weary as water

every time i blink i have a tiny dream

Book 37: Concierge Confidential by Michael Fazio

To tell you the truth, I kind of freaked out a little when writing that last book review. I’m only at book 37…and I’m supposed to read 52 books by the end of the year. Yeah, probably not going to happen. Consider this one a desperate attempt at fixing my procrastination problem. (Tell-all memoirs are hunky romance-esque dirty secret.)

So – yeah. Rich people want things but they don’t want to do them, and that’s what concierges are for. Big surprise. :) The book was an easy enough read – a little condescending but also entertaining…just the way I like them.

271 pages
3/5

Book 36: The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht

The Tiger’s Wife is a collection of stories within stories, of myth and folklore and a history that includes both. Natalie, the narrator of the book, is on her way to volunteer at a medical clinic in parts of the rural former Yugoslavia when she gets news of her grandfather’s death. From there the story spins through Natalie’s memory – of going with her grandfather to the zoo to see the tiger, of the copy of ‘The Jungle Book’ he kept in his pocket, of being a teenager during wartime and following her grandfather, by then an old man, through abandoned streets until they finally see an elephant being walked through the streets to the zoo. Natalie asks if there are any other stories “like that”, from before, and he tells her the story of the tiger’s wife. But the story is not just of the tiger’s wife – it is also a story of a deathless man, and of the myths surrounding the small village her grandfather grew up in.

I liked this book alot – I liked the pacing of the stories and the depth of the writing (no speed reading for this one!).

352 pages
4/5

Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving was great. On the big day we went to Emily’s aunt’s lakehouse. The whole clan was there – including the new additions Amanda & Conner. (So glad to have them be a part of this big crazy family!). I made pumpkin pie from scratch – including the pie crust – and it was delicious.

IMAG1034

Friday we didn’t do much. Emily worked Thursday night, so she slept most of the day on Friday. We ended up going to Old Navy late in the day so I could get some jeans on sale (plus, we had a coupon!). I like shopping when I save more than I spend.

Saturday we went to Auburn for the Ironbowl.

IMAG1043
 
IMAG1050

We had great seats to an amazingly crappy game – Auburn lost 41-14.

IMAG1068

The highlight of the day today (Sunday) was making homemade pizza on my new pizza stone. It was a mushroom + onion + peppers + italian sausage pizza on dough from Whole Foods, and it was delicious. I think next time I’ll only use half the dough at a time because I like a super thin crust. But still…delicious! (And Emily found a six pack of Woodchuck Fall cider hidden in the depths of the local package store – my very favorite cider ever and it’s not being made any longer!).

IMAG1083

Mom’s visit + Nashville things

IMAG1018Mom came for a short visit last weekend. We had already planned to go up to Nashville for our anniversary (4 years since exchanging vows) – so when Mom said she would be in town we invited her along. (See how awesome my wife is? She is superb.)

First stop was the Opryland Hotel, which was decorated for Christmas. It was completely over the top (as you might imagine) – the Opryland Hotel isn’t exactly known for its subtly. The most impressive thing was the light net over all of the trees.

Second stop was the Renaissance Hotel downtown, which was pretty nice. It was overrun with Marines (the Marine Ball was next door) and hockey fans (Nashville has a hockey team!) and I think there was a show at the Ryman as well. The view from the room was pretty nice, and it was a short walk down to Broadway street. If I have another free night credit, we’ll stay there again. :)

Next we went to the Bluebird Cafe – one of my favorite “listening rooms” in the Nashville area. (The other is the Station Inn – but they had some conference on the night we were there). It’s known for being the place where some country singers got their start – Taylor Swift and Garth Brooks were both signed after playing there – but we went to a “round table” with 4 singer songwriters. They were all pretty good and we had a really good time listening.

IMAG1008

We got stuck in two traffic jams while trying to get into valet parking at the hotel (two! within half a mile of each other!) and I ended up taking advantage of a portalet that was conveniently located on the sidewalk. (As I exited – a drunk hockey fan said ‘that’s a god damned GIRL’ like girls can’t use portalets. Poor guy.) We got back to the hotel around 10, and Mom was pretty tired so Emily and I went out to Broadway without her. The place was packed – all of the downtown events were over – but we managed to find a friendly bartender and two empty seats at Layla’s, so there we stayed. We did manage to make “friends” with a guy with a grenade tattooed on his neck and an old drunk guy who thought he was hot shit (and who had an, ahem, hole in the crotch of his jeans.) They weren’t very good friends, though, because they got lost shortly after I refused to let them buy me a drink. (Here’s a life tip: never let an asshole buy you a drink).

