Book Club Friday: The Old Man and the Sea

This week I'm Sharing...

From GoodReads: "The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway’s most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal—a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss. "

My thoughts:
I read this book on recommendation from C, and because we had it on our bookshelf for quite some time. I will say that he absolutely LOVES this book. He says "[I love it] because the old man overcomes. He overcomes his age, he overcomes all the people that doubt him, he overcomes the fish, he overcomes his body. He overcomes the sharks for a while. He proves he can still do it; he proves he's just as good as he needs to be."

I did not love this book, but I didn't hate it. I can see his point, but I don't agree. Yes, he does succeed, but by the time he gets back, no one knows. It's like, "If a tree falls in a forest, does it make a sound?" If they don't see it, did it really happen? Also, I found it to be really boring.

I felt sorry for him and pitied him the entire time. He was so old, and once a grand fisherman, but since he hadn't caught anything in such a long time, others thought he was unlucky and would make fun of him or pity him. He was frail and a loner, with his only friend a young boy whose parents wouldn't let him fish with Santiago anymore.  I felt bad for him when we learned of how poor he was, that he didn't have even rice, and that he slept on his coat in his hut. 

So, at the end of the book, I was sad. Really sad. He was a poor old man who many thought was a has-been, catches this super-fish, and then still comes home empty-handed because he couldn't get it on board and so sharks ate it up before he reached the shore. I think even if it looked like this in the end, I would have been happier:



But it seemed all he brought on shore was a skeleton, if that. And then he goes home to sleep because he's exhausted. I can't even tel if he's proud of himself for what he accomplished or not!

I did enjoy Hemingway's writing style- it was simple, but well written and to the point. I could easily picture the scenes and the people in my head. 

Have you read this? What did you think?

Go For The Goal! August Recap/ September Goals

August Goals: 

River Tubing: Scheduled for September 8!

Go To A Concert: Recently bought tickets to see Matisyahu in November!

Make Banana Bread: I forgot... fail!

Go On A Picnic: Success! Had a lovely lunch picnic in Central Park with my mom and C- will update about that soon!

Go To Amish Country: Did not make it to Amish country, but did go to Peddler's Village, so semi-success?

Go To A Phillies Game: Got tickets for September 21!

Go To A Drive-In Movie: No drive-ins in NJ. Fail!

Go To the Meadowlands Fair: Fail! Though I did go to the Indo-American Fair, and will be going to the Italian Festival in just a few weeks!

Go To The NY Renaissance Faire: Not yet- plan on going in the next two weeks!
Watch fireworks: Did this on July 4th... does that count?!

Ones from previous Goals post, I have applied for jobs for myself and helped C job search, have been keeping with reading about a book a month, and saving some money, so I think those count as successes too!

September Goals:

Do the above and...

Start Christmas Shopping: Never too early to start! And hopefully this way I won't be scrambling at the last minute like I am every other year!

Start Planning Birthday Trip: My birthday is on 12/12 {cue squealing!}. So I want to go bog this year and plan a group trip to New Orleans! I've never been, and it seems like a pretty awesome place to celebrate a golden birthday!

Finish Summer Recaps: I am sooo behind in updating about all the fun this summer, and since remembering fun memories is one of the main reason I blog, I need to get on this!

Save $300: Particularly for the birthday trip and Christmas shopping! 

Line A Day Journal: I was doing this for a little while, but got out of the habit. So, I want to try to do it again, so I remember the little things as well as the big ones!

Read 2 Books: Just because there are soo many I want to read! #nerdalert

How are you doing with your goals?

The PW Is Rolling In!

The PussyWagon that is!

