#62. Send a message to 10 people online who I have admired or e-stalked

I haven't really discussed this particular task, probably because openly admitting that I'm an e-stalker is slightly embarrassing but in the spirit of becoming the person I want to be, I'm owning it. I, Tameka am an e-stalker. I have over 50 blogs in my Google Reader (truly the best Google invention ever) and am always peering into other people's lives in my downtime.

I am actually glad that I am such a stalker, because quite a few good things have come into my life from it. I have reached out to 3 of my stalkees since beginning of this blog and have received nothing but positive results. The first three people I contacted were Jordana Hazel,Karyn Bosnak, and Jessica the author of Reading is Sexy. After contacting them, I have beautiful pictures of my daughter and I, my own blog which has served as both a joy and comfort for me the last few months, and I have all of these books in my "to be read" pile that I might otherwise never have even thought to read.

I have loads of other blogs that I frequent. Sometimes I make comments and other times I feel slightly intimidated by the sheer popularity of some blogs to comment for fear of sounding like a poser. I mean, the words awesomesauce or omnomnom don't naturally flow from my vocabulary so if I don't use them or other gems from the Urban Dictionary, it's simply because I'm not that cool. That being said, I love all the glimpses I get into people's lives, hearts, and desires. I love that there seems to be a place on the Internet where everyone's freak flag can fly. This is mine, and if you have enjoyed it, feel free to let me know. Or if you want to lurk because I seem way too awesomesauce (see I can't really pull that off right?) that's fine too. :-)

Book #23 - The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

I am really surprised at how much I loved this book. I didn't think I would enjoy it because books about The Holocaust usually tend to depress me. I love both Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, and Night by Elie Wiesel but they both made me so incredibly sad that I usually avoid reading Holocaust related books, especially if there is no one to hug afterward.

The Reader is written in simple and clean prose without major amounts of dialogue or imagery. It is told in first person point of view of Michael Berg, who at 15 met and became intimate with a woman twice his age named Hanna Schmitz. Their relationship is tumultuous and confusing to Michael as Hanna requires much of him without giving any of herself in return. She asks him to read to her, and their relationship becomes a pattern of showering, sex, and reading with unexplainable outbursts from Hanna at different intervals that puzzle Michael and make him completely willing to do or say whatever will make her happy. Then one day Hanna disappears without warning and the relationship is over. Michael does not see Hanna again until he is in law school following a trial on Nazi war criminals and Hanna is one of the defendants as a former SS Officer.

I won't spoil the ending but it's definitely a powerful look into the themes of shame, remorse, action and reaction, and even obsession, since I think that Michael's obsession with Hanna is the driving force behind the entire story. I initially was disgusted that Hanna pulled a Mary Kay Letourneau and emotionally scarred Michael for life, but after finishing I actually felt sympathetic towards her, she obviously led such a sad and lonely life, maybe Michael was the only bit of love and affection she could allow herself to experience. Also I'm a big believer in not judging people, especially if you haven't walked in their shoes. A question that is frequently raised during the trial is "what would you have done?" None of us can say for sure, and I'm sure we'd all love to be able to go back and fix every bad decision but life is meant to be lived, not erased and done over. The Reader is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I probably never would have read it if Kate Winslet (my favorite actress) had not starred in the film adaptation I've yet to see because I'm kind of a freak show when it comes to seeing movies adapted from books before reading the actual book. I am eagerly anticipating seeing her portrayal of Hanna, she won an Oscar for her role, and after reading this book, I can definitely understand why.

Book #22 - Save Karyn: One Shopaholic's Journey to Debt and Back by Karyn Bosnak

I've mentioned before how Karyn Bosnak and I go way back. I've been following her blog for about a year now, and we are friendly on all your standard social networks. I read and reviewed her first novel 20 Times a Lady back in March, and this was the first opportunity that I had to read her memoir. Save Karyn is the story of how Karyn moved from Chicago to NYC and in the process racked up 20 grand in credit card bills. In any other circumstance, I would be full of judgment at someone who got themselves in this sort of mess buying Gucci bags and Nick & Nora pajamas but Karyn's irrepressible cheer and wit combined with her flat out gumption made me admire the take charge way she tackled her debt. I also love that she never blames anyone else for her overspending, and fully acknowledges that there are people who are far worse off than she is, and that she used her own money in addition to the money she received from the site to pay everything off.

One of my favorite portions of the site was the "MeMail" section where she reposted actual emails she received and her responses. My favorite MeMail was her response to a woman who asked her, "where is your pride?" Karyn's answer: "I left it at Bloomingdale's" Loved it!

