books

Ever since I loosed the bondages of studying around the clock, I’ve had more time to do more pleasure reading, and I’ve indulged accordingly. Here is some of what I’ve read and been reading these days. Getting into some of these great reads make me wish I had the daytime job of being paid to read through a mega-bookstore.

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Lit: A Memoir – Mary Karr

I picked up this book at the airport bookstore to keep me occupied while waiting for a delayed flight, and I ate it all up in one gulp. It’s one of them books that get you engrossed enough that you don’t realize any time has passed: perfect for filling up waiting time. The author is a writer and poet, and details her journey into alcoholism and back. It’s a good book because she writes well and bares all – a great combination for a successful memoir.

The Hunger Games series: The Hunger Games; Catching Fire; Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins

My new sister-in-law got me the first two books to this series and I ran through them as fast as I could because I could hardly wait to find out what was happening on the next page. It’s a young-adult science-fiction series and it has all the elements of a compelling story. Compelling because the characters are relatable, and the story weaves itself through issues like freedom and humanity. It takes place in the future, on the continent of North America, assumedly after the country of America has self-destructed. There is a Capitol that rules over thirteen districts, each of which are responsible for producing and working a particular resource, i.e. agriculture, coal, etc. The story starts with a girl named Katniss who lives in District 12 and is trying to help her family survive through poverty that resulted from the tyrannical rule of the Capitol. From her we learn that 74 years ago, the districts had all rebelled against the Capitol and when the Capitol won, they set up an annual event called the Hunger Games, as a reminder that the Capitol was always in control. The Hunger Games require each district to send two tributes to fight in an arena to their death, with the last one standing being crowned the victor. Katniss volunteers instead of her sister to become a tribute, and the story begins from there.

Beach Trip – Cathy Holton

This is our month’s book club reading and I got excited about it because it’s about a reunion among friends that occur in Outer Banks, NC. Anything to hold on to a little bit of summer.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years – Donald Miller

I had resolved to write more, and when I saw that the sub-title to this book was, ‘What I learned while editing my life’, I was interested. Donald Miller writes in a honed-down, thoughtful and self-deprecating tone, which is wildly successful in holding your interest. It’s one of those books that I need to go through with a pen or pencil so that I can underline and write notes in the margins. More than love, I so appreciate his books (ref: Blue Like Jazz). I’ve been feeling kind of confused and discouraged at the strange transition phase I find myself in, so personally, this was a read that I needed. Reading this was like having a conversation with a friend who got me, who understood what I might be going through, and who encouraged me to keep going. I feel resolved to live (and write) a great story.

The Faith of a Writer – Joyce Carol Oates

With the resolve to write more, I found some books that will help me with the pursuit, growth, and motivation to write every day. I corralled together some great books on the subject of writing – more of which I will write about here later – and this one was a great way to start. Oates shares her experience, and offers sound and practical advice about becoming a disciplined writer. Cheese alert: with reads like this, I can whole-heartedly say that books are friends.

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Reading great books and stories make me not only want to write more, but it makes me want to live good stories to tell about. Keep moving, keep thinking.

tea party

'cause sometimes, tea needs to be drunk while wearing pretty dresses and eating an exorbitant amount of pastries.

mission, difficult:

Thinking big, loud, and creative
while
staying rooted, centered, and peaceful.




think big, root deep.

shoutout from the iphone

I am not one to get super nerdy and excited about phones, but that was before I got the iphone last week and boy am i impressed! I won't harp, but just wanted to share some neat pictures of my day-to-day, taken with one of its apps. Other mentionables: google voice search and red scan to pick up the nearest cheapest so-and-so.

view from the downstairs bathroom

living room drama

view from my workplace

across the street from our house

the new wine bar in town - secco!

where i wait after work

how i take my lunch breaks

married life

married life ...is good. But if you'd asked me a few days ago, I would've said, 'hard'. Only because once we got married, it was back to the grind all too soon. Yes, everything that was good about us before the wedding carried over, but I had really needed some adjustment time. Adjustment time meaning a huge chunk of down time, just me and the new husband. My psyche needed convincing that I could handle the upgrade.

This past weekend was the first weekend that we were able to have some R & R to ourselves since the beginning of April. Because since that month, K. got a new job, I graduated law school, we both moved, I started studying for the bar, took the bar, planned a wedding, attended a funeral, was in a wedding, got my wisdom teeth taken out, had house guests, got married, ... to mention a few things.

When we got back from the wedding, I realized how much the four months of non-stop activity and life-altering events without some refocus time + K's new double-loaded schedule + me trying to figure out what to do post-graduating, had me worked up and wound up, all by myself. It was wholly exhausting.

So this weekend, we attempted to restore. And yes, there was some sickness that caught up with us in the latter part of the weekend, and maybe we didn't get to do all that we had planned to, but it was good, really good. My physical body and my warbling psyche feels tiny bit more rested and reassured, and I am grateful.