That's the name of my Fantasy Football team! My girlfriends and I formed an all-girls fantasy football team. We are now on our fourth year in our league, The Grid-Iron Girls! Originally, we did it because all of our guys were in a league, and we wanted to get in on the fun too! Now, however, we are working {mostly} on our own! We usually do an online draft, because it's pretty hard to get all of us together on one night, as some of the girls have kids and we're scattered across NYC/NJ/PA. We do however, try to get together at least once during the season to watch a game...hopefully this year we'll actually GO to a game, since I've never been! 2 years ago, I won 2nd place, but last year I missed 3rd by just  a few points. I'm hoping to win it all this year ($300!), but I'm a little nervous because I had the 4th pick {out of 12}, so I missed some of the guys I really wanted.

Here's my line-up:

QB: Matt Stafford- Detroit Lions*
{back up QB: Joe Flacco- Baltimore Ravens}*
Running Back: Marshawn Lynch- Seattle Seahawks*
Running Back: Trent Richardson- Cleveland Browns
Wide Receiver: Steve Smith- Carolina Panthers*
Wide Receiver: DeShaun Jackson- Philadelphia Eagles*
Tight End: Jermaine Gresham- Cincinnati Bengals
W/R/T: Shonn Greene {Running Back}- New York Jets

Bench: Jason Witten {Tight End}- Dallas Cowboys
Bench: C.J.Spiller {Running Back}- Buffalo Bills
Bench: Sidney Rice {Wide Receiver}- Seattle Seahawks*
Bench: Ronnie Hillman {Running Back}- Denver Broncos
Bench: Josh Gordon {Wide Receiver}- Cleveland Browns

Defense: Buffalo Bills/ New England Patriots
Kicker: Alex Henry- Philadelphia Eagles

The ones I really wanted were LeSean Mccoy, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Arian Foster. The starred ones are the ones I'm happy I did get.

I can't wait for the fun to begin tonight with the Giants playing the Cowgirls boys!

Do you watch football? Have you ever played in a fantasy league? I'd love to know!

Labor Day Weekend- In Pics!

friday:

Date night with my boo! We had dinner at Vicino Di Mare in Pt. Pleasant, NJ (thanks, Living Social!),  followed by a little boardwalk action in Seaside Heights.

[Also in this pic, The Jersey Devil, who I just learned about this summer!]

saturday:

 Indo- American Fair in Mercer County Park. This county fair only comes around once a year, so we definitely got our authentic-Indian-food eat on. From left: C with tandoori chicken, a plate of Pav Bhaji, which is basically an Indian vegetarian version of sloppy Joe (one of my fave dishes), bottom left- an open Masala Dosa, which is similar to a crispy crepe with curried potato and spices inside (that's the yellow inside), and a happy me with my Pav Bhaji. 

After the fair, we headed to C's cousin's friend's BBQ. We got there about 2 1/2 hours before C's cousin arrived (he got held up with car issues), so we didn't really know anyone there in the beginning. And one of the girls was pretty rude- after talking to me for about 1/2 hour, she asked my age and if I was married, and once I said no, she literally stopped talking to me for the rest of the night! Who DOES that?! Then again, the middle picture is her husband teaching her 4-year-old son Gage how to play beer pong (yes, he had to stand on a cooler, and no, there was not actually beer in the cups, but still weird). So that's saying something!

The rest of the people were ok though. 

sunday:

It was not the best day for the beach, but we met my momma at Point Pleasant. We had a great lunch, and then headed to Jenkinson's Aquarium! We had so much fun- and we got there just in time for the sea lion feeding, though I wasn't close enough for any pics of that. My favorite was definitely the penguins- that one in the middle was quite curious about us!

monday:

We were planning on going outlet shopping, but the lock on C's trunk broke right before we left. I actually wasn't too upset, but C was. So now the trunk is bungee roped closed from the inside, and C covered all the sides to keep the rain out. It looks pretty ghetto right now, but the dealership was closed, so he'll have to take it in today.

So I cleaned a bit, watched a lot of trashy TV, we ordered Indian food in (I think we've officially gotten our fill of Indian food now!), read, and had some wine. So relaxing!

How was your Labor Day weekend? What did you do?

What the WHAT, Google Friend Connect!

