What I'm Reading Now: April 9, 2012

Ignore the shadowy shot and the chipped nail polish (for shame!)... Excited to read this book (Swamplandia! by Karen Russell) for my online book club, Reading Without Borders. Care to join us? Do!!! Email me (hellerms [at] gmail)!

Free Yum

Do you like ice cream? (If you don't, we just broke up.) Do you like *free* ice cream?? Well, even if it's not your preferred brand, next Tuesday (April 3) is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's. You're welcome.

Get more info here. Again, you're welcome. Happy weekend!

Greatest Day of the Year News

Tuesday was the greatest day of the year!

MY BIRTHDAY!

In honor of the Greatest Day of the Year, my love did something so brilliant I just had to post about it. He notoriously gets a little anxiety at gift-giving times. Granted, I'm a really good gift giver usually, so I think that contributes to the pressure. But I have to say, he's never gotten it wrong. Still, he gets a little worked up. This year, we have a lot going on... there's some family health stuff, some family baby stuff, work, and a few other balls up in the air, so I think he was feeling a little overwhelmed. Unlike other years, though, he never asked me for hints. So I had no idea anything was going on. Then Tuesday after work when we got home, he pulled out a box wrapped simply in a pretty purple ribbon. I opened it up and inside was... another box! (haha!) Inside the second box was a totally awesome watch. I thought to myself, "that's so weird, I pinned this exact watch two weeks ago!" I looked at him with slightly bugged-out eyes and asked where it was from. "Do you like it?!" he asked. "Of course, I like it! It's awesome!" To which he replied: "I couldn't decide what to get you, so I WENT ON YOUR PINTEREST AND LOOKED FOR IDEAS." What a freaking genius that man is! I was so impressed with his cleverness to even think of that! BTW, here's the watch:

(and here's my pin; here's where you can get the watch online)

The reason I wanted to post about this was less about bragging that I have the greatest husband in the universe and more to talk about what a great resource Pinterest can be. I've already written about how much I love it and how much I use it. But I really hadn't thought about someone else using it for me in such a way. But it's so obvious. The result of my voracious pinning in this case was that I got a perfect birthday gift that was something I love and wanted but had no idea to expect. Think about it...

(but I do have the greatest husband in the universe...)

What I'm Reading Now: March 22, 2012

Actually started this on Monday (March 19), but didn't get around to posting until today. FINALLY reading the last of this trilogy. I'm excited to see it all come together, but disappointed there are only three books in this series! Did you read this trilogy? What did you think?

What are you reading now? If you are looking for something to pick up, I cannot recommend my last read, The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, enough. It is hands-down one of my favorite reads of recent years. I absolutely loved it. It's beautiful story-telling at it's best, in a contemporary setting. It's filled with incredibly human characters each of which contributes something absolutely essential to both the story and the other characters. I don't always say this about books, but I really hope someone turns this one into a screenplay - I think it would make a great movie. Couched in the context of a good ol', down-home baseball story, this book is really about human relationships, coming to terms with your own reality, love, friendship, growing up, and just figuring out life. But in the least cliche, and most addictive voice I've read in a long time. LOVED it. READ it.

I Write Like

This is fun-tastically nerdy. (Thanks, A!)

At "I Write Like," you enter any writing sample of your choosing (of your own) into their "statistical analysis tool, which analyzes your word choice and writing style and compares them with those of famous writers."

(screen shot - don't try this out here - go to the actual link)

I tried this with a few different writing samples of differing styles and from different periods in my recent life (over the past few years), and it gave me three different matches for which famous writers I most write like. I apparently write or have written like: Dan Brown (really?), Margaret Mitchell, and David Foster Wallace (!). I wonder if I picked a favorite blog post as a sample who that would match me with...

Try it. Who do you write like? Who do you *wish* you wrote like?

