Reading Goal List for 2012

There are a lot of classics I haven't even touched so my list is going to lean heavily in that department. Please feel free to leave recommendations:

1. The Book of Negroes
2. Crime and Punishment
3. A Tale of Two Cities
4. Great Expectations
5. Madame Bovary (in French)
6. Chicken With Plums by Marjane Satrapi
7. Something by Chabon...either The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay or the Yiddish Policemen's Union
8. The Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro
9. Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan (2011's Giller prize winner)
10. The Quiet American by Graham Greene
11. Of Mice and Men
12. The Grapes of Wrath
13. War and Peace
14. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich or Hitler's Scientists
15. The English Patient
16. Far From the Maddening Crowd by Thomas Hardy

It's going to be a heavy year in reading!!

Books read in 2011

Here's my list...wish it was longer!

1. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
2. Kids are Worth It by Barbara Coloroso
3. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
4. The Brother's Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
6. Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
7. Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
8. The Entitlement Trap by Linda and Richard Eyre
9. The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman
10. Sula by Toni Morrison
11. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
12. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
13. An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
14. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
15. Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
16. hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen

I think there may be more but I didn't keep very good track, will update if need be. The Russians were by far my favorite. And the Italian was amazing as usual.

IDEAS...Say no to Happiness?

Is an excellent radio program on the CBC. I subscribe to the podcast and have been obsessed with many an episode. Calvin was a little worried after I listened to a series that inspired me to wear pants to church. But perhaps more on that later. This particular episode seemed appropriate to post because Gretchen Rubin, the author of the Happiness project (which I enjoyed btw) is interviewed. Even though the theme of the show is exploring why her project may not be the best pursuit, she still comes across very well, thoughtful and compelling. I was interested in the idea that life is about more than just being happy. The idea of happiness is a mysterious one. What does it mean to be happy and if "men are that the might have joy"...what do we make of a life that has more sorrowful and blue periods than sunshiney ones. Surely a life devoid of happiness isn't useless, is it? But as Rubin talks about in her book, isn't choosing happiness more challenging than being heavy and depressed at times? I thought this was a very thought provoking show..take a listen at:

http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/2011/06/20/say-no-to-happiness/

Silver Road/ CANCON

Today my dear friend Jess reminded me of our mutual love of Sarah Harmer. She is so quintessentially Canadian to me. and I just love Canada! And I miss jess so much. Wish we could drive around blasting cancon music (Jann Arden! and maybe include some Bette Midler) together.

here is a list of memories associated with Sarah Harmer:

1. Listening to Basement Apartment when Jess and I lived in a basement apartment in Calgary near the University



2. Driving somewhere in Vancouver when Jess and I were roommates in North Van. I was bawling my eyes out because of one of the songs...why can't I remember which song it was now?? Oh yeah.."Don't get your back up over this"



haha love the comments underneath about all the radio time it got in Southern Ontario

3. Going to Emily Solsberg's wedding in Nanaimo and was there not a live performance of "Open Window (The Wedding Song)? Here is a Feist cover of the song:



and the Calvin and I had the original in our wedding video.



4. Moving back to Toronto after 18 months in Vancouver and missing Vancouver so so much. I listened to this song over and over:



5. Driving around east Toronto in my mom's black Honda Civic listening to this:

I love the French!

I was peaking at a friend's blog and a while back she posted about this band. I liked them right away.

YELLE - Safari Disco Club / Que veux-tu (exclusive full length edit) from Yelle on Vimeo.

Feist

I think Pooch introduced me to Feist many many many years ago. I love the song that you get a hear a bit of when you go to her website. Here is one of my favourite videos ever:



Check out her website at listentofeist.com

A Song for Shona!

She & Him - Don't Look Back from Merge Records on Vimeo.

The Happiness Project

One thing Calvin knows well about me is that I don't particularly like surprises. I can't wait to find out how a film or book ends so I don't mind spoilers, in fact sometimes I enjoy the experience more if I know the ending going into it. So Calvin spilled the beans on the birthday gifts he ordered for me. One of them is a book called "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. I am SOOO excited to read it. A book that excites you is one of the most wonderful pleasures in life as far as I am concerned. I particularly enjoy memoirs and although I hate to admit it, I also love me a good self help book. This one seems to combine both genres and I'm really excited about getting into.

Here is a clip of the author talking about her project:



The other gift is a copy of Bon Iver's album: For Emma, Forever ago. I got teary eyed over this one because I adore this album and he knows because I used to listen to Nita and Andy's copy of it on repeat constantly. Calvin had quite a good little record collection when we got married. He ordered this album for me on vinyl so that his collection can become our collection. Dreamy, right?

