Book reviews - April and May

Okay here are April & May's books/reviews:

and the shadows took him, Daniel Chacon.
A young Hispanic boy lives his childhood as he is moved from California to Oregon while his father struggles to become a respectable middle class man in a very white town. This was really good. The characters popped out - they weren't cliches, and their fights and frustrations felt real. It was a bit predictable in parts, but I couldn't stop turning pages on this one.

A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages, Kristin Chenoweth
this book turned me into a bit of a stan for her. It reads just like how I think she would speak, despite having a ghostwriter. There's a surprise visit by Mister Writer (aka Aaron Sorkin) in the book. Their romance is really the reason why I picked it up. I lent this out to my coworker Jess who reminds me a lot of her.

Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters.
This is a novel set in Victorian England, following the career of Nan King, a young woman who falls in love with a performer who appears in men's clothing. She follows her off to London, and ends up on an odyssey of love, sex, and politics. I don't think all the foreshadowing was necessary, but I found this a genuinely enjoyable book. It tugged at my heartstrings a little bit.

Working for the Devil, Lilith Saintcrow.
I picked this up for the cover art alone, and tried to read it in March. It didn't grab my attention so I set it aside. Picked it up again a few weeks back and I found it more intriguing. I liked that Danny was a tough chick who kept insisting that she didn't need any help -- she comes to realize that she needs to let others inside at other points. I did see the twist at the end coming, but it didn't make it any less poignant. I will probably continue the series.

Sixty One Nails, Mike Shevdon
Claiming to be "Neverwhere for a new generation," I picked it up. I was not impressed. Sure, it turned pages, but the Gary Stu narrator couldn't be interested in a woman who wasn't stunning looking -- she shapeshifts to match his ideal of beauty. I was more interested in the world building, which was pretty well done. But stick with Neverwhere if you want a really good "wrong side of the tracks" fantasy story.

Bury Me Deep, Megan Abbott
One of my favourite books this year, actually. This is a novel set in Arizona in the 1930s. A small town girl moves with her troubled doctor husband to Arizona. While he leaves her to go practice medicine on miners in Mexico, she ends up with some wild friends and embarks on an affair with a prominent town leader. Somehow it goes awry and she ends up in the middle of a giant mess. Incredibly chilling and frightening.

Naamah's Curse, Jacqueline Carey
I love her worldbuilding, but I can't help to draw parallels to her other big heroine, Phedre. I know, I have to stop, they're not the same person. Moirin is a pretty plucky heroine, but I don't know if I'm a big fan of the follow the man all around the known world in order to be reunited" theme, but I do enjoy how Moirin basically convinces everyone ever to sleep with her by merely existing.

Telex from Cuba, Rachel Kershner
I didn't think I would get along with this at first. I had to look up "telex" and it's a slightly more advanced form of telegraphing, and a prior take on fax machines. They're still in use today, according to Wiki. But this is the story of several American families in Cuba -- working for the fruit companies and the mining companies that were robbing the Cubans blind. It was an interesting look at the women and children of the American execs who are forced to play nice with the other white people on the island because they are isolated. I didn't really care for the French terrorist/Cuban escort section (her name was Rachel K). But overall, I definitely found this book very interesting.

Blue Nude, Elizabeth Rosner
Rosner is from Schenectady NY, which is why I ended up picking this up after I set it down a few times. It's the story of two foreigners - Danzig, an art professor who has lost his interest in painting, and Merav, an Israeli artist's model who was in their Army in her youth. Rosner writes about painting and modelling, but it's about the fallout from World War II, even a few generations removed, for people of Europe and Israel. Very worthwile read.

Jellicoe Road, Melina Marchetta.
GO. Read this book. You will not be disappointed. I can't adequately describe this book without spoilerizing it, so go.

A Northern Light, Jennifer Donnelly
You guys, a book was set in my home region! No, I'm serious! This one is simply amazing and made me cry. Set at the turn of the century, a young girl has dreams of going to college and learns a new word of a day to keep her mind limber. But life in the North Woods isn't always that simple and she has to decide between her ambitions and her family.

Best quote:
"Why did little towns in Herkimer County never get a mention in anyone's book? Why was it always other places and other lives that mattered?"

