May's resolutions: the ever-evolving life of Virginia

I know I just published April's resolutions, but I resolve to do a better job of publishing my resolutions.

As you may or may not have noticed over the past few months, my resolutions are constantly changing and evolving.  I think this is totally reasonable, given the fact that life is not stagnant.  In May, I removed "tackle a nagging task" because it wasn't useful for me, and because I keep a daily to-do list, so my nagging tasks are really more like my reading lists.  Because there is NEVER enough time for all the reading there is to be done.  I have also removed "find a new job" because I have found a new job, or at least a consulting position through September.  I have added "arts and crafts" because somehow, when my old job took over my life, I forgot how much I enjoy arts and crafts.  Crocheting and cross-stitching in particular, because I find it very relaxing to do something that repetitive.  And it involves counting.  I am such an accounting dork. 

Anyway, on to what I actually did in May.  I had a 42% success rate, which is lower than April, but I've been feeling happier lately than I have, maybe ever.  If you recall, the resolutions checklist was part of The Happiness Project plan...something about accomplishing things that you should be doing (like exercise) along with things that you enjoy doing, but that frequently get pushed aside in the course of life (like arts and crafts) makes people happier.  I'm not sure this checklist is the cause of my happiness, but it's certainly nice to see all of the things I've been accomplishing.

Like usual, reading was the most successful task in May, with 27 days, followed by exercise with 22 and flossing with 20 (better than April!).  I know people who enjoy flossing, but I don't.  I also don't enjoy washing my face and removing my eye makeup, but I've been working on doing a better job at sticking to those routines, too.  Ironically, I love my bite-guard, and since I've had it, I've only forgotten to wear it once.
On the losing end of the spectrum was writing my novel with only one day.  **Sigh** I will get to this.  Also on the low end was a tie between tackling a nagging task (which I decided to remove on May 22) and arts and crafts with six days each.  However, while I crochet, I listen to books on CD, so each crochet session is the length of one CD.  I know I could listen to part of a CD, and finish it the next day, or whatever, so it doesn't take up such a huge chunk of my time when I do it (which would probably also make my crocheting more consistent looking), but I haven't managed to do that yet.

Life is a work in progress, right?  Or is it process?  I can never figure out which "p" word makes more sense.

The Other Dog

This is a review of "The Other Dog" by Madeleine L'Engle.  For some reason both goodreads and blogger are behaving badly, and I have better things to do with my time than wait for them to get their act together.  So I apologize for the lack of a picture.

This book was also recommended to me by my mother, and I read it to my husband as a bedtime story (don't you wish you lived in my house?).  We both agreed that it was entertaining; however we both found "The Web Files" to be more entertaining and engaging.  As my husband quickly pointed out, "that's not a dog." (You can't pull the wool over his eyes).  Nonetheless, this is a charming story, and one I think fits well into the age 6-ish group.

April Resolutions, and the most successful day of the month!

Wow, and I just realized how far behind I am that this never got published!  Hopefully, we will be back with our regularly scheduled ranting shortly!

I had a hugely successful April, with a 50% success rate on my resolutions, completing 119 out of 240 possible tasks.  My most successful task was reading, which I did EVERY DAY in April, for a 100% completion rate.  My least successful task was writing my novel, which I did only one day, but that fateful day, April 27, is the first day that I've completed every resolution. 

I also did a good job at looking for a new job (22 times) and exercising (21 times).  I was pretty bad at tackling a nagging task (9 times), but that sort of seems reasonable, given the name of the task.  While I flossed more than I blogged, I only did it 15 times in April, which is kinda gross, so I'm going to aim for a better record in May.

The Gangster We Are All Looking For by Lê Thi Diem Thúy


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was beautifully and poignantly written. The language was simple, yet compelling and visual. The book is clearly somewhat autobiographical, and while there are undercurrents of sadness, there is also enough joy and happiness to make the corners of one’s heart turn up, because we have all been there, too, we just didn’t say it as well.

