formerly a fearless temp

Today I finished a reread of Sylvester, which was one of the first Georgette Heyer novels I read when I started picking up her books on your recommendation a few years ago. I took it out of the library back then, so I haven't had it lying around my house for the past few years for me to pick up every so often and refresh my memory by paging over my favorite parts, and so I had completely forgotten the plot and was forced to reread from cover to cover. The experience was, as you might imagine, awesome, and has tempted me to impose on myself something like the Disney policy of releasing movies for public consumption - they should only be available for a few months, and then should disappear for several years, so that when they appear again I've just about forgotten the plot and can enjoy the book anew.

Sadly, I lack the self-control to put away Heyer novels, and the only ones that will stay off my shelves are going to be the ones that haven't been rereleased lately and whose out-of-print copies I haven't purchased for myself online.

But the point of my entry was supposed to be this: Sylvester was awesome. Even better than I'd remembered, and I'd remembered it as pretty wonderful. It's so rare to come across a book that isn't just fun, or funny, or involving, or entertaining - this was one of those books I itched to finish because it was so great to read, a book that I seriously considered reading as I walked out to my car after work, so desperate was I to get back to it after I'd had to put it down at the end of lunch.

Now that I think of it, I've been kind of indulging a Heyer resurgence in my reading habits over the last few months - a few new to me, most rereads.

Rereads Found to Be Totally Awesome:

-Frederica - One of the funniest, in my opinion, and Frederica herself is just so great.

-The Corinthian - I find Pen totally endearing.

-Black Sheep - Almost identical to Lady of Quality, and I enjoy Black Sheep a lot more.

New to Me, Also Totally Awesome

-These Old Shades - I took forever to read it because the subject matter sounded weird and unappealing - an old duke falls in love with a young girl masquerading as his page? Creepy! And yet when I read it, of course I TOTALLY LOVED IT!

-Devil's Cub - Took forever to read this one because it was a sequel to the above - and, of course, totally loved it. Mary Challoner is so great.

-The Talisman Ring - I had this lying around my house for a few years and never read it because it sounded adventure-y and not very funny and/or romantic, but when I finally gave it a good try a few months ago I found that it was really quite hilarious and sweet. It's also a good example of her talent in writing about and respecting a variety of character types - she treats both the melodramatic couple and the practical couple with affection and respect.

Books Whose Good Bits I Reread Too Often For Me To Ever Have A Satisfactory Rediscovery Of The Text:

-Cotillion - Possibly my favorite ending of all Heyer books.

-Venetia - No, this has my favorite ending.

New to Me, and Rather Disappointing

-The Black Moth - I couldn't even get to the end of this one.

Now the real problem: What do I read as a follow up to the greatness of Sylvester? Clearly the only option is a Heyer novel I haven't read in a while. I think I've got Arabella squirreled away somewhere . . .

I am wide awake right now. Work is going to be torture tomorrow because of this, and yet here I am, typing away.

Okay, so, confession time: I have totally gotten hooked on romance novels. The last week or so of stress and drama was prime breeding ground for a new reading habit, since I was traveling all over and spending stretches of time seated in strange places that smelled funny, where a compact paperback book was very helpful. I read the entire Julia Quinn Bridgerton series in a week, and while parts of it got repetitive for me (probably because I read one a day), I totally enjoyed them and now I feel this need for more. More!

I have a feeling there must be romance novel fans on my flist. I am asking for your help! I feel like I do this all the time, but I can't help myself - you guys always give good book recommendations.

Until this week, the only romance novels I'd read were those by Jennifer Crusie or Georgette Heyer, and I love both of those authors. I'm leaning toward Regency right now (the more escapist, the better), and I like funny books without too much melodrama. In short, I tend to roll my eyes when the the heroines are constantly crying, or (heaven forbid) the heroes turn on the waterworks.

Basically, I want Georgette Heyer, but I've read all of her stuff that's readily available!

Any recommendations?

