General life update stuff.

Hi, guys!

I know I've been quiet...sporadic at best. There's been a lot going on, most of it school-related. And because of that, I feel like there's very little interesting enough to report on. But I will try my best.

Let's see.

House update! Since the flood (like, 2 months ago), we finally got all the wood floors fixed and redone. The guys who pulled it all up said it was still wet under there, and if we'd waited much longer we would've started growing mold. NO BUENO. Now we're in a hurry to get the kitchen going. Unfortunately, the kitchen is going to be a MAJOR project. The cabinets all need to be ripped out, which means that the appliances, countertops and floors will all need to be removed as well. So basically, once they start working on it, we will have a dusty disaster of a concrete shell where our kitchen used to be. I'm not looking forward to that. I am, however, looking forward to the new kitchen, because even though we weren't planning on renovating the entire thing, the stuff we picked out is going to look wicked sweet.

Mostly though, I'm excited to get my bathroom back. Also needs new tile, cabinetry and plumbing (since that was the root of all this evil). Michael's been exceedingly patient and generous, letting me use his. I owe him BIG TIME. Once things get going and are a little more settled, I'll post pics of our renovations.

I've been looking for a puse like this one

because I love the stripes and the bow. SO Tim Burtony!!! It would be perfect for fall and stuff. Alas, it's a Lulu Guinness, which means it's €225 (roughly 350 US dollars). Soooo that's not going to happen. But I'm looking for an affordable alternative and if I come up with one, you will be the first to know. Naturally, what will happen, is in about two years vertical black and white stripes will be the trendiest thing ever and they'll be everywhere. Once I'm done needing it NOW. This is always how it is.

Hmm, what am I reading? I'm in the process of my third read of Jane Eyre. I adore that book. It gets better every time you read it. There is so much to say about it...mostly, I love Rochester (even though according to Bronte, he looks like this.). He's the typical Byronic hero. Whereas my last professor who taught Jane Eyre focused on it as a feminist novel, this professor raised an interesting point I hadn't thought of before: the story is equally about Jane and Rochester. While we see the journey from Jane's POV, Rochester is on an equally harsh journey, perhaps even moreso than Jane. While she struggles with personal vs. societal identity, Rochester has to come to terms with who he is, what he's lost, and if there's any hope for regaining himself and his hopes in the future. I really wish there was a Jane Eyre from his POV. It'd be very interesting. Probably moreso than Jane's. Especially when she wanders around the moors, gets "brain fever," and shacks up with her weirdo preacher cousin. While all that's happening, Rochester is battling his CLINICALLY INSANE WIFE IN THE ATTIC and escaping his burning manor home. And pining after Jane, even though he's old enough to be her father. And he gets deformed.

It's SO GOOD. Read it or buy it. Ninety-nine cents. You officially have no excuse.

Short Stories I'd Recommend
This week's list is short because we kind of read a lot of Kafka, and I could never recommend Kafka (if he's your thing, go for it! But I don't care for him and thus, won't rec him). I only have three, but they're good:


1."A Good Man is Hard to Find," by Flannery O'Connor.
In which a judgmental old grandmother ultimately leads her family to their unfortunate demise--ON VACATION. Also, the first line is awesome, but I'm probably biased. They SHOULD have gone to Florida!


2. "A&P" by John Updike.
Updike is probably one of the greatest short story writers ever to live, and this story is pretty clever. I really like how honest it is. Even though the narrator comes off as a stupid, sexist teenaged guy, it's an extremely honest narrative told from said narrator's POV. I liked it.



3. "The Cask of Amontillado," by Edgar Allan Poe.
I mentioned before that "The Lottery" vies for my #1 best short story place. This is the story it competes with. This tale is so utterly Poe-like. The setting, the names...it's loaded with irony and Poe's sick little twisted sense of humor. And per usual, Poe, the master wordsmith, weaves this tale together perfectly. It's chilling and awesome. READ IT NOW.


Sorry I don't have more interesting things to write. That's always a good sign to me that I'm spending too much time looking in and back, and not enough time looking out and around. It's good, these reminders. It's good to get things back into perspective and realize there's a whole, hilarious world out there for us to explore. Why waste it with worries? :)