Author: elanor

After like an hour and a half, darling husband went to work.

Since then I have read Persepolis and had half a pot of coffee.

Life is good.

Heck Yeah it’s Spring Break!

This time I am not a rudderless ship. I am ready to GO! I want Darling Husband OUT! But he is getting a slow start this morning. We did nothing to the pied a terre all weekend, so first step is to clean up everything. As soon as he leaves. Which could be a while. I think he is jealous that I get to stay home. Don’t be jealous Darling Husband – today I am just going to wash your stinky socks and clean up the overcooked pasta you left in a pan all night and make you dinner. This is a win-win situation. So hurry up and go to work.

I have not had more than 45 minutes to myself since January 17th. This is going to be awesome. I will keep you posted.

I am sick. Not eternally crabby. Just ill. Yeah!

There are some things here that I do not like. I am staying in a neighborhood full of Trixies and Chads and they are lame and they seem to think I am homeless because I wear a backpack. They look away when I walk down the street. Like they are afraid I will bite or ask for forty-five cents.

The other thing I don’t especially care for is the standing around all the time. I think they should install people movers in all the museums. They should have a fast lane and an express lane. That way a huge family from India can’t totally dominate every case in the Pompeii exhibit and make me think xenophobia is appropriate at the museum because I have been slighted by TWO alien cultures in big ol’ museums. (A French couple freaked me out at the Van Gogh museum. I am very sensitive when I feel transcendentally converted to spirit.)

The other bad thing about this vacation is that unlike NY and Amsterdam, Chicago and the midwest seem to have turned off the brain a bit.

Chronic stupidness, irritation and sketchiness aside, I am thinking this vacation will be pretty good. I went to the Field and saw some stuffed animals. Thinking taxidermy rocks. Today I had a pizza with mashed potatoes on it. Excellent. Had some real deli food today. Eat a green one, Marc Katz.

Tomorrow’s spreadsheet indicates a jaunt to the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planatarium. I am stacking up the attractions so we get all the good stuff at the end of the trip. I am crafty like that. Speaking of crafty – got an i-cord thingie and a knitting bag. I kick butt. Then I will go have dinner with Teena Teena. Very excited about that.

More posts soon. The Darling Husband is all like “blah blah blah pics.” You should be abel to see them soon. I am super cute right now.

Here is the best pic ever taken of my dog. I messed up the exposure. So it really isn’t very good.

Well, it wasn’t such a hot weekend. Who knew that being socialable is not like riding a bike…you can forget how to do it. Two people, two nights in row, at two separate events, told me I was frumpy. Well, check out how how I have been living this semester…

The monolith is actually a couch. And I am really upset because I NEED that dustpan, but I think I may have thrown it away yesterday.

And here is my inbox:

And here is the boat that lives in my livingroom:

I know why I have been sick for weeks. Not because I smoke. Turns out that smoke breaks outside are when I get my clean air. My home, the pied a terre, is filthy. And I am cleaning it. I am the fury. Pics later.

Nothing new to report. I am graduated. I am unemployed. School is almost over. I give my last final tomorrow. Bummer. My only consolation is that giving good grades is nearly as satisfying as getting them. At this point it is a small consolation, but hopefully my kids will kick the final.

I am planning a big ass party on my birthday, Jan 8.

Finishing Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Working on Cruddy. It isn’t.

If you hear about any odd jobs, give me a heads up. I will sweep hair, clean plates, refry beans, whatever for Chicago fun money.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post since your Darling Husband lost all your blog entries. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

I graduated Friday, I let my husband pick out my new luggage yesterday and today I a celebrated our anniversary by dusting. Within days I will finish teaching and have the house clean, and then….free time. The hell of a rudderless ship, a runaway train, a life without purpose, a vast expanse of time that is my own with nothing to do and no one to evaluate it – that’s all I have to look forward to.

