slipping into the weekend
Friday, 21 March 2008
Last year's Easter Canada goslings
Tomorrow is Saturday... I had to keep telling myself that today, it just didn't feel like a Friday. My days have been off since Thursday. I guess today felt a bit weird cause the city is so quiet, all the students having escaped back home or wherever. TV was devoted to back to back movies. I guess Easter weekend has begun!
It's supposed to be nice and cold tomorrow and wet and probably windy... but I'm going to make the best of it. Today for at least an hour if not longer I was able to sit near my window and feel the heat of the sun. I almost waned to purr like a happy little kitten. You see one entire wall of my room is a window so the doom and gloom of grey skys really does get to me. I covet those days or even hours of sun! Hopefully tomorrow I can catch a still moment to run into town and if the library is open exchange some finished books for new ones. I need to pick up some laundry detergent, eggs and mustard in order to make deviled eggs and either berries or apples depending on what looks good at the fruit market to make some rustic tarts for Easter dessert. I think it'll do me good to bake something. I'm starting to regret not having had a birthday cake, I'm pretty sure this is the first year it's happened. I suppose I can whip one up anytime and declare it my birthday cake but I crave the traditional Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip (or Fun Chip as I think it's called now) with Rainbow Chip frosting. Yum! Sadly not available here...
Wait for me mom!
I'm well into Middlemarch now and should have it finished by next Sunday. It is the very definition of a Victorian novel, well my definition anyway. So many lives and incidents are involved and the story unfolds at a leisurely pace that each chapter requires chewing, contemplation and slow digestion. That is why I whipped out my trusty post it tabs and broke it down into a manageable 36 some odd pages a day so that I could take my time but at the same time finish it in a reasonable amount of time. I'm pretty sure I could devote all my reading time to it if I really wanted to but I would definitely have to be in the mood otherwise I might get frustrated, bored and end up putting it aside. Breaking it up allows me to enjoy it while having the freedom to read another book (or 3) at the same time.
190 pages into Les Misérables and so far it has captured my attention. Unlike Middlemarch I feel at this stage I'd be able to read Les Mis comfortablely in one go. This is my first Hugo novel and I can tell it's going to be epic (as if the 1463 pages didn't give that away...). I'll read 50 more pages tomorrow to reach my goal of 240 pages a week. I liked the description of Monsieur Madeleine's library "[it]was small but well chosen. He loved books; books are cold but sure friends" Amen to that!
I'm nearly done with Bee Season. I've been wanting to read this book I think since it was published back in 2000 and somehow I kept overlooking it. Then when the movie was released (which I have yet to see) I was reminded that I wanted to read it and again it was forgotten. Well finally I checked it out and it's pretty darn good. I can really relate to the sibling rivalry and being jealous when my sister was given attention as if I deserved it all. I like to think I've grown out of that but every now and then I can turn a very pale shade of green, but nothing like when I was younger! I was almost always a giant green rampaging monster! Ha! No longer speaking from personal experience, I'm interested in the overall theme of being pushed by parents to be more than what may even be possible. Or being pushed aside because you've already been deemed smart enough, no longer needing help or support. Lots of good themes going on eager to see how they all merge together.
16 DUCKLINGS!!! I hope this is Duck Daycare otherwise mom might fly the coop!
The fourth book playing host to a bookmark is A Passage to India. Finally cracking it open after checking it out almost 5 weeks ago. Can't say much about at this point as I've barely begun - only on page 8 but I liked Forster's Where Angels Fear to Tread so I have high hopes. Plus friends have said it's good.
Wish I had an idea of what I'll be bringing home from the library tomorrow, but I haven't a clue. I have a long list and can only check out 6 more. Besides I'm not even sure if the library is open tomorrow. It normally is on Saturdays but maybe because of the holiday... would be nice if they would post holiday hours on their website but well not every library system can be the best.
I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and for all of those who celebrate Easter either religiously or commercially I hope you and yours have a great one!
. listening . echolot . wir sind helden . von hier an blind .
posted by Ashleigh @ 23:48,
4 Comments:
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At 26 March 2008 at 02:36,
Danielle said...
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I'm up to all of page 100! Things get far more exciting once Jean Valjean enters the action. I'm still curious who Fantine is. I think I'm going to have to make myself leave other books at home and only take LM to work. Usually I stick two or thre books in my bookbag. Reading on the bus alone if not going to cut it. You'd think people wouldn't be so energetic at 6:30AM, but boy do people on my bus chatter and loudly, too! When I read War and Peace last year at this time it was the only thing I read, but this time around I'm halfway through about three other books and I can't help myself but pick them up as well! However I do enjoy it when I pick it up--I'm just slow! In any case, I was hoping that reading it in a group would help spur me on and I'd stay motivated!
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At 26 March 2008 at 12:21,
Ashleigh said...
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That's funny I also read War and Peace this time last year. I know what you mean by noisy transportation, I usually have my iPod on to try to drown people out, though I can still hear them but it's the illusion of not being able to hear that matters. I've had annoying people sit next to me who try to talk to me, one lady even jabbed my book really hard and said "The giant gets her." I have no idea what she was talking about cause there were no giants in that book... Ha! But I got a lot of reading done on public transportation last spring because I was commuting between Phoenix and Tucson for class - a 4 hour roundtrip shuttle ride, and then about 3 hours roundtrip from the airport where the shuttle picks up and drops off to my house. I did this twice a week!
Fantine's story is really good so get there soon. :) -
At 27 March 2008 at 01:44,
Danielle said...
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I've just started reading about Fantine! I've come across some strange people on public transportation, too. What really bothers me (talking is fine though I wish people weren't so loud) are the people who feel the need to have personal calls on their cell phones on a busy bus. Don't people have any sense of privacy anymore? And I've also had people say weird things about what I am reading--I suppose they think they're being amusing!
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At 27 March 2008 at 08:54,
Ashleigh said...
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I know what you mean about the personal calls. There are some things the entire bus just does not need to know about. I sat next to a girl one time that must have been speaking to a credit card company or who knows but she was spouting all her personal information out, anybody could have written it down. I'm talking her social, her card number, her address. Not very smart!