This made me nearly cry. I've always felt this way, and it's part of why I bought this book -- it's set near my home, and I can feel the story -- I can smell it, I can taste it, I can feel the heartbreak, and I know that even though it's set 100 years ago, it's still the same.

yeah life's like this

Day 01 - Your favorite song
Day 02 - A song that makes you happy
Day 03 - A song that makes you sad
Day 04 - A song that reminds you of someone
Day 05 - A song that reminds of you of somewhere
Day 06 - A song that reminds you of a certain event
Day 07 - A song that you can dance to
Day 08 - A song that makes you fall asleep
Day 09 - A song from your favorite band
Day 10 - A song that no one would expect you to love
Day 11 - A song that describes you
Day 12 - A song from your favorite album
Day 13 - A song that you listen to when you're angry
Day 14 - A song that you listen to when you're happy
Day 15 - A song that you listen to when you're sad
Day 16 - A song that you want to play at your wedding
Day 17 - A song that you want to play at your funeral
Day 18 - A song that makes you laugh
Day 19 - Your least favorite song
Day 20 - A song that you know all the words to
Day 21 - A song from a band you hate
Day 22 - A song that is a guilty pleasure
Day 23 - A song that you used to love but now hate
Day 24 - A song that you hear often on the radio
Day 25 - A song that you wish you heard on the radio
Day 26 - A song that you can play on an instrument
Day 27 - A song that you wish you could play
Day 28 - A song that makes you feel guilty
Day 29 - A song from your childhood
Day 30 - Your favorite song at this time last year

Oooh, we're back to the hard questions again. I try to let the songs I don't like anymore slip from my memory, because life's too short and there are too many new songs out there to be enjoyed. But I gotta pick one. Got damn this is hard. Even the stuff I loved as a kid, I still love ironically. I find some songs are overplayed and there are some that I won't listen to anymore because I'm tired of them (I put Celine Dion down for a while because she was oversaturated).

No wait, I know! (This whole post has been brought to you by stream of consciousness.)

Time to go back to the WayBack Machine! In the summer of 2001 I worked in the Electronics Dept. of Ames Department stores. And we had this tape on a loop that played the latest in CDs and movies (DVDs AND VHS!) And there was this song on there that caught my ears occasionally and I kinda loved it. Since I lived in the middle of nowhere and didn't have continuous internet access at that time I didn't know how much ~controversy~ this young woman had stirred up, I just knew she was from a town near mine on the other side of the river and that was cool enough for me.

Now? I can't stand this song or her and her stupid cat ear hoodie she wore as a "judge" for the auditions this year. (Girlfriend is a different story because that song I love in an ironic sense).

So prepare to make your ears bleed:
[Facebook Readers - this is Avril Lavigne's Complicated.]

holding up this fortress with imaginary horses

I feel neglected and need commentary, dammit. Is it because it ends up crossposted to blogspot/FB? I get more comments over there. Is this thing on? ;)

Day 01 - Your favorite song
Day 02 - A song that makes you happy
Day 03 - A song that makes you sad
Day 04 - A song that reminds you of someone
Day 05 - A song that reminds of you of somewhere
Day 06 - A song that reminds you of a certain event
Day 07 - A song that you can dance to
Day 08 - A song that makes you fall asleep
Day 09 - A song from your favorite band
Day 10 - A song that no one would expect you to love
Day 11 - A song that describes you
Day 12 - A song from your favorite album
Day 13 - A song that you listen to when you're angry
Day 14 - A song that you listen to when you're happy
Day 15 - A song that you listen to when you're sad
Day 16 - A song that you want to play at your wedding
Day 17 - A song that you want to play at your funeral
Day 18 - A song that makes you laugh

There are two songs that describe me pretty well but it's the same theme in each, and they're both female singers, so I'm gonna go with the easy (read: lazy) choice. Ahh, what did we do in the days before youtube?



Every. goddamned. word of this song is me. You don't really understand how much this is me, from the begininng line "grew up in a small town" to the theme of wanting to leave and see the world. "I'll do what it takes til I touch the sky." But I won't forget all the ones that I love. I just don't even know, you guys. This song is exactly, down to each syllable, every example completely and utterly my life. There couldn't be a better song that sums me up in a nutshell.






I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change, and break away. But I gotta keep moving on, moving on, fly away. <3 But I won't forget the place I come from.


(In case you were wondering, this was the other song I considered. It's the same theme but less Ehjay.)

another day, another writer's block post.

What's the first major news event that you remember hearing about as a child? Where did you learn about it? How did it impact your world view?

I like this question because it made me think a lot about memory and how it works. The minute I read the question my mind jumped to the Challenger Explosion in 1986. I was all set to answer it when I felt that wasn't quite right. For one thing, I was three when it happened. Now, my parents taped the footage from that day when we lived in Burlington VT. (Nikerym was almost a year old at this time.) (Yes, I lived in Vermont as a small child.) (Yes, I am aware that this may explain a few things about me.) Anyway, they taped it and bought the paper from the next day with the articles and preserved it.

