Ear Worm(s)

My favorite Beatles song.



My favorite Beatles song as done by Jake Shimabukuro.



My second favorite Beatles song.



My third favorite Beatles song.



We'll leave it at that.

Book review: "A Reliable Wife"

My book club selected "A Reliable Wife" by Robert Goolrick as our August read based on this review from the Washington Post:

"Don't be fooled by the prissy cover or that ironic title. Robert Goolrick's first novel, 'A Reliable Wife,' isn't just hot, it's in heat: a gothic tale of such smoldering desire it should be read in a cold shower. This is a bodice ripper of a hundred thousand pearly buttons, ripped off one at a time with agonizing restraint."

Well, hot damn, let's read it!

I am sorry to report that not once did I need a cold shower. Yes, there was lots and lots of sex in this book, but not once did a blush creep onto my cheeks. (This makes it sound like I have a really amazing sex life that would make book sex pale in comparison. No.)

Catherine Land is a mail order bride on her way to East Jesus Nowhere, Wisconsin to be delivered to her new husband Ralph Truitt. Ralph is totally loaded. He owns the whole town and sends for Catherine with his own private rail car. She has answered his ad for a "simple woman" and en route from Chicago to Wisconsin changes out of her furs and jewels into some plain Jane gray schoolmarm dress, because she knows it's what he expects. Clearly, Catherine is a liar.

So, along the way, we learn the lie. And so does Ralph. And suddenly everyone knows the truth, but they are all still acting out the lie. Everything up until this point was exciting, then it suddenly got tedious. But, this is a whole different world -- apparently people go insane during Wisconsin winters, so I guess in the universe Goolrick invented, it could happen.

Anyway, my favorite parts of this book were the opening and closing scenes. The opening scene I explained already, with Catherine on the train. The closing scene has Ralph and Catherine coming to a new level in their relationship. It doesn't give a complete resolution; rather, it leaves the story open-ended without a definitive answer as to what will happen to the characters next. I love when books do that.

I didn't dislike the middle stuff, but it wasn't as captivating as the start and finish. I haven't decided if this is a good or bad thing in terms of the book itself. All I know is I was left satisfied, even without the need for a cold shower.

(P.S. -- The top image is the "prissy cover" mentioned in the review above. I assume it was the original cover. The one below is the new cover. I guess they thought if there was a picture of a bodice, people will buy the book in the hopes that it will be ripped at some point.)

Chicks in flicks

We had a discussion at work today about women in film.

Ok, that just made it sound like a very cerebral conversation. It wasn't. I started it off by expressing my annoyance of the romantic comedy genre.

Basically, rom-coms are all the same. That's no breaking news. However, for some reason, a new generation of 20-something women (with the exception of Amanda Seyfried) doesn't exist in the genre because the same old -- yes, OLD --chicks are in these chick flicks.

Now, I know that these women aren't actually old in the grand scheme of life. But in the grand scheme of movies, they are. Sorry.

Examples: Jennifer Aniston is 41. Jennifer Lopez is 41. Jennifer Garner is 38. Reese Witherspoon is 34. Sandra Bullock is 46. Julia Roberts is 43. Sarah Jessica Parker is 45.

These are the same women who have been doing the rom-com thing for at least 10 years already (or 20 in Ms. Roberts' case.) Why are these women the ones we have to continue to watch find true love for the first time? Surely there are actresses of a more believable age for that kind of storyline.

Note: It seems like screenwriters are trying to use these actresses however they can by doing the whole I-want-a-baby-and-don't-need-a-man-but-now-that-I-have-a-baby-I-met-a-man thing. I suppose it would be a more mature woman who went through a thing like that. Oh, and there's the whole I-am-the-bitchy-boss-lady-that's-why-I'm-older thing. Whatever. It still feels like they're reaching.

Name a 20-something actress who has done a rom-com lately. Besides Amanda Seyfried.

Nope, I can't think of one either.

The rom-com actresses take turns being "America's Sweetheart." All I'm saying is, it's time for some younger, fresher faces in the category. When I think of "America's Sweetheart," I think of Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts... from the early '90s! That was 20 years ago!!

So, during this conversation a coworker pulled up a video blog post from some feminist web site about the role of women in movies. It said to pay attention to these 3 things about the movie and the female(s) in it:

1. Is there more than one female character who has a name?
2. Do they talk to each other?
3. Do they talk to each other about something besides men?

Think of all the movies you have ever seen. The result is shocking. It's very hard to think of a movie where the above three questions are all answered in the affirmative. The first one that leaped to mind was the "Sex and the City" movie, which is truly unfortunate since that movie made me want to blow my brains out.

The answers for "SATC" are 1) Yes, there are four. 2) Yes and using only puns. Because THAT is how women talk to each other, you see. 3) Yes, but about clothes and babies and relationships in general. Because THAT is all that women talk to each other about, you see.

So the problem is twofold. The rom-com genre needs some storylines that are new and fresh (like "500 Days of Summer," which was excellent) and some new and fresh faces to play the female leads.

Perhaps I'll write them myself.

