ABCs of Thankfulness

Starting in 2009, I began following the tradition of the ABCs of Thankfulness. I’m thankful for lots of things, so why not address them all here on the blog every year? It looks like I originally found this on Trish’s blog (thank you Trish for helping me start a Thanksgiving tradition!). So if you’re celebrating Thanksgiving today in the USA, you celebrated it a few weeks ago in Canada, or you’re just enjoying your Thursday, join in me the ABCs of saying thank you to all the things that make life as amazing as it is.

Apple, the Big. Thanks for being such an interesting place, for being an awesome place with amazing food and amazing things to do.

Bloggers. As much as I love blogging, it wouldn’t mean nearly as much without all the other bloggers out there. Thank you!

Cranberry sauce. I used to avoid this stuff like the plague. Then I tasted the salty-sweet goodness on my turkey and I realized what I had been missing. Thanks for being delicious, cranberry sauce. Even when you come from a can. (Yup, even when you come from a can!)

Dresses. Thank you dresses, for not being pants.

Early mornings. Even though I like my sleep, I’m grateful for the quiet peace of early mornings and the productiveness of getting up early.

Food. Thank you good food, for nourishing my body. Thank you for a little indulgence on the holidays.

Gym. Pilates, boxing, spin class. I’m thankful for the motivation to go and the great way I feel when I’m done. Like they say, no one’s ever regretted exercising, but you sure regret not exercising.

Hermione. Because before Hermione, I’d never seen anyone in a book quite like me before. Bushy hair, weird teeth, and a little bossy. Yup, sounds about right. Thank you, Hermione.

Icing. The icing, when done right, is the very best part! Thank you icing for being delicious.

Journals. I haven’t regularly kept a journal in a while, but thank you journals for being a way to jump back into past-Leslie. Thanks for being a place to write my thoughts.

Knitting and crochet. Thanks for keeping my hands busy while I watch Vampire Diaries.

Love. I’m so thankful for all the love in my life.

Music. Thanks for making long hours doing work pass a little bit quicker. Thanks for being a beautiful, meaningful distraction!

Niceness. I’m thankful for everyone I encounter who is nice. Thanks for being nice, nice people!

Owls. 

Click for gif action! Need I say more? I’m thankful for owl gifs.

Pals. I’m so thankful for my friends!

Questions. I am thankful that my Q&A Journal asks me questions every day and that I’m comfortable with all sorts of questions and questioning.

Relatives. Thanks, relatives, for being so lovable.

Stories. I’m so grateful for all the stories I’ve been fortunate enough to read or hear.

Tomorrow. I’m thankful for all the promise and opportunity tomorrow always brings.

Ululation. I’m thankful of words like ululation, because they sound so cool.

Verse. It’s no secret that I love poetry! I’m so thankful for everything poetry and verse have bought me.

Words. Thank you words, for making up poetry and novels and newspaper articles and stories and all the good things that come from the written word.

Xylomancy. Another cool word, but one that’s symbolic in my life. I’m thankful words can have that power.

Yarn stores! I’m so thankful for my amazing yarn store. It’s a joy to go in every time, even though I always end up spending way too much money!

Z, love of my life. I’m so thankful for you.

Conversations and Cosmopolitans by Robert Rave and Jane Rave

I like memoirs, we know this. I also think that everyone has the right to a memoir, as long as you can tell a good story and you know which stories to pull. I was so excited to read Robert and Jane Rave’s mother-son memoir about Robert coming out to his mother in a letter. That letter is the first chapter and what follows is a series of vignettes by Robert, all followed by a short reaction written by Jane titled “Mama Says.” The love and interaction between Robert and Jane is evident and I loved that his parents were totally okay with him being gay. The point of this memoir is that it is not really a coming out story; it’s the story of how a mother and son grew to be better friends because Robert, and therefore Jane, accepted who he really was. In that sense, Robert and Jane are really adorable. They clearly love each other and their family is so strong, so I loved reading about that part of their life. I loved seeing Jane stand up for her son in the face of discrimination in their small town. I loved that Robert truly cared what his mother thought of him.

