Elvis Costello Close Up

Elvis Costello wrote a book. Ross heard about it on the radio. Actually, he heard that Elvis Costello was going to be in town talking about the book he wrote. Sorry Karlie (yoga teacher), everyone gets bumped for Elvis. Ross bought us tickets to the event, which included signed copies of the book.

The doors opened at 6p. We showed up about 5 till 6. The line was a block and a half long, which meant we wouldn't be able to sit, we'd have to stand throughout the event. I was wearing a pair of Miz Mooz heels, which was a good thing. They were comfortable enough to wear, standing for 3 hours, and they gave me some height to see over the crowd.

So the event: Elvis spoke with some reporter guy, kind of interview style. Elvis also had a little slide show for us. We were expressly told to only take photos at the very start of the event or we'd be kicked out. Haha. It was so crowded, there is no way they could get to people to kick them out. Most people were good about it though. 

It is fun to hear Elvis talk cause he has a cute accent. At the end of the event he actually played a little guitar--we were told there would be no singing or performance. Then an old buddy of his came out and they played and sang together.  The music performance part of the event was probably about 15 minutes total. I recorded it with my phone. Then at the end I took a bunch of photos. These photos are the only two really that came out. Both were taken at the start of the event. 

This was the closest (physically) I've ever been to Elvis Costello. There were some folks sitting at his feet--yeah, I was annoyed when people from the back of the line got to sit in front, even closer than the folks who were first in line.

Another fun time with Elvis. I'm glad Ross heard about it and we were able to get tickets. I'm glad we have the money to spend willy-nilly on these sorts of things. Oh, and afterward we walked across the street (6th Street) to get Amy's ice cream.

Book: Calves in the Mud Room

I checked out a bunch of small, short books for the trip to Las Vegas, and then I didn't end up reading any of them. Last night while Ross was playing video games I plowed through Calves in the Mudroom by Jerome Brown. It has been a while since I read a real book. I enjoyed this one. The author doesn't explain everything--leaves some things up to the imagination. I liked that. The long, descriptive list of what was in the guy's truck---didn't think that was necessary.

The main character helps some cows give birth. That's something I've always wanted to do. Sometimes I really think I shoulda been a vet.

Bedtime Stories: Battle Bunny

I couldn't resist checking out Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett from the library. This is an ingenious book...well, two books really. The idea is that Alex modifies his Birthday Bunny book into the Battle Bunny book. Two stories and two sets of illustrations in one book. Super clever--with illustrations by Matthew Myers.

Summer Reading: Master and Margarita

Last month after reading Morphine, I checked out Mikhail Bulgakov's novel Master and Margarita from the library. I feel like such a grown up--reading a novel. I thoroughly enjoyed this tale about the Dark Lord, Pontius Pilate, and a slew of Muskovites.

Mikhail Bulgakov, whom I think looks like Daniel Craig in this photo, wrote a thrilling masterpiece. Again, I really enjoy Russian literature--descriptive, dark, and a bit creepy. I feel I have to credit the translator, Michael Glenny--I certainly couldn't have read this novel in Russian!

I think my favorite character was Behemoth, a big, black, talking cat.

Reading actual literature makes me want to write. I will write. I don't know if I'll ever publish, but I will write.

Summer Reading: The Chronicles of Harris Burdick

I didn't know anything about Harris Burdick, his illustrations, or their strange captions until Valerie told me about them and this book. The book has the illustrations along with stories by different authors to match each illustration.This weekend I read five of the stories aloud to Ross. We definitely have our favorite. There was only one story that we really didn't like at all.

I have been doing quite a bit of reading lately. I have started a novel by a Russian author, I have been reading a book of Russian gothic tales, and then this book of short stories. I need to keep at it. I want to finish all 3 books, and I have another book on hold at the library. I guess I'm having my own little Summer reading program.

Morphine

On my last visit to the library I picked up an adult-level book to read. I was attracted to the cover, sprinkled with hexes, the title, Morphine, and the size of the book--small. The publisher calls this 55 page book a pearl, but I think of it rather as a nugget. Mikhail Bulgakov, briefly a morphine addict himself, reveals via a diary, the downward spiral of a doctor who becomes addicted to morphine.

It isn't a new story, or particularly revealing, but Russian literature is so distinct in its style that I found it quite engaging. I have a hold on Buglakov's book The Master and Margarita. This little nugget of Morphine led me to a full-fledged novel.

The publisher has a whole series of pearl nuggets. I might just have to check out a couple more.

Feynman Graphic Novel

At the library last week I picked up the graphic novel Feynman.  The life story of Richard Feynman made a great graphic novel.  I really had a hard time putting it down.  Wow, what an unfathomably amazing mind.  Brilliant in physics, and funny. Feynman led a very complex, colorful life. I was so intrigued with his story, I picked up of one of Feynman's books at the library today.

