Vacationing: Weddings, Babies, and Stuff

My sister got married! Her and her husband are a super adorable couple.  The wedding was perfect - it was beautiful, it was small, and it was relatively short (for the sake of my feet at least b/c I totally picked the wrong shoes to wear).  The wedding party as a whole had a great sense of humor which we all managed to reign in for the actual ceremony -- for the rehearsal not so much.  The pastor literally said "I really worry about all of you getting through this tomorrow."  She was just a bit too serious, but really nice and she did a good job.  The wedding photographer has a whole series of hilarious pictures that I can't wait to see!

Two of my oldest friends had babies over the summer so I got visit with all of them for a few days, which was really nice especially since I don't know when I'll see them again.  Both of the babies are boys and both are adorable.  N. is about 3 months old and has a precious smile.  J. is soo tiny I was afraid to hold him at first, but he makes the funniest faces - I have a feeling he is going to be a hilarious child.  

Also while at home I had my annual sno-ball.  This time it was mango w/condensed milk.  Actually its good I wasn't down there longer b/c I might have gained 10 pounds from eating those things.  I enjoyed lots of fresh vegetables as my dad decided to do a garden this year.  He used to do one every year, but hadn't been recently.  I ate probably a cucumber a day and way too much creamed corn.  

In other news, I still have to pack. I am very bad at this obviously.  Today I sorted through my books and I'm determined to get rid of half of them, but that still leaves me w/over 200!  Oh and I found out that I will be going to Ukraine in December. Hurray!! I might actually finish this graduate program. 

Remember Me?

Oh hi,yes, I am still around. Came back from summer-fun-with-language, and have sort of been working on finishing those pesky prelim papers.

In other news, I am hopelessly distracted by this site. Why is it so much fun? Who knows...It doesn't take much to distract me anymore btw. Basically you create colors, palettes, and patterns and then people rate them. This is like the online version of coloring for me, which I must admit even up until grad school I used to do quite often. I like colors, and new colors, and learning new color words. Yeah, I know, weird hobby.

But actually you get to make things like this:

Color by COLOURlovers

I have also been reading the new China Mieville book. Called Kraken. If you have never heard of this writer, I suggest at least reading this book. It is about cult conspiracies in London, the end of the world, and giant squid deities. How awesome is that! (Please note connection to this paragraph and the thing right above :).

What I Have Been Doing....

Much of nothing actually, but I did manage to read three books:

S.: A Novel About the Balkans 4 1/2 Stars

A book about the Bosnian war from the point of view of a woman who survives a prison camp. Not light reading clearly, but the author is an amazing writer. She has this great ability for invoking all of the senses in dramatic ways. A couple of themes are humiliation/dehumanization, and the power of everyday objects to define identity. Some reviews compare it to One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, which I can definitely see, but I prefer Solzjenitsyn.

Soldiers' Pay - 4 Stars (first of the "Faulkner" book challenge)

A good start to my goal of reading the first 9 Faulkner books. This is his very first, and while the writing isn't up to par with his later more well known works, I still think this book clearly showcases Faulkner's abilities. The storyline is pretty basic - essentially a love story, but absolutely worth reading.

The Angel Maker - 3 1/2 Stars

This one is translated from Dutch and I have a feeling that reading it in the original language would make it ten thousand times better because there seemed to be something lacking - I couldn't ever really connect with the characters. The structure of the book is also a little weird, the first section is from a completely different point of view than the other two, and while the middle part works amazingly well - it gives the background of the main character - the last section's climax isn't as powerful as it could be. Essentially, the book is about cloning and genetic experimentation, but also a bit about society in general and religion.

Besides reading, I hung out in N.O a bit, ate fried oysters, and went dancing - all in all a good time.
Had my hair cut today, but the lady totally fucked it up, so I have to get it fixed tomorrow.
Have been enjoying copious amounts of sunshine and NCIS (I alternate). May have broken the "addicted to facebook quizzes" phase of my life.
And I had my first snowball of the year, raspberry with condensed milk

Summer Music Fun

B/c I am here, hanging out at my computer after having too much food and 28oz of Margarita (why oh why did you let me do that), I thought I would blog a bit about how new music might actually be exciting this summer. (In no particular order)

1)The Killers - actually old news b/c their album has been out a while, and b/c I just missed a show, but they are touring this summer. Day and Age is worth listening to, but its not my favorite.

2) Franz Ferdinand - also touring, also just missed a show, and also not my favorite album by them. Their first was by far the best. I liked Lucid Dreams, but the single version not the album version.

3) Placebo - oh, what to say? I would like to scream "sell out" into the aethers, but won't ;o). Or maybe I just did. Funny how the less I like them, the more popular they become. Their new single "Battle for the Sun" not so good. But in case you are listening Brian, Steve (Hewitt that is), and Stefan - you are still my 2nd favorite band of all time. They are touring Europe, and I will be in East Europe, sooo close when they are in Poland, but probably won't make it.

4) Tori Amos - has a new album and is touring. This doesn't matter so much to me, but thought I'd mention it. ETA: You can listen to the entire album b/w now (May 16th) and Tuesday (May 19th) on her MySpace page

5) Coldplay - please, go download their new live album - apparently it is free. (Learned via Twitter btw). I love their second album, not so into the rest of their music, although the latest effort is fairly decent.

6) The White Rabbits - something to get excited about. The fact that I am missing two of their shows in Chicago is really the reason I regret being out of the country this summer. Seriously, go listen to their new album on their myspace page, i..e NOW. One of the best bands live that I have ever seen, and I accidently went to their concert. Totally dynamic, and utterly amazing on stage. For now, go buy Fort Nightly their debut.

7) Cinema Bizarre - I am throwing them in there b/c .... well, they have a new album coming out in Europe, and they were just recently touring the U.S., and apparently are big on MTV's Buzzworthy at the moment (only after they toured with Lady Gaga). I am proud to say that I knew who they were before the rest of you. I just want to feel superior ;)

And oh God how could I forget the singular most exciting bit of music news that I have heard all week.

8) Cornershop - new album coming soon!! What could be better than that? Nothing is the answer, absolutely nothing. ETA: You can watch the video to Roll Off Characteristics (of History in the Making) on YouTube.

I feel like I should have 10 just to round things out, but cannot think of anyone else I care to add. Drop me a line if you come up with someone I should care about.