Save Karyn isn't a self help guide or a literary masterpiece. It is however a cautionary tale of how easy it is to accumulate debt, how hard it is to live with it, and how one woman with a little ingenuity and some good luck got out of it. Karyn's story is definitely worth reading, especially if you have ever found yourself justifying the purchase of something because it's an "investment", or buying the same blouse in two different colors just because they were on sale, or developing a truly creative way of robbing Peter to pay Paul. I loved reading Karyn's story, it makes reading her blog that much more entertaining since in reading Save Karyn, I discovered where she came from, and can appreciate how awesome I find her to be now.

Book #21 - Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

I was actually quite surprised to learn that there was a Sophie Kinsella book that I had not read. Her last book Remember Me? was one of my favorites from last year. This book is older, probably released around the same time as the first Shopaholic books. This novel is a standalone and follows in true Kinsella form for being light, fun, and totally entertaining. No deep plot, no deep philosophical discussion, or not even too many big words. Let’s just be honest, there isn’t going to be a plague on anyone’s house in this story.

Basic plot premise is life seen through the eyes of endearingly optimistic Emma Corrigan a twenty something junior marketing executive at Panther Corporation. In an attempt to boost her career she volunteers to substitute for her boss at a meeting with clients in Glasgow. After she is unsuccessful at winning them over, she flies back praying that she will have a job when she returns. Already a highly nervous flier, Emma completely loses it when her flight from Glasgow to London encounters severe turbulence. Thinking the end is near, she spills every secret she has ever had to the stranger next to her. How she lost her virginity, what she really thinks of her boyfriend, the petty (but hilarious) stunts she pulls on co-workers, the way she killed her parents' goldfish while they were on vacation and replaced it without their knowledge, her deepest thoughts on g-strings, her contemptible sow of a cousin Kerry, Charles Dickens, and more. When the plane miraculously lands, Emma is thankful she will never again see this man who knows every little secret of her life. Or so she thinks. (Insert evil laugh) Emma returns to her job to find that the stranger she blabbed to is none other than the CEO of Panther Corporation, Jack Harper who just so happens to be visiting from America. (Come and knock on our door…)

Let’s just say hilarity ensues and there is of course, a happy ending. Emma is very reminiscent of Kinsella's other heroine, the shopaholic Becky Bloomwood. A definite honorable mention goes to my favorite character in the story, Emma’s roommate Jemima. Jemima is kind of like the UK version of the ghetto fabulous girl from the hood who will fake a pregnancy or chuck a brick through a guy's car window for cheating on her. Though instead of velour tracksuits and huge hoop earrings, Jemima wears Prada mules, pearls, and cashmere cardigans. Every scene with Jemima had me in internal giggles at her sage thoughts on men, jewels, and her tried and true methods of "getting the ring on your finger".

As I’ve stated before, I am definitely a fan of chick-lit books and in my opinion Sophie Kinsella is right up there with Jane Green and Jennifer Weiner as the Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather of the genre. (Sleeping Beauty reference in case you wondering). Can You Keep a Secret? definitely keeps the tried and true theme of good girl who makes horrible decisions but learns a big lesson and still ends up with the guy, but for chick-lit that is pretty much a hat trick. I definitely recommend for filler between heavier subject matter due to it's fast paced timing and rapid fire resolutions. All in all not a bad little story and yes, I was entertained.

So I'm a cheesy book addict....sue me

I have been horrible at posting book reviews. You know it and I know it, so let's not waste time arguing. ;-)

I love writing my take on things but I'm also really interested in what others think as well. So I've been spending my time reading then comparing my thoughts with the thoughts of others. Plus, things in my life have taken a slightly complicated and stressful turn and to counteract their effects, I've been reading more comfort books than actual literature. I'm a firm believer that a book is a book no matter what the subject matter or cover art look like, but I have to confess to being slightly embarrassed to admit to the blog reading public at large that when I'm feeling blue I tend to read fluffy historical romances with titles like Surrender, Seduction, The Irish Devil, & Mine Until Midnight etc. I don't find it necessary to give reviews of these books, since the formula is tried and true and never fails. Boy meets girl. Girl hates boy and worries that marrying will strip her of independence. Boy and Girl have several intimate encounters that don't result in actual sex having, Boy marries Girl, they have sex all over their mansion, castle, or farm, chaos ensues and Boy and Girl realize they deeply love each other and make babies, the end. Reading these books is the equivalent of eating mac and cheese.

