books
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

You and your Wilde words...

I love Oscar Wilde. The way he writes, the way he thinks, pretty much the way he is transmitted through the words he put down on paper and is perceived by my mind. I love.

During my trip to Ireland, what did I discover but that Wilde is an IRISH man and not the great Great Britain that for some reason seems to be a common idea in many peoples' minds.

I finished his one and only published novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and boy did that become a kind of horror story really fast! Knock another one off the Ultimate Reading List finally!

The first time I even had notion of Dorian Gray as a story/book/literary work was in 2003 when the name of Sean Connery drew me to the movie "The League of Extraordinary Gentleman." Remember that one?


The first time I realized it's "extra-ordinary" which actually completely makes sense. *facepalm*
And watch this film I did- twice. Cuz there's always something about superhero movies that draws you back despite it being extracheezy or extraunbelievable or extracampy or extraridiculous... i guess that "extra" rule doesn't quite work in all situations eh?


BUT LOOK AT THIS FACE!!
"hummuna hummuna hummuna guffaw guffaw guffaw"
Oh and... wait, what was I saying? Right, so you'll see that Dorian Gray is one of the League though he is not actually part of the original extraplain group. Observe:


see? nowhere to be found. like the invisible man... har har

The remake saw fit to add new characters and make the league a SUPER league!! Because..... well.... Amerka!!!!!~~


Though captions are not my own, I felt them highly relevant.
Dorian Gray would be second from the left.


close up! see how handsome he is?? and will be.. FOREVER.......

Anyway sometime during the movie the quirk of Wilde's novel is discussed as Gray very obviously travels where he goes with constant concern over the safety of his portrait. This was completely new to my 14 year old mind and I was fascinated with the idea that Gray's youth and energy comes from the safe keeping of his picture and that wound to the picture is wound to his body... is that not an AMAZING thought!? Ok, if I'm being honest it still dazzles my mind.

Of course being the spritely eager youngster (that I am sadly no longer) I googled the shit out of this man called Dorian Gray after watching the movie. Maybe during the movie, I don't remember. I needed to know: Who thought of this idea? Which comic mogul featured him: DC? Marvel? fuck, I dunno- Nickelodeon?? What does the cartoon version of him look like? How old is this story that I've heard of Jekyll and Hyde but not Dorian Gray? The physical embodiment of Beauty as Dorian Gray was new to me in every sense of the meaning.

But to those less ignorant than I am, the name of another beautiful and immortal man would come to mind immediately at the mention of Dorian Gray... and that is of course the name of Oscar Wilde. I fell in love with him for his name, fell out of love with him for his not very manly looks (i was much more shallow a year ago back then), and then back in love with him through the college study of "The Importance of Being Earnest." Now, I'm a little bit frightened and ever more in awe of him after my reading of Dorian Gray.

On a literary forum that I was perusing, I saw a thread started by the question "Oscar Wilde: overrated?" and immediately I thought to myself and very pointedly at the post- I HATE YOU, YOU'RE AN IDIOT FOR ASKING SOMETHING LIKE THAT!! and then obviously I clicked on the link to see what everyone from the cyberweb had replied. Fortunately, there was only one idiot (OP) and all of the responses were the same as my initial reaction in varying degrees of politeness and filtering. Having been justified by complete agreement from the rest of the literate universe, I saved the severe tongue-lashing I had loaded in my fingers and let OP live another day.

Wilde stopped writing far too soon and selfishly deprived the world of some serious thoughts on aesthetics and human nature. If anything he is completely UNDERrated and it is the loss of thinking minds that he is so.

During one of my five million connecting flights on the way to Ireland, I had cause (aka shoddy ass access to international wifi after being cut off from the world) to download a collection of Wilde's children's stories called "The Happy Prince." I started crying on the plane and sniffling quietly like I was watching a sequel of The Notebook. I grew up around peers who seemed to have none of the moral values or conscientiousness that were forced on me by immigrant parents who had lived most of life in a much more disciplined country than America. So imagine my surprise when the same kind of cynical eye-rolling thoughts I have had on numerous occasions throughout my short-lived life were subtly and craftily expressed in these seemingly innocuous stories. It's clear what Wilde thought of his generation and how that would affect the one coming right behind. For his judgment and his attempt to address the issue while the buds are only yet forming, I respect Wilde in a way I find it difficult to do for those who just sit and write "letters to the editor" expecting things to be fixed and all better now that they've said their piece.

