take 3? or the semi-annual Chris get's bored and decides he hasn't been talking in 3rd person nearly enough

So from reading Mark Reads I've temporarily decided to try and start cataloging the books I'm reading. Because I've also realized that the way I read books apparently leads me to effectively forget all but the barest themes of what I'm reading (for instance, I couldn't off the top of my head recall the past 5 most recent books that I've read). Correspondingly, rather than do something silly like that, I'm going to start with the one that inspired this. In short Mark Reads' amazingly loving chapter-by-chapter description of American Gods is thoroughly reminiscent of my sentiments about that book in retrospect. This is unfortunately significantly tempered by the fact that every time I read this book (3x - 6x as broad estimates), short of a handful oh "oh shit, that's amazing" moments, the slow pacing makes it only a moderately enjoyable experience. For more unnecessary caveats on what I think about the book, it's borderline in the top 10 of my favorite books, but is still a disappointment. Basically, the book is very well written, has a plot that keeps you guessing, and interesting occasionally dynamic characters, and yet it's still lacking. How could that be, oh, mythical reader you may ask, aren't those all good things? Yes.... but this should be my favorite book. 1: It's written by one of my top 5 writers and one of my top 3 choices for a living person to have lunch with, 2: Mythology has always been interesting to me, mostly Greek who are largely absent in this story (though I can toss out references to Izanagi, Quetzacoatl, Anansi, and Coyote fairly reasonably), 3: and I may have mentioned this before, everything about this book is awesome when I think about it and am not specifically reading it.

Ok so problems in unnecessarily nested lists:
A) totally unnecessary side-stories that contribute marginally to driving the plot forward, are totally meaningless even when they're interesting. Examples: 1: the time in Kayro, I get it, we need more explication about the gods, how they work, and to presumably build tension. I like this part of the book, but it still drives me crazy because nothing is freaking happening; 2: the time at the lake is pretty much the exact same thing, but rather than explication about the gods, it serves to remind us that there are normal people in this world and Shadow (while extremely awkward) is one of them; 3: and this is the part that drives me even more crazy is that the other reason to have the lake is to have the also entirely unnecessary ending (which isn't really an ending because this book ends 5 times, more on that later). This added nothing to the book (maybe making us believe Shadow is a god, but we could have inferred that from the part that he was chosen by Odin and, oh-yeah he's Odin's son).
B) Shadow is basically a prop, he moves when people tell him to move, he doesn't question. I get that he's not alive, and that his finally becoming alive after dying is the big climactic moment of the book where he decides to become a person.
C) MCSWEENEY NO! Seriously there are 4 or 5 moments in this book where I'm visibly emotive while reading which happens only rarely, but this book is freaking heartbreaking at times.
D) This book simultaneously convinces me that nothing this cool could ever happen, but also that everything in this book happens all the time.

Net - net, I love this book in theory. I'm probably going to re-read it fairly soon, but I'm going to be pissed off pretty much immediately thereafter.

And for shits and giggles, I'm going to try and find my favorite quote. This one unfortunately is I'm pretty sure designed to give me CTS:
"I can believe things that are true and I can believe things that aren't true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they're true or not. I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and Marilyn Monroe and the Beatles and Elvis and Mister Ed. Listen - I believe that people are perfectible, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones that look like wrinkledy lemurs and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women i believe that future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everynoe's ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems communicating and that the decline in good sex in America is coincident with the decline in drive-in movie theaters from state to state. I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that California is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Florida is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste. I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we'll all be wiped out by the common cold like the Martians in War of the Worlds. I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were Edith Sitwell and Don Marquis, that jade is dried dragon sperm, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a one-armed Siberian shaman. I believe that mankind's destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that it's aerodynamically impossible for a bumblebee to fly, that light is a wave and a particle, that there's a cat in a box somewhere who's alive and dead at the same time (although if they don't ever open the box to feed it it'll eventually just be two different kinds of dead), and that there are stars in the universe billions of years older than the universe itself. I believe in a personal god who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with her girlfriends and doesn't even know that I'm alive. I believe in an empty and godless universe of causal chaos, background noise, and sheer blind luck. I believe that anyone who says that sex is overrated just hasn't done it properly. I believe that anyone who claims to know what's going on will lie about the little things too. I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies .I believe in a woman's right to choose, a baby's right to live, that while all human life is sacred there's nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system. I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it." - Sam

