"Lost time is never found again." - Benjamin Franklin

Instead of guiltily reading blogs while I avoid the blank "new post" box on the screen, I am back. Have I really not written since I read Just Kids? Seriously, I am a slacker.
Should I blame it on the NYC heat - sucking all the energy out of my body, while I rot my brain watching Bravo? Maybe.

So much has happened since we last spoke! But let me ease you all in with a list of books that I have read:

1. The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James: I stretched this read out so much. I knew how it was going to end, but I still cried like a baby. READ IT!

2. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: Read it for May book club. We met up on a Saturday at Central Park. It was one of the most relaxing days I have spent in NYC thus far. C and I prepared a picnic for the rest of the members (probably went a little overboard with watermelon, cherries, strawberries, three types of cheese, crackers, bread, cookies, drinks etc, etc). We gathered around our buffet and discussed the book.
After we had exhausted our brains and our stomachs, we decided to walk around. On our journey we visited Strand, Union Square, Madison Square Park by the Flatiron Building, and ended up pleasantly exhausted, a few hours later, at John's Pizzeria on Bleecker Street. It was the best pizza I have ever eaten -- it could be because I was starving, or it could be because it was actually the best pizza in the world, either way - you should go check it out.
The subway is a magnificent thing. You don't have to find parking. You get to your destination rather quickly. But, there is something to be said about exploring the city's many neighborhoods on foot. Every few blocks, I couldn't help talking about how different one was from the other. I'm sure it was annoying, but it was like an epiphany. It just reminded me of why I love New York so much. It never gets boring and there is always a surprise waiting around the corner for you.

3. Juliet Naked by Nick Hornby: I had never read anything by Nick Hornby before, but I read a review about this book and he was said to be a "modern day Jane Austen". How could I not pick it up after that?

4. Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford: Yes, I realize that I am obsessed with Jane Austen, but this book was really funny. It was surprising and fresh. Jane Austen and vampires - you'd think it was a mess of cliches, but it was unique and clever.

5. Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold: Another one of those books that had been recommended to me forever ago, but I just couldn't bring myself to read it. And like always the catalyst to finally cracking it open was the movie. A phenomenal read - but I guess you already knew that, didn't you?

6. Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin: Remember when we read Alice in Wonderland for book club in April? Well, when I went to buy my copy at Barnes and Nobles, they had a whole table of Alice in Wonderland paraphernalia (most likely prompted by the movie out in theaters at the time - not the fact that I had strategically planned my book club that same month). Tucked nicely between various copies of the classic, was this little gem. At the time, I was "not buying books" because of lent, so I put it on my queue at the library. It takes about 100-120 pages to get into it, but I loved the mixing of fact and fiction. I was definitely rewarded in the end for powering through the beginning.

7. The Smart One by Ellen Meister: I've started a new project. I am only allowed to read the books I own....this will pan out one of two ways. One, I will hunker down and read every book I own, before buying any more (besides book club choices) and I won't request anymore books from the library. Or two, I will just buy all the books I want to read so they will technically be mine, therefore finding a loophole in this project....The Smart One, as you have probably already guessed was a book on my shelf - it was a fun, fast read. A good book for summer, especially for those with sisters :)

8. Writing Jane Austen by Elizabeth Aston: I cannot be held responsible for the fact that as soon as I decide to start my "reading-books-I-own" project, one of the books I have been waiting for from the library comes in. A waste of time, since I didn't even like the main character until 2/3 into the book. She didn't even like Jane Austen, and she hadn't even read her novels....that's bullshit. You don't have to like her, but make an educated decision, woman! (of course she eventually comes to love Jane Austen- but I could have told you that from the beginning).

9. The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian: Book club pick for June. LOVED this book. Suspenseful, and just when you think you know what is going on - WHAM! (post to come)

10.  The Perfect Elizabeth by Libby Schmais: Easy summer read. I didn't care for the ending.

11. Push by Sapphire: Wow. I finished this in one day. It was hard to get into because of the way it was written, but it was intense and sad. I don't know how I feel about it. I guess I would recommend it, just so I could discuss it with you.

