Showing posts with label lists. Show all posts

camping checklist

I was just working on a checklist for camping this weekend.  I was amused by the drink list.  Especially the "more beer" part.  


But truley the best part of the list is the Mom who cooks all the meals so I can feel like a kid again.  I have to make ONE lunch, but honestly - who is this spoiled? MEEEEE.

What should I make?!!!
camping lists
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Resolutionary Wars


Happiest of New Years to you, my fellow computer-junkies and lovers of champagne.
*ugh.  just typing that word made my stomach turn a bit*
ahem.

As previously established with last week's onslaught of lists, I have given adequate evidence that I am, in fact, a list whore.  It therefore follows that I would be a resolution whore.  It's the creme de la creme of lists...one that encompasses a whole entire year.

I love it.


Let's take a peak at the resolutions I made for 2010, shall we?


I was feeling rather simple, and I'm pretty happy with the results.  I could have written more, but it was also the most I've written in years, so I choose to measure that as a success.  

Now on to 2011.  I was feeling more ambitious this year, but I really do use these lists more as ideas and wishes for my life than as a blood contract to myself.  I know myself way too well than to try and bully my soul into anything, so this list comes with a lot of leeway.  


Looks like it's going to be a really wonderful year, wouldn't you say????

TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTT.
(that's the sound of my party favors, duh)
What will you do this year to make it like none other?
goals holidays lists
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the 2010 book list

I wasn't even going to write out the list of books I read this year because I shamefacedly thought it wasn't enough to make a list.  However, once I checked into it, I realized I had read more than I remembered, and that over half of them were worthy of sharing!  Anyway, here's the list of what I read this past year, in order:


"Memories of My Melancholy Whores"
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This was a short read I picked for a vacation to Florida early in the year.  I really enjoyed it, but Marquez isn't for everyone.  Completely salacious and somewhat shocking to my Victorian sensibilities, the book reminds me of all the reasons I love "Lolita."  One of my major tenants in life is to try and vicariously experience varying forms of human existence.  Very intrigued by what it must be like to be in another human body and living an entirely different life, I find myself gravitating toward authors who write sensational characters but who at their very core are universally the same as you and I.  We ache for love, we have sexual appetites, we eat, we drink, we read, we die. 



"Half Broke Horses"
by Jeannette Walls

For those of you who are well-acquainted with my snobbery, you might be shocked to find a non-classic book on my list.  Well, I joined an online book club that I lost interest in, but this is the one book I read from the pool.  I hadn't heard of this author before and I certainly have not paid $20 for a book published seconds ago, but it was a good experience in new things.  It was the kind of read you want when you don't want to put your book down.  Super easy reading, poignant at times, and memorable.  I recommend it.



"The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath"
by Sylvia Plath

I actually started this many years ago, but had set it aside for a while. This year, I finally finished it.  Melodrama aside, I think SP's journals make my top two favorite/most inspiring books of all time.  It actually began an obsession about journaling and reading other's journals (looking to start Steinbeck's "Journal of a Novel" this year).  There is absolutely nothing like experiencing another human soul than reading their own interpretation of it.  I miss SP when I am not immersed in her words so I am sure to have this one readily available on my nightstand.


"Slaughter-House-Five"
by Kurt Vonnegut

I had forgotten to pack any books of merit when I traveled to San Diego to stay with my sister in March.  She had this one and I had been meaning to start reading Vonnegut for ages.  I really, really loved this book...so damn quotable and slippery with sardonic undertones.  Loved how bizarre and poignant it was.  I want to continue reading his stuff, anyone have recommendations about where to go from here?



"A Dirty Job"
by Christopher Moore

Another modern book?!  More pulp fiction? I know, I know.  This one also came recommended by my sister, and it was beyond enjoyable.  Of course it won't become a classic, but it CAN become something you will laugh your ass off reading.  It's also surprisingly smart.



"Holy the Firm"
by Annie Dillard

I admit that this book baffled me entirely.  Annie was strange and detached in this piece, her words more like the elusive lyrical angst of poetry rather than the linear path of prose.  Once I stopped being so frustrated that I didn't understand what was going on, I enjoyed it much more.  She wrote it while living on an island in the Puget Sound, so it was interesting to know the places of which she spoke. I cannot say that I would recommend it to a burgeoning Dillard fan, but I am very glad to have read it and found something new in an author I have come to regard as family to my soul.  Also, it's really short...



