)

17. Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange (1960)-and seen the movie several times

18. Anthony Burgess: The End of the World News (1982)

19. Edgar Rice Burroughs: A Princess of Mars (1912)

20. William Burroughs: Naked Lunch (1959)

21. Octavia Butler: Kindred (1979)

22. Samuel Butler: Erewhon (1872)

23. Italo Calvino: The Baron in the Trees (1957)

24. Ramsey Campbell: The Influence (1988)

25. Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

26. Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871)

27. Angela Carter: Nights at the Circus (1984)

28. Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000)

29. Arthur C Clarke: Childhood’s End (1953)

30. GK Chesterton: The Man Who Was Thursday (1908)

31. Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004)

32. Michael G Coney: Hello Summer, Goodbye (1975)

33. Douglas Coupland: Girlfriend in a Coma (1998)

34. Mark Danielewski: House of Leaves (2000)-hated it.

35. Marie Darrieussecq: Pig Tales (1996)

36. Samuel R Delaney: The Einstein Intersection (1967)

37. Philip K Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)

38. Philip K Dick: The Man in the High Castle (1962)

39. Umberto Eco: Foucault’s Pendulum (1988)

40. Michel Faber: Under the Skin (2000)

41. John Fowles: The Magus (1966)

42. Neil Gaiman: American Gods (2001)

43. Alan Garner: Red Shift (1973)

44. William Gibson: Neuromancer (1984)

45. Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Herland (1915)

46. William Golding: Lord of the Flies (1954)

47. Joe Haldeman: The Forever War (1974)

48. M John Harrison: Light (2002)

49. Robert A Heinlein: Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)

50. Frank Herbert: Dune (1965)-I read this when i was like 11 and didn't like it.

51. Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game (1943)

52. Russell Hoban: Riddley Walker (1980)

53. James Hogg: The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824)

54. Michel Houellebecq: Atomised (1998)

55. Aldous Huxley: Brave New World (1932)

56. Kazuo Ishiguro: The Unconsoled (1995)

57. Shirley Jackson: The Haunting of Hill House (1959)

58. Henry James: The Turn of the Screw (1898)

59. PD James: The Children of Men (1992)

60. Richard Jefferies: After London; Or, Wild England (1885)

61. Gwyneth Jones: Bold as Love (2001)

62. Franz Kafka: The Trial (1925)

63. Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon (1966)

64. Stephen King: The Shining (1977)

65. Marghanita Laski: The Victorian Chaise-longue (1953)

66. Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: Uncle Silas (1864)

67. Stanislaw Lem: Solaris (1961)--I did see the awful movie with George Clooney

68. Doris Lessing: Memoirs of a Survivor (1974)

69. David Lindsay: A Voyage to Arcturus (1920)

70. Ken MacLeod: The Night Sessions (2008)

71. Hilary Mantel: Beyond Black (2005)

72. Michael Marshall Smith: Only Forward (1994)

73. Richard Matheson: I Am Legend (1954)

74. Charles Maturin: Melmoth the Wanderer (1820)

75. Patrick McCabe: The Butcher Boy (1992)

76. Cormac McCarthy: The Road (2006)

77. Jed Mercurio: Ascent (2007)

78. China Miéville: The Scar (2002)

79. Andrew Miller: Ingenious Pain (1997)

80. Walter M Miller Jr: A Canticle for Leibowitz (1960)

81. David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas (2004)

82. Michael Moorcock: Mother London (1988)

83. William Morris: News From Nowhere (1890)

84. Toni Morrison: Beloved (1987)

85. Haruki Murakami: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (1995)

86. Vladimir Nabokov: Ada or Ardor (1969)

87. Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler’s Wife (2003)

88. Larry Niven: Ringworld (1970)

89. Jeff Noon: Vurt (1993)

90. Flann O’Brien: The Third Policeman (1967)-featured on LOST, i picked it up and was completely overwhelmed!

91. Ben Okri: The Famished Road (1991)

92. Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club (1996)

93. Thomas Love Peacock: Nightmare Abbey (1818)

94. Mervyn Peake: Titus Groan (1946)-another one i tried but couldn't read

95. John Cowper Powys: A Glastonbury Romance (1932)

96. Christopher Priest: The Prestige (1995)-I've seen this movie too!

97. François Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532-34)

98. Ann Radcliffe: The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

99. Alastair Reynolds: Revelation Space (2000)

100. Kim Stanley Robinson: The Years of Rice and Salt (2002)

101. JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997)

102. Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses (1988)

