Literary Pursuits

Next week, my book club has its annual potluck where we go around recommending new books for the following year. Last year, I recommended four books. The book that was selected out of the four was The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terri Pratchett. One person besides myself actually liked the book when it came time for everyone to read.

I realized early on that the enjoyment of book club would sometimes consist of me disagreeing with everyone. Every month its a new round of excitement. There is something to be said about the pleasure that comes with being in absolute disagreement with someone, maybe a few someones, and still foster open communication and even lightheartedness.

This is a loud group, but so fun!

I'm changing it up this year and recommending books on my to-read list than old favorites. I think. I haven't quite pinned anything down. Either way, I know I will be taking on the following titles in some form in the new year.

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer
The Angel Esmeralda & Nine Stories by Don DeLillo
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obrent

For those curious, yes, I poached all of these titles from Michiko Kakutani's Picks for 2011.

Getting There

I stayed up way too late yesterday to watch the Eureka holiday episode and I can't decide if I liked that more or less than tonight's Parks and Recreation's Christmas episode. UPDATE: Parks and Rec has won the debate.

The former had snow ninja, the latter had Ron F'ing Swanson in marshmallow form. Delights all around. I am finding that Christmas themed television programming is allowing me the zen I need to get through these first couple of frenzied weeks.

I promise. The 19th, baby. That's when I will be dazzling with Christmas cheer.

Sweet Treats

Tonight was a day of test baking for Christmas. I should clarify that the husband did most of the baking while I half-hardheartedly observed and knitted. The testing was fortuitous in that there were a couple of changes we'll be making for the real batches, but checking things off of our list is getting a little easier.

In the mean time, I thank the internets for Janelle Monae Radio on Pandora. Best music to knit by. Things are looking up as this was the first day that the sound of Christmas music didn't make my eyes water. Yay!

Longing to Stray

My mind has circled around Manhattan this year. Not only has a quarter of my reading material been set in New York, the shows I'm watching, the sites I go to, the movies, well, maybe less movies, but still, it's a whole lot of New York.

Next year will be my first trip to the Empire State (see how I totally avoided to call it The Big Apple) and I plan to eat too much food and avoid looking up at the skyscrapers that will surely overwhelm me.

I know it's probably too soon to even be posting this since my trip won't be until next fall, but vacation planning seems so preferable right now.

Also, Gossip Girl's fall finale was last night and so my focus is now solely on a to do list that I'd rather avoid.

I tried finding a clip of Carey Mulligan singing New York, New York in her new movie, Shame, but I could only find the trailer.

Finding Joy

In two weeks, I will submerge myself in the true spirit of Christmas, but until then I will be twirling like a dervish to get my Christmas list done. The prospects of finishing on time are dwindling and the dwindling is making my heart hurt.

Once the Christmas spirit hits me, I will talk about Christmas. For now, I will talk about distractions.

In movie form that can come in many ways, but I thought I would talk about Sister Act 2. Yes, there was a Sister Act, the original, but the sequel finds Sister Mary Clarence teaching a study period of disaffected kids with a real talent for singing.

With the help of the nuns, she guides them to compete in a singing competition. Of course there are obstacles, but the movie really showcases that just because a story is small does not mean it's unimportant.

Also, Lauryn Hill makes me happy.

Full

My to do list for Christmas is threatening to overwhelm me and I admit to putting up a feeble fight. Since I needed the sunny distraction, NPR had a wonderful story about human kindness that provided a brief pause to an otherwise chaotic spirit.

Linked from Cup of Jo

Wrimo

December 1st, for a lot of people, means the start of Christmas or the closing of another year. For me, December 1st means the end of Nanowrimo, National Novel Writing Month. The concept is to write a 50,000 word story beginning November 1st and ending November 30th. I participated several years ago and signed up again this year.

Unfortunately, I didn't make it past the second page. Oh, well. The purpose of Nanowrimo is really getting you to learn to write every day, and I think this blog has helped me do that. Plus, I've learned not to beat myself up so much if I fall short on certain goals as long as I get something out of it.

I hope to keep this mantra as I head into the Christmas season. My focus will be enjoying time with friends and family and not get too mired with finding the perfect gifts for everyone on my list. It helps that we're continuing the tradition of homemade gifts this year. I just need to put everything together!