An Off-Topic Rant.

A few of these rules apply specifically to the DC area. However, many of them can still be generalized to apply to other cities as well.

1. Don’t post your ad in the “district of columbia” section unless the apartment is in the District of Columbia. I don’t care if the apartment is two centemeters away from the Maryland/DC border. If the address says it’s in Maryland, then it’s in Maryland!

2. “Walking distance from the metro” and “close to the metro” is 8 blocks away or less, maybe a few more only if the blocks are very small. “10 minutes from the metro” refers to walking time, not driving time. “Close to the metro” refers only to the metro rail. It does not count if the apartment is close to a metro bus stop.

3. Always include the street intersection where the apartment is located, if not the full street address. Just posting the street name is not enough information, particularly if the street is long and spans the entire length of the city.

4. If you have a room to rent that includes use of shared living spaces, post in the “rooms / shared” category, not the “apartments / housing” category. Otherwise, everyone who emails you will be disgruntled to find out that you’re not renting out an actual apartment.

5. Always include this information in your post: what laundry facilities are available and what they are like (in other words, is there a washer and dryer in the apartment, a laundry room in the basement, or a laundromat 10 blocks away?), if pets are allowed and what the restrictions are, what utilities are included in the rent and what ones are not, AND

6. Most importantly, when the apartment will be available is essential. Also include if the availability date is flexible or not.

7. Realize that if you do not do 5 and 6 you will be bombarded with phone calls and emails asking those questions.

8. If the apartment is in a managed apartment building, include the name of the building. You might also consider adding the building management company’s website, if there is one.

9. Post pictures. Even if it’s just a screenshot from Google Maps Street View, it helps. If you’re taking photos of the inside of the apartment you might want to make sure it’s clean first.

10. If someone contacts you about the apartment, respond! It’s so frustrating to see the perfect apartment, send an email, and hear nothing back.

Books Left: 94
Current Book: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

This entry contains spoilers for the novel Jane Eyre.

Here’s the thing about Wide Sargasso Sea. I read it for school, for this odd class called “Fiction” in which our professor had us read four sets of two novels: one older novel, and one more recent work. Each pair related to each other in some way. One of the pairs was Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea.

I didn’t want to like Wide Sargasso Sea because I loved Jane Eyre and I knew what Wide Sargasso Sea was about before reading it. I wanted to believe that Rochester was truly tricked into marrying some certifiably crazy lady. When I read Wide Sargasso Sea I had to make myself believe that Antoinette was in no way actually the same person as the woman in the attic. I read it as though the two books were just coincidentally similar. I refused to let Jean Rhys’s more-politically-correct-than-thou post-colonial attitude destroy my enjoyment of the 19th century classic.

Approaching this book for the second time, I realized I didn’t remember anything about it except that the existence of it bothered me. It’s place in the literary canon bothered me, because it was based on something else and it’s not like all those Pride and Prejudice “sequels” are going to be taught in school anytime soon. I didn’t want to read it again. I just wanted to write it off the top 100 list and be done with it.

I’m reading it again, and I’ve discovered two things:

1. Antoinette/Bertha really is kind of crazy. She’s kind of hard to relate to in the book because the parts that are written from her perspective are very muddled. This could also be because she’s young, but I like to think that when I was her age I had a clearer head than that.
2. This book is incredibly well written.

Books Left: 94
Current Book: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

One of the Borders near my office is going out of business, so everything was on sale today! It was bittersweet, because I liked the particular Borders, but mostly sweet. I ran around the store with the sort of glee normally found only in TJ Maxx commercials and that Shopaholic movie. Here’s my loot:

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty – I’ve been wanting to read this since it came out when I was in high school but for some reason I never did. As you can see from the bookmark I already started reading it. I think my experience reading it now is going to be much different than it would have been back then (I believe I was in high school or the early years of college).

