Ah, hello again, Monday!  How nice of you to show up after a long weekend and give me writer’s block.

Okay, well maybe Monday’s not to blame for the writer’s block.  Honestly, I think it’s this damn divorce.  It’s infuriating to have to wait for anything if you’re not a patient person…and I’m VERY impatient.  Life’s no fun when you’re living it on the edge of your seat.  I do know that it won’t be forever, so *that’s* a relief, it’s just making me antsy today, like I can feel that something’s going to happen.  I just don’t know what, and it’s jacking with my ability to form coherent literary thoughts!

In an effort to just get any writing juices flowing, this may seem pretty random and an odd catalog of stream of consciousness here, but I think it’s actually getting the job done.  Let’s hope.

I had a nice Thanksgiving weekend and I hope yours was good too.  My brother and sister-in-law come into town and the house was full.  We’re decorated for Christmas already and I’m so excited for the holiday and all the fun around the date.  I’m thankful for my family and for the holiday season; it really is the best time of the year.

I’m thankful I have a large capacity for stress.  That doesn’t sound good, does it?  I guess I say that because it seems like I’m always operating under some huge amount of stress, but maybe everyone else is as well…just different kinds of it.  I don’t know, but I know I’ll be very happy when the current marriage-ending stress is a non-issue, you know?  Not that I’m complaining, just making a statement of fact.  And it’s not that this is a particularly difficult divorce, it’s just that it’s not progressing as quickly as I prefer these things to go.  What can I say? I’m impatient.  It’s a curse.  But, things could always be worse.  Of that, I’m certain.

I’m listening to Mumford and Sons right now.  Actually, it’s a playlist of them, Bon Iver, The Shins and Phoenix.  How fantastic is that?  I wonder why I prefer male singers over female?  I mean, Lilith Fair is cool and all, but if there were a comparable fest with fantastic male artists, I’d be there in a heartbeat.

So, my brother is a professional musician and he’s a jazz man.  That’s pretty much all he listens to, and so the other night, he’s scrolling through the DirecTV music channels, stopping at every slow jazz and (gag) bluegrass station–and I don’t mean cool bluegrass/rock, I mean old-timey, no-front-teeth-banjo-strumming-feet-stomping-hillbilly bluegrass from like fifty years ago.  Let’s just say that I can appreciate the difficulty of such music; I can appreciate the culture it represents and the musicality of it, but I really don’t do banjo unless it’s Steve Martin.  Then, it’s just funny.

So, anyway, my bro continues to scroll through the stations and smirks and laughs at one titled “College Rock,” which describes itself as cutting-edge, indie type music, essentially calling it crap.

I didn’t say much other than there’s more music out there than just John Coltrane (no matter how amazing Coltrane was) and kept making dinner in the kitchen with my mother.  Later, when I was by myself, I switched over to the “College Rock” station.  I kid you not, the artists that came up were Sea Wolf, Lykke Li, Broken Bells, and the like.  Apparently, my taste in music is something to be scorned by jazz musicians.  I can live with that.

I’ve read some really great books lately, the first (and best) being Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants.

O.

M.

G.

I love this book.  Wait.  That’s putting it mildly.  I LOVE this book, as in: it’s made it onto my extremely selective “favorites” list. 

On the surface, a story about a young man who runs away from veterinarian school and haphazardly and accidentally joins a circus, doesn’t seem all that interesting, but the imagery and the obvious research put into the book makes it a simply gorgeous work. 

Did I have any revelations while reading it?  Nope.  Did it change me profoundly?  Nuh-uh.  It’s just a really great read and I’ll certainly be picking up more of Gruen’s books in the future. 

NOTE: there are some “R” rated scenes in this book and I know several of you readers would be very uncomfortable with the level of some of the language and the sex scenes.

I’ve also just finished Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford. 

Another good read, though I’m not as enthusiastic about this one.  It’s a WWII Romeo and Juliet type story centered around a Chinese boy and a Japanese girl.  The descriptions are beautiful and the novel in quite poignant in descriptions of wartime Seattle, WA. 

I’m impressed by the objectivity the author engages, actually: representing Japanese interment camps from a factual standpoint, without bias or even passive reference to his own opinions.  Trust me, that’s something that’s very hard to accomplish.  Ford has done a really great job with Hotel and I’ll look forward to other books written by him.

Now I’m plowing merrily through The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (say that one three times fast!).  So far, it’s whimsical and a delight.  I’ll keep you posted!

Oh, and through the writing of this post, I’ve had to stop to answer a phone call, which may possibly have delivered a bit of progress in the current mess I find myself in, which is good.  And now I’m off to write some more!  See!  This post helped, and if you’ve stayed with me and made it this far, thank you.  You’re a real blogging friend!

Photos from authors’ websites.  Google ‘em!