Really late posting - but making good progress on books!

OK - WOW. December 29 - embarrassed that I've missed writing for THREE months! But, the good news - I have actually been making progress on "The Book Project." HOORAY

Here's the status on plowing through my list of classics:

1. Gatsby - done. liked it - but... couldn't imagine it being "the novel of the century." Good - NOT amazingly awesome. But, some great lines - for sure.  “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” my father told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”

2. The Sun Also Rises - done. REALLY liked it. Fully intend to read more Hemingway (just got 4 new Hemingways for Christmas).

3.  To Kill a Mockingbird - done. Need a better phrase than "OMG it was AWESOME!!!"  One of my top 5 EVER!!!! (And, Annie loved it, too!!!)

4.  Catcher in the Rye. Meh...

5. Suite Francaise - L-O-V-E. Got another Irene Nemirovsky novel for Christmas.

... next up is "Grapes of Wrath" or maybe "Portrait of a Lady." Stay tuned!

Ernie (Hemingway), Like Water for Chocolate... and a 5K

Here's the latest. Pretty proud of making "progress" on a number of projects. Feeling very productive AND fulfilled!

The Book Project
I'm already on Book #3... after Gatsby and To Kill a Mockingbird -- Next Up:  "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway.  I've read chapter 1 - and liked it alot! (And it makes me love the movie, "Midnight in Paris" even more!)

The Movie Project
I'm only just starting this project...  trying to make some headway in the Book Project before I get to movies!!!  But, Sunday I started watching "Like Water for Chocolate" while at the gym on the eliptical. Got about halfway through it. Love it!!! I'll post my movie list sometime soon... still tweaking and organizing a bit.

The "Ten 5Ks Project"
Just signed up for my first 5K of the season - on Saturday.  Good stuff.

Pretty psyched to be committing this much time to ME!!!!!  It's fun to have a 'structure' for the endeavors - but I'm not letting it become stressful or pressureful.  Fun! Fun!  Stay tuned!

P.S. As a reminder... here are the 10 'happy' projects for the year:

1.  THE MOVIE PROJECT
Watch 100 movies (more or less), filling in gaps and holes that a self-described "movie addict" should have seen before.  And, a few that I've seen - loved - and want to watch again.

2.  THE BOOK PROJECT
Similar to the Movie project, read 10 "classic novels" that I wish I had read by now.  I hated reading until after college, and thus - there are some requisite books that simply were never read. 

3.  THE WORLD PROJECT
The kids and I are going to pick 2 countries a month - do just a "bit" of research and learn a little more.

4.  BACK TO FRENCH
For all who have been here through the past few years... French - Spanish - French - Spanish.  I'm going back to French (again.)  Don't plan to be fluent again - but plan to have fun!

5.  COOKING A COOKBOOK
Since seeing Julie and Julia, I've desperately wanted to do this.  I love to cook, but never have or make the time. I'm going to pick a new cookbook, and cook one fabulous thing from it each weekend.

Plus... a few others:

6.  Get out of debt
7.  Put away $5,000 before Spring Break to visit Kate, Sean and the boys in Tokyo
8.  Run ten (yes, 10) 5Ks
9.  Read 10 business books that are FUN, but help me do my job better
10. Start a blog

Sorry! Haven't blogged as much as I wanted to... but, am keeping up on the projects!  I finished "The Great Gatsby" -- and would give it a solid "7."  I liked it - the writing was lovely and I could imagine myself in the story itself - could literally close my eyes and see it playing out in front of me.  I could imagine Gatsby's house - the people, the conversations.  I can't wait to see the movie - and I think that Leo DiCaprio is the perfect casting.

I don't know why I didn't "love" it... except that I think I felt so much pity - and at the same time - frustration with the characters. And Gatsby himself - well, what a charade. But I felt so much pity for him and for his desire for something he wasn't.  He longed for Daisy - but you didn't really even get to know her very well... she didn't seem worth longing for. (Maybe he saw something I didn't... or maybe she just represented everything that he wanted...) 

  

Some of my favorite quotes from Gatsby...

