This morning there was a knock. On my WINDOW. At 7:07AM. Bizarre? Creepy? Slightly disturbing? I thought so too. (Especially cuz I still don't know who it was or why it happened.)

We Shot The Moon concert last week

What would Olive do?

"Sometimes, like now, Olive had a sense of just how desperately hard every person in the world was working to get what they needed. For most, it was a sense of safety, in the sea of terror that life increasingly became. People thought love would do it, and maybe it did. But even if, thinking of the smoking Ann, it took three different kids with three different fathers, it was never enough, was it?"

Joining this book group was the best decision I've made all semester! I feel like I'm the class clown whenever we meet - I never have anything really profound to say, I've never made an insane realization and have everybody think I'm a genious. I'm so intimidated by my fellow book group members! I mean, I look around our circle and I see an English Teaching major, Creative Writing minor, a well-read fellow who works at the Bookstore, and two other very sharp literary analyzers. However, I find myself drawn to this group of random associations and drawn to the books we read! We meet every other Wednesday and discuss one book for two sessions. (Hence our name, The Wednesday Book Group.) I mean, the whole time last night I kept mentioning how sad the novel was and whenever someone mentioned something happy in the novel, I would say, "Yay! Something happy!" I even told them this book made me dread getting old! But then decided that maybe getting old wasn't so bad - you're still the same person you were before. (I've embraced my immaturity/clownness. And they haven't kicked me out yet, so I must be doing something right.)

"What young people didn't know, she thought, lying down beside this man, his hand on her shoulder, her arm; oh, what young people did not know. They did not know that lumpy, aged, and wrinkled bodies were as needy as their own young, firm ones, that love was not to be tossed away carelessly, as if it were a tart on a platter with others that got passed around again. No, if love was available, one chose it, or didn't choose it. And if her platter had been full of the goodness of Henry and she had found it burdensome, had flicked it off crumbs at a time, it was because she had not known was one should know: that day after day was unconsciously squandered."

We just got done reading "Olive Kitteridge," a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Elizabeth Strout, who divides the book into thirteen chapters, each one written by a different person. Olive appears in some capacity in every story, even if it's just for one line in a 20-page narrative. I wasn't convinced at first that I was going to enjoy reading this. However, every chapter drew me further into the story, until alas, it was over and I had to say goodbye to dear old, terrified, beautiful, saggy, unapolegetic Olive.

Crux of the novel? I would say that everyone needs relationships - good relationships. Fear is a motivation to hope. There are so many different types of love -look for love and find a reason to cling to life.

"Her eyes were closed, and throughout her tired self swept waves of gratitude - and regret. She pictured the sunny room, the sun-washed wall, the bayberry outside. It baffled her, the world. She did not want to leave it yet."

"Olive felt something she had not expected to feel again: a sudden surging greediness for life.... She remembered what hope was, and this was it. That inner churning that moves you forward, plows you through life the way the boats below plowed the shiny water, the way the plane was plowing forward to a place new, adn where she was needed."

A sudden surging greediness for life. We really liked that yesterday when we discussed Olive.

Portland!!

Jen had no idea we were coming for her baby shower! It was so fun. Girl talk, Rock Band, pumpkin cupcakes, decorating onesies, taking a walk through the trees, watching "My Sister's Keeper," and the list goes on. I love family!!

Pics of life: Nov. 7th & 8th

Megan came to town and we took some nice pics in the beautiful Fall colors! Then we shopped like mad. :) So fun!





That night I had a blind date with my roommate's coworker. Kim is from Korea and it was a lot of fun! It was a double date and we made pizz and then - get this - we carved potatoes. I made a basket and a baby. LOL.

And these are just the peeps that stayed the whole night! We crammed a ton of people into my tiny little living room. It was so much fun! Mostly peeps from the Creamery, but the group has grown to include old friends, roommates, girlfriends, cousins, siblings, and sibling's rommates. It's always a party. :)

$(@*%aPaThY$#^&*!

Yesterday was the most apathetic day I've ever had in my entire life. It was horrible. I worked on some stuff for class before I went home, showered, ate a bagel while watching House, started reading "New Moon" for the third time, and then fell asleep at 10:30pm!! I've never been to bed that early before since coming to college two and half years ago. (Not that I can remember, in any case.) It was great in that I was able to be apathetic; I think that's because I knew I was going to wake up the next day and everything would be better. Though I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning, I managed to do the most un-apathetic thing ever - I straightened my hair. You'll understand once you know that I have only done that twice since school started in August! I must say I kinda like it. AND I made it to class on time. Although I'm not fully back to my normal self (still feeling slightly apathetic towards a lot of things), I think I'm on the track to being back...

This might be offensive to really sensitive people but it's absolutely hilarious! I feel like being a political science major and having traveled a bit I'm able to fully appreciate these comments. Hahaha. I just HAD to post it!!
Last month, a world-wide survey was conducted by the UN. The only question asked was: "Would you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?" The survey was a huge failure because...
• In Eastern Europe they didn't know what ‘honest’ meant.
• In Western Europe they didn't know what 'shortage' meant.
• In Africa they didn't know what ‘food' meant.
• In China they didn't know what 'opinion' meant.
• In the Middle East they didn't know what 'solution’ meant.
• In South Amerca they didn't know what 'please' meant.
• In the U.S. they didn't know what ‘the rest of the world' meant.

How's life going? My shpeel:

Well, it's going alright! Full speed ahead. Although I must admit that I slept for nine hours last night! It was pretty amazing. Today I get to work for five hours in two different shifts, with a rush of homework-doing in between. I'm dressing up as - get this - the Y. My coworker's idea. (If you see the "Pics of Play. I mean Work" album in Facebook, you'll see Rachel. That's her.) We have a lot of fun at work, in case you didn't know that already. :) And today being Halloween - I'm pretty stoked for my shift today! Haha Random. I'm pretty sure people aren't supposed to love their job this much!! At least I've moved up past minimum wage. ;) So maybe I am allowed to be a little joyous about mi trabajo.
Hm What else... I love being in a book group. We're reading "Olive Kitteredge." I'm having a hard time getting into it, but next Wednesday should help, cuz that's when we meet to discuss the first half of the novel. Dinner group is a lot of fun, too. I'm making turkey burgers the next time it's my turn to cook! Turkey patties with feta cheese and green apple slices - and we can't forget the ketchup - all on a bun. Yum!
I bought the New Moon Soundtrack and absolutely love it! It's such a mix. I'm so excited to see the movie. Speaking of which, I told my friend that if he watches "Twilight" I'd bring him back some movies from China! Haha We'll see how that goes. Maybe I can convert him to the Twilight movies at least!! Yay for getting caught up in corny culture!