90. thurber carnivals

The Thurber Carnival by James Thurber
When I first saw this book, in my mom's costco shopping cart, i thought i recognized the name james thurber.  i thought that surely this was one of those books about an author's crazy tales or life from the perspective of another author with creative licenses..... but no, this is thurber's self-made little carnival.  before i picked it up i thought "that thurber guy must be pretty whimsical to name his collection of short stories after a carnival."  i was correct.  he is whimsical, indeed.  while i can't say i understood any of his little "comics," his short stories were great.  i especially enjoyed the one about their childhood dog that bit people because he was in a bad humor.  i love this author!  he writes about dogs as if they are humans and captures their personality quirks perfectly.  how can you not like someone that is able to do that?

73.-74. shakespeare and dogs

 

Elizabeth Marshall Thomas' The Hidden Life of Dogs and a book of Shakespeare's sonnets..... 26 more to go in ooohhh let's see... 8 weeks.  how will this happen????  3 or 4 books a week!!!!  luckily i am in the process of reading like 4 others right now for school and i have a semi-free weekend this weekend.  The Hidden Life of Dogs was cool, but not as interesting as I thought it would be.  Marshall Thomas is a crazy woman- she spent thousands of hours following her huskies on walks to see where they went and how they reacted to certain situations like traffic, other dogs, different neighborhoods, etc.  But she left so many questions that I would've liked to have known at "I could never figure out the reason for this.."  I would like to know the reason for this, that is why i'm reading your book: go find the reason or back it up with other instances of other dogs doing something like this!  oh well, it was still a quick and interesting read, plus I enjoy almost anything dog-related, so i enjoyed it overall.  also, i read shakespeare's 152 sonnets for my literature class, which, by the way, is kicking my ass.  we have to read so many poems a week that they all get filtered through the system as if we haven't read them at all, then we are tested on nit-picky details.  thanks a lot, lady.  i'm really learning from your class............................... NOT.  "This suit is black not."  -Borat (a way more entertaining fellow than shakespeare- yup, i said it, I, and english major, said it. borat is more entertaining than shakespeare)

64. and 65. what a productive weekend (for reading at least)

since i have spent so much of my weekend reading things that i didn't necessarily need to read for school, i do not have much time to write out my thoughts and feelings on Eyes Up Nose Down by Merrill Mekoe, and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.  Persepolis was actually for a lesson plan assignment for my media literacy class..... apparently "graphic novels" are the next big thing in teaching.  I think i would have hated having to read and dissect this sort of thing in high school.  i don't do well with comics and graphic reading- there's too much going on.  give me the words and let me picture it on my own.  although i will admit that the graphics were pretty um word word word... i can't think right now.  it's a sunday morning and i'm distracted by the fact that my room is (still) a disaster.  and i also am upset that i didn't do this homework last night when i was motivated.  granted, its not due til wednesday, but i feel that i will be much relieved the more i get done today.  i, as of yet, have no misconceptions about how much will actually get done today though.  i have played this game many a sundays before.  im no stranger to the procrastination game (as you can clearly see- i am writing about what i have read this weekend in lieu of actually doing anything....) persepolis was kind of scary and im not sure how appropriate it would be in a classroom because of the violence, anti-government critique, religion, and curse words in it.  they say fuck a few times, which stands out a lot more in a "graphic novel" than in a regular novel because there are fewer words.  anyway, it was a good history lesson for me at least.  i had no idea of how or why or what went down in the islamic revolution of iran.  now i have some idea.  yay me.  i don't regret spending my saturday nigth reading this book and would recommend it to anyone because it was sort of intriguing.  i also liked the little veiled women pictures.  they reminded me of a darker side of madeline picture books. 

#19 -Mediterranean Summer.... not quite, but i can feel it!

Mediterranean Summer: A Season on France's Cote d'Azur and Italy's Costa Bella

by David Shalleck

what a trite little vacation from the apocalypse....er the books about them.  actually my life is quite amazing right now.  well, i wouldn't go quite that far- but all is good and that's all that matters.  :-)  Anchorman is playing in the background, it's Friday, and i have learned how to write my name, as well as several friend's in Arabic.  because i have almost learned all the alphabet!  yay me!  david shalleck, author of this kind of boring but lovely book, picks up italian in his time (or his 'stages') apprenticing with all kinds of chefs and kitchens- from the almost home kitchens to the michelin starred ones- all over the boot of Italy.  then he is hired by fabulously rich businesspeople to be the chef in the galley of Serenity, a luxury yacht that travels the Mediterranean Sea.  it was a lot of hard work, but some true beauty and no small achievement to make an entirely original (yes, every time he cooked for the owners he was not allowed to make the same dish more than once- NOT ONCE!  can you imagine???? AND it had to stay true to the local regional cuisine AND it had to be fairly health conscious!  needless to say, i'm rediculously impressed- i can't even do that for myself from week to week!)  He goes on to work with culinary great, Jaques Pepin.  i loved hearing him speak so in depth about the recipes and the preparation, and the incredible luxury that people with money on the coast of the mediterranean live in.  someday, i hope to be here.  not necessarily on a luxury yacht, but that would be acceptable.  i guess.... ha ha but i definitely would not hire a cook to take care of every meal.  maybe someone to pamper us occasionally, and make menial meals when we are in a hurry- jetting off to the white sandy beaches and 'discoteques' of italy and monaco- but i wouldn't let this guy (or girl) have all the fun.  but i definitely would do as la signora and il dottore (the owners) do and have my labrador on board, being fed the occasional delectable human food.  i might not, however, name him Alessandro.  but that is kind of amusing.  yes, this book is my dream- sun soaked beaches, crystal blue waters, great food and loved ones- and a happy go lucky dog.  :-)