Perfect rainy Tuesday

I'm on vacation till next Tuesday, when summer school starts in earnest. 

I got back from an 8-day trip to Mexico City on Friday the 13th (more on that later), to spend lots of time with Ari's family, since his brother and sister-in-law had a baby boy while I was abroad. Ari's an uncle for the first time!

Things finally slowed down a bit today, so I'm looking forward to this: 

I.e. girly books from the library, fake nails (I bite mine, so it's fun to wear cheap fake ones every now and then), and candy. And maybe some blogging. 

You know how when you finish reading a really good book

...you keep forgetting you finished it, because you were so deeply engrossed in it?

I'm going through that period of withdrawal after finishing Bring Up the Bodies. Take me back to 16th century England!!

Intense discomfort is beauty

So, for whatever reason* I continue to subscribe to the magazine InStyle.  About once or twice an issue, I laugh out loud at some ridiculous recommended purchase (a $2,000 purse) or beauty procedure ($500 facial injections once every two weeks--because why not?!). 

Anyway, I was reading it last night and found one beauty procedure so hilarious that I felt the need to share it here. 

First of all, they have an article telling you how to tone your tummy, without any mention of what foods to eat or any kind of exercise. These tips are solely lotions and creams and procedures you can get done to your stomach. 

I look at the column for people in their 30s because, hey, I'm in my 30s now! Maybe I can learn something useful! 

And the magazine recommends that I DRY BRUSH MY OWN STOMACH. There's a picture of the brush at the bottom there. I am supposed to rake that thing back and forth across my stomach EVERY DAY for..what? Years????? Until I reach 40???

I'd like to say that this article pushed me to take the final step towards canceling my subscription, but...no. I mean, you wouldn't, would you? 

*I enjoy "reading" vapid fashion and beauty articles at the end of the day

I just read a description of myself

I just started the book The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. (based upon a recommendation from my good friend Lena Dunham), and am enjoying the 40 pages or so I've read so far.

I also came upon a description of a girl that basically described how I see myself (and how I assume others see me?):

"And while she had a nice body, she was on the tall side and had something of the loose-limbed quality of a comic actor, goofy and self conscious, good-humored but perhaps also a bit asexual" (p. 39).

Weird. But kind of cool.

Worlds Collide!

That title is very dramatic, but my story is not that dramatic. Nevertheless, I thought it was worth posting on the blog. So.

I have been reading David Foster Wallace's massive novella, Infinite Jest, for a little over a month now. It was really hard to get into at first, but now that I've made it through a staggering 33% of the book (NOT including endnotes), I'm starting to actually enjoy it. And as books do, when you read them for a long period of time, it has started to kind of take over my life. I think a lot more about what it must be like to be seriously addicted to heroin or alcohol, and I read about the U.S. Open with a new interest (drug addiction and tennis academies are major themes in the book, in case you didn't know).

Anyway, tonight I was catching up on season 5 of Parks and Recreation, one of my favorite shows on TV right now (tied with Mad Men, basically), and it was the episode where Ben goes back to his hometown of Partridge, Minnesota. One of the minor characters in Infinite Jest is from Partridge, Kansas, and apparently this was all the creator of the show, Michael Schur (aka Mose from The Office), needed to throw in a TON of book references. I noticed it right off the bat, when they go to a law firm named:

All of those names are characters from the book. Then Anne and Chris take an online test called the "Incandenza Pemulis" test. More character references. 

And...I'm starting to realize that this whole post might not be interesting to anyone who hasn't read Infinite Jest. So I think I'll stop there. And just say that I was really excited and proud of myself for catching the references. And so well-timed in my life! 

P.S. Regarding the housing situation, Ari and I have not moved in yet. Hoping to do it this coming weekend, if the place is actually done being renovated. 

Curse You, New Yorker

BTW, I did NOT achieve my goal of catching up on all the issues of the New Yorker before leaving.

I got through about 10 of them, but I still have about 5 more. I am bringing them with me. And my dad gets to keep receiving them back here, in LA.

I will consider getting my own subscription, but it doesn't seem very logical. Perhaps TimeOut New York will be more my speed.

Haven't posted in a while, but Salinger's death today inspired me.

After hearing about this death, I'm sure almost everyone flashed back to their "Salinger" moment (if they have one); I personally remember middle school, when I worked as the computer lab T.A. for Mrs. Soja, and had way too much time on my hands. I finished Catcher in the Rye during one of those slow days, and then immediately started reading it again. I enjoyed it so much I didn't want to put it down. So I read it twice in a row, with a time span of about 2 minutes between readings.

I also have memories of reading Nine Stories in Mrs. Swanson's 11th grad English class, and acting out scenes from the stories. Such a weird, albeit creative, idea. Nevertheless I remember feeling greatly moved by those stories as well, particularly the last one, entitled "Teddy."