Cleaving by Julie Powell – I’m not sure why, but this book interested me a lot more than her other book, the one the Julie and Julia film was based off. I think it’s because I read a review of this book that said it detailed a downward spiral in Julie’s life and somehow that sounded appealing.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender – I was so excited that they had this in stock: a new book by my favorite author! (I guess this is like finding cheap designer jeans that fit at TJ Maxx.) I really wish Bender would write another novel, but I am overjoyed to have this short story collection in my hands.

JavaScript: Pocket Reference by David Flanagan – I’ve heard amazing things about the plot! (Alright, you got me. It’s for work.)

Mystery Book CD DVD Item by ? [Not Pictured] – Borders had a sign up suggesting that we shop for Christmas gifts while everything was on sale. I was determined to be purely selfish in my purchases, until I found the perfect, ahem, item, for my dad.

Yes, this means I’m procrastinating on the project. I even have Wide Sargasso Sea here on my right, staring at me with the evil eyed stare that only a book you’re supposed to be reading but aren’t can give.

Books Left: 94

After losing my first copy on an airplane and taking my sweet time to read through the rest, I’m finally finished with Iris Murdoch’s Under the Net. I usually don’t touch on the lives of authors when I write in the blog, mainly because I don’t want to fall under the “what is the author saying here?” trap. I’m mentioning Iris briefly because I found it fascinating that she wrote so many books. There was also a “controversial” biography written about her by someone who apparently didn’t care for her much. A film was made about her life in 2002 starring Kate Winslet. I haven’t seen it, but I want to now because I like biopics and I like Kate Winslet. I fear though that the movie will get me in tears, because Murdoch dies from Alzheimer’s Disease. Nothing quite gets me sobbing like horrible dementias. (I cried for about a half hour after I watched Awakenings.)

Is the book well written?

Let me say this: it isn’t poorly written. I never found myself noticing any particularly profound language, perhaps with the exception of the short passage where Jack sends a drunken letter to his ex in the mail (which I read out-loud in the video post). I liked the description of the letters falling down once the sender has let go. It’s more physical than sending a text message, where you just type a few words, hit send, and somehow know that in seconds they are appearing on someone else’s phone perhaps miles away.

Is it groundbreaking in some way?

My gut wants to say “yes” but I’m not sure if my gut is the right organ to use to answer this question. To be completely honest, I don’t know. I think it’s impressive that Murdoch wrote the book at 25, that it’s humorous and well thought out and deals with fascinating themes, in particular assumptions: the actions someone takes when they believe things that are entirely untrue. But is that enough to call it groundbreaking? I don’t know.

Is it an enjoyable read?

I enjoyed Under the Net for the most part. It took me a while to read, although this was hindered by the fact that I left it on the airplane. I found some of the parts dull, like when Jack is running through Paris following someone who might be Anna. I loved the characters: Jack, Hugh, Madge, and most of all Mars. I felt that each character was worthy of his or her own “spin-off” tale. Mrs. Tinkham in particular, the woman who runs the newsstand and collects stories.

Does Under the Net deserve to be on the list of the top 100 books of the 20th century? Maybe. Possibly. A very tentative yes.

I found Under the Net to have quite a few similarities to The Ginger Man, partially due to Iris Murdoch’s writing style not causing me to cringe, but mainly due to Jack Donaghue. Despite his flaws, I still found myself liking Jack. Now that I’m finished with the novel, I thought I would describe some of the two protagonists’ essential differences.

1.When Sebastian gets drunk, he starts violent bar fights. When Jake gets drunk, he sends love letters.

2.Neither of them make a great deal of money, but at least Jake works. Sebastian intends to go to the park and study law, and instead he flirts with his neighbor while his daughter is present. Jake, when he realizes he needs money, gets a job that sounds to me like one of the worst available: an orderly at a hospital cleaning up after patients.

3.Jake’s friends are much better people than Sebastian’s friends, some of whom are more disgusting than Sebastian himself.

4.For Sebastian, freeloading off his friends is a regular way of life. But when Jake thinks he betrayed his friend’s trust and friendship, he feels horribly. (Also, Sebastian does not have a conscience.)

