Book Review: "Love Walked In"

This is a love story, but not the one you think it is.

Well, that's not totally true. It's kind of the one you think it is, with the main character, Cornelia -- a 30-something, single, bohemian-type woman -- realizing that the hot guy isn't necessarily the right guy, and the right guy is the guy she grew up with.

So yeah. That's been done only a billion times.

But that's not the main story. Cornelia falls in love with Claire, who is 11 and the daughter of the hot guy she doesn't really love. Claire falls in love with Cornelia, too. This makes Cornelia not loving Claire's dad all the more awkward. But that situation kind of takes care of itself. (Harsh of me, I know. But it does.)

Vivianna, Claire's mom, is out of her mind. No, really. She goes crazy, leaves Claire on the side of the road and vanishes. Weeks go by before she returns, and by this time Cornelia and Claire have bonded.

In the end, Cornelia and Claire both find their way. And you come to realize that neither of them would have been able to do it without the other. While there are a few nitpicky things that I don't buy in this story, overall I really liked it.

And... it's the first book ever in the history of books to make me cry.

This is why:

"My heart is large; it can contain everything at once, and the road I'm on with Teo, can you see it? It runs forward and backward and no matter which way we travel on it, the direction is the same. You know the direction I mean: Homeward."

Ugh. I cried because even though I've had relationships, I've never had THAT relationship. The one you know is right and it doesn't matter where you go or what you do, because you're with the right person and it makes everything right. I want to know what that's like.

And I'll be damned if I didn't tear up talking about that in book club. Embarassing.

Finally, in the bad news department: Sarah Jessica Parker, who is a fan of this book, is producing and starring in the movie adaptation as Cornelia. Read the book to find out why this is all wrong. If she's going to be in the movie, she should be Vivianna. Or Linny! But not Cornelia. She's not good enough for Cornelia.

25 more things. Just for fun.

Basically, it's because...

1. I like making lists. They make me feel productive, even when I'm not.
2. I have a mini-crush on a guy who doesn't know I exist. No, that's not true. He knows. But he doesn't care.
3. I refuse to turn on my air conditioning. When I am too uncomfortable to sleep, then I'll turn it on.
4. Why can't I just quit my job, move to the beach, get a crappy job to pay for a crappy little beach shack and write in my spare time? What's wrong with that plan?
5. My closest friend lives almost 2,000 miles away.
6. My oldest friend? Same exact distance. (Different person, by the way).
7. Every group has the pretty one, the smart one, the funny one, the quirky one, etc. I'm the funny one.
8. I will suffer through a headache instead of taking medicine.
9. Chocolate? Meh. I'd rather have something sour.
10. I love going grocery shopping.
11. I came up with an idea for a cupcake, told the folks at my favorite bakery, and they made it! It's called "La Margarita." :)
12. Speaking of which, I could dive into a tub of margaritas right now.
13. A crazy man tried to mug me at the bus stop one time. I shoved him and yelled at him and he went away. I didn't realize until later how stupid of me that was.
14. It takes a lot to get me mad, but when I am, I have a raging temper. (See #13).
15. Tina Fey is awesome.
16. I love all the Shrek movies.
17. I hope there's never a fire in my house, because I'd probably die trying to save everything I own.
18. I don't really like a lot of people I'm related to. How sad.
19. The furniture in my living room is red.
20. I've never been out of the country and don't even have a passport at all.
21. I am awesome with a glue gun.
22. M. Night Shyamalan pisses me off.
23. Nicholas Sparks pisses me off, too.
24. The last time I cried, I did it just to see if I could make myself do it. I can.
25. I don't even know if I want kids, but if I do someday, and have one, and it's a girl... I have her name picked out already.

Sorry if any of those are repeats. I don't remember what I had last time. :)

Book Review: "If I Stay"

Reminder: I write spoilers. You've been warned.

I resisted reading this book for a long time because I was mad at it. Yes. Mad at the book. For existing. Because I came up with an idea for a book that I thought was genius: It's about a girl who got in this terrible accident, and her spirit is looking down on her unconcious body in the hospital, and she doesn't know what's happened to her, and we only find out the story behind why she's there through the conversations of the people who come to visit her, and her own memories come into play, and the end is learning what happened to her and whether or not she's going to live.

Great idea, right?

Well, Gayle Forman thought so, too. And she thought so first. Because not a month after I scribbled that idea in my idea notebook, I caught wind of "If I Stay."

There are differences. Mia knows what's happened to her, and her parents and her little brother. Her story isn't so much a circumstancial mystery as it is a story of whether or not she belongs. And that applies to everything. Does she belong with her boyfriend, in her family, pursuing her talent, and, in the end, alive?

Still, it's too similar for me to think about writing my story anymore. Which is sad.

And kudos to Forman. She is the second author in history to make me cry. (And the first was just a week ago, so I think I'm just hormonal right now or something.)

Anyway, the tears came when Mia is watching her grandfather visit her body. His speech killed me. Basically, all he says is that he wants her to stay alive, but that if it hurts too much to do so, he'll understand if she has to go.

Ugh. You'd have to be made of stone to not feel something as you read that.

The tears threatened to come again when Adam, Mia's boyfriend, says his speech at the end. Their relationships had hit a rocky patch before the accident that sent Mia to the hospital, and it seemed like a breakup was inevitable (this back story is one of Mia's memories). And then Adam says this: "If you stay, I'll do whatever you want. ... But if you need me to go away, I'll do that, too. ... I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. I'll let you go. If you stay."