"Anthem"
by Ayn Rand

Another recommendation by my sister, who picked it up for a trip and returned telling me to read it.  How I had never before read any Ayn Rand is well beyond me, but it was a good one to start with.  Very easy to read and very short as well.  I am a sucker for a good dystopian plot, and it delivered.  Recognizing that although I felt I had read the story before ("Brave New World", "1984" - side-note, "Anthem" was published just 5 years after BNW and 12 years before 1984), she was one of the only women at that time to stir up such a raucous.  



"The Writing Life"
by Annie Dillard

By far the best book I read this year.  This is also the best book on writing I've ever read.  Annie manages to explain with realism the plight/pleasure of writing.  I would read this in the morning before writing and it was my single inspiration and all I needed to find my space that day.  A complete must for anyone who writes.  It will probably become a frequent reference/yearly read for me.

Voila.
annie dillard book reviews books
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let the lists begin - the 2010 soundtrack


It's the end of the year.  In Candace speak, this translates to LIST after LIST.  Things I DID do, things I WANT to do, places I've been, places I'll go, people I love, people I hate...wait.  Well, you get the idea.  I've got a few to share with you because I think they are interesting and if you are reading, you probably think I am interesting, so you are now subjected to what I find interesting.   So. It. Goes.



Today's list is my discography of 2010...the soundtrack of my life this last year.
In order of appearance.

No disclaimers.


Okay, here's my disclaimers...ahem, explanations.

One:
 I love Goldfrapp.  The end.
"Head First" wasn't my favorite at first, but it has really grown on me and I adore it.
(I think I might die and go to Zanadu heaven from this video)

Two:
Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible" is by no means a new record, but when I moved to San Diego for a few months at the beginning of the year to be with my sister, she had the CD in her car.  I listened to it over and over and over and I began to fall in love with it.  

Three:
Because I was introduced to Arcade Fire this year, I found it serendipitous that they released a new album that very same year.  I loved Suburbs from the beginning, and I do not take to new music very easily.

Four:
Kelly introduced me to Fleet Foxes when I stayed with her this last summer.  I had heard of them, but figured they were another indie band I wasn't interested in hearing (Band of Horses, Mumford whatever) and cast them off.  One afternoon as Kelly was painting in her studio and I was writing in the neighboring room, I heard her listening to it and I asked her to burn me a CD for the 12-hour trip home.  I haven't removed it from my CD player since.  That was 6 months ago.  I should really stop being such a snob...but golly, it's so very fun.

Five:
The Velvet Goldmine Soundtrack.
My sister loves David Bowie, and though I had always loved him by proxy, I was a bit of a poser in my knowledge and appreciation.  She finally sat me down to watch this amazing and campy film, and we all realized what a kick-ass soundtrack it boasts.  Now I can't say I know any Bowie better, but I am now a loyal fan of Velvet Underground and Lou Reed.


This is the new-to-me music I've absorbed into my soul.
I do feel obliged to mention that without Radiohead, I would not have survived the year.
Particularly "In Rainbows"

And YOUUUUUU?
What tunes this year have kept you spinning right round, baby?
lists music new years
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working on...

lists
...a few lists.

Excited to share them with you soon!

crm
lists
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weekend report


This is what my weekend looked like.




[friday]
groceries arrive at doorstep
5 boxes packed
artichokes and pbr
power outage while trying to catch up on LOST
journaling by candlelight

[saturday]
hair in bandanna
10 boxes packed
new book purchased at recommendation of sister
child's birthday party captured on camera
"true blood" marathon

[sunday]
sleeping way in
spinach, feta, cherry tomato scramble with mimosa and croissant
the big lebowski
finishing packing the kitchen
downloading podcasts from NPR for road-trip (I LOVE "This American Life")
perfect timing to receive a much-needed letter
release to share with a few the great load of living


Here's to the Leaning Tower of Change.
It's moving week.  
We're all treading water in a pool of diffidence and adventure.
It's a great little cocktail 
for feeling alive.