A few years later, when we'd settled in Gouverneur NY, I remember finding the newspaper in the downstairs closet and carefully reading the articles and asking my parents about it. I think we watched the footage then (RIP, Peter Jennings -- they don't make newsmen like you any more, sir). Since my family's got a devoted interest in sci-fi and space things, it didn't surprise me.

When I was in the 4th grade, we were given an assignment to write a short little essay on something that someone in our family lived through -- a major event in history. Alas, I didn't really have anything like that, my mom tried to come up with some ideas for me from her side of the family but all we had was the parts for the radiator that my great-grandfather invented, and that my grandfather served during WWII, but none of that really fulfilled the assignment.

She suggested the Berlin Wall falling, but I wasn't really keen on that, and then she remembered the Challenger disaster. I want to say she said we watched it together when it happened but I really don't remember too well -- I was nine or so when this conversation took place. So I went in depth on the Challenger explosion in my paper.

As you can see, the Challenger sticks in my brain because of that, but I don't think it was the first thing I heard about as a child. I tried to think of other things but none of them made that big an impression on me.


Also, I got one of those formspring things. Feel free to question me there.

Why St Patrick's Day is Awesome to me, Despite not being Irish.

Four years ago today two of my favourite ladies and I hit the town. And by town I mean George St, which for the uninitiated is North America's longest street of simply bars. This evening was filled with more than one memorable moments, including me photographing a busted up shopping cart, Ash threatening to buy me a cod to kiss, and Candice trying to eat Ming, the hamster. This ended with the cab chase down the nearby street, since George Street was blocked off for the paddy wagons and ambulances.

I haven't had that much fun going out on an evening in a long time, and I miss those ladies and that city desperately. If you want to see my albums from that trip, you can see them here: Newfoundland ♥. (IF we're not Facebook friends and you would like to be, simply add me).

I really wanted to write out a nostalgic romanticized post about this, but my head is pounding and I have to work in the AM again. I am liking my new job so far, and I got to see so many cute children today, I love it. They're easy to distract too.

OLYMPICS!

So! I started watching the Olympics, which you can blame Nikki for.

Things that are awesome:
-Men's Figure Skating. Johnny Weir got robbed! ;) Evan Lysacek is a STUD. And I love that we've casted the Russians as villains again, which bodes well for my petition to host the Olympics in Lake Placid again.
-NORTH COUNTRY REPRESENT! We got a bronze medal out of Andrew Weibrecht, who is from Lake Placid. His mom and dad own the Mirror Lake Inn, which I remember seeing. Also, NORTH COUNTRY FUCK YEAH.
PS The chick from one of the ice dancing teams is from Kingston ON, which makes her almost kinda North Country since she claims citizenship here.
-I am seriously in love with Aksel Lund Svindal, the Norwegian skier who was incredibly adorable in his interview package and as he did his run down the slalom hill, and and he's just super adorable shut up ok.

What's up with all these fluid nationalities though? There was one chick in the ice dancing who is from the US but now is competing for Team Georgia despite never visiting the country. And two Americans who are competing for Japan in ice dancing as well. Very strange.

Anyway, I'm off to watch some more skeleton (LOVE IT).

food and exercise.

So I randomly stumbled across HundredPushups.com one day and I checked it out. It looked awesome, but due to space limitations in my room I can't do it yet. But also linked on that page was Two Hundred Situps.com. These sites advertise exactly what they say. So I started the situps. I did miserably on the test and ended up in the first column for the weekly runs. I was very skeptical, but even while doing the first sets of them I could feel it working. I just finished week one, and I'm looking forward to doing week two to see what it brings.

I mentioned that I was doing this to Dr Tiffany (I call her that because she's in school for occupational therapy and studies stuff like this), and she said to me, "Amanda, you know you have to add cardio to that." I told her sure, ok, but now I don't know what to add for cardio. I'm not a runner because of my lungs. Googling says I could do jumping jacks, but I live on the 2nd floor and I don't want to be a bother to my neighbours. So kids, what other suggestions have ye?

In other news, I was tormenting Derek with the thought of a garbage plate, which is a Rochesterian delicacy. Wikihopping led me to this epic and classic article on a Long Island separatism movement: despite being two years old, is chock full of hilarity.
Also now, I really want michigans. I'd ask my mom for the recipe but no one makes 'em as well as she does.

My take on NY-23.

