File: The Library Project, Shelf 1/216

I was in the library last week trying to find something to read (the book I wanted was in transit from another branch), when I had that familiar tinge of embarrassment I feel every time I walk into the library. I have this daydream about reading all of the books. It's more than just a daydream: it's one of my life goals.

If you know me, you'd smile knowingly if I told you that reading every book in the library is what I consider the pinnacle of living. You might be kind enough to point out that the library is a dynamic creature, as books are constantly added to its shelves. You might even tell me that it can't be done or chock it up to me being me.

I recognize this is a very big task for a girl to accomplish in just one lifetime, but it doesn't stop me. I have a strange tenacity (and audacity) to dream that I could do it. Paradoxically, this dream also makes me feel sad and powerless because part of me thinks that it is probably impossible. I don't want it to be out of reach. It would break my heart, I think.

So, I decided that day was as good as any day. I would begin with a practice run. Hence, the more-loosely-structured-than-its-name-but-still-has- crazy-amounts-of-structure-because-I-thought-of-it library project. My plan is to read at least one book from every shelf in fiction.

The relaxed rules: I would begin in my local library because it's close, the collection is smaller than the main branch, and most importantly, I was there when I conceived this plan. I would start with A and work my way through Z, one shelf at a time. I could read as many books that interested me on a shelf, but I had to read at least one. As this could be a longish project, I could read non library project books as well, just to keep myself entertained. Ideally, I will document the library project, because, well, it's me and I like to document things.

The Rogers Park Library has 216 shelves of fiction. On Tuesday night, I started with shelf one. I took down all of the books and evaluated each one, mostly based on the covers (take that folk wisdom) and other random criteria that I'll describe below. Books in green were put to the side to consider more closely.

Shelf 1 Contents, Books 1-22

1. Edward Abbey. The Fool's Progress in hardcover. Judged by cover.
   
2. Jeff Abbott. Panic in drug store paperback. Also judged by cover.
   
3. Keith Ablow. Compulsion in hardcover. No interest.
   
4. Keith Ablow. Murder Suicide in hardcover. Not my genre.
   
5. Peter Abrahams. Crying Wolf in hardcover. Pass.
   
6. Diana Abu-Jaber. Crescent in hardcover. I like the pretty cover. It looks newish, which means that it probably doesn't have roaches. It got good reviews for first book from the New Yorker and the New York Times. Hmm, suspicious -- no good reviews on this one. I read half a page and it did pass the infamous page turner test. Definite maybe.
7. Chinua Achebe. No Longer At Ease in paperback. I like him. I loved Things Fall Apart. This cover is an awful purple (my least favorite color), but goes in the like pile simply by strength of author. Which is I guess what it should be in the first place. Feh, book marketing.
   
8. Kathy Acker. Great Expectations in hardcover. No -- it looks like it just came out of an AOL book application. And, the title has been done. And done well.
   
9. Peter Ackroyd. The Lambs of London in hardcover. Maybe -- good Publisher's Weekly review, but not thrilled with the idea of historical fiction. Wait! I just opened it. It has Scooby-Doo stickers. Definite second look.
   
10. Karl Ackerman. The Patron Saint of Unmarried Women in hardcover. No -- I hate the cover and the title.
11. Alice Adams. After the War in hardcover. It has an appealing cover with a sweet picture of her on the back. Wow, she won a bunch of awards. I will come back to this book -- it picks up where A Southern Exposure ended. This sounds great, but I must read the first one first.
12. Alice Adams. Almost Perfect in hardcover. I will mark for later.
13. Richard Adams Tales from Watership Down in drug store paperback. While I enjoyed the first one this just sounds like a blantant appeal for money, like the Lion King 2. I will not fall for it. Maybe I should buy it for Matt -- then I can read it too.
    