Currently reading: The Book Borrower  by Alice Mattinson

Happy Reading my friends! I hope I will see you more regularly :)

Time Traveler's Wife - Pg 128

"Do you ever miss him?" she asks me.
"Every day. Every minute."
"Every minute," she says. "Yes. It's that way, isn't it?" She turns on her side and burrows into the pillow.
"Good night," I say, turning out the lamp. As I stand in the dark looking down at Grandma in her bed, self-pity floods me as though I have been injected with it. It's that way, isn't it? Isn't it.

Maybe at your house...

It's finally Friday again. And although this week has gone by fast - it feels like it was the longest week ever. Oh, Mr. Time, you are such a trickster.

Anyway - I was going to write about how I've gone another one of my Austen binges, but I think I will spare you those details until next week.

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend!!



I've found two more of these clips here and here (let this load all the way before watching). Enjoy!

"When you hit a wall, just kick in it."

[Warning :::::: I wrote this late at night, and it gets a little too self-reflective, so bear with me :::::: Warning]

To be an artist.
I have always revered the life of an artist. Maybe not the being starved, penniless part - but the part where you are able to create things, and comment on society or mankind or whatever - that is what I covet. To be different, to make a difference, to touch people with your gift.

These lofty proclamations that I make to myself (and sometimes to you) like writing everyday or picking up a paintbrush again or just being someone who can think outside the box - these promises exhilarate and stifle me. My creative soul is at odds with my Type-A personality. I am practical and safe but I wish to be spontaneous.

I like art because it gives me the opportunity to let go. When I took art classes in college I would get paint everywhere and I didn't stress over every detail. This person who made non-stop lists all day long - short of scheduling bathroom breaks - could not be the same person as the one dancing to her iPod in the dimly lit studio at 1 a.m., splashing paint all over the place, could she? Can she?

Just Kids by Patti Smith unearthed all these queries and brought them to the forefront of my mind again. And it validated my persistent want for a creative partner. It's funny because, just the other day I was talking to my friends about wanting someone to help me stay on top of my writing. Someone I could send drafts back and forth to, commenting on each others' work. An accomplice to constructively criticize and praise. I was just thinking that if I did so well and was motivated by accountability with the gym maybe I could transfer that helpfulness to my writing. Yes - I have you guys to keep my accountable - but unless you badger me and give me that "We have to do this! We will feel greatly accomplished afterward! Don't let me down" face - it unfortunately doesn't have the same effect.


Patti and Robert were lovers, partners and friends. They pushed each other to be the best versions of their creative selves. They understood each other on a deeper level. They loved each other through everything. Even when they didn't understand some choices, they were still respectful and supportive. It is this that I crave the most. A creative soulmate.

Soulmates. God, that sounds so cliche and naive. But this is different. I'm not talking about the "soulmates" in movies or books. I'm talking about those people in your life that just get you. There isn't just one out there for you. I think there are a select few who will fit the bill. One soulmate may be totally different from the next depending on where you are in your life. But essentially they all do the same thing - accept you. They never try to change you. What they do is push you to be the best version of yourself  - the one you constantly think about being.

I guess my question is, is this too much to ask for?

Las Aguas - Lima, Peru

I was reading through an old journal of mine and I came across some small vignettes that I wrote in 2008 when I went to Peru to visit my grandparents. Here is one about the fountain park in Lima:

 I walk in and the first thing I see is a skyscraping gush of water shooting towards the clouds, suspended in the air. The middle fountain, longer than the first, is where it will take place.
Sitting on a bench waiting for the 7:15 showing to start, I hear little kids of all ages scrambling to catch the water spritzing and squirting from below the bull's eye of dancing lights.

The show finally begins.
Water follows the music with sprays, spurts, puffs, and swells. The fountains spray diagonally. Straight up. Sequences of colors and shapes. Water cyclones, flowerbeds of crystalline water shooting upward like arrows. Each melting away when hit with another.
Pirouetting like the ballerinas of Lincoln Center, the water follows the beat of the soothing music. The Prima Ballerina shines in the center as the chorus jumps and twirls and sashays across the pool....