I can already tell that this married thing is going to mean an abundance of life lessons and inward searching sagas. Perhaps some people think the point of marriage is to be happy, but I will loudly disagree. The point of marriage seems to be to become the best version of yourself, more like the person you are meant to be and created to be. Since this process of becoming yourself is almost impossible to accomplish by yourself, its good to have someone who is going legally promise to stick by you, love you, and keep you accountable. It helps if that person is also your best friend. It also helps to have perspective, close family and girlfriends you can trust, and a lot of time on your knees.

In my very newly-wedded perspective, methinks this process of two muddy rocks being constantly being rubbed against each other to become diamonds, is almost like a 4th dimension of life - new, not easy, long-term, and wholly fascinating!!!

So again, I am grateful.

wedding + 2 weeks =

now, to be PRESENT

Its true I've been really tired, but I think something is happening in my psyche that's making it think that I'm experiencing a world-altering, reality-shaking event. Yes, perhaps marriage is that, but i think its the combination of many many things. Kind of like a growing jenga tower. Each thing this past summer has been like a jenga block stacking up and I haven't been able to decompress or ground myself, like I usually like/need to. Last night, it came to a strange head. I don't really want to describe it here, but there was something very werid happening. I tried to do some of the regular things that I do to come back to earth, but none of it was working, until I found this passage and read it to myself.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.


When these words are raw and medicinal, they are raw and medicinal.

good omen

both of our shoes arrived in the mail today! and its oh so exciting.

i never thought i was one to have anxiety

Good lord the amount of things that I have left to tackle is tremendous.

hotel shampoos are le terrible.

I suspect they might put hand soap or dishwasher soap in those tiny shampoo bottles. Roanoke itself wasn't bad though. Neither was the drive back, through the small towns of western virginia...almost pleasant.

The Bar Exam is done. I still feel sick to my stomach, but i'll get over it. It might help if i could sleep for 24 hours, but don't have the time just yet. I'm sitting here trying to muster up the strength to go through all my bills, start packing my entire apartment, clean, and return some emails.

What I really need is a vacation.

In other news, unrelated, but maybe not so distantly, the headlines of nytimes.com: "An Arizona Morgue Grows Crowded"



Bodies are stored in a refrigerated area of the Pima County morgue, which is running out of space as the number of immigrants found dead in deserts around Tucson has soared.

do or die

i am strangely moved by this photo. good composition, good portrait. i am also appropriately moved, and encouraged by this photo:



i framed a few cards that s. sent me for study-hup-hup and birthday cheer. wonder woman, i am not, but can pretend to be.

what type are you?

i'm not as passionate or knowledgeable about type as some folks but I do get pretty excited about it. I love words, letters, design, and I like how type gives words a personality. So along those lines: nina simone! to motion typography!





And also, check out this neat site by Pentagram to see what type you are! I'm Bifur.

edit:

speaking of fonts, check out this detail from a wedding recently featured on oncewed.com: cocktail names for a "Font Bar" i.e. Good Times New Roman, Bodoni Martini, Happy Akzidenz, Futurita, Baskerville Sour, Trade Gothic...I shiver at all the possibilities.

i will miss my apartment

Haven, launch pad, hide-away loft, cocoon: you've been good to me.

a chronicle of 10 weeks

week 1-3: hysteria, panic attacks, anxiety
week 4-5: muted pain
week 6-7: determination
week 8: utter despair
week 9: acceptance and resignation
week 10: tunnel of doom


Whether i pass or fail, this has been the hardest thing i have done. Not just the insane studying, but also the wedding planning, and balancing the rest of life and balancing sanity. This has truly been more akin to 10-week long emotional and mental marathon than I expected.

I might need to get to a place where I can shrug my shoulders and say, 'well if i fail, i'll just try again', because I'm pretty sure I am going to fail. I am the worst test-taker on the planet of this earth so I cannot be too surprised when I don't do well.

If i write anymore in this during the next two weeks it will be to vomit words of anxiety and fear. It might get ugly.

The Minimalist strikes again

See here 101 grilling ideas 'begging to be tried'. I enter into a fantasy land, where I have loads of time to try every single idea.

squint your eyes, blend

Now that I have to spend all my time preparing for the bar, I all of a sudden have emerged out from my anti-bride status into wanting to become the proactive wedding planner. NOW i want to browse wedding blogs all day long and wonder about color schemes, when I really should be learning about the Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities. I am a hazard to myself.

Certain color combinations is akin to certain food combinations. Some fit naturally, obviously, and others are more unconventional but turn out to be fabulous, unexpectedly. I've been thinking a lot about colors because: 1) wedding, 2) painting the new place, 3) its something other than memorizing law.

I love the scheme of pink and turquoise, red and turquoise, rose and slate blue, etc. with offsets of peach and green. The following are inspiring:








One of these days, I will maintain a proper blog. It will try to consistently have good ideas, true stories, and pretty pictures. Also, I will write more, in general, one of these days..