Bring back Books: Good Books are Like Good Tea, Let Them Steep

Dearest Readers,

A good book is like good tea, it needs to steep. A novel that makes you think and reanalyze your take on life can’t be put down and forgotten at the drop of a hat. It sticks with you. For me, I go into what I call a ‘post-reading induced coma.’Note: This blog post will be half philosophical half suggestions. I just wanted to say that from the outset, so you know not all of this will be super deepness. End note.

After I finish a book, all I can do is think about it for the next few hours. Forget homework, attending meetings, or any sort of general obligations (hahaa joke…I do everything I need to…except my homework that is). I have to focus on the book after I finish. I feel like it rolls around in my brain. I keep rehashing various scenes and thinking through different characters. I just finished The Help by Kathryn Stocketty (amazing and recommended to me by my mother) and I can’t stop thinking about the book’s moral implications on my life.

(I know, I know I’m a nerd, obvi). But the weirdest post-book-Adorkable-Phonomenon of all, and I don’t know if this is just me, is I start to think in the narration of the author. For example, I think in the author’s short sentences, I depict scenes around me as they would by using certain choice adjectives or an accent or a rambling manner. I think in their voice. (If you do this please comment on this post, so I know I am not the only freak out there.) All in all, readers, we should all be concerned that I am very much on the brink of losing both my identity and apparently my own speech patterns. But in all seriousness, a good book becomes a part of you in some way, shape or form. It gets under your skin and inside your brain wiring.

I love books, in case you haven’t gathered, and I think one of the greatest struggles of our fast-moving collegiate, and in general, world is our inability to sit down, read, and let the book steep. I dedicate this post to the written word. Remember when you read a book for fun? (If you were like me that is) When the smell of an old book could make you smile, the sound of the cover cracking led to a rush of excitement in your stomach, and you could sit down and read for hours with your mind lost in a fantastical world so much greater than yourself. Read for pleasure again. Make time. We learn so much from books.

In order to stick with this theme of book appreciation, I decided to present 5 of my all time favorite books that I would suggest to the universe and I don’t think are always at the top of everyone’s list. (I didn’t include Harry Potter or the obvious choices like 1984 or The Great Gatsby, but we all know they are up there.) The ironic part about me including my book recommendations is two fold: I am down right awful at taking other people’s book suggestions, so if you don’t ever look at these books again except on this screen, I won’t be offended. Second, most of these books I had to read for school, which goes against my whole premise that we should read for fun…sigh…aw well. (As a note: if you love any of these books please comment on the end of this post, and if you have any book suggestions for my summer reading list please leave a comment…I can’t say I’ll read it, but I will give it a valiant effort!)

Books I love, for your reading pleasure:

In Cold Blood By Truman Capote. This might be the best book I’ve ever read. It’s kind of journalistic non-fiction work (I know that right there sounds thrilling), about two men who killed an entire family for, essentially, $50. The book comes directly from Capote’s interviews with the two men, and he makes them into surprisingly sympathetic characters by combining their backgrounds and personal history with the crime. Capote is the author of Breakfast at Tiffanys…in case you were wondering.East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Yes he wrote Grapes of Wrath, no this book is not that painfully long (though I myself was a grapes fan). The book is expertly crafted as the story of essentially two twin brothers trying to break free of the Cain Able trap. Hard to explain. Just read it.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. This book depicts an old man recalling his time in the circus, but it’s actually realistic and kind of a disturbing yet enjoyable plot line. I think Oprah loved it at some point….I can’t decide if that makes me like the book more or less. Watership Down by Richard Adams. Let me start out with this: I hate animal books. But this animal book, about a colony of rabbits of all things, creates such a realistic sub world, it bridges on science fiction.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. This is the social activist choice. It’s the biography of Paul Farmer who started Partner’s in Health in Haiti to provide free health care to those who need it. It’s the true story of one man saving the world one person at a time.

I hope you find at least one of these suggestions moderately enjoyable. (I thought about adding my favorite childhood books: 21 Balloons and the Westing Game, but decided against it, so I put them in these parenthesis in case you want a blast from an adorkable past.)

Lesson to be Learned: Reading is good. You relax, you learn, and you escape for a few minutes. Read what you want, and don’t feel guilty about pleasure reads too (I went through my romantic chick lit stage…who am I kidding? I still am). All reading is good reading, and it just seems so much more constructive then television.

So crack open a book, smell the delicious pages of text and lap it up.

Bookwormily Yours,

Adorkable

ps. for the first time in a while these pictures aren't mine :(, but it's because they are books I don't have with me so all the pictures should be credited to other bloggers. and my title isn't a song...don't be too sad some rules are made to be broken.

Upside Down: First Installment of Adorkablely Embarrassing Moments and Adorkable Assets

Dearest Readers,

I have been rather philosophical in my posts lately … so I decided it was time for just a plain ole’ fun postie (with deep, impressive, and literary undertones of course … just kidding.) But seriously, I normally like to keep my identity on the down low (that’s my cool kid lingo right there), but I decided to do a new installment in the Adorkable world: Adorkablely Embarrassing Moments and Adorkable Assets. This week they both require photographic evidence of myself to believe … so sorry for the momentary narcissism. This post actually combines two things I’ve really wanted to add to the blog: my most embarrassing moments and the things I think are really cool right now so I want to share it with the bloggity world (like in last week’s blog post I talked about ColorMeKatie). The first new bloggity addition, my embarrassing moment of the week, is inspired by my day to day oopsies (yes I did just use that word), and the second, the things I love this week (I see them as assets ... get the name ;), is (are?) inspired by Post Picks, which are little blips the culture staff of the Post (my school newspaper and the staff I write for…woot woot) writes about where they just say what they like this week, these picks range from websites torompers to toilets…it’s a pretty bizarre combo. So now that the exposition is done, on to the main event!

