2009 Roundup: Book List 43/50

      Operating Instructions, Anne Lamott

A Woman of Uncertain Charcter

Out of the Silent Planet, C.S. Lewis

Sailing Alone Around the Room, Billiy Collins

Imagining Ourselves

Gluten Free Girl, Ahren

Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Truss

The Painted Veil, Maughm

Doomsday Book, Connie Willis

On Writing Well, William Zinsser

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller

A History of God, Karen Armstrong

What Do We Know, Mary Oliver

Old Friend From Far Away, Natalie Goldberg

You Shall Know Our Velosity, Dave Eggers

Love and Other Difficulties, Rilke

Red Bird, Mary Oliver           

Where the Wild Things Are, Sendak

A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Jean-Dominique Babuy

The Life of Pi, Yann Martel

The Nine Parts of Desire, Geraldine Brooks

The Time Travelers Wife, Audrey Niffeneggner

Through Painted Deserts, Donald Miller

How We are Hungry, Dave Eggers

Thirst, Mary Oliver

The Alchemist, Paul Coehl

All the Pretty Horses, Cormick McCarthy

The View From Planet Earth, Vincent Crown

Grace (Eventually), Anne Lamott

A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway

Blink, Malcolm Gladwell

In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan

      Letters To A Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke

The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell

Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller

Mountains Beyond Mountains, Tracy Kidder

Spilling Out, Sabrina Ward Harrison

Vanity Fair, Feb 2009

The Audacity of Hope, Barak Obama

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer

If Grace is True

A River Runs Through It, Norm Maclean

Japanese Maples. Need I say more?

November.  It was rainy.  I discovered gluten has been causing my migraines for the last thirteen years.   I explored the city.  I read.  I wrote five papers. 

Café: Bauhaus, Capitol Hill.  Didn’t enjoy it.  It was a beautiful day outside, but inside it was muggy, loud and just plain snobby.  Coffee didn’t do much for me either.  Sad.

Restaurant: Ballet, Capitol Hill.  Yeah, hi!  Hole in the wall Vietnamese food?  I’m game.  This is some of the best fo I’ve had.

Thing: The Arboretum.  I skiped school one Monday and Aurora and I headed to the Arboretum just in time to see the Japanese maples in all their glory.  It was a peacefull day full of romps through the magical forest, dreams of someday retiring to a bench with a view of beauty and feeling a little at home admiring the plants of Aotearoa in the Pacific Circle Garden. 

Books: Eats, Shoots and Leaves, Truss; Gluten Free Girl, Ahren; Imagining Ourselves; Sailing Alone Around the Room, Collins; Out of The Silent Planet, C. S. Lewis.

The End.

Brandi Carlile, Oolong Mimosa and William Zinsser

What can I say about October? I feel like I had to fight to get through the month. The daily routine of traveling by bus to the tops of the many Seattle hills for school and doctor appointments and work and friends got the best of me. And it gets dark. 4:30. 4:30! It was black outside! I’m glad the weather seems to have lifted a bit the last to week reveal the glowing shades of trees and the sweet smells of apples, persimmons, pomegranates and pears.

What new things did I explore in October? OO…well, I feel like I got back on track with my goals.

Café: Miro Tea on Ballard Ave. WOW! I’m obsessively in love with this teahouse! My favorite is the Java Mate. It’s rich and smooth and has little shavings of coffee beans in it. I’m also in love with the Oolong Mimosa: Oolong Black tea, Sparkling water, orange juice, basil.

Restaurant: La Isla, Ballard. I had wanted to dine in this Ballard restaurant for quite some time. My friend Alison and I, in search of margaritas, found our way there after a movie. It was affordable and DELICIOUS!

New Thing: The Paramount Theater is one of Seattle’s long-standing establishments. This month I found myself with some old and new friends for the Katie Herzig and Brandi Carlile concert. One word: PHENOMINAL! Here’s a video J The person who took this video had much better seats that I did…

BOOKS: 1) On Writing Well, Zinsser 2) Doomsday Book, Willis 3) Short Stories: “Speech Sounds”, Buttler & “Damascus”, Gregory 4) What We Do Know, Mary Oliver

September Came and Went...