You don't have to be a theoretical physicist or rocket scientist to understand this book.  The book only gets science heavy in one part.  I had to concentrate to follow it, and sadly, I think I have forgotten it all already.  This book is an interesting, easy read, and it is in color (a prerequisite for any graphic novel I read.)

Check this book out for a good, easy, and funny read about a guy who was interesting, humorous, and one of the greatest minds of our time.

February Photo Challenge: Book

Today I finished reading Ex Machina Book Five.  I have finished the series.  I'll do another post about that.

February Photo Challenge: 5:00pm

At 5pm I was reading book four of Ex Machina.

Smut

One of my goals for this month was to read a book--and not a children's book.  I picked up Smut by Alan Bennett at the library for two reasons: 1. It was small (I was thinking of taking it to California) and 2. I liked the teacups on the cover.  I didn't realize what the teacups were doing until I had started reading the book.  Oh my!

Smut is two smutty stories.  The first story just seemed to start out of nowhere and just seemed to end without an end.  Still, I liked it.  I enjoyed the second story much more.  It seemed to have a lot more twists and turns. If you'd like a smutty read without having to commit to a whole novel I highly recommend Smut.

So with that, I have completed one of my January goals.

Yiddish with Dick and Jane and a Rant

So I read Yiddish with Dick and Jane.  It is a modern Dick and Jane with Yiddish words thrown in---and a glossary in the back. I'm Sephardic--which is associated with the endangered language Ladino, which I don't know at all.  My dad speaks German, but not Yiddish. I don't know Yiddish, except for the normal words that everyone knows like tuchas, putz, and nosh.  Yiddish has always fascinated me--there is some movie where Eddie Murphy speaks Yiddish to an old lady and that just blew my mind.  I've just always wanted to speak a dozen languages, and I can barely speak 2.

Anyway, the book is modern and funny, covering topics such as adultery, homosexuals, and pot.  The glossary has funny explanations, not just definitions.  There seem to be a lot of words that describe various states of confusion and sickness.  My two favorite words are nu and shtupping.   Nu means well? so? or are you surprised?  Shtupping means fornicating.  I'll try throwing those two words around more in the future.

Okay, now for my rant.  Pot.  Sally smokes a doobie in the book.  I don't understand why everyone has to or wants to smoke pot.  In so many blockbuster movies there is a scene (or many scenes) where they sit around getting high.  Why does pot have to be everywhere?  I don't know why this irks me so much.  I really don't.  The idea of feeling super hungry but too lazy to get up and eat something is a nightmare.  Speaking of nightmares, I've heard so many nightmare stories about pot brownies.  Nope.  Crossed that off my list.  And I hate the smell of the smoke.  Maybe I'll smoke it when I'm 80 to ease my pain and help me gain weight, and it will be a revelation and I'll regret not spending my whole life as a pot head.  Maybe, but I don't think so.

Book Review: Coffee and Kung Fu

I wandered around the library looking for a book to get for the Cali trip--Super Sad True Love Story was checked out.  I settled on Coffee and Kung Fu by Karen Brichoux because it was lightweight and I liked the title.  I started the book on the BART and finished it up yesterday.

The essence of Coffee and Kung Fu is loneliness.  The things we do when we are lonely.  It is about the moment when you at your life and decide if you can continue on the same path for the next 70 years.

I don't read much fiction anymore, but this one was a winner.  Pick this up for a great weekend read.

Book Review: Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart

I wanted to get Super Sad True Love Story: A Novel from the library before we left for Texas so that I would have something to read on the plane. I wanted something funny. Despite what the computers said, the library didn't have it. They had Absurdistan, another book by the same author, so I took it. As I have mentioned before--I am a jew story magnet, so no surprise that the main character in the book is a Russian Jew.

This book is sad and funny. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was the change of pace that I really needed after finishing The Dark Tower. Super Sad True Love Story is still on my reading list, along with Psychopath Test, but I need to read a book in Spanish now. I wonder if the library has anything. I don't think I'm up for Love in the Time of Cholera.

Dark Tower: Book VII

Just before we left for Texas I finished the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Woohoo! One of my 2011 goals accomplished! It took me less than two years to read all 3,795 pages.

The final book was okay. It sort of had two endings. I was okay with both of them. The first ending left things up to your imagination. If you wanted to you could keep reading and get an actual detail-filled ending. I think I liked the first ending better. Stephen King was in the last book. I found that completely annoying (again). He had an explanation at the end of the book, but no, I didn't buy it.