For example, the chapter titled palm is about both palm trees and the palm of the narrator’s hand. The opening paragraph says, “The trees in the neighborhood were palms and eucalyptus. Along the sides of many of the houses were bushes of white jasmine that bloomed in the evening. Young girls picked the flowers and, with a thread and needle, strung the blooms into garlands. They made themselves crowns and necklaces and bracelets. If allowed to, they would wear the flowers to bed. By morning, the garlands lay crushed and spent, the white having aged to yellow, but the fragrance remained across every throat and wrist and crown that had worn them.”

The story is of an immigrant family from Vietnam, who are dealing with the dual challenges of moving to the United States and of making peace with the Vietnam War.

Somehow, in my history classes, we never quite discussed the Vietnam War. We never made it that far along. I’m not sure if it was intentional, as we were the children of the generation who fought that war, and it is possible that our parents would have strong and mixed reactions about what we should learn, or if my teachers weren’t quite as good as time management as they should have been and simply didn’t get that far in the textbooks. Either way, this book provided a glimpse of the repercussions of that war from a new point of view.

All in all the book is masterfully written, and a joy to read.






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The Web Files by Margie Palatini

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a children's book that was recommended to me by my mother ages ago. I really enjoy reading children's books because I think they're more challenging to write than most people think. First, you have to tell a complete story in less than 40 pages. The story has to be entertaining enough for adults to want to (or be willing to) read it a gazillion times, but it has to be age appropriate.

What I like about Palatini is that she uses a lot of puns, and she incorporates other children's stories into her works. For example, in "The Web Files," Ducktective Web is working the barnyard shift, and he has to interview some suspects for a robbery. One of the suspects is little boy blue. Upon determining that he is innocent, Ducktective says, "we put the kid out to pasture."
These silly quips, combined with colorful illustrations, makes this a book kids will enjoy, and parents will find amusing.

Captain America had a rough day at work the day I brought this book home from the library.  Of course I read it to him as a bedtime story (what's the point of children's books if not for bedtime stories?).  He was not nearly as amused by this book as I was, but then again he is rarely as amused by children's books as I am.  However, this one starred ducks, and he's a duck, and I had my duck slippers on, so all in all, he didn't mind too much.


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The Last Camel Died at Noon by Elizabeth Peters

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I think Elizabeth Peters really hit her stride in "The Last Camel Died at Noon." The story was the most engaging in the series so far, Emerson finally became a bit comical, quipping such remarks as, "I seem to have ruined another shirt...not my fault this time, Peabody," and we finally meet a character who keeps Ramses quiet.



One thing I really like about the series is how Peters illustrates Peabody and Emerson's relationship. Peabody states that they are frequently of one mind, but it is illustrated by Emerson saying such things as "Peabody, do you think you could manage..." to which she replies, "Quite," and then, rather than tell us what Emerson is plotting, the book breaks into the action of Emerson and Peabody following through with their plans.



I am actually really excited to read the rest of the series!



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Possession by A.S. Byatt


My rating: 1 of 5 stars


This book was a struggle to get through, even after I saw the movie. Basically, there are two love stories going on in this book...the modern-day romance of two literary researchers who discover a hitherto unknown love affair between two poets.




I will say this, the author worked very hard on this book...she used different voices for the different characters, and even for the different writings of the poets. She put a lot of effort into this book.




But the book was so long, the modern day love story was frustrating, because you were sort of like, get it together already! And I suppose there was supposed to be an air of mystery, because the researchers are working to prove that the two poets knew each other, but, and maybe it's because I'm not an academic, I was sort of like, who cares? I mean, I just have a hard time understanding why someone would spend so much time researching stuff that was already written (then again, I've never liked research...if YOU want to know something, YOU look it up; don't bother me with it).




Thinking maybe I was missing something crucial, since this book came so highly recommended from a trustworthy source, I did some of my own research (see, when I want to know something, I will go ahead and look it up myself!). Basically, what I found is that people either LOVED or HATED this book. People either found the story line beautiful, the poetry moving, and the imagery fabulous, or they were like me and just wanted to get on with it. I didn't find anyone who felt the book was "pretty good."




So, my advice is, if you like research, or poetry or reading journals from the 1860s, you might enjoy this book, but if you don't, or if you are frustrated by would-be lovers who can't figure it out, then you'll probably not enjoy this book.






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