Small Monday Confession:
Does anyone else look forward to it?  Even just a little?

~crm
change fear lists
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ON WHAT I LOVE AND OTHER VALENTINE'S DAY RANTS

Though you may not be laughing this lame V-day weekend, or though you may not be crying...
either way, the jury is in that the banner to this is RIDICULOUS!
It makes me laugh so much.
It's my V-day edition.

Moving on.


As you may have noticed,
I'm feeling a bit cheeky this V-day.
(though truly there are no plans here at Booklings Manor to celebrate...because we both live our lives in an after school special about love (wait, weren't after school specials about some teenage angst issue? okay, how about a romantic comedy instead) and have V-day every day.  It's gross.)

(but in a really sexy way)

(meaning it's not gross!)


Moving on.

Smooches from my love-filled life to yours.
Because I DO LOVE YOU.
just in case you feel taken for granted that i hadn't quite mentioned it before.

Now that we have cleared that up...

Because it's always hard to compile a list of LIFE loves, I think this list shall  be themed:
"What I love, right here, right now."

Right here, right now happens to be sitting at the saint's desk, drinking a beer from a mason jar (that originally contained homemade caramel corn from umberdovely), listening to Ivy (and halo being played in the background), and peeling off layers of winter clothing because I just got really hot from doing the dishes.  Sexy.  I know.  Therefore, if this list is shockingly weird or insipidly dull, please consider the context.  Oh, and I should mention I have been alone all day. 

Alrighty, let's get down to business.

i love:
these amazing tea cups that arrived in the mail today from my sister!!!! we have a tradition of exchanging sardonic valentine treasures, so they are just wonderful enough to encompass the classic style we both adore and also remind me that color can sometimes be seriously obnoxious.  depending on one's mood, of course.  side note:  my sister is the best gift-giver (to me, for sure) because it turns out when one shares the same soul, it's rather easy to spot things they might like.  but she doesn't have that excuse anymore, because i think my tastes are changing, but she can still knock me over every time i open a package.  (did i show you the birdcage she got me for xmas?!!!)

i love:
high tea, complete with cucumber sandwiches, scones and clotted cream

i love:
sitting down for a proper supper at a table 

i love:
my cutco knives

i love:
the kitty coming into the bedroom in the morning and crawling under the covers.  
she leans on me and purrs us both back to sleep.  euphoric.

i love:
babies.
but not solely because it's just a baby (also, i always feel the need to defend this affinity because i hate being one of those girls who goes annoyingly gaga over babies), but because i find connection in live beings that cannot use words to filter themselves.

i love:
crying
i'm not kidding

i love:
honesty over politeness
(but would prefer them together in an ideal world)

i love:
silent sufferers

i love:
words, etymology, speaking the languages of various souls, and playing scrabble

i love:
housework
i'm not kidding

i love:


this press cozy the saint just gave me for Vday!

i love:
survivors

i love:
books about the books i love 
almost as much as the books i love

i love:
respect
both the giving and receiving

i love:
computers, technology, software, and hardware.  it has given me a creative outlet i otherwise didn't have.

i love:
being good at building a (wood burning stove) fire

i love:


these egg cups I got the saint for vday
they say "mme" and "the saint"
he has been obsessed with making soft boiled eggs

i love:
the smell of the forest when a storm is blowing in

i love:
routine
(curious?  right now it looks something like this: wake up, put on slippers and robe, make a fire, draw back curtains, put on hot water for coffee press, attend to the fire joel has made when he first woke, make a press of coffee, read, check email, get up for a glass of water and bowl of joe's o's, eat said o's, think about getting dressed, think again, read blogs and do computer stuff for a few hours, feed octavia, get dressed, arrange mussed hair, apply a dab of blush and mascara, put on shoes, do the dishes, put away laundry, stare out the window, talk to my plants, vacuum, sweep, make joel and i lunch, let octavia outside, plan dinner, have a mandarin and almonds for a snack, write a postcard or two, leave to tutor, stop by grocery store on the way back, check mailbox, have cocktail hour, make dinner, do the dishes, draw the curtains, stoke the fire, take out the garbage, sit by the fire, talk to joel, look at magazines, dust my books, light candles, put kettle on for tea, slip into slippers, make hot tea, watch a movie, let octavia sit on me during said movie, work on more computer stuff, agree to head to bed, cover the furniture in shower curtain liners so octavia cannot ruin it with her rebellious discretions, turn off the lights, lock the doors, draw the curtains, run hot water for bath, scald my skin in said bath, wash and exfoliate my face, brush and floss my teeth, dab on eye and night cream, crawl into my side of the bed where the saint warms it, launch my scrabble iPhone application, play a few words, listen to the saint snore, roll my eyes, laugh at my own irritation, and then turn of the lights)