So some of you might know that Representative John McHugh (R-Pierrepont Manor) is now the Secretary of the Army, after chairing the Armed Forces committee for years. This appointment led to the vacancy in New York's 23rd district, which just happens to be the same one I am from. This always-ignored corner of New York, right on the Canadian border and NO, not anywhere near Buffalo thank you very much, suddenly found itself in the national spotlight. The district found itself suddenly in a three way race, as the GOP endorsed State Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava, and Democrat Bill Owens ran the race, with Conservative Candidate Doug Hoffman also in the mix.

As it got closer to the election, Hoffman and Owens cut into Scozzafava's lead, and NY-23, aka Northern New York finally made national spotlight for something other than gang rape or a famous football player. (Don't ask about the former.) Newt Gingrich endorsed Scozzafava, and Sarah Palin came out for Hoffman. This article from the New York Times sums up pretty well what happened next.

Basically, Hoffman cut into Scozzafava's lead enough, spending more money than she had from Palin's BFFs across the country. She withdrew from the race Saturday morning. Today, Ms. Scozzafava endorsed Bill Owens for the district win.

None of this really bothers me, except the fact that Hoffman doesn't even LIVE in NY-23. That is correct, sir. While Scozzafava and Owens have lived in the district (and full disclosure: she used to live right behind our house when I was a kid), and Hoffman does not. That is a problem to me. While I don't live in that district anymore, I always have a difficult time accepting politicians from other locales running the government where I live. I'm looking at you, Secretary Clinton. I was excited for Kirsten Gillibrand's appointment as a senator because for once we got an upstate senator, even if she was from Albany. It's closer. Not like Arkansas.

Now to be fair, Hoffman is from Lake Placid, which is south of the district but still in the Adirondacks. You might know it as the place where the Miracle on Ice happened. It's very far north, but it's not in NY-23, and Hoffman shouldn't be elected as its Representative.

Course, I shot myself in the foot by failing to mail my application for an absentee ballot last week. Whoops. I hope Owens doesn't lose by one vote.

Things I like!

This article refers to Brian Leonard, the only NFL player to come out of Gouverneur, NY. It's really cool to read about your hometown on a major NFL team's site:

If you want lights, you have to go to Massena or Ogdensburg, or Indian River, the larger outposts in the upper reaches of New York State sprawling between the Adirondack foothills and the Thousand Islands perched in the St. Lawrence River.

But Brian Leonard put Class C Gouverneur on the map long before he saved September for Bengaldom with a DVD 11-yard run-and-catch on fourth-and-10 with 36 seconds left during a game the Bengals needed a touchdown to survive Pittsburgh’s annual tempest.

Or, it’s more like Gouverneur put Leonard on the map. If you drive into town on its one main street, Main Street (yes, really), it is also Route 11 and there is a sign that says it is the home of Brian Leonard, complete with the helmets of Gouverneur, Rutgers and the Bengals.

The same sign is on the other way into town, Route 58. And if you miss it and it is Sunday you can go to the Four-by-Four Country Club and catch him on the TV, where about 50 to 60 people are still watching Leonard ply his trade as an NFL handyman.

Or you could try the Casablanca, the postgame football hangout where Devlin and his coaches commiserate and mingle with the community and parents.

Hey, at least this time the Casi's getting GOOD publicity, amirite?

On an unrelated note, Chris Rock's comments about Polanski made my day: Rock says at the end of the clip: "The United States, we want to capture Osama Bin Laden, and murder him. We don't want to rape him - that would be barbaric!"

North Country represent!

So Senator Gillibrand made a survey of the fattest counties in New York. Guess who was number one?

Lewis, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence counties, that's who! North Country WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO--oh wait.

It's not really that surprising though. Poorer people tend to eat worse. And those counties are pretty damned poor. Will banning trans-fats from schools really solve this problem? i distinctly recall that school lunches sucked balls in my high school.

In other news, I read another book, and it was really really good.

How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else. This is the story of a rich old white dude who loses his cushy job, his family, and his health insurance and ends up learning life lessons by working as a part-time barista in a Starbucks in New York City. It's so fascinating, and it reminds me a lot of why I enjoy my job most days.

MULLIGAN~!~

State Senate continues to be a bunch of big babies.

You know, I'm one of the biggest NYS apologists you'll find, but goddamn, they're trying my patience. We need to just up and start over. Empty the Senate, run new elections, and not allow any of these jackoffs to run again. I'm sorry, but this whole thing is ridiculous. And of course it is the city senators fucking everything up. Every day I hear someone else say how much they want to leave New York, or how much they hate it here. And sometimes I feel the same way. I love New York. I love how diverse a state it is, and I think there is a lot of potential in New York. Especially after the elections last year shook everything up in the Assembly and the Senate. But to cause such gridlock and make the state the laughingstock of the states, well good lord. Even I can't find a way to support that.