Adorkabley Embarrassing Moment of the Week: Tie Dyed Hands and the Dean of Students (If this title doesn’t intrigue you, I don’t know what will).

(This picture was taken A DAY after I tie-dyed ... after I had showered ... these are clean in comparison!!) So basically, there was this event called Mess Fest, an event hosted by my and surrounding dorms to raise money for Relay for Life. The Fest basically consisted of tie-dying, rolling around in paint, and pizza. (Try not to be too jealous.) The net of it is, my hands were red …. Like, I-killed-a-person-it’s-freaking-engrained-in-there red, not just like oh-look-at-that-silly-girl-who-tie-dyed red. Then I had to cover the Pride Graduation for the Post (read my story on it here), a fancy event where everyone dresses up. My hands were still red despite 30 minutes of washing and even trying nail polish remover (I wouldn’t try it … doesn’t work and it definitely not good for skin).

And of course, who was at my table, but Dean Lombardi, Dean of Students, and at the neighboring table, the President’s wife, Deborah McDavis. HAH! Try explaining that one…oh I was tie-dying…no, I’m not four…no, I swear I tried to get it off my hands…yes, it does look like I’m bleeding. Not to mention, we ate dinner together. As in, my hands were on the table in front of them, no bars hold, gushing a nice shade of fuchsia…classy. Plus, the Post has a top 10 list, as a quasi joke quasi serious thing, of people not to embarrass yourself in front of if you can help it. They were both on it. I’m just a freshman and already I’m at 20%...I’m golden. All in all, I made a joke of it, and I got the dye off my hands today using a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (not a joke … bought it at CVS… it so should not go on skin but it works) and painting my finger nails. In the end, the tie-dyed shirts are soooo worth it … they’re baller.

Adorkable Assets: Ridiculous Rain Gear

(Me in my yellow coat ... I am only sad, because it is raining, but I am happy on the inside because of my rain gear!!) This post is already getting long, but let me just say … everyone should own galoshes and ridiculous rain gear. My mother bought me a yellow raincoat, and it is the best article of clothing I own. It makes me look like a giant traffic cone, or maybe a traffic director. My temptation to jump into the street and direct cars randomly is high. (I won’t, however, because I value not getting arrested.) You can never lose me in crowd (even though when I am dressed this way you may want to), and in this ridiculous downpour, I am so dry. Plus, my umbrella is failing on one side, so I need it to not drown while walking to class. Go. Buy. Now.

Lesson to be learned: Attitude is everything, and being confident and amusing can get you out of most problems ... especially when you have to prove you didn't kill someone.

Well world, I hope you like the new blog set up…let me know what you think by leaving comments!! (I love comments … you should leave one … maybe tell me what you think I should write about in the future!!)

Red Handedly Yours,

Adorkable

She Don't Really Like it Working At a Desk: Living Creatively When I'm Unmotivated

Dearest Readers,

I was always the girl who was on top of things…to a freakish degree. I thrived in my over achieving dorkiness. But somehow, in the midst of spring quarter when the birds are chirping and friends from other colleges are headed home for good, I have lost my motivation. I can’t focus. I am spending the majority of my free time staring off into oblivion, watching an embarrassing musical television series, taking pictures, or making a fool of myself (oh wait that happens even when I’m not unmotivated … silly me.)

So basically this bloggity post is going to be about what I’ve found when I’ve been hopelessly devoted to being unmotivated. (see how I made a rhyme…clever). So here is what makes me smile when I am lacking motivation to work … I find it in the randomest things :).

This wonderful amazingly talented woman named Katie has this blog where she posts her pictures. Okay, I know what you are thinking, okay Adorkable tons of people take pictures whoop-dee-freaking do. Well “ColormeKatie” is one of the most creative photographers I have ever seen. The walls of her apartment are white, so that she can decorate them in colorful pieces of paper each day to whatever suits her fancy. An example of her art is her thought bubble project, where she creates thought bubbles, puts them on the walls outside, and catches people as they walk beneath them. She also has the shadow project, where she cuts out shadows peter-pan style and catches people as they walk into them. She has even made her apartment into a giant fort, a paper airplane palooza, and a colorful crazy spectacle. Now other than my long tirade about my love for her, she has these semi-regular post on her blog where she puts up 10 pictures or so of silly things that make her happy, which inspired me to take some pictures and do my own rendition of 4 silly little things that make me happy (cause 10 is too many photos for someone like me who has no clue what they are doing with the crazy camera contraption). And just to be clear copyright totally goes to this talented lady, and please peruse her photos at your les-ure. (Her significant other ‘Matty’ even works for improveverywhere…I want to be her…sigh.)

My 4 silly little things that make me happy:

A knobby tree

There is a lot of white space here...so I feel the need to babble about this tree. Really, I like it, because it looks like someone blazed a trail through the bark. Where it goes ... the world may never know ...

Slacklining (which is basically where you tether a line between two

trees and try to learn how to be

in the circus and walk across

the line....rest

assured I only do it leaning on

others I don't have that kind of balance....no way)

Shadows (from a fence to a hunched kid to a tree on some bricks)

Poop (tee hee hee...cause I'm mature)

This is on the wall of Bagel Street Deli here in Athens OH. It even has a smiley face between the os ... how could I resist this and call myself a real college kid?

Lesson To be Learned: Even the littlest things can brighten your day...if you look correctly (I know I know, I could write for Hallmark ... it's a gift I possess)

Photographically Yours,
Adorkable

ps. I hope you all realize I had no idea how to set up this page so I apologize for its foolish presentation