It’s easy to say on the 8th day of January that I’m going to do a much better job of recording which books I read. It is likely that in actuality, I will again miss a bunch of stuff. But, I’ll try. Maybe just the act of having a list will help me (I like lists).

Of course, the whole list of books thing makes me want to install Delicious Library onto my iMac and catalog every single book we own. Let’s not take on more than we can handle, dear.

Maybe I should just note on the inside cover of the book the month/year that I finish reading that book.

Maybe I should sort through our large book collection and see what can be sold/given away.

Maybe… I’ll just dwell on the fact that I read 20 fiction books last year.

There’s a scene towards the end that I could live in. It’s early morning, and Elizabeth goes for a walk on her property. And who appears out of the mist? Mr. Darcy, in his long coat, calmly walking across the field.

That moment – the peace, the calm, the anticipation, knowing that “happily ever after” is about to arrive – I could live in that moment forever.

in a moment... forever...

Well, maybe not forever, but you get the idea. The only similar scene I could come up with was from Sense & Sensibility (another Austen favorite), when Elinor Dashwood receives Edward Ferrars and learns that the Mr. Ferrars who recently was married was not Edward. That scene is the opposite of calm, but is still full of that delicious anticipation that we know is about to be fulfilled.

Do you have any moments you could “live in forever” ?

At any rate, I have been using my library a lot since they re-opened in January after a remodel. I love that I can look for my books online, request them, and then get an email a few days later saying they’re ready. It takes 3 minutes to go to the library, then, since my books are set aside and there are automatic check-out machines (and there’s never a line). I just returned Danielle Steel’s Amazing Grace, which I would have never purchased or even given a second look at. However, one of my fellow bus riders was reading it, and it takes place in San Francisco (always close to my heart), so I gave it a shot. I figured that Steel is quite popular and it was probably worth the time spent. I reviewed it over on livingsocial / Facebook if you’re really interested (which you probably aren’t).

But, on my most recent trip, I actually, gasp, went into the stacks! I had looked up online previously where the subject of books I was looking for was kept, so it was still a pretty quick trip (the selection of books at the individual branches still seems quite small compared to other libraries I’ve been a patron of, but the Dakota County Library system is quite large and has a lot more books – this means that it’s actually better to do the searching online and request books that are available throughout the system instead of limiting yourself to what’s available in your branch). I picked up four books on soapmaking.

I know. You think that’s weird. But here’s the thing. I bought some coconut oil soap on Amazon that my skin loooooved, but I went through it really fast (less than a month), and that was pretty expensive for soap (at $5/bar plus shipping). [In my defense, I'll have you know that my skin had absolutely no itchiness the entire time I was using that soap, and it cleaned really well, and now that I'm back on the regular stuff, my skin is less happy, and less clean - ish.] At the same time that I bought the soap, I also bought some coconut oil. I didn’t realize how much coconut oil I was purchasing (liquid measurements don’t really convert well in my head), and ended up with nearly a gallon of coconut oil. Good thing it has lots of uses and won’t go bad.

I digress.  The point is, I had all this oil, and there were only two ingredients on the magic soap bar: coconut oil and lavendar oil. I figured.. what the heck, maybe I could make my own soap at home. And then things got complicated. The internet didn’t really explain it to me, and I was getting confused, and decided that books were needed. Mostly, I needed some clear explanations that would convince me this is a bad idea, and I could just buy the expensive soap and be happy. [I'm really hoping to fall out of like with the idea of making my own soap. Really. I don't need that in my life. But for happy skin....]

So I’ve had these books for a few days, and not a single minute of time to even crack them open. I’d like to read an introductory section at least. Thankfully, after tonight’s class I am on Spring Break for 10 days, and have very little homework to do (though I think I will be doing more than I assigned myself, I don’t have to get anything but one paper done).

In the commments… please try to convince me not to try to make my own soap at home (or, if you like, tell me I should – whatever makes you happy).

Does it seem odd to you that, out of the blue, I would wax poetically about carbs? Well, it’s not so out of the blue, really. That whole thing about my pants not fitting? Well, buying new pants technically fixed the problem, but not really. And since realistically I won’t be spending much (if any) time at the gym until the semester is over (and even if I was, diet and exercise are supposed to go together), I really should be more careful about what I eat.  And for various reasons, I’m pretty sure a high-protein low-carb diet would be beneficial for me to try (including that it would better regulate blood sugar and therefore be more effective at getting rid of the extra smooshiness I have at my waist due to PCOS).

But it doesn’t really matter how many times I figure out that it would be a good thing for me to try, how many studies or examples or whatever I come across, because I truly adore carbs. On a blog I read, the author was talking about her love of carbs and her PCOS, and her switch to a high-protein low-carb diet. Her motivation, despite her love, is that she desperately wants another child and thinks that better regulating her body will help with her infertility. Now, if I had motivation like that, I can see giving up carbs (or cutting back, actually, since carbs still are the energy of life). But, I don’t. I have no desire to have a kid right now. And let me tell you, it’s hard to be motivated by a single pant size when sugary snacks and crackers are oh-so-yummy.

