One of my little goals for 2011, and hopefully the years to come, is to keep a little record of the tidbits of my days. I’m really proactive about keeping my Google Calendar up to date with upcoming events, so I thought it would be a nice change to keep record of things that happened during my day. Just a few things – filling out nothing in advance. I decided to use this Sanrio pocket calendar that I got for free.

This was inspired by my friend Jane’s mom. She was given her mom’s purse from the 1980s which contained, amongst other cool remnants of the past, her mom’s daily journal. It was a simple datebook in which she jotted down a few things that happened each day. We were both really inspired by this little historical relic.

1. What author do you own the most books by? Probably Sohpie Kinsella. Don’t hate.

2. What book do you own the most copies of? I don’t own more than one copy of any book. Although, on my desk right now I have two copies of Prison for Bitches, which is a Lady Gaga fanzine. I bought one copy for myself, and one for my sister who is a HUGE fan. Can’t wait to give it to her for Christmas!

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions? I didn’t notice. Sometimes I suspect that English was not my first language.

4. a. What fictional character are you secretly in love with? Why does it have to be a secret? Mr. Bingley from Pride and Prejudice. Adorable in the book, adorable in the movie.

b. What fictional character would you most like to be? Probably Alice from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

c. What fictional character do you think most resembles you? Maybe the female kid from Jurassic Park, Lex Murphy. This is a hard question.

5. What book have you read the most times in your life? There was this series Ann M. Martin wrote called Baby-Sitters Little Sister, and for some reason I owned only #3 in the series, Karen’s Worst Day. I think I read it around 20+ times in one summer because it was too hot to go outside and I had nothing else to do. She was a kid who had a handful of younger siblings. Chaos was always ensuing. I probably related.

6. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old? That was a good year! I moved away from the Babysitters Club, Girl Talk and Goosebumps books to read The Lost World by Michael Crichton. I was amazed, and it totally piqued my interest in science.

7. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year? There are a few, but I’ll go with The Garden of Eden by Nathaniel Hawthorne. So. Fucking. Boring. I’m sorry, I just don’t have the patience.

8. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year? The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Such an epic yet understated and well written piece. Fantastic story.

9. If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be? Just Kids by Patti Smith. I’m not even a fan of hers, but her story was beautifully written and incredibly moving. She’s an amazing woman.

10. Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature? I don’t think I read books that would normally be nominated for Nobel Prizes, or maybe I do – I have no clue.

11. What book would you most like to see made into a movie? The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

12. What book would you least like to see made into a movie? How about Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. I don’t know how that would work as a movie.

13. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character: I normally dream about people I know, or people on television.

14. What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult? I don’t like this elitist question, but I will answer it. Probably this book called Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer. It was bad. Really bad… yet I couldn’t put it down!

15. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? Most recently it would have to be Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. I loved it though.

16. What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen? King Lear, maybe? Is that an obscure Shakespeare play?

17. Do you prefer the French or the Russians? Russians for their bluntness. But I don’t like how there are 5 versions of each character’s name. Pick one and stick with it!

18. Roth or Updike? I don’t know who Roth is, and I just started reading The Jungle, so I’ll say Updike.

19. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers? I have A Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius but I haven’t started reading it yet, so I’ll have to say Sedaris. I’ve loved everything he’s written so far.

20. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer? None of the above.

21. Austen or Eliot? Austen. I haven’t read anything by Eliot.

22. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading? I don’t see it as embarrassing, but I’ve been slowly creeping through the Feminine Mystique for the last 2 or so years now. I’ve always been outspoken about women’s rights and it’s unfortunate that I just can’t get into Friedan’s book.

23. What is your favorite novel? This is hard. It’s a tie between Bright Lights, Big City by McInerney and Hard Times by Dickens.

24. Play? The Crucible by Arthur Miller

25. Poem? Only because I recently watched the movie, I’m going with Bright Star by John Keats

26. Essay? How about a book of essays? Sex, Art and American Culture: Essays by Camille Paglia. I disagreed with half of the things she wrote, but the fact that she wrote them was groundbreaking and I respect her for being bold enough to challenge the majority of feminist opinions.

