Did You Miss Moi??

Hey!

 Yeah, so, ‘k. It’s been a while… And I think all I’ve done since my last post is eat…

I’ve been reading Chris Powell’s AOL blogs and he’s been talking about declaring your SMART goals. They must be measurable and time sensitive. So, here goes: I want to weigh 105 pounds by Christmas. No, I haven’t weighed myself today. I’ve been on vacation and The Husband has been a very bad influence (Yeah, that’s it! Blame The Husband!) I will weigh myself this weekend, in the pathetic hope that I can redeem myself tomorrow and Friday, perhaps losing what I must have gained over the last debauched week…

 The Husband also wants to lose weight and be generally healthier, so I’ll chronicle us both but I’ll concentrate on my details mostly. Since I can’t be with him every minute, he’s on the honor system and naturally, responsible for his own eating. I can only try to keep us on the straight and narrow here at home…

Here are our official Before pictures:

Big face, big legs, just big big big!

Big belly is what The Husband needs to work on.


So, here are the first two Carter’s Rules for Healthier Living:


1) No eating after 7:30

Totally doable! We’ve been practicing this for a while (ok, we slipped a bit during vacation, but tomorrow we’re back to it)


2) Walking every day.

We used to walk every day. Some days we’d be up at the crack of dawn, bundled up to our eyeballs, walking at 6:30AM! Hmmm… Somehow got out of that habit and it shows. Back to it!


One thing I’ve been doing lately in the name of healthier eating is substituting Greek Yogurt for mayonnaise. Yum! I use it in tuna salad with relish~it actually gives the flavor a little tang and reduces the fat content by tons. Try it!


So, enough of this healthy stuff! The Husband and I went to see the new Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris. Right up my alley, oui?! I loved it! Naturally, the backdrop of Paris is amazing~the first five minutes of the film is a valentine to the city, ambling through the familiar and the common, from day to night. LOVELY! But the story is also wonderful, with the Jazz Age and all it’s wonderful characters, as a lesson in finding our bliss. It’s definitely one I want to own on DVD!


I’ll try to write every day but… You know how that goes. But I do believe that you do what you concentrate on and lately my concentration has been AWOL, in a lot of aspects of my life. And that’s why I’m such a mess lately. So, watch this space and let’s see how I do!


C’est la vie!

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Book Meme 11

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Day 11 - A book that disappointed you

Oh, that would have to be The Big Steal by Emyl Jenkins. Her first book was really good and I liked the lead character, Sterling Glass, who is a woman of a certain age. I feel bad dissing this book because the author wrote me a very nice email, telling me that this book was delayed because she'd lost her mother-in-law, who was a dear friend, and she was having a hard time dealing with her loss. But this book, although it had some memorable scenes, seemed to ramble and Sterling didn't have the same verve as in the first book. There wasn't a satisfying ending and we were left with lots of loose ends.

Here's something I should have used for a previous Meme--a plot device I find irritating. Sterling has two gentlemen love interests. Too many books do this (and tv shows) (and movies). Love triangles pretty much are set ups for failure. If a choice is ever actually made, there's always the nagging doubts, which are just plain boring… And sometimes when a choice is made, the writer (be they book, tv or movie) just doesn't know what to do with the characters then. I really do prefer a character in a good relationship from the get go. But I digress.

Anyway, I'm hoping there'll be a third book in this series because I know there's lots of potential for this character and her antiques business. I will definitely be there, cheering her on.

C’est la vie!

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Book Meme 10

Day 10 - A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving

I've gotta talk about two books here.

The first is A.S. Byatt's Possession. It sounded sorta interesting, so I got it on tape at the library. But it turned out to be really enjoyable and I felt I was missing something by not being able to read it for myself. So I eventually picked up a copy of it and enjoyed every word. It deals with two stories of two couples, a century or so apart, and both tales are complicated and fascinating and the look into the world of academic politics is an education in itself.

The other is Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. I think it was the "It" book of that season and I had started reading it with an attitude of seeing what all the fuss was about. Turns out, the thoughtful narrative reveals an emotional story as well as a tense courtroom drama with a hint of mystery and potential betrayal. It takes place just before and after the Second World War and deals with the Japanese internment, first loves and a decision that could ruin lives.

C’est la vie!