So can someone please convince me that carbs are not delicious? Or that protein is? I’d love some good ways to eat cold protein in my lunch at work (because tuna fish and cold chicken salad can only go so far, and I am not going near those microwaves here at work, regardless of what you say). Shouldn’t there be a delicious way to eat legumes in a salad of sorts?

• Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart: A Novel. 1994.
• Aguilar-Moreno, Manuel. Handbook to Life in the Aztec World. 2007.
• Alvarez, Julia. Before We Were Free. 2004.
• Anand, Mulk Raj. Untouchable. 1990.
  • Alternate (not on list, but I had to read it for another class): Singh, Khushwant. Train to Pakistan. 1994.
• Bales, Kevin. Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy. 1999.
• California Historical Society. Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience. 2000.
  • Alternate: Wakatsuki Houston, Jeanne. Farewell to Manzanar. 1983.
• Colman, Penny. Rosie the Riveter: Working Women on the Home Front in World War II. 1998.
• Ferriss, Susan. The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement. 1998.
• Flood, Josephine. The Original Australians: Story of the Aboriginal People. 2007.
• Freedman, Russell. Children of the Great Depression. 2005.
• Gruzinski, Serge. The Aztecs: Rise and Fall of an Empire. 1992.
• Hamermesh, Daniel S. Economics is Everywhere. 2005.
  • Alternate: Coyle, Diane. Sex, Drugs and Economics: An Unconventional Intro to Economics. 2004.
• Jiang, Ji-li. Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution. 2008.
  • Alternate: Min, Anchee. Red Azalea. 1999.
• Kehoe, Alice Beck. America Before the European Invasions. 2002.
• Kerber, Linda K. Women’s America: Refocusing the Past. 2003.
• King Jr, Dr. Martin Luther. Why We Can’t Wait. 2000.
• Le, Samantha. Little Sister Left Behind. 2007.
• Lemann, Nicholas. The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America. 1992.
• Moody, Anne. Coming of Age in Mississippi. 2004.
• Park, Linda Sue. When My Name Was Keoko. 2004,
• Philip, Neil. The Great Circle: A History of the First Nations. 2006.
• Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror: A History of Multiracial America. 1994.
• Ung, Loung. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. 2000.
• Yang, Kao Kalia. The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir. 2008.
• Zia, Helen. Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People. 2001.

I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on this list. What did I forget? (Remembering that we weren’t supposed to include traditionally taught or focused on, so yes there’s nothing on Europe or the Cold War, etc. This is meant to be a supplemental list, and just a starting point.) What would you add? Have you read any of the above? Other thoughts?

• Mambo No 5 by Lou Bega
• Fall Into Me by Emerson Drive
• Prayin’ For Daylight by Rascal Flatts
• Hot Stuff by the Pussycat Dolls
• My Happy Ending by Avril Lavigne
• If You’re Not The One by Daniel Bedingfield
• Meet With Me by Ten Shekel Shirt
• Strong Enough by Sheryl Crow
• A Little Less Conversation by Elvis Presley
• Any Man of Mine by Shania Twain
• There Is No Arizona by Jamie O’Neal
• Everything by Michael Buble

Little room for complaint, really.

Anyways, I wanted to talk about my current “favorite song” (if there is such a thing), “Everything” by Michael Buble. Oh, wow. first introduced me to Michael Buble a year or so ago, and I was relatively unmoved. Maybe it was her gushing enthusiasm that turned me off. I recently rediscovered him and oh my word is his music good (of course, I’m in the right mood at the moment – my other new favorite artist is Andre Bocelli) . “Everything” is a great song – upbeat and light and fun, and I can’t help but dance along when I hear it, and usually end up hitting repeat four or five times before moving on to the next song.

You’re a falling star, You’re the get away car.
You’re the line in the sand when I go too far.
You’re the swimming pool, on an August day.
And you’re the perfect thing to say.

And you play it coy, but it’s kinda cute.
Ah, When you smile at me you know exactly what you do.
Baby don’t pretend, that you don’t know it’s true.
Cause you can see it when I look at you.

[Chorus:]
And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It’s you, it’s you, You make me sing.
You’re every line, you’re every word, you’re everything.

You’re a carousel, you’re a wishing well,
And you light me up, when you ring my bell.
You’re a mystery, you’re from outer space,
You’re every minute of my everyday.

And I can’t believe, uh that I’m your man,
And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.
Whatever comes our way, ah we’ll see it through,
And you know that’s what our love can do.

[Chorus:]
And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It’s you, it’s you, You make me sing
You’re every line, you’re every word, you’re everything.

[Chorus:]
And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times
It’s you, it’s you, You make me sing.
You’re every line, you’re every word, you’re everything.
You’re every song, and I sing along.
‘Cause you’re my everything.
Yeah, yeah