In Grandpa news - he was better last night (he ate dinner! The nurse said to me, "Saturday, I would have said he had four days left, five at the most, but now? Who knows!"), and tonight was my aunt's turn at the nursing home, so I haven't seen how he's doing today for myself. I called the nursing home today to talk to his doctor and get an update about his condition/prognosis, but he didn't call me back. My family says I need to let it go and let things happen as they will - and I know they're right! But this uncertainty is maddening to me. I guess I'm more of a control freak than I thought.

Did I mention that my graduation party is Saturday? It's still on, which seems weird to me, but my parents rightly pointed out that we can't postpone because who knows what will happen when, and we can't put life on hold indefinitely, and blah blah blah, rational logical sensible. Oh God, I need to find an outfit. And lose twenty pounds. And get a job.

It would totally be awesome if my fairy godmother chose this week to show up.

Okay, I'm talking about fairy godmothers, CLEARLY it's time for bed. Peace out, yo.

Okay, peeps, so I just finished reading Sight Hound by Pam Houston, which was good, but made me cry so much at the end that I'm still a little stuffed-up more than an hour later. Tomorrow I'm going to swing by the bookstore and pick up another novel (because I'm savoring these last few days before school kicks into a higher gear), and was wondering if anyone had recommendations. I am looking for a good, fast, preferably funny read that won't leave me crying at the end. Enough tears!

Books I Have Read in the Past That Effectively Fit This Description:

Almost any Georgette Heyer novel (I've read all of the ones I can find in this area, and have Venetia making its way to me from California from a used bookseller as I type)

Bridget Jones's Diary

Almost any Jennifer Crusie book

Sloppy Firsts/Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty

So, basically I'm looking for a good chicklitty/YA novel similar to those above. Quelle surprise!

Bedtime!

( oscarage - it finished two hours ago but I don't know, maybe people taped it? when in doubt, cut-tag, say I )

Okay! So I'm trying to figure out how to organize this entry without spoiling people, as I want to talk about Sideways some more - and it would segue in nicely here, since I was just talking about the Oscars, but I guess it would be better to wait until the end and put the cut tag there - whatever! I'm moving on to another subject.

I'm reading this book right now, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, and it's really freaking me out because in addition to my usual worries about things like car accidents, scary murderers, and freak kitchen accidents, I now find myself with whole new worlds of things to obsess over. Like - what if a black hole swallows us up? What if the universe decides to stop expanding right now? And just collapses in on itself with no warning? Like, RIGHT NOW? It COULD HAPPEN. And there's all this lead in the atmosphere! And the ozone is gone! And particle physics just really weirds me out!

Anyway. It's a pretty good book! The next section is entitled Dangerous Planet, with a subheading of, "The history of any one part of the Earth, like the life of a soldier, consists of long periods of boredom and short periods of terror." TERROR.


What if there's another ice age? Soon? WHAT IF?

Another book I read recently and really enjoyed was Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis (who's also written books about Thomas Jefferson and, more recently, George Washington). Fantastic book. Worthy of caps lock. FANTASTIC BOOK. I just tried to write something about it but - do you ever have those cases where you love something so much your brain freezes up and you just can't communicate it in actual sentences? I'm trying to think of an equivalent - as with all things, I will turn to the pantheon of WB primetime television. For example, any moment between Pacey and Joey in season three of Dawson's Creek? Or any moment of Bright being adorable on Everwood (read: any moment Bright is on screen)?

To use a non-WB example: Any moment JC Chasez or Matt Damon is in sight?

You know that feeling? That is how I feel about this book, but since it's a history book, I feel like I have to find an intelligent way of talking about it, when really I just want to say:

OMG! It is SO AWESOME!!! Like, there is all this stuff in there about slavery and how they could have gotten rid of it but they totally DIDN'T because they were stupid and cowardly and believed that it would solve itself - AS IF! And also, James Madison, who used to be my favorite founding father by really ISN'T anymore, totally disappointed me with his abandonment of Federalist principles - did you know he was totally Jefferson's go-to guy? They, like, exchanged ideas ALL THE TIME. Jefferson would write Madison these letters, like, 'You know, Jim, I was thinking - we should have all laws expire every twenty years because we don't want to be holden to the TYRANNY OF THE PAST" and Madison would write back all, "Yeah, Tom, that's kind of pretty much anarchy? And I don't think that would be good?" and Jefferson would write back, "Heh, you're right. My bad."