So today, our plans got squashed (more on that another day).

With most of the day free, of course my mind started working with what to do with all this new-found free time. And I thought... "Yes! I'm going to catch up on blogging!" So I jump on Blogger, and I'm going through my Dashboard before actually writing, and I'm like "Hey...where's The Perfect Compilation Tape?" and then, "Huh? Where's The Vintage Apple?!" And so on. 

Which led me to this blog post title. What the HECK Blogger and Google Friend Connect?! Where are my bloggy friends?! I knew I was following them... how did they just disappear?! Has this happened to anyone else? 

There are some of my Daily Reads on my sidebar, but I follow quite a few more than that, though maybe not every day, per se. So, if it seems like I just started following you, I'm sorry! I swear I was following you at one point... I don't know what happened! I'm finding new old blogs that I was following slowly, so if I haven't re-followed you yet, please let me know! 

Hope you all had a great Labor Day Weekend!

Book Club Friday: Fifty Shades Darker

It's that time again... Friday Friday! Hurray!

 This week I'm sharing...

From GoodReads:

"Daunted by the singular tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a Seattle publishing house. 

But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Anastasia cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Anastasia learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven and demanding Fifty Shades.

While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her, and make the most important decision of her life."

My thoughts:

Well, I still don't like Ana. 

But overall I thought this book was better than the last.

I liked that there was some action. FINALLY it wasn't just talk, sex scene, sex scene, sex scene, tears, talk. So that was a plus. And by the middle, I started just skimming the "kinky fuckery" scenes anyway.  

We get a glimpse into his childhood and exactly what happened, which somewhat explains why Christian is the way he is. This is what I was looking for from this book. It starts with a few pages that are his thoughts as a small child- in the worst moment of his life. And in his relationship with Ana, he really does seem to grow and change- all spurred by Ana's leaving him.  (Though honestly, they were broken up for what? A whole week? They were both overly dramatic about the time apart.) 

The whole part with Leila was a bit ridiculous. I couldn't understand why she didn't just kill Ana since it was obvious she was the one who was causing Leila distress. Also, Christian is so extremely possessive. Ana doesn't really seem to notice... or if she does notice, she doesn't mind much. Which is pretty scary. This man is running her life, and she seems OK to sit back and let him.  I mean, she can't even go out with her friends! Not only is she "OK" with it... she actually seems to enjoy it. "My Fifty shades of fucked-up. I love him" WHAT?! He wants to sex you up and hurt you because you look like his crack whore mother! WHY ARE YOU STILL THERE?!

The only time I liked Ana was when she had the interaction with her former boss. Though that part was a bit drawn out too. 

I liked how authoritative Christian was with Mrs. Robinson (super-freak!!). I also really liked the fact that the ending promises more action. 

And now, for my favorite part of this series (for real)- You can check out Katrina's review here! I've copied her word count here too though, because it's just super ridiculous.

Word Count: 

"Oh my" - 47

"Crap" - 36

"Jeez" - 84

"Holy (shit/fuck/crap/hell/cow/moses)" - 124

"Whoa" - 30

"Gasp" - 44

"Gasps" - 17

"Sharp Intake of Breath" - 5

"Murmur" - 91

"Murmurs" - 194

"Whisper" - 140

"Whispers" - 113

"Mutter" - 71

"Mutters" - 48

"Fifty" - 95

"Lip" - 47

"Inner goddess" - 58

"Subconscious" - 59

Have you read this? What did you think?

Weekend Flop and Meal Planning

I am FINALLY doing a weekend update! I have so many back entries to do, but I don't like doing an update and not linking the photos, so they sit in draft form, awaiting pics! However, I didn't take any pics this weekend, so I don't feel guilty for not posting them!

I was so excited to get away this weekend. My girlfriend invited me to her parents' house down the shore, so I thought it would be a great mini escape/girls weekend. It was not what I expected at ALL. 