But of course those people are not Oscar Wilde. In any age it is difficult to find a mind that is able to think such pure thoughts and still account for all of the sinning that revolve ever around them.

"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight,
 and his punishment is that he sees the dawn 
before the rest of the world."
 - Oscar Wilde
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The Maltese Falcon

So I finally finished reading Trainspotting (Irvine Welsh) that I'd been reading for an inordinate amount of time and then.... well basically I was in shock for a while. Yes. The book was horrifying in the most ordinary way and so i followed it up by watching the film. While the film was jarring and visually assaults the audience attempting to do justice to the novel, the monstrous images that grow in your mind from the words you are forced to read cannot be visually portrayed because everyone knows somebody like what is described, or has heard of someone like whose story you're witnessing, in real life. But everyone knows Begbie to look differently. Everyone has heard of a Mark but he doesn't necessarily look like Ewan McGregor....

Next adventure: The Maltese Falcon. The path I took to discover this mystery novel was a little odd and took many months to get there though i didn't know i was going there at the time. I re-purposed my super movie watching mission and added several more films to the list- one of which was the movie Brick (2005). I loved the style of the film so much that i went to the director's site to learn more about his inspiration and reason for stylizing it the way he chose. Then through a forum, I was led to more reviews and more discussions of this film. Which led me to the vocabulary words "film noir," "hammett," "chandler," and a few others that I have chosen to study a bit of. Researching "hammett" in conjunction with "film noir" led me to "Sam Spade" which led me to "The Maltese Falcon" which happens to be on my Ultimate Reading List as WELL as one of the additional lists of films to be watched and categorized. Bam and bam, wheeeee!!

As you can imagine, i've been knocking several things off of many lists and that makes me abundantly happy (see "wheeeee" above).

What does not make me happy is that The Maltese Falcon story was very much less exciting than I had hoped it would be based on my exciting and fruitful journey that led me to that end. Perhaps it is that being written in 1930, and I being of very late 1980's, I just expect a different kind of mystery novel. However I will say this I have never read a mystery novel that has so much mystery and such precise development and plot revelation as this novel.  There were so many details that just never led anywhere and i guess having details like "i'll ring the bell four times long short long short" and then not ever having it occur or come to light is what confuses me. I've read most of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries and I've been spoiled by the champ at tying up every loose end and seemingly detached detail. This novel seemed a little loosely created and very quickly twisted to come to a clean ending where Sam Spade is bad ass private detective of the century.

And boy is he!

When I finished reading The Maltese Falcon the next logical step was obviously to track down the original film rendition of the novel and hellooooooooooooooo Humphrey Bogart :)


Well. The film was no different. Which speaks volume of the film for being so true to novel without making a mockery of film or novel. But the sense of unfinishedness and "wtf" was also still there from the novel. And Humphrey Bogart was very bad ass as Sam Spade although.... kind of short? Strange. Either way watching this film some deem the first of the film noir era and watching the novel come to life in a time that I have never seen for myself was definitely something for a Sunday afternoon.
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Decisions

As is evident by my sudden re-interest in my own blog again, I have very little to do here in my real life.  This is the case for two reasons:

a) I don't have a job. Before you start spitting in all your disdain, don't bother. I already have. However, I am looking so fingers crossed.
b) There is such a multitude of directions that I need/want to be heading in right now that I am taking the Lorne approach as recorded by Tina Fey- "Sometimes if you have difficult decision to make, just stall until the answer presents itself." You may call me weak but.... you may call me weak. Shuddap! It's my life and I'll waste it if I want to!

Well, despite what you may think, Reason b is already wwooorrrkkingggg! I got a call from LA today from a professional in the field of one of the directions I want to go in..... and I missed the call because I was sleeping in- FOR ONCE IN THIS ENTIRE FRIGGIN MONTH! ugh. But, I called him back and whoooooooo! He would like to work with meeeee! Of course there is a fee. Far steeper than I can manage in the next.. ever. If I could just figure out how this prostitution thing works......

So, one possible answer has presented itself. Lorne is a genius. And I say this though I have never even met/heard of the man!