Sunny Side of life

I love these songs that are optimistic but recognize "the dark and the troubled side of life" as well.



Calvin got me into Gillian Welch a while ago and I am obsessed!



And I love this song, I didn't know it was her!

Mother Teresa

Was thinking of this poem of hers while I was out for my run last night. I am trying to run as much as possible in preparation for the Thanksgiving point half marathon that Mokey (Sarah E) and I are running at the end of the month. Lately I've been running a loop that includes the stairs that lead up to "Old Main" at the Utah State Campus. This poem kept popping into my head.
I think it was because I had just finished reading a section on interview questions in one of my text books for the recruitment and selection course I am taking. The question was, "If you could sit down and have a conversation with any celebrity, character from history or fiction, who would it be?

I think Mother Teresa would be the real life person I would like to meet and Anne of Green Gables would be the fictional one. Anyway, here is the poem that kept flashing into my mind:


People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

On the other hand, I would love to meet Florence Nightingale. I have read two biographies of her and I am smitten. One I read was in high-school when I was procrastinating an assignment and the other I read for an assignment I did in a Women's Studies class back in my Cap College days. Florence was an amazing woman who shunned having a pleasant and social life to establish nursing as a credible, honorable profession (nursing used to be synonymous with prostitution.) Her work saved thousands of lives and established a new field and a new realm for women to enter.

MOABS

About a year ago, Calvin and I took a trip to Southern Utah with Nita, Andy and the boys. We stayed in this hilarious motel that was decorated like a grandmother's home. It had crocheted doilies and outdated floral print linens and weird golden gulls affixed to the walls. James thought it was beautiful and wanted to return and stay in the same room because it was just sooo beautiful! The boys kept referring to Moab as "Moabs" and were very good sports about going hiking and exploring the area. We checked out Arches National Park and just enjoyed each others company.

We also had western style photos taken of us all and the boys were the most adorable little cowboys in "da whole white world"! (one of Finn's favourite expressions these days.) Anyway, Nita and I came across the photos from our trip the other day and I had to scan them and "save them forever and ever even after I die." (Another one of Finn's favourite expressions these days only he is usually referring to toys that he is giving me and wants me to keep at my house forever and ever even after I die)

First Wedding Anniversary

Sunday, March 13th was me and Calvin's first wedding anniversary. It's been a great year!! Here are a few of my favorite photos from our wedding day taken by Lee Anne Havens of flowerchildphotography.ca

My favorite from the day! Calvin and I just after we left the temple.

here we are dancing up a storm

a view of the beautiful old rock church filled with our guests!

Me and Calvin in Finn and James's room. Poor Finn was exhausted and we woke him up from his nap to do the photo shoot:(

A shot of the Logan Temple, where we were sealed, at night.

The beautiful and delicious cake that Lauree Myler custom made for us.

Current Affairs

So today Japan was hit by the largest earthquake recorded in their history, 8.9 on the Richter scale. The raw footage that has been captured on the subsequent tsunami is unbelievable. There are also tsunami alerts in Hawaii where my sister-in-law Melissa and her family recently moved. They were evacuated but fortunately no significant damage has been done on any of the Islands. My heart goes out to the people of Japan. Unfortunately they have already suffered hundreds of fatalities.

In other news, superficial, unimportant news, I have the same name as one of Charlie Sheen's girlfriends! Natalie Kenly is her name, so at least the spelling is different. Charlie Sheen is ALL over the news and Calvin has been obsessed with repeating his infamous catch phrases like: "I'm bi-winning".

Last night was an Elton/Harker reunion. Nita was in Seattle with Mary, Treva, Dave and Alyce and Calvin and I spent the evening with Sarah at a karaoke joint in Ogden. Sarah was on fire! I'm telling you. And Calvin's performances of "How Deep is your love?" and some R. Kelly track were real crowd pleasers. Unfortunately, my duet with Sarah of "Independent Women" needed a little work but Calvin said I was better than the super super drunk guy.

Finally, the boys and Andy returned to Logan this week after a very successful trip to Disneyland! James called me a couple times from the park and it was adorable to hear the pure excitement in his voice. It was the trip of a lifetime (as Dad would say) and its been so fun to catch up with them and hear their stories. Finn's favourite ride was the tea cups and James loved the Matterhorn.

Nardwuar vs Janelle Monae

So I guess Nita, Linds and I grew up living just blocks away from Nardwuar the Human Serviette in West Vancouver. Who knew!? The strange part is, Calvin became obsessed with Nardwuar all on his own accord. Than Andrew became obsessed. Nardwuar is really unbelievable and awesome. Calvin showed me this interview he does with Janelle Monae and I love it! She is so polished and he is so good at what he does!



