30 Days of Blogging: Day 20

day 20- write a letter to someone

Dear Borders Books,
 
I am bummed you are filing for bankruptcy. You are closing your Sisk Road location in Modesto. This is going to be a big inconvenience for me. You were the closest book store to my house and I frequented your place of business. I prefer your location to the lesser Barnes and Noble on McHenry Ave because of not only location, but organization. I can easily find what I am looking for in your store. In Barnes and Noble I have to ask for help...something I hate doing.
 
200 of your stores are closing out of 642. Of course Sisk Road had to be one of them. Perhaps this speaks ill of Modestonians literary interests. If you open a location in Ripon, I promise we will keep your business in the black.
 
I suppose online retailers like Amazon and all those techy reading devices like the Kindle didn't help in your business pursuits. I for one prefer holding a book to squinting my eyes at a screen all day. I like to write little notes in my books and fold the corners to mark my page. I cannot do this on a Kindle. Perhaps you should commission some scientists to do a study on the ill effects of reading e books. I don't really know if there are any, but I'm sure they can tweak the outcomes in your favor.
 
You may suggest I go to the library or buy my books online. Your suggestion is not well received. I like to own my books. I know I am killing trees. I'm sorry. Even if I only read them once, I like the way they look sitting on my shelf. I have bought books online before, but going into a bookstore and wandering is a million times better.
 
You disappoint me Borders. I guess I will reluctantly be making the trek to Barnes and Noble or Yesterday's Books. Such a sacrifice.
 
Sincerely,
Jessica

30 Days of Blogging: Day 13

day 13- your 5 favorite books and why

The Catcher in the Rye - Holden (the main character) is full of teenage angst. He is the total opposite of me, maybe that's why his character sucked me in.
 
The Grapes of Wrath- We read this book in high school. I think I was the only person who was excited to do so. My mom's family came from Oklahoma in the dust bowl. I thought it was a cool way to see a fictional take on this part of my American history.
 
To Kill a Mockingbird- It's a classic.
 
Julie and Julia- I am kind of obsessed with the movie, naturally I had to read the book. Although, the movie was actually better than the book, it did get me pumped about blogging, cooking, and life's adventures.
 
The Bible- Is that cliche? Oh well, the Bible is pretty profound.

For the Love of Fall

Inspired by a refreshing change in the weather, this blog is about Fall. Fall gets a 9 out of 10 on my season likeability scale. Like most of my statistics, this doesn’t mean much. By the time a new season comes around I decide I am over the previous one and go on to claim the new season as my favorite. Nevertheless, fall is currently my favorite season. Fall means many things to me…

                                                          It means a change in the leaves

It means my favorite brown suede flats

Fall means a cheaper electric bill

(Cha ching!)

Fall means back to school (as a teacher) for Danny

(Doesn't he look handsome in his faculty picture?)

….Which means a happier me

(I'm kidding about that one...mostly)

Fall means mashed sweet potatoes and cinnamon.

Yum

Fall means less sweaty workouts.

(Okay this is me as a sweaty hiker, no one wants to see me working out...)

Fall = Apples.

(Yes...that's mini Jessica)

Fall means Halloween!

Autumn is a season of joyous celebration because this dog:

Butchie

Sheds less

There's more where that came from!

and this lady....has less sweeping to do!

Hallelujah!

Fall means leggings!

...and cardigans

...and pea coats

Oh my!

Octoberfest

Esme and Jude celebrate...

 

Pumpkin coffee...

Pumpkin candles...

Pumpkin everything...

Fall means turkey.

Tis the season for better sleep for this day time-sleeping, night shift-working, girl...

Better sleep for the dogs too...

More crock pot days...

More reading days...

...For the LOVE of FALL...

Hooked on Books: A Double Session with Self Reflection

I recently finished reading Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. If you have any contact with the outside world, you know that this book is a New York Times Best Seller and its popularity has recently surged due to the movie version’s release starring Julia Roberts.

