Day 1 - The Kindness of Strangers

I feel like this is one of the harder slips of paper I stashed in that empty hard toffee box. It's hard to talk about something like this without going into trite-greeting-card-land, and I'm feelin super self-conscious about it. But, I am truly thankful for people I don't know that affect my life in a positive ways, so I'm gonna power through the awkwardness here...

Moving around so much has taught me a lot about how to treat people I don't know, and I'm thankful for that too. We moved pretty much every two years as a kid and until I started dating Retardo I moved pretty much every two years as an adult too. It made me a) good at turning strangers into friends, and b) really really thankful that people on average are actually pretty nice.

Looking back on my childhood, I'm thankful for all the people who gave me candy that wasn't filled with poisons when I dressed up as a Pippi Longstocking, a Witch, Cleopatra, or any number of other characters on Halloween. I remember in sixth grade one gal who even gave me a discount when I didn't have enough cash to afford the present I wanted to buy someone--I think I was something like fifty-nine cents short. I can't remember the present or the person's face, but I will always remember her kindness. There are so many urban legends of 'stranger-danger', that looking back on my childhood I'm really thankful that so many people who had the opportunity to take advantage of my vulnerability didn't. Thanks, Strangers of my Childhood!

Saying Goodbye to my Twenties in Twenty-Nine Days

I will be thirty years old in exactly thirty days, and while the Big Number Birthday hasn't exactly crept up on me--I've been thinking about it off and on for the better part of this year--I don't think I'm ready to say goodbye to being in my twenties just yet.

So, I'm thinking a bit of pomp and circumstance is in order. And, what better way to say goodbye to a decade then vowing to make twenty-nine posts about twenty-nine people&things&etc in my life I'm absolutely grateful for. So, here's me about to make twenty-nine little slips of paper with twenty-nine wonderful things written on them to put in the little bag and draw at random. Hoorah!

In Silence

in silence there is eloquence
stop weaving and watch how the pattern improves —rumi

Recently Finished Books Archive

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley (I absolutley loved this book! In the same genre of Harriet the Spy, but definitely written for an older audience. Puts an immediacy to Nancy Drew style investigation that I found refreshing and perfect. Loved Miss Flavia--the book was one hundred percent believable and I wish that a sequel was written as soon as possible. 1/25)

The Help - Kathryn Stockett (I was actually surprised to find myself really liking this book. Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement have been topics I've read so much about in non-fiction, that I kind of assumed I would be able to run through this book without pausing for breath. I thought wrong, and I'm really glad I read this book. I recommend it for anyone who loved To Kill a Mockingbird and thinks that they can't read another line about race relations. 1/10/)

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - E. Lockhart (I most admittedly have a weakness for girl-power young adult fiction. It's hard for me not to enjoy reading about young girls doing fabulous amazing things, thumbing their noses at boy's secret societies and doing--Most Definitely Doing--the intelligent things society tells girls they needn't (and probably shouldn't) be doing. I loved the awkwardness Lockhart gave Frankie--it's so true to teenage girls, and it made the character absolutely believable. 1/8)

Tinkers - Paul Harding (I kind of wish I hadn't read this book right after my Grandfather passed away. It's a great book, poetically written and perfectly paced, but it really goes into the death of an old man who has lived a good life. And I really wasn't ready to read it when I did. I doubt I'll ever read it again, but if it falls into your lap, don't toss it aside. 12/23)

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - Jamie Ford (I got this from the library originally, and before I even finished the book I knew I would have to order a copy for myself. It provides a fabulously detailed look at Seattle's International District during the deportation of Japanese citizens during WWII. Also, it's a great love story. Highly, highly, highly recommended. 12/13)