Maybe someday I will find a better way of talking about it - the above barely captures the amount of stuff the book covers and how awesomely it covers it - and if that day comes, I will write about it again. But seriously, if you have any interest in the era at all - or even if you don't - I really recommend picking it up. It's a great read, very informative and fun and fascinating. Did you know that George Washington was sensitive and would get really really upset when people wrote mean things about him in the papers? Did you know that Thomas Jefferson was a massive tool?

Read the book and find out for yourself!

Okay, I'm tired but I wanted to say something about Sideways - I think I figured out one of the reasons I disliked it so much.

( behind the cut tag )

Okay, bedtime!

File under Seriously Crazy-Making: Figuring out my grandfather's payroll thing. Aunt handed me one sheet of paper with a list of all aides and the hours they worked, the wages they were paid per week and by the hour. All useful information! Except some of it mustn't be correct because for a couple of the people, the per hour rate x hours worked = something different from weekly salary noted.

Crazy-making!

Have thusly had to write long-ass involved letter to all of them about this and the new way I'm going to be distributing the checks (am going to try that newfangled "mail" thing they're all talking about, instead of driving down to the house five times a week the way my aunt had).

Goodness. Just wrote and deleted a paragraph more about payroll stuff but it was so mind-numbingly boring that I couldn't subject myself to typing it all out. Suffice it to say: Annoyed!

Just got back from quick three-day jaunt to New Hampshire. Hadn't seen the state before! Trip was v. nice, involving golf, tennis, lost of yummy food and three books consumed by yours truly. Books consumed were:

Last Chance Salloon by Marian Keyes, which was okay. I always am annoyed by her books at first and then can't put them down after reading a hundred pages or so. After reading three of her books, I have to say that the thing that annoys me most of all? The way she treats weight problems. Because!!! In two of her books she's had characters who put on significant poundage (one for a baby, one for emotional reasons), and then just magically lose it! Because they're emotionally distraught and not eating! IF ONLY IT WERE SO EASY. Or is it that easy for some people? I want to meet these people and learn from them! I mean, I have been emotionally distraught to the point of not eating, but even then I only dropped fifteen pounds, tops, and I'm not sure they even stayed off.

It's especially annoying because she does get parts of it -- the irrational overeating, the horrible bad feeling of tight clothes -- and then just totally misses it on the other end. Although I think this has more to do with my personal issues than hers. And so I'll just shut up now!

Next book!

Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale, which was very good. Am pretty sure I totally misspelled his name there, but am too lazy to walk down the hall to the actual book. Fun read, fascinating stories of how he conned people and made various daring escapes. Dangerous book for those around you, though -- every time I finished a chapter, I was so impressed by his new con/escape that I just HAD to tell someone. Drove my family crazy with a chapter-by-chapter retelling of the book while I read.

Last Book!

In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien, which was excellent. I loved The Things They Carried and this one was more disturbing but just as involving and cool. I don't know. I wish I had Smart Things To Say, but I don't! It freaked me out in the best way.

Have also seen, like, seven movies in the last week and a half. I've been meaning to talk about all/some of them and maybe will later but now must away to bed!

You know who was cool? Eugene V. Debs. Had to read a biography on him for class today, and while I'm not completely confident in the objectivity of the author (the book kind of read like it was written by the press secretary of the I *heart* Eugene Victor Debs Fan Club, but it is a pretty well-known and regarded book, I think, so I'm thinking it's not completely inaccurate), it wasn't too bad a read for a four hundred plus page biography. It was made even more enjoyable by the fact that I kind of skipped a bunch of the middle so I'd get to the end before class tonight. But I will go back and read the middle, honest! Someday.

I'm so wiped out. I stayed up until about 3:30 last night writing a paper for class, then got up at a little before seven, and now I know I should go to bed or I'll die tomorrow, but of course, right now, it seems more important to me that I check my email a few more times and write this fascinating LJ entry.

