Bookish (and Not So Bookish) Thoughts

This post is a mess- just like me. Sometimes I think it's easier to have the flu than a cold- I'd rather blow chunks for a day or two than five or six of the sniffles, a cough, and a sore throat. I haven't been sick in almost a year, so I guess I was due. 

1. I have been wishing lately that gift giving wasn't part of Christmas. Personally, I'm just happy to have time off. I have gotten so sick of the commercialization, greed, and spoiling surrounding the holiday. Yeah, I have a book wish list full of lovely gift ideas for me, but I'd be fine not receiving any if it meant I didn't have to deal with holiday shopping for others. And it's not just the money; it's the whole concept of thinking of unique things for people that already have everything they want. You can thank the Christmas merchandise appearing next to the Halloween candy for setting off this rant.

2. Speaking of Halloween, and rants, I've decided as a homeowner I hate this holiday. I have to spend my hard-earned money on candy for complete strangers' kids. My dogs bark, I can't get anything done for a solid two hours, and all the store-bought plastic costumes make me nostalgic for my youth when moms got all crafty with the sewing machines and hot-glue guns. The only reason I do it is because I know that one day I'll be parading my own kids around to the houses of childless people, interrupting their peaceful existences.

3. You should read  this article about Joe Queenan and his 6,128 favorite books. I really wish I would have kept track of all the books I've read in my lfe.

4. Denny's is going to do a Hobbit inspired menu, offering such delicacies like "Biblo's Berry Smoothin," "Shire Sausage," and "Build Your Own Hobbit Slam." J.R.R. Tolkien is going to come back from the dead and beat some ass. 

5. The Giants won the pennant- in the rain. Making the victory even sweeter is the fact that the three Southern California teams didn't even make it to the playoffs. Going into the World Series they're definitely the underdog, but the comebacks they've been making lately are impressive, so you never know.

6. The Giants were part of the reason I bailed on the Nick Hornby reading last night, that and the crappy cold thing. I've seen him before, and the lovely folks over at Writer's Bloc are going to send me the copy of the book that came with the ticket.

7. Cloud Atlas comes out this weekend. I'm a little unsettled by how supportive David Mitchell has been of the project, to be honest. I've been trying to listen to the book on audio in order to refresh my memory since it's been several years since I read it, but the narrator is so horrible my mind constantly wanders (which totally defeats the whole purpose for subscribing to Audible). We plan on seeing it, but I'm a little worried about how long it is...

8. I am really, really struggling to get through Naked Lunch right now. It's not that it's a bad book, it's just not for me. I have no problem with the fact that every single page so far has graphically discussed drugs and sex, it's a stylistic issue. Fortunately, it's only a little over two hundred pages, so I can, and will, power through.  

9. I need to buy an Obama shirt asap. I have jury duty the week of the election and plan on wearing it in hopes that it will make me an unattractive juror. Fingers crossed there are some Republicans in the courthouse. 

That's all I've got. It's been a tough week.