It reminds me of the Mary Schmich article made famous by Baz Luhrman's "Wear Sunscreen" video which convinced me that I need to live in LA and NYC, but said absolutely nothing about Chicago.

take two

So on retrospect, that first post today sucked, and I still technically owe a post from that time I skipped. So here's one that kinda sums up what this is all about. The small things matter. In fact, in many ways they matter more. It comes from many sides, that sunny day that makes you smile, the smell of freshly done laundry (or even better, bacon and coffee in the morning), or tv's best written show (Firefly and Arrested Development can have a theoretical fight over that). The little things are the ones that keep us going, that remind us that it is in fact all worthwhile, and that every day has has the opportunity for greatness. So go run through the snow, put on your CAMP (which is an acronym that that means absolutely nothing to anyone but me and someone who is very unlikely to read this), and belt out your new favorite song (preferably with other people there to join along) because today's going to be a good one.

yeah, that's a way better post

Why, thank you!

So maybe this makes me sound a little bit more codependent than I really think I am, but man does it feel good when you do something you're proud of, and everyone else agrees with you. Absolutely 100% there's a lot to be gained by feeling good on your own about your own work, because as much as anything else, when I do something new and different it feels good. Trying out new dishes (bacon tomato jam was awesome), songs (all over the What's the Story Morning Glory Album, and yes the bonus answer to a previous post is on that album), or boring work stuff (gross!), it all felt good just to do. But the icing on the cake was that I'm not crazy and other people thought so too. But let's be honest, who couldn't love bacon, stewed tomatoes in red wine, and sugar/honey. mmmm

The sun'll come out...

So starting us off on a moderately depressing note. Have you ever read Nietsche? One of his central tenets, contributing to that loveliest movement, nihilism, was that life is inherently pain, if for no other reason than because we must all realize that we will die and that's the end. Sunshine and Lollypops that guy... He continues on to his secret, we all constantly lie to ourselves that tomorrow will be better, that the things we do matter, that there's a life after death (in memories if not the incorporeal afterlife of several somewhat prominent religions).

But you know what, screw that guy. Because this week's big idea is that there are lots of things that matter on a personal level even if not on a cosmic one (though who knows with butterfly wings and all that... sorry Iceland...). And one of the best of those is having good news to look forward to. Could be big or small, but really just the knowledge that absolutely something good is just around the corner really makes food taste better, the sunshine seem brighter, and music oh so soulcrushingly delicious. And on that note... April Smith is coming to Schubas!

If you want to sing out, sing out

Growing up, I've always been a fan of musicals. Driving from Cleveland to New York, we'd listen to Fiddler on the Roof, Evita, Phantom of the Opera and Disney songs on repeat (that's 8 hours of musicals minus the times around cities where my dad would sometimes switch to sports talk radio overriding many groans). Minimal masculine influences aside (and he too is a great fan), there's not a whole lot that feels better than singing louder than you should to the songs that make you feel good. Whether it's my dad singing "I am woman hear me roar" (sorry waiters of the world), my sisters singing "ease on down the road" down the driveways of our childhood, bar/house party with a big group of friends with "John at the Bar" and "Paul the real estate novelist", or more recently me, a guitar, and hurty fingers hanging out in my room, it's always the right time to let everyone know that the music is in you. Now if only I had any talent.... karaoke here I come!

(What's the story) morning glory

You wake up and the sun is shining. You knew it would come, but it just never seemed to happen. It's the first real day of spring. Not that end of March equinox that tells us hey Spring is here, but the one that matters. The one where you put away your coat, drop on a tshirt, maybe some sandals if you're feeling sassy and go hit the town. Play some sports, go for a walk in the park, eat outside! Amazing, if there's anything Chicago winters have taught me, it's that one day, it'll be over and the sun will shine again.

and another one bites the dust

So I didn't quite make it every week, being weirdly resistant last week towards writing these, which is weird (or maybe not) because really I've had a pretty good couple weeks. Which brings me to this week's topic: Turning the corner.

We've all been there, had a little down period where things weren't quite what they wanted to be, but is there really anything better than coming out and really realizing that things are going to be ok. I'm a big believer in trying to let things pass naturally, which has imbued me with a pretty consistent nonchalance, but I've been on a bit of down swing recently.

But today is a new day. Had my first shorts and sandals day (alright afternoon) of the year. The sun will shine, tennis and walks in the park will recommence. And there's no reason to think that tomorrow won't be better.