Unfortunately, I really didn’t love everything in this memoir. The biggest issue I had with it is that it seems dated. Much of the “action” of the memoir takes place in the late 90s, but he was clearly writing it now. With words like “tranny” and “cyber geek,” it was just a little difficult to take seriously. This is 2011, we don’t say things like that anymore, even if you did in 1998. The majority of the memoir talks about things like waxing, going on horrible dates with horrible men, good friends and bad friends, some of whom are nameless celebrities. If it reads like some kind of chick lit novel or memoir, you’re right. Unfortunately, I don’t like those stories when they’re penned by women, so it stands that I wouldn’t really like them when they’re penned by a man.

I guess this is another case of the book not meeting my own expectations. I think the book could have been organized a little better and been less cheesy, but at the same time, I’m sure there are plenty of people who would enjoy this book. And I know there were parts I really liked. I liked Jane. She’s not a writer, as Robert mentions towards the end of the novel, but I really liked many of the things she had to say. There were times when I cringed at things both Robert and Jane said, but I think for the most part they presented their relationship well. It’s a loving, beautiful relationship and I am glad they decided to share it with the world, even if I didn’t love reading about it the entire time.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for sending me this book to review. You can read more about this tour, including past and future tour dates, here.

To Join the Lost by Seth Steinzor

When Trish at TLC Book Tours contacted me about a modern Inferno, I practically squealed with excitement. I mean, it just sounds so cool. Right? So when I got To Join the Lost  in the mail, I was beyond excited to read it, so I opened it up immediately. Then I proceeded to read exactly one page and put it down. I kept staring at the date looming on the calendar; I knew I was going to have to pick up To Join the Lost, but the excitement was gone. Turns out, I don’t think To Join the Lost is particularly cool or innovative. I do think it took a lot of hard work and I do admire it, but I didn’t enjoy it.

When I read Dante’s Inferno, it had a huge impact on me. Apart from the horrendous memorization quizzes we were assigned, where we had to read two or three cantos and then just fill in the missing words, Inferno made a lasting impression on me with its scenes of absolute terror. Maybe it was the translation, but the text didn’t seem dated, it seemed fresh and interesting. The idea of a modern day Inferno with modern day characters seems like such a good idea, and I still think there’s hope for it, but surprisingly, the problem with To Join the Lost is that it doesn’t stray enough from the source material.

Let’s start off with what’s good about To Join the Lost. There is some good writing in here. I marked several passages that I really enjoyed. They’re funny and the references that I actually got were great. I don’t fault Steinzor for making references that I won’t understand; that in and of itself is part of Dante’s Inferno, but it didn’t necessarily make for great reading. I wish Steinzor had included the annotations he decided to leave out, as he explains in the Afterword. Like most translations of Inferno, Steinzor’s verse is blank verse, but I wish it would have been a little more even. There are times when he uses very “poetic” language and times when he uses very plain language. It didn’t always work, especially when characters were speaking directly. Their tone and style seemed to change from one speech to the next; I would have preferred consistency.

In the end, though, my biggest gripe with To Join the Lost is that it’s not modern enough. Can you really fault a book for not being revolutionary enough? Is it To Join the Lost‘s fault that it’s not exciting enough? Steinzor mentions in his Afterword that he really wanted to modernize Inferno, that he wanted it to be more than just swapping out Dante’s politicians for modern ones, but that’s what I felt like when I was reading it. Maybe it’s just been so long since I read Inferno that my memories of it are very condensed. Yes, Steinzor came up with new hellish nightmares, but they were still in the same vein. I don’t know what I wanted, but it was something more. That isn’t to belittle what Steinzor does with To Join the Lost; it’s great and I’m sure it took a lot of effort, talent and obsession.

So what kind of Inferno would I want? I don’t know. An Inferno that really looks at our modern culture and sees what’s wrong with it. Maybe the metaphor just doesn’t make as much sense anymore. To Join the Lost is an adequate modernization of Inferno, but it just wasn’t the modernization of Inferno that I wanted, and that’s not really Steinzor’s fault at all.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for sending me a copy of this book to review. You can read more about this tour and previous and future tour dates here. 