In other news, my life is a giant mess right now, and I just want to curl into my bed and never get out of it again. I have 9 days left before I transfer to the other store. ALso, Canada, which always makes me feel better. I also would like a mulligan on today.

Again, NCIS is super addictive. I pop in a disk to watch ONE episode and I end up watching the entire disk. This is a bad idea if you start it at 2am.

Tonight I'm going to watch just one episode but that's because the season finale of Life after People is on at 2am. It aired at 10, but I had to work and didn't get home til 10:30. I missed having cable.

only three americans will get this post

Louis Riel poems on display in Winnipeg.

Kristen: Hey guys, we drove here to see the poems.
Ehjay: hehehe
Kristen: What do you mean we can't see them?
Ehjay: we'll have to "liberate" them
Kristen: lol, yeah
Ehjay: it's what louis would have wanted
Kristen: at the border: Do you have anything to declare?
Yeah, we definitely didn't steal a book of poetry from those Metis three cars back in line.

Current music: The Tragically Hip - Grace, Too.
(even the music is apropos...........

watch me get my political rant on...

You know what? It's nice to finally have an Upstate Senator from New York.

As a lifelong resident of Northern New York, I have seen my region of the state virtually ignored in favour of New York (City), with occasional lip service paid to the soldiers up to Fort Drum, as well as to Syracuse and Buffalo.

Most political ads I heard when growing up stated, "We need real change in Albany." Albany to me was a far away concept. It takes me three hours to get home from Albany every time I go back up north. Sometimes it feels like Northern New York can be in its own little world.

I think that's the reason a lot of people up north voted for Secretary Clinton in 2000. She actually came up and visited us. It's rare for politicians to go up that far. Like I said, Syracuse is basically the cut off point.

But you know what, the thing about the senators that bothers me most is simply this: we haven't had an upstate senator since 1971. That's how long all of our Senators have been from the City or its suburbs. I'm even looking at you, Secretary Clinton. I get it. New York City is a happening place and a lot of our state's residents live there. But there are still a lot of us who don't live in the city, who do not have our interests strongly represented in the Senate.

I'm also very tired of the Senate seat being the plaything of the political families of this country. We had the Clintons, Kennedys, and Cuomos all jockeying for Senate seats. And remember Rudy Giuliani? He had his eye on that seat. So to me, it's quite refreshing to see that our new Senator is someone from upstate. I am very, very excited that Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will be representing New York.

My own Overheard in New York...+ random other notes

While I was waiting on the bus, the lady sitting next to me got into a conversation with the French Canadian couple sitting behind her. I'd switched seats with them so they could sit together, since they got on when the bus was full. And since I did that for them, they helped me put my seat back a bit because there were like 3 rows of seats folded right behind mine for the wheelchair space.

Anyway, this woman is chattering along with them, and she asks them the following: "What do you guys speak?"

The dude replied, "French and English."

She looks at him and says in all seriousness, "Oh. I thought you spoke Canadaese. So you guys speak English up there too?"

And the guy humoured her and explained that French and English were both official languages of Canada.

In other news, once again we have a left-handed president. I was reading earlier about how there has been a significantly large number of lefthanded Presidents since World War II. Now most of this is because before that, being left-handed was strongly discouraged. I have vivid memories of going to Upper Canada Village when I was in Elementary school, and getting thwacked on the hand for trying to use my left hand when we visited the one room schoolhouse. So yeah, it's kind of fascinating to see left handedness so prominent. At my current workplace, I actually think lefties nearly outnumber righties. It's really funny.

In other other news, I spent ten minutes tonight at the bar discussing colloidal silver and how it turns people blue. This came from a discussion on the Appalachian mountains, and I brought up the blue people in the Appalachians. Yes. I am a giant nerd.

Current Music: Blackmore's Night - Empty Words

Oh New York...

Of course New York one ups the rest of the state. Anything we can do, they can do better, it appears.

So today, I was reading along on my google news feed when I encountered this story: Emergency Landing at Albany International Airport. Apparently an Air Canada jet had some problems landing, since all four tires went. Now I'm no expert, but that sounds not good.

Of course New York City had to go one better: not only did they have a plane emergency, they had to LAND IT IN THE RIVER. See all the pictures.

Luckily no one was killed in either crash. I just found the contrast interesting.

(I'm such an upstate snob.)

And yet despite my self-proclaimed dislike for the downstate part of my, well, state...I'll be in NYC on Sunday.

(I would have provided Times Union links for both stories, but their site is down. I did instead learn something very valuable from this site, courtesy of Paint Tomorrow Blue.)

Current Music: Savage Garden - The Animal Song