Books.

Anyone who knows me knows that I live for reading. Books excite me. I am a book hoarder. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I've decided I should start to review some of what I read, so you will all be privy to my strongly worded opinions. This idea immediately makes me think of the hundreds (actually thousands) of books I've read in my life that I haven't reviewed, but have wanted to talk to someone about after reading. Despite that daunting feeling and the slight urge to track down the majority of all books I've read, in order to read them again and properly review them, I will simply start now, from here on.

Last night I finished "Recipes for a Perfect Marriage" by Morag Prunty. Did I buy this because I'm getting married in 46 days and want to read marriage-themed books? No. I bought it because it was on the "3 for $10" table at the World's Biggest Bookstore. I actually pick up a lot of those clearance books, and it's a total lottery. I've found amazing books that I absolutely LOVE, and others that are so horrible that they go directly into the recycling bin. (That's my hugest 'YOU SUCK' statement to a book: refusing to pass it on to someone or put it in the giveaway pile, bypassing these options for a direct CHUCK, because no one else should be subjected to its awfulness.)

(Side note: Morag Prunty is an Irish author - I seem to find a lot of Irish authoress' works on clearance racks at bookstores, and so far, I've thoroughly enjoyed every one of them.)

Anyways, "Recipes for a Perfect Marriage" was a novel containing two interspersed stories, one from the perspective of a woman in her late thirties who had just gotten married, and the other, her grandmother. The book started with the younger woman, Tressa, wondering if she'd married the right guy, and knowing that she didn't really love her husband as much as she should - guiltily feeling like she married him just to be married. She had always looked up to her grandmother, Bernadine, and felt like she'd had such a perfect marriage to her (now dead) grandfather. But as Tressa reads Bernadine's stories, she realizes her grandmother had a past love and was somewhat forced into marrying James, her grandfather. Over the years she learned to love him, so that finally theirs was a marriage of love and partnership and respect, even though it didn't start out that way. Her grandmother's journals help Tressa realize that marriage isn't necessarily all about feeling 'in love' every single moment, but that it's a choice, and she makes some bad decisions before realizing that she does want to stay married to her husband.

Reading that summary, the book sounds boring and trite. It wasn't. However, I think the one overused feature in it was the fact that there was a recipe at the beginning of each book. I have read SO many novels that incorporate the food theme, how food and love go together, and especially where the grandmother is passing down recipes to the grandmother. I'm more than a little sick of it. Yes, we all know food is important, we all know we'll never bake and cook as well as our grandmothers did. Stop trying to bait my emotions with this tactic.

That being said, I really, really liked this book. Typically, books written for females involve a lot of crap about following one's heart and being in love, as well as decisions based on feelings, emotion, and not a whole lot of grey matter. I think marriage is much more about a choice to love someone despite your sometimes varying feelings for them, knowing full well that your commitment to that person won't equal goopy lovesick emotion all the time. So generally, my reaction to "chick lit" books where women run off and have affairs and do whatever they feel like at that moment isn't favourable. Which is why I really liked this book. Granted, (SPOILER ALERT) the main character did have an affair, which was ridiculous and not totally fitting with her behaviour previously in the book. BUT, I liked the author's emphasis on a real-ish marriage relationship, and the fact that life sucks a lot of the time. The recipes at the beginnings of the chapters were accompanied by quotes, such as "You don't have to feel love to give it" or "When it feels difficult to give, give more." I liked these quotes. They were refreshing and wise and real, and gave the book a tone of depth.

That's all. I would recommend this book - but probably not if you are being asked to pay full price for it. Then again, I don't pay full price for any book.

My take on NKOTBSB's Mash Up track.

Okay. When I first heard about NKOTBSB, obviously I realized it was this huge ploy to get females my age to relive their childhood and buy the new albums and go to the concerts. That's fine. I don't mind at all. I have very fond memories of both NKOTB and BSB.

HOWEVER.

If you're going to do this whole thing, bring back all these guys, actually legitimately try to market this thing and make a few dollars off these washed-up dudes, then DO IT RIGHT. Meaning, get a talented producer, good sound effects, good studio mixers, etc.

This was the product that was produced: (I recommend you listen to the whole song to get the full effect of my upcoming critiques).


I think we can agree: the song is HORRIBLE. I was honestly expecting something sort of good. Here are my top 3 beefs with this song:

1. Sloppy transitions. Whoever decided to do this mash-up had a good idea in theory, but didn't put more than half an hour of thought into how all the songs would fit together. Technically, I believe the definition of "mash-up" is that the songs are mashed together, maybe even somewhat seamlessly? This is more like various song clips sloppily stuck together with awkward pauses in between.

2. Brutal singing. I mean, come on guys. And, come on marketing guys! Yes, you need to have all the former members of the two bands in this new group - but do they really all have to sing? You couldn't have invested in some voice lessons, or just let the few talented singers step up to the plate?

3. PRODUCTION QUALITY: my largest beef. So the guys can't sing: FIX THEIR VOICES. And why not use the authentic sound effects from the original songs, instead of trying to 2011-ize them by making the whole song sound more modern and therefore less fun? I feel like I'm not explaining this accurately. But the whole thing just sounds like one of those "Starlight Productions" albums where it's like, "In the style of ABBA!" and not ACTUALLY them, you know? They sort of made an effort to sound like the original but don't even come close.
I WANTED original sound effects.

I am constantly puzzled by this mash-up, which really had potential to be a great nostalgic dance track and ballad all in one. Instead it's just an embarrassing talentless mess. Sorry guys.

Spring? Have you sprung?

