the good, the bad, the ugly

Good: Finding these pants at Old Navy for $7. Not only were they in my size and an additional 50% off clearance, but they fit like they were made for me. I wanted to wear them home, but wasn't sure they'd let me pay for them while wearing them.

Bad: Going to get a tire repaired and having the clerk try to bamboozle us. Then, when we called him on it (to another clerk who had the misfortune of ringing up the bill) he tried to blame it on me. What part of "so there will be no charge" am I supposed to take to mean "except for the $30 charge"?! There is little I respect less than a dishonest sales person. I have worked enough jobs to be patient and forgiving...until someone outright lies to my face. Ugh.

Ugly: My mood when we missed the chance for free Chipotle burritos because of the scummy, lying, worst-person-ever tire dude didn't even balance the tires right so Josh had to go back a second time. Grrrr.

I think I need to go try my pants on again for some comfort.

second try

Ah, a nap! Something interesting today, indeed. Google says it's Jackson Pollock's birthday. Check out jacksonpollack.org to try your hand. Hint: click to change the color.

cough cough

I try to update this thing every few days and keep a nice variety of topics. Still, I have a cold. Jonah has a cold. I'm sure there are intellectually stimulating and interesting things going on in the world. Instead, another picture from a few days ago. It's about the best I can do. This one is Josh's favorite.

lame

Disclaimer: I watch the Miss America pageant. It's tradition, and I do. Don't hate.

This year, it's LIVE on TLC. I'm waiting for the final announcement as I type this and am out of blogs to read. So, I opened a local news page to see what was happening in the world while they go through the 3rd, 2nd, 1st runners up. What's this? Miss Indiana won? How can she have won already if it's live? Dang daylight savings or cable or Miss America. I don't know who to blame for the anticlimactic ending.

P.S. She's not even the one I wanted. Her answer wasn't the best, her dress was ugly, and her talent was no good.

restaurant world, here we come

Have you ever made a meal so delicious that you consider serving it at your very own restaurant? Josh and I often plan restaurants: the menu, theme, prices, kitchen layout...everything. Our most common restaurant ideas are Mexican (our "in the mood for anytime" food) or steak. Sometimes we talk about a little "chick food" cafe with pastries and sandwiches. Yesterday, however, we branched out.

After a trip to a local U-Pick farm, we were inspired to make some stir fry. The fresh vegetables and sauce were so delicious, we decided to open an rice and stir fry place. We calculated that each bowl cost about $1.00 after all the ingredients (including meat). Not too bad! So in our restaurant, we'll have two sauces (teriyaki and sweet & sour), steamed rice, and all the fresh veggies and meat we can find. Eat your heart out, Panda Express!Now I'm wishing my peanut butter sandwich was leftovers instead. Sad.

dear grandma

I noticed the last 3 posts were about books. Sorry, Grandma!

Skulduggery Pleasant

Title: Skulduggery Pleasant
Author: Derek Landy
Rating: 4 stars

From the book jacket: Meet Skulduggery Pleasant. Ace detective. Snappy dresser. Razor-tongued wit. Crackerjack sorcerer. And walking, talking, fire-throwing skeleton. --as well as ally, protector, and mentor of Stephanie Edgley, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year-old. These two alone must defeat and all-consuming ancient evil. The end of the world? Over his dead body.

This was a fun read. In fact, I read it in one evening because it was so easy and enjoyable. The plot is fun, but nothing I haven't seen before: young girl doesn't quite fit in until she discovers a secret magical world where she fits in and is actually quite useful. What I loved the most about this book was the writing. It was clever but not so much to slow down the action. I tend to skim books (unintentionally), but I had to slow down with this one because Landy doesn't waste words. I appreciate that. I would be happy to read anything else by him for this reason alone, not to mention the fact that the action moved along quickly enough to keep me interested. I would recommend this for boys or girls or adults who like YA mysteries. Although the main character is a girl, there's enough action for most boys, too.

Ella Minnow Pea

Title: Ella Minnow Pea
Author: Mark Dunn
Rating: 3 stars

The book takes place on the fictional island of Nollop, founded by the creator of 'the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog', at a time of crisis. One of the letters (the "z" in fact) has fallen from Nollop's statue and the island council decrees that island residents may no longer use the letter in speech or writing. As more tiles fall from the statue, communication gets harder as island citizens try to avoid the outlawed letters and overthrow the council edict.