In other news, I saw Sherlock Holmes 2 last night and it was ok. I think I enjoyed the first one more.  However the entire theater was empty aside from me and my friend so it was kinda fun to sit there talking really loud about the movie during the movie as if that giant screen belonged to one of us...

In other other news, I've been watching speeches on youtube made by some serious people, i.e. Hitler, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Roosevelt, and such... because it has dawned on me that there may actually have been VIDEO back then so that we could actually watch these people make the damn speech we've all heard and read about since grade three!

In really other news. I've just finished Tina Fey's "Bossypants" and I like it. A lot. This woman inspires me to be more ME than I could ever have imagined. Go and read it. [Note: gentlemen, while I am aware that many of you will not, because of many things, i.e. you don't know who she is, you don't like who she is, you don't like women, you think women aren't funny, and such, you all can go suck a fat piece of my dog's turd and continue your lives as the ignorant asshats that you are.]  Thank you Tina.
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Books update

I've been reading. Yes I know how, jackass.

I've gone to my Ultimate Reading List and crossed off:
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Old Man and the Sea

Wow... I'm only about 80 books behind schedule. Woot woot!

Ok well technically I've read other books, but they aren't on the list so...
Normally I stay away from bestseller books because I like to see if they withstand the "5 year test" that I just made up right now.  Basically, if people are still talking about it 5 years after it hits bestseller list, then it's worth a look. Otherwise, it's just a trend and people, you know I'm on a time crunch here with this list! However, I watched the movie "The Help" as I'm sure you all have, and I liked it so much I went back to read the book.  Excellent choice, if I may say so about myself. I really enjoyed the book. I do not discriminate when I choose to laugh out loud when reading a book, and I laughed a lot when I read "The Help."

The Time Traveler's Wife was a little more involved for me. I kept getting the scrunch between my eyebrows when I would come across something that seemed a little screwy. I will say that the book was really enjoyable and I was just being a pain in the ass by picking out holes in the physics of it all. However it was waaaay more clever than any book I ever came up with so who am I to talk.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was awesome. Whole series. And I even read the extra stories in the huge definitive not definitive edition. At times I thought it would never end... but not because it wasn't good. Because it was literally a million pages long. So creative!

The Old Man and the Sea came unexpectedly into my hands for reading last week. While I've had it for months, it had been sitting up on my shelf completely neglected amongst other more enticingly covered books. Whores. I randomly reached for it one day and it reminded why I love books so much. Whole WORLDS inside two thin covers and a few pieces of mashed up pulverized and pressed butchered trees. This book made me think about life. In particular, my own life at this moment and what could come.

Right now I'm reading Tina Fey's "Bossypants" and am completely amazed. Why didn't I live this life? Why don't I live it starting now!? No, because it's not my life. Not that my life is not adequate, it's just not so far along that I've got a book written about it already. BALLS!
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Timed Friends

Happiness #11 : Friends who arrive on cue

Today I sent in a job application.  Like a real people job application.  Can I say I'm happy about it? Well that's questionable...

Instead, let's see: Today I made it to all of my classes.  Had fruitful discussions.  Got out of my second class early and on my way home I ran into a friend I met two years ago.  Now talk about chance!  Two years ago we had barely anything in common other than our love of laughing at my ridiculous antics, and our summer calc class.  Today, I see her for the first time in years out of nowhere sitting at a cafe and luckily, we didn't have one of those "nod and acknowledge that we know each other but don't actually like each other enough to really meet up and catch up" situations.  Both of us being incredibly bubbly it went something like this: I spot her.  I point through the window very near to her face.  She glances up to see what is invading her peripheral vision.  Recognition.  Surprise.  Gladness. "Come Inside!" gesture.  I go inside. We softly shriek a bit and hug.  And it's like we're back in summer calc....  It was absolutely beautiful.  And what's more, we are both in a similar place in our lives with regards to dealing with how to reconcile keeping important people in our lives vs. following what feels like destiny.  Two years later, we are more alike than we could have ever foreseen, and two years later we spot each other, one month before we will likely never see each other again, and give each other the very unbiased solace that we've been trying desperately not to ask for.

And then the rest of the day.  I guess the job application has a little less priority in my happiness count.  If I get the job, then it can take priority over EVERYTHING else... but that's for another day.