My alternative approach to life has sent me around the world and amazing journeys and has brought me to Seattle, a place where I am happy and excited to plant myself. Now, after all my travels and experiences, I find myself rooted in this amazing city and studying writing. I started college and I’m soaking in every bit of wisdom I am gleaning!

All the things I was told were true. I have no time to read or write anything that is not for school. I’ve just spent the last five hours in a teashop in Ballard doing homework and have reached a point where I need to do something else. I’m so far ahead on my homework that I can write for my own good and not just a grade.

Here’s a quick update on my September goals. I feel behind the books, but my October list will more than make up it ;).

Books

1) A History of God, Karen Armstrong

2) A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller

Café: Café Fiore, Ballard. If you want a place full of bearded men, this is it. Good coffee, beautiful café, delightful music, many beards.

Restaurant: Odd Fellows, Capitol Hill. I had the BLT and Ester had this fantastic salad of organic greens and duck. UH…WOW!

Thing: I went to College!

That was my September. The change of season has brought the rain and the revelation of my dreams to work toward being a “real” writer. I’m excited to write my October update as the first two weeks have been the most exciting of my year yet! Stay tuned….

July + August = Reevaluation in September

Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love how much things change. The leaves on the trees, the way the wind blows and the way the sun sets. I love wearing sweaters and scarves and drinking piping hot coffee. People run off to the next quarter of school to learn new things, schedules change and I start reevaluate how I’m living, knowing full well the bleakness of winter and how it easy it can be to stay in bed for the long months ahead if I don’t get inspired now.

I believe the reevaluation of one’s life should take place yearly, if not more. In February I set a year’s worth of goals for myself, the biggest of which was to read fifty books in one year followed closely by starting college. Minor goals included travel goals, health goals, art/hobby goals and financial goals. In August I hit a wall and lost the joy I was finding in fulfilling these goals; however, as September 2009 hit me out of nowhere, I’m pretty impressed with how well I’m actually fulfilling these goals. I took some time to reevaluate my goals to see where I was falling behind and where I was exceeding goals.

Reading

Like I said, the biggest undertaking was a fifty-book reading list. As of the end of August I have read thirty. Since my last update at the end of June I’ve read the following ten books:

1) The Time Travelers Wife, Audrey Niffeneggner; 2) The Nine Parts of Desire, The Secret Lives of Islamic Women, Geraldine Brooks; 3) The Life of Pi, Yann Martel; 4) The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Jean-Dominique Babuy; 5) A Grief Observed, C. S. Lewis; 6) Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak 7) Red Bird, Mary Oliver; 8) Love and Other Difficulties, Rilke; 9) You Shall Know Our Velocity, Dave Eggers; 10) Old Friend From Far Away, Natalie Goldberg

My highest reading recommendations go to The Time Travelers Wife, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Red Bird and You Shall Know Our Velocity. Each one moved me to tears, fed my soul, helped my grieve and inspired me to live life with intensity, desire, adventure and an overcoming spirit.

Something I did not expect to happen was the formation of my very first book club. Paula, one of the founding mothers of FUN, and I started one with some of co-workers and we meet Sunday to discuss our first official book, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

Travel Goals

My travel goals were set with the purpose of helping me focus on what is right in front of me, Seattle. I set out to visit one new café, restaurant and do one new thing in Seattle every month. This is where I have started to get lazy.

Café: July-Herkimer coffee, Greenwood; August-Firehouse Coffee, Ballard (my backyard and the home of the Lavender Latte).

Restaurant: July-Taste of India, University District, August- FAIL , September-El Camino, Fremont

New Thing: July- FAIL , August- watching the Salmon run at the Ballard Locks

I hit up Canada this summer for two weeks and head to Mexico at the end of the year for an epic family vacation and some exploration of ancient ruins with my dad. I’m blessed to be able to head down a day before the other sixteen family members on the trip. I will use my day on my own in Mexico to drink Margaritas , review the year and set some goals for 2010 will staring off into the Ocean.