So despite my embarrassment, I will report that I have another 4 books down for the year and though they may not exactly be Shakespeare, I was thoroughly entertained and provided enough escapism to forget about my little corner of the world.

Movie Reviews

I was fortunate enough this past weekend to take The Princess to see the movie Up. I had heard nothing but great things and rave reviews about the movie so my expectations were naturally pretty high. I was not disappointed. Up is the kind of movie that quietly grabs you from the opening sequence and holds on throughout the entire film. I don't know how those guys at Pixar do it. It's remarkable to me how they are consistently able to reach those young and old with such fine writing and breathtakingly beautiful animation. I won't tell you too much about the plot simply because I think a movie as great as this can speak for itself, I'll just say go and see it while it's still in theaters because you're a zip darn fool if you don't.


Now this next review is coming from a die-hard fan of Harry Potter. When I first saw
The Sorcerer's Stone, I jumped on the bandwagon that I'd been avoiding and started reading the books tout suite. At that time only the 5th book had come out and I had to wait another 2 years for the 6th, then another 2 years after that for the 7th book. Finally getting to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince has also been a lesson in waiting. We were supposed to get to see it last November which was a year and some change after the 5th movie Order of the Phoenix had been released. Due to the success of The Dark Knight (RIP Heath) and it's July release, Warner Bros. in it's quest to make the almighty dollar pushed the released of Half Blood Prince back another 8 months. I cannot even express how much this irritated me. At the time this news broke I was not yet a Twilight addict so Harry Potter had been my movie/book franchise of choice and I was quite pissed to have to wait another 8 months to see all of the jaw dropping things that culminate in Half Blood Prince.
Now to be fair, the movie is heavily altered from the book, the first half is completely different and some main characters are missing plus there are some missing scenes that the movie could have benefited from, but I don't care. I was captivated for 2 1/2 hours watching my Hogwarts come alive for me once again. Those who are die hard fans of the series tend to be a bit crabby when the movies don't stay true, but to me that's why they turn books into movies. The movie is almost NEVER as good as the book. That being said, this book had Harry, Hermione, and Ron, Hogwarts, Dumbledore, Death Eaters, and all the rest of it, I was entertained and I cried at the end when the thing I'd been dreading still happened even though I wished for it not to. Even though I know how the 7th and final book ends, seeing the end of the 6th movie left me with the same feeling I had when I read the book. Why do I have to wait a-whole-nother year to find out what happens!!!

Geeking out for just a second

I promise it's not at all Twilight related! lol

One of my favorite TV shows is So You Think You Can Dance, and this morning my favorite choreographers Napoleon and Tabitha were nominated for an Emmy (along with 3 other SYTYCD choreographers) for my favorite routine of all time. Yay! The two dancers are Mark and Chelsie and they song is Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis. The story is of a relationship that is suffering from the man being a workaholic and the woman wanting him to stay and be with her. Mark and Chelsie were so stunning to watch, it was truly beautiful and I felt very moved the first time I saw it and still get all tingly when I watch it over and over again. Truly a moving and inspirational piece.

I wanted to take the time to give a big shout out to Napoleon and Tabitha aka Nappytabs for really amazing work!The two of them are much deserved in receiving their nomination. Oh and a big shout out of congrats to Mia Michaels, Tyce Diorio, & Dmitry Chaplin the other SYTYCD choreographers that were nominated.

Side note: I hate referring to dance routines at "pieces" because I think it makes me sound pretentious. My experience with dance has basically been shaking my groove thang at clubs and watching it on TV)

A little part of me weeps...

Today a piece of my childhood was laid to rest. I will never forget where I was the day I heard that Michael Jackson was dead. It's still unbelievable, and I am surprised at what a difficult time I'm still having absorbing the shock of his death. I remember growing never understanding why people made such a big deal over Elvis. Sure he was a great musician with lots of songs and thousands of fans, but I never understood why people flocked to Graceland or held such a connection with him years after his death.

Now I understand why. Michael is my Elvis. I can't remember a time in my formative years where his music wasn't somewhere playing in the background. He was truly the soundtrack of my childhood, and all of those moments like learning the choreography to Thriller, staying up with my brother to watch the premiere of the Bad video, going to Disneyland and seeing Captain EO and coming home with the souvenir t-shirt and of course the stolen purple 3-D glasses have been running through my head these past two weeks.

Michael's life was complicated and we as the public will never truly know what went on but despite his questionable personal choices, the fact remains that he was a legend and to me, the greatest performer of all time. He will be missed but through his music and his influence, he can live forever. Rest in peace Michael.

