Mood:
lazyTopic: Books
I'm actually feeling quiet and small, and not really the "lazy" I chose above, but tripod doesn't offer quiet or small icons, and I like the idea of swingin' in a hammock under a blue sky today, so that's the best I could do. Kaija had her canine hysterectomy on Friday and is still recovering and a bit sad from that, so she and I are just hangin' out and being still today. I slept in later than usual because Hans brought her upstairs this morning before he left for work and she was in the mood to cuddle. I'm feeling guilt over getting her spayed, but she's two and Hans and I aren't in any situation to handle breeding her right now. Plus, I would have felt even guiltier if I'd let her have puppies and hadn't let her keep any of them. So I'm hoping she'll forgive me, heal quickly, and get back to her rambunctious, wiggle-butt self pretty soon.
To visit Kaija's web page, go to: Woodland Manor Kennel
Friday night was the only night Hans and I have spent without Kaija since we got her, and Hans said he didn't mind if I stayed up late because Kaija wouldn't keep him awake waiting for me to come to bed. So, I stayed up to start reading Pam Houston's new book, Sight Hound, and I did not savor it as I had planned to do. I devoured it. I try very hard with books by Pam Houston or Barbara Kingsolver to read slowly, in small, measured chunks. But, I ended up reading 170 pages on Friday night, and I've read another 70 pages since. The book is flying by altogether too quickly!
Hans read the book first, at my request, and it's interesting how different his take on it was than mine. He loved the portions written by the cat (as did I), but overall said the book was too whiney (which is also the major criticism he has of my Your Mileage May Vary manuscript), which I'm not getting at all. When I asked him about it yesterday, he said maybe "whiney" was the wrong word, but he didn't offer another one. The major female character, Rae, claims to barely be a woman, and Hans felt that her husband, Howard, is barely a man, and I pointed out that that could also describe me and Hans, which Hans didn't disagree with. He also suggested that his being harder on the book and Pam/Rae than I was is also typical of us.
All I know is that I'm loving it. I love that it's written in so many different voices--even though much of the information being passed along is actually about Rae--and that it gives glimpses into so many different lives. And some of the characters enter quite late in the story. I'm particularly intrigued by Jodi, a woman who married a man 27 years older than her and who is now living on a ranch raising bison and protecting an aquifer that exists just under her and her husband's land. I'm going to be sad when the book is done.
I keep playing with the idea of taking one of Pam Houston's writing workshops, and I finally found the PERFECT one. It's happening in September. Instead of meeting in a classroom, however, or at her ranch in Colorado, it's a women's wilderness canoe trip down the Green River in Utah's canyonlands! Class 1 water with paddling in the mornings, writing or hiking in the afternoons, and discussion in the evenings. I SO want to go! It's not far from where Chad is living in Colorado, so for an extra $60 I could get a van to drop me off nearby and I could get in a visit with him and Latoya and see the house they're fixing up. The cost is very reasonable--only $875--which includes everything except transportation, and Hans agrees I should go. The only thing is I'm trying to figure out how to go to Disney World with my sister's family and my parents that same month, and I have the US Marine Corps Marathon the next month, so finances are really tight. Maybe when I know more about Hans's new job and when/whether we're moving to Greensboro, I'll be able to make a decision. I need to find a way to bring in more income, and this might be a good motivator. Plus, I haven't had a good adventure since Danskin Triathlon Camp in 2001. I'm due. When I was younger, I used to be able to write in my journal what I wanted to happen, and those things would happen, as though my guardian angel had been reading over my shoulder. So I'm sending this little wish into the Universe and, maybe, if it's meant to happen, my angels will help me figure out how.
To read more about Pam or Sight Hound, visit: www.pamhouston.net