Randomly: In the middle of class today, I took a swig of Diet Coke and a bit of it went down the wrong way just as my professor was getting going on this huge tangent. I was sitting right next to him so I tried not to cough, eventually holding my breath to the point that I could feel myself turning red and the people on the other side of the table started looking at me oddly, so I coughed a bit and stuff and it got bearable, and now I've got this random cough going on, like because I held off on clearing my throat immediately, my windpipe is going to punish me all night by being ticklish. Weirdness.

I saw Lost in Translation over the weekend and it was so great. I'd been looking forward to it for so long that I kind of didn't want to see it anymore, because I was afraid it would be lame or disappointing but it wasn't. It was great. I love it when movies live up to and exceed your expectations.

Bedtime.

I need help! See, my grandmother's birthday is coming up (actually, it's today, but I won't see her until next Monday) and I'm trekking out to the bookstore to get her present tonight and I'm looking for recommendations. She was always a big reader, but ever since my grandfather died she hasn't really been able to get into anything and she's been going on and on lately about how she misses really looking forward to reading a book and I'd love to get her a few books that would help her do that. I've got a few ideas myself, but if anyone out there has any ideas, I would SO appreciate it. There are a few qualifications, which is what's making the book search so challenging:

(1) I have to give it to my grandmother so, you know. I would feel weird giving her a book of erotica or something.

(2) It can't be too sad. The books she's read since my grandfather's death have all been sad and part of what's turned her off reading ( I still can't figure out what whoever recommended The Lovely Bones to her mere weeks after the funeral was thinking.). So, happy books. Funny books. Uplifting books.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Nana needs a good read! Rally to the cause! I mean, if you want to. No pressure.

And now I must go back to work.

Of course! Of course the bridal shower planning committees for the two weddings I'm in this summer have scheduled their respective bridal showers for the SAME DAY. One at noon! One at one! Forty minutes away from each other! What am I going to do?? The club's rented and set for one shower, and the other seems to be more nebulous and so I've put in notice to them of my plight (not requiring them to change the shower, of course, but just informing them that I won't be able to be at the entire shower. Though really, as I said to Jo on the phone tonight, if an event is even partially Jess-less, is it really worth having? Am secretly hoping they will either shift it later in the day or [hope hope hope] move it to another day).

I mean, I would like to enjoy the showers! If such a thing can happen. Showers are usually painfully boring, but I was looking forward to these since I was in the bridal party and actually know the bride well. More fun potential than the usual step-cousin-in-law-who-you-only-see-at-Christmas's shower, you know?

Right now I think I'll have to make a mad dash halfway through the first shower to make it to the tail end of the second. Positive Aspect: Only have to buy/throw together one shower outfit! Yay!

Also! Since Kristen the Republican Bride is having THREE HUNDRED PEOPLE at her wedding, I've been having night sweats wondering what I was going to have to pony up for the shower but it sounds like it's going to be low key and that Kristen's godmother is going to be doing the bulk of the planning and putting-together. And also, you know, the paying. Thank GOD. I can't entertain ten people, let alone a hundred! Word on the street is that there will be pot luck action and I will have to prepare a dish. I am not what you would call a cook, unless you define "cook" as "one who can turn on the oven and make a three-course meal consisting of salad in a bag, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and slice-n-bake chocolate chip cookies". So my contribution to the shower will be interesting, especially since I will be bringing the dish to the second shower of the day, which will either mean (a) making something that will not go bad in the car while I am attending Shower Number One, or (b) storing the dish in the kitchen of Shower Number One. Do you think I could just bring multiple bags of potato chips? Ooh, like those snack-pack dealios? Varied individual bags? That could get expensive, though. Must ponder.

In other news: Did not go into work today due to Lingering Head/Chestcold of Doom. Have had it since last Monday, which accounts for my bad-moodiness for the past week, mostly because I also came down with a Puritan Work Ethic last week and didn't call in once even though I felt like death warmed over every day. I mean, I was really sick! I went to bed at 10PM! On multiple nights! Seriously! I haven't done that since I was in grade school. Once I hit sixth grade I got addicted to David Letterman and that's when the general 1AM Jess Bedtime came into effect. Today I still felt generally crappy and took a recovery day since the whole going-about-one's-business-as-usual-and-ignoring-it wasn't working.