Eat Pray Love is sort of a typical, “Woman has inner conflict- thinks getting a divorce and dating men very different from her husband will help her-discovers like most post divorcees that men are not the answer to everything- goes on a year long travel voyage through Italy, India, and Bali-with lots of soul searching,” type of story. Of course everything falls into place for Elizabeth and she lives happily ever after and is at peace with herself.

Despite my hints of sarcasm, I did enjoy Eat Pray Love. Perhaps I am just jealous that Elizabeth Gilbert was paid in advance to go on her self reflecting journey, by her publishing company as long as she wrote a book about it...a book that as mentioned above, would go on to be a New York Times Best Seller and million dollar movie. I would like to throw it out there that if anyone wants to pay for me to travel the world; I am willing. Unlike Elizabeth, I wouldn’t leave my husband to do so.

A few months back, I did a very backwards thing and saw the movie Julie and Julia, before reading the book by Julie Powell. Julie and Julia is also a New York Times Best Seller and the movie received excellent reviews as well as some Oscar nominations.

Julie and Julia is about Julie Powell and her search for something more. Julie is a young wife, living the same boring life, day in and day out, while commuting to and from her underwhelming government job. Julie is stuck in a rut as the only thing exciting that seems to happen to her is when her garbage disposal breaks. Julie decides to take on something bigger than her, in hopes of finding a life outside of the subway and her job. She cooks her way through Julia Child’s cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and blogs about it. Despite multiple domestic arguments and some not so masterful French meals, Julie finds her “something more.” It may have helped that Julie’s blog became a worldwide phenomenon, she was interviewed by multiple news sources, was offered a book deal, and the book became a million dollar movie.

Although the book was somewhat different than the movie, (which I loved) I enjoyed it. The Julie in the movie was definitely more lovable and I preferred her to the real life fowl mouthed Julie of the book. Nevertheless, Julie and Julia was the perfect read for me at the perfect time, because not only do I love cooking.......and butter… but I also had just started my very own blog.

Eat Pray Love and Julie and Julia are of course not exactly the same, but both with similar soul searching-independent women tones and happily ever after endings.

My “Why I started a blog” story fits somewhere between Julie Powell and Elizabeth’s Gilbert’s stories, but without such deep highs and lows. I was in a rut of some sort. My rut didn’t have any deep rooted issues with my marriage, childhood, or lack of contentment with my job. It just had to do with me. Luckily, (or unluckily?) I didn’t have to go to India or cook my way through a French cookbook to pull myself out of it.

My husband, being the helpful guy that he is, suggested a blog. At first, like usual, I thought his idea was silly. Instead I started doing things that I always dreamed about doing but for some reason never did. For example: I bought a beach cruiser with a basket and started riding it around town. This made me smile. In fact, if you look closely the next time you see someone riding a beach cruiser, particularly if they have a basket, look for a smile. I made it my mission to seek that smile. I found that smile in many of the things I blog about.

Elizabeth Gilbert writes in Eat Pray Love, “People universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you’re fortunate enough. But that’s not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes travel around the world looking for it.”

Almost a year later, I was continually seeking happiness and feeling it, when my friend Sharon told me she had started a blog. She told me how she used to be in journalism and loved writing. I had a similar story being on the high school newspaper editorial staff. I was always more excited than any normal high school student should be when an English essay was assigned. Sharon told me I should write a blog. I recalled Danny’s idea from a year earlier. I felt a little flutter in my heart, I SHOULD write a blog: A blog about happiness, a blog about the silly little things in my life that have helped me to be me.

Elizabeth found her way by traveling around the world. Julie found hers by a love of cooking, Julia Child, and blogging. I found mine by actually doing what makes me happy. The three of us have our happily ever after, the other two just wound up with a multiple book deals and few million more dollars than I have, but that’s alright because I’ve got my slightly silly world.

Hooked on Books: Freakonomics

Freakonomics

A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

By Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

In between all the silly things happening in my life, I enjoy reading. My most recent read is Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. My husband somehow heard about this book and was reading it while we were in Chicago. I finished my book, The Art of Racing in the Rain, during the plane ride back from Chicago. Danny, who can sleep anywhere, was believe it or not, asleep. Out of boredom I borrowed Freakonomics and soon found myself sucked into the hidden side of everything.