103. Antoine de Sainte-Exupéry: The Little Prince (1943)

104. José Saramago: Blindness (1995)

105. Will Self: How the Dead Live (2000)

106. Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (1818)

107. Dan Simmons: Hyperion (1989)

108. Olaf Stapledon: Star Maker (1937)

109. Neal Stephenson: Snow Crash (1992)

110. Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)

111. Bram Stoker: Dracula (1897)

112. Rupert Thomson: The Insult (1996)

113. Mark Twain: A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court (1889)

114. Kurt Vonnegut: Sirens of Titan (1959)

115. Robert Walser: Institute Benjamenta (1909)

116. Sylvia Townsend Warner: Lolly Willowes (1926)

117. Sarah Waters: Affinity (1999)

118. HG Wells: The Time Machine (1895)

119. HG Wells: The War of the Worlds (1898)

120. TH White: The Sword in the Stone (1938)

121. Gene Wolfe: The Book of the New Sun (1980-83)

122. John Wyndham: Day of the Triffids (1951)

123. John Wyndham: The Midwich Cuckoos (1957)

124. Yevgeny Zamyatin: We (1924)

So I've read 22 and own another 9. I disagree with a few though. Fight Club isn't sci-fi or fantasy. dystopian maybe, but not sci-fi. I guess that is why people make up these lists..for the rest of us to argue over!

I want to buy a house....

Or at least rent one. I just kinda wonder why this feeling has come on in the last year or so. Is it some kinda nesting thing that's happening since i'm in my 30's? is it just frustration about wanting outdoor space, or to paint, or to do what i want with my place? Is it a desire for a bigger sense of place, of home?

I mean, size wise, my apartment is about fine for me. I'd like the kitchen to be a touch bigger and i'd like a laundry room/pantry area. i don't even know if i want to stay in Nashville! I'm not even near financially secure enough to buy a place, especially since banks apparently are more credit stingy. But i'm tired of white walls, beige carpet and ugly fixtures. I'm done with having a dozen boxes around because i don't have a proper place for things. i want a garden, and lots of windows, and not have a neighbor pounding across my ceiling constantly.

So, though i can't afford one now, i've been randomly paging through ads online. I've also been reading some green home books. I finished up The Urban Homestead by Kelly Coyne and Eric Knutzen last night. The couple who wrote it live together in a house in South Central LA where they raise chickens, grow veggies and make compost. They even talk about more extreme things, like guerilla gardening (where you plant seeds/plants on public or private property then come back to pick the food later), dumpster diving for food (!), pooping in a bucket and pulling yourself off the grid completely. I really liked the tone of the book. They are very funny and realistic. The authors don't seem to give any false hope or say that these things are super simple but they also show you they aren't as impossbile as most people think. There are a good many typos or grammatical slips so it you get really really put off by those things you may not want to read it. While there are several projects with instructions included, many things, if you decide to do them, will need further research. As an example, they talk about urban foraging for wild plants and list several but don't show pictures. The authors direct you to other sources to learn more about the subject. There are definitely more projects for people in houses than apartments; there is also a section on how to select a new dwelling based on the urban homestead principles. It is a wonderful idea book. I am psyched about growing lettuce on my porch! I give it a 6 and, as my copy was a library book, i'll probably be buying it.

*pic from urbanchickens.org and they have lots of info on raising chickens for eggs!
*the authors' website is Homegrownevolution.com

Coraline

Today I zipped through Coraline by Neil Gaiman. I got the strange feeling that i've read it before. I don't think so but i don't know so. It reminded me of a bit of The Thief of Always by Clive Barker which is a favorite of mine (note: reread this soon). I read that as a teenager but Coraline came out in 2002 so i know i couldn't have read it in high school or college. Maybe it was reading The Graveyard Book recently. several of the scenes felt familiar, like the bits about the special rock and the talking cat. Others were unknown. I feel Coraline is a 6. A great story of a little girl's bravery, smarts and resolve. I want to give it to my little niece to read now!

That is something i want to do as an aunt: be a bit of a different example for my niece and nephew. I love my brother and his wife and think they're doing a great job with their wonderful kids! I just know that everyone, kids included, is just swamped with images of how and what people are supposed to be. Girls are supposed to like X, Y and Z and behave in A, B and C ways. Boys only do M, N, O things and act like D, E or F. I want to be an influence the other way. I want Shelby to know that science and math aren't hard; i want Sam to know it's ok if he doesn't like motorcycles. If Shelby wants to rock on her dad's electric guitar and Sam wants to learn to cook my mom's chocolate cake I want them to be free to do it! So i'm trying to collect books/movies/music and such that is non-stereotypical. I'm trying to BE non-stereotypical.

ack. so now i'm ranting i think. This works for the 9 for 09 challenge (letter, in my name i've e,l,a,n,i and so does Coraline) as well as the YA challenge. yay!

