Eat Pray Love

I am FINALLY getting around to writing my book review for Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Here are a bunch of associated links you may like to visit:

Elizabeth Gilbert web page for the book

IMDB's article for the film (2010)

Film trailer #2

Wikipedia's article for the book

Book on Amazon.com

Rotten Tomatoes ratings and reviews for the film

So. My review on the book.

SPOILER ALERT!

Don't read any further if you don't want to know if Elizabeth finds love in the third leg of her journey.

I really enjoyed this memoir of a woman's pursuit of happiness by way of gorging Italian food, growing spiritually and galloping off in love. It is a light book that is well suited to those who enjoy travel.

My favorite part is Eat, where Elizabeth lets her self live through eating whatever she wants in Italy. Loads of spaghetti and original pizza! I liked her friendship with her Italian tutor a lot and the friends she met there. Her little apartment was quaint in my memory of her living space.

Speaking of living spaces, she had great fortune because she had an awesome room and roommate (though quiet, heh) in India in the Pray leg of the trip. I had mixed feelings about this portion of the book going into it: ugh, I don't want religion/spirituality shoved down my throat versus hmmm, I wonder what she got out of her stay in the community in India. Turns out I really enjoyed this part. I especially liked how Elizabeth came around to love the arduous prayers. I'm a big believer in the fruits of the process and hard work that goes into something. I like that Elizabeth found something in which to pour herself spiritually. The sense of community she found was therapeutic, too. And let's not forget Richard from Texas! He was one of my top favorite people she met in her trip.

And the final place Elizabeth stayed was BEAUTIFUL! Bali. Beaches. Breezes. The movie made her living quarters a little more glamorous than I imagined in my head, but it still worked well. If I go to Bali, I hope I am lucky enough to stay in a similar bungalow. But, ah, the topic of love. Love is the biggest mystery, and in the end I'd just like to say that it finds you in its own time. *shrug.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.

Pay It Forward Day

Today is Pay It Forward Day. If you're unfamiliar with the phrase, you should check out the movie entitled "Pay It Forward." Excellent movie; even better concept.

Today is meant to spark inspiration in people to do something nice for three people. The idea is that they would, in response to your kindness, "pay it forward" to three other people. And so on!

Today I did these three nice things for people:

1. I sent a colleague, Bill McNamee, a thank you note through a system at work that allows me to notify his manager that I sent the note. The thank you note was to thank and recognize Bill for the tremendous help he's provided me in becoming accustomed to a system we use at work called Unity.

2. Bought an ice skating package for a friend (includes entry, skate rental, popcorn and a pop).

3. Chipped a few dollars for the next guy at Jimmy John's.

Morning Anthem

This song, Starting Now by Ingrid Michaelson, turned out to be my morning's anthem. Sometimes sad things are necessary. While painful, pruning is, overall, a healthy process.



I want to crawl back inside my mother's womb
I want to shut out all the lights in this room
I want to start fresh, like a baby in a sink
Scrub away all these thoughts that I think of you

So life moves slowly when you're waiting for it to boil
Feel like I watch from 6 feet under the soil
Still want to hold you and kiss behind your ears
But i re count the countless tears that i lost for you

But before you finally go there's one thing you should know: That I promise -

Starting now I'll never know your name
Starting now I'll never feel the same
Starting now I wish you never came into my world

I want to crawl back inside my bed of sin
I want to burn the sheets that smell like your skin
Instead I'll wash them just like kitchen rags with stains
Spinning away every piece that remains of you

But before you finally go there's one thing you should know: That I promise -

Starting now I'll never know your name
Starting now I'll never feel the same
Starting now I wish you never came into my world

It's my world, it's not ours anymore
It's my world, it's not ours anymore

Starting now I'll never know your name
Starting now I'll never feel the same
Starting now I wish you never came into my world

The Last Lecture

My favorite class in college was Change Management. It's a pretty unappealing class title given that most everyone fears change and management sounds mundane. The professor made all the difference. Why? He cared. I think he realized that people needed to be taught how to cope with change, and so teaching this class was his way of making a difference in the world, one Purdue student at a time. He certainly made a difference in my life. (By the way, his name is Al Crispo. Here is his Purdue faculty biography.)

Another professor who has changed the lives of many on a much larger scale was Randy Pausch. I first hear of Randy in my Change Management class. My professor gave us a "movie day," and we were drawn in to Randy's story. Basically Randy lived a pretty great life even through finding out he had terminal cancer. He found a way to tell his story, his life lessons, his wisdom in the face of death to colleagues, students current and past, and even his three young children through his Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon. I'm not going to try to cover all that he does in the video, but I urge you to take the time to watch it sometime. It will inspire you to shoot for the moon; even if you miss you will land among the stars.

Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams by Randy Pausch

A while after seeing Randy's video I learned that he had made the lecture into book format. I am reading the book now, and it is excellent. It is a handbook for success and happiness, really, two things which make for a pretty nice life.

I am not going to do a book review past this entry as I've already covered what I would like to cover on this lecture and book. Except that I have great admiration for Randy: he was able to take the worst possible news (you're going to die soon) and better the world with that news; that is remarkable grace. Anyway, this book is one of those books I feel every person ought to read.

-Amanda

Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs

This was the March book club book, suggested by the other Amanda:

This book is a collection of 18 essays where each pop culture topic was hit on during the sleepy, unwinding moments before Chuck fell asleep. Interesting premise, I'd say. I hadn't read a collection of essays before, at least not willingly, so that caught my attention. I liked being able to jump around or skip an essay if it didn't really appeal.

Here is the full list of essays (from Wikipedia) (the ones in bold are my favorites):

• 1. This Is Emo: Klosterman recounts "fake love" we are conditioned to pursue, and the false, unbalanced nature of When Harry Met Sally.
• 2. Billy Sim: Klosterman describes his experience with the reality-mimicking videogame The Simsand how The Sims illustrates that "even eternally free people are enslaved by the process of living."
• 3. What Happens When People Stop Being Polite: The impacts of MTV's The Real World and how it led to the development of one-dimensional personalities.
• 4. Every Dog Must Have His Every Day, Every Drunk Must Have His Drink: An ode to Billy Joel, particularly the universality of his album Glass Houses.
• 5. Appetite for Replication: Klosterman interviews and spends a few days with the members of aGuns N' Roses tribute band, "Paradise City," and outlines the significance of tribute bands.
• 6. Ten Seconds to Love: An analysis of how American culture is upset with the unrealistic images of success it has created, as stemming from a discussion of the Pamela-Tommy sex tape.
• 7. George Will vs. Nick Hornby: A rant against soccer (particularly among youth), claiming it supports outcast culture.
• 8. 33: Klosterman explains how the 1980's rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics symbolizes all rivalries in life, including politics, religion, and race.
• 9. Porn: An explanation of how the Internet has proliferated the porn industry, as per the need of the presence of the amateur and celebrity in our lives.
• 10. The Lady or the Tiger: A brief history of the cereal industry, and how Kelloggs was begun as a religious company, but now is a microcosm for coolness. The "cocoa puffs" in the title comes from this essay.
• 11. Being Zack Morris: An analysis of Saved by the Bell and how "important things are inevitably cliché."
• 12. Sulking with Lisa Loeb on the Ice Planet Hoth: Why Star Wars is so overrated, and how it has come to represent basic morality.
• 13. The Awe-Inspiring Beauty of Tom Cruise's Shattered, Troll-like Face: A discussion of the question "What is reality?" as answered by movies such as Vanilla Sky, The Matrix, Memento, andWaking Life.
• 14. Toby over Moby: How the Dixie Chicks are the new Van Halen, as they are one of the only pop bands with musical quality, and how Van Halen's teenage boys have been replaced by the Dixie Chicks' teenage girls. Also how music taste is used to gauge coolness, and those who ignorantly say they like all kinds "except country" only say so to appear cool.
• 15. This is Zodiac Speaking: A description of three people Klosterman has interviewed who have known or met serial killers, and an exploration of "What does it mean to know a serial killer?"
• 16. All I Know Is What I Read in the Papers: Most of the media's bias is accidental, and stories are mainly developed by circumstance and by the interviewee who calls the journalist back first. Also how sports reporters hate sports, and how newspapers are designed for those who cannot read.
• 17. I, Rock Chump: Klosterman narrates his visit to the 2002 Pop Music Studies Conference by the Experience Music Project, and how it was largely an experience without rock and roll.
• 18. How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found: A commentary on the Left Behind Series and the lifestyle of Evangelical Christians. The chapter title refers to the book How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found by Doug Richmond.

I'm not going to discuss each of my favorite essays, but I will say this: if you like reading Bill Bryson, I recommend this book. Chuck has that same conversational tone and approach in his writing. On the flip side, if you liked this book, I recommend reading Bill Bryson (conversational tone stories about his travels; I read the book he wrote about his time in Australia).

My all time favorite part of the book was the interlude with the 23 questions he asks people in order to determine if he can really love them. How interesting a method to determine if you can love someone! Here is a sample question:

Question 18: You have won a prize. The prize has two options, and you can choose either (but not both). The first option is a year in Europe with a monthly stipend of $2K. The second option is ten minutes on the moon. Which option do you select?

