Wednesday, April 8, 2009

It's official...

... I'm emotionally dead inside. :-D Okay, that's a little extreme. But I finished Atonement today (although, I should use the word "finish" loosely here, as I basically skimmed the second part of the book). Honestly? I didn't like it at ALL!!! While I do think that Ian McEwan is, indeed, a beautiful writer, this book moved slower than a turtle. The first part was semi-interesting, but I just got so bored with it!!! It was a lot of vivid description, a beautifully or thoughtful sentence here and there, but to be honest, a lot of it almost felt like "filler" text (you know, where you need to write a 1,000-word essay for school, but you've only got 750 or so words, so you just draw out your thoughts as much as you can to meet the word count quota? Come on, we all did it in school at one time or another, LOL!) and hardly any dialogue or plot. I basically just kept turning pages and getting through it so I could get to the ending, as I was told by many people that McEwan is well-known for very surprising and emotional endings- and while the ending was, indeed, interesting and somewhat surprising (I had kind of guessed early on who attacked Lola- I actually had thought that was pretty obvious- but there were other parts of the ending that I didn't see coming), it just was an extraordinarily slow book that didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me. Eh. I will certainly give the author another try- I have another one of his books that I have yet to read, Saturday- but yeah, I was sorely disappointed with this! But almost everyone I know loved it! I must be a defective model! :-)

Ah, well, different strokes for different folks, I suppose. I wasn't into this at all. I'll probably give it away- I don't see myself ever re-reading it again. It was just too painful the first time around.

Okay, so I know I'm all about picking my new next-to-read book at random, but I have a confession to make here- I totally cherry-picked my new book. :-D Don't judge me. I HAD to. I was so disappointed and frustrated with Atonement, that I knew I needed something that would guarantee me a light, simple, fun read, from an author I know and trust. I picked a few self-help books and business books, and I was like, no, no, no, no, NO. Picking at random is fun and all, but sometimes, I know exactly what I'm in the mood to read next, and if I know what I want, picking something you don't want is a huge letdown. It's like giving in to a food craving. If you're craving something and deny yourself, you're just going to get angry, frustrated, sad, mad, depressed, not feel satisfied, whatever. Just give in and enjoy in moderation! I am a huge believer of this philosophy, not just in eating, but in life in general. And that includes books!

So yes, I kept picking books until I picked one that I knew would not let me down:

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Feast your eyes on this: Love the One You're With, by Emily Giffin. I really enjoy this author. She's written fabulous chick-lit books such as Baby Proof (this is my favorite of hers), Something Borrowed, and Something Blue (I preferred Something Borrowed to Something Blue, but both were fun reads). Anyhow, this book's about a woman who's been happily married for about a year (or so she thinks... hello, foreshadowing!), and then she runs into a former luvah that she hasn't seen in over eight years, which has her all reminiscing and wondering if she truly made the right choice (and haven't we all done that at some point with a relationship? I know I have!) and begins questioning her choices in life in general. This is exactly what I need to read right now. Unlike some chick lit (Outtakes from a Marriage.... boo-hiss), I KNOW that this is going to be a delightful read. I'm going in with low expectations- it's chick lit here; you really can't expect too much from it! It is what it is. I look forward to starting this!