Mailbox Monday!

I don't normally participate but last week i got a few things in the mail and thought i'd share.

The book is an ERC of The History of Now by Daniel Klein. Courtesy of LibraryThing. Thanks!

The second is a postcard from Helsinki, Finland, from a 15 yr old girl. The written part had some cute stickers of Hello Kitty.

The third is a postcard from NYC! well, Staten Island. I wish i was able to take a better picture as it is a really cool card. It shows all the scaffolding around the Statue of LIberty and the men working to build it. Pretty neat! I'm enjoying postcrossing.

Nashville Only Post

Not really of course. But I've got some things to discuss that really only pertain to residents in and around our glorious capitol city!!!

First, as the above logo suggests, I saw Richard III this weekend. The Nashville Shakespeare Festival now presents a winter production in addition to their summer play in Centennial park. R and i went on Friday evening and the crowd was pretty decent for only the second performance. Set in a vaudeville theater, the play was very different than some i've seen before. The couple of histories i've seen were straight Renaissance-style productions. I enjoyed the change. There was a little dancing and singing but it wasn't a musical. The Troutt theater on Belmont's campus is a great venue. The play runs through Feb 1st and i highly recommend it.


I love The Belcourt! It's an historic building; the Grand Ole Opry originally played there. Since 1925 it's been many things and Belcourt YES!, a non-profit, manages it now. They play art movies, have live shows, kids programming and other cool stuff. They serve beer and alcohol at the concession stand and the M&M's are only $2 a bag instead of $5 like most theaters. i've bought a membership myself. Last year at a quick count i saw at least 5 movies there and added another half dozen to my netflix queue that i couldn't make it to see. But, as it is an old theater, the seats there kinda suck. so they are raising money to replace all the seats through the Creature Comforts campaign. They need $65,000 total and the last update i received they'd raised about $12,000. So, go see a movie! Buy a membership! Donate, it's tax deductible!

Vote NO NO NO NO NO on English only in Nashville! Don't make us look even more backward!

Lastly, I just want to say thanks to our Tennessee Titans. Yes, you lost last week. However this season was so great to watch. Making it to 13-0 rocked. Seeing Kerry Collins become a really good quarterback was great. Watching the defense smother folks made me squeal! Here's hoping you do it again next year......and maybe get back to the Super Bowl?

Thieves and Escapes

Today i finished up 2 books. The first, The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti, is about a young orphan boy named Ren who only has one hand. Raised in a Catholic orphanage until he's about 12, Ren is taken by Benjamin Nab, who claims to be his brother. Of course he is not; he says he adopts Ren because his injury will be great for cons. Benjamin's friend is Tom, an alcoholic ex-teacher. We follow these three through thieving, selling "medicinal drafts", grave robbing and other exciting activities. As this book is relatively new i don't want to say anymore so i don't spoil you! This book is a great, quick read. I really like it for two different reasons, partly because i like the genre "boys' adventure stories" with thieves and good hearted con men, daring robberies and narrow escapes. Parts reminded me of The Lies of Locke Lamora and i am sure Locke and Benjamin would get along well. On another level i really like stories (and movies) about the family you make rather than the one you're born into. The way friendship, compassion, shared experience and choices bring people together and can make them closer than family. This book is a 6.

The second, Unplugged by Nancy Whitney-Reiter, is short non-fiction work about how to basically take a trip for several months. Ostensibly, it is a book about how to find yourself by taking this time off. Really though, it's kind of a checklist. I could only recommend it if you hadn't given the slightest bit of thought about how to spend a lengthy time traveling. I mean, does any person in their 20's or 30's really need to be told to set up automatic payments for their bills? To pay off their credit cards before leaving? I did get a couple of websites to look at out of it, but overall I'd give it a 3 personally.

TRUE CRIME!!!

I don't read much true crime stuff. Frequently it is poorly written, sensationalized crap, with vague insinuations if the case was unsolved and almost always comes off as the writer trying to make some money off a tragedy. I guess that is why when i do read books in this genre they are usually historical, like last year when i read The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher. I'm fond of Jack the Ripper books too. So i was a little wary of reading The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi. What pushed me over to reading it is that Preston is a bestselling author, so i didn't figure he'd be pushing a bad story or writing it just for the cash.