I have plans: fix blog since Darling Husband “lost” it, knit like mad, get my “to be filed” stuff taken care of, get a job. However, in the meantime I thought I could beg you, my gentle reader, to give me an assignment. I may not finish it, I may not start it, but I will feel hugged knowing that if I do loose my way in the world of intrinsic motivation, I always have you to fall back on.

Here is a list of books that I own, but have not read. I don’t want to buy anymore books until I have made it through these. I have not included books on education, knitting or cooking. Nor are there any of Darling Husband’s books on theoretical and dramatic future or killer microbes or body parts. Everything else is here, pick one. I could even do a book report and then you could grade me so I won’t get DTs.

Remember these are the books that I have not read, but own, so they only say something about the person that I am and am not.

Tell me what to read in a comment. Your choices, in no particular order, are:

Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison -hurts to admit I haven’t read this

As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner -ditto

Little Dorritt, Dickens -the title seems really festive – good holiday read?

Tales of Hoffman, Hoffman -no idea why I have this

Shirley, Charlotte Bronte -eh

The Question of Palestine, Edward Said -Honestly, I bought this book so I could debate a Zionist. I am a jerk. People like that don’t change their minds. And that is a really shallow reason to read a book.

Wild Swans, Jung Chang -Recommended by a coworker in The Land of the Lost. Looks depressing, but I trust the guy.

The Illustrated Zleika Dobson -pretty pictures

Twilight of the Superheroes, Deborah Eisenberg -new short stories. will probably just piss me off

The Loved One, Waugh -I think I may have read this, but I can’t remember how it ended, so it’s back on the list

Wuthering Heights, Bronte -this would be a reread, I think at 12 a lot of this book went over my head

What is English, Elbow -need to read this, been meaning to for a year

The Fearie Queen, Spenser -Alfred Bloom claims he can recite this from memory

A Handful of Dust, Waugh -Waugh not?

Discipline and Punishment, Foucault -should, haven’t

The Confidence Man, Melville – best book on my unread list, have struggled with it for five years

Secrets of the Flesh, A Life of Collette, Thurman – she wrote a book about Dinesen I really liked, and I have read a ton of Collete, but this book has never quite worked out for me

The Ring and the Book, Browning – love Browning in a philistine-y kind of way. This book will give me cred

The Man Who Shocked the World, Some Guy – biography on Stanley Milgram, who I love

England Made Me, Graham Greene – not sure why I never read this

The Power and the Glory, Greene – read it in high school and thought it was “boring.” not reading it so I can continue to pretend I was never that dumb

The Awakening, Chopin – I always think of her as another Wharton, and Wharton is a bummer

The Border Trilogy, McCarthy – some one told me these were super gory and I figure it’s got to be cow gore because these are about cowboys, and I really like beef so I have kind of put these off until I felt more vegan-y. I saw SuperSizeMe last week, so maybe it’s time

The Wings of the Dove – I always think of late James as another Wharton, and Wharton is a bummer

My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist, Leyner – Recommended in the Land of the Lost. need to read it.

Cruddy, Lynda Barry – started it and it’s totally depressing

Sula, Morrison – haven’t read this one, or Jazz, or Love, but I heard Love sucked

The Unconsoled – Ishiguro, another Land of the Lost recommendation. They seem to all center around desperation and misery. Very little triumph coming out of Land of the Lost.

Bastard Out of Carolina – I always think I will hate books about the South

cod, Kurlansky – so totally want to read this. may start it tonight

The Remains of the Day, Ishiguro – it was a buck and I liked the movie

Doctor Zhivago, Pasternak – my mom gave it to me and I have been meaning to read it, but VN said Pasternak was not so good

An Equal Music, Seth – people that bought this book seemed like awesome or awful. no in-between. I was intrigued.

Eugene Oegin, Pushkin – feel like a jerk to not having read this

Wanderlust, A History of Walking, Scinit – I was really excited about this when I got it

Illiad and Odessey, Lombardo translation – again, tons of excitement and never opened the cover

The Time Traveler’s Wife, Neffenburger – started it and it was crappy