I hate to be one of those people who talks about the weather, but seriously. This winter has dragged on forever and a day, and finally the other night it felt like spring. I sat in my favourite corner of the couch and opened the sliding door to the porch to let a fresh breeze in, and I felt ridiculously happy. But now, it's BACK TO BEING COLD!!!! At least we have been given a tiny foretaste of spring. I heard on a podcast the other day that the human body was designed for hotter temperatures, and it's much better at self-regulating in hotter weather - in other words, the body can cool itself down much better than it can heat itself up. I so agree. Hot weather just makes me happy.

Whenever I feel stressed, in my brain, I use the word "stressio" to describe it.

The other night I tried to make a pad thai dish. It turned out OKAAAAYYY, not super great, but not bad for my first attempt. I started by sauteeing some onions and garlic, and then adding some random frozen veggies that I happened to have: namely, peas and green beans. Pretty sure those aren't standard fare for pad thai, but I wasn't about to run out for more ingredients. Then I added the shrimp.... all instructions (the shrimp package, plus extensive online research) led me to believe that the shrimp would only take 2 minutes to become pink and translucent and done. But it took more like ten minutes. At that point I worried that I'd ruined it by cooking it beyond belief, but it was actually perfectly cooked. I added the shrimp/veg mixture to the cooked noodles, and added this package of pad thai sauce I bought. (Come on guys, it's my first time making this. I can't be expected to make the sauce from scratch.) I should've taken a picture but I didn't. It looked lovely and colourful. There are still leftovers in the fridge.

Today I am: cleaning, doing laundry, hanging up clothes in my room, going shopping with Steph, and that's it. You?

There is no better way to start your day than by listening to 80's Christian rock at a loud volume.

I don't know how to put a video into my blog post, so I'll just give you the link.
TURN IT UP. This is true 80's christian rock.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yULcJSLIWoU&feature=related

Thoughts on Thursday.

I feel guilty sometimes about the small and stupid things that make me immensely happy. Here's a few examples:
- chocolate
- ridiculous novels by Marian Keyes
- watching MXC, Wipeout, or any show where people are wiping out
- laying on the couch with a glass of wine when I get home from work.
- clean sheets

I choose to believe that this just makes me an easily pleased, very happy person. NOT one who is amused by small things because I have a small mind.

The new Thursday night lineup SUCKS. "Perfect Couples" is the worst show ever on an American network, and 30 Rock isn't on until 10, by which point I'm half-asleep.

I NEED TO START A WORKOUT REGIME!!!!

This weekend I'm having a meeting with a place to possibly rent a chandelier for our wedding. This sounds ridiculous. I'm not a Bridezilla at all, and have been a pretty chill bride-to-be thus far, so don't think I'm some kind of cinderella-esque crazy person who needs a chandelier at her wedding. But because it's being held in a tent outside, lighting needs to be considered. Know what I mean?

Ways I know I'm getting old:
- I enjoy going to bed at 10pm.
- I enjoy eating prunes.
- I say "oh dear" every time I yawn.
- I can't get through the weekend without a nap or two.
- I look at teens on the subway and can't believe I was ever that young and annoying.
- I wear sweatpants a lot. Never in public though.

That's all.

Kleines geschenk fur dich. (Little present for you.)

Hi friendsicles! Tonight we're going to venture out to a restaurant called Trevor's Kitchen for Winterlicious. For those of you not in Toronto, Winterlicious is when normally-expensive restaurants offer a price-fixe menu for a few weeks, so you can go try them out. They're usually around $25 or $30 per person and include an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert.

Last summer we went to some place on Roncesvalles for Summerlicious, and it was really not that great. The food was just unexciting. And the decor and music were very odd. We felt like the staff looked down on us for ordering Summerlicious stuff. Afterwards we walked down the street to a wine bar and I had champagne while sitting on the patio. Now THAT was fun.

As some of you know, I'm getting married in about 7 months. We're not sure where to go for our honeymoon. Initially Jai completely mocked the idea of going to Sandals, because he said they made fun of it on Seinfeld. Then he changed his mind and decided he'd really like to go to Sandals. I wanted to go on a cruise. It turns out we're probably going on a cruise in March 2012, so I relented and said we could do Sandals for the honeymoon. But now I've actually looked into prices and it turns out Sandals is preeeeeeeeeeetty expensive. NOW WHAT???!!!!

I've become obsessed with this new show called Portlandia, created by Carrie Brownstein (formerly of Sleater-Kinney) and Fred Armisen of SNL. Only two episodes have aired so far, and it's the best thing ever. You know when something hits your funny bone exactly, 100%, and you just agree so totally with the humor? That feeling is rare. And that's how I feel about Portlandia. You can find a clip from it on youtube. I have already posted several on my Facebook. A new Portlandia episode debuts TONIGHT, so I'll have more clips for you soon.

My other current full-blown obsession is the show Big Love. I knew for the last couple years that HBO had a show about polygamy, but hadn't gotten around to watching it. [Side note: I have always been really interested in polygamy, extreme FLDS mormonism, and also regular old LDS mormonism. Not sure why, but possibly because one of my good friends growing up was mormon. And just to clarify, when I say really interested, I mean from a truly social standpoint... I can't quite figure out how people think some regular guy found golden plates that were meant to start a brand new religion. I'm not considering converting or anything. But I can't stop reading about mormonism, and about people that have "escaped" from it.] ANYWAYS. Back to the show Big Love. It's incredible. So interesting, quite believable, and really well made, as HBO shows tend to be. Very consistent characters and some very evil and amazing characters. There are several villains. I will describe them in a future post.

That's all for now, folks. What are you up to this weekend?