Packing For Mars

I'm reading Packing For Mars by Mary Roach, and it's just fascinating.  She's a great science writer - easy to understand, funny, with a good sense for interesting details and asides.  This is all about the details and minutiae of space travel.  What sort of interpersonal problems occur? How do our organs react to zero gravity?  What happens if you throw up in your space suit? Etc.  It's great.  I'm about halfway through it.

Also, I got an awesome black lace dress for New Year's Eve from Ann Taylor Loft for $30!  It was originally $98.  Good deal.  I can't find a picture online, so I'll post one of me wearing it later.

Potica

My boyfriend and I made potica tonight.  Potica (pronounced "puh-TEETZ-ah") is a Croatian dessert.  It's made by rolling dough super-thin (see-thru, ideally, though I can't get there), spreading on the filling, then rolling the whole thing up, cutting it into small loaves, and baking it.  The filling is made with walnuts and lots of sugar and cinnamon and it is the tastiest substance ever created.  I use my Grandma Telfer's recipe.

Two Great Books

A couple days ago I finished The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg.  As I've said previously, I just love her books.  They aren't fakey-light chick lit, where you know characters will never be touched by any true problems, but they aren't full of deliberate drama that pulls your heartstrings.  They're sincere and real and funny.  Read them, if you haven't.  The Last Time I Saw You is about several people attending their high school reunion.  No one is made to be 100% good or bad, it's quick and satisfying, and there are dogs in it.  I recommend it.

After that, I read Faithful Place, the third mystery novel by Tana French.  During the first few chapters I thought the main character seemed too deliberately clever and his dysfunctional family too fake, too stereotypical.  But somewhere during that third chapter I changed my mind and couldn't put it down.  It's a page-turner.  It was great, satisfying, and I certainly enjoyed it.  

The only thing I hesitate over is that I'm still a little hurt over some developments in her first book, In The Woods.  Questions that were left unanswered, and characters that, frankly, didn't make the choices I wanted them to.  Frank Mackey, the main character of Faithful Place, is only tangentially related to the main characters of In The Woods, but I still wanted new information on them.  It's not a criticism of her writing.  Really, it's like a less-intense version of my hurt over certain events at the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

A Note

I think one of the reasons I haven't completely fallen in love with the new M.I.A. album is the line "You're tweeting me like Tweety Bird on your iPhone" which is just the dumbest thing I can think of.

Boots

I've been looking for a versatile, stylish, COMFORTABLE pair of cold-weather vegan shoes for a couple months now.  I've bought three pairs from endless.com and then returned them because they hurt my feet.

Today, I bought a pair at Aldo.  They're short boots ("booties" sounds like something for a baby, and I will not use it), they'll go with brown or black, they have a small heel but don't hurt to walk in - exactly what I want.  They looked great with the jeans I was wearing when I tried them on (dark blue straight leg Levi's), and I can't wait to wear them with a skirt, maybe with an odd-colored pair of tights.

Here's a pic:

M.I.A.

I bought M.I.A.'s latest album, Maya, when it came out this summer, but I haven't listened to it much.  The first couple tracks are pretty abrasive, and it's been stopping me from popping the disk in my CD player.  But last week I decided I need to give it a chance, since I love her first two albums so much.  Seriously, Kala and Arular are just so fantastic.  Anyway, I've been listening to Maya, and about halfway through track nine ("Born Free"), I realized I was definitely into it.  Some of the tracks almost sound like a punk band, raw and repetitive and screamy.  I am not at a stage where I love it yet.  But I think I might get there.

BCBG Blouse

I just bought this blouse, and I am in love with it.  I'm really interested in asymmetrical things right now (my current haircut is an asymmetrical bob, and I adore it).  I wore it to work with a fitted brown cardigan and brown corduroys, and I wore it to a party with a flowy off-white skirt, gray tights, and flats.  I did not wear it with an expression somewhere between haughty and vacant, as in the picture below (from the BCBG website).

The best thing about it is how it shows off the White Sox tattoo on my left shoulder blade.

Great House

I just finished Great House by Nicole Krauss.  I didn't like as much as The History of Love, but it was still good.  It's a bunch of intertwined stories, all somehow related to a particular old desk.  None of the characters are especially wonderful people, but that doesn't make it less appealing.  Really, the one thing I didn't like was feeling like there were some unanswered questions.  I'm sure that was deliberate, but it bothered me.

Never Let Me Go

I finished Never Let Me Go and it was fantastic.  Sad, but great.  It's best to go into it not knowing at all what it's about, beyond some kids in a boarding school, but even though I knew a sort-of mini-spoiler, it was still worthwhile.  Ishiguro's observations, little details, everything: they were spot-on.  It was one of those books where I wanted to underline certain passages.  Should you read it? If you don't mind things that are a little sad and also a little sci-fi, then absolutely, yes.

I also finished the Bill Bryson book.  It ended on a very down note about global warming, unfortunately.  I suppose ultimately it's good to bring the topic up; ending on it still made me sad, though.

Now I'm reading Great House by Nicole Krauss.  I read A History of Love, her previous book, and adored it.  I absolutely recommend it.  So far Great House is good, but seems to be comprised of separate short stories.  I know from reviews that they end up intertwined eventually, though, and I don't mind.