On The Nightstand or Adventures in Reading For Pleasure

Things have gotten a little out of hand. I've been purchasing books like a crazy woman. Granted the majority of them have been from secondhand bookstores and so I haven't spent all Angel's tuition money (yet) on my reading material but I am definitely in over my head. I have quite a bit of work-related reading to do this semester yet I can't stop buying non-work related books.

Currently I am working my way through three volumes of short stories. I finally got hold of Jane Yolen's Sister Emily's Lightship And Other Stories. I'm only two stories in but that is because I am savoring them. I just finished Snow in Summer, which is her retelling of Snow White. As I've mentioned before, I love me some fairy tales.

I'm also still working my way through Angel's Christmas gift: The Dragon Book. The stories are not your usual dragonfare but rather using dragons as analogies for bigger issues. So far all of the stories have been well-written and engrossing. Finally I've started reading Wally Lamb and the Women of York Correctional Institution's Couldn't Keep It To Myself. These are stories written by imprisoned women as part of a writing workshop he has been conducting at York Correctional Institution for several years. Truly fascinating and poignant work.

In addition to slowly making my way through the above, I've also now have the following sitting on my nightstand:

• Dragon's Heart by Jane Yolen (her latest in the Pit Dragon Chronicles)
• The Slave and The Free by Suzy McKee Charnas (Books 1 & 2 of the Holdfast Chronicles)
• Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books by Francesca Lia Block (this one was lent to me by Anna and I've actually started it but it got bumped when Yolen's book arrived)
• The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
• The Skies of Pern by Anne McCaffrey (one of the few Dragonriders of Pern books that I've never read)
• Yonnondio by Tillie Olsen (I believe the only book by Olsen I haven't read)
• Isolde: Queen of the Western Isle by Rosalind Miles (first of the Tristan and Isolde novels)
• Mademoiselle Boleyn by Robin Maxwell (I found these last two in the historical fiction section of my local used bookstore. Historical fiction is a second love to science fiction/fantasy)

Alas there is still more filling my poor little nightstand, as I had a rather large stack of books that were awaiting my time and pleasure before I bought all of the above. In addition I've recently discovered Seth Godin's blog. I just purchased Lynchpin but am letting b have a go at it while I'm starting in on Tribes.

It is hard to say which of my addictions I love more: books or coffee. Luckily I don't have to choose but instead can enjoy them together.

Things I've Learned (Or Remembered) At The Gym

• Yoga Level 2 classes are a lot harder than Yoga Level 1-2 classes.
• A good teacher makes all the difference.
• If you exercise all the time your body hurts all the time. If you don't exercise at all your body hurts all the time. One hurt feels good; the other hurt feels old.
• If I work out around people my age or older I feel a lot better about my body (sorry to admit that one but very true).
• I hate television news.
• People following an aerobics class look silly, especially if you can't hear the music. It is best not to watch (or to think of being watched if you participate).
• Treadmills are more boring than elliptical machines (I have no idea why, but also very true).

A View From My Desk

Belly-Up 1

Belly-Up 2

Playing In The Snow

I spent the morning playing with snow words and snow images.

Snow Day

What for others is crisp, clean,

even sparkly,

for me is barren and cold.

Waking up to an altered landscape,
your ice-laden purity,
fails to bring the allure of promise.


Instead I see a future with
streets dressed in black, brown and grey-hued
mounds of solidified exhaust

I'll build no snowmen;
I'll forgo an icy descent
belly-down on plastic,
face inches from the
slushy cold.

But you'll mock me nonetheless,
your pristine sameness interrupted
by a parade of turquoise and fuchsia wool.

I too once believed
long ago
your myths of home and hearth
of exploration and adventure
of endless beauty and wonder

But now I know you can only
blanket
the luscious pain and beauty
I've see every day.

Feeling Good

This is one of my favorite songs of Nina Simone....

...and it sums up my overall mood lately.

Why have I been blessed with such a joyous mood that even a 2-hr repeat faculty meeting can't unhinge me? It all has to do with the new gym. I've been going daily. I think there may have only been one day since I've started this little affair that I've missed our rendezvous.

