lazy yvett

I've done it. I've reached the epitome of all things lazy. I am now reading two books. Is it because . . . .

1. I can't decide which one I want to read more?
2. I crave literacy so much that one book at a time won't suffice?
3. I am now a book reviewer and I need to read both for an assignment?

If you picked any of these, you'd be wrong. The reason is that I'm keeping one book upstairs and one book downstairs. There. Now you know about me.
The truth is that I usually don't do this. Well, I've really never done this, but it just got to be really annoying waking up on a Sunday morning, being the only person awake and not really wanting to get out of bed yet, reaching over to grab my book only to realize that I left it downstairs. ARGH! Or sitting down on my super comfortable couch in the living room, having a nice cup of something, reaching over for my book and realizing it's up on my nightstand.

I now have this book up on my nightstand. . . . .


. . . . and this one downstairs.

Since I am now a total expert on laziness reading two books at once, let me give you some tips.
1. Don't read two from a series. That is, of course, unless you've already read them and already know what happens. I imagine it would be super hard to read two from a series at the same time. I'd have been saying things like "WHAT DO YOU MEAN SIRIUS IS DEAD?" or "so where the heck is Edward this whole time?"
2. Don't read two similar books. The kind of language in the books I'm reading now cannot be confused with the other. I'm not transposing the plot of one to the other. Now, I have a few books that deal with or have some sort of foot binding scene in them, for example. I wouldn't read those two at the same time. I'd probably read them and be like "what? she already had them bound, why are they doing it again?" Or I'd confuse the friends or something. Am I making sense?
3. I can't think of anything else.

feeling: super lazy
listening to: Manchester Orchestra (I've Got Friends)

books, books, books

There's no point in telling you what I've been up to. It's always the same thing . . . . the kids. Right now I want to tell you that it finally happened. I want to read the books that Brianna reads. Ugh, I feel so old. I thought some of the collections she's read and told me about are cute, like this one. Then she read this book. I seriously had to ask her to stop telling about it, because it sounded so interesting, I didn't want to know the end. Now, she's onto
this series and it sounds alright too. She's currently reading Alicia. This isn't a series I would've picked, but she and all her friends are into it, so you know how that goes.
Here's the thing, she asked if she could borrow my Twilight series and also wants to read The Uglies series. I think she's a bit too young for those, though. I haven't read any of The Uglies. Are they good? I definitely have to read them now to see if they're appropriate for her to read. As for Twilight, well a lot of her friends have older brothers and sisters and know all about the story. The kids are "playing" Twilight at recess. They pick an Edward and argue about who will be Bella. -sigh-.
Seriously, didn't Brianna just start kindergarten? How is she 10 years old so fast? I'm not ready.

feeling: old
listening to: Smashing Pumpkins (Cherub Rock)

you deplete me

The books I've been reading lately have been leaving me just plain exhausted. Emotionally drained. This is really the kind of book I love, but I don't remember feeling this way from a book since The Kite Runner.

I just finished reading The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. I loved it. It's about a husband and wife in a troubled marriage who both work in Columbine HS. He has to go away because of a family emergency and that's when the shootings happen. This is basically everything that happens to them afterwards. While reading it, I found myself feeling just sort of worn down. It actually depressed me. I don't think I'd ever gotten a grasp of just what a horrible tragedy Columbine was.
Still, I'd absolutely recommend it. I've read both of previous books and I suggest you do the same before you read this. Characters from his previous novels pop in and it's nice to know who they are and follow up.



Now I'm reading Revolutionary Road. Oh. My. Goodness. I really want to see the movie, but I hadn't read the book. It makes me soooooo grateful to be happy with my life. Still, reading about them exhausts me. How could anyone feel like that all the time? Exhausting. Still, a must read.

Let me know of any good books you've read lately. I am forever compiling a "to read" list.

feeling: looking for a rag doll pattern
listening to: U2 (Get on Your Boots)

the last series

I finished Breaking Dawn sometime last week. If you still haven't read any of them, you should. It's worth reading the whole series just to be able to read the last book. It was my favorite of the series.
That said, I think this is the last series I'm going to read. Maybe it's because I'm a huge dork, but I make an emotional investment into the series books I read. Then they finish I'm left feeling like I miss my friends. I hate that feeling. I had Harry Potter withdrawal and now I'm feeling like I didn't get enough Edward. Even Jacob grew on me and I'm now feeling like I want to know more about what happened after the books finish off.
I also made the mistake of finishing the book without having anything new to read. I hate that too. I looked up some recommendations and have started reading Map Of The World. It makes me feel pretty horrible and that's the kind of book and movies I like best. I also have another book ready for when I finish this one.
It's that time again . . . any books you'd recommend. What's the one book you tell people they should read. Keep in mind that I like feeling horrible. Think The Kite Runner or House of Sand and Fog. At the same time, I didn't realize I like wizards or vampires until I read about them. Give me your recommendations, please.