23 for 23

Saturday was my birthday. Last year, I wrote a list of 22 things I would like to accomplish before I turn 22. After my birthday, I wrote them down on a list and put it up on my wall next to my desk. I saw it every day, and while some of those things eventually got crossed off because they didn’t make much sense anymore, a lot of them stuck around. I ended up accomplishing a lot of my goals, as you saw yesterday. Today, I have 23 Things I Would Like to Accomplish Before I Turn 24. Now, they aren’t things I need to accomplish, but simply want. I’m not above failing to realize where I need to be; I think I’ve proven that enough in my life. But setting out with some goals for the year gives me a little focus. A lot of focus and I end up getting stressed out, but a little bit of focus that is Goldilocks-just-right makes my year just a little bit more productive and enjoyable.

1. Translate a book of poetry from Spanish to English. This is my new thesis plan.

2. Write more. With NaNoWriMo helping me write more, I’m remembering why I love it.

3. Move that body! Walking around the city, pilates, spin class, boxing. Keep moving!

4. Eat more veggies, especially salad! I get so sick of salad! But it’s one of the easiest ways to get good-for-you and delicious veggies. So I need to come up with some new salad ideas.

5. Reduce the number of things I own. Books, clothes, etc. As I lose weight, I’ve been getting rid of clothes that don’t fit me anymore by giving them away. I’m also trying to get rid of the books I read and don’t want to keep. Also, other things.

6. Perfect the Curly Girl method. So. This book. It’s a book we sell at work and there was one left over in our “free help yourself” bin. So I grabbed it and it’s kind of changing my life. I want to start making this part of my daily routine.

7. Find a better way to display my books in our tiny apartment. We have these amazing Ikea desks, which offer a TON of storage for books, but not a ton of display space. I have been saving my money and buying nice copies of the books I love, like hardbacks of my favorite graphic novels and physical copies of books I know I’ll want to keep. But what’s the point of owning these nice things if I’m not going to make them easily accessible or put them on display?

8. Save more money. Develop a budget. Pay closer attention to Mint.

9. Go full gluten free. I’ve been gluten free for a little while, but I cheat a lot (and then pay for it with a stomach ache). I do not have Celiacs and my doctor didn’t really think that this would change anything dietary, but it really did. Whenever I eat gluten in large amounts, like a sandwich or a piece of cake, I do get sick to my stomach. I don’t have to worry about small amounts, like trace amounts in spices or oats, but I really want to stop eating large amounts.

10. Get crafty! I like to create things, but I haven’t done too much outside of crochet for the past few years. So I’d really like to use my Pinterest account for some inspiration.

11. VITAMINS. I spent a lot of money on vitamins a couple weeks ago and I have been horrible about taking them. I need to do better! Especially with the fish oil, which will help with the Curly Girl.

12. Volunteer. Self-explanatory, yes? Perhaps at a library?

13. Explore more freelance options. I’ve done a few freelance jobs in the past few months and I’ve really enjoyed it, because often they’re writing or editing.

14. Take a class. About something. I miss school! Sort of. I don’t mind coming home and not having homework, but I do miss learning things. Maybe I could take a late night class once a week.

15. Travel to a new city I’ve never been to before. I want to try and do this once a year, every year, at the very least.

16. Get a massage. I’ve never had a professional massage and it’s just something I’d like to treat myself to. And it’s an easy goal to accomplish!

17. Keep up my new Q&A A Day journal. This journal asks you one question a day. Each question has five spots for an answer, so each year you loop through again, seeing how your life has changed.

18. Keep things simple. 

19. Be more organized! So many simple stresses could be solved if I could just be a little bit more organized. At least I keep telling myself this.

20. Go with the flow. I get stressed out easily. I feel my brow furrow and I get upset at myself for letting things get to me, which adds more stress. Recently, I’ve just started trying to let things go. Just let them go right on out the window and out of my life. When things don’t go as planned, I should think of it as an adventure, not a failure. This is a life-long goal.

21. Don’t buy the cheapest. So it might seem like this is going against some of my other goals, but it’s not. A lot of times I buy what is cheapest so I can buy more things, whether it is clothing or housewares or anything else, but I also want to buy things that last. Saving my money and buying something that will last a little longer and be an investment will keep me motivated to budget and also keep me happier with the things I have. I also should realize that more expensive does not always mean better. I need to do my research.

