Just Read: The Audacity of Hope

Author: Barack Obama

GO READ THIS BOOK NOW!

This book is so uplifting. It is wonderful to have a president who has such a grounded, real life outlook on our economy, family, and just people in general. Even if he hadn't become president, he has an intelligent and yet unassuming way of verbalizing what he believes. Politics, religion, race, family, nothing is left off the table.

I laughed and I even teared up a bit in places (at his amazing view of things). At one point he tells about his life with Michelle. I seriously thought he was talking about my relationship with Mister.

I wish everyone could read this book, no matter what their political views, this man 'gets it'. He has a unique (and not so unique) view of things growing up without a father figure, half black/half white, ending up as a lawyer then a senator who is rather well off. He feels honest out open and (I know I keep coming back to this) real. He doesn't seem untouchable, does that make sense?

I got this book from Audible.com. Its where I get a lot of my books, but, if you been reading my blog, you know this. President Barack Obama was the reader!!! So, so, so cool. It made 'reading' the book just that much more alive.

GO! Go get this book and read it. If you want, I'll buy it and send it to you! Just leave me a comment and I'll get it to you. Seriously. Read it, pass it on, ruminate on it. You won't regret it.

Just Watched: The Heart of Me

Helena Bonham-Carter, so great! I've been enamored with her acting since forever. Quirky, kitchy, off the wall. How can you beat that. I also really like Olivia Williams (most notably, for me, as Bruce Willis' wife in ...'I see dead people...' what was the name of that film?) Anyway, not a fast paced flick, but interesting drama and twists and view into what people will do to keep someone they love... or is it keeping a comfortable life that they really are looking to keep?

A good film.

Just Read: A Map of the World

Author: Jane Hamilton

I've had this book on my book shelf since, oh, I don't even know how long its been there. At the time (somewhere around 1999, I think), I bought it because it was on Oprah's book list. I then realized, after reading a few of the books on Oprah's list, that they have a tendency to be 'heavy'. At least, back then. I stopped looking for book ideas on Oprah's list at that time and never picked up A Map of the World.

Flash forward a few years. I wanted a physical book to read (I have a tendency toward audio books since getting married.) In the light of trying to be practical, I went to my bookshelf, instead of the bookstore, and found this gem. And a gem it really turned out to be.

First off, its heavy.

Second, even the cover feels dire, all sepia and hazy.

Third, its a good book.

I didn't know where the book was going when I started reading it, and one of the first things that happens is tragic and then it sort of goes down hill from there. What I liked about this book probably wasn't what the book intended for the reader to focus on. I liked the dual perspectives in which it was written. (Isn't it great how I didn't end that sentence with a preposition. I wrote it that way originally, then went back and changed it. Anyway...) It was told from the wife's perspective then from the husband's angle. The husband and the wife have polar opposite personalities and see the world so differently. I liked that part of the book probably the most. The story was good, the writing was great, I was gripped through out and it ended not particularly like I would have had it end, but it ended realistically, which I always appreciate.

I doubt you'll read this book, but I don't want to give anything away in case you do decide to read it. If you want more detail, I won't give it to you, but Wikipedia will.

Wow, that was a very uninteresting and non-informative review.

2

Today is Mister and my second anniversary!! Yeah US! Mister in no way wants his photo on the internet, and that includes my blog. Today, I'm posting a pic from our honeymoon anyway. Love you hun! I don't think he reads this anyway. Happy Oct 21 to you all.

Why is it that when I am 'down', I completely forget and have no energy for those things that will only make me better? Does that happen to you? I know that exercising is the best salve and the best upper for my emotions and my physical well being, but its the very last thing I want to do when I get in that place of negativity.

This very morning, I have renewed my personal/internal quest for eliminating my negative responses to unhappy people, places and things. Let's face it, they are everywhere. I am going to run into them. There's just no getting around that. What I can change, is my response, my attitude my demeanor. And I plan to renew my energies toward that end. Being upset or mad or sad or evil - - often a choice. I don't see it that way because emotions are quick-fire in my head, but, I really am going to try to slow my reponses and think about what they should be. Now, I'm sure I'll not get it right every single time, but with practice, I can only get better, right!?

So, how do you respond to the negativity around you? Do you just ignore it? Do you have such a sunny disposition that the bad vibes can't even get within a mile of you? Do you have a mantra you use to ward off unpleasantness? I'm looking for suggestions and help and whatever else positive is out there.

Just Watched: Revolutionary Road

With Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. I thought it migt be odd to see them together since I think of them as the Titanic couple, but it worked. They have great chemistry and are believable.

