Books and Bits

Finished two more books:

30. Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Safran Foer. The May book club book. A very good read. It was funny and held your attention and you had to think some, too.

31. Cancer Schmancer – Fran Drescher. Yes, The Nanny wrote a book. It’s her story of how her uterine cancer was diagnosed and treated. I think the phrase “bad luck magnet” was invented for her, going by all the mistakes that were made, but she survived with her sense of humor intact. I did flash back to my surgeries, but this book made me feel proud of the way I handled things, the questions I asked and the decisions I made.

Right now I’m re-reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, in honor of the movie. Which I’m going to go see, as soon as I finish it. Again.

The Grand Canyon mule trip (which existed only in my mind) has been indefinitely postponed. I suddenly realized that school was starting, which would severely limit my 1) time and 2) money. And to honor that decision, I am returning the 4 GC books I took out from the library with 3 unread (really 1 unread and 2 partially read). Maybe the trip will be my reward when I’m done school…

The citrus socks are 95% done. They’re ok, not great. I haven’t had much success with toe-up socks, but that seemed like the best way to proceed, since I wasn’t sure how much yarn I had. They should improve after washing/blocking. At least I hope so.

Melanie and I went to Changing Hands last night to hear Laurie Notaro read from her new book and get a copy signed. She’s one of the funniest writers I’ve read and one of the few who can make me laugh out loud (hysterically, for long periods of time). I try not to read her books in public for this reason. Having said that, I got about a quarter of the way thru We Thought You Would Be Prettier while waiting for the reading to start. I figured, since I was surrounded by Laurie fans, if I snorted, no one would be surprised/concerned. And I asked her a question, in public, in front of people. That never happens.

I ran a readabilty program on my blog. It says Hip Hip Crochet has a Grade 4 reading level. This is odd, because when I was writing Informed Consents I couldn’t get them below Grade 8, where they were required to be. Of course, ICF didn’t use the words “yarn”, “dog” and “dumbass” as frequently as I do here.

I think that’s it for now. A group (right now 2 people, that’s a group, right?) is planning on getting together Sunday to knit. I know it’s Mother’s Day, but the respective mothers are across the country, so a phone call will be sufficient. All are welcome. More details to follow.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Pitt finally got my address right, instead of mailing everything to the address I was at 10 years ago, when I graduated last time. Of course they still have me working for the Dental School (my work-study job) and have charged me PA resident tuition. I tried to clear that up (don’t need a surprise bill partway thru the semester) but I think it’s staying the same. I’m not sure why, but the lady on the phone said so repeatedly. So, whoo hoo, less money out of my pocket!