Breath

So, on the plane back from Minneapolis I read Breath, by Tim Winton. You can read the first 26 pages here. It is one of the best books I have read recently. Bikash lent it to me and that was a good sign, cos he's pretty clued in. It was fun reading Australian dialogue because I had forgotten all the crazy made up words they use, and I was pretty psyched I could understand most of it.

It's a short novel. And mostly a teen drama. Winton is a master at building up the suspense. The only thing I'll say is that he likely builds the suspense up a bit too much, as I expected a lot more than what did actually happen, but hey, you can't always get what you want.

Cross training intervals, push ups, burpies, 7 min abs and ACL prevention at East River on Sunday mornings with Keri. Fun.

Ok, I have to get back to the land of Microsoft Office.

The Julie Andrews Post

Favorite Hotel Chain: Westin
Favorite Restaurant: Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar
Favorite NBA Player: Allen Iverson
Favorite Drink: Maker's Mark
Favorite Bar: Blue & Gold
Favorite Movies: The Royal Tenenbaums, City of God
Favorite TV Shows: Arrested Development, The Wire
Favorite Author: Vonnegut
Favorite Bands: Wilco, Sufjan Stevens
Favorite Candy: Reese's Cup (original, frozen)
Favorite LE: Nike Pigeon Dunk
Favorite Podcast/Radio Show: This American Life
Favorite Device: Leroy (My iPhone)
Favorite thing in the entire world: Brunch

2 More Book Reviews

I read Naked Pictures of Famous People. There are few people in this entire planet I love more than Jon Stewart, but this book is not good or funny. I guess maybe he deserves to cash in and make a little coin, or maybe he is funny on his show because the writers around him are funny, but I struggled to find anything in this book even smile worthy, let alone funny. Do not read.

My sister recommended (and gave me) Ha Jin's Waiting. Well, I read it. I am still not sure if I 'liked' it. I guess it is not really a book you are supposed to enjoy. I read it all pretty quickly and the novel held my attention. I was curious what would happen to the characters. The book is a sad story that keeps getting sadder with almost no bright spots. I guess what I took away from the story was that life in Communist China was hard, people are basically mean to each other and even if you do finally get what you think you want it will probably not make you any happier. I would recommend this book to someone who was too happy and looking for something to depress them a little.

In other news, I ran some more interval workouts (my hamstring is still my enemy). The Hoyas seems to suck all the sudden. Work seems more terrible than usual, but I guess I always say that.

War McCormick & Schmick's 9:30 snack happy hour at the Westin, which is by far the best thing going in my life these days.

I am "famous" on the internet!

Remember back in October when I had Jury Duty?

I snapped a pic and sent it in to one of my favorite blogs, The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks and the pic was recently posted. Check it out! I am participating in the internets.

This week of work in Minneapolis was just as much fun as usual and also featured a day when it was -21 Degrees Fahrenheit. I thought my eyeballs might freeze.

I am super pyched about the Eagles game tomorrow. Go Akers! Go Westbrook!

I saw WALL-E recently. I loved it. Proably the best movie of the year. Anyone who does not love this is now my enemy. I wish people were more like WALL-E.

Stay warm!

Meatwad: Samurai Lincoln

Hey. Saturday night I went to see La Boheme at the Lincoln Center. It was set in Paris, but those poor artists were singing in Italian. I was most impressed with the Chandeliers. Thanks to Keri for getting the tickets.

I finished the Elegance of the Hedgehog. I didn't love it. But I got through it. I'm going to try to read a book a month for 2009, which might not seem like much, but is more than usual for me so I think it counts as a stretch goal. Currently I'm reading Waiting bu Ha Jin, which Lynn sent me in the mail and is quite good so far, though a bit sad.

TPS Report

• 31 Days - 100% complete - No Problemo, no big deal


• 100 Push ups - 19% complete; brutal; killer; at risk


• Minneapolis - 2 degrees Fahrenheit


• Westin - 9 stays from Gold status for 2009 (boo)


• Westin Happy Hour: $2 Cheese burgers & Chicken Sandwiches!


• Kiva: Issue resolved. Back up and functioning with new loans, so check back if you checked when they were fully funded


• Eagles - 4 pt dawgs to the Gnats this Sunday, first hurdle to Super Bowl


• Leroy (my iPhone) - still 100% rad and totally worth it, get Lux Touch App (Risk)


• 2009 - yellow status so far...