The Beginning in the End

Kudos to you if you got the Bones reference. Have a tiny granola bar.

I've been absent blogging the past few weeks because my fingers have been otherwise occupied with yarn. The tablecloth, as you saw, is finished. The afghan still isn't but that's okay. We can still use it while I'm working on it.

I've given up the resolution thing, because I never keep them anyway, so why bother? We're staying in and watching movies, eating food and drinking in the spirit of a tradition that I actually like and intend to keep. I feel no need to be out in the cold with all the drunks- that just doesn't sound fun.

Tomorrow is The Mummer's Parade in Philadelphia, which we will attend. There will be pictures to kick off the next segment of the blog that I am officially and uncreatively titling The Philly Chronicles.

In the interest of the books part of the books and yarn thing, I just finished last book in the Hunger Games trilogy.
Overall, they are great. A really interesting concept, good characters for the most part, engaging and different. Think post-apocalypse reality tv. Go get yourself a copy.

The things that I take issue with though, which I think might have played out better if they'd been marketed toward adults are plot and character development. Characters were developed as much as they needed to be, but no further. Also, plot was always rushed at the end. I feel like more complicated subplots could have been introduced to develop secondary, but very interesting, characters if the books were longer and the language a little more adult. Collins writes some very beautiful lines at times, but for the most part the language is basic, and I don't believe that it was done in an intentional Cormac McCarthy kind of way.

The other thing that I would have changed is I would have added a second narrator. Katniss is a great character, but she's not as on the ball as the reader would sometimes like. Personally, I got frustrated with her being the last to figure things out, and I think there might have been more insight if she had traded off the narration with another character.

Negative things aside, The Hunger Games are a refreshingly different angle on adolescence, and if you're into the post-apocalypse thing (which I kind of am. Yeah, morbid, I know) they're excellent. So go forth and read.

Oh yeah, and it's New Year's Eve. Eat, drink, drink, eat, watch the ball drop, drink.
Have a Happy New Year.

The Last Week

This is what I've been doing for the last week.
Seriously, the whole thing. Even while I was at work.
But now it's finished. Hallelujah.

Two Towels: A Grandma-ism

I love my grandma dearly, but she's crazy. Really.
Someday, I will compile a hilarious collection of all the grandma-isms. But for now, here's one.

Grandma: [coming out of the bathroom after her shower] I used the last two towels in there.
Mom: Two towels?
Grandma: Yeah, the last two on the rack, you know, behind the door.
Mom: Why two towels?
Grandma: Because they were the last two.
Mom: Yeah, but why two?

Me: LOL!

Today's Life Lesson:

Surround yourself with people who care about you.


I know this might sound like an obvious thing, but today has made me interested in how many people will think they know about a problem you have, and not say anything.

Example: I have a bit of a black eye, from the stye that is currently making me crazy, and at work today I've noticed several people noticing it, but not one of them has said anything. Now, my boyfriend would never in a million years lay a hand on me, but I think if I was getting battered, I'd want someone to say something.
Even to simply ask, "are you okay?"

I think the world would be a lot better off if we all cared just a little bit more. And while this might seem a little hypocritical, because I'm often the first person to say "I don't care" I think it needs to be taken in context. I'm not saying I want every person's life story, because truly, I don't, but I do smile and say hello to random people and I have asked people who looked upset if they were all right.
That's all I mean. We've evolved enough that most of us are capable of recognizing emotions in others.

So that's today's lesson. Surround yourself with people who WILL say something, and ask someone who looks upset if they're all right.

Now, to write that final paper...and I mean FINAL paper :)

Mame + Glee = Awesome

I'm almost ready to start singing Christmas Carols. Here's a preview from last night's episode of Glee.

Musings

I should be writing a paper on The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. But instead, it's time for another round of "What Should I Do With My Life?"

I came across an organization today called Words Without Borders, and its mission is to bring international literature into, primarily American, classrooms. They're all about translating and sharing, and I think that American classrooms are the worst at exposing kids to international literature, so that seems to be who they're targeting.

But it got me thinking. That maybe I should still be considering a Doctorate so I can teach Mediterranean Lit in translation, after I've translated it. Or maybe teach it not in translation, but there are probably more job opportunities for English classes in English.

I could also teach my class in the literary merit of bumper stickers and commercial jingles with a Doctorate. But, where would I get a Doctorate? Penn?

University of Phoenix?

Just kidding. I'm pretty sure that place doesn't even exist. It's like Professor Emilius Browne's College of Witchcraft.

Okay, readers, I put it to all two or three of you.
What should I do with my life?

a) Doctorate and teach
b) Master's and publishing
c) hit the lotto, start up a publishing company/writer's retreat in Middle-of-Nowhere-New York. (the Middle of No Where bit is, amazingly, on the Pro side of Pros and Cons of a writer's retreat. What else is there to do but write? You guessed it...nothing.)
d) all of the above
e) hit the lotto, buy a house in Italy, be a hermit.

Cast your vote.