*Friday: First of all, we were supposed to go down together. But she sent a text early and said that she had summer Fridays, so would she mind if I just met here there. I was actually happy to be traveling alone, but she knew she was getting off early way in advance- why not tell me before the day of? It just irked me. We stayed in Friday, which was also fine since i was a little tired from the week. But then everyone (including her) went to bed at 10PM. 10! I don't go to bed until 11:30-12! Luckily, I had a room to myself, with a TV, so I just watched TV while texting another friend until I was tired. 

* Saturday: I thought we (meaning me and my friend) were going to the beach. She had even asked me the day before if we should bring a cooler of beers, and of course I said yes! I didn't realize that "we" also included her mother. Her mom is very nice, I just thought it would be us two.  So of course when she asks me on Saturday morning (in front of her mom) if I want beer, I say no, if that's not usually what they do, then it was fine. And of course I was embarrassed, because she made it look like it was all my idea! 

We went to a beach club that her parents belong to. It was ok. It was kind of small, so when everyone started arriving, I felt like they were on top of me. I could barely stretch out my legs for fear of kicking something or someone. Seriously. It got cold/windy around 2, so we left early. Then her mom wanted to go shopping. That would have been fine, but she took us to a shopping center where I couldn't afford anything. And she and my friend started shopping. So, that was uncomfortable and awkward. 

After that, we went back to the house, took showers, and decided what to do for dinner. I thought we would finally get some one-on-one time. She had another idea. It was her parents anniversary, and they were going to some seafood restaurant on the water, so she decided we would go with them. However, the food was excellent- I had a lobster and crab bisque, and a crab cake sandwich, and they were both really fresh and tasty. So, not too many complaints there. And then her parents dropped us off in Red Bank so we could go bar-hopping. I felt so much like a kid/teenager being dropped off by her parents. But anyway. 

So we go to The Downtown. First of all, she wasn't talkative. Second, there was a rally bad live band. And third, the one TV that was on was playing high school football. What?! So we had a beer and then left- I said I wanted to see a different one. I picked The Dubline House, which was indoor/outdoor, and VERY crowded. FINALLY SOME EXCITEMENT! It was a gorgeous night, but she wanted to sit inside. Ugh. So we compromise, have one inside, and lend her money to play the jukebox*, and then we would go outside. So that worked, but then she started crying. I swear you give this girl 3 beers and she starts crying- this time it was over an ex she broke up with over a year ago. And then, once she finally stopped, we got hit on/cock-blocked by a 47 year old man. EW. So. None of that was fun at all. 

Sunday: I was all too eager to get home. And SO HAPPY once I did. C and I got bagels, took a nap, did some groceries, got Burger King, and watched the Season Finale of True Blood. (Sidenote: WTF!!? What happened with that Warlor character? And finally Edgington?! And  OMG Bill! They really love covering people in blood on that show!) It was truly perfect.

* I loaned her money for the jukebox because she had no money on her. WHO GOES TO THE BAR WITH NO MONEY?! She KNEW where we were going! And also, she could have just stopped at an ATM! Annoying. 

----------------------------------------------------

So, as I just noted, we did groceries. This was a big deal, since I really can't remember the last time we did a proper grocery. Summer comes and we get super lazy, or are always eating out for convenience sake. But I noticed that some of our coupons were expiring, and I had jotting a few things down during the week, so it made this trip less painful. Also, last weekend I finally put a lot of recipes I've been cutting out into our Recipe Binder, and I got re-energized in finding some tasty meals to make! So I decided to do a meal plan!

MONDAY

-  Meatloaf (C's secret family recipe)

-Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuits

TUESDAY

- Cauliflower and Pasta Shells

WEDNESDAY

*YOYO*

THURSDAY

- Crock Pot Veggie Curry

-white rice

FRIDAY

*Date Night: Vicino Di Mare*

SATURDAY

  *Indo-American Fair*

Do you make a meal plan each week? What's cookin in your kitchen?!

Linking up with these ladies this week!