The mastermind behind Freakonomics is Levitt. He is an economics professor at the University of Chicago. While Levitt asks questions and interprets numbers, Dubner bundles the data up into the easy to read package that is Freakonomics.

Most people associate economics with supply, demand, and money. Levitt, being the creative man that he is, believes that with the right set of data, economics can be applied to random questions about our world. The answers to many of these questions are quite surprising and sometimes controversial.

What type of questions you ask? Levitt covers everything from, “What do school teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?” to “Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?” One of Levitt’s more controversial answers to his question, “Where has all the crime gone?” links legalized abortion to a decrease in crime during the 1990s.

A question that interested me greatly was whether an infant’s name can determine his destiny. After all I am a Jessica, one of the most popular names in the 1980s. Luckily (or unluckily?) the answer is no. My name will not determine my success in life, but according to Levitt it is likely to be a signal of my parent’s expectations for my life. I’m pretty sure my parent’s had high expectations for me and I’m okay with that, in fact I think it would be rather sad if a parent had low expectations for their child. Now if only I can keep my brains yet have Jessica Simpson’s salary or Jessica Alba’s…for that matter Jessica Biel’s would be fine too.

Levitt has been criticized by many of his fellow economists saying that his work has nothing to do with economics. Dubner points out that Levitt is merely simplifying economics and applying it toward things other than money. He explains how people try to get what they want and matters of cause and effect.

I would try to describe a general theme to the book, except there isn’t one. The authors even admit this at the end of the book. Freakonomics does turn conventional wisdom on its head. It looks at matters of cheating, corruption, and crime and discovers some interesting answers. Although I don’t think Freakonomics has changed my life dramatically, it has got me thinking a bit differently and taught me to not always accept everything at face value. These are two notions that people could probably benefit from. So go out and read Freakonomics; at the very least you will discover some interesting facts.

Lights Out

I used to sleep like a rock. For some time when I was younger my parents would block the top of the stairs with my toy chest so that when I was sleep walking I wouldn’t fall down the stairs. In high school I couldn’t get enough sleep. I would come home from school, open up my books to do homework on the floor (my favorite study place) and find myself drooling on my books. Now sleep is in small spurts. I know there are others who have worse sleep habits than I do, but I must say I’m not the sleeper I used to be. I miss my sleep walking days.

My husband goes to bed pretty much in an instant. I’m jealous. When he wakes up it doesn’t take him 2 hours to actually feel awake. He has his morning cup of coffee…and is off to conquer the world of crazy freshmen, Crossfitters, wrestlers, and shot putters. He always tells me, “Just close your eyes and pretend to sleep.” Ummm no.

My typical sleep habits are to stay up pretty late watching ridiculous television shows like Real Housewives of Orange County and Millionaire Matchmaker. I can feel myself getting less and less intelligent by the minute. Maybe that helps though, because one of my problems is I’m always thinking too much about various things…so much that it keeps me awake.

I’ve recently had the joy of waking up at about 4:30 every morning and staying awake for 2 hours or so. I finally fall back to sleep a while after Danny leaves for work. I then sleep until about 10. I know that sounds late to everyone, but I make up for my day in the evening. The other night my friend texted me asking what I was doing, I replied roasting potatoes. It was 11 pm.

Danny just purchased yet another book from Amazon. It’s called Lights Out. He said it was for me to read. Of course I already know this, but one of its main points is that the bedroom needs to be pitch black. Danny keeps saying we need to buy black out curtains for our screen doors…but then I would have to sew them to the back of my pretty curtains…and that sounds like a lot of work to me.

Perhaps I will come across a sleep revelation after reading Lights Out. If I do I will share with my fellow sleepless friends. I think I’ll start reading Lights Out after we get back from our trip. I’ll need to replace the light bulb in the lamp on my night stand, that way I can see... as I stay up all night reading a book on how I should be sleeping and not reading a book at that moment