22. Do at least one thing I’m scared of. 

23. Always, forever, be thankful and grateful for my health, my life, and the love in my life. 

Happy birthday!

23 years ago yesterday I was born!

November 5 was my birthday. That’s right. On my birthday people shout “Remember, remember the fifth of November!” and in the UK they set off fireworks. I thought I would share this picture of me approximately 21 years ago with a crown and a mustache in honor of Movember. Last year on my birthday I shared 22 things I wanted to do before I turned 23. Let’s see how I did!

1. Write a 150 page thesis minimum about Roberto Bolaño’s 2666. Oops, that didn’t happen, for lots of very dramatic reasons, but there’s another thesis in the works. I just have a completely different topic.

2. Travel to a part of the USA I have never visited before. Check! This year I went to various cities in North Carolina I’d never seen before and Auburn and Skeneateles, NY.

3. Keep reading amazing books. What? I had to give myself a few easy ones.

4. Embrace changes in my life instead of being stressed out by them. This will be a lifelong goal, I can feel it. But I think, in a lot of ways, I did much better with this than most years.

5. Move to a new city. Check! Twice!

6. Write more. I refuse to give myself points for this one. I wrote some more, but not really more.

7. Keep maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I got derailed for a little while, but I’m certainly back on track now at 20lbs and one dress size lost.

8. Cook more! Z & I have been cooking a lot! We still eat out a couple times a week and I need to do better about breakfast, but so far so good.

9. Read more of the books on my shelves. Yes! I have been doing this. I’ve only moved some of my books with me, so I don’t have as wide a selection as I’d like, but I’m trying, slowly, to pare down my book collection. Intake has been minimal as well. I’m collecting books that I want to own forever, especially graphic novels. Everything else is given away or bought for my ereader.

10. Clean more. I’m trying, okay? Trying.

11. Refinish this old dining room chair I have in my room. Um… my step-dad threw this away, so this was a fail.

12. Learn how to sew, better. Nope, not this year. But I’m reinstating this goal for next year. I just bought the BurdaStyle Guide, so I’m hoping that will help me.

13. Finish my granny square blanket. Okay, I’m actually kind of sad that I didn’t finish this one. I was really satisfied with the squares and how they were turning out, but once I started to connect them I was really disappointed with the look. I still have all the squares and might attempt to finish it in the future.

14. Enjoy every minute of my life. I feel like it’s hard to calculate whether this one was a success or not, but I am definitely trying hard to enjoy the little things.

15. Keep up Regular Rumination. Like every year, there are a few slips and slides with the blog, but for the most part, I have maintained it as well as I could and I hope to do an even better job next year!

16. Start a food blog. I threw this idea out the window pretty early on in my 22nd year. And I’m perfectly okay with that. Sometimes the ideas we have on a whim aren’t always the best ones. While I admire a lot of food blogs and I would love to start one, I think I have a perfectly happy home in the book blog world.

17. Make a photo light box. Nope! Maybe this year, but I don’t think I’ll put it on my list. My apartment is tiny.

18. Save some money. I caught up with this one at the tail end of my 22nd year. I’m saving a little bit as I go now and hopefully will be able to do something really nice with it.

19. Start learning another language. Maybe one year, but not this year!

20. Never take my loved ones for granted. I think I accomplished this, but you’ll have to ask my loved ones to be sure!

21. Start collecting furniture. Z & I combined our furniture and we have a nice little collection now. Unfortunately, our apartment is as full as it can be, so the best we can hope to do is start updating our furniture as the years go on, unless we move. For now, we are happy with what we have. I call this a success.

22. Don’t be afraid. Another one for the lifetime achievement goals, but doing better every day.

Tomorrow, I’m going to post my new list for the 24th year. But in the mean time, as a thank you for being such an awesome community of bloggers, I’d like to offer you a present on my birthday. If you’d like one of these books, all you have to do is ask. List the title of the book you’d like in the comments. I’ll draw winning names for these books next week!

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier