Rainy Day

It's just one of those nasty, rainy afternoons, when everyone is in a piss-poor mood, and no one is around.  I was hanging out with some of the guys (and the one other gal) in Physics Club, and pretty much everyone disappeared as soon as the meeting was over (that is, of those who actually bothered to show up).  All I want right now is a good book (or perhaps a good movie) and a cute boy to cuddle with while we sit on the couch under a blanket.  I could also do without the boy (just substitute his presence for a cup of hot chocolate or maybe coffee).  Yeah, that would be just as nice....

The Kilt Song

This is totally NSFW (or for those who can't stomach swearing), but when my brother showed this to me, I knew I just had to pass it on.  The whole kilt theme reminded me of Old Fool, and I like to think he would have found it funny....

Letters from God

Sometimes, when I'm bored, I write people letters from God.  Yeah, that's right....God (or sometimes the ghosts of dead authors).  It's a thing that happens at my job a lot.  People log onto computer and forget to log off again.  Sometimes we do things like hack their Facebook accounts, but one of my friends devised an idea that turned out to be a lot more fun for everyone involved.  We started writing letters from God.

 

The letters are pretty simple.  Mostly: Hello [NAME], this is God.  I've missed you lately.  We really need to talk more.  I'll be waiting ;)  ~I AM WHO AM

 

And we've come to find that people really like these letters, so much so that they will purposely leave their computers unlocked, just so they can get one.  A friend of mine commented about that today, saying he left his computer open so that he could get a letter from God.  I had to pretend that I had no idea what he was talking about, but inside, I was doing a bit of a fist-pump with a big ol' grin on my face.  It was like a mini-victory for me.

 

I had to excuse myself, leave work, and wait until he was gone before nipping back in, jumping on his computer, and hastily typing out a letter to him.  I have no life, I know....but I just couldn't let the guy down....I mean, he left his computer on specifically expecting a letter from me God, and who was I to let him down?

 

Don't judge me...........

Barmy in Wonderland (PG Wodehouse)

As I'm sure most of you already know, I'm a huge fan of PG Wodehouse!  So, I had a spot of free time this past week, and I snuck into the library to look for a bit of pleasure reading.  And, well, I've started Barmy in Wonderland twice in the past three years (this was the third attempt) without ever getting past the first few chapters.  Nothing against the book...I mean, it's hilarious.  Classic Wodehouse.  But, I just had too much going on in the past to really settle down with it.  I convinced myself this time that if I checked out this book, I HAD to finish it.

I think what first attracted me to this particular Wodehouse book (my campus library has a healthy selection of his works) was the fact that it was about Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps (pronounced "Fungy" Phipps), who happened to be a favorite of mine from the Jeeves and Wooster TV series.  He was just so endearing (and highly clueless), and I really enjoyed the character.  The thought of spending just shy of 200 pages with him seemed quite delightful.

Barmy



Anyways, so that's how it started.  And, now, I'm thrilled to say that I've finally made it through the book!  So, perhaps a quick plot summary is in order?

Englishman (and Drones Club member) Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps has come to America, and has been for some time working as a desk clerk in JG Anderson's Washington Hotel.  And their current guest, a Mr. Mervyn Potter (American actor of both the stage and screen, and notorious alcoholic) is causing more than his share of trouble, such as encouraging Barmy to get drunk and put a frog in his employer's bed in the early hours of the morning, or the like.  And when Barmy comes into a small fortune, which Anderson says should be invested in something safe, such as purchasing the Washington (a highly profitable hotel) so that Anderson can retire to Florida, Potter quickly misdirects him into backing the Broadway musical flop he's soon to be starring in.  To top it all off, Barmy runs into the girl of his dreams: Eileen "Dinty" Moore, and things just get more and more entangled.

The thing I love so much about Wodehouse is that he's always good for a laugh.  His situations are ridiculous, the characters completely original, and the dialogue always has me busting a gut.  I've heard it said that it's impossible to be sad when reading Wodehouse, and I'm sure that this holds true for Barmy in Wonderland in particular.  Another thing I love about these books is the suspense.  And to be sure, this book (especially the last few chapters) is packed with page-turning, nail-biting suspense.  Exciting and enjoyable.   This is a book which I would totally read again, and 100% recommend.

Trouble in River City

I've had this song stuck in my head for the past day or so....I think I need to get my hands on a copy of The Music Man.

Men in the Sun (Ghassan Kanafani)

So!  I'm finally getting around to writing book reviews again!  My problem lately has just been that I've had too much to do (and ironically too much to read), meaning that I haven't had the time to actually finish anything.  Luckily, one of my professors assigned this collection (weighing in at a plucky 115 pages).  For the class, we only had to read two of the stories, but I thought it might be interesting to read the rest of the collection, especially since I had pretty much read 60% of it as it was.

So, I don't pretend to know much about Palestinian culture or literature.  All I know is what I have been taught through the media and my Palestinian and Israeli Literature class.  That being said, I had a spot of trouble with some aspects of this text, mostly because I could not fully understand the mentality of the characters, or the cultural significance of their actions or the plot.

Over all, the collection was not too bad.  But, at the same time, it didn't really "wow" me.  And I guess that's a bit harsh.  I mean, not every book has to completely knock my socks off in order to be good.  But, this one didn't really hold my attention.  As my Goodreads rating shows, it was just "okay".  As far as short story collections go, I thought it was nicely varied.  Yes, all the stories were about Palestinians struggling after the War of 1948, but each story was individualized enough to keep the reader from moaning "Gees....not ANOTHER story about the same damn thing!"  And each story was raw, emotional, and stark.  I didn't feel as though Kanafani was attempting to hide anything from the reader.  It is what it is.  Sadly, I was just having trouble connecting.  I wanted to like this book.  I did.  But, I didn't like it.  So, I guess this is one of those situations where we just say "It's not you; it's me.  And we move on with our lives.

If you're interested in Palestinian literature, or the historical events of 1948 in Palestine, you might enjoy this book.  And if nothing else, it's a very quick read, so why not give it a try?