Books update:
And can I just say, I've been reading a ridiculous amount of STUFF for all of my classes and NONE of it can be crossed off my Ultimate Reading List.  Lame.  But soon enough!!! If you can only imagine, I'm squealing a little inside at the prospect of reading for hours and hours and hours... without a paper due at the end of it!!!
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The Ultimate Reading List

Alright, so as I have promised, here is my list of books to read by my twenty-fifth year.

But first, a little backstory.  How did I come up with this list?  Well..... while I'd like to say that I'm just really knowledgable in the literary world, in fact it was a little more cut-and-paste action, and a lot less contemplative production.  I went online and searched for five different "Top 100 novels/books" lists.  Three were on popular civilian web forums created by avid readers.  Two were by publishing companies who had compiled the lists based on their critics. Copy, paste, remove duplicates, remove obvious typos and brain spasm choices ("Twilight series, "Harry Potter series," etc.), and viola! Thus, a list is created of some two hundred and sixty books of classic literature, dramatic novels, science fiction, romance, and popular fiction. While I won't be adding any new novels to this particular list, suggestions are always welcome for the list to read during years twenty-five to thirty!

Look it over, and see if you're up to the challenge! This is to be an evolving list that I will keep coming back to so don't freak out if it looks different once in a while.  I'll be keeping track of those I finish as I read through this list, and hopefully I'll eventually be inspired to review them... Enjoy~