I liked it. Spezi is an Italian journalist who's been covering the case so he has a wealth of information. The Monster killed couples in Italy between 1968 and 1985. the main bulk of the murders occured after 1974, when Spezi covered them for his newspaper. The case and clues are strange, twisty and complex. It's really difficult to describe! The book doesn't feel sensationalized at all; Preston and Spezi seem particularly careful to honor the victims, both of the killer directly and of the Italian justice system that destroys so many lives in the course of the book. overall, i give it a 5.

Ok, one more challenge. The Chunkster Challenge is one that I would end up doing kinda anyway. I read lots of books and plenty of decently long ones. I'm going to pick the second option, Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? Pretty funny stuff. So i'm going to be sure to post about 3-5 big ass books!

YA Challenge List

Just a place filler to list the books i read for the challenge! Click on the title for the review.

1. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
   
2. Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
3. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
4. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
5. Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle
6. Click by Various Authors
7. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
8. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
9. Holes by Louis Sachar
10. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
11. Just In Case by Meg Rosoff
12. A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

and that's it!

Book and Postcards!

I received 2 postcards the other day!



The top one, though about disney, is from North Carolina and the lower one is from Estonia! I had to look it up on a map. Why is everyone else's handwriting so lovely? i don't get it. but i like getting mail!

I also finally finished up Just After Sunset, a pack of short stories by Stephen King. I really liked these for the most part. They are a touch of a change in a way; i felt the majority of the stories were "up" rather than downers. Several weren't supernatural at all; my favorite one, "The Gingerbread Girl", is a straight up woman in trouble story, but she's a kick ass woman. There are several that deal with death and mortality, like "Willa", "Ayana" and "The Things They Left Behind" but they aren't horror stories in any way. They're pretty lovely, little meditations on life and what is beyond. I give this collection a big 6.

A Couple Challenges

I decided to join the World Citizen Challenge, at the Minor level. So i intend to read 3 books this year. that's it. :) anyway, this is a non-fiction challenge and, for me at least, non-american. I've requested The Chrysanthemum and the Sword from my library to start soon.

Also, I am going to tackle the TBR light challenge. I'm going to do 6 books from my pile but won't have to stick to these particular ones.

• Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
• Dust by Elizabeth Bear
• Children of Men by PD James
• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevski
• Neuromancer by William Gibson
• Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

So that is totally it for now. Though any that qualify as sci-fi will of course be registered over at Carl V's Sci-Fi Experience.

Saturday

So today i vacuumed! I moved around my living room furniture and got all the boxes out of the front room. not just by moving them to the bedroom; i actually emptied some.

also, i made my first loaf of bread today. I am not counting this as a read book but i got Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. i read an article in Mother Earth News about this book. The article actually includes the main recipe. The idea is that you mix up a big batch of dough(6 1/2 cups of flour worth) just enough to incorporate the ingredients and let that sit for about 2 hours. Then you put a lid on it, loosely, and store it in your fridge. I mixed up the dough last night and made my first loaf this morning. Here's a pic of the dough in its container.



And one of the formed loaf. You can almost see Kenny, my beta fish, on the left there.



And one of the loaf after i'd eaten some of it. Somehow i didn't take a picture of it whole.



and a delicious sandwich. Tuna salad with cranberries, with farmer market special pickles added.



i had another slice with dinner. It is really yummy! I am going to get some whole wheat flour for my next batch. Highly recommended!

2009!

I had a lovely New Year's Eve! Margarita's, Guitar Hero, wins for both Vandy and LSU, fajitas. Then today, sleeping late, IHOP breakfast at noon and before showering, football.

So i don't really do resolutions but i may try it this year. so here's a few things i want to do. And these aren't in any particular order.

• I've got stacks of magazines (Real Simple, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone) and multiple issues of the Nashville Scene lying around. Goal- get through these at a rate of 1-2 a day until i'm cleaned out. Most of these I've already read so it's just a matter of flipping through and getting out what i want from them.
• I've been saving movie and concert and other event tickets for years. I've off and on been trying to put them in a book. I'm only about halfway through 2003. Goal- by the end of 2009 have at least through 2008 pasted up.
• Blog about all the movies i'm watching, not just the new ones. This year when i was trying to put together my bests list i really wished i'd kept up with them better. After all, if i can keep up with books why not through a line about movies in too.
  
• Learn to bake bread.
• Do yoga once a week outside my regular class.
  
• Vacuum once a week.

Want to read some other resolutions?
Sustainablog's Restorative Resolutions.
A suggestion from NYT columnist Bob Herbert

Happy New Year!

Also, at some point since i last looked i've gone over 10K views! Thanks to all my adoring fans! ;)