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Book Meme 9

Hey!

Day 09 - Best scene ever

I don't know if this is the Best Scene Ever but it's certainly stuck with me for 35 years!

If memory serves, it takes place in the first few chapters of Stephen King's Salems Lot. Danny Glick's brother died under mysterious circumstances. In his room a few nights later, Danny sees his brother OUTSIDE his bedroom window--ON THE SECOND FLOOR!

'k, this creeped me out when I read it. But now, when I catch a glimpse of myself in a night-darkened window when I'm not expecting to--I jump 3 feet! And the fact that I can still remember the character's name after all these years-yeah, best scene, definitely!

PS-yeah, I know I missed Day 8... It’s coming soon…

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Book Meme 7

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Day 07 - Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise

Had to think a while on this one but lately I’ve been reading some books with truly annoying mother figures--moms, step-moms, etc. I think this counts as plot device. If not, ah well, it’s the only thing I could think of…

The Georgiana Neverall books by Christy Evans ~ a realtor mom who‘s very unhappy with her daughters‘ life choices

The Queen Betsey Vampire series by MaryJanice Davidson ~ a step-mother who hits every Stepmom cliché in the book

The Trash and Treasure mysteries by Barbara Allan ~ a bi-polar mom who has grown on me considerably

The Debutante Dropout Mysteries by Susan McBride ~ a high society mom who has her heartfelt moments lately

The Ministry is Murder Mysteries by Emilie Richards ~ a hippie mom who gets her nose into everything (again, she’s growing on me)

The Crimes of Fashion Mysteries ~ a long distance mom who’s a nosey parker

C’est la vie!

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Book Meme 6

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Day 06 - Favorite book of your favorite series OR your favorite book of all time

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore--It’s not a series but he so often uses the same characters that I’m considering it a legitimate cheat…

Christopher Moore’s greatest talent is combining over the top imagination with heart. A Dirty Job is about young widower, single father and second hand goods shop owner Charlie Asher, a regular guy who becomes Death. Along with Minty Fresh, a big black man who wears light green suits and should be played by Will Smith if this is ever made into a movie, who helps Charlie settle into his new part time job as a collector of souls.

This isn’t the craziest plot Moore has come up with but I picked it as my favorite because it has the most warmth for and among its characters. I read it when it came out a few years ago, so please forgive my non-memory for names… First, there’s his daughter, who everyone loves, including two old ladies in his apartment house who vie for the honor of babysitting. Then there are the hell hounds, sent as guardians for the daughter when Charlie is off on assignment. The Emperor of San Francisco, a homeless man with two sweet dogs, who has made appearances in many of Moore’s books, I think mainly the vampire stories. Everyone loves the Emperor and his “men”.

The subject of death is approached from many different angles in this book--funny, angry, tender. Charlie is an Everyman, struggling to understand (the Great Big Book of Death, which would explain his mission, has been cadged by his shop employee, Goth Girl) and appreciate his new job, while trying to keep his precious daughter safe and sane. In true Moore fashion, it’s never as simple as it seems and Charlie finds himself defending the city against demons and harpies who’ve taken a Gold Rush-era ship buried under the streets of San Francisco as their HQ.

If you’ve never read Christopher Moore, this might be a good one to start with, since it’s got the best of him in one big volume (but I’m hoping for more of Charlie and his daughter). Warning, though. Moore gives nothing and no one a pass--if you are easily offended by sex, religion, race, gender or nationality jokes or really really crazy bad language, his books may not be for you. But if you want a laugh out loud funny (seriously, sometimes I embarrass myself in public reading Moore) while your heart is breaking literary experience, run do not walk to the nearest Christopher Moore bookshelf!

PS--I think I'm going to repeat this meme for movies and maybe even TV...

C’est la vie!

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Book Meme 5

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Day 05 - A book or series you hate

Ok, I wouldn’t say hate… But I couldn’t finish The Lace Reader. There was so much violence and brutality that it wasn’t worth it for me to continue. When a book makes me so tense from worrying about the people or animals in it, I just don’t want that kind of bad juju in my life. The world is stressful enough. I read to de-stress and relax. I’m not against a good story with periods of violence or intermittent tension (I enjoyed The Lovely Bones) but when a book is relentless in its darkness, back to the library it goes!

C’est la vie!

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