Speaking of giving in to cravings, I'd like to throw out a question. To all the healthy eaters that might stumble across my blog (please comment! I feel lonely!), do people at work give you a hard time about what you eat/don't eat? I'm a healthy eater by choice, I generally enjoy eating fresh, whole healthy foods, because I LIKE them, not because I'm watching my weight, on a diet, etc. I don't believe in dieting. But I don't eat junk food or fast food, avoid processed/packaged foods, don't use products with HCFS and trans fats in them, etc. That's how I like to eat. If I want a brownie or a cookie, I have one. But an Oreo, a Chips Ahoy, they don't appeal to me. I prefer the taste of a Vitamuffin, or a Newman's Organic cookie, or Annie's bunnies, etc. Because I eat treats and stuff I enjoy, I never feel "deprived", because, well, I'm not depriving myself. I love the food I eat. I eat the food I want to eat. If I wanted an Oreo, I'd have one. If I wanted a donut, I'd have one. There's nothing wrong with that, as far as I'm concerned. But people at work get on my case about how healthy I eat ALL THE TIME. To be honest, I think it's rude. Commenting on what I eat or don't eat is offensive. For example, every time my boss brings in donuts or cupcakes, she always says, "Oh, I know Anita won't have any." Well, she's right. If I'm going to have a dessert, I want a real dessert. Luckily, Dunkin' Donuts don't appeal to me all that much- I'll reach for a muffin or a piece of bread before a donut- so I don't consider it denying myself. If I wanted one, I'd take one. But why announce it? Especially each and every time. It's only funny once. So then she offers me one, knowing I'll say, "No, thank you," and then she makes a little tsk-tsk sound and says in this placating tone, "Gee, that's too bad." , or something along those lines. And it's like, why is that too bad? Because I'm politely declining a food that I don't want? I honestly prefer donuts from supermarkets and bakeries to DD, to be honest! They have way better ones! But to do this each and every time in front of a group of people? It's offensive. Why is it okay to comment on healthy eating habits, but if I turned around and asked someone if they really needed that donut or if they knew how many grams of fat and sugar they just put in their mouth, I'd be sent to HR in a heartbeat? Hello, double standard. I let people eat whatever and however they want to eat without any comments or criticism, because I feel it is not my place to judge others. So why is it for others to do it to me and assume I'm denying myself? Oy. I also get constant comments on my oatmeal in the morning- about how healthy I eat, how good my food looks, etc. At least those comments are polite, but still, it's like, leave me alone and let me eat! Anyway, rant over. LOL. Normally the positive comments don't bother me at all, but it's the times when there are cupcakes/brownies/donuts/cake that I always very politely turn down- it's not like I roll my eyes or say "ew" or make a gagging noise or anything- and then the comments come. I just think it's ridiculous and unnecessary. And then people wonder why I like to keep to myself at work. LOL.

Happy Hump Day! Who else has off this Friday? I do... Good Friday, indeed! Although, I tell ya, for a shorter work week, it sure is dragging by at the same speed Atonement did!!! :-D Oh well... just one day left!

Phillies beat the Braves tonight!!!! It was awesome!!!! They were losing badly, and they turned it all around and scored EIGHT runs in the 7th!!!! I watched it while I was at the gym getting my elliptical on. It was awesome! It's their first win of the season... I was WONDERING where my World Series champs were hiding!!!! :-) And Lindsay got to be there... I'm jealous!!!! :-)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

ahhh seriously, that was such an awesome game!!!!!!!!! i cant believe it :) how amazing was that comeback :)

enjoy your friday off!

itsawrap said...

You are not emotionally dead inside. I did not enjoy Atonement either. It was too bogged down with details and extra "fluff". I do however like Love the One You're With. Not one of her bests but classic chic lit. Hope you enjoy this one better.

Anonymous said...

I applaud your efforts w/ Atonement and respect your opinion on it. I DO understand, really. Like I've said, some just love his style and some find it not-to-their liking.

and I am sorry that you are harassed about your good eating habits and I totally understand and agree with you for being annoyed. People usually don't like reminders of their own bad habits by seeing a good example - that's my take.

Anonymous said...

I have a bunch of male colleagues I hang out with who live on a diet of take-out food, pop tarts and other unneccessities. We often eat lunch together at the cafeteria at work, so I can get my healthy stuff and they can eat whatever they want. But sometimes they want to eat out and they usually pick a diner or Chinese take-out. I haven't quite figured out how to eat healthy at the diner, so I usually opt out, but I've specially requested steamed dishes at the Chinese place which has worked well. I don't get harassed for eating well--they've seen how committed I am and they've also seen that I will treat myself every once in awhile--but they usually don't consider what I can and cannot eat when they pick a place to go out to.