If you read my blog, you know I like — no scrap that — love to read. Since my last reading list post, I've finished:
1. Personal History, Katharine Graham
2. Twenties Girl, Sophie Kinsella
3. The Wild Things, Dave Eggers
4. Truth in Comedy, Charna Halpern, Del Close, Kim Johnson
5. I Feel Bad About My Neck (and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman), Nora Ephron
But
I'm still trying to finish:
1. Profiles in Courage, JFK
and
2. You Shall Know Our Velocity, Eggers
I don't know if I will finish either of those any time soon though. For some reason I can't seem to get into either, really. I'm 3/4 done with Profiles in Courage though, so I think I will just tough it out. I mean, it's a good book, it's just so full that I find myself rereading things often just to keep up. I think I'm going to get back to reading autobiographies though. I find them much more enjoyable than biographies, as those read seriously like text books, rather than life stories, which is what they are. I think people are more coherent when they're writing about themselves rather than someone else. It's funny though because JFK got a Pulitzer for Profiles in Courage, and so did Katharine Graham for her autobiography, Personal History.
* Add A Long Way Gone, Beah, and What is the What, Eggers to the soon-to-read list.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Three Days of Concerts: In-A-Row
* Saturday Night: Headlights at Empty Bottle
* Sunday Night: Wilco at Chicago Theater
* Monday Night: The Dodos at Bottom Lounge
Yes, Yes, & Yes. Sign me up. I'm going.
* Sunday Night: Wilco at Chicago Theater
* Monday Night: The Dodos at Bottom Lounge
Yes, Yes, & Yes. Sign me up. I'm going.
Yesterday afternoon I spent about 7 minutes trying to answer questions to "The Interactive Proust Questionnaire" from Vanity Fair (one of my favorite magazines). One questioned had me mildly stumped.
"Which historical figure do you most identify with?"
I ended up writing Katharine Graham, but I'm not quite sure if that's true. I mean, I identify with parts of her, but honestly, she was a very weak woman for most of her life, and basically pulled it out toward the finish line.
In the end the questionnaire said I answered most like: Donna Karen and Eleanor Lambert. I thought it was sort of funny — I answered most similarly to fashionistas. Creators. DK, obviously of Donna Karen clothing and Vanity Fair's Eleanor Lambert, the pioneering "Queen of Culture."
It's sort of cool to have a look back at history and see who you emulate compared with who you want to emulate. What's cooler is when those two somehow match up.
"Which historical figure do you most identify with?"
I ended up writing Katharine Graham, but I'm not quite sure if that's true. I mean, I identify with parts of her, but honestly, she was a very weak woman for most of her life, and basically pulled it out toward the finish line.
In the end the questionnaire said I answered most like: Donna Karen and Eleanor Lambert. I thought it was sort of funny — I answered most similarly to fashionistas. Creators. DK, obviously of Donna Karen clothing and Vanity Fair's Eleanor Lambert, the pioneering "Queen of Culture."
It's sort of cool to have a look back at history and see who you emulate compared with who you want to emulate. What's cooler is when those two somehow match up.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Top 5 Favorite Actresses
1. Tina Fey- 30 Rock, SNL- She's just funny. I spent the last 40 minutes reading her wikipedia page. Writer, Actress, College-graduate, mom => Whole package.
2. Kimberly Williams-Paisley- Really only in Father of the Bride, but she's just so cute even if I haven't seen her in much since the early 90s.
3. Diane Keaton- From Annie Hall to The Godfather series to Something's Gotta Give- She's perfect in everything.
4. Catharine O'Hara- I always thought she played the best mom in Home Alone, and then I found out she was really a comedic actress thanks to Christopher Guest movies- She's brilliant, especially when acting with Fred Willard.
5. Jenna Fisher- I know her relatively little aside from her role on The Office (US), but she's darling.
* I also used to really love Cheri Oteri, but then she fell off the face of the earth. Molly Shannon, too. What the what?
2. Kimberly Williams-Paisley- Really only in Father of the Bride, but she's just so cute even if I haven't seen her in much since the early 90s.
3. Diane Keaton- From Annie Hall to The Godfather series to Something's Gotta Give- She's perfect in everything.
4. Catharine O'Hara- I always thought she played the best mom in Home Alone, and then I found out she was really a comedic actress thanks to Christopher Guest movies- She's brilliant, especially when acting with Fred Willard.
5. Jenna Fisher- I know her relatively little aside from her role on The Office (US), but she's darling.
* I also used to really love Cheri Oteri, but then she fell off the face of the earth. Molly Shannon, too. What the what?
Friday, October 09, 2009
Nobel (Un)Worthy
This morning I rushed to work, though no one is ever here to scold me for being late, and obviously, I ripped open my newspaper. OK, that last part may be a lie brought on by four years of pretending I'd read the paper before my journalism classes. Seriously, I would bring in three newspapers into class with me every day and maybe read two stories in each. I guess that should have told me something about the declining state of journalism as not even up-and-coming journalists such as myself at the time could get through a full paper even once a week.
