This is the first Stephen King novel I’ve ever read. It’s not that I avoided his work, it just never really happened. When I heard about this book, I knew that it would be inevitable for me. Not only do I love time travel, but like most Americans, I am fascinated with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I always have been, and when I was a kid I actually had very vivid nightmares about it. “Back and to the left,” is still a phrase that gives me chills. Right away, I was hooked. I learned very quickly why King got to where he is. He is a master storyteller. Beyond that, he has the ability to turn something very ordinary to something quite more and he can go creepy very easily. It’s all about his characters, each their own person that the reader can picture completely. As for the plot, well it was fantastic. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about it, except to say that there were areas of the novel that dragged on. His amount of detail was sometimes more than I cared for and the novel probably could have been shorter, but who I am to judge? He earned those 850 pages. What I never expected was a love story. I never knew King had such a romantic side. That was a delightful surprise. I’m sure that I will think about and talk about this book for years to come and I’ll probably recommend it to just about everybody.



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Listening… to the Sia Pandora channel and the song “Without You,” which was covered on Glee. Here’s the original.

I like Lea Michelle’s slower and more romantic version, but I also really like the original. Makes me super smily.

I also read today about Ani DiFranco’s album. Man, I used to go crazy when she released new music. These days I’m a little more meh about the whole thing.

Eating… out. One night I cooked a yummy pasta dish, but that’s been about it. I need to get my kitchen in order.

Drinking… coffee. I so very much love our Keurig that we have in the office now. I’m on my second cup this morning.

Wearing…  jeans. Almost every day this week. Somebody needs to do laundry.

Feeling… all over the place. Happy, mostly, but I totally weeped during Glee this week when Artie rejected Becky because she has Down’s Syndrome. Tired a lot of the time.

Wanting…  a new car. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about it and so now as I drive or walk around outside I’m checking out cars left and right.

Needing…  a new house. My place is just too small for the four of us.

Thinking…  about how I can’t believe I’m going to turn 33. Where does time go?

Watching… Battlestar Galactica! If you haven’t seen this Portlandia sketch about BSG, fix that now.

We’re in the second season. I’ve already seen up to the third season, but the refresher is nice.

Enjoying… Stephen King’s book 11/22/63. This beast of a book is fantastic and I’m probably going to recommend it to just about everybody I come across. Check it out!

Mindy is hilarious. I’ve known this for awhile now as a devoted fan of The Office and a twitter follower. Her book was great. Maybe it’s the fact that we’re the same age, have similar boyfriend and body issues, and like a lot of the same things. Or maybe it’s just because she is truly hilarious. This was a perfect in between book. You know the kind you need to read between more gut wrenching ones. It only took a me a day to cruise through it because it flowed so easily and I was never once bored. Only side effect. It made me miss some of my favorite friends. Marci – if you’re reading this review — it made me think of you the entire time. We must get together and do our thing.



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I absolutely loved this book! It was really fun to read and gave me soooooo many heart flutters I could barely deal. Nina is a great character and a bit of a departure from what you usually get in books like this. Jared. Hello fictional boyfriend. And Claire is all kinds of awesome. The story is solid and it’s a pretty creative notion. I like the world that Jamie has created! I can’t wait to read Requiem.



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This one is from an old Ani DiFranco song. Love it.

There’s nothing terribly exciting going on with me right now but I am all about a few things…

Downton Abbey

No shock there. I totally love this series. I can’t get enough.

Mike asked me last night who I thought the best character is. I told him it was impossible to decide. Absolutely impossible, which must mean that it is truly outstanding. I love character writing. Perfection! Also, I’m pretty much talking to anyone I can find about Downton Abbey. I’m on a mission to spread the word.

Season one is on Netflix people. Watch it!

Journaling

I started a calendar journal from a little cheap weekly planner that my mom gave me for Christmas. Upon starting it, I went back and looked at some of my old journals. It’s always intriguing to get back to the past. What I really realized is that there’s no way I’m going to journal the true little details of my life on a blog for the world to read. These platforms are very different. And so it’s been refreshing to actually write the details of my day and my thoughts in something only I can cherish for years to come.

Introvert Cat

It took a really long time for me to acknowledge that I’m rather introverted. I had a hard time reconciling this with my ability to tell boisterous stories and talk way more than I should with colleagues and friends. I don’t really have the filter that an introvert has, but what I really do love is being alone. So the Introvert cat meme knows me better than I know myself. Here’s a couple that had me laughing because I couldn’t agree more.

A simple page turner that tried to set up lots of twists and turns. It was easy to read for sure, but it didn’t really hook me. My overall feeling was…. meh.



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First picture in 2012.

Last night around 10 I went upstairs and dug out an old journal that I started writing in the year 2000. It has big gaps but essentially hits the high points of the past 12 years. Back in 2001 I wrote the most and so much of it was about my daily life coming into work. I was still a student employee for the most part that year and so it’s odd to read about those days. My office and my work and all that. I was clearly much less mature and I spent the majority of my time worrying about my love life.

Now, a decade later, I have definitely risen through the ranks and grown. Yet I’m still here. Still in the same building that I’ve been coming to for years and years and years. I wonder if there are ghosts of my former self roaming the halls, because I certainly feel there are ghosts of the people who actually got out of here. It’s strange. Like an old hard drive, written over and over.

Basically – I feel old today. Like older than I’ve felt in a long time. I think I’m okay with that, but I sort of wonder how much further I can push this, because there will certainly be a time when I walk in one day and think back to when I was 32 years old and how young I was. I know how that goes, I just wish I could feel it.

What to say about this year? I certainly didn’t do a lot to document it (bad me). I was happy almost always. When I was sad, it’s because I was watching a fine film or read something sad.  With the one serious exception of Mike leaving CU. That was one of the worst days of my life and it was so hard to bounce back from that. But I did. He did. And he and I are better off for it.

Friends and family were great. Nothing new there.

I read 12 books, five in December. That seems crazy for me. There’s just some really beautiful words out there.

I wrote. Not enough of course, but enough to get those juices flowing again.

Today is the last day at work for the year. It’s been quiet for me. I love being here on this day. It always reminds me of the past. I can’t believe I’ve worked here for so long.

I’m sure I’ll be back with resolutions and all that, but I just wanted to mark this point in time and reflect on 2011. Nothing terribly specific to say about it, just that I was happy and I loved it.

“I’m happy just because.” ~At the bottom of everything.

This book literally caused physical reactions. Anger, fear, stress, happiness, and heart flutter after heart flutter. Like others, I couldn’t put it down. I had to know. Thank goodness there will be a sequel. I’ve never yearned for a character’s comeuppance so badly in my life.



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Another bargain book I got through a Kindle daily deal. It was a definite page turner and a fun read, no matter how far fetched. It was a solid piece with likable characters and a few twists I didn’t see coming. Unfortunately it referenced old technology by name which drives me crazy. Just something that we have to get used to in fiction these days.



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