In other news, the Armstrongs are just about to drive to California. I'm so excited to hear about how the boys like Disneyland...

last week...

I had a terrible flu but still managed to have a great week! First, check out a view of the snow covered trailor park you can see from our bedroom window:

On Monday Calvin and I had James and Finn with us the entire day so we decided to take them to Hardware Ranch for a horse drawn sleigh ride tour of the wild elk that hang out there throughout the winter. Finn was especially excited to see the horses. He took the first photo:

Wednesday, I was lucky enough to get to be a guest lecturer in Nita's sociology class. The article I lectured on was entitled: "Media Misogyny: Monstrous Women." It was disturbing and interesting and a lot of fun. It gave me insight into how challenging it is to teach and how much prep work actually goes into it.

I finally sat down and finished reading Steve Martin's "Born Standing Up". I LOVED it! Memoirs are one of my favourite genres and his was charming and insightful. He was inspired by absurdity and novelty and it was another reminder that genius comes from working hard. Check out one of his early appearances on the Tonight show:

Utah times

A few weeks ago my wonderful friend Lorie came to visit me in Logan for a few days. We met in Toronto where we were each attending school but now we both find ourselves in Utah. She's just a few hours south of us. The little boys and I gave her a tour of their favourite places in town; we saw the Gossner cheese factory where we sampled and purchased their favourite treat, rootbeer milk, we went to the Bluebird Candy Company where I used to work and had a mini tour of the back and then brought some treats to Nita up on campus, and of course we went to the Cache Valley Fun Center! Logan is a great town.

I always refer to Logan as 'this town', ever since last year while at the Village Inn, I told the Armstrongs that I thought the pies looked disgusting. (Come on, Nita and I used to work at Savary Island Pie Company for crying out loud!) James was not happy with my pronouncement. He very solemnly corrected me in his 4 year old voice saying: "We don't say that in THIS town."

As part of the Logan tour I also had to take Lorie to one of our beauty schools where we got a deep condition and scalp massage for THREE DOLLARS!!
It was well worth the price even though Lorie's girl talked non-stop and seemed to think that living in Logan was her once in a lifetime, big city experience.

We had a fantastic visit and then I drove Lor back to SLC to meet up with her sister. I took the opportunity to go visit my old stomping grounds, Temple Square. It was a beautiful day and I felt very nostalgic and peaceful walking around the grounds and visiting the temple. Here are a couple of photos from my day.

My mom

Is such a good one. I love these two photos that my auntie Alison gave to me about a year ago. I had never seen them before and I'm inspired by seeing my mom as a young mom. She looks so much like my sister Lindsay. I also love the pink dresses and the kitchen floor that looks like it's carpeted.

Banana Yoshimoto

The first book I read by Banana was "Kitchen". My mom gave it to me. Most of the good books I've read I can thank my mom for giving to me; she has been in the publishing industry for over 20 years.

I absolutely adore this collection of two short novellas...
Both of them are about death and both of them have strong sentimental value to me. I first read the book shortly after Caitie Ferris died in a car accident. A close friend of my older sister's, Caitie was someone I really looked up to. Her death seemed to shake our entire high school and our public and private grieving was palpable.

"Kitchen" tells the story of a young girl who is orphaned and then further left alone by her grandmother's passing. She ends up pulling her futon into the kitchen to sleep at night because its her favorite room in any house and she finds comfort there. She eventually moves into the apartment of a drag queen and her son in Tokyo to heal.

The second story: "Moonlight Shadow", deals with a young woman's grieving process over the death of her lover and an unlikely friendship that develops during that time. The friendship begins in the early morning hours, on a bridge, after an intense run with a thermos full of tea in hand.

The writing comforted me. Yoshimoto describes food and feelings in a way that I really connected with. I began reading her novel "NP" several years after I first encountered her as an author and I never connected with it.

But "Kitchen" is a book I can own and re read. There is something very romantic about it being a translated work.

The book was first published in Japan in 1988 and translated into English in 1993.

Books

Books I've read so far since December 2010:

"I didn't plan to be a witch" by Linda Eyre

"Invisible Cities" by Italo Calvino

"An object of Beauty" by Steve Martin

"Born Standing Up" by Steve Martin (well I am in the middle of this one)

"Kids Are Worth It!" by Barbara Coloroso

see any themes?

Books I have just begun:

"The brothers Karamazov" by Dostoevsky

some text book on Recruitment and Selection