1984 BY GEORGE ORWELL
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD BY HARPER LEE
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE BY J.D. SALINGER
THE LORD OF THE RINGS BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE BY JANE AUSTEN
THE GREAT GATSBY BY F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT BY FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY
CATCH-22 BY JOSEPH HELLER
LOLITA BY VLADIMIR NABOKOV
ULYSSES BY JAMES JOYCE
BRAVE NEW WORLD BY ALDOUS HUXLEY
WUTHERING HEIGHTS BY EMILY BRONTE
ANIMAL FARM BY GEORGE ORWELL
LORD OF THE FLIES BY WILLIAM GOLDING
LES MISERABLES BY VICTOR HUGO
GREAT EXPECTATIONS BY CHARLES DICKENS
THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV BY FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS
ANNA KARENINA BY LEO TOLSTOY
THE GRAPES OF WRATH BY JOHN STEINBECK
JANE EYRE BY CHARLOTTE BRONTE
EAST OF EDEN BY JOHN STEINBECK
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY BY DOUGLAS ADAMS (whole series bitches!)
DON QUIXOTE BY MIGUEL DE CERVANTES
THE SOUND AND THE FURY BY WILLIAM FAULKNER
THE KITE RUNNER BY KHALED HOSSEINI
THE HOBBIT BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN
WAR AND PEACE BY LEO TOLSTOY
SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE BY KURT VONNEGUT
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE BY ANTHONY BURGESS
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA BY C.S. LEWIS
GONE WITH THE WIND BY MARGARET MITCHELL
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY BY OSCAR WILDE
A TALE OF TWO CITIES BY CHARLES DICKENS
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE BY GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
THE SUN ALSO RISES BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY
FRANKENSTEIN BY MARY SHELLEY
FAHRENHEIT 451 BY RAY BRADBURY
THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE BY AUDREY NIFFENEGGER
THE STRANGER BY ALBERT CAMUS
INVISIBLE MAN BY RALPH ELLISON
LIFE OF PI BY YANN MARTEL
THE STAND BY STEPHEN KING
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST BY KEN KESEY
HIS DARK MATERIALS BY PHILLIP PULLMAN
THE DA VINCI CODE BY DAN BROWN
ATLAS SHRUGGED BY AYN RAND
ENDER'S GAME BY ORSON SCOTT CARD
THE FOUNTAINHEAD BY AYN RAND
A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN BY JAMES JOYCE
REBECCA BY DAPHNE DU MAURIER
WATERSHIP DOWN BY RICHARD ADAMS
FIGHT CLUB BY CHUCK PALAHNIUK
DRACULA BY BRAM STOKER
MOBY DICK BY HERMAN MELVILLE
A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES BY JOHN KENNEDY TOOLE
DUNE BY FRANK HERBERT
A FAREWELL TO ARMS BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY
ON THE ROAD BY JACK KEROUAC
MADAME BOVARY BY GUSTAVE FLAUBERT
THE POISONWOOD BIBLE BY BARBARA KINGSOLVER
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA BY ARTHUR GOLDEN
PALE FIRE BY VLADIMIR NABOKOV
OF MICE AND MEN BY JOHN STEINBECK
THE IDIOT BY FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY
MIDDLEMARCH BY GEORGE ELIOT
THE MASTER AND MARGARITA BY MIKHAIL BULGAKOV
OF HUMAN BONDAGE BY W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
I, CLAUDIUS  BY ROBERT GRAVES
THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING BY MILAN KUNDERA
GRAVITY'S RAINBOW BY THOMAS PYNCHON
HEART OF DARKNESS BY JOSEPH CONRAD
THE BELL JAR BY SYLVIA PLATH
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME BY MARK HADDON
TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES BY THOMAS HARDY
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE BY VIRGINIA WOOLF
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES BY L.M. MONTGOMERY
THE NAME OF THE ROSE BY UMBERTO ECO
THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER BY CARSON MCCULLERS
VANITY FAIR BY WILLIAM THACKERAY
MIDDLESEX BY JEFFREY EUGENIDES
LITTLE WOMEN BY LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
BLOOD MERIDIAN BY CORMAC MCCARTHY
A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY BY JOHN IRVING
PERSUASION BY JANE AUSTEN
LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA BY GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
THE HANDMAID'S TALE BY MARGARET ATWOOD
THE SECRET HISTORY BY DONNA TARTT
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME BY VICTOR HUGO
BELOVED BY TONI MORRISON
LIGHT IN AUGUST BY WILLIAM FAULKNER
THE TRIAL BY FRANZ KAFKA
ATONEMENT BY IAN MCEWAN
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY
DOCTOR ZHIVAGO BY BORIS PASTERNAK
AS I LAY DYING BY WILLIAM FAULKNER
UNCLE TOM'S CABIN BY HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
DARKNESS AT NOON BY ARTHUR KOESTLER
SONS AND LOVERS BY D.H. LAWRENCE
UNDER THE VOLCANO BY MALCOLM LOWRY
THE WAY OF ALL FLESH BY SAMUEL BUTLER
AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY BY THEODORE DREISER
NATIVE SON BY RICHAR WRIGHT
HENDERSON THE RAIN KING BY SAUL BELLOW
APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA BY JOHN O'HARA
U.S.A. TRILOGY BY JOHN DOS PASSOS
WINESBURG, OHIO BY SHERWOOD ANDERSON
A PASSAGE TO INDIA BY E.M. FORSTER
THE WINGS OF THE DOVE BY HENRY JAMES
THE AMBASSADORS BY HENRY JAMES
TENDER IS THE NIGHT BY F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
THE STUDS LONIGAN TRILOGY BY JAMES T. FARRELL
THE GOOD SOLDIER BY FORD MADOX FORD
THE GOLDEN BOWL BY HENRY JAMES
SISTER CARRIE BY THEODORE DREISER
A HANDFUL OF DUST BY EVELYN WAUGH
ALL THE KING'S MEN BY ROBERT PENN WARREN
THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY BY THORNTON WILDER
HOWARDS END BY E.M. FORSTER
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN BY JAMES BALDWIN
THE HEART OF THE MATTER BY GRAHAM GREENE
DELIVERANCE BY JAMES DICKEY
A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME SERIES BY ANTHONY POWELL
POINT COUNTER POINT BY ALDOUS HUXLEY
THE SECRET AGENT BY JOSEPH CONRAD
NOSTROMO BY JOSEPH CONRAD
