Andi's Vacation Chronicles, Day 1

What's upppp?! I'm on vacation. I get a little "Jersey Shore" when I'm on vacation from the looks of that greeting. Some of you might remember that I had a week off of work a few months ago, and in a very nasty, tragic turn of fate, I had a stomach virus that I thought was going to kill me. Luckily, the coast is much clearer this time around.

I spent the holiday weekend with girlfriends who also happen to be work colleagues. Our boss had a baby (preemie, adorable!) six weeks ago, and thus far she's been living at the center of a tornado. We helped her get organized, decorate a bit, and generally do some additional nesting to get comfy and cozy at home.

In other news, Greyson got his first haircut. If you follow me on Facebook you've already been inundated with first haircut announcements. But if you don't follow me on Facebook, prepare to be inundated here.


Click to see more cuteness up close...


For all my son's redeeming qualities, doing things for the first time with coolness and calm does not seem to be one of them. I had my arms around the child for 3/4s of the haircut while Chuck took pictures, and I left Cool Cuts 4 Kids looking like a yeti. Greyson started off insanely upset but ended strong with laughter, a lollipop in his ear, and a smile. And a super-freakin-cute haircut to boot!

So I consider today my starting point for vacation. I don't count the weekend since I wouldn't have been at work anyway. Greyson woke me up at 6am, so we got ready, clothes on, teeth brushed, I dropped him off at daycare, and I headed out to Starbucks for a little work time. I spent almost two hours doing administrative tasks for my online classes, and that's surely enough work for Day 1 of My Glorious Vacation.

My mom is off work today too, so we'll probably run amuck this afternoon. I also have big plans for reading and pedicuring this week. Other than that? Not much except relaxing, maybe a little window shopping, and MORE READING and blog reading.

On the reading docket:

• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (haven't made much headway, but also haven't been home)
• Stealing Beauty by Anne Rice
• Any number of the gazillion books in my house and on my Nook

What are you doing today?

Andi's Vacation Chronicles, Day 1

What's upppp?! I'm on vacation. I get a little "Jersey Shore" when I'm on vacation from the looks of that greeting. Some of you might remember that I had a week off of work a few months ago, and in a very nasty, tragic turn of fate, I had a stomach virus that I thought was going to kill me. Luckily, the coast is much clearer this time around.

I spent the holiday weekend with girlfriends who also happen to be work colleagues. Our boss had a baby (preemie, adorable!) six weeks ago, and thus far she's been living at the center of a tornado. We helped her get organized, decorate a bit, and generally do some additional nesting to get comfy and cozy at home.

In other news, Greyson got his first haircut. If you follow me on Facebook you've already been inundated with first haircut announcements. But if you don't follow me on Facebook, prepare to be inundated here.


Click to see more cuteness up close...


For all my son's redeeming qualities, doing things for the first time with coolness and calm does not seem to be one of them. I had my arms around the child for 3/4s of the haircut while Chuck took pictures, and I left Cool Cuts 4 Kids looking like a yeti. Greyson started off insanely upset but ended strong with laughter, a lollipop in his ear, and a smile. And a super-freakin-cute haircut to boot!

So I consider today my starting point for vacation. I don't count the weekend since I wouldn't have been at work anyway. Greyson woke me up at 6am, so we got ready, clothes on, teeth brushed, I dropped him off at daycare, and I headed out to Starbucks for a little work time. I spent almost two hours doing administrative tasks for my online classes, and that's surely enough work for Day 1 of My Glorious Vacation.

My mom is off work today too, so we'll probably run amuck this afternoon. I also have big plans for reading and pedicuring this week. Other than that? Not much except relaxing, maybe a little window shopping, and MORE READING and blog reading.

On the reading docket:

• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (haven't made much headway, but also haven't been home)
• Stealing Beauty by Anne Rice
• Any number of the gazillion books in my house and on my Nook

What are you doing today?

Review: Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day

I've mentioned here that I'm teaching a Science Fiction and Fantasy class this term, and it's a timely accident that I happened to read Ben Loory's short story collection, Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day in conjunction with it! As I was reading back through a collection of traditional (twisted!) folk and fairy tales, I was also reading a collection of contemporary (twisted!) fairy tales in my free time.


What makes a contemporary fairy tale? A lot of novels and collections are marketed as "modern day fairy tales," but I've never truly read a collection of contemporary tales that so accurately reflect traditional folk and fairy tales.


First off, the stories are short. Some are less than a page long while others max out between five and ten pages. The characters are vague with names like "A boy" or "A girl." While the characters are Everyman and Everywoman, the stories are anything but bland or nondescript. They're crazy, odd, gross, troubling, affecting, sad, joyful, stunning. Given the average length of the story, I would venture to guess there are nearly 50 stories in this book. I don't have it with me or I'd start counting. It's a huge number, though, in comparison to run-of-the-mill story collections.