feeling: LOVING this rainy weather
listening to: 30 Seconds to Mars (From Yesterday) <-- I constantly have this song in my head now because of the book I'm reading

weekend wrap-up

Friday
I had been freaking out about a little white dot on the TV screen. I was sure that I'd done something that had created a burn-in and was just about to schedule a repair man to come out. Then I heard this news. Whew! You can tell which channel I watch a lot. I usually stick to three channels. I'm surprised Tim Gunn or "Michael Scott" aren't burned into my screen yet either.

Friday/Saturday
I wasn't sure whether or not to go to the midnight release party for Breaking Dawn. I did. I also took Brianna which made me think I was bordering on child abuse. She really wanted to go with me, though and so I gave in. I also thought I might be able to say that she's a really advanced reader and we were really there for her and not me. :P I was number 613 in line. Nice. The kids in attendance went all out! I loved the shirts with Team Jacob/Team Edward on them. I'd be the latter, by the way. I really wanted to take pictures of several of the shirts and outfits but I thought I'd be the creepy old lady there and so I refrained.


The rest of the weekend was spent at home. I can't believe it! It felt good to be home for a couple of days. Rodrigo and Alec seemed to be getting one of those horrible summer colds and neither really felt like doing anything. It gave me a chance to read. Sunday I pretty much lived in the kitchen. I cooked my grandma's style food which takes hours to prep (homemade sopes, gorditas, green chile, shredded beef and spanich rice).
I hope your weekend was good as well.

feeling: sooooooo tired of the humidity. I can't handle it
listening to: STP (Unglued)

they got me!!!!!

I had been seeing Twilight everywhere for quite a while. I have to admit that I would pass right by it when looking for books because I really thought it was a book that was made into a movie with Nicole Kidman. Didn't she make a movie by that same name? Anyway, then I started seeing similar covers but noticed it was a different book. I picked one up, read the back, found out it was about vampires and set it back down. I thought it was more Lestat-like. Then I just started hearing about it everywhere. I went to the bookstore and saw that they were holding a midnight party for the new release. Hmm . . . midnight parties are only for extremely popular books. They almost had me. Then I went on to Jenny's site and found out it was being made into a movie starring (drumroll . . . . . . . ) Cedric Diggory. Hel-lo vampire. I knew right then it was only a matter of time.
That same day, I went to the library and immediately saw Eclipse in the express read section. I grabbed it and started looking for the first two. I couldn't find either anywhere so I ended up asking. It turns out there is a waiting list of over 250 people for the first book. Uh, no thanks. I'll just go buy it. -sigh- I did. I liked it. I feel like a dork. I went to buy the second one and the check-out girl was super excited about it and she sort of said more than I wanted to know about the book. Still, I'm liking this one too. I am definitely going to finish reading all three before the third one is due back at the library.
As if it's not bad enough that I have this guilty pleasure series, Rodrigo was making fun of me. He said "First wizards and now vampires, huh? What's next, Dungeons & Dragons?" -groan- Whatever. Anyway, you can watch previews here.

feeling: like a total dork
listening to: NERD, Julian Casablancas & Santogold (My Drive Thru)

Harry Potter Ruined me

You know what? Ever since I finished reading the whole Potter series, I can't get into anything else. Does that make me a dork? I started reading Atonement back in February and I still can't finish. This is the first book that's even held my attention since I finished the series. I just don't care about the characters anymore. I think I'm in Potter withdrawal. When I finished the last book, I just felt like I was left hanging. I was talking to a friend of mine for about an hour about this, since we're both in the same boat. She said she still feels like "Where are my friends" (meaning the Hogwarts kids). I think we decided that we're too dorky to be good mothers and we're glad our kids are friends. What's wrong with me? I used to enjoy reading sooooo much and now everything seems "eh". I'm convinced that it was because I was left wanting more. There are YEARS of their lives that weren't covered in the books. Too many unanswered questions. -sigh- I just have to get over it. We should seriously start a support group.
I think that what I need is an AMAZING book to get me out of the slump. Could you recommend your favorite book to me? I like books that make me cry, but not something like a romance novel (think The Kite Runner). I don't care too much for mystery or scary types. Although I love the Harry Potter series, I'm not really into wizards and things like that. Care to share?

feeling: HOT!!!! 95 degrees in April, huh? I'm in for one HOT summer
listening to: classical music for Badger to sleep to.

now what?

