The Last Five: Books I Read (Second Edition)

A second edition of the last five books I've read... there should be another edition coming soon. I've been doing a lot of reading but not a lot of summarizing of  said reading.

Cleopatra - Really interesting. Almost reads like an awesome textbook; it's obviously meticulously researched and it rarely offers speculation. This isn't a historical fiction novel or a dramatized account that loosely interprets history... but it's so engaging (even though you have to work at it a bit to remember names, dates, locations) that I didn't even notice until I had almost finished it that it has almost no dialogue. Starting with the image on the cover, it will challenge what you think you know about Cleopatra (especially if, like me, Elizabeth Taylor is what comes to mind when you think of her).

Drowning Ruth - This is an odd book, but it's really hard to put down. My grandma passed it on to me after she picked up a stack of paperbacks at a thrift shop. I love historical fiction, so the book has that going for it, but it's written from different first person points of view and goes back and forth in time; so it keeps you on your toes in terms of  knowing where things are. Also, right up until the end you don't know if the characters were at the center of a murder or tragic accident. Yeah... it's a bit of an odd one and overall not very uplifting whatsoever, but one that I sped through.

The Zoo - So my Papa gave me this one for Christmas and laughed to himself that "this isn't the kind of book you usually read." It's definitely something he'd read, he usually has a military mystery or spy thriller paperback by his side. And even though it's not something I'd probably have picked out for myself, I tore through this one. I won't be surprised if this becomes a movie. It's far-fetched (I hope--it's about something human-created that's driving animals to attack people) and it's a disaster and it's rather violent. You just have to go with it. But I took from it a strong message about our destruction of the environment and the impact of our choices and dependence on technology; that alone makes it compelling to me.

One Thousand White Women - I expected this to be something a bit different; and if I'd had the pen in hand I think I would have taken a different route with this. Nevertheless, it's very engaging. Once again, historical fiction, and once again from a woman's perspective -- in fact the entire thing is written as a series of journal entries. So it's a guy writing as an woman in the 1870s raised upper class but who was exiled by her family for falling for a lower class guy and then said family conspires to have her put into a mental institution because they're ashamed of her. She then forges some signatures so that she can join a project of similarly disenfranchised women from the East Coast to GO WEST and marry "savages" to help settle the prairies and convert Native Americans to Christianity and (really the main objective of this hypothetical government-sponsored mission) to convince their new husbands to move to the newly established reservations.  Had this been written in the present tense and not trying to adopt the voice of a progressive-yet-still-genteel 25 year old woman with insane life experiences, I think it would have been more effective, I just couldn't buy the voice and internal monologues of this lady. Still, a very compelling look at the time period, the lives, and of course the shameful mistreatment of Native Americans.

Lost in Shangri-la - Ok, this really needs to be a movie. Wow. Amazing (true!) story of a plane that went down in a remote jungle in New Guinea during WW2... on a morale-boosting sight-seeing trip, of all things. There are three survivors, including a spunky WAC, a ragtag team of paratroopers sent it to help perform a daring rescue, and tribes of indigenous people that had been basically isolated and "undiscovered" by the outside world. This one is also impeccably researched and very tenderly crafted. The author clearly cares deeply about the very real people that he came to know as he researched and wrote this book, and is very objective in his observations of a completely foreign culture, the potentially avoidable circumstances of the plane crash, and the aftermath and rescue operations. I would so watch this movie---I've already cast it in my head.

So there's my last five! Some good, some slow, some scholarly, some weird... some all of the above! What are you recently or currently reading and what should I add to my list? My current five books have kind of a common theme of adventure, leaving your comfort zone, taking a leap of faith.... and I'm starting to think it's a sign and that I should take advice from them! Anyone else find that you tend to read similarly themed books all in a row?

Happy Readings,

January

In summation....

I usually don't know how to decorate after Christmas and before Valentine's Day, this year I went with a powder blue and gold color scheme for our Chargers in the playoffs #BoltUp
... The game against Denver was a disappointment and you hate to get knocked out of the post season, but... I was absolutely stunned that we even made it to the playoffs at all, you never want to have to depend on someone else to lose for you to get in. For all the cards to fall into place the final week of the season was unreal -- and even then they almost blew it. People were pretty funny here, wearing Philip Rivers bolo ties everywhere... and following those two wins if you went down to the main street by the beach, people just cruise waving Charger flags out their car windows.... you can tell we're playoff-starved but it's always fun while it lasts!

Since all of the family was in town for Christmas, my grandmother requested a family portrait before the out-of-towners had to leave. Even though we weren't able to hire a photographer due to scheduling it at the last minute, my mom and I were able to coordinate a color scheme and I made some plans for staging to help it run as smoothly as possible (14 adults and 2 kids is nothing to take lightly). My awesome sister-in-law agreed to help clean up some shadows in faces on the final version, but we also grabbed some other great pictures of cousins, brothers and sisters, grandkids, etc. -- just using your basic point-and-shoot digital camera and some very amateur editing with Micorsoft Office Picture Manager.

 

 ...and naturally there were some good "outtakes..."

 

We visited the new Downtown San Diego Library... it's so cool! Awesome architecture, art and amazing views. Also, an entire baseball reference section, what-the-what. And although it's really not the point of a library, they had a really cool little gift shop with such unique things that I will have to remember it the next time I need a thoughtful gift. I want to go back to see certain things in further depth and maybe spend some time on the lovely patios with a great book.

 

The patio on the roof is pretty awesome.
And they had a special events section with beautiful panoramic views of the city.

 

They had some cool stuff in the kids' section like these vintage book copies and
an amazing Lego model of the entire library and surrounding streets and nearby trolley station

 

 

A whole baseball section with tons of really cool memorabilia!
And copies of every Padres' playoff game!