Now that I have read the entire series I plan to finish reading the graphic novel series. I think Ross has all but one of them electronically. That will be a new experience. I've never read a book or graphic novel on the computer. Ron Howard is interested in turning the series into movies or a TV miniseries. I'm not really interested in that at all, but I will most likely see it if it ever comes to fruition (Universal just backed out of production).

I still highly recommend the first novel in the series: The Gunslinger. I also recommend the first in the graphic novel series: The Gunslinger Born. I'll be sure to blog about the rest of the graphic novel series.

Dark Tower: Song of Susannah

Well, this weekend I finished book VI of the Dark Tower. In book V I was annoyed when Harry Potter and Stephen King were mentioned. Stephen King has an even bigger role in Song of Susannah. That was very, very irksome. It's like when singers mention their name in their songs. Grrr.

Still, I ripped through it. Now I only have one book left and I'll be done with the series. I think the first book was the best of them all so far.

Now that I'm done with the book hopefully I can get back to knitting.

On With the Epic Novel

Not long after our vacation I finished the fifth novel in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I think it was 700 pages. I didn't like the cover of the book. The hand looks like a claw. The book had some illustrations. I thought they were terrible. I couldn't have done better, but I know someone could have. So I was reading about wolves and vampires, and I was a little baffled, cause I thought Val was the one reading the Twilight novel. I was into it, but it got dumb. Star Wars and Harry Potter and Stephen King? I thought that was really, really lame. He mentions himself and one of his other novels in the book, I think one of the characters is a cross-over. I was disappointed. Two books left. Two very long books. I hope the next one doesn't have the same crappy crossover stuff.

Done and Not Really Done

Today I finished the fourth book in Stephen King's series The Dark Tower. Wizard and Glass corresponds to the first book in the graphic novel series. That means I already knew the story. That made it really hard for me to read. Well, I'm finally done. It was a great book (even with the cowboy porn)--and 700 pages! I've read 2,000 pages in paperback so far! I think the last three books might be another 2,000! Finishing the series will be a big accomplishment for me.

Such wonderful writing has inspired me a little. Last year I thought about writing an ode to lemon cake. I never even started. This year I started, but I haven't finished it. The last poem I wrote was a joke. I need to start writing again. I'm still as useless as Henry Fool.

Workin' The System

We made it to the library today for the first time in a long time. It has been closed due to snow for the last week or so. We returned some books that were due today and I wanted to recheck one of the books. When we went to check out the woman at the front desk said that one of the dvds that we had just checked out was on hold so we probably wouldn't be able to recheck it. Odd, if it was on hold then why were we able to check it out? Then when it came to rechecking my book the lady said I couldn't recheck it because I'd already rechecked it once online. Then she asked if I wanted to keep it. What? She told me it was due today. She told me I wasn't allowed to recheck it. Why would I want to keep it? I'd incur 25 cents a day in fines! After repeatedly saying that I didn't want to keep the book or write down the page number I was on, I was able to convince the lady that I was just going to leave the book.

On the way out of the library Ross and I were lamenting the dumb library policy of not being able to recheck a book twice, but we could check out a book that someone had on hold. I was a little bummed because I only had like 20 pages left in the book. Then I suddenly had this idea. What if they have another copy of the book? Our library has multiple copies of almost every book. We marched back into the library and quickly looked up the book (cause they were about to close). The online card catalog is terrible. We looked up the book by the title and it didn't show up at all. We had to look up the book online and then search by the author's name. Our library has three copies. I went and found a copy on the shelf and checked it out at the nifty self check out. I was so pleased with myself. I found a way around their dumb policy and now I can finish the book.

Circles

I'm back to thinking about where I could build a bunker in my house. Sometimes I obsess over it. I have the fourth volume of the Dark Tower on request at the library. In the meantime I started reading something much scarier than Stephen King could ever come up with. I finally started reading The Family by Jeff Sharlet. I had it checked out, but was hesitant to read it because I knew it would be scary. I got maybe a third of the way through it, but had to turn it back in. The book is about the history of fundamentalist Christianity in America and The Family. The Family is a secret organization. I can't explain it. I'm not sure what is more disturbing, how much power they have or how they operate. Women only serve the members of the organization, they aren't part of the power plan. I'm not sure I want to finish the book. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss.

My mom recommended that I watch Constantine's Sword. I finally sat down and watched it (through Netfix online) last night. Wow. I highly recommend it. Two thousand years have passed. I live in the United States of America. Still, I don't feel safe. Still, I obsess about the bunker.

Again, best I should not think about it too much. Instead I eat cake.

The Waste Lands

I have finished the third novel in Stephen King's epic series The Dark Tower. I liked this volume more than the second. I think it was as good as, if not better than the first novel. I've already checked, and my library has volume IV, so I might go pick it up tomorrow. I checked out a book about Christian fundamentalism, but I have lost interest. I guess I should at least give it a try.