Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

1. After reading about this board on Annie's Eats this morning, I am obsessed with the "My Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler Daughter" Pinterest board. A woman named Tiffany Beveridge created it for her "daughter" Quinoa, satirizing the mini-members of the upper-crust (and modeling industry).

2. I haven't wanted to say anything and jinx it, but I've been working on a new writing project for awhile. I've put what I was working on during NaNoWriMo last November on an indefinite hold and have started something completely new. I think NaNoWriMo was a great experience and fantastic exercise, but towards the end I started dreading sitting down at the computer to write. This time it's much different- I look forward to working and am excited with the direction I'm heading. Don't worry, I won't quit blogging when I sell the manuscript to a major publisher and start my whirlwind book tour wearing nothing but all the new Anthro dresses I'll buy with my advance money.

[one day I will own all the dresses]

3. I just finished The Love Song of Jonny Valentine by Teddy Wayne last night and while I'm still letting the book sort of, shall we say, percolate, I think it has a lot less depth than I thought it would. Not that it was bad- it was definitely entertaining, it just turned out being a little too obvious and surface-level for me (and then I start doubting myself, thinking "Wait! What if that's what the author wanted, and there's still another layer of meaning under that!"). 

4. I took Chomsky into the vet last week to have a little spot on his face checked and the official diagnosis was "he's a fatty." The dog weighed in at a solid 105 pounds, up ten pounds from the last time he was in several months ago (and at that point he needed to lose five). He tried to convince me it was muscle from all the swimming, but I'm not buying it. I said he had two choices: either eat less or get doggy lap band. He considered both options carefully and opted to reduce his calories. He's been tracking his macros (fat, protein, and carbs) on the app for his phone for a week now and I plan to drive him back to the vet next month to see if he's made progress. Until then we'll just continue breaking down his self-esteem until he can't stand the site of food. 

[I'm so fat and depressed]

5. I know I can save 5% on my entire purchase if I use my Target Debit Card. Trust me, I hear the spiel at least once a week. I understand it's not a credit card, I do. No please stop asking me and respect my decision to not fill my wallet with anymore cards.

6. The Booker Long List came out this week and I have yet to sit down with Amazon's UK site to try to find some more synopses. I've been a little disappointed with their picks the last year or two (not that they were bad books, just not my taste), so hopefully this year I can find a few (other than the Ozeki one, which I've already been looking at) to buy at some point.

7. The other day I decided that my perfect triathalon would be biking, hiking, and yoga. If this did actually exist, then Tuesday I did a brick training session for it (two of the sports back-to-back). I drove down to the bike trail and did twelve miles (and ran into my grandpa!) and then went to a yoga class. Luckily I wasn't sore at all, just really, really damn tired. 

8. Sometimes I get really nostalgic for the games my sister and I used to play on our computer growing up. We had Kid Pix, Oregon Trail, Number One Agent, Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, and Sim City. I was pretty good at all of them! And now I play LEGO Lord of the Rings and it takes me fifteen goddamn minutes to figure out how to combine a fish, egg, and tomato in Sam's frying pan.

[Source]

9. I can't stop eating these these Avocado and Fried Egg Pitas this week, nor can I stop roasting broccoli. Tonight I plan on making these Browned Butter Rice Krispy Treats (with some peanut butter and chocolate chips) to share with my grandparents when I see them for a bike ride and lunch tomorrow.

[source- Smitten Kitchen]

10. I hate it when teachers say they're "ready to go back to work" during summer vacation. With all-do respect, shut the hell up! No! This is a magical, beautiful time in our lives and you should abs-fucking-lutely not be ready to go back. Need something to do? Read a book. Sleep in. Watch TV. Learn how to knit. Write letters to prison inmates. I don't care, just shut the hell up and stop messing with the universe.