January Reading

Instead of going over every book from the month since it’s very redundant with my goodreads page, I thought I’d just report on my favs.


This month I had 3!


The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
 
This is really a tome. A TOME I tell ya.  But worth it.  I also rewatched 'V for Vendetta' this week and was joyfully surprised at all the references I got.
 


Nothing to Envy:  Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick

This is nonfiction but written more like a historical fiction novel with not only political insight but how it touches individual lives.  I highly recommend this book.



The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

This one hit my all time favorite book shelf.  Very graphic but the writing was extrodinary.  Looking forward to Davidson's new book.

Come join me on goodreads!  I love this site.  My Goodreads link:  http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2810793-aj

11th Hour

Well I made the huge mistake of watching the 11th hour which gave me a bonafide ulcer on the state of the environment. I knew things were bad but that made it sound really really bad.

I’m hoping people can give me some ideas on little ways to make less of a footprint. Below are some of mine. Please let me know if you have any better ones or additional things you do on a daily basis. If we all make one small difference it’s better than nothing at all, right?


1) I’ve been eating less meat. Obviously this is a personal choice. My digestive track seems to appreciate it though.

2) I will be more discerning with fish products. Great link for educated fish buying:

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx

Additionally this is updated monthly:

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_health.aspx

3) I use reusable grocery bags. Plastic bags in the USA alone use over 37 million barrels of oil to make! I have several and they are very big and strong – I keep one in my car so I don’t have that excuse of “oops, left it at home.” Also if in tight spot, ask for paper bags and then use them for recycling paper!

4) I think I’ve become addicted to recycling. In boston we are very lucky as the towns give you free recycling bins and picks up your recycling curbside. Hopefully everyone else has similar options. If not, write to your town hall!

5) I only use cold water for your laundry. Such a small thing, really. And your clothes don’t care. Plus there are lots of detergents now made specifically for cold cycles.

6) I buy recycled toilet paper. It’s TP – what’s the diff? 7th generation makes a decent type. If everyone in USA alone replaced one pack with recycled we’d save 1.3 billion gallons of water.

7) Bought a prius. If you happen to be in the market for a car, just keep hybrid options open. I know it’s not the only factor but don’t rule them out! They save a lot of money on gas.

8) I subscribe to a “green” blog that gives me additional ideas.



Do you do any of those already? If not, any one of those sound like a small change you could make? Throw yours at me!

Wow that makes you look fat

One of the more prominent cultural differences between east and west is the way people speak and interact with each other. People here tend to be a lot more blunt and upfront. Although this is something that I originally noticed it is something that continually surprises me.


For example the other week, as I got dressed with my female co-workers for a work party. If you want to know how you REALLY look, just get dressed with a bunch of people who are not Americans. Here is a sampling of the commentary:

“No, don’t wear that color, it doesn’t suit you.”

“You need to comb your hair.”

“Don’t use that type of brush, it makes your hair look bad.”

“You need to start oiling your hair.”

“You are going to put on some makeup I hope.”

“You are putting that eyeliner on wrong. Let me do it.”

“You should wear skirts more. Pants don’t work for you.”

It's humbling but also nice to know that if you do look fat in something, you'll be told.

Late Night is Early Morning!

I really really wish my boyfriend could keep this straight. He always asks me if I’m going to sleep and I’m like, dude, I’m at work.

Speaking of Late Night, I have to comment on the NBC insanity. It totally pisses me off. I don’t have an opinion of Leno or Conan nor their shows but the principle is fundamentally wrong. It stinks because it’s a reflection of everything the US has dealt with in the past year: rewarding failure.

Ok, Leno, you screwed up the 10pm slot, you lost news viewers, your lead in was so awful that it decreased late night viewership so guess what? We’ll give you your show back.  

Hmmm, where have I heard that methodology before?

Oh yeah, and here is another lesson I learned. Eating in the lunch room is great for commraderie but bad for your food. Everyone just eats your food which is fine, I always get served a lot, but it does nothing to ensure I keep my cook. Everyone loves Anand’s cooking…

Misculture

So I kind of got in trouble today because my boss sent me a message and I didn’t get it. Well I “got” it but I didn’t look at it. It was sent via SMS (ie. Text) and who the hell in the US sends business info via SMS? My comp and blackberry were open, but I didn’t have my Indian cell phone out…jeeez. I don’t understand why if you are looking at an email on your blackberry you send a SMS instead of replying to the email. Whatever.


Also, we are moving offices. At first I was excited. “Oh will it be quieter in the new area of town?”

“Quieter?” My co-workers say to me incredulously.

“yes…quieter?”

“This area is quiet. The new area will be loud.”

Oh.

Mumbai in one word.

When I was home I tried to sum up my experiences in as short a timeframe as I could and I often found myself trying to whittle down the life of Mumbai to one word (an obviously futile exercise but one due to timing; not wanting to repeat myself continually I tried to do in order to be gracious to people who wanted to hear a little about it without a 5 hour lecture from yours truly). I usually would say: chaos. On coming back after my brief respite home I realize that my word choice was incorrect. It should have been: juxtaposition.