•  “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” my father told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”
• In describing Gatsby... "If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away.
• And perhaps my favorite of all... "Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart.”

OK - for those who have been weighing in on The Book List... the votes are in, and I've weighed several factors (not the least of which was page count, I'm afraid!) HA! Weightiness of the topic, my interest in said topic, etc.

A few books made my list -- even without anyone else's votes -- simply because I was interested in the story (Suite Francaise) or because I am desperate to read somethin...

g by the author (Nausea, by Sartre).

Here are the books - in their "intended" reading order, subject to change on a whim - or availability at the public library. :)

1. The Great Gatsby (currently on Chapter 3 - loving it.)
2. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

3. The Sun Also Rises by Ernie Hemingway
4. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
5. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
7. Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
8. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
9. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
10. The Stranger by Albert Camus
BONUS: Nausea, by Jean-Paul Sartre

Kind of feeling like the order is wrong - bad to end up on Nausea, but... was trying to build some early momentum with some short, easy wins on books I REALLY want to read...

Hi! It's Day 1 of my first blog. Cool.

I came up with this idea yesterday - on a drive to the NC mountains to pick up my daughter, Annie (9) from sleepaway camp.  Driving with the windows down, sunroof open, listening to happy music by John Mayer and Train... I decide to make a list of things I WANTED to do in the next year... or so.

I spend too much of my life tethered to a "things to do" list and responsibilities.  Full-time work, full-time kids, full-time life. 

This is NOT a list of "things to do" -- but things I WANT to do.  Here's what I came up with (in no particular order).

1.  THE MOVIE PROJECT
Watch 100 movies (more or less), filling in gaps and holes that a self-described "movie addict" should have seen before.  And, a few that I've seen - loved - and want to watch again.

2.  THE BOOK PROJECT
Similar to the Movie project, read 10 "classic novels" that I wish I had read by now.  I hated reading until after college, and thus - there are some requisite books that simply were never read. 

3.  THE WORLD PROJECT
The kids and I are going to pick 2 countries a month - do just a "bit" of research and learn a little more.

4.  BACK TO FRENCH
For all who have been here through the past few years... French - Spanish - French - Spanish.  I'm going back to French (again.)  Don't plan to be fluent again - but plan to have fun!

5.  COOKING A COOKBOOK
Since seeing Julie and Julia, I've desperately wanted to do this.  I love to cook, but never have or make the time. I'm going to pick a new cookbook, and cook one fabulous thing from it each weekend.

Plus... a few others:

6.  Get out of debt
7.  Put away $5,000 before Spring Break to visit Kate, Sean and the boys in Tokyo
8.  Run ten (yes, 10) 5Ks
9.  Read 10 business books that are FUN, but help me do my job better
10. Start a blog


Well... #10 is officially underway! And, I added $200 to our Japan savings account yesterday.  Well on my way!

The first day of "The Book Project" - The Great Gatsby

THE BOOK PROJECT:

The first day of my year of reading the classics.  Pulled a list of top 100 from the Guardian, then narrowed to 20 or so I wanted to read. Posted them on facebook to get some recommendations.

This morning I started the one I wanted to read the most, “The Great Gatsby.”  It’s a quiet Sunday a.m.  Everyone is asleep. I woke up, not to an alarm – but to my own body.  Priceless.

Notes on THE BOOK PROJECT

·         I should read in the morning. At night I’m too tired – and I can’t remember what I read.

·         Afterwards, get the Book Guide for discussion to read and reflect.  I shouldn’t just power through the stories.

·         Save some of my favorite pages, some of my favorite quotes.

THE GREAT GATSBY
F. Scott Fitzgerald

·         I have no idea what makes a great writer or a great book, but one chapter in and I’m enthralled to know what’s next.

·         Look up West Egg and East Egg

·         Main characters

o   Daisy & Tom

o   Gatsby

o   Nick

o  Jordan aker

·         Chapter 1:  Favorite quotes:

o   “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” my father told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”

o   “If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some hiehgtened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away.”

o   “Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart.”