Good Shabbas

I know I said I would make these posts on Shabbat Friday so I am technically not late; Shabbat is Friday night to Saturday night. I don't know if anyone reads or cares about this but it is fun for me so I will do it anyway.

This Week I Love:

Jeff in make-up

Calista's devilish smile

Eating cheap lunch at Costco with Erik and Carson (Ewan stays in the cart)

Best of City Weekly

Mandy Patinkin

Semicolons

Cards from Shar

Tunnels

Things that Have to Go:

Bigger ants

Laundry

Clogged toilets

The phrase a tour de force (Honestly book and movie reviewers, don't you get paid for this? You don't think you could come up with some new phrases?)

Unconsciously clenching my teeth leading to the need for a mouth guard which leads me to the next item

Cankers caused by mouth guard rubbing and the feeling my mouth is a sauna while I wear it

Rubber-neckers

Questions I Asked Myself:

How can I be a more productive person?

How do I stop clenching my teeth? I don't know what people do to stop it. I have told myself around 30 times a day to stop clenching my teeth but I turn around and am doing it again. I don't want to be a slack-jawed yokel with my mouth hanging open while I walk around and I don't want to shut my lips while my teeth are apart because I look ridiculous but if my teeth touch they clench. I am at a loss.

What can I do about my migraines?

Now that people are parking three feet from the North side of my house, how do I go into my kitchen without people staring at me? If I put up blinds then it will darken my house considerably.

I would never say a person could read too much but if one is to read a substantial amount, one would (consciously or subconsciously) notice patterns or plot lines throughout stories. I am not talking about your intro, build-up, climax, then conclusion but actual story plot lines. I hate it when I "guess" the plot to a book or movie. However, due to the amount I read, it seems inevitable. Right now I am still reading Tunnels. I have around 90 pages left so will finish today or tomorrow. Without giving it away, because it is a good book and I recommend it, a thought popped into my head within the first chapter. I spent another 200 pages or so thinking, Please don't let me be right. I was right. I am still waiting for that moment where they prove me wrong but I don't think it is coming. Not that this ruined the book for me. The book was different than I thought it would be and there was one major thing I didn't see coming that I was pleasantly surprised by. It was a tour de force of the macabre. It wasn't really except for the Styx characters.

Now, I like macabre as much as the next person; I may like it more than most. However, I am tired of the overuse of the phrase tour de force and the word macabre. Erik and I went to Barnes and Noble (my choice for a large bookstore) and we each got a book that looks to be exciting. We didn't choose the books for the reviews printed inside. Erik's book, The Third Policeman, by Flann O'Brien is told by a narrator who commits a botched robbery and murder and the riddles and contradictions three eccentric policemen present to him while at the police station. It has some philosophy in it and looks good. However, at the end, it says this book ensures O'Brien's place, "along with James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, as one of Ireland's great comic geniuses." Quite a trumped-up statement don't you think? Publishers Weekly says the book is, "Marvelously witty and funny in a macabre way."

After looking at his book I turned to mine. I bought The Ruins by Scott Smith. I have been wondering if I wanted to see the movie and I heard it was based on this book which is supposed to be excellent. I read the book cover. The book is about a group of friends trapped in a Mexican jungle who "stumble upon a creeping horror unlike anything they could ever imagine." Sounds exciting. Then I read the first review of the book by Entertainment Weekly, "Reading Scott Smith is like having a rope tied firmly round your middle, as you're pulled on protesting tiptoes toward a door marked DOOM." That's a great review, inventive and interesting to read. I continued reading the reviews and I come across, "A tour de force of terror," how formulaic. That coupled with the endorsement by Stephen King who I think isn't what he used to be almost made me put the book down, national bestseller or not. Then I read areview that said the book is, "A holiday in hell. It's very hard to escape." All right, I think, I will have to check this out. Now my only question is: since I will be finished with Tunnels soon, should I read The Ruins or should I read Darkly Dreaming Dexter about a serial killer who kills serial killers. The television series, Dexter, is based on these books which are supposed to be much better than the T.V. series of which I love so far. I always try to read a children's fiction, adult book, children's, etc. So, what to read?

I did a lot this week but most was customary to what I usually do (besides the mouth guard to which I am still getting comfortable). My last news is that when at IKEA I decided my house could use more color for those not inclined to love brown as much as I do. I bought a new shower curtain and mats for the bathroom. It's pretty fun and the kids love it. I do too except the curtain is lighter than the last one. I was showering the other day and the heater started blowing. I was attacked by my shower curtain. Here I am, naked, trying to wash my hair, shampoo running down me and into my eyes and the inside liner to the curtain is blowing into me and sticking to me. I tried to push the curtain back, lean my hair into the water and unstick myself. I tried to open the curtain more thinking air on the tub side would lessen the attack. It didn't. I finally fended off the curtain when the fan turned off. I know, probably not what you wanted to picture. Here is a picture though, not of me but of the offending curtain and the new rugs.