I have not communicated how strange and sometimes wonderful, sometimes shocking, the worlds and lives of Mumbai intersect. There seems to be many different types of life here, ranging from the poorest you can think of to the most decadent you could imagine.

Walking outside and glimpsing the activites happening you can catch the varying differences. Old school cabs mixed with new Mercedes. High skyscrapers and racing technology mixed with carts driven by ox or people pulling them. It’s like a fantastical gateway of two planes of time colliding – one, not able to catch up, the other too far distant to hold back.  It's one of the many many things in life that can only be experienced in India.

 

December Reading (a little late)

The Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2) by Brandon Sanderson

I returned to Sanderson’s world after reading his first book in October. I really enjoyed the second installment – kept up the action and emotional impact very well from the first. I was so into it that I decided to download the 3rd book in the series to my kindle and then had the unpleasant realization that it’s unavailable as an e-read. Damnable.



Kleopatra by Karen Essex

A little strange. Mixes historical moments with a very modern style of writing which makes it seem a bit more like a romance novel and less the serious book I think it was meant to be. I wouldn’t tell anyone not to read it but it didn’t stay with me very long after I finished it. I did still clench my fist as I read of Pompey’s landing even though I knew what would happen. The book did help me understand the Egyptian politics behind that whole incident a bit better.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

A free book from Kindle, whohoo! Geez who knew how incredibly messed up my mind was about Frankenstein thanks to Hollywood! I now hate Frankenstein and will always have a soft spot in my heart for the creature. And where the heck is Igor? The history of this story’s creation rivals the story itself (from my goodreads review): I remember learning that Mary Shelly wrote this as part of a rainy summer spent telling ghost stories with fellow writers in Europe. This is also the same bonfire that spawned the idea of Byron's vampire, later imortalized by Polidori in The Vampyre; a Tale, the father of all modern vampire including Dracula.



The Serpents Tale (Adelia #2) by Ariana Franklin

I read the first book last year and I think it is enough commentary to say I had no memory of the details to know what was really going on in the second with character relationships. Historically accurate background (Henry II time period) with a murder mystery plot seems like a great formula for a book. This one starts it’s formula with the lead characters getting lost in a maze and I feel the story never got itself out of it. Too much going on at certain points, not enough at others. I didn’t care what happened to anyone at the end.



The Book Thief by Mark Zusak

Great book. I love female heroines and I love books. I hate reading about the holocaust but this one has enough humanity and new perspective to warrant a high recommendation. It’s also classified as a young adult novel so the details are never horrifying but that should not be mistaken for lack of emotional connection.

The Stupidest Angel […] by Christopher Moore

I’m not one for bizarre books and narratives built for a laugh (I like my books strictly serious) but this one was rather enjoyable. I’ll probably pick up “Dirty Jobs” by Moore which a few people recommended.

Back in the Saddle of Chaos

I love that we no longer have to say “thousand” when we say the year. Now it’s just twenty ten. Nice.

Happy new years my small but faithful band of reading friends! I returned to Mumbai yesterday after over committing myself to vacation plans. I drove too much, didn’t rest enough, drank a lot, ate 10 lbs. of additional body weight onto my person, got sick, talked serious life stuff with the family, got into drama with the family, didn’t get to see a few of the people who I REALLY wanted to see due to my own inability to effectively manage my time, saw a bunch of people who I REALLY wanted to see but didn’t feel like I got enough time with, and came back tired but strangely excited to be back in a world without a social life. Ha! That’s what I get for trying to cram in everything I did -- it’s truly my own fault.

Most memorable moments of being home:
1) NYE with my man
2) My bed felt like a cloud
3) Avatar in 3D imax
4) Damn it’s cold in New England
5) Reconnecting with a few family friends who lived in Mumbai and talking shop

Most unsatisfactory moments of being home:
1) My friend Joel blew off all his lifelong friends and got caught in the act! Really uncool.
 up my memory.
2) Damn it’s cold in New England
3) Family drama is llama
4) Being sick and my digestive system having a lot of issues with red meat

Things I found surprisingly pleasant to return to in Mumbai:
1) The weather is amazing! 75. Sunny. Light breeze. It’s actually the best weather it’s ever been here since I moved in August
2) People seem sincerely happy to see me again, very kind of them
3) Anand! You can’t beat having an Anand.
4) I learned I have a nickname with the office boys – they call me Madame Gevache (spelling is wrong). My co-workers informed me that they kept asking when “Madame Gevache” would return. Apparently there is a popular Hindi movie where a character is named Gevache – the movie is based off the American film “Memento.” It took me a minute but I realized it was because the entire wall behind my desk is filled with Post-it notes which I utilize for process design. The main character in Memento has to keep writing down things because he lost his short term memory which means the office boys either think I’m eccentric or a moron. Regardless kind of funny.
5)  Being away and then coming back has really offered me another opportunity to appreciate Mumbai.  While I was away I found myself missing a few things and as I explained Mumbai I found fresh perspective ain some of the ways of the country. I'm glad I'll be able to reconnect with the city now that I feel more comfortable with it instead of being stuck in some of the impressions I had when I first arrived.