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Something For Me to Laugh At

    

 

“The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown

I don’t know if I should really comment on the “Da Vinci Code,” so I’ll go easy. I enjoyed it. It is an engaging read and the recording was very well narrated. In fact that was the most animated narration of all the books I’ve listen to so far. The vastness of the conspiracy reminded me of Grisham’s “The Brethren.” It did make me too, want to know more about the big ol’ painters as well as about Isaac Newton and others of that magnitude.

I give it a 3***

Can You Buy Happy?

When you are going for a business degree it is highly aggravating every time you have to take a class that doesn’t appear to be strictly related to business. I get BS every time; it’s always the same – that was the case with my literature, geography and now science class.

One asks oneself – why do I have to take those classes? How is literature or science gonna help me be a good accountant? I think I got a simple answer to that just yesterday. Taking all those different classes helps oneself become complete and well-rounded in his/r knowledge and views.

For instance, who would have thought that a science class would address an issue such as “Affluenza” [af-loo-NZ-zuh]. Yes it is a made up term, but a very good one. The term is derived from the words affluence (a plentiful supply of material goods; wealth) and influenza (an acute highly contagious virus disease). Ingenious I tell ya! The text book of environmental science says the following:

Affluenza is the term used to describe the unsustainable addiction to overconsumption and materialism exhibited in the lifestyles of affluent consumers in the US and other developed countries. It’s based on the assumption that buying more things, should, and does buy happiness. Most people infected with this virulent and contagious shop-‘till-you-drop virus have some telltale symptoms. They feel overworked, have high level of debt and bankruptcy, suffer from increasing stress and anxiety, have declining health and feel unfulfilled in their quest to accumulate ever more stuff.

Gee, I just described half the population of the US. However, the scary part is that this disease is in fact highly contagious. I myself am challenged everyday in many ways. For crying out loud, the other day I went to buy a pair of sneakers and when they didn’t have my size on hand, right then and there, I almost had a fit. I was obsessing over going back to buy them all weekend long; ask Dennis’ roommate Dave.

Globalization is big today it’s in fact hugely discussed all over the place especially in academia. And from a capitalist point of view it’s wonderful and lovely for everybody. It’s helping to develop the underdeveloped, it’s feeding the hungry and it’s enlightening the blind to democracy… blah, blah, blah… cock and bull shit!!! Going back to the affluenza, “globalization and global advertising are now spreading the virus throughout much of the world. Affluenza has an enormous environmental impact. It takes about 27 tractor-trailer loads of resources per year to support one American, or 7.9 billion truckloads per year to support the entire US population. And for a visual - stretched end-to-end, these trucks would more than reach the sun!” I need to say no more.

“Will I survive the battle with Affluenza?”

“Mayday” by Nelson DeMille and Thomas Block

I listen to this book right after “Ava’s Man” and the difference was blindingly noticeable. I enjoyed “Mayday,” over all but it wasn’t nearly as good. The authors, in my opinion, had tried to be too technical. I like the technical details but the way they used them crippled the flow. The read was a bit dry and flat but the action was very engaging. It could be also that I didn’t like the narrator – too harsh of a voice – sounded too angry the entire time. On the other hand I liked how the authors followed the three plot lines and how everything was running parallel and came together at the end.  

I give it a 3***  

“The Girl Who Loved Tom Grden” by Stephen King

I decided to set up Read While You Drive as a page as well as a categoty. You can see it on the right hand side underneath the About page.  The first book on CD I ever read was “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” by Stephen King. That was in January of 2005.  I recall I was very timid picking it up because it said on the back it was about a baseball player, but I pick it because I was in a hurry and Stephen King was the only familiar name popping up. In a way, you can never go wrong with the King when you are looking for something intriguing. I have to say that I was very impressed with this strange book. It is perfectly narrated by a very skilful woman. I hope they never try to make a movie out of it because you need to imagine the struggles and the beasts of the forest.

I give it a 4*

The girl next door living my American dream

Two weekends ago I worked the entire weekend and I was stuck in Hyannis. While that’s the normal course of life during the winter months and I don’t mind working weekends this is not the case in the summer. Especially right now – I’m experiencing an extremely short summer season of freedom – I’m starting school next week and I have to work every weekend again. Consequently, I’m doing my best to squeeze in as much fun as possible in the few weekends before the summer school hits me big time. The NY Aqua Alegria was the first of a chain weekend events. The weekend after was the one that I got stuck in Hyannis but fortunately I was able to attend Cailin’s graduation party.

Cailin fulfils two major US stereotypes. To me, she is simultaneously ‘the girl next door’ and she is living my ‘American dream!’  I’ve known her through school for a few years now; we’ve taken most of our accounting classes together. She is doing exactly what I would like to be doing upon graduation – she moved to Boston and she got hired by a good accounting firm. She is starting with them in September and in the mean time she is doing an office job at Ernest and Young! Good luck Cailin!      

Ava’s Man by Rick Bragg , also Plainsong by Kent Haruf

I’m starting a new category called “Read While You Drive.” Essentially, I would like to keep track of the books I’ve read on the road and also to let you know the basics about them - type of story, narrator evaluation,how much I liked the book on a scale from 1 to 5 etc.

I would like to start with an incredible piece of writing:

“Ava’s Man” by Rick Bragg. I’d say non fiction. Absolutely beautifully written and narrated. Such flow of rich, juicy language and specific Southern comparisons, which reminded me of the way my grandmother speaks. I give it a 10.

I’m a member of the Hyannis public library and i borrow my books on CD’s from there. The paper books that i don’t have that much time to read i prefer to buy. Anyhow, librarians, probably since they are soon to be extinct, are not very helpful. I’ve tried to seek help while choosing a book from couple of them but fruitlessly. One of them however is different - she was happy to help me by making a few recommendations. She hooked me up with “Plainsong” by Kent Haruf the first time she helped me and I really liked this book. So I trusted her this time when she recommended “Ava’s Man.”

Those books have something in common that I can’t fully explain. The are about the simple but proud and full of struggle lives of extraordinary but not rich people. Books that I wouldn’t have picked myself, I think It takes a woman to choose a book like this, although they are both written by a man.

To Bent Reality

Everyone says that once you quit smoking you gain weight.(period) I heard Dan and Steff talking on the radio about Vince Vaughn gaining 25lb just by quiting smoking. Even the little booklet I was talking about earlier is saying “It’s perfectly normal to gain some weight when you stop smoking… Your metabolism is returning to that of a nonsmoker… Another source of extra pounds is the need for oral gratification. If you use food as a temporary substitute for cigarettes, you may gain weight.”

Happy birthday Ketty!

Challenges and Temptations