Book List - April 2012

Here is what I read in April:

14. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - I don't normally read fantasy (although the cover says this is a novel) but a friend recommended it so I decided to give it a read. The title is very straight forward - this book is about a very unusal circus that is open only at night and the people who run it (and no, they are not vampires as one friend asked). Of course there is an underlying mystery throughout the book so you'll need some patiences but it was enjoyable just the same.

15. Miss Darcy Falls in Love by Sharon Lathan - This is another continuation of Pride & Prejudice but you don't need to know the original story.  I always find it interesting how other authors tell what happen to the characters onces P&P is over and this one tells how Georginia Darcy falls in love.  It was okay and kept to the speech and manors of the time but it did get a little too Harlequin-y for me, especially at the end.

16. The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark - I don't read a lot of mysteries but I've been reading MHC since I was about 12.  She has written over 40 books and I've probably read most of them.  She seems to have a formula that she follows in her writing (all the books are written the same way and are somewhat dated) but I always end up reading whatever she puts out.  Most of her books involve a murder.  The man murdered in this story may have found a letter written by Christ.  This was easy to read and enjoyable.  If you like "who-dunnits" then you would probably enjoy this book.

I feels as if I've been slacking this year.  Only 16 books in the first four months.  There just doesn't seem to be as much time to read as their used to be.  I'm not really sure what has changed.  I don't think I need more hours in the day, I'd rather just spend less time on things that aren't as enjoyable, like work.

Things I've Learned

I was cleaning out my desk and found the following. I don't know who wrote it (I cleaned it up a little bit) but I really like. Hope you do too.

Things I Have Learned

I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in.

I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people are just jerks.

I've learned that it takes years to build up a trust, and it only takes suspicion, not proof, to destroy it.

I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to others - they are more screwed up than you think.

I've learned that you can keep throwing up long after you think you're finished.

I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are celebrities.

I've learned that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades, and there had better be a lot of money to take it's place.

I've leaarned that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones who do.

I've learned that we don't have to ditch bad friends, because their dysfunction makes us feel better about ourselves.

I've learned that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get arrested and end up in the local paper.

I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon and all the less important ones just never go away.

How Much Do You Really Know?

Next week, on April 15, will mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Thanks to Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, pretty much everyone knows the story of the Titanic but quess what? Not everyone knows that the movie is based on a true story!!!

The Huffington Post is reporting that it had tweets from real people who didn't know the sinking of the Titanic was a true story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/03/titanic-movie-3d-fans-who-dont-know-the-titanic-was-real_n_1401139.html?ref=entertainment#s839880&title=SERGIO_AGUEROS_WIFE

How does that happen? If you read through the tweets you can probably guess that these are young people, some may not have even been alive when the movie Titanic was first released in December 1997 (14 years ago for those who can't do the math). But come on, the sinking was such a huge story in 1912, aren't they teaching it in school? There have been documentaries, museum exhibits, books, etc. how can people not know it wasn't a true story?

This is really sad. It's like that segment on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno called Jaywalking where people can't answer basic questions everyone should know the answer to: Who was the first president of the United States? Who did the U.S. fight in the American Revoluation? What color is the White House? What country is the Panama Canel located in? I often wonder how many Americans would be about to pass a citizenship test.

See how many of these actual U.S. citizenship test questions you get correct (click on the question to see the answers):