THE RAINBOW BY D.H. LAWRENCE
WOMEN IN LOVE BY D.H. LAWRENCE
TROPIC OF CANCER BY HENRY MILLER
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD BY NORMAN MAILER
PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT BY PHILIP ROTH
THE MALTESE FALCON BY DASHIELL HAMMET
PARADE'S END BY FORD MADOX FORD
THE AGE OF INNOCENCE BY EDITH WHARTON
ZULEIKA DOBSON BY MAX BEERBOHM
THE MOVIEGOER BY WALKER PERCY
DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP BY WILLA CATHER
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY BY JAMES JONES
THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLES BY JOHN CHEEVER
MAIN STREET BY SINCLAIR LEWIS
THE HOUSE OF MIRTH BE EDITH WHARTON
THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET BY LAWRENCE DURELL
A HIGH WIND IN JAMAICA BY RICHARD HUGHES
A HOUSE FOR MR. BISWAS BY V.S. NAIPAUL
THE DAY OF THE LOCUST BY NATHANAEL WEST
SCOOP BY EVELYN WAUGH
THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE BY MURIEL SPARK
FINNEGAN'S WAKE BY JAMES JOYCE
KIM BY RUDYARD KIPLING
A ROOM WITH A VIEW BY E.M. FORSTER
BRIDESHEAD REVISTED BY EVELYN WAUGH
THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH BY SAUL BELLOW
ANGLE OF REPOSE BY WALLACE STEGNER
A BEND IN THE RIVER BY V.S. NAIPAUL
THE DEATH OF THE HEART BY ELIZABETH BOWEN
LORD JIM BY JOSEPH CONRAD
RAGTIME BY E.L. DOCTOROW
THE OLD WIVES' TALE BY ARNOLD BENNETT
THE CALL OF THE WILD BY JACK LONDON
LOVING BY HENRY GREEN
MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN BY SALMAN RUSHDIE
TOBACCO ROAD BY ERSKINE CALDWELL
IRONWEED BY WILLIAM KENNEDY
THE MAGUS BY JOHN FOWLES
WIDE SARGASSO SEA BY JEAN RHYS
UNDER THE NET BY IRIS MURDOCH
SOPHIE'S CHOICE BY WILLIAM STYRON
THE SHELTERING SKY BY PAUL BOWLES
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE BY JAMES M. CAIN
THE GINGER MAN BY J.P. DONLEAVY
THE MAGNIFICENT AMERSONS BY BOOTH TARKINGTON
BATTLEFIELD EARTH BY L. RON HUBBARD
ANTHEM BY AYN RAND
WE THE LIVING BY AYN RAND
MISSION EARTH BY L. RON HUBBARD
FEAR BY L. RON HUBBARD
THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS BY ROBERT HEINLEIN
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND BY ROBERT HEINLEIN
A TOWN LIKE ALICE BY NEVIL SHUTE
SHANE BY JACK SCHAEFER
TRUSTEE FROM THE TOOLROOM BY NEVIL SHUTE
THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN BY JOHN FOWLES
THE WORM OUROBOROS BY E.R. EDDISON
MOONHEART BY CHARLES DE LINT
ABSALOM, ABSALOM! BY WILLIAM FAULKNER
WISE BLOOD BY FLANNERY O'CONNOR
FIFTH BUSINESS BY ROBERTSON DAVIES
SOMEPLACE TO BE FLYING BY CHARLES DE LINT
YARROW BY CHARLES DE LINT
AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS BY H.P. LOVECRAFT
ONE LONELY NIGHT BY MICKEY SPILLANE
MEMORY AND DREAM BY CHARLES DE LINT
TRADER BY CHARLES DE LINT
ON THE BEACH BY NEVIL SHUTE
GREENMANTLE BY CHARLES DE LINT
THE LITTLE COUNTRY BY CHARLES DE LINT
THE RECOGNITIONS BY WILLIAM GADDIS
STARSHIP TROOPERS BY ROBERT HEINLEIN
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP BY JOHN IRVING
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES BY RAY BRADBURY
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE BY SHIRLEY JACKSON
THE WOOD WIFE BY TERRI WINDLING
THE DOOR INTO SUMMER BY ROBERT HEINLEIN
ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE BY ROBERT PRISIG
AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS BY FLANN O'BRIEN
ARROWSMITH BY SINCLAIR LEWIS
NAKED LUNCH BY WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS
THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER BY TOM CLANCY
GUILTY PLEASURES BY LAURELL K. HAMILTON
THE PUPPET MASTERS BY ROBERT HEINLEIN
IT BY STEPHEN KING
V. BY THOMAS PYNCHON
DOUBLE STAR BY ROBERT HEINLEIN
CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY BY ROBERT HEINLEIN
SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION BY KEN KESEY
MY ANTONIA BY WILLA CATHER
MULENGRO BY CHARLES DE LINT
SUTTREE BY CORMAC MCCARTHY
MYTHAGO WOOD BY ROBERT HODLSTOCK
ILLUSIONS BY RICHARD BACH
THE CUNNING MAN BY ROBERTSON DAVIES
THE SATANIC VERSES BY SALMAN RUSHDIE
THE COLOR PURPLE BY ALICE WALKER
CHARLOTTE'S WEB BY E.B. WHITE
WINNIE-THE-POOH BY A.A. MILNE
THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD BY ZORA NEALE HURSTON
SONG OF SOLOMON BY TONI MORRISON
PORTRAIT OF A LADY BY HENRY JAMES
SCHINDLER'S LIST BY THOMAS KENEALLY
THE JUNGLE BY UPTON SINCLAIR
MRS. DALLOWAY BY VIRGINIA WOOLF
THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ BY L. FRANK BAUM
LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER BY D.H. LAWRENCE
THE AWAKENING BY KATE CHOPIN
IN COLD BLOOD BY TRUMAN CAPOTE
FRANNY AND ZOOEY BY J.D. SALINGER
JAZZ BY TONI MORRISON
ETHAN FROME BY EDITH WHARTON
A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND BY FLANNERY O'CONNOR
ORLANDO BY VIRGINIA WOOLF
BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES BY TOM WOLFE
CAT'S CRADLE BY KURT VONNEGUT
A SEPARATE PEACE BY JOHN KNOWLES
THINGS FALL APART BY CHINUA ACHEBE
LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL BY THOMAS WOLFE
IN OUR TIME BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALICE B. TOKIAS BY GERTRUDE STEIN
WHITE NOISE BY DON DELILLO
PIONEERS! BY WILLA CATHER
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS BY H.G. WELLS
THE BOSTONIANS BY HENRY JAMES
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS BY KENNETH GRAHAME
THIS SIDE OF PARADISE BY F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH BY MAURICE SENDAK
BABBITT BY SINCLAIR LEWIS
THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DAMNED BY F. SCOTT FITZGERALD
RABBIT, RUN BY JOHN UPDIKE
WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD BY E.M. FORSTER
AN EDUCATION BY LYNN BARBER
AN INFINITE JEST BY DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
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The Bucket List....