It was a very good movie, in my opinion. It moved faster, jumped around more than I wanted it to, but I guess its probably difficult to put an entire novel into a movie of just under 2 hours. I may just have to pick up the book to find out what I missed.

The premise is standard, you never know what goes on inside a relationship unless you are the one inside it. The movie has a very interesting way of showing the characters and, us, the audience, the truths. As observers in life, do we really know the difficulties are there in others relationships, but want so desperately for Walt Disney to have stumbled upon true happily ever after that we ignore what we see?

Nice twists, great acting. I would recommend it to you my friends.

Just Hiked: Serene Lake Loop

Serene Lake Loop, in th Mt. Hood Wilderness. So, here's how the story goes. Two weekends ago, my wonderful Mister decided to stop my whining and go hiking with me. He's lovely that way. We decided to try to find a hike we had hiked several years ago that we remembered really liking, a couple lakes and some distance out in the forest. We asked Mister's sister if she remembered where the hike was exactly. She copied a page from her hike book and emailed it to us. We didn't think it seemed like the same hike, so we punted and pulled out our own hike book (which we didn't think contained the right hike). We found a hike, in the same general vicinity which also had lakes and made the 2 hour car ride there. The hike book doesn't exactly have precise directions... after the ranger station, you'll take a left.... -park in the pull out before the culvert.... an unmarked trail....curve around the lake... not exactly clear directions. Our first problems started when the mileage given in the book didn't match up to the Jeep's mileage. Not a big deal. The second problem came in when we found no culvert. We drove by the place (which we found later) and neither time did we see the culvert. In fact, it turns out the culvert isn't even visible from inside a vehicle, unless you drive a Mac truck. Anyway, we just happened to see a trail marker, found a pull out and decided to hike. The sign said 'cripple creek' which is near where we were supposed to be. We started hiking and ended up running into a cute, young, couple who were also hiking the Serene Lake Loop. We were hiking in the wrong direction, we know this because they had just hiked up a steep incline for 4 miles, from a parking lot. SO glad we ran into these two. We turned around and got headed in the right direction. (Remember, its Fall and we started this hike at about 11:30ish.)

We followed behind the cute couple as they had a topo map and seemed to know where they were going. At a point not too far from where we actually parked our vehicle, we separated from the cute couple (the hike is a loop) because we didn't want to be on their heels the whole way and figured they didn't really want us there either. So, we are hiking, following what we think is our map and end up back at the road, in the pull out near the culvert. We turn around, again, and take another spur, hoping this time to have it right. A few minutes later, we run into cute couple who were sitting on a log having a sandwich. Turns out they also had taken a wrong turn and were backtracking. So, we left them with their snack and took off again fully going in the correction direction, after only 3 wrong turns. (Don't you want to come hike with me!) A while later, we come to a place where in the hike book it says "the trail is hard to find at this point.." The cute couple catch up with us and the four of us find our way to an intersection, we decide to go off in what seems is the right direction. After much hiking, we start going down hill. Something seems amiss. And what do you know, there's cute couple stopped, looking at their map, wondering why they are hiking down, when it seems they should be hiking up hill. We decide that we once again have all taken a wrong turn. It was just one of those days. The cute couple turns around, as they have packs and intend to camp overnight at Serene Lake. Mister and I ponder for a minute or two and as we are pondering, two hunters come by. We chat for a minute and find out the trail we are on, actually leads back to the road, right where we are parked. Nice. Its been a rather long day of hiking in the wrong direction, at this point we don't have the time to make it to the lake and back, much less do the 11 mile loop before dark. We follow the hunters to our vehicle and slink home, defeated. Even though we hiked for hours, it feld like a loss. I told Mister when we got home, that I thought we should go back the very next day and get it right. We didn't.

Fast forward 2 weeks later, which was yesterday now. Our weekend plans with friends ended Friday night instead of going all weekend. That's ok, we punted. Mister and I decide we are hiking the Serene Lake loop, now that we know where it is. We plan to get up earlier than we did the time before so we don't run out of daylight before we get the hike, hiked.

Mister's sister and her husband go with us, we pack food and warm clothing and get to the trailhead at about 11:30 (again). It should be ok, though. Its an 11 mile loop and we average 2 miles/hr (Mister and I like to enjoy the scenery along the way and stop often for photo ops and ahem, the once in awhile relieving of ones self...).

Anway, we start off right where we are supposed to start off and hike the hike like we are professionals. The air is crisp and clean and the trees and bushes are turning beautiful colors.