This book was really hard to get in to. In fact, I almost stopped reading a few times. I didn't really get drawn into the story until 3/4 through. As I considered how to rate the book, I started second guessing my rating of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. That was a much more compelling read. How do I justify the same rating for this one, then? Even though I only mildly enjoyed the book, the concept was the best I've heard of in a long while. Days after I finished reading, I am still analyzing my own language and rearranging my thoughts around certain letters. My main complaint with the book is that the writing is so dense and uses such obscure words that I could not fully appreciate the progression as letters were dropped. If the writing had been a little more normal at the beginning (these are 18-year old cousins, after all) it would have been more fun to watch the authors juggle words around to avoid the outlawed letters.

If you love words, letters, or English in general, I would still recommend the book. Just not as heartily as I'd like.

2009 Tournament of Books

I just read about what may potentially be my new favorite part of every spring: The Tournament of Books. Basically, a group of judges pit 16 of the most acclaimed books of the year against each other March Madness style. It's a single elimination tournament of books. There are 2 books that have the chance to come back into the competition (in the aptly named "zombie round") based on public votes.

I don't know what has been done in the past as this is a new thing for me. Apparently, though, they have released the books earlier than usual this year so everyday readers have a fighting chance. In a moment of weakness, I have requested 15 of the 16 books at the library (they don't have the last one!). We'll see how I do.

For more information, see here.

bowling in yuma

Would you drive 3 hours one way to go bowling? We did, and it was totally worth it. That's what happens when you have best friends staying in San Diego. You meet in the middle! This may become tradition if they end up in CA permanently. Maybe next time we'll tour the prison.

They didn't have bowling shoes small enough for Jonah, though. Maybe next time, kid.

Thanks, Anna-Lisa for the pictures.

what's in Yuma?

What's better than walking by a shoe store closing in 3 days? Finding these shoes at 80% off in my size, of course! (New picture provided by A-L)

Surely nothing could be sweeter, you say? Let me tell you, it gets even better. Last weekend we went to Yuma to see Anna-Lisa and Juan Carlos and found the same shoes at Ross (incidentally, for the same price as I paid) but in her size. Life is good.

I didn't take my camera, but trust me, it was a great time. They even have a Kneaders down there these days.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Authors: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Rating: 3 stars

When an author in London starts receiving letters from a man who ended up with one of her books (a book she owned, not a book she wrote) a friendship ensues. The man was a member of a literary society on the island of Gurnsey during the German occupation and, intrigued, the author begs to learn more. Other members of the society begin writing letters to the author and she (and I) falls in love with the members, the stories, and the island itself.

Great book; I loved every minute of it. Although it wasn't a suspenseful novel, I didn't want to put it down. The book was easy to read and despite the format (I usually don't care for books in the form of letters), it was easy to follow. I felt I knew the characters well pretty early in the book and wanted good things for them. So why only 3 stars? I have no desire to read it again. One reviewer on Amazon.com wrote that the book lacked real substance. Not only do I disagree, but I often find insubstantial books compelling and worth reading often (one of my all-time favorites, for example, is a cheesy mystery series starting with Emeralds and Espionage). This book was delightful with every letter and at the end, I took it back to the library and promptly forgot it. While during the reading I was looking forward to writing this post, it has taken me 3 weeks to do it. That said, please read it before the semester starts/you go back to work. It will make you feel good. And, as one of the hot sellers right now, you'll be in the know if anyone asks. After all, isn't that what started this whole thing anyway?

The Accent Game

What is re-gifting called if it was re-gifted to you in the first place? Thanks, Vanessa, for passing along The Accent Game. I only got 4 right. Boo!

books, again

I really enjoyed my goal to read 24 books and post reviews online. I rely on book blogs to find interesting books to read and figured a few people would enjoy the same (sorry, Janssen, I got most of the books from you, so it probably didn't do much for you). I did end up reading enough books, but as 10 of them were from the Wheel of Time series, my reviews fell a little short.

So what about 2009? 50 books (whoa, dream big!) and an improved reviewing system. Based on my pleasure receiving Good Reads updates, I'm going to list the books on the side of the blog with 1-5 stars. I'll still give a little doodle about it, but that way you (and I) can find a good book to read/recommend quickly. I'll kick off the system tomorrow with a review of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Here's the breakdown (subject to change):
1 star: not worth finishing
2 stars: not worth buying
3 stars: good, but somehow lacking in content, writing, cleanliness, etc.
4 stars: great, but not for everyone (expect lots of these)
5 stars: I would buy for my mother, nephew, self, and ward gift exchange

Oh, and I'm going to keep up in my efforts to give books as gifts. Not solely (sometimes there are other awesome options) but definitely primarily.