My Book List

For some reason, lately I've been thinking a lot about books that I want to read in my lifetime. I'm doing my best to compile a list of books to read, but it's hard when it seems like just about everything sounds interesting to me. I've even been in the mood to read nonfiction, which is kind of weird to me because I usually limit myself to fiction.

I made the mistake of looking up a list of Pulitzer prize-winning books, and I have since decided that I want to read every one of them. Even those on the nonfiction list. And even some on the biography list.

Unfortunately, this desire to read new books and discover new ideas is conflicting with my desire to re-read all of the books that I know and love. It's been over a year since I've read my Harry Potter series, and while that seems like a very short amount of time, that's quite a feat for me. I really think this is the longest I've gone without reading the series in about eight years.

Another problem I'm having is that I find my attention diverted in all different directions. I want to hang out with friends, and work my way through the movie list that I'm also making, and play Guitar Hero, and write in my journal, and write my own fiction . . . There are so many things calling for my attention that I just don't seem to read nearly as much as I used to. I used to make it through at least a book a week, depending on the length and difficulty, and now I'm lucky if I read a book a month. It's so sad.

It also doesn't help that I like to buy any book I want to read. I figure that if a book is worth reading, it's worth owning. I've got to build up my library somehow, right? Unfortunately I want to spend my money in a million different places too . . .

My goal for the next few weeks/months is to read more. I need to expand my literary tastes. I rarely read something I don't enjoy, so I just need to be brave enough to read things I've never read before. I'm open to any and all suggestions—they'll just end up at the end of my list, and I'll get there when I get there.

Public Enemies

Today I saw the movie Public Enemies. To put it shortly, I loved it. I thought the acting was stellar and the story was fascinating. Part of the reason that I was so gung-ho to see it was because I recently found out that my great-great uncle Jay C. Newman was one of the G-men who helped hunt down John Dillinger and his gang. He was actually shot by Baby Face Nelson. The bullet grazed his forehead and left a scar there for the rest of his life.

I really think that's why I found this movie so completely fascinating. I have some personal interest in the story.

Throughout the movie, I felt conflicting sympathies. I sympathized with John Dillinger and with Melvin Purvis, who was the lead agent who was after Dillinger and his gang. I can't believe how inadequate the police force was in 1933. The police force either didn't have the ability, the knowledge, or the manpower to get these criminals, or they were taking bribes from the criminals so they could stay out of the prisons. It was incredibly difficult for the regular police officers to understand what they needed to do in order to apprehend these criminals.

The acting in this movie was absolutely superb. I love, love, love Johnny Depp. He's amazing and did a tremendous job as John Dillinger. I especially loved seeing him in a role that wasn't a kind of caricature, not that he doesn't perform those roles brilliantly as well. But seeing him as a real person, as opposed to as Edward Scissorhands or Jack Sparrow or Willy Wonka, just proves to me what a talented actor he truly is. I feel a slight Johnny Depp kick coming on after watching this movie . . . I think my slight obsessive tendencies are making themselves known.

Christian Bale also did a fabulous job as Melvin Purvis. He played not only a hard-working government agent, but also a decent and honest man. I loved his character about as much as I loved Johnny Depp's. Christian Bale is also a brilliant actor. (But it's too late for a Christian Bale kick . . . I've been on one my whole life. I've loved him since I was five.)

I think the most fascinating thing about this movie and this story was how the public viewed John Dillinger and his gang. They were celebrities. They took hostages and forced them to ride on their cars as they got away from their bank robberies. Yet the public loved them. At one point in the film, Dillinger refuses to aid in a kidnapping because the public doesn't like kidnapping. He gave the people in the banks their money back before taking off with the bank's money. He was seen as a decent criminal, it seems. He hid among the public who loved him so much. I tell myself that I can't believe people would love such hardened criminals so much, that people would line up just to see John Dillinger at his court appearances, but then I look at our current world and at the celebrities we gawk at. Some of them are horrible people who have done horrible things, yet the public still lines up to see them, sometimes even at their court appearances.

I'm planning on scoping out some books about the 1930s crime wave. I'm completely intrigued by the whole story and I want to know how things really went down.

Public Enemies is rated R for violence. (There are a lot of Tommy guns.)

Art Review Numero Uno--Once

I love art: music, books, movies, paintings . . . It's amazing to me how influential and inspiring and emotional words on a page, or images on a screen, or some musical notes can be. So I decided I wanted to write about some of the amazing things that I love. I would love to make this a series--a weekly review of some work of art that has amazed me recently. So here's the first of hopefully many.

Once is the story of two musicians who meet coincidentally. It stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. It's an independent film that was shot over 15 days with $150,000. It really is a touching story of how these two people touch each others' lives through collaborating on their music.

I feel like this movie is very much about love, though not in the typical love-story sense. I think it is about how two people can love each other enough to do what's right by the other person and what is right for themselves. It took me a little bit to get into the movie, but the realism with which it was filmed intrigued me. Eventually I felt like I was spying on someone else's life, like I was watching them live without them knowing I was there. The fact that I never found out what the characters' names were made me feel even more like I was watching a little piece of two strangers' lives. The dialogue was natural, like it wasn't scripted or outlined at all. They were simply talking like any normal people having normal conversations. It was so simple and so ordinary, yet so poignant and so significant.

A lot of the movie is dedicated to the amazing music they create. I watched this movie last Sunday. On Monday I got the soundtrack, and I haven't been able to get enough of it. The music is absolutely brilliant. I love it. Glen Hansard is a very famous musician in Ireland who fronted the band The Frames. He sings with such passion and such emotion, and as I listen to his songs, I can't help but feel what he must have felt as he wrote them. Marketa Irglova's soft harmonies add depth to Hansard's emotion.

Here's a little sneak peek of the music. I think it's best if you experience the music through the movie with all the emotions of the situation attached, but this is the song that is most well known. It's called "Falling Slowly" and it won the Oscar for best original song in 2008. It is definitely one of my favorites on the soundtrack.



The movie is set in Ireland (in Dublin, I think) and is rated R because they say the f-word a few times. But there's no sex and no violence.

Being a Kid Again

I found out about this book from a friend's Facebook profile. She had posted a picture of her copy of Wreck This Journal. She had done so many different things to this book, and I was completely intrigued, so I looked it up. And then I had to buy it. This seriously was the most fun I've ever had with a journal. Definitely a well-spent $13.


The cover. The doodling is all me. Not that exciting, I know.


Title page. Again, doodling by me.


Burning was fun. Even though I had to stomp on it to quench the flames.


Ooooh, pretty colors.
This was the first thing I did to the journal. It was very liberating for an anal-retentive bookkeeper like me.

"Collect the stamps off of all your mail."

This damage was done with a pumice stone. It was pretty effective.

Scribbling on the edges.

I dabbed this paint on more than dripped it, but the effect was similar.

I carry this book with me everywhere now, just in case I find something else fun to put in it/on it. I feel like I'm ten again, and it's incredibly fun.

I cannot get enough . . .

. . . of this video. Well, mostly the music itself, because it's freaking amazing. Thanks, Jeanette, for introducing the office to it.

Strengths and Weaknesses

I took this 240-question test (yeah, it's a doozie) about my signature strengths. It gives 24 strengths, and it says that the top five are your strongest that you should implement in your daily life. I guess that means the bottom five are the weaknesses. And wow, does this quiz really make you think. It's interesting to see how much I agree with these strengths and weaknesses. There are some I only partially agree with. But the weaknesses strike true to me . . . which makes me a little sad. I guess those are some things I have to work on. Do me a favor and don't judge me by them.

Strengths:

1. Humor and playfulness (I wonder about this one, which is weird since it's number one)
2. Appreciation of beauty and excellence
3. Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness
4. Spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith
5. Curiosity and interest in the world

Weaknesses (these are the scary ones):

20. Kindness and generosity
21. Self-control and self-regulation
22. Modesty and humility
23. Hope, optimism, and future-mindedness
24. Industry, diligence, and perseverance

Click here to take the test yourself.

Useless

Have you ever done your best at something, tried so hard to do the right thing, and failed every time? It's pretty much the most frustrating thing ever, whether it be with relationships, school, or work.

That's how I feel right now. No matter what I do, say, or don't say, it seems like it's the wrong thing. No matter how hard I try, it's never good enough. I'm always doing something that upsets someone else, and it sucks. I feel useless, and I don't know what to do. I guess the only thing left is to forget about trying and just . . . do what's best for me. Sometimes you can't always worry about other people. Sometimes you've got to put yourself first. And when worrying about someone else does no good for me or that other person, I think that's the best time to stop trying and do what's best for me.