 

 

So a sad day for Padres fans was when we lost The Colonel, Jerry Coleman. Most of us grew up listening to him as he broadcast the Padres games for 40+ years. It's such a bummer knowing we won't hear him call another play but it was truly heartwarming to hear and see the great tributes to him from locals and fans nationwide. The public memorial service at Petco Park was so well-done and a very fitting tribute to him --- I was particularly touched that they brought his German Shepherd, Gus, who he spoke of often, and to listen to Ted Leitner, his broadcast partner. And his daughter offered some very sweet remarks; ending with "BEAT LA" and a good fist pump. :)

The radio left at Jerry's statue made us all cry.

 

He was a remarkable individual with a tremendously full life and was as humble and generous a man as you could hope to meet. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to learn so much about baseball from him.

I made some little stars with a goodbye/thankyou note so I could
"hang a star" on The Colonel's remarkable life.

On a happier note, we got to take our Goddaughter, Sofi, to her first visit to the New San Diego Children's Museum. We got a year-long membership for her and her mom and dad (E's brother and our sister-in-law) for Christmas and they were so excited to use the passes. I think the adults enjoyed it as much as she did, it's a pretty awesome place with lots of hands-on exhibits, things to climb on, build, drive and create, bubbles to blow, pots and pans to bang on, and even resident chickens. I also love that they put a lot of emphasis on sustainability and they have a lot of interesting information of food security. I hope she gets to enjoy going back again and again all year, she's at an age where she wants to do everything and she absolutely should!

 

 

They're such buds. #MyOvariesHurt

 

Finally, with E getting close to wrapping up his training in LA, I finally decided to go visit him and take advantage of the complimentary breakfast bar at his hotel. I had been waiting around for interviewers to call but we know how that goes. I took Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner, which I used to do a lot in college before getting a car, and if you're ever looking for a little weekend getaway or something different to do, I highly recommend it. From about Del Mar to Dana Point you ride pretty much right along the coast and the views are just beautiful. It allows you to be productive (or not) during your ride and is much less stressful than sitting in traffic. I just worked on a volunteer project for awhile and started a new book by the pool. Sucks to be me, I know.

No matter what time of day or where I'm going, when I take a train I feel like
a small-town girl on a midnight train going annn-yyy-where.... #surfliner #onandonandonandon

 

And since E had spent the last few Fridays sitting in horrible traffic trying to get home, we decided to make stops and have a leisurely drive back. We visited Chapman University and got to catch up with one of my favorite teachers as well as try a new food stand I'd heard such great (and true, as it turns out) things about. And ohmygosh it's ridiculous how much the campus has changed since I was there (almost ten years ago! *puts self into a retirement home*). We tried a local hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant across the street from his hotel one night (with Real California Avocado) and another night we took the 60 to the 10 to Santa Monica and found street parking to enjoy burgers, a walk to the pier, and some cool shops in their Promenade area (and Coffee Bean, which didn't validate).

 

 

 

So how was January for you? I'm sorry if it involved The Polar Vortex, truly, I am. Despite some big disappointments, job-prospect-wise, looking back I realize I enjoyed it (and the month is usually such a let-down for me after the holidays, so this is good!) What are you looking forward to next month? For me one thing is E's birthday and a bit of a surprise I'm working on for him... stay tuned!!

 

Hoping 2014 can only get better,

 



Project Post: Payton's Pretty Purple Dragon

This is a project from last year but I thought it might make a fun Valentine's Day gift for a special kid in your life... or, I feel like there's a million springtime babies with birthdays coming up, so maybe grab a bunch of fleece going on sale after winter and whip up a few of these.

I was trying to do something special for my Goddaughter's third birthday last summer... she's a bright, sweet girl and although she probably would've been happy with any Disney Princess item I picked up at Toys R Us, I was hoping to make something a bit more personal.

Inspired by reading about another 3-year old whose favorite book sounded super fun; I went with a dragon theme. To go with the book Dragons Love Tacos (I read great reviews from parents before pulling the trigger on the order and I enjoyed it as soon as it arrived) I decided to embark on making a dragon cape.

Of course it had to be pink and purple. I chose fleece so that I wouldn't have to hem it (and it happened to be on sale since it was, you know, June), but I ended up liking the look of blanket stiching so I did a blanket stitch on every edge. I more or less used this tutorial as my guide, which really helped -- even though I wasn't interested in adding eyes or wings. Speaking of wings, I more or less "winged it" on the spike-thingies... I folded several layers of fleece together so that they had some bulk, and even though they flopped from side to side a bit, they had enough weight to stay standing. I thought the rick rack had a sweet "scales" look to it and added long pieces that could swing around. Finally, with my minimal embroidery skills I finished it with a little "P" for Payton in the corner.

Don't you love my model? :)
(obviously on a 3-year old it hangs down to about waist-length and the hood is nice and roomy)

I finished off the gift with adorbs mini tortillas and fresh tomato and avocado from the market so she could make her own tacos. Those were actually what excited the birthday girl most when she first opened it (the kid eats super-healthy which is awesome).

I don't think she understood the little cape right away, but I got a text from her mom a day or two later with her wearing it, and apparently she went through a phase where she liked to sleep in it after reading the book. :)

This is a totally do-able project! If you can do a blanket stitch or a basic line on a sewing machine, you can do this. I did the different sections (the body, the hood, the tail, the spikes) seperately to break things up, so altogether it took an hour or so a night for about a week. I'm sure it could be done in less time.

What kind of fun projects are you working on for kiddos in your life? I kinda' want a dragon cape of my own now... dress up was always a favorite of mine!