i love:
the ease of having a (good) history with an old friend

i love:
the excitement that bubbles in my stomach when i've met someone i admire and know the friendship will be alive inside of us forever

i love:
photoshop tutorials on the web

i love:
making photos look old

i love:
old
love, things, people, animals, trees, relationships, traditions, jewelry
(but definitely NOT cheese)

i love:
letters so so so so much

i love:
shallow depth of field



i love:
self-awareness
 i mean, if you're going to be an ass, at least be aware of it and better yet, know WHY you do it...right?

i love:
my estranged father

i love:
you being in love with YOUR life

i love:
Carl Jung and Thomas Moore

i love:
the sun setting in the west
(it's unnatural any other way, but this may be my hatred for the south speaking up)



i love:
the west

i love:
blogging

i love:
NPR

i love:
driving stick shift

i love:
teaching English

i love:
proofreading 

i love:
doing what i want rather than doing what makes money
(i'd love it even more if i could do both)

i love:
I-90 headed west into Seattle just after you leave Mercer Island

i love:
email and the internet

i love:
confidence and self-acceptance

i love:
speaking in some weird voice when my sister calls. 
 we both do it

i love:
rainbow chip cake and frosting

i love:
short, dark red nails

i love:
pretending that if i lived my life in Europe, it would be better
(including possessing the effortless beauty and couture wardrobe of parisian women)

i love: 
an empty dishwasher

i love:
falling asleep dreaming up outfits

i love:
joel's eyes beaming with pride when other males pick up on me
(i'm pretty sure i would die if i had a jealous husband)

i love:
my feet

i love:
indian food and cheeseburgers

i love:
going to basketball games

i love:
travelling 

i love:
pictures of said trips, almost more than the trips

i love:
making lists of places to travel.  i make one every new year for the following year.

i love:
when spices and liquor go on sale

i love:
that somewhere along the way i fully realized and reveled in the fact there is no person on earth that could make me as happy as i could make myself (though i swear i have the runner up)


i love:
long, thick hair

i love:
paradox 
in clothing, in nature, in psychology, in language, in food, in decor, in relationships

i love:
magazines

i love:
my typewriter

i love:
my portable mouse.


seriously the touch pad on this laptop kills my wrist

i love:
blaming things for the inordinate amount of time i spend at my computer

i love:
netflix
(as pertains to the xbox)

i love:
how Mad Men makes me pour 2 fingers of whiskey and smoke a cigarette
(and get joel's hair to look like don draper's)


holy deliciousness!

SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNN

i love:
seeing you both DISCOVER and BE yourself

i do NOT love:
pandora advertisements
(just had to sneak that in)
(nor do i love joel's poncho
but i digress)

i love:
 using the correct verb tenses
(snuck is NOT a word, ppl!)

i love:
knowing what my friend's favorite flower is
(snapdragon, you know who you are)

i love:
investing in jewelry and shoes

i love:
organizing photos



i love:
cities

i love:
the smell of joel's neck

i love:
lighting all the candles in the house, turning off the lights, turning on a shameless tear-jerker flick, and crying big baby tears into my jameson.


I have to stop.
If you've made it this far, well then...I love YOU.
Because you're obviously patient...and that's the kind of people I need in my life right now.

Happy Friggen V-day, yous!


~CRM
Bookling Manor holidays lists
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Lists: A beach weekend

I am brimming with travel anticipation! Our friends have a lovely boat and cabin on a remote island in the Puget Sound (Hat Island) and we will be spending a few days there this weekend. I would have been happy with gray skies, but Seattle has seen fit to give us 70degrees and sunny! I am so excited that I am writing this post BEFORE I eat breakfast, which almost never happens.

