the numbers are bad

This is a classic case of so good or no good.

library card

I just read my first book from the York library. It seems a shame that I finally got a library card when the end of my York days is in sight. But whatever, I read:

It was on the New Books shelf and I didn't really feel like searching for a book. The description made it seem like Closer [movie/play, not TV show or something], but it was like the Jennifer Weiner version of Closer. I didn't dislike it while I was reading it, but, afterwards, it seemed to not be worth the time.
D

not a romance for the road

After 6 years of trying, I finally got to see Dar Williams. I went with Jenny to see her at the Strand in York a week or two ago. The songs I remember from her set list:

1. Are You Out There?: I used to have this song on a mix tape and I was used to hearing an RX Bandits song afterwards. This was one I have probably heard a thousand times, so I might have cried.
2. Calling the Moon: She played this early on and it gave me a good feeling for the rest of the set. This song reminds me of a weekend in Maine and it was great & pretty.
3. After All: Weird people sitting near us aggressively requested this, so she played it.
4. Road Buddy: The guy next to me requested it and that made me like it. This song reminds me of driving in New England with Gigl when she was a baby.
5. Fly Away: About becoming a parent. So pretty and sad and LONG. Jenny said it would be a pretty song for a baptism.
6. Mercy of the Fallen
7. The Babysitter's Here
8. Spring Street: I forgot how much I loved this song.
9. Beauty of the Rain
10. You're Aging Well: This is one of my all time and initial favorites, and I was excited for Jenny to hear it because it seems her flavor.
11. If I Wrote You: I cried.
12. What Do You Hear in These Sounds?: A song about therapy that isn't depressing or weird is a pretty baller feat

back to jodi

The premise of this book was a man on trial for killing his wife who was dying of cancer. I liked that idea because it seemed like it was going to get really muddy like the other conflicts in her books. But the the whole mercy killing issue didn't really go anywhere. The characters became more developed as the plotline complicated and I was more interested in that than anything. Not what I expected, but it worked.
B-


I realized I like the JP books that have chlildren written in the storylines. I think this is because (1) the kids are never given too much page time and (2) she has a very loving & insightful voice when writing about the parent/child relationship. The kid characters are never annoying because she writes as such a parent that sees the kids realistically but with the love goggles. Reminds me of this song:

The story was about a dad who kidnapped his daughter from an alchoholic mother and set up a new life as the perfect single father. Good stuff, but a little bit dry. Sometimes the story was too close-knit, character-wise. The book needed more characters to loop throughout. It needed more, in general. It felt like the bare bones of a book that would be good once the lines were colored in.
B-

HAIR

I finally got to see Hair. After watching it win the Best Revival Tony from my brother's couch in Colorado last June and failing to get a ticket on my birthday, this day has been a long time coming. The day arrived when it did because this cast is being sent to London and being replaced by a younger, unappealing group (Diana DiGarmo as Sheila says enough). So the performance I saw ended up being the original cast's last time on Broadway.


I don't know if it was that, the familiarity of the songs, or just being a popular show, but I have never been part of a more enthusiastic audience. The opening song, Aquarius, recieved a standing ovation. And that was one of four standing ovations given before the curtain call. After curtain call, they invited everyone onstage to dance. Obviously, this is not my style but it was pretty to see.


Also, Frank Langella was there.


I love Hair and I love Caissie Levy and want her to be a bridesmaid at my wedding and I love my mom for convincing me NYC is not as far as it feels.

borrowed books

My boss at the coffeeshop has my own good taste in books and lent me these. The first two were stories set in contemporary Afghanistan. The third was very Oprah's Book Club, in the best possible way.


B+


B


A

where the winter ducks go

So I took that movie Chapter 27 out of the library. $2 wasted. It was terrible; when a movie has you just wanting John Lennon to get shot already, something is very very wrong. Also why would you cast

to play

when there is


D

beginning of the end

Another season of Lost starts, another new job in York starts. Maybe this one will last longer than the training takes, unlike all the other excellent employment opportunities I have found in York. I am making coffee at Penn State York in a bistro next to the Pullo Center. I might be making coffee for the Dog Whisperer on Feb. 27. No lie, and I am sure Mr. Milan will be very interested in hearing about the Scariest Tiny Dog in York County.

like christmas eve

Since Lost:Christmas and Black Smoke:Santa, I have compiled a wish list:


The reason why I am taking cake decorating classes.


Truth on so many levels.


Because I dream someday of hosting the best Lost party ever. What this kit is missing: Hawaiian pizza (because bacon=boar and pineapple=mango).


Pug-sized replicas of my best friends.

picture perfect

This book felt more Jennifer Weiner than Picoult. I read a Jennifer Weiner book straight through on a flight from Alaska to Philly because it was engaging enough to hold my interest that long but not heavy enough to ever need to take a break to digest the story. History repeats, except this time I was in York wishing I was on an airplane to anywhere.
C

underdog medal

Rolling Stone had named Sam's Town the Most Underrated Album of the Decade. I had previously named it my Most Favorite Album of Ever, so the props are ok by me.

crash into me

The Crash in real time. Lost anything in real time is wacky and seems kind of wrong. Thank you, stranger who posted this on Mandi's FB.

Wake me up in ONE WEEK :) :)

frank mills & sunshine

handle with care

I would not have fallen so hard in love with Jodi if this book had been my first impression. It is also her most recent, so I'm not all that surprised that success has led her to drop the ball a bit. There were too many similarities between this and My Sister's Keeper--the mother who has lost herself in her crusade to save her sick daughter, the father who is startled to realize his ineffectiveness but is so emotionally invested that he is sympathetic (and the warrior for the daughter who becomes an underdog because she is healthy). Not a bad book, but not up to par.
C

opening squared

The Job


The Play