That gives you an idea of the sort of questions Chuck asks. Some of them I had quick answers to; others I had to think about; still others I'm undecided about. For Question 18, however, I'd take the first option to see Europe! Visiting the moon would be out of this world (ha, get it?), but for ten minutes? Nah, I'd rather 524,160 minutes in Europe with a total of $24K to spend while there. I've always wanted to go to Europe. I've never had that same desire to visit the moon. I enjoy gazing at the moon in the night sky. I'd enjoy gazing at the moon in the night sky from Europe, too.

Wikipedia Article
Official Publisher Page

-Amanda

Heidi

On Saturday, 30 January 2010 I picked up Heidi, my German Shepherd Dog puppy! I bought her from Yuliya & Chad of Kennels von Lotta in Atlanta. It was a day filled with driving (7 hours, one way), but it was entirely worth it - plus I had a driving buddy on the way home! She did very well in the car! Here I am with Heidi, posing for our first photo:



I got back to Orlando at about 5 AM. (Thanks to Jordan for chatting on the phone to keep me awake towards the end.) When I first walked into my apartment, Ashes was waiting for me, like usual, but this time he did a full-body double-take when he saw who was with me! It was very interesting watching them say hello for the first time. I hate my hair in this photo, but Ashes' and Heidi's expressions are priceless here in their first photo together:



Here's an adorable photo of Heidi playing in the lawn outside my apartment:



Sunday afternoon I took Heidi to the vet for her 72-hour check after bringing her home from the breeder. This visit was her first to see other puppies and dogs outside of her family. She was timid around others her size, but warmed up to them after a few moments. Around large dogs she was always ducking around my feet; she's so cute. No matter the size of the person, though, she is super friendly, always giving kisses to their hands when they reach to pet her. Here's a photo of Heidi with a little girl and her mom:



Her vet check went well. The vet said she was in perfect health with the exception of a minor yeast ear infection. I am treating it, and so far her little ear is doing great. It's good that I have to clean and medicate her ear twice a day because it gets her used to me messing with her ears. I'm also making sure to play with her paws a lot so she doesn't mind when I have to clip her toe nails. I think down the road vets will appreciate her being used to these sorts of things.

She weighed 7.8 pounds the Sunday, 31 January I brought her home. This past Saturday, 6 February she had jumped up to 12.8 pounds. She's growing quickly! I found a German Shepherd Dog puppy growth chart, and, according to the chart, she is expected to reach 16 pounds in two weeks.

Speaking of keeping her tidied up, Wednesday night I gave Heidi her first bath! First I set her in the tub on a towel so she wouldn't slip around (dogs hate that feeling). Then I trickled some water from the faucet. She like it and lapped some up. Then I turned the water on a little stronger; she was okay with this. Next I turned the water on to reach a luke-warm temperature and she decided that was her cue to figure out how to escape the confines of the tub. She didn't enjoy the bath terribly, but she permitted me to lather her up and rinser her off so long as I was half-hugging her during the process. She smelled so nice afterwards! Here's a picture of her partially wet and trying to hop out of the tub:



Yesterday marked Heidi's first day of high energy levels. She has gotten used to her new home and environment, and now she's comfortable to romp and play around. She tries to get Ashes to play with her but he mostly refuses her. Yesterday was the first day she sought out to play with other pups and dogs on their walks. Before I would have to coax her over to the others. She's doing so well in socializing with other canines!

She has also taken a great interest chewing whatever I allow her to chew. She found my slippers on Monday, but I've been saying "no" whenever she gets near them or any other shoes by the front door. She seems to be learning that shoes are off-limits (at least while I'm around). Instead of shoes I've been teaching her that it's okay for her to chew on her toys. Here she is chowing down on Mr. Hippo:



View Heidi's photos albums!

Album One (Day 1-3)
Album Two (Day 3-present)

View videos of Heidi here! That link will take you to the first on my YouTube "Heidi" playlist; from there you can view other videos of Heidi (on the right-hand-side).

Someone planning to buy a puppy from Kennels von Lotta made a comment on one of my videos of Heidi, and that led me to seeing some videos that Yuliya had on YouTube. Here is a video of Kennels von Lotta's "E Litter." Heidi is from the "J Litter," but I'm sure she romped, ate and nursed just like the pups in the video.

Heidi's registered name is Johanna Adelheid von Lotta. von Lotta is the Kennel name; that part always goes last. I chose Johanna for several reasons: Heidi is from von Lotta's "J Litter" (most breeders name their litters a letter of the alphabet), so I wanted a name that started with "J." "Johanna" is a German female name. The meaning of the name "Johanna" is "God is gracious."

Before I chose her registered name I had my heart set on the call name of "Heidi." I chose "Adelheid" because it is a variant of the name "Heidi," plus it is also a German female name. "Adelheid" means "noble and kind;" perfectly matching to the character of German Shepherd Dogs.

