Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

1. I heard the quote "the key to a happy marriage is to mutually lower your standards" somewhere the yesterday (no, not marriage counseling, haha) and thought it was interesting. It sounds so negative, but I think it's actually pretty true. Obviously you can't lower them drastically, or else you're bound to be miserable, but who really is perfect all the time? The bottom line is that you have to be realistic and give each other a break. No one is going to be what you expect them to be.

Slap that shit on a Valentine's Day Card, Hallmark.

2. So I guess there may possibly be another Bridget Jones book coming out, this one possibly being about her getting knocked up. I enjoyed the original diary, but thought the second, The Edge of Reasoning was a lacking. I'd love for Fielding, the Mother of Chic Lit (back when it wasn't pure shit), to have another success, but I'm not sure if we all want to read about Bridget whining over getting even fatter and having to knock off the booze and cigarettes. 

3. I love it when you can tell someone to "just handle it" and they do. 

4. I've become more and more intrigued by the whole Extend Barre fitness trend. I'm not normally one to fall victim to new crazes (I'm not going anywhere near Cross Fit!), but this one seems like a great combo between the graceful intensity of yoga and the heart-pumping action of cardio. Interestingly, the nearest place to me that has classes is at a Pole Dancing Studio, so after this I might end up taking some stripper classes (probably not... but you never  know).

5. I'm currently reading Skippy Dies, finally. It's really long- over six hundred pages and I feel like I'm crawling through it. I enjoy it, I do, it's just the kind of book that I feel reads best in at least thirty minute chunks, something I seem to be lacking this week. Within the first few pages you learn that Skippy dies during a donut-eating contest (not necessarily the cause, though), which will now and forever be in my mind whenever I eat donuts (so three times a year).

6. I'm pretty psyched about this weekend- a new restaurant with the man I lower my expectations for (don't you worry, it is absolutely mutual), a Tom's warehouse sale with a friend, yoga, and, drum roll please, croissant making. My $10/lb bag of diastatic malt powder finally arrived, so it's on.

7. I won't touch Gregory McGuire's book Wicked with a ten foot pole (I tried to read one of his other ones in college and hated it), but I'm pretty excited to finally get to see the play next month. Yes, I know I'm the last person in America to go...

8. This Monday I will be driving to LA to get to see Al Gore read and speak as a part of his book tour for The Assault on Reason. I saw him a few years ago and he was an excellent speaker and his crowd was pretty lively, so I'm hoping this will also be worth it. I know he's a bit kooky at times, and hope he addresses his recent network sale controversy, but I have a deep appreciation for those that raise awareness about the environment. Plus he hung out with Bill Clinton all the time, so there's that (what, we haven't talked about my love for Bill?).

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9. The other day two books came in the mail, the first one being Why We Write. It's a great collection edited by Meredith Maran featuring chapters from Ann Patchett, Jennifer Egan, Gish Jen, Isabel Allende, and several more. I thought I'd balance things out with my other purchase, How Smart is Your Dog? Basically, it's a series of tests you give your dog to determine his or her intelligence. We'll see who's smarter, Chomsky or Cordie. I'm not even kidding.

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10. I really don't understand the whole mustache thing and why, after over a year, it is still going strong. It's not that I don't like it, I'm actually quite indifferent, I just don't get it. Where did it originate? Why are people still so into it? Please someone cool and hip enlighten me.