First of all, those could be lyrics to a song that would leave people weeping. Secondly, SIGH. A person who really loves another person would say something like that. Beautiful.

All of that aside, the only complaint I have about this book (besides the fact that it exists at all) is that whole music subplot. I get the gist of it, with Mia feeling like she doesn't fit in because she plays classical cello and everyone else in the book is into punk rock, including her parents. But at a certain point it's like, yeah, ok, Gayle Forman. We get it. You know the names of a lot of musicians. Good for you. Let's move on.

I recommend this for anyone looking for a read that's quick, yet heartfelt. And while I won't tell you if Mia decides to stay or not, I will tell you that Forman's writing a sequel, "Where She Went," to be published in 2011. So make of that what you will.

25 Things

A while back, Facebook had this trend were everyone listed 25 random things about themselves and posted it for all to see. I feel like putting some things here, mostly because I've been slacking on the posts and want this to be a good one, and also because I'm in a random kind of mood. Here we go.

1. I think pretzels are disgusting and always have.
2. Fall is my favorite season. Summer comes second. South Texas doesn't really get a winter, so it doesn't count. I loathe Spring.
3. If I was stranded on a desert island, the one thing I would bring is... a boat. Eff that noise.
4. I have champagne taste, but a less-than-beer budget. It's, like, an O'Doul's budget.
5. I used to dance and I miss it a lot. Sometimes I put my shoes on just to remember what they feel like.
6. I love reading books so much.
7. Red and purple tie for favorite colors.
8. I'd rather be outdoors than indoors. (But not by myself on an island.)
9. I hate the idea of driving long distances, but once I get in the car I find it very fun.
10. People who decorate their houses to look like an IKEA catalog are boring.
11. I really hate bugs. Like, passionately.
12. The best smell in the world is that smokey, there's-a-fire-in-a-fireplace-somewhere Christmasy smell when it gets cold outside. Baby powder is a close second.
13. I take my tequila shots straight up. No salt, no lime.
14. I recently downloaded "Jagged Little Pill" to my iPod and am rocking out to it as if I was 14 years old all over again.
15. I have become numb to hearing about the engagements of friends I grew up with, but I know when I hear about a certain engagement, I will want to fling myself off a building.
16. I love to paint and draw, but I never do it anymore. I don't know why.
17. Cooking is fun, but cleaning afterward is the worst!
18. One day I'm going to have a library in my house, with a rolling ladder and everything.
19. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
20. I am claustrophobic. Not too afraid to go in elevators, but if I'm in a crowded place and someone bumps into me, I have to focus on keeping calm.
21. I'm allergic to cats.
22. I'd love to take a week off from work for no other reason than to stay home and write.
23. I took Spanish for four years in school, and still can only barely get by.
24. Football season is the best.
25. I never lie. Mostly because I'm so horrible at it, but also because, what's the point?

Movie review: "The Runaways"

So, I don't know anything about The Runaways other than the fact that Joan Jett was in the band. Well, I didn't know more than that before I heard about this movie. But then I heard about it and went on IMDB and read up on the gals and now I can tell you that someone named Cherie (pronounced like "Marie," which was her sister's name in real life) Currie was also in the band.

I know who Joan Jett is because, well, who doesn't? "I Love Rock and Roll" is a fun song. And her cover of "Crimson & Clover" is good, too. And closer to home, the San Antonio-based punk/pop trio Girl in a Coma is signed to Joan's record label. So yeah, I know more about her.

Which is why I was interested in seeing her story. But this movie can't make up its mind on whether it's Joan's story or Cherie's. It also can't make up its mind on whether it's a movie or a music video. Annoying.

Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning play Joan and Cherie, respectively. They are damn good little actresses (which sounds condescending, I know, but Dakota is only 16 years old. She's little). Unfortunately, I think a bunch of the audience will be tween girls who are "Twilight" fans who ask their mommies to take them to the R-rated movie that has two of the "Twilight" cast in the lead roles. Mommies, listen up: This is not "Twilight." The only thing that sparkles in this film are the sequins on Dakota's corset as she gyrates on stage. There's also a ton of drug use, a couple of lesbian love scenes, a masturbation scene and enough F-bombs to make a sailor blush.

Kristen and Dakota do a fine job transforming into these real-life women. I completely forgot who I was watching while I was watching them. Especially in Kristen's final scene doing a radio interview. I have never wanted a lesbian haircut and hot pink eyeshadow more in my life than I do in that scene. She looks awesome.

The movie gets a bunch of points for the costumes and makeup. Very cool.

The story, however: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Sorry, Joan and Cherie and Kristen and Dakota. It's not your fault. Your director couldn't make up her mind what this movie was supposed to be. And because she spent more time on artsy shots with strobe light effects, not enough time was spent on the people in the story. So when the bad stuff happens in the movie, it doesn't mean anything. And I'm pretty sure it meant something when it happened in real life.

Something

(I wrote this on March 3, 2003. Whenever I'm feeling a bit "meh" I like to read it.)

I've got something to offer, something to give
Something beyond the life that I live
Something to startle, shock, and impress
Something to put me over the rest
Something that no one has seen, felt, or known
Something that's mine and only my own
Something to change the course of my path
Something I'll follow without looking back
Something to get me out of this rut
Something amazing... I just don't know what.