Heidi was only 9.5 weeks old when I picked her up over the weekend. She only weighed 7.8 pounds when we were at the vet; she's all fluff!

I've been learning a lot about properly caring for a dog, especially such a young one. I am crate training her to help with potty-training, manners and behavior. She has her good days and some bad days where she'll make a mess, but she's learning. Heidi and Ashes get along famously for a cat and puppy! Ashes gives off an "I'm only tolerating her" attitude, but I know he secretly is very happy to have a friend in the home while I'm away. Besides, she's a furry ball of love!

If you have any tips for owning a puppy/dog/German Shepherd Dog, feel free to leave a comment! = )

Cheers,

Amanda

Found a GSD Breeder!

Thanks to my friend, Aaron, from the book club and his colleague, I've found a German Shepherd Dog breeder: Kennels von Lotta! I couldn't be more pleased with all the information on their website. They've met all my requirements as a breeder.



I spoke with Yuliya on the phone earlier this evening, and she is very pleased with me as a potential owner! She especially liked the fact that I wanted to run with the dog when training for my half and full marathons. She is holding the puppy for me, and I have just a few details to iron out. I very well may have a puppy in two weekends!

Here is a photo of the beautiful little female pup I may bring into my life and home:





Isn't she adorable?!

I am so excited that I'm jittery! I better go burn off some of this excitement with a run before I burst!

-Amanda

The Bubba Roll

Just a quick blurb about the remainder of Sam's visit back in August (for a quick link to the first part, click here).

After a great weekend at the beach and Busch Gardens we settled into a work-week sort of routine. I, of course, went to work as I normally do, while Sam, of course, managed to mix up his days and nights by staying up to ungodly hours of the night (well, morning, really) playing his beloved X-Box. I'm really happy I had an HDTV for him on which he could play his video games.

Through the week we hit the gym a couple times. Sam seemed to like my gym, but he wasn't as blown away as Mom was, haha. Anyway, he was glad to get a couple workouts into his visit. Aside from the gym we saw a movie: The Collector, which neither of us were impressed with. Sam was a little mislead by the preview, apparently. The movie was by the same director as the Saw movies, just to give you an idea of what the film entailed. If it had attended to a small bit of the plot towards the end it would have at least been a decent movie, despite the blood, guts and gore. Oh, well.

The other big event during the week was my taking Sam out for sushi for the first time. I'm happy to report that I've converted yet another person to enjoy sushi. One of my colleagues, Jesse Henderson III, was in town from Maryland, and whenever Jesse visits, a group of us go to Wine Down Wednesdays at Urban Flats, then we have sushi at Fuji Sushi. Sam and I skipped Wine Down and went straight for the sushi. Given that we were with Jesse, it was a fun time; always a riot! Sam and Jesse almost instantly clicked and had a couple moments that I'll chuck under "bonding," haha. Sam's favorite roll was The Bubba Roll; he didn't care at all for my spicy tuna roll, haha. Anyway, the food was delicious and we had a good night.


myself, Sam, Jesse, et. al. at Fuji Sushi


I really enjoyed Sam's company for the week that he visited. I'm so glad we've reached that point in our relationship where we can start to relate and be friends as well as siblings. (The four year age gap made that difficult until recently.) Thanks for a fun visit, Sam! Love you!

Amanda

Tuesdays with Morrie

Finished the book in three days; very quick read. Mitch Albom has a great narrative skill, and I fell in love with the characters (real people) and the story. Mitch entwines honest, shamelessness and even humor into this loving tale.

Reminding me of Randy Pausch's story, this story is about how Morrie learns how to live his last days through learning how to deal with his looming death. Morrie has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a disease where you gradually lose control of your body. One with ALS dies when the disease reaches their lungs; they become unable to breathe. Morrie has an unbelievable perspective and attitude towards his condition, but that does nothing to stop him from living out loud and to the fullest. If anything, his condition was his most beneficial blessing. If anything, this disease gave him renewed life.

I chalk this book up on my List of Books Everyone Should Read. It's truly wonderful. It is amazing how life is so much simpler, so much slower, so much more satisfying if we learn from the lessons Morrie shares with Mitch.

My first reflection was how 180 this book was from my last one, American Psycho, haha. A fresh breath of air, for sure! Tuesdays with Morrie helped me with the death of something from my recent past. I think this book can help us all learn about death because, while it sounds utterly morbid, death is always around us in some way or another. Graduating college, moving to a new town, stuff like that. Something in our life has to end and die - this is required for something new to be born into our lives. The Lion King had it right... everything is part of the Circle of Life.

I've not seen the movie yet, but might someday. The movie has Jack Lemon in it to play Morrie. There's a link for the trailer below.

If you've read the book, please feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment!

Links:
Book's Website
Movie Trailer
IMDB

Love or perish,

Amanda