Did you know that five years is the Shoe Anniversary? Yeah. Actually, it's the Wood Anniversary, but that's for wedding anniversaries and we're not married, so I think I get to make up whatever kind of present I want. I got those Tigers on the right for Stephen. While I was shopping, I couldn't resist getting some new sneaks for myself, too. These Converse have Little Red Riding Hood on them, and I love the red laces.
Stephen stuck to tradition, purely by accident (I think), and got me this little bird, because I love sandpipers:
A few years ago, I sent out valentines with the Least Sandpiper on them, and did a little bit of reading on the subject. These little guys are the smallest shorebird. They're native to North America, and breed on the tundra. Groups of them are called peeps. See why I like them?
I had a final on our anniversary (it always falls on or just before finals week; rotten timing). At least it wasn't the day before the final, when I was studying like crazy. Actually, I was supposed to be studying like crazy, but I was mostly procrastinating. I had just gotten a new book and I accidentally read half of it instead of making flash cards about biostatistics. How did that happen.
Yes, there's been some upheaval in the Book Club of One lately. First I got the name of my April book wrong (I read The Psychology of Everyday Things, not The Design of Everyday Things, although the author and the cover image are the same), then I got way behind and had only finished the first chapter by the last week of April. It was due back at the library on April 25, so I just returned it and went to the bookstore to look for a quick read.
I found The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld, whose emotionally insightful and articulate writing style I really respond to, and finished it within a week. I love books and movies that are set in familiar places; most of this one took place in Somerville/Boston, so yeah, I really liked it. (When we saw 21 on the Vineyard, all I could think about during the Cambridge scenes was whether they were really set in Massachusetts or recreated elsewhere. Most of it was pretty accurate, except the T scenes. Why are the MIT students always riding express trains to Davis? Express trains to Davis don't even exist, and even if they did, MIT students wouldn't ride them. Unless they were going to Redbones maybe? That I could understand.)
Now I've started my May book, but I'm worried that I might not finish this one, either. So far, there's a lot of overlap with the Omnivore's Dilemma. But the truly damning feature is that it's hardcover. I've realized that if I want to finish a book quickly, I need to be able to lug it around in my huge bag for a couple of weeks without resenting its weight or bulk. And since I'm already hauling around some combination of lunch, gym clothes, work shoes, and schoolbooks on any given day, and since I pretty much walk everywhere, tiny paperbacks are much preferred to thick hardcovers. I think I'll try to finish this one up because I've always wanted to read Barbara Kingsolver, but afterward I'm going to try to stick to smaller books.