Back in August, I wrote this post about how I was going to start reading the whole Harry Potter series. Well, I finished the books a little more than two weeks ago. I am really glad that I read them all consecutively like this. The only thing is that I was left wanting more. I feel like I was left hanging. There are soooo many questions that I have now. I've since read the interview given after the book and some of my questions were answered. For example what Harry, Ron and Hermione went on to do. Also, if Neville got married and to who (I was sure it was going to be Luna and instead it's Hannah). I guess I still have more questions, though.

- What happened to the Dursleys?
- Who did Teddy Lupin end up living with? His grandmother? Harry?
- What about Charlie Weasley? What happened with him?
- Who did Charlie, Percy and George marry if anyone?
- What became of the Malfoys?
- Did Harry, Ron and Hermione finish/graduate from Hogwarts?
- What about Hagrid?
- Who is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?
- What happened to Seamus, Dean, Lee Jordan, Katie, Angelina, Oliver Wood, Ernie all the ones that aren't mentioned in the end.

I hope she reconsiders one day and writes a whole "reunion" book. I'm sure I'm not the only dork, er, person that wonders these things.
Ok, so Rodrigo says that I have completely turned into a Harry Potter dork. I don't think so, but here are his reasons. I started reading the series all over again. This time I'm writing down each character, place, etc. and making notes. The reason is that I totally want to have a Harry Potter birthday party for Alec next year. I want to have little "shops" like Olivanders for wands and Honeydukes for candies. So it's a good reason, right? I was also saying how I wished they had a Hogsmeade/Hogwarts/Daigon Alley Christmas village. I'd love that. Another thing is that I've noticed a whole lot of inconsistencies in the movies. Now that we watch the movies, I start telling Rodrigo how that isn't what happened and tell him how it should really be.
So, for those of you who have read them, what was your favorite book? Favorite movie so far? I really liked book 3 and book 6 (Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix) As for movie #3, the movie does not do Lupin justice at all. He was a much more important character than that. I also don't like how Filch the caretaker is made into a comical sort of character. I thought of him as mean. In the most recent movie, I don't like how there was no mention of Ron and Hermione becoming prefects and no mention of Ron in the quidditch team.
Alright, I guess that's enough for now. I could stay here discussing Harry like a huge dork all day.

feeling: dorky
listening to: some song from Against Me

really late

Hey, have you heard about this cool new literary character named Harry Potter? Well, I just started reading the series. Yes. I JUST started reading them. I've seen the movies. The whole series for me is one of those books that you mean to read and just never get around to it. My mom has been urging me to read them for ages. What finally made me start is that I want to read the last book. I figured I should start from the beginning. I can say for sure that I'm glad I saw the movie first. I pretty much already knew what was going to happen. Had I not known, I wouldn't have been able to get my nose out of the book. Ok, I can see why people love it. I finished book one in a flash. Luckily, the day I finished it, Rodrigo had come home with the next two books for me. (say "awwwww" everyone)
I thought this even before reading them, but I should say it anyway. I am beyond praise for Ms. Rowling. I mean, she created a whole new culture. I know there are many authors that have recurring characters in their books but isn't she one of the few that actually had them grow up and follow their lives. She is amazingly creative and now a billionaire for that. That's right. With a "b". Why can't I do something like that?
It was a dark and stormy night . . . .

feeling: kind of hungry
listening to: Incubus (Dig)

the spoiler

I have a confession to make . . . I read THE spoiler. You all know what I'm talking about. Well, only the crucial parts, who dies and who kills them. At first I thought it might be a fake. I was curious and started digging around and found the exact same info in various websites. I don't think it ruined the book for me. In fact, I want to read it even more now. I would've gone to the end once I got the book anyway. I'm like that. I won't tell you all what happens unless you want me to. Also, I haven't written the name of the book or main character on here purposely. I don't want google searches turning up here (people like me). All I can say is that I was pretty sad at the outcome. Are any of you going to the midnight book celebrations?
What do you all think of the distributors who mailed out the copies early? Could they have been paid off? Are they really that dumb?

feeling: anxious
listening to: Travis (Sing)

book & music memes

I have nothing to write about. Well, I do but I'm not in the mood. :) Anyway, I've had a few of these memes for a while. I'd either seen these somewhere else or had them emailed to me. I'll do these instead. Play along either on your page or shoot me an email. It's always fun to see other people's answers. . .