Powerless

The power at the apartment complex went out for about an hour tonight. Whenever this happens (which, thankfully, is not often) I imagine what it would have been like to live back in the old days when there was no electricity at all. Here is what I've decided:

1. It would have been effing miserable without AC. This might not have been such a big deal in the north, but in Texas in August no AC - even for an hour - is a BITCH.

2. Reading by candlelight is a strain on the eyes and not at all romantic.

3. You can hear EVERYTHING. I swear I heard the woman two floors above me sneeze. This has the potential to be very embarrassing.

4. Using the restroom in the dark is not fun. Not that I'm afraid I'm doing it wrong. It's just... weird.

5. I'm sure if I'd been born back then, I would have been just fine. Especially not knowing any difference from the way things are now. But since I do know the way things are now, I am very grateful to have been born when I was.

Book Review: "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"

I love "Pride & Prejudice" in an almost unhealthy way. But I'm not so devoted that I can't enjoy a good spoof.

This book takes nothing away from the original. In fact, the original remains mostly intact (minus a couple of minor characters coming down with the zombie plague and being beheaded) with a lot of good zombie fun added in.

Example #1: The scene at Netherfield where Caroline Bingley and Mr. Darcy are discussing the attributes that make a woman truly accomplished. Mastery of drawing, dancing, languages, music, etc. Add "skill in vanquishing the undead" to the list of qualifications a woman must possess to be desirable.

Example #2: Mr. Darcy's failed proposal to Elizabeth during his visit to Rosings. She's good and pissed in the original and lets him know it verbally. In this one, she kicks his ass.

Example #3: When Lady Catherine journeys to Longbourn to confront Elizabeth about the rumor of Darcy's proposal. It's a match of insults in the original. In this one, they kick each other's ass.

It's all very hilarious.

After reading it, though, I was desperate to read the original and watch the most recent movie adaptation starring Keira Knightley and Matthew McFayden, which I own on DVD. It makes me all warm and fuzzy and not the least bit concerned about a "dreadful" feasting on my brain.

I'm sure Jane Austen would have wanted it that way.

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

I recommended this poem to a friend of mine who is going through a rough time right now. I hadn't read it myself in quite a while, and I remembered how much I love it.



TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;
5

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,
10

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.
15

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.
20



P.S. - I looked up the title in Google images, and, predictably, there were dozens of photos of trails in the woods. None seemed exactly right, though, so I didn't post one, but I looked at a lot of them and have come to the conclusion that a fork in the road is really a beautiful thing. :)

Book review: "The Likeness"

Three friends of mine from work were RAVING about this book, and one loaned it to me. I've had it on my kitchen table for a couple of weeks while I caught up with book club reads, but I finally got around to it.

Before I dive into the story, let me tell you about my fatal flaw: I always try to figure out what's going to happen before it does. This applies to books, movies and life in general. (I think this is partially due to my dream thing, which I don't know if I've explained or not. Quickly, then -- I think I have a touch of ESP because I will have dreams and sometimes daydreams about things that end up happening later on. It's like the creepiest dejavu ever.)

So, of course, like 3 chapters in, when I don't know a darn thing yet, I'm trying to figure out the ending.

"The Likeness" by Tana French is about a detective named Cassie Maddox who used to work undercover under the alias Lexie Madison. One day, Cassie gets a call to go out to a murder scene. She enters the room and sees the victim and freaks the hell out because this dead girl looks exactly like her. They could be twins. Frank, Cassie's old boss from the undercover days, is there and says something along the lines of, "You think THAT'S crazy. Get a load of this." He shows her the dead woman's ID -- Alexandra J. Madison. (a.k.a. Lexie, a.k.a. the alias that Cassie invented years before.)

Who is this dead girl? Why is she using Cassie's old alias? And, more urgently, who killed her?

Frank's money is on "Lexie's" roommates, 4 graduate students with whom she shared a house. The roommates have been told that "Lexie" is in a coma and may not make it. Frank told them that because his grand plan is to have Cassie go undercover as Lexie, infiltrate the house and figure out what the hell is going on. Sam, another detective and Cassie's boyfriend, is completely against this idea. But Cassie goes for it.

The problem for Cassie is that she comes to like these people and starts getting too comfortable. The lines start to blur between Cassie and Lexie, and it's not until the truth comes out that things start to get real again.

My only criticisms of this story would be the way everything is revealed in the end. I felt like we built up so long and it all just sort of flooded out. A more suspenseful delivery would have maintained the sinister tone of the novel. Also, the thing with Cassie and Sam at the end. Eh. I mean, I get it: Cassie's figuring stuff out in her own life parallel to what she's figuring out about "Lexie." But still. Eh.

Tana French wrote "In the Woods" before this one. It's about a case that Cassie and her old partner worked on prior to the happenings of "The Likeness," and told from the partner's point of view. Another book, "Faithful Place," is a story told from Frank's point of view. I haven't read either, but I really like French's style of writing so I probably will one of these days.

If you're looking for a page-turner that's not going to give you nightmares, "The Likeness" is the book for you. Oh, and as for my guess on how it was going to end? I'll say this: My instincts were right; my suspect was wrong. Sort of.