27. Short story? How about book of short stories? Good Bones and Simple Murders by Margaret Atwood.

28. Work of nonfiction? The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

29. Who is your favorite writer? This is really hard because I’m constantly jumping around from genre to genre. I’ll go with Douglas Adams for now. Mostly because I feel like he writes the way he talks, which I can identify with. And he makes jokes that he clearly thinks are funny, which I tend to do as well. I like writers I can relate to, and whose pieces are fun to read. Malcolm Gladwell also has a really great writing voice. And of course, David Sedaris.

30. Who is the most overrated writer alive today? Maybe JK Rowling?

31. What is your desert island book? Speaking of JK Rowling! Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

32. And … what are you reading right now? I just finished Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and am almost finished with Letting It All Hang Out by RuPaul.

That was fun! And now I’m sleepy. Happy Friday, everyone! Muah!

One of my favorite crafty people, the oh-so-talented Twinkie Chan, will be at Booksmith in San Francisco on Tuesday, November 9th at 7:30pm to talk about her new book Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies.

Here’s a fun video featuring Twinkie making one of her scrumptious cupcake scarves. So cute! I can’t wait to pick up her book and start making yummy things.

I haven’t visited my fam in four months (which is the longest I’ve been away from home! Ack.) and in that time my Taschen catalogue arrived! I finally got to flip through it while I was waiting (for 3 long hours) to board my flight. But anyway, these images kept me company, as well as the lady next to me who kept glancing over. Sorry I didn’t scan these, but I think the iPhone worked just fine. Enjoy!

A few months ago my roommate and I joined Book Club. The first rule of Book Club was not to talk about Book Club, but I just think I broke that rule. Mah bad. Our current selection is The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, which is pretty amazing so far (I’m halfway through). The problem is, I opened my laptop to turn on some music. Then I decided to look up an Erykah Badu video “really quick” on Youtube. The next thing you know, it’s 10:30pm and I’m writing a blog entry about it. Anyway, I wanted to share one of my favorite songs/videos and I hope you enjoy the adorable couple that once was, Common and Erykah Badu.

You’re welcome. Happy Wednesday!

So, today I bought this from Jaime’s fabulous Etsy shop Sparkles and Sticks:

I can’t wait to get it! It’s a nice new blank-paged Molskine notebook perfect for summer doodling. And I love how Jaime’s design was inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett‘s The Secret Garden. I remember reading both The Secret Garden and A Little Princess as a young girl, and I think I might read them again. It’s always neat re-reading the books I’ve read, in this case, over a decade ago. I like finding new ways to appreciate them, and sometimes finding new nuances and underlying meanings.

Now before the mockery begins, I took my little sisters. That’s my excuse. ) I did not read any of the books, but after seeing this film, the second book seems to be calling my name. Having not read the books, I thought the writing in the film was borderline poor. The acting was very melodramatic at times, but I really loved the cinematography and the costumes. Particularly the baseball scene. Everything about that scene is great. And I must say, I kind of think Edward is dreamy.

In other book-to-film related news, my sister informed me this morning that she saw a movie poster for none other than the Confessions of a Shopaholic.

About two years ago I tore through these books. Well, the first two at least. The rest of them were kind of lame. I never read Shopaholic and Baby just because after reading the second book I was a little frustrated by Kinsella’s predictably formulaic style. But I’m thinking this will be one example where the film will be better than the book, which usually does not happen. We’ll see.

Anyway, going with the book theme of this post, I’ve included my latest review on Goodreads. No offense to my super cool friend who recommended this book to me. ) It just wasn’t my cup of tea. I’m almost to my goal of reading 24 books in a year. It doesn’t seem like much, but it is for me. That’s about 2 books a month. I’m going to try to up my goal next year to 3 books a month.

Weekend in Paris by Robyn Sisman

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
My good friend recommended this book to me one day when I said I was in the mood for good chick lit. But, you know, opinions are subjective. This book was as another reviewer said, quite predictable. I thought the flow of the story was a bit choppy and not woven together very well. I found the main character Molly to be a little too air-headed for my liking. The book wasn’t horrible; I did find it tolerable enough to finish the whole thing. I wouldn’t recommend it.

View all my reviews.