We get to the top of a pretty serious hill (mountain!!) and this is the overlook. We have a little snack and look at the map again, just to make sure we are where we think we are. At this point, Mister's sister says "this is the hike we did that you were trying to find..." I stepped out, looked at the view and it hit me, yes, it was the hike after all that we originally wanted to hike. We were just hiking it in reverse and starting from the opposite side of the loop.

The view was amazing, there's Mt. Hood in the distance and Serene lake on the left. We hiked down to the shore of that lake and had another small snack.

This photo doesn't do it justice, but the turning leaves on the other side of the valley made it look as if it was on fire. Took your breath away to be there.

As soon as we left the overlook, we started back down the other side of the hill and ran into snow on the ground. Did I tell you it was 'crisp'. Yes, crisp is a good word. When in the wind, it was very chilly. When out of the wind, it was nice in that hiking generates heat from the body.

We ended our hike at 4:30. We stretched, had a snack, then piled into the Jeep to make the 2 hour trek home. The thermometer in the Jeep read 37 degrees. My lungs were hashed and my muscles sore but, it was a great day of hiking. Can't wait until next weekend when we find (hopefully) another great place to be outside.

thinks...

...that pumpkin spice latte's in the Fall are just about the best thing, ever.

...that everyone, no matter your political bent, should read The Audacity of Hope. I'm only partially through it, but will almost certainly read it again immediately upon finishing it and again once a year.

... that 3 day weekends should be the norm.

... well, a lot of things.

Have a super weekend all.

Stuff you've seen before...

My current desktop.

Dacia Rae

Happy Birthday Dacia Rae! I love love love you with all my heart. You are one of my two very most favorite nieces and one of my favorite people on this planet. You are lovely and sweet and I adore and share your love for all animals. I know you'll never get to see this post, but I'm sending my love out into the universe today, on the anniversary of your birth. I am so grateful to know you.

Just Read: Team of Rivals

Author: Doris Kearns Goodwin

I, like many Americans (I presume), first heard of this book, Team of Rivals, during President Obama's election campaign. It intrigued me for many, many reasons. I've had it sitting around for awhile now, and finally picked it up and finished reading it. I loved this book.

I'm not a history buff. I never really cared for history in school, all those facts and figures you have to remember and regurgitate. I'm more of a really good exaggerator with some knowledge of the basics, but don't ask me about dates. Dates and I do not get along. I can tell you what year I was born and what year it is right now, but don't ask me what year anything specific happened in between, even if it was happening to me personally, I won't remember.

This book is great because, well, there's no test at the end of it. That is a definite perk for me. Also because it is, as far as I know, factual but told in more of a novelish way. Even though its still a whole passel of facts thrown together with dates and names of battles, it told in more of a story book kind of way. That's how I looked at it anyway. I learned not only about Lincoln and where he came from and how he thought and processed his problems (and those of his country) but about team building. Maybe that was my brain on overload, but, it makes so much sense to me to enclave yourself with those who are so much smarter than you are and with those who have differing opinions. How else can progress be made? How boring would life be if everyone agreed with what you thought and said? Not only would it be boring, but, seriously, would you believe that they actually agreed with you or would you think they were just placating you? Think about it.

I liked this book.

Why I blog

I started this blog without having a clue why I was doing it. I just knew it was the cool hip thing that everyone (subjective term there) seemed to be doing and I wanted in on it. I've now been blogging for almost 4 years. 4 YEARS. I didn't even have a clue that it was that long until I dreamed up this post and went back into the archives to find my original post and it was dated Feb 9, 2006. Holy Monkey!

So, now that it has been 44 months I just figured out why I'm doing it. If I figured it out at some point in those months, I don't remember it so I may have just re-figured it out, but its a truism nonetheless. Anyway, I realized today that I started this blog so I could find myself. My true self. I had no clue I was lost. And maybe lost is too strong a word, but I hadn't consciously known I needed to express myself in a creative way.

Writing - even if it is just my rambling thoughts here on this blog, photography - even if it is just my cat, cooking and baking and finding other souls on the internet who have been where I am and lived to tell. Lived through the unknown. I will get through the fuzzy miasma that constantly covers my eyes and my thoughts and my intentions. I have a longing for something... not having a clue what that something is.

I'm working toward something. I just know it will be an awakening. I have no idea what it will look or feel like, but I know its coming.

Thank you for taking this journey with me. I truly appreciate your support.

In a bit of a slump

People are wearing boots! Boots! I'm still in flips. And don't even get me started when it comes to hats and coats. Hanging on for dear life to the splendor of a warm Autumn.