Accessory Indulgence

I want a fun iPhone case. It's a pretty unnecessary accessory, but I kind of want one. I've never accessorized my phone before. But there are just so many fun, pretty, cool, clever covers out there, it seems like a playful way to individualize your phone. And I don't know about you, but I play with use my phone an awful lot. I've pinned a few cases I've seen here and there that caught my eye. But the problem is there are basically a bazillion designs out there that I can't begin to narrow it down. That said, it is my birthday month (whoop!), so a little accessory indulgence seems a fitting self-gift, no?

(Mingle by Lisa Argyropoulos on Society6)

(Beautiful Spring Day by Joy St. Clair on Society6)

(Drops of Golden Sun by Bomobob on Society6)

(Siesta #3 by Alicia Bock on Society6)

(Chevron R by Nicoleap on Society6)

(Books by Cassia Beck on Society6)

(In Dog We Trust by Ana Laya on Society6)

And on, and on, and on, and on. HOW DO I CHOOSE?! Do you accessorize your technology?

A Few Words on Rush/Kirk

Like many women people, I have found myself dismayed/offended/disgusted/angered/enraged/disheartened (shall I continue) with the dangerous and hateful words spewed under the guise of free speech in recent days by both Rush Limbaugh and Kirk Cameron. I am (all of those words above) every time I hear or read about such remarks, and such a misuse of that very basic freedom, but for some reason in the backlash to these two small-minded people's words this past week, I found myself having a stronger reaction. And though this blog is usually not such a forum for me, and I do try to keep it lighthearted, I felt it an appropriate outlet for the few words I'd like to proclaim in response. I was partially inspired by my own thoughts and partially by the words of actress Martha Plimpton, who tweeted the following:

"The word 'equality' shows up too much in our founding documents for anyone to pretend it's not the American way."

Kirk Cameron spoke to Piers Morgan in an episode that aired last Friday about his belief that homosexuality is "detrimental and destructive." Frankly, I'm not sure why Morgan's people would have Cameron on - he's entirely irrelevant and while HIS WORDS are more than detrimental and destructive and his way of thinking is small and ignorant, I have every confidence that he will find his way straight back into oblivion. We will hear even less of his name than we have in the last 20 years, and we'll be all the better for it. It's a shame that Mr. Cameron couldn't use his former star status to preach love and peace if he has to preach at all. But that's all I want to say about him, so I'm done.

Rush Limbaugh, on the other hand is a much bigger danger, in my opinion. He has *current* followers who hang on his words. He uses the airways and the privilege of the free speech our country affords to breath hate and ugliness into the world. While his words against Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke are outrageous and inappropriate on every level, there is something even more offensive to me in his behavior than the utterance of little words like "bitch" or "slut." Yes, those words are uncalled for. But most women have had one or two of those or other choice monikers thrown their way once or twice in their lives, and if we're being honest, we've probably hurled them around once or twice at each other ourselves. They're terrible words to use against another person, but as the adage goes, "sticks and stones..." you know the rest. These are little blips. Let insecure, closed-minded men get their rocks off spitting those names out. Who cares? It's not okay to use them; don't confuse my response to Mr. Limbaugh's hate speech for approval. But to me, the worst part of what he said came after he called Ms. Fluke names. "So Miss Fluke," he said, "if we are going to ... pay for you to have sex, we want something for it. We want you to post the videos online so we can all watch."

I'm sorry, WHAT?! Why aren't we talking more about the disgusting, horrifying, reproachful, disparaging, rude, despicable, hateful, infantile, and DANGEROUS implications of that statement. That takes name-calling to a whole new level, and essentially amounts to threats and a personal violation. What Ms. Fluke said or stands for or believes, no matter what you think of it, does not on any level or planet give ANY HUMAN BEING the right to dehumanize or humiliate her or any other woman in that way. To me, those sickening words amount to a crime, and a worse one than calling a woman a bitch. If you call me a bitch, I won't like it, and it'll likely hurt my feelings a bit, but I'll also think you're pathetic and intimidated by me. What Mr. Limbaugh did, on the other hand, amounts to a verbal assault, no matter which side of the birth control aisle you find yourself sitting on. And he should suffer consequences for such a pitiful and abject abuse of freedom of speech.

These are just my opinions. They represent only my own thoughts and views.