tomorrow!

I read Jon Krakauer's account of a deadly expedition to the top of Mt. Everest in an attempt to calm my nerves about my impending departure for India.

It didn't work.

Not a bad read though, all the same.

my mom's famous friend

Everybody has that cool friend from way back when they brag about knowing, no matter how well they may know that friend now. Elisabeth Bumiller is my mom's that friend. They wrote together for the Walnut Hills' Chatterbox (the name of the newspaper that somehow still lives on today despite its...weirdness) and then Liz went on to work for the Washington Post and the New York Times. Whenever her bylines show up in the Times, my mom gets all excited and starts talking about when they were both writers! It's very cute. In the 80s, Liz's husband, also a writer, was sent to Delhi to be the the South Asian bureau chief for the Washington Post and she came along for the ride, writing the occasional human interest piece about India and researching what would eventually become this book. It's a bit dry and journalist-y, but not enough to detract from how fascinating these stories are.

And not enough to detract me from my sheer and utter panic about leaving on Friday. FRIDAY.

A Proper English Novel

I'm not sure what I expected going into this one. I knew the story dealt with clones, organ harvesting and boarding school, so I suppose I was anticipating more Stephen King than Edith Wharton. What I got was a proper 19th century English novel, a perfect contemporary example of the form. Ishiguro offers up a lot of lessons for writers here about creating and sustaining a believable voice, collating events into a coherent narrative, and using dialogue to establish character development. He also somehow manages to spin a tale about sex, diabolical post-war experimentation, and yes, organ harvesting, without spilling a single drop of blood. James Wood reviews it better than I can here.

Imperial Head Trip

I read Imperial Bedrooms on my Kindle because I liked the idea that I could want something and then have it, immediately, for 9.99. This is a feeling I've addressed here before, the Kindle as one of the few venues in this world that allows for instant gratification. It turned out to be fitting. The characters in BEE's universe exist in a place where impulse is king, the satisfaction of even the most ephemeral whims their sole driving force. Like all Ellis's books, it went down quick and easy, left me feeling vaguely dirty, not least because it's set in a Los Angeles that does not feel altogether fictional. Because I spend a great deal of time in the locations his characters frequent, around people like the ones he writes about, the horror of the story felt more plausible than I perhaps would have liked.

feeling bossy

Jen (1:46pm): Stop what you are doing, go to a bookstore and buy One Day by David Nicholls. I'm only putting it down now to text you and regrettably meet someone for coffee. I can't stop laughing and crying, it's so wonderful. Read it read it read it. Ok, that's all, I have 20 pgs left but had to tell you immediately, couldn't wait to blog it.
Sarah (2:46pm): Haha I have it on reserve at the library!
Sarah (2:46pm): I'm so excited to read it.
Jen (4:09pm): Oh my god you will love it so much.

"'What are you going to do with your life?' In one way or another it seemed that people had been asking her this forever; teachers, her parents, friends at three in the morning, but the question had never seemed this pressing and still she was no nearer an answer. The future rose up ahead of her, a succession of empty days, each more daunting and unknowable than the one before. How would she ever fill them all?
She began walking again, south towards The Mound. 'Live each day as if it's your last,' that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy? It just wasn't practical. Better by far to simply try and be good and courageous and bold and to make a difference. Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you. Go out there with your passion and your electric typewriter and work hard at...something. Change lives through art maybe. Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well. Experience new things. Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance."

sarah, read this immediately

Because when I read it, it was a little like when you read this, except instead of being in Koreatown, I was trapped in my very large walk in closet (what I have decided, in the spirit of optimism, to start calling my apartment) waiting for the cable guy to come.

I want to know her and be her friend and say mean things about celebrities with her and talk about how much being an assistant sucks and how dating in new york sucks even more than being an assistant. You should come hang out with us when this happens.