Health Goals

In May I had a very large kidney stone removed after six years of pain, took advantage of my brand new dental insurance to have some cavities filled, started acupuncture for Migraines, emotions and the cyst in my left wrist. These seemingly simple things are healing health problems I have been ignoring for years while I without insurance and unable to afford the care I needed. Hopefully we can help Obama change this for future generations.

Art/Hobby Goals

Writing: My goal was to write about ten hours a week. I have to say that I have yet to achieve this, but I still hope to by the end of the year. I also started this blog (with a new one coming soon!). I must say, thanks to Old Friend From Far Away by Natalie Goldberg, I have filed journals full of memories and emotions that someday will be edited into a breathtaking book about life’s beauty and pain…someday. I’ve also started a collection of short stories, something very new for me and mostly just an experiment for now.

Other new ventures: I didn’t know what these would be when I started this year and I must say that I’ve been pretty surprised by some of them. My goal was four new things and four previous hobbies. I’ve started the blog with a new one coming soon. I’ve started redoing old furniture, will shortly be starting a stand at the Fremont Sunday Market and buying a sewing machine.

With my first quarter of college starting in two weeks, a new stand at the Fremont Market, writing, working full-time and taking care of myself the fall and winter look pretty busy. I have a feeling that this next season of life is going to be stretching, but exciting.

Thank you Fernie, BC.

It’s the end of June already.  I’ve written so much and yet put up nothing!  I found my inspiration late in the month in Fernie, BC which turns out is my second favorite place in North America, just after Seattle. 

My quest for new adventures has taken me to Canada this month.  I came for a wedding and am staying two weeks.  I’ve seen Calgary, Edmonton, Fernie and tomorrow I head back to Calgary for a few days with a day trip to Banff planed.  I’ve seen some great friends from the New Zealand days and today went on a beautiful hike in the mountains, but I didn’t take a lot of pictures.  Pictures have never been something I’ve been good at.  I tend to write what I experience.  Memories are more to me than seeing a place through a camera. 

Yesterday while exploring Fernie’s board shops, the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and a great teashop I also stumbled into the most dangerous of places—a bookstore.  I wondered to the back and found three books:  Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Steven King’s book on writing and Old Friend from Far Away by Natalie Goldberg.  All three are great books on the writing process, Bird by Bird being my favorite book I read last year.  I bought Goldberg’s book.  She winds you through your memories and helps you remember intricate details so that you can write your own memoir.  My goal in a usual week is to write about ten hours.  I usually do about six and in that time I put out about four pages of stuff I will go back to someday or post on here.  Yesterday in one sitting using this book and the serene setting of Fernie I wrote about nine pages I think are really good.  One of the exercises was to write for three minutes about a memory connected to sound.  Here is what I wrote:

            “I thought it was early to be up. The clock said it was 5:30am but it wasn’t the alarm I was hearing.  It hurt my ears.  I know what it is—the apartment next to me is empty and the smoke alarm batteries are going dead.  Its sending out a warning that if somebody doesn’t change them we could all lose our lives in a fire.  But then why is it getting louder?  Why is there a now a chorus of smoke alarms?  Surely all the batteries cannot be dying at the same time?  But then, surely my home cannot be on fire?  I ate breakfast before the smoke came through the crack under the door.”

            I also must update you on my news things for the month, Canada being the most obvious.  I did pretty well this month! On top of my new things I also set myself the goal that I would get myself into Seattle Central Community College before I left for the great wild north.  I took my placement test, registered for classes, proved my Washington State residency and took care of financial aid all in one week.  Looks like I’m set. 