I've always known that exercise changes me substantially and for large periods of my life I've profited from that knowledge. However the last two years I somehow managed to ignore this fact and, it seems, have suffered greatly. I was starting to feel old.

I've worked out a gym schedule for the semester. It goes something like this:

• Mondays: 30 minutes cardio (machine)/45 minutes weights (machines)/15 minutes steam
• Tuesdays: 60 minutes Tai Chi
• Wednesdays: 30 minutes cardio (machine)/45 minutes weights (machines)/15 minutes steam (considering substituting a Pilates class every now and again)
• Thursday: 60 minutes Yoga
• Friday: 45 minutes weights (machines/20 minutes swim/15 minutes hot tub/10 minutes steam
• Saturday: 60 minutes yoga & pilates type class/60 minutes Tai Chi
• Sunday: 60 minutes Yoga/30 minutes cardio (machine)

I've been struggling with the martial arts community in SouthLite. It is small and not quite what I've wanted/needed. This tai chi class seems to have a dedicated following with varying levels of experience. More importantly the instructor knows what he is doing and I think I can learn something from him.

I've also always thought I'd dislike yoga classes. I've learned many of the postures from martial arts classes but never thought I'd enjoy taking an actual class. I'm happy to say that I was sadly mistaken and I leave every class feeling like the real me.

I'm being very very possessive of my time this semester. So far it is working and I'm still managing to get research done. Hopefully I can keep this going.

It's A Man's World...

***Updated to appease Drax****

...at least at the movies. A while back I ran across this post about The Rule from an Alison Bechdel comic strip. The Rule is a guideline for what movies the main character will go to see. The requirements are:

1. There has to be at least two women in it who
2. talk to each other about
3. something besides a man.

Seems pretty simple, eh? Well as it turns out we are hard pressed to find movies that actually fulfill these requirements.

I found this blog where readers can nominate movies and rate them on how many of the requirements they fulfill. It is pretty sad and quite frankly I disagree with many of the ratings. Personally I feel if the conversation the two women have involves having a baby that should also count as a rule violation, but hey, maybe I'm being too picky.

I found these posts around the end of the year so I couldn't resist making a list of the movies I I watched in 2009 (I only included movies released in 2009) and wanted to see how they fared. I'm sorry to say, not to well. Here they are:

1. Star Trek
2. 2012
3. The Hangover
4. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (It was on Netflix. We were bored and desperate.)
5. Funny People
6. The Taking of Pelham 123
7. The Soloist
8. Julie & Julia
9. The Men Who Stare At Goats
10. Sunshine Cleaning
11. Good Hair
12. Tyson
13. Up In The Air
14. Sherlock Holmes

By my best estimate, only 2 of the 14 (14%) possibly meet all three requirements (Julie & Julia & Sunshine Cleaning). Even sadder, very few even have 2 women in them, no less talking to each other about anything.

What movies have you seen that meet the requirements?

One of those Days

• A colleague of b's dropped by the house half an hour early to ride into work with him. I was still in bed and asleep. Nice guy but NOT how I like to start my day.
• b had another flat.
• I was supposed to work at home but had to go in for a "appreciation luncheon" with my Dean, the Provost and the Chancellor. I had been nominated for a school-wide teaching award and they decided to have an event for all of us who did NOT win (aka "Loser's Lunch").*
• The lunch was highly fattening and not very tasty.
• After lunch I worked on my grant a bit and then headed home to work. When I got home I received an email informing me a paper I submitted over NINE months ago was rejected.**
• One of our Netflix DVDs seems to be missing in action. It was supposed to arrive yesterday but nothing yet.
• I was way too tired and cold and full to go to the gym so today is the first day I've skipped in 11 days.
• b's still having problems with his bike so I'm off to pick him up from work.

*I never expected to win and am fine with that....just would have preferred to skip the lunch.

**The reviews themselves weren't bad and could be helpful but the 9 months is painful. Plus one of the reviewers feels there's a fatal flaw with the data...don't know if I agree or how I feel about that.