Weekend Recap

Fourth of July is my favorite holiday! I had a great day on the Queen Mary with my friend Mel. I can't count how many times I said the phrase "I'm on a boat!" but luckily Mel thought it was funny so she let me get away with it. We were a little disappointed since the website advertised a festival like atmosphere with different attractions and what not. It turned out to be a bunch of people walking around the ship and a select group of "VIPs" on the stern in an inflatable pool listening to a crappy band. There were also lots of scantily clad girl-women in 5 inch heels posing around the ship as though it were a casting for "Rock of Love." Mel and I made the most of it and despite the over inflated drink prices ($15 for a beer and a cocktail!) it was definitely better than the alternative of sitting at home. There was a comedy show in the Art Deco lounge and several cute guys to scope as eye candy. We left before dark and made it home to watch fireworks and make S'mores and good times were had by all.

On Sunday I went to see my favorite actor Johnny Depp (swoon) in Public Enemies. The movie also stars Christian Bale (swoon again) and Marion Cotillard (respect for the French woman who got to make out with Johnny). It's been getting mixed reviews from both critics and the general public but I have to say I loved it. Now I know you're thinking that my intense Johnny love coupled with my lust for Christian Bale may have tainted my opinion but truthfully I thought it was well made, well acted, and well executed. Johnny's portrayal of Dillinger was very suave and almost Cary Grant-esque if I may be so bold to make the comparison. Christian's portrayal of Pervis was perfection, you could see the conflict in his face over having to use underhanded tactics to catch Dillinger. It was long sure, but most movies these days are long and when you're telling the story of someone who actually lived, I think it's a good rule of thumb to let the story unfold instead of trying to rush things to make it under two hours. Anyway, I definitely recommend seeing it, so far it's been one of my favorite movie going experiences this year.

Oh and little shout out to Pellham 123 and The Proposal both of which I saw in the theater in June and would recommend seeing.

#94 - Try 10 new non chain restaurants; #96 Go to a wine tasting

Hello all...book reviews on the way, hoping to catch up with all of them over the weekend! But I managed to knock two more things off the 101 in 1001 in the last couple of weeks.

#94 - Try 10 new non chain restaurants
I came up with this because I felt like everytime my friends and I were trying to decide where to eat either for dinner after a movie, or dinner for a special occasion we were just rotating our list of chains like Chili's, Friday's, Elephant Bar, etc. It's not that those restaurants aren't fun or anything but really how many titles can a mojito have anyway? I just feel like it's all the same American Grill style food with different menus. Ever since I started the list I've still gone to these restaurants on suggestions of friends even though I've wished to be going somewhere outside our normal restaurant sphere.
I got my chance last week at work when my wonderful, sweet, caring boss decided to take our entire office (me and someone else) out for dinner to celebrate making it through what had been a very hard week. We've also gone down the chain restaurant path in the past when we've had these office dinners, so I was very pleased when my boss suggested a restaurant called Trio Mediterranean Grill which was not too far from our office. Food was excellent! I had a Tomato and Asparagus pasta which was perfectly cooked and extremely flavorful along with a glass of Pinot Noir whose name of course I can't remember. All in all an excellent experience and I didn't even have to pay for it!

And speaking of wine...I also checked another thing off my list by going to a wine tasting for my friend Mel's 30th Birthday. In my little corner of Los Angeles, wineries are not exactly on every corner, so since wine tasting was Mel's chosen activity we researched a few places and thanks to Google came across The Winery in Los Alamitos. It wasn't as aesthetically winery like as we may have hoped but the product was most excellent. For $7 per tasting and the average bottle around $20, to a bunch of chicks who would have been happy with a bottle of Barefoot Chardonnay or Two Buck Chuck, it was just as impressive as one of those fancy pants wineries in Sonoma or Temecula.

The birthday girl enjoyed the Lodi Vioginier and I had several glasses of the 2008 Solano County Syrah. (Thumbs up btw) As I said it was located in a office complex but the guy running the joint was knowledgeable and made us all say "awww" when his girlfriend called and he spoke super cutesy to her in front of us without the expected masculine embarrassment. After the wine tasting, we had a lovely early dinner at a local chain restaurant (heh, heh) and good times were had by all.

There shall be more posts in the very near future...stuff keeps happening and I will remember to bring my camera with me more often because as much as I enjoy blogging I know that my random rambles seem more interesting with multimedia presentation!