I am changing the nature of this blog. Whatever it was, is no longer.

As of today, I am setting out on a mini-journey that will only exist insofar as I record it here for the next three years.  What is the mission?  To accomplish. Things.  I guess "accomplish" may not be the appropriate term as some of these really have very little point other than occurring for the sole purpose of me selfishly being able to answer "yes" if anybody ever asks if I've ever ____.

I'm having a thought: Maybe life would be simpler if you do something just for the sake of doing it and attribute a meaning to it after-the-fact instead of trying to find a purpose in order to determine whether or not to do it.  Maybe...

So yes. Grand gestures and deep meanings aside, this list was developed in the course of two hours at a menial part-time job, being paid $8.25 an hour to hang out with two aspiring actors, in NYC, at the (nicer) gym offered by my jailer institution NYU, approximately one month after entering the 22nd year of my life (and incidentally, approximately one month before my pseudo-freedom of graduation), just so that by the time I am 25, I will feel slightly more adequately equipped for life because I have these specific "stuffs" under my belt, than I would have had I not guilted myself along for three years to do them. <<< most exhaustive and yet informative single sentence. ever.

So what is this "stuffs" you ask?

1) Knife-throwing
     Honestly, I have always felt that once I perfect the art of knife-throwing, my life will be 50% complete. Without sounding too ambitious, I would like to kill a fly by knifepoint. Needless to say, countless hours will show me ludicrously throwing sharp objects at a wall with more clattering noises of knives dully dropping on the floor than the satisfying "thud" of the point embedding nicely into the wall... but we'll see who's ludicrous when I'm able to school anybody in a knife-throwing showdown one drunken night when I'm out with some friends. Three years of preparation for that one night is a completely reasonable justification. Totally.