“I wonder what your personal take is. Why do you think adolescent girls, in particular, but women, in general, resort to competition, body snark, and passive aggressive manipulation? And most importantly, how can we stop it?”

This is something I have ALWAYS questioned, particularly recently.  Why is it that girls who already, more often than we would like, find themselves in oppressive situations, feel the need to oppress and degrade other girls? My 17-year-old self contemplated this a lot my last year in high school. It was that year that I decided that drama with other girls for the sake of being dramatic was never ever worth it. I was never really competitive in that way in the first place. Who would think it was worth it anyway? Perhaps girls who don’t have enough self confidence to not care? I have no clue. I think those types of behaviors really reveal the core of one’s character, to go out of one’s way to intentionally afflict mental harm on another person for means of personal gain or gratification. But, I guess this is how the world works? Ay ay ay.

But I was really happy to see this brought up on the Feministing blog yesterday. It makes me feel like my attitude regarding these catty and often immature behaviors has been validated. ) That makes me happy. I totally want to pick up the book they talk about in their post, Rachel Simmon’s Odd Girl Out.

I’ll end this post with a great excerpt from Kathleen Hanna’s Riot Grrl Manifesto:

“BECAUSE we are unwilling to let our real and valid anger be diffused and/or turned against us via the internalization of sexism as witnessed in girl/girl jealousism and self defeating girltype behaviors.”

THEN I stumbled upon Smashing Magazine’s feature for today, which ties into this whole concept of sharing our thoughts or showcasing ideas in a public space.

Although, sometimes grafitti is not always 100% political, I think that the simple act of reaching outside of social norms and utilizing space that is not meant to be utilized for expression is in and of itself making a bold statement. A very brave one, at that.

This idea of rebellion got me thinking of one of my favorite anarchist collectives, Crimethinc Ex-Workers Collective. Although I cannot forsee ever not having a job and being content with that (unless the U.S. decides to provide Universal Healthcare, which it should), I really respect Crimethinc and admire what they do. They’re such a giving group of people. I’ve probably written about them before. They don’t care about profits, or publicity, all they want to do is spread their message of ultimate autonomy. One of my favorite books Off the Map was purchased from their website (for a measly $2, seriously! seriously awesome), and not only did I get a handful of free posters, stickers and zines, someone from Crimethinc wrote me a handwritten message thanking me for my purchase. I can’t say enough good things about them and the work that they do for no money. Again, love it.

Lastly, going with my theme of bad-ass-ness, I think more people should know about the SPRFKR line of apparel. Why more people aren’t as crazy about them as I am is a mystery to me. I am a plain kind of girl, but the only graphic apparel I seem to like and want to support is SPRFKR.

Their illustrations are amazing, and I love that they don’t put their label name all over their clothing. I don’t know about you, but I don’t enjoy paying money to be a walking billboard for clothing companies. And that is why I like SPRFKR. Good design. Smart design. Great conversation starters.

Of course, I cannot talk about the OC Fair without mentioning that my roommate, the amazing KENDRA, won 1st place in the memorabilia contest! You go girl! I’m such a proud roomie. As the description says (photo to be added later), she has collected over 100 Vivien Leigh items. That’s a lot of old stuff… and a lot of hard earned cash spent on that old stuff. Homegirl is going to be able to fill a museum soon. We should start charging when people come over to visit.

In other news, in addition to my ongoing attempts to finish reading the legendary Harry Potter series (I’m still on book 5), I am reading Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants by Jill Soloway

At first, when reading through her 3 introductions, I got kind of annoyed with her cocky tone. A friend of mine got me this book for my birthday via my amazon wish list. I think I added it to my wish list because at the time I was really into reading as much feminist-y stuff as possible. I think the beginning of the book frustrated me because I felt like Jill was one of those feminists who give feminists a bad name, in my opinion. They think they know everything, and they think everyone who disagrees with them are inferior. Which, you know, is kind of lame. BUT. I continued reading and soon realized that I am actually really liking this book. It reminds me of Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. So if you liked that book, you’d most likely enjoy this one. Anyway, I have about 50 pages to go. Oh, I’m on Goodreads, and highly recommend it if you like to keep track of what you’ve read, and/or like to see what your friends are reading.