14. Richard Adams. Watership Down in paperback. I own it. It's a great read.
    
15. Kim Addouizio. Little Beauties in hardcover. Pretty cover but it screams chic lit, which I might consider, but with at least three books already on the table -- no dice.
16. Elizabeth Adler. All or Nothing in hardcover. No -- it looks like bad 80's glitz. Yuck.
17. Elizabeth Adler. Sooner or Later in hardcover. No, see above.
18. Elizabeth Adler. The House in Amalfi in hardcover. Updated cover and photo but still too suspicious.
19. Elizabeth Adler. In a Heartbeat in hardcover. Still no.
20. Elizabeth Adler. Invitation to Provence in hardcover. My G-d, she has a lot of books.
21. Elizabeth Adler. The Last Time I Saw Paris in hardcover. Ok, she has worn me down. I will take this one. It seems to be the shortest. It's about France. Publisher's Weekly and Booklist liked it. Fine.
22. Elizabeth Adler. The Rich Shall Inherit in hardcover. Boo -- we are back to the 1980's smarm and another book! (Watch her turn out to be my favorite author.)

Went through the check out. If you were able to Google my library record (can't, sorry), you'd find these books:

Achebe, Chinua.	No longer at ease
Bloom, Harold.	How to read and why
Adler, Elizabeth	The last time I saw Paris
Abu-Jaber, Diana.	Crescent
Phillips, Lisa A.	Public radio : behind the voices
Ackroyd, Peter, 1949	The Lambs of London : a novel

Public Radio and How to Read and Why were fun books. Fun books are allowed.

I've got some reading to do. A lot of reading to do. This will keep me busy for the next couple of years. I'm psyched.

File: Home, Family, Dadfest '07

Let's Here it for the Dads!

This past weekend we had Dadfest 2007. Matt and I took Friday off to welcome my dad and Matt's dad into town. It was awesome. (I promise to post pictures.)

We started off Friday by picking up my dad at the airport, late. (Sorry!) We drove back here and he looked at our new home. He liked it. Rio and Patrick were in full cute overload and once again charmed him with their mad meowing and fetching skills. Rio followed my dad around all weekend -- I don't think she'll ever be the same.

We walked down to the Devon Market and made some smart food choices. (I'm so proud of my dad for eating right.) We celebrated my dad's birthday with winter gear and singing.

Then, we went to the airport and picked up Matt's dad, also late. (Sorry!) The plan was to rent the truck and head to IKEA, but Matt's dad (whom we call Pop) wanted to see our place. We drove back up here and we broke out the graph paper. A couple of hours and a few drawings later, we were ready.

The drive to IKEA was excruciating. It took an hour and a half, thus cutting it too close to actually buy anything (yes, there were tears). After a mere twenty minutes in the store, we were back in the car, with the promise to return the next morning. The dads and I then went out to dinner at Soupbox. My dad learned the value of a scarf when he found out that the Windy City is actually, um, windy.

Matt had a ComedySportz show and brought the funny. They sang the birthday song to my dad; he was sort of embarrassed by this, especially when we (okay, I) made him stand up and say his name. (He was so cute and shy, despite whispering suggestions into my ear all night.) Matt's dad got into the act too when Matt asked for a question from the audience and he replied, "What do I tell my son who insists on spending his Friday evenings on the stage in Chicago?" Matt's response, as an imprisoned felon, was funny because he played back. It was a good time. I love seeing the pride the dads had to watch Matt. I love watching him, too. A funny guy, my husband. There was a nice moment for me as well because a couple of people came up and complimented me on my performance in the theatre a few weeks ago (I had done a student show). The best part: within earshot of my dad. Yeehaw!

We got up uber-early on Saturday and the dads were already hatching a plan. We drove to IKEA, which my father described as a wonderland, and actually had time to shop. Perhaps we had too much time -- it was past noon when we left and everyone was getting a little antsy. We stopped at Home Depot, bought more stuff, and came home. We unloaded and returned the truck. The real reasons the dads were in town began in earnest.

Matt's dad came to build us French Doors and a desk. He brought with him awesome tools (which he let us keep, so generous and amazing). He taught Matt how to use a table saw, how to miter, how to hang doors. Matt is well on the way towards earning his stripes and becoming quite the carpenter.

My dad came in town to teach me how to fix everything. And to actually fix everything. I had problems with the washing machine, the dryer, the doors, the toilet, the shower, the lights, the plumbing. I know this makes our new place sound like the money pit, but it's really not -- there were just a bunch of little things, but I didn't know how to do any of them and couldn't have figured them out if he wasn't here. My dad and I also put together our new furniture.

Both dad efforts were a raving success. We have French doors. We have a guest room door that closes and no longer has bright gold doorknobs. We have a ten foot desk, which was a collaborative effort from all parties (even the cats, we have pictures). And, we have a toilet that no longer has a childproof flusher.

The best part about Dadfest was spending time with our dads and our dads acknowledging us as grown-ups. I always had that vision in mind about what family is or could be. This weekend, it was everything I ever wanted. Thank you, dads, for it all.

File: Sports

41. 14.

Let's go Gators!

I don't bleed orange and blue, but a National Championship is a National Championship. (And I just won lunch.) Yay!

File: Book Review

Book: YOU: On a Diet
Authors: Dr. Mike Roisen and Dr. Mehmet Oz
Publisher: Free Press
Pages: 384
Version: Hardcover
Release: October, 2006

Matt and I watched a special on 20/20 talking about the brain and weight loss. It used fear for one team (their overweight bikini pictures shown on the baseball stadium's big screen if they didn't hit their goal) and praise for the second (positive reinforcement team approach).

We liked this idea of a challenge, as we both are not completely satisfied with our bodies (who knew that driving added pounds and flab?). We're still young and optimistic -- our goal is that in two months our waistlines/eating and fitness habits will change for the better. If not, there is a two-week moratorium on driving the car.

Knowing we needed guidance, I went to the bookstore. The You book was exactly what I wanted. I was familiar with the other You titles (YOU: The Owner's Manual and YOU: The Smart Patient) because I had checked them out of the library. They immediately became books I wanted to own (and write in).

The series is written by doctors who believe that if we know about our biology, we can retrain ourselves to avoid some of the largest health problems in our society: heart disease/attacks, diabetes, obesity, etc. So, they go to great lengths to make the content easy to digest (bad pun intended) and fun to read.

I think they go a little overboard in this respect. There are all of these "Youreka" tips that let you know when they've hit upon the gold nugget idea. While the tips are helpful, the shout-out is annoying. The drawings are clear, but cutesy in a charming way. For example, it's kind of fun to imagine little elves with spackle running around in your arteries trying to deal with the bad kind of cholesterol.

The authors also do a good job painting word pictures. According to them, the omentum, which is your body's parking lot for fat, looks like a pair of stockings hanging off of the stomach. As you gain more fat, the omentum continues to grow, pushing aside your other organs (and your waist line) while grabbing up all of the glucose, which your brain and other parts need to function. This is why the beer belly is especially unhealthy.

The book is just comprehensive enough to allow me to explain what the omentum is and does without being so comprehensive that I felt overwhelmed. It is logically laid out, leading you through the biology of food vs. your body to the emotional aspects behind why we eat (and why diets fail). Then, it explains what you can do to change your eating and exercise habits.

The exercise is a good addition. The premise is that, no excuses, you walk for thirty minutes a day, every day. You can break it up into three ten-minute segments, but you must do it. Once you conquer that, you can go on to additional strength and cardiovascular exercise that is supposed to help work and tone your muscles.

Part of the program is that you dump your cabinets of everything bad for you. We did this. I was surprised to see how many foods have high fructose corn syrup (a big no-no because your body uses it quickly and then sends messages to the brain that you need to eat again, even if you're not hungry).

The book also includes information on how to eat, instructions for the first two weeks, and a shopping list and menu with recipes. The shopping list is a bit difficult. What grocery store carries 100% whole wheat pizza dough? Also, there are some items that weren't listed (ground turkey is needed for one of the recipes, but you're never told to buy it).

The promise is that once you learn how to eat, you will retrain your body to want exercise and good foods and leave cravings behind you like yesterday's socks. I'm not sure if this is true or not, but the book was well-written, the doctors were likable, and the plan felt so doable and authoritative, that I'm willing to give it a try.

If it does work, I'll buy this book for everyone I know. If it doesn't, it was a good read anyway.

File: Home

Another accomplishment: the den bookcase. Note the exploration of happy cat number two.