The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by Stephen Chbosky

Yes, I've been reading a more lately than usual. This book reminded me of the movie Almost Famous. It is now my favorite book of all time, but then again, I always think that until I read another book. That's actually from the book, but I think I'm like that with a lot of the books I read, too. The main character in this book, Charlie, reads a lot of books through the course of the story, and one of the books he reads is On The Road. Charlie seems to have liked it more than I did. Maybe I'll try reading some of the other books that Charlie read that I haven't read yet. Like The Stranger, Naked Lunch, The Fountainhead, and This Side of Paradise. And maybe also Peter Pan. Also I kinda wonder what The Rocky Horror Picture Show is all about... maybe I should watch that.

The Kite Runner

by Khaled Hosseini

And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.

Read a novel for once. It's about a rich Afgani boy that grows up in the 70s in Kabul, with his servant friend that he treats poorly despite his servant's loyalty. He escapes when the Soviets take over (to Fremont!) and is ridden with guilt about the friend he left behind. I liked reading about Fremont in the book, like when the writer would mention street names that I know... although there was a bit in the book about Fremont that I know is inaccurate: he mentions an Indian movie theater on Fremont Boulevard, and the year is supposed to be, sometime in the mid or early 80's. I remember when that theater turned into an Indian theater, and it wasn't that long ago. I remember it showed the Rocky Horror Picture Show every Friday night. But I never watched it. I just know because they had the sign outside. Anyway, this book was pretty good, I thought. I told Kathy I'd lend it to her, but she reads books pretty fast, so let me know if you wanna borrow it. (You gotta live relatively near me, by the way. Like in the Bay Area.)

Avast!

I'd almost forgotten if me matey hadn't reminded me. Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!

*edit: oh yeah... and it's an important holiday in korea, too. today, or yesterday... i think they celebrate it for like 3 days actually... so happy TLAP Day and happy Chusok, too!

The Sex Lives of Cannibals

Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific

by J. Maarten Troost

I guess I've been reading more lately than before. I felt like this was a great book to read after Guns, Germs, and Steel. I didn't plan it out that way, it just turned out that way. I learned a lot about the history of those Pacific island countries in that book, so I think that it let me appreciate this book more. If reading GGS is like watching the History Channel, TSLOC is like watching The Daily Show on Comedy Central. It's really funny, yet not that mindless, devoid of substance type of humor.
So what's this book about? Basically it's this guy's personal account of two years he spends in Kiribati, (pronounced keeribas, like a fobinized "Gilberts") a remote country made of small atolls out in the Pacific ocean. He goes there thinking what could be better than lounging around in a tropical paradise, but of course, life there turns out to be much different. Read this. It's a pretty quick read, educational, and very funny... it turns out the "sex lives of cannibals" doesn't competely refer to just South Pacific islanders...

Guns, Germs, and Steel

by Jared Diamond

Just finished this book today. This book tries to explain why Western societies in general rose to such dominance in the world, as opposed to say, Aboriginal Australians. When I was younger, my dad told me, "people in more Northern latitudes had to struggle to survive, so that's why those countries industrialized sooner, while people in tropical climates could just lounge around and pick bananas off of trees." I guess that idea is not uncommon, because this book actually addressed it at one point. Basically, the book tries to explain differences in rates of technological advances, political complexity, and immunity to communicable diseases between societies based on geographical factors of the location where the society originated. Like the local plants and animals that were available for domestication, and the ease or difficulty for people to interact with neighboring societies because of mountains, deserts, or seas. And then how those differences usually led to one society pretty much completely decimating or swallowing up the other when they met. Along the way you also learn some interesting history and linguistics. I think if you like watching the History Channel you'll enjoy this book. Warning though, it gets pretty long, and a bit repetitive.

O.No.

Last week:
Me: "Hi umma. Watching TV?"
Umma: "Yes"
Me: "What are you watching?"
Umma: "O.C."
Me: "Don't watch that. It's not for you. It's for high-school girls."

Yesterday:
Me: "Watching TV?"
Umma: "Uh huh"
Me: "What are you watching?"
Umma: "O.C."
Me: "I thought I told you not to watch that!"

i joined a league

hahahahhaha

slim wallet

so i used to carry around a really fat wallet. don't get the wrong idea. it was definitely not because i carried around a lot of money, but rather because i just carried around a lot of junk... old receipts, a whole mess of those, "buy 10 get 1 free" cards from various stores, etc., and i think my wallet was made out of pretty thick leather to begin with. it's been a long time since i moved the wallet from the back pocket to the front pocket, because it's quite uncomfortable sitting on a big lump. also one day i tried cleaning it out, and i found that having so much junk in the wallet had stretched out the leather, so that after i cleaned it, the contents fell out very easily.
so i bought a new wallet. it's very slim, and takes up a lot less room in my front pocket, which i really appreciate, because now it's a lot less crowded in that area, giving much more space to other things...
...like, um,... my keys.

*edit: At the request of all (1) of my adoring fans, here are pictures of the old fat wallet and the new slim wallet. The old wallet is a lot slimmer after I took everything out, so I put a small notebook in there to approximate how fat it was when I was using it.
The quarter is in the pictures as a size reference point.

FAT

slim

Sandy Feet

Sandy feet, you're covered with sand.
Running on the beach, hot and dry.
Hit the salty water, foam and froth and avoid the seaweed.
Smooth, even coat of sand, but skip the shiny toenails.
Sandy feet, run on the beach. Sandy feet, you're covered with sand.

if gasoline comes from oil...

...then is it slippery like a lubricant? I can't remember if I've actually ever felt it in my hands. I usually have to get gas on Thursdays but yesterday's prices were so bad I waited until today. Today I didn't have much of a choice... tank was pretty empty. Paid $3.07. Not as bad as yesterday, but it still came out to $46.82. Someone tell me when I can let go of my ankles.

And now, your moment of zen.

On The Road

by Jack Kerouac

It took me a long time to finish this book. I guess I didn't really "get" it. If you read this book and you thought it was good, post a comment on what you thought was so great about it.

I do like the song "Hey Jack Kerouac" by 10,000 Maniacs, though.

hoily moily

i emerged from my home this morning after being holed up for 2 days (i had a bad cold) and drove past the valero gas station right by my house on the way to work, and it said, 3.09, 3.19, 3.29. d'oh!!!