Book Meme

1. A book that changed your life:
Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs - It made me really appreciate my childhood.

2. If I could only recommend one book it could be:
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - If you've read it, you know why. If not, read it.

3. Favorite Chick Lit Book:
I don't really read "chick lit" but I guess it would be either of the Bridget Jones books by Helen Fielding

4. A book you've read more than once:
I read most of my books more than once.

5. A book that made me giddy:
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

6. A book you wish you had written:
Any Hemingway book. I think his style is something that most anyone could've done. That I could've done and I'd have been that famous. And drunk. I think he was very lucky to have been the first or best known.

7. A book that wracked you with sobs:
The only books that have made me cry are House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

8. A book you are currently reading:
Snow by Orhan Pamuk

9. A book you've been meaning to read:
Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes - I've owned it for years but have never read it.

10. A book you started but could never finish:
Mother of Pearl (same as above) and the Purgatory book of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

11. A book sitting on your bookshelf that you haven't read...yet:
same answers as #10

12. Books I've read and liked but actually don't own:
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee - my brother lost it back when he was in high school and I never bought it again. Also the Complete Edgar Allan Poe collection. I lent (would this be "lent" or "lend"?) it out and never got it back.

13. Books I've read and once it was finished thought, "What's the big deal?":
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd and The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards

iPod Meme
I'm going to play along using my Mini iPod

SOUNDTRACK OF YOUR LIFE
IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here’s how it works:
Open your library (iTunes, Windows Media Player, iPod, etc), Put it on shuffle, press play. For every question, type the song that’s playing. When you go to a new question, press the next button

1. Opening Credits: A Crow Left of the Murder - Incubus
2. Waking Up: Mis Impulsos Sobre Ti - Aleks Syntek
3. First Day At School: New Slang - The Shins
4. Falling In Love: In My Place - Coldplay
5. Fight Song: Break Your Heart - Natalie Merchant
6. Breaking Up: Never is a Promise - Fiona Apple
7. Prom: Six Underground - Sneaker Pimps
8. Life’s Okay: Van Dieman's Land - U2
9. Mental Breakdown: Time is Running Out - Muse
10. Driving: Smile Lines - Incubus
11. Flashback: Wave of Mutilation - Pixies (the slow version)
12. Getting Back Together: Fiebre - Fobia
13. Wedding: Suedehead - Morrissey
14. Birth of Child: Southern Girl - Incubus
15. Final Battle: Sunday Morning - No Doubt
16. Funeral Song: Beast of Burden - Rolling Stones
17. Breaking Up: Lemon Meringue - Poe
18. Sex Scene: I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor - Arctic Monkeys
19. Chillin: Stinkfist - Tool
20. Studying: Best of You - Foo Fighters
21. Sleeping: Speed of Sound - Coldplay
22. End Credits: Eres - Cafe Tacuba

I really liked the way a lot of these turned out. I'm sure it works for everyone, since after all, our iPods/music players have music we chose for ourselves. Play along.

feeling: I have a lot to do today
listening to: Eres (Cafe Tacuba) <-- it's still on

memoirs

I've been reading lots of memoirs lately. I don't know why, it sort of just happened. I'm always, always reading something and it had mostly been just fiction. The recent memoirs I've read are. . .

- The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. I liked this book and all but I found so much of it so hard to believe. As a mother, I mean. Maybe it's better to say that I found lots of it hard to grasp. There are parts where she is a three year old and cooking hot dogs for herself and another part where the parents put all in the kids including a baby in the back of a Uhaul. I don't understand how parents could be like that.

- Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. I don't know how to explain David Sedaris but if you're read any of his books, you know. He's funny the stories are sort of disfunctional and entertaining.

- The Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan. Well, I love Amy Tan so it was great to read more explanations of her works along with all the things she wrote about her life. If you are an Amy Tan fan, this is a must read.

- The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer. This book was absolutely beautiful. I loved the way he told this story and makes you care about all the people in it. I was going through book withdrawl when I finished this book and we have an ongoing Moehringer thing here at my house. I'll explain in another post as it is a long story.

- Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs. Uh, yikes! This was one of those books that I wanted to read and just kept putting it off. Then I heard that the movie was out and I thought I should really read this before I watch it. Wow, I'm surprised he's not some sort of psycho. I figure this stuff has to be true because who could make this up?

Right now I am reading a fiction book Rodrigo bought me but I have nothing new after that. Any recommendations?

feeling: tired
watching: Conan O'Brien