1. What are the colors of our flag?
2. How many stars are there in our flag?
3. What color are the stars on our flag?
4. What do the stars on the flag mean?
5. How many stripes are there in the flag?
6. What color are the stripes?
7. What do the stripes on the flag mean?
8. How many states are there in the Union?
9. What is the 4th of July?
10. What is the date of Independence Day?
11. Independence from whom?
12. What country did we fight during the Revolutionary War?
13. Who was the first President of the United States?
14. Who is the President of the United States today?
15. Who is the vice-president of the United States today?
16. Who elects the President of the United States?
17. Who becomes President of the United States if the President should die?
18. For how long do we elect the President?
19. What is the Constitution?
20. Can the Constitution be changed?
21. What do we call a change to the Constitution?
22. How many changes or amendments are there to the Constitution?
23. How many branches are there in our government?
24. What are the three branches of our government?
25. What is the legislative branch of our government?
26. Who makes the laws in the United States?
27. What is the Congress?
28. What are the duties of Congress?
29. Who elects the Congress?
30. How many senators are there in Congress?
31. Can you name the two senators from your state?
32. For how long do we elect each senator?
33. How many representatives are there in Congress?
34. For how long do we elect the representatives?
35. What is the executive branch of our government?
36. What is the judiciary branch of our government?
37. What are the duties of the Supreme Court?
38. What is the supreme court law of the United States?
39. What is the Bill of Rights?
40. What is the capital of your state?
41. Who is the current governor of your state?
42. Who becomes President of the United States if the President and the vice-president should die?
43. Who is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?
44. Can you name thirteen original states?
45. Who said, "Give me liberty or give me death."?
46. Which countries were our enemies during World War II?
47. What are the 49th and 50th states of the Union?
48. How many terms can the President serve?
49. Who was Martin Luther King, Jr.?
50. Who is the head of your local government?
51. According to the Constitution, a person must meet certain requirements in order to be eligible to become President. Name one of these requirements.
52. Why are there 100 Senators in the Senate?
53. Who selects the Supreme Court justice?
54. How many Supreme Court justice are there?
55. Why did the Pilgrims come to America?
56. What is the head executive of a state government called?
57. What is the head executive of a city government called?
58. What holiday was celebrated for the first time by the Americans colonists?
59. Who was the main writer of the Declaration of Independence?
60. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
61. What is the basic belief of the Declaration of Independence?
62. What is the national anthem of the United States?
63. Who wrote the Star-Spangled Banner?
64. Where does freedom of speech come from?
65. What is a minimum voting age in the United States?
66. Who signs bills into law?
67. What is the highest court in the United States?
68. Who was the President during the Civil War?
69. What did the Emancipation Declaration do?
70. What special group advises the President?
71. Which President is called the "Father of our country"?
72. What Immigration and Naturalization Service form is used to apply to become a naturalized citizen?
73. Who helped the Pilgrims in America?
74. What is the name of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to America?
75. What are the 13 original states of the U.S. called?
76. Name 3 rights of freedom guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.
77. Who has the power to declare the war?
78. What kind of government does the United States have?
79. Which President freed the slaves?
80. In what year was the Constitution written?
81. What are the first 10 amendments to the Constitution called?
82. Name one purpose of the United Nations?
83. Where does Congress meet?
84. Whose rights are guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?
85. What is the introduction to the Constitution called?
86. Name one benefit of being citizen of the United States.
87. What is the most important right granted to U.S. citizens?
88. What is the United States Capitol?
89. What is the White House?
90. Where is the White House located?
91. What is the name of the President's official home?
92. Name the right guaranteed by the first amendment.
93. Who is the Commander in Chief of the U.S. military?
94. Which President was the first Commander in Chief of the U.S. military?
95. In what month do we vote for the President?
96. In what month is the new President inaugurated?
97. How many times may a Senator be re-elected?
98. How many times may a Congressman be re-elected?
99. What are the 2 major political parties in the U.S. today?
100. How many states are there in the United States today?

Okay, So I Didn't Win

Friday night after work I bought five Mega Million lottery tickets. Yes, I know my chances of winning $640 million with only five tickets was a long shot (I think it was a long shot for pretty much everybody who played), but you can't win if you don't play, right?

So if you've seen the news you know that I didn't win but I admit that for two days I fantasized about all the things I could do with $640 million. I can't even grasp the concept of that much money. I know I wouldn't live extravagantly (only two houses - one on the beach and one in England - and just one or maybe two cars) but it would be nice to never have to worry about paying your bills ever again.

First, I'd pay off mine and my family's debts. I would set us all up so that we would be comfortable for the rest of our lives. And then I'd start giving all that money away, because really, what is the point of saving all that money? You can't take it with you when you die so why not spend it?

And it would be so much fun. I'd give the money to churches, charities, non-profit organizations, schools. I'd go into a restaurant and pay every one's bill. I'd go to a gas station and pay for everyone to fill their tanks with gas. I'd give away college scholarships, help the homeless, make sure food banks were always fully stocked. I'd fund scientists to find a cure for Meniere's.