Before I toss myself into the shower to run up to the store for some last minute items, I wanted to ask some questions about a beach weekend. As I was trying to get myself to sleep last night, I was thinking about things I simply cannot leave behind when I leave for a beachy weekend - especially a weekend that I KNOW I will be encountering amounts of bliss, ocean*, and mimosas.

Here's my list:
  1. BIG old 30s beach hat that my sister bought me for my 30th bday last year. I keeps the sun off like nothing else!
  2. Journal.
  3. Camera.
  4. Plath's Journals. They ALWAYS get me writing (which explains why I cannot get through it. I read for 10 minutes and my hand is burning to write).
  5. Dresses, Sarong, and Flippy Flops.
  6. Music.
So what's your list of necessaries when you go away for a weekend with your soul?

candace ruth


*i have this thing about the ocean. i know a lot of people do, so i probably don't have to explain it. The ocean is like a huge calming blanket that shushes my anxiety and brings rich pensive thoughts. I am changed when the water and I look at each other. if i ever moved anywhere to write, it would be a beach-town. just like sylvia and ted.
hat Hat Island lists
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election time

not to be a negative nancy, but today and the last month has reminded me why i chose to live 28 years in cynicism.

because in the last two years, with getting all healthy and shit, i have found some child-like hope.

but hoping hurts. it hurts real bad. (or really badly if you care)

so you tell me what the freaking heck i should do with my life. the following represents a list of passions and interests - in no particular order of importance - that could save my soul from this 8-5 death:

  1. hair dresser
  2. writer/editor
  3. therapist - study of psychology (already tried this - denied)
  4. literature - teaching (already tried this - denied)
  5. bookstore owner
  6. mother
  7. photography
  8. makeup artist
  9. web design
  10. travel (anything where i get paid to travel and coordinate travel)
  11. dancer
  12. art studio owner/supporter/collaborator
  13. fashion designer

perhaps if you choose for me, i won't feel so gnawed through and through by doubt.
doubt hope jobs
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monday morning pokeys

you didn't hear it from me first. i stole it from the alaska air lady on the phone. i was changing a reservation for my boss, and she explained that the computer was slow, that it had the "monday morning pokeys." i loved the aptness of the phrase so much that i am stealing it now.


and isn't it the truth? i think my work day would be so much better if i could do a 10am-3pm day and poke around in the morning.
(let's just pretend for a minute that i would actually get out of bed earlier than like 30 min before i had to leave.)



In this imaginary world, i would make my bed leisurely, inspire myself with my daily blog fix, enrich my eyes on etsy, take plenty of time to ponder my outfit, read a chapter in Augustine's confessions while gazing out my sunny window, sip some jasmine tea, make some poached eggs and orange juice, take a long shower, listen to NPR, lovingly put myself together for the day, and then leisurely walk to work.

you realize that in reality, it's probably about 2pm before i would get any of this done. but hey, it's imaginary!

i just love to poke, poke, poke.

people need to poke more.

outside of this poking, my head is a-brimming with lists galore. last night, while relaxing in bath (honey, this is where my most amazing thoughtlings occur), I realized that I needed to start a list of ways to spoil myself. i did this list this morning, and i am quite happy with it. i then prioritized this list by most wanted/necessary (i have included the expensive hairspray and mascara i like on this list), and am now able to clear the flow of ideas in my mind due to this cleansing list. oh listlings!!!! i just adore you so.

another listing happening is my apartment projects. i have to prioritize them, and this is the hardest part for me. candace is a very impatient bird, my friends...so there isn't a lot of waiting that wants to naturally occur. but alas, each item requires green monies, so i am forced to wait. and the waiting is goodness for my souling.


i am annoying myself with the -ings. you?

in tragic news...in the porting of a leftover salad, i managed to spill caesar dressing on the inside of my decidedly hugeific purse. i will now be on the bus and vampires and ghouls alike will be repelled from my garlicky essence. i guess i really DO have to get a new purse now...oh darns.

happy pokeys, my invaluable loves.

ings lists monday
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