IMAG1014

The next morning we went to the Pancake Pantry for brunch (chocolate chip pancakes FTW) and then went to the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens & Art Museum, where they were having an exhibit on the “wild west”. It was pretty cool – they had some Charlie Russell paintings, and a L.A. Huffman photograph of an Indian woman that was taken at Fort Keogh (super close to where I grew up in southeastern Montana). Wrapped it all up with a trip to the Loveless cafe (their pork chops are the bomb), and then drove back home.

IMAG1020

Other things: We had Phoebe & John over for dinner (caramelized baby turnips, roast beef with roasted potatoes and gravy, salad, baked brie with apricot preserves in a puff pastry). Went to a craft show in Gardendale. Mom showed me how to make a pie crust from flour, butter, and water. Then I made a delicious four cheese spinach quiche. Made a last minute trip out to the outlet mall (they have a La Creuset store!), and afterwards I drove 20 minutes the wrong way before realizing I was heading to Atlanta and not back to Birmingham. Oops! Then early the next morning I dropped Mom off at the airport for the long flight home. I had a really super time with her – she’s one of my best friends – and even though we spent a majority of the time sitting around reading books and drinking tea I had a fantastic time. I miss her already.

In other news, I’m playing a new health game called SuperBetter. Want to play it with me? Drop me a line for an invitation code my email is thenameofthiswebsite (without the .com)@gmail.com

Book 35: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

1Q84 (the Q stands for QuestionMark) is typical Murakami. Very lyrical writing (thanks to Jay Rubin – who translated it into English) and a multifaceted underlying story with parallel universes (1984 & 1q84) that are somehow connected. OK – so there were some parts of this book that really creeped me out (hint: basically all of the sex scenes – most of them are awkward and one in particular was super disturbing). The book is a bit on the long side, and the “Little People” are a “Little Annoying”, but man, what an imagination Murakami has. It is a gift I’m glad he shares with the world.

On a purely physical level, the book is gorgeous. It has a very thin ricepaper-like dustcover and super smooth newspaper-like pages. I probably like the book more than I should because of these details.

944 pages
3/5

update: here is a nytimes book review article that is worth reading

Book 34: Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain

Predictably, I loved Anthony Bourdain’s tell-most book about the professional cooking world. The book goes through the formation of Anthony Bourdain’s career – from his first experience of amazing food, through his drug addled coming of age in kitchens up and down the east coast, to culinary school, a string of failed restaurants, and eventually – a lucky break that opened the door to famous kitchen. The book is full of stories about kitchens and restaurants, but is also has some brotherly advice about how to outfit a home kitchen and why you shouldn’t order fish in a restaurant on a Monday or open a restaurant just because your friends love your cooking.

324 pages
4/5

in other news…

I’ve read six books in the past week. So, if you’re counting, I’m now reading book 33 at the beginning of week 43. If this keeps up, I might actually finish 52 books this year!

I had sort of the perfect personal goal attaining day today. I:
* meditated for 20 minutes
* went for a jog AND did some strength exercises afterwards
* flossed
* didn’t get too pissed at anyone today
* cooked and did the dishes

I mean really, what else could I possibly want in a day?

Book 32: Hardwiring Excellence by Quint Studer

This is another book for work – one of the higher ups is a real “making a difference” kind of guy, and he wanted everytone to read this book. From various meetings I knew a few of the basic principles of Studer’s philosophy – setting pillars for your organization, rounding for excellence, and the importance of thank you notes. The concept of “rounding for excellence” is quite a bit like the bit I wrote the other night about asking people what they need (instead of assuming you know what they want). Except instead of asking the homeless dude who is hungry if he wants a sandwich (when what he really wants are some hot dog buns and a jar of mustard), management is supposed to ask their employees if they have everything they need to do their jobs. It’s actually a pretty effective technique, and I imagine it would be pretty effective even outside of a healthcare setting. The book isn’t condescending and has a lot of good ideas in it. (Plus, the little anecdotes thrown in to each chapter make it a little interesting, too).

3.5/5
280 pages

Book 31: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

I do love a book that saves its surprises for the very end. This is the story of a group of scientists deep in the Brazilian rain forest, working on producing a drug that will Change The World. A doctor is sent to check on the progress, and word comes back that the doctor is dead. So our hero Marina is sent to find out about the dead doctor, and she finds out more than she expected. I’m not sure the excitement at the end of the book is worth the dreariness it took to get there, but it is one of the best endings I’ve read in a while.

368 pages
3/5