I did today, however, look at my google hot trends and found these words glaring at me: Obama Nobel Peace Prize. I'd like to make this clear: I root for our Presidents. I root for the one that everyone thinks is failing and I root for the ones I like and the ones I don't like. I root for them because I don't think talking negatively about a President does anything constructive, and I root for them because most people do better when they have some form of positive support. Deductive reasoning: I rooted for Bush to do what was right, and now I'm rooting for Obama to do what's right. I have not said by any means that either of them have in the past or will in the future do what was/is right. I just am saying that I root for them to do such.
OK. With that all out there, I do want to say that I do not think President Obama's efforts over the past nine months warrant a Nobel Peace Prize. P.O. won the award not for his actual delivery on change, but his rhetoric about change. Those are in no way the same thing. This Washington Post article makes a quality point, effectively undercutting committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland's decision to choose P.O.:
But the best is yet to come, when pushed further Jagland sites not those concrete progress points, no, he sites:
And to bring the point home that this award now means less than it did previously:
And doesn't he have a point? We might as well be giving it away to Beauty Queens saying that they wish for world peace.
Again, I root for our Presidents because they are our Presidents. I have respect for the Office of the President of the United States, but I don't think that necessitates my support for awarding something that actually has little to back up the trophy — or I suppose prize in this case. The committee's decision to award P.O. preemptively, in my express opinion, is meaningless and now hereafter the Nobel Peace Prize will be nothing more than another novelty award that doesn't actually say or represent anything. We should call it a Grammy or a Kids Choice Award.
I did today, however, look at my google hot trends and found these words glaring at me: Obama Nobel Peace Prize. I'd like to make this clear: I root for our Presidents. I root for the one that everyone thinks is failing and I root for the ones I like and the ones I don't like. I root for them because I don't think talking negatively about a President does anything constructive, and I root for them because most people do better when they have some form of positive support. Deductive reasoning: I rooted for Bush to do what was right, and now I'm rooting for Obama to do what's right. I have not said by any means that either of them have in the past or will in the future do what was/is right. I just am saying that I root for them to do such.
OK. With that all out there, I do want to say that I do not think President Obama's efforts over the past nine months warrant a Nobel Peace Prize. P.O. won the award not for his actual delivery on change, but his rhetoric about change. Those are in no way the same thing. This Washington Post article makes a quality point, effectively undercutting committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland's decision to choose P.O.:
"In response to questions from reporters in Oslo, who noted that Obama so far has made little concrete progress in achieving his lofty agenda, committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said he hoped the prize would add momentum to Obama's efforts. At the same time, Jagland said, 'We have not given the prize for what may happen in the future. We are awarding Obama for what he has done in the past year. And we are hoping this may contribute a little bit for what he is trying to do.'"
But the best is yet to come, when pushed further Jagland sites not those concrete progress points, no, he sites:
"Obama's speech about Islam in Cairo last spring, as well as efforts to address nuclear proliferation and climate change and use established international bodies such as the United Nations to pursue his goals."
And to bring the point home that this award now means less than it did previously:
"'Think about it, it's so post-modern: a leader can now win the peace prize for saying that he hopes to bring about peace at some point in the future,' sniped Wall Street Journal deputy editor Iain Martin in an online post. 'He doesn't actually have to do it, he just has to have aspirations. Brilliant.'"
And doesn't he have a point? We might as well be giving it away to Beauty Queens saying that they wish for world peace.
Again, I root for our Presidents because they are our Presidents. I have respect for the Office of the President of the United States, but I don't think that necessitates my support for awarding something that actually has little to back up the trophy — or I suppose prize in this case. The committee's decision to award P.O. preemptively, in my express opinion, is meaningless and now hereafter the Nobel Peace Prize will be nothing more than another novelty award that doesn't actually say or represent anything. We should call it a Grammy or a Kids Choice Award.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Monday, October 05, 2009
Twenty Questions on Steroids
So a few months ago I received a sort of questionaire from someone. I don't usually do these as they take me forever, but this one had some good questions. So, if you don't mind, here's the top 12: or at least the ones that best describe me.
1. What do you usually have for breakfast? Diet Coke and a Granola Bar running out the door
2. What characteristic do you despise? Thoughtlessness
3. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? France, or somewhere new
4. What was your most memorable birthday? My brother Sean's birthday when my mom had a penny treasure hunt in the living room.
5. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night
6. What did you want to be when you grew up? An actress or a singer, some sort of creator
7. What is your favorite candy? Kit Kats
8. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? The day I start classes at Improv Olympic
9. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Orange
10. Coffee or tea? Plain Coffee, Chai tea
11. When was the last time you cried? yesterday while watching
Brothers & Sisters
12. What are you afraid of? Not having any options
1. What do you usually have for breakfast? Diet Coke and a Granola Bar running out the door
2. What characteristic do you despise? Thoughtlessness
3. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? France, or somewhere new
4. What was your most memorable birthday? My brother Sean's birthday when my mom had a penny treasure hunt in the living room.
5. Are you a morning person or a night person? Night
6. What did you want to be when you grew up? An actress or a singer, some sort of creator
7. What is your favorite candy? Kit Kats
8. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? The day I start classes at Improv Olympic
9. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Orange
10. Coffee or tea? Plain Coffee, Chai tea
11. When was the last time you cried? yesterday while watching
Brothers & Sisters
12. What are you afraid of? Not having any options
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