5.Sebastian probably has STDs. Jake, on the other hand, goes after one woman throughout the entire book, and at the end when he realizes she’s really not interested in picking up where they left off, he stops. Jake also has opportunities with other women, which he politely declines.

6.While I wouldn’t trust Sebastian within a 50 mile radius of his own daughter, the relationship between Jake and the dog Mars is one of my favorite parts of the book. Jake begins by kidnapping Mars to use as leverage to get back something that was taken from him. By the time Jake finds out that the person who had Mars before has no desire to get him back, he and the dog are already close friends.

Jake is by no means perfect, but with a solid balance of positive and negative qualities Jake is a much more fascinating and relate-able fictional character than Sebastian will ever be.

Since it’s been so long since I updated, I thought I needed to give a quick update of what’s been keeping me so occupied!

Crafting

Embroidery! I love it. I recently completed an embroidery project for my mom which was a lot of fun! I wish I’d taken pictures of it to show off. Maybe she’ll read this and be inspired to send me some? I used felt and embroidery thread and I was really impressed with how it turned out. I will definitely be doing more embroidery in the future! I’m just not sure what I want to make next, or who I should make something for! It’s easier for me to make things if I have a particular person in mind.

Video Games

Recently I picked up Dragon Age: Origins and I’ve been playing it to death. I’m not crazy about the combat style. I created a mage because that’s the type of class I prefer to play in RPG type games (I’d rather have my character stand back and cast spells than be up front in the action) only to find out you have to manage your entire party’s actions. I’ve gotten good enough at working with the tactics that I can get my party through most fights while just managing what my actual character is doing. What I really like about the game is the character development of the party members. This is the best character development I’ve seen in a game since The Longest Journey–which is still my favorite game ever, partly because it’s impossible to die. I find dying in video games to be really frustrating!

Visiting Family

This Memorial Day weekend I traveled to Michigan for my brother’s high school graduation! I’m really proud of him. He’s an aspiring writer who has not only written an entire novel but also won an award in the school’s fine art’s competition for an amazing poem he wrote. He’s graduating with honors and has some great scholarships for college next year!

The photo is from last year’s 4th of July. My brother is the second from the left, surrounded by relatives. At his graduation party I was able to see most of my relatives. Both my parents having 5 siblings each, and all of those siblings have children, and some of those children have children. It’s hard getting most of them in one place! This probably wont happen again until a wedding or a funeral (hopefully the former.)

Finishing Under the Net

I’m happily reaching the end of the novel, and I should have my final review up soon! I made sure not to read it on my flight to Michigan because I don’t think I could handle leaving it on a plane a second time!

Books Left: 94
Current Book: Under the Net by Iris Murdoch

I’m taking a break from writing about Under the Net because today is May 23, 2010. In other words, it’s LOST Day. I started watching LOST about halfway through the first season, partially because my family said it was good, and partially because my favorite TV show at the time was ALIAS, also created by JJ Abrams. I was instantly hooked and caught myself up through the first half of the season.

Second and third season I would occasionally watch at huge lost viewing parties that my friends put on back in Michigan. I remember watching the last episode of season two with them and how we all freaked out when we saw that giant, four-toed foot. I still want to know why the foot has four toes, and they’d better explain that tonight!

Fourth and fifth season I watched on ABC.com and Hulu, as those were my years without a television.

One of the things I love about LOST is how if you meet another person who watches the show, you instantly have a conversation topic. It’s a cultural phenomenon; it’s a story that has captured so many of us. I think it’s called “LOST” because after tonight we’re all going to be a little bit lost without it.

To celebrate LOST Day, I’m posting a few photos that were sent to me as an HGRB submission. If anyone brought sexy back to reading, it was this guy:

(Thank you, Lupatrian!) If that’s not enough, here’s a great article about Sawyer and his literary preferences. There’s more pictures, too!

