Exciting things are happening this week.
Danny is turning 29.
My friend Connie is getting married.
I get to see my best friend's baby for the first time.
My brother is starting his job with the San Diego Padres.
And I'm going on a field trip tomorrow to the San Jose Mercury News headquarters.
I don't know which one I should be the most excited about!
This is the eighth time I'm celebrating Danny's birthday, the first one being just as friends, the next three as my boyfriend, the fourth as my fiance, and the last three (including this week's) as my husband.
When it comes to birthdays, Danny is the exact opposite as me in terms of how they should be celebrated. He likes a quiet dinner for the two of us in a fancy schmancy restaurant that has gotten great reviews from Zagat. One small gift would suffice. I like medium big gatherings of friends at loud restaurants that don't necessarily have good food, but good ambience. The more gifts, the better! Every year, I want to plan a big or medium party and have people come over our place to celebrate Danny's birth. But every year I stop and remember that it's not all about me. Then I ask to make sure that his personality hasn't changed, and sure enough, he still just wants to have a quiet dinner at a nice restaurant. That's my Danny.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Monday, March 07, 2005
During dinner Danny said to me, "You read a lot!" Then he proceeded to rattle off the names of the books that I have read recently. I was quite amazed at myself. Even a year ago, you wouldn't have called me a reader or a lover of books. But last year around this time, I picked up a book that got me starting to read again: The DaVinci Code. And it came at a perfect time because we went to Paris and London for my spring break last year.
I stopped reading for pleasure after about the sixth grade. I only read for school. Throughout junior high, high school, and college, we were required to read great works of literature. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed reading The Catcher in the Rye and Of Mice and Men. I remember the tears I shed at the end of Where the Red Fern Grows. I had a good time reading all the required books during my education.
The problem came when my formal education stopped. So did my reading. I did not know how to read for pleasure. I knew this was a problem, but I did not address it because I did not have time. I just shied away from conversations when people talked about books, just like I do when people talk about politics.
But since The DaVinci Code, I decided to change this problem of mine. It's not that The DaVinci Code was a particularly GREAT book. It's just been so long that I had gotten into a book of my choice. The last one had been Sweet Valley Twins, the one where they had a secret language called ithig. I was so fascinated by the language that I started speaking it with my friend, and we would have this secret code of communication.
Anyways, I asked my co-workers to recommend me some books, and over the past year, here are some books I have devoured for pleasure (at the request of other people):
-The Secret Life of Bees (librarian at my school)
-Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (Danny)
-Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Miriam)
-Kitchen Confidential (Danny)
-Interpreter of Maladies (several sources have told me I should read this)
-A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (my friend from grad school Mary)
-The Kite Runner (co-worker Jimmye)
I just finished reading The Kite Runner today, and I'm going through book withdrawal. I'm so sad that the journey is over. I feel like I'll never find another book that I'll like. I feel like this every time I finish a book. Extremely proud that I accomplished something, yet extremely sad that the story had to end. Anybody recommend another book?
I stopped reading for pleasure after about the sixth grade. I only read for school. Throughout junior high, high school, and college, we were required to read great works of literature. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed reading The Catcher in the Rye and Of Mice and Men. I remember the tears I shed at the end of Where the Red Fern Grows. I had a good time reading all the required books during my education.
The problem came when my formal education stopped. So did my reading. I did not know how to read for pleasure. I knew this was a problem, but I did not address it because I did not have time. I just shied away from conversations when people talked about books, just like I do when people talk about politics.
But since The DaVinci Code, I decided to change this problem of mine. It's not that The DaVinci Code was a particularly GREAT book. It's just been so long that I had gotten into a book of my choice. The last one had been Sweet Valley Twins, the one where they had a secret language called ithig. I was so fascinated by the language that I started speaking it with my friend, and we would have this secret code of communication.
Anyways, I asked my co-workers to recommend me some books, and over the past year, here are some books I have devoured for pleasure (at the request of other people):
-The Secret Life of Bees (librarian at my school)
-Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim (Danny)
-Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Miriam)
-Kitchen Confidential (Danny)
-Interpreter of Maladies (several sources have told me I should read this)
-A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (my friend from grad school Mary)
-The Kite Runner (co-worker Jimmye)
I just finished reading The Kite Runner today, and I'm going through book withdrawal. I'm so sad that the journey is over. I feel like I'll never find another book that I'll like. I feel like this every time I finish a book. Extremely proud that I accomplished something, yet extremely sad that the story had to end. Anybody recommend another book?
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