In the second story in the collection, titled "The Pool" a man thinks he sees a shark in his local public swimming pool. He's shamed when no one else sees it and they all look at him like he's crazy. The next day he asks the life guard if he ever sees anything odd in the pool, and his cryptic answer taunts the man into following up on his suspicions. He climbs the fence to find out for himself. He stretches out on the diving board and stares into the darkness of the water for hours and hours. Just before dawn he realizes what's staring back from the blackness. 


Whaahahahahahaaa! <--evil laugh (sorry, couldn't help myself)


"The Pool" really sent shivers up my spine. I don't want to tell you what's staring back or what happens in the end, but if you'd like to find out for yourself, you can check out the Amazon.com preview of the book. It includes this story in its entirety. 


While "The Pool" is brief, it has a stark, troubling impact, and it's representative of numerous stories in this collection. Many of the characters find themselves facing dark elements: death, horror, realizations about life and suddenly they become part of the death and destruction they face in the world. This type of tale reminded me of the Nietzsche quote, "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Don't get me wrong -- this collection is NOT a downer, but I happened to find this kind of tale the most memorable.


It's really difficult to describe this book fairly and accurately because with such a mass of stories and such varied, odd content, it doesn't fit into any genre cleanly. The only problem I had, was that sometimes the stories were too short and obscure enough that they simply left me scratching my head. Although, if I read a collection of traditional fairy tales all in a row, I do the same thing. This book is probably best digested in chunks. A binge of stories here and there instead of racing through.


If you're looking for another book to add to your RIP VI challenge pool, I definitely suggest Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day. It's original, fun, and offbeat -- definitely one I'd discuss with a group. If you finish it come on back and discuss it with me!

Rating:

Snuggle -- Skewer

Pub. Date: July 26, 2011
Publisher: Penguin
Format: e-book
ISBN-10: 0143119508
Source: NetGalley


You can also check out Ben Loory's website HERE. And he's on Facebook!

Review: Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day

I've mentioned here that I'm teaching a Science Fiction and Fantasy class this term, and it's a timely accident that I happened to read Ben Loory's short story collection, Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day in conjunction with it! As I was reading back through a collection of traditional (twisted!) folk and fairy tales, I was also reading a collection of contemporary (twisted!) fairy tales in my free time.


What makes a contemporary fairy tale? A lot of novels and collections are marketed as "modern day fairy tales," but I've never truly read a collection of contemporary tales that so accurately reflect traditional folk and fairy tales.


First off, the stories are short. Some are less than a page long while others max out between five and ten pages. The characters are vague with names like "A boy" or "A girl." While the characters are Everyman and Everywoman, the stories are anything but bland or nondescript. They're crazy, odd, gross, troubling, affecting, sad, joyful, stunning. Given the average length of the story, I would venture to guess there are nearly 50 stories in this book. I don't have it with me or I'd start counting. It's a huge number, though, in comparison to run-of-the-mill story collections.


In the second story in the collection, titled "The Pool" a man thinks he sees a shark in his local public swimming pool. He's shamed when no one else sees it and they all look at him like he's crazy. The next day he asks the life guard if he ever sees anything odd in the pool, and his cryptic answer taunts the man into following up on his suspicions. He climbs the fence to find out for himself. He stretches out on the diving board and stares into the darkness of the water for hours and hours. Just before dawn he realizes what's staring back from the blackness. 


Whaahahahahahaaa! <--evil laugh (sorry, couldn't help myself)


"The Pool" really sent shivers up my spine. I don't want to tell you what's staring back or what happens in the end, but if you'd like to find out for yourself, you can check out the Amazon.com preview of the book. It includes this story in its entirety. 


While "The Pool" is brief, it has a stark, troubling impact, and it's representative of numerous stories in this collection. Many of the characters find themselves facing dark elements: death, horror, realizations about life and suddenly they become part of the death and destruction they face in the world. This type of tale reminded me of the Nietzsche quote, "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Don't get me wrong -- this collection is NOT a downer, but I happened to find this kind of tale the most memorable.


It's really difficult to describe this book fairly and accurately because with such a mass of stories and such varied, odd content, it doesn't fit into any genre cleanly. The only problem I had, was that sometimes the stories were too short and obscure enough that they simply left me scratching my head. Although, if I read a collection of traditional fairy tales all in a row, I do the same thing. This book is probably best digested in chunks. A binge of stories here and there instead of racing through.


If you're looking for another book to add to your RIP VI challenge pool, I definitely suggest Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day. It's original, fun, and offbeat -- definitely one I'd discuss with a group. If you finish it come on back and discuss it with me!

Rating:

Snuggle -- Skewer

Pub. Date: July 26, 2011
Publisher: Penguin
Format: e-book
ISBN-10: 0143119508
Source: NetGalley


You can also check out Ben Loory's website HERE. And he's on Facebook!