It looks like three people have won the $640 million. Even after the government gets it's share, that's a lot of money someone could do a lot of good with. I hope they do.

Book List - March 2012

10. The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesley - This is a modern telling of Jane Eyre, set in the 1950s and 1960s Scotland. It follows the original Charlotte Bronte story pretty closely (so if you've read Jane Eyre you'll know what happends) but was an easy and enjoyable read.

11. The Litigators by John Grishom - If you like John Grishom books you'll like this one. Although it is similar to all his other books and the end is rather predictable it's still an okay read.

12 I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella - This is the same author that wrote the Shopaholic series. The main character decided she likes footnotes so this book is full of them (112 to be exact) and after #7 I was over them. The plot kind of came and went, wasn't oneof Kinsella's best books.

13. Another Piece of My Heart by Jane Green. Jane was at the forfront of chick lit back in the day of Bridget Jones but what I really like about her is the her characters/books changed as she changed. She no longer writes about twentysomething single women because that's not who she is anymore. She has grown as an author and I really like that about her. This story about a woman in her forties who marries and man with two daughters too a little bit of time to get going but was good in the end.

The Cookie Search

Earlier this month was the 100th birthday of the Oreo cookie. On that day I brought into work a package of Oreo cookies to share with my co-workers. It was yummy, it had been a really, really long time since I had an Oreo cookie (I tend to eat them more in the form of a DQ Blizzard).

Earlier this week the co-worker who sits next to me said they have a birthday cake Oreo for sale. Now if you are an Oreo connoisseur you know there are many different variations on the Oreo: double stuff, mint, vanilla, peanut butter, chocolate covered to name a few). When I was in the grocery store this week I went to the cookie aisle to find these birthday cake Oreos but couldn't see them anywhere.

Friday afternoon when I asked my co-worker if he wanted on of the last three Oreos he said no, he'd had some birthday cake ones at lunch. What?!?! And he didn't bring me any. I told him I looked for them and couldn't find them. And he said (as men often do) that I must not have looked very hard. My response was, well, I probably shouldn't mention it here. Instead I told him I expected some birthday cake Oreos on my desk when I came in Monday morning. Let's see if he comes through.

Update: 8:38 a.m. Monday, March 26 - No Birthday Cake Oreos on my desk.

Update: 1:24 p.m. Thursday, March 29 - Came back from lunch and there were three Birthday Cake Oreos on my desk. Way to go Adam!

Kitchen Flee Market

My office, like I suspect many offices do, has a kitchen. It’s a typical office kitchen: lazy people leave their dirty dishes in the sink even though the dishwasher is right next to it; the refrigeration is probably half full of long forgetting (and expired) food; and it’s not really the place you want to sit and actually eat lunch because of the various smells coming from the two microwave between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Our kitchen also has two round tables and a couple of chairs, even though nobody ever really uses them. But the tables have become a place to put items that you are willing to give away. Often times it’s old office supplies or swag (shirts with an old company logo or used 3-ring binders). But in the past few weeks I’ve learned that you can pretty much put anything on those tables and someone will take it.

Just last week I went into the kitchen and saw two big cans of pumpkin sitting on the table for anyone who needed pumpkin and wanted to get a head start on this year’s Thanksgiving pies. Three hours later I went back in and they were gone. Yes, canned pumpkin. Any food items, it seems, will go fast. I have also contributed to this kitchen flee market. I bought some granola bars that, unbeknownst to me, had coconut in them. Since I don’t like coconut I put them on the kitchen table and proceeded to get myself a some water from the watercooler. Before I had even left the kitchen three of them were gone.

I have a small lamp on my desk and bought the wrong type of light bulbs for it. I had mistakenly bought chandelier bulbs. I had already opened the package and since they were only $5 I decided not to return them but put them on the kitchen table. They were gone later that day. Apparently someone in my office has a chandelier and needed light bulbs for it. Go figure.

So now I think I’m going to do some spring cleaning. I don’t have a lot of crap in my apartment (there isn’t a lot of storage room) but I do have some things (think White Elephant-type gifts) that I am going to put on the table and see how long they take to disappear. I’ll keep you updated.