Here’s how I filled the ongoing goals:

New Things of June

Café: Vivace on Capitol Hill

Restaurant: Queen Sheba, Capitol Hill

Thing: Glassblowing at the Fremont Art Walk, and The Moore Inside Out

Books: 1) The View From Planet Earth, Vincent Crown 2) All the Pretty Horses, Cormick McCarthy 3) The Alchemist, Paul Coehl 4) Thirst, Mary Oliver, 5) How We Are Hungry, Dave Eggers, 6) Through Painted Deserts, Donald Miller

New Things!

The year is half over already!  I set some hefty goals for myself in February.  Two things inspired my goals for this year.  The first was a small, but significant breakdown regarding a heartbreak and the dilemma of non-fair-trade socks*.  The other was a friend’s husband’s blog, The Art of Nonconformity, by Chris Guillebeau (which I highly recommend!).

            Mostly my goal was to be happy where I am, content in the space I dwell in—physically, spiritually and emotionally.  They involve money savings goals and reading goals.  Mostly they were an effort to feed the travel monster that often takes over my brain, but also learn how to love the place I am in, which for now is Seattle.

2009 Goals…the tally so far

One New Café Each Month

February: Irwin’s, Wallingford

March: Zeitgiest, Pioneer Square

April: The Crumpet Shop, Pike Place Market

May: Elliot Bay Café, Pioneer Square

 

One New Restaurant Each Month

February: failed!

March: Canterbury Inn, Capitol Hill

April: Fishermen’s on the Pier, Downtown

May: Homegrown, Fremont

 

One New Thing Each Month

February: Volunteer Park and Greenhouse

March: went to a play “The Mistakes Madeline Made” featuring Taylor Maxwell (co-worker and friend)

April: Seattle Underground Tour & Ye Old Curiosity Shop

May: Discovery Park (same day the bear was seen...)

 

Read 50 Books This Year…count as of today: 14

A River Runs Through It, Norm Maclean (read if and fall in love…I’m just warning you)

If Grace Is True (did not enjoy at all)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer (best book of my year so far, maybe my life)

The Audacity of Hope, Barak Obama (slow going, but made me want to be in politics, HA!)

“Vanity Fair”, Feb Issue (new president meets pages littered with pictures of a young Paul Newman…brilliant!)

Spilling Over, Sabrina Ward Harrison (under the topic of faith, “talked to $*@(#, survived.”)

Mountains Beyond Mountains, Tracey Kidder (made me want to do something with my life, like change the world)

Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller (an oldie but a goodie…more religious than I remember but a wonderful bridge to expanding faith and thought.)

The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (SO GOOD! Big Bird will never cease to teach me new and valuable lessons about life.)

Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke (I think I will read this book every day for the rest of my life)

In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan (by day three I had finished half the book and completely changed the way I eat)

Blink, Malcolm Gladwell (amazing! Again! Loved it from the first word, which is what the book is all about.)

A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway (this might actually be my favorite book ever.  It changes my life every time I read it.  “My words would become something that would have to be destroyed and sometimes, if possible, me with them”)

Grace (Eventually), Anne Lamott (no better way to explain my love for her than saying I call her my Guru.  We all have so much to learn about gentleness, love and chaos.  She embraces them all.)

Other goals for my life this year include but are not limited to…

One trip out of the United States of America: Canada Extravaganza ’09! June 21^st-July 5^th.

Getting my health figured out: Kidney stones, check!; cavities, processing; Migraines, procrastinating; Wisdom teeth, end of the year. 

Starting College: procrastinating…

Take up four new hobbies and loving old ones: mostly I’ve just been focusing on writing and reading, which are really all I like to do anyway. 

Starting a blog and letting the world see this part of me:  Obviously, this is well underway. 

There are seven months left of this new year!  Get started on your own list!

--

*ps.  Chris' wife, and a friend of mine, Jolie, is an artist of many mediums.  She knits socks and I couldn't decide if I should by the fair trade socks shipped to Seattle from South America or buy some from her.  The dilemma came in when I realized that in order to pay her a livable wage for the socks they would cost 100's of dollars!  This should not have stressed me out, but it did.