2) Date a British/Irish/Scottish boy
     Well, ok. This one is completely superficial because I want to just spend some time being washed in any one of these accents conversing for hours on end.  I will be realistic though.  Most likely I will not be washed in the accent because I'll probably be talking so much they won't have room to show off the accent but whatever. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.  Because we will get there....

3) Be mysterious
     Some say an impossibility.  I say, catch me on a day when I'm seriously traumatized and there is a tiny possibility that I can fake it.  Mystery = Hidden/Secretive/Enigmatic and let's be real. I'm none of those. But perhaps, I will have my day when I am spacing out and in that brief accidental silence, somebody sees me and thinks "wow, she's so mysterious..." Note to self: develop an effective formula for creating "shroud of mystery" and apply until successful. 

4) Get a small tattoo
     Despite the "oh sure, be like everybody else and get a tattoo, skank" attitude that freely floats around out there in this wonderfully kind world... I don't see the harm in this.  Given, the tattoo will need to be well placed and well planned.  Tramp stamp is not what I am going for so I feel the skank factor reduces significantly at that point.  I have an idea, but as this will be on me forever I give myself three years to truly contemplate.  However at the end of three years, the decision will not be "to tat or not to tat" because as you can see by the subheading, it is to actually get a tattoo therefore by three years, I will have had to figure out what image will grace my body for the next 60 years of my life. No pressure.

5) Be in a film
     Now you're really scoffing.  Hear me out.  Nowhere does it say a "famous" film. So shut your disbelieving negative mouth.  I figure, I'll just make an appearance in a friend's mini film project and it will forever be out there in the universe.  Particularly awesome because it will be in my prime, before I start getting all old-people haggy.  I think it's a pretty excellent idea {pat self on the back} yeah.... 

6) Become certified for scuba-diving
     The motivation for this is simple.  I want to be somewhere with piercingly blue waters, for long enough to hang around all day in the water looking at awesome fish, and have somebody sign a document stating that should I ever want to purchase a ridiculous amount of equipment and take it with me every time I go on vacation, I am able to go exploring abandoned pirate ships without a babysitter.  Like I said, simple.

     I have compiled an ultimate reading list that I shall post at a later date.  It consists of a little over the titled "250" and is comprised of literature from throughout history ranging from the classics to all-time popular favorites.  Most are guaranteed to be tedious and extremely difficult, but that will make the easy reads all the more sweeter when I cross it off the list.  I'm thinking I'll emerge out of my 24th year as a kind of Genius. Yes, with a capital "G."

8) 100 days of Happiness
     No, this is not me being "rainbows and sunshine." That's actually the end-goal.  I am challenging myself to blog everyday for one hundred days documenting one thing about that day that I am grateful for and happy about.  This is my deliberate attempt to stop from being such an aggressive and cynical human being.  While I love myself no matter how I feel, I tend to love myself exponentially more when I'm in a loving mood.  So it'll be a kind of "Where's Waldo" game with myself where everyday I'll have to actively look to see "Where's the Happiness" from that day.  My hope is that by the time I can tick this off my Bucket List, I will be able to take notice of everything I am happy about and grateful for like second nature.

9) 300 days of new recipes
     One day I will be so adept at cooking and mixing flavors that I'll come up with 300 new recipes but it won't be in the next three years.  This is just to make a habit of getting in the kitchen and truly indulging in a favorite, yet underdeveloped, hobby of mine.  So the challenge is to find 300 different recipes and make an active effort of cooking all of the new and interesting recipes in three years.  That shouldn't be too bad... if I count desserts.  I haven't decided on that yet....

10) Learn a new language
     Of course everybody has this on their Bucket List.  So what makes me think I'll be able to do it when so many people fail? Three words: Pirated Rosetta Stone.  That's right, when I've got a copy of the most successful language teaching software at my fingertips in 26 different languages for free, I figure I'm at a huge advantage compared to those who put this on their Bucket List, realize it's going to cost them a pretty penny and change their minds.  The only difficulty will be to remain diligent and keep up.  But that applies to most of these "stuffs" so therein lies the challenge, and the point of this blog.

So there are the "stuffs" that will be consuming my hours when my hours are not being consumed by eating, sleeping, and earning money somehow to facilitate the eating and sleeping.  "Too difficult" you cry! "Impossible" you shout! "You'll burn yourself out" you warn.  You may be right, but then again, you really don't know me very well do you?
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