Had to take a recovery day because the weekend was pretty active, a good portion of its three days having been spent in Lenox with the fam, since my parents have apparently missed the memo stating that my brother and I are 19 and 22 and not 9 and 12 and so they still plan a quick mini-vacay for every three-day-weekend and expect both of us to come along. Neither my brother or I really have the heart, motivation, or inclination to let them know otherwise, and so I suspect we'll be trodding off with Jim and Peg when we're 49 and 52 because we're Just That Pathetic.

Anyway! Weekend was good in general, with the requisite moments of agony and ecstasy to make any trip worth taking. The Agony: Friday night dinner, which began at 11:30 (!!) at night, at the end of a very long, annoying workday. And did I mention I was sick? We were seated directly under a speaker and roughly six feet away from the live music act, a folk trio which -- how can I put this gently? -- well, pretty much sucked. Oh, I feel so mean! They were really into it but also, well, really bad. One of them had a ncie voice and whenever the other two came in on harmony I felt like rushing the stage and tackling them. Also, we were so close to the stage that we couldn't even roll our eyes at each other and talk about how bad they were there because they were like five feet away! And could see us! Maybe they were just having an off night. Also, there was the added bonus of it being Valentine's Day and being surrounded by canoodling couples while being out with ONE'S PARENTS and not, you know, Justin Timberlake or Jim Rockford or, you know, even Creepy Maintenance Dude. I mean, I'm not particularly bitter over my (Not So) Swinging Single Existence, but there are moments where I get hints of the Bitter Old Lady I could become should JC never arrive on my doorstep to sweep me away.

The Ecstasy: This FABULOUS bookstore we found the next day, which wasn't all that big but had all these cool books and just excellent ambience, to use a word my grandfather loves. And really, I am the type of cool chick that hijacks her grandfather's vocabulary. And I bought books! Bonus: When I went back later in the day to pick up something for my mother and the bookstore owner guy asked to see what I'd bought earlier in the day, I pulled them out and he and his Snooty Bookstore Pals looked them over and were all "Oooh, good choices! You passed!" Usually I get reactions more in the vein of, "Are these for your thirteen year old sister?" so that was a thrill.

I also picked up a Jennifer Cruisie novel in the Stop 'n Shop on the way home and, naturally, dove into that one first. Devoured it today! She is like crack, man! Excellent stuff! Now I will move onto the thicker, more intimidating books. Really, I will. Really!

Actually, right now I think I'm going to dive into bed and watch my tape of Buffy since the Annoying Cough of Doom is back with a venegeance and that NyQuill I took a little while ago is just kicking in.

I've been reading over everyone else's opening lines from favorite books meme and they're all so interesting and remind me of what cool, interesting, super-smart people I've got on my friends list. It makes me nervous to even try to come up with my own list, because I know it'll be so boring and lame in comparison! I've been trying anyway, if only to give myself something to space out over at work other than JC, but so far I've only got a few for-sures and about thirty possibles. I always suck at narrowing such things down, and I'm sure by the time I've thought about it enough, I'll have lost interest and the list will never get posted.

The whole endeavor is worth it, though, even if no list is created, because in my book hunt I came across my old copy of Wuthering Heights, which I haven't opened in years, and found a note written in my fourteen-year-old print saying "If you find this book, please call me and let me know because it is my favorite book. ~Jessica [MyLastName] [My phone number]" I was such a dork! I used to leave notes in all of my belongings that had special meaning to me, especially if they were gifts, telling the person who found/stole it how much it meant to me and to please return it to me. I knew how powerful guilt could be and I was not afraid to use it as a weapon against others!

Oh, it's so late! Must go to bed. It's just as well, I'm feeling excessively boring tonight. Maybe I'll wake up more interesting tomorrow. A girl can hope!