Books Left: 94
Current Book: Under the Net by Iris Murdoch

Instead of writing about my progress in Under the Net, I decided to go the “vlog” route. This was inspired by Christina and Jenny who are supposed to do the same thing, and Pete who has another project, which is required.

Books Left: 94
Current Book: Under the Net by Iris Murdoch

This weekend I attempted to acquire a new copy of Under the Net. I went to Barnes and Noble, and of course they did not have a copy. Luckily, I was able to get a photo of my friend Aaron reading.

Now the book is on its way from Amazon. I’m half expecting it to not show up, as I fear the Universe does not want me to finish this book. This is unfortunate because I was talking to someone else about the plot the other day, and I realized with the odd mess of characters I’m really looking forward to finding out what happens next!

If you happen to be on Amazon, be sure and pre-order The Book of Unnecessary Quotation Marks! The author, Bethany Keeley, is the fiance of one of my best friends from high school, and an awesome person!

Admittedly, I haven’t yet myself, because a) I am a bad person, and b) I didn’t want it to mess with the shipping speed of my half-finished book. But I’m really excited about it!

Books Left: 94
Current Book: Under the Net by Iris Murdoch

My book is lost for good. I haven’t heard anything from Delta and I doubt they care about a missing book. I hope someone found it and is enjoying it on their travels.

Never fear, I will be getting another copy soon. A gentleman friend has agreed to procure me a copy. He also agreed to pick out parts with me for the computer I want to build. (Future potential suitors take note! Books + computers = win.) My biggest problem: finding a case that doesn’t look either like a cardboard box that was painted black nor have enough light features to light up my entire room.

1. Wired magazine. I subscribe to two magazines, chosen partially for their content and partially because I was able to get them free through MyCokeRewards. (The other one is ReadyMade, which is awesome!) This time around, Wired has a great article about LOST. If you know me at all, you know that I love LOST and I’ve been watching it since halfway though Season 1. The best part of the article was a little sidebar including obscure clues most people missed, but I was excited that they didn’t mention the clue I picked up on way back, Jack’s KRZR. (Although to be fair, I didn’t quite get the meaning of the KRZR. I just knew something was “up” which perhaps, in LOST-land, is nothing special.)

2. Blogs! I’m continually updating my link lists on the left and my Google Reader. There’s so many amazing lit blogs out there! I can’t imagine linking them all. Indie Fixx had an interesting post about movies that have made an impact on your life. (Although the first part, before she actually came to the list of movies, bothered me because not everyone is married to someone rich so they can quit their day jobs.) There are many movies that I love, but I can’t think of many that have actually impacted my life. In fact, the only one I can think of right now is Julie and Julia, which inspired me to start a project and blog about it. Another might be Zoolander, if only because my friends and I quoted it incessantly through late high school/early college. There are also movies that I’ve found visually inspiring, including Amelie and Away We Go. Also, I want to make a triangle shawl. However, I can only knit squares and rectangles and I haven’t knitted one of those in quite a while. Perhaps I’ll sew a triangle shawl instead.

3. How to Be More Creative, More Often by Breanne Boland.

This is a cute little zine I bought on Etsy while shopping for supplies for a project. I loved the title, and it has some really good advice. My favorite section was the part about perfection and not worrying about it. When I create things, I often worry about perfecting every detail. The book says, “Perfection is for robots.”

That said, the zine isn’t perfect. Breanne’s handwriting is a bit difficult to read, and on a few of the pages have the bottom or the top of the content chopped off.

It really made me want to get this book. I’m always looking for more creative inspiration! After reading the zine, I kind of want to make a zine of my own! I have no idea what it would be about, though.

Speaking of zines, I got a great little one in a swap. It’s called 10 Pairs of Glasses and you can pick it up by clicking the title. It’s very well written and unlike the other zine there were no issues with the printing. It made me think about alternative markers for time. In the zine she measured her life by what glasses she had. I measure mine in other ways, like what job I have (that’s probably a common one) or what apartment I’m living in (also probably common). I also think about what online communities I’ve been a part of and how that’s changed over the years. What different ways do you use to measure time?