I'm Beet... the most productive day ever!

I know I've had productive days before but this Sunday takes the cake...

Here's the rundown:
- Walked the dog
- Went to Home Depot
- Did 5 loads of laundry
- Unloaded/reloaded the dishwasher
                                - Painted the large planter for the front step
                                - Washed the dog's kennel
                                - Picked most of the beets and carrots
                                - Helped hubby build a shed
                                - Washed vegetables from the garden
                                - Made shepherd's pie for dinner
                                - Walked the dog again
                                - Cooked up the beets and made beetroot hummus
                                - Cleaned up the kitchen after my spree
                                - Started reading Furious Love (I love it so far!)

And the sun was finally shining so it really was a fantastic day!      

Red's Summer Reading List continued...

So things must be really slow in my life if I have nothing to post but reading lists - right? Oh well, c'est la vie. I wanted to focus on more reading than tv this summer and I've been doing pretty good. Here we go...

I broke down and ordered a bunch of books online - as much as I love wandering the bookstores and library, the hold lists for popular books can be too long and it's really cheap to order online.

And of course the giddiness that comes with a new box of books means that I had to set aside my library books for a bit.

 

I was not ready for this one! Understatement. I guess I just really didn't expect it to be so graphic in it's depiction of human depravity. But the characters were incredibly rich and the mystery was so layered. I changed my mind on the "who dun it" so many times that I think it's fair to say I didn't guess right.

I started the first few pages of the next book and had to put it down. Child sex slavery?! Oh my... need to fortify up the stomach for that one - and no reading at night!

Yes, I finished the White Queen, after a bit of a pause. It got really good and then really boring and then really, really intriguing and then - it ended. Suddenly. So suddenly that I actually had to go to the computer and look up the historical outcome to the story. Again why build up this epic story and then not finish it. I guess the reader is supposed to be smart enough to know the historical outcome and chuckle at what is going to happen to the main character...

I was very good and made myself start another library book before getting to far into my box of purchases. And I'm only in about three or so chapters. Pauline Gedge is a favorite author of mine - the detail she writes with really pull you into that time and place. Most of her books are set in ancient Egypt and yet she's a homegrown author from Alberta. 

Aside from my summer reading list - this week I also caught a summer cold. Fun! So I spent Monday and Tuesday sick and home and found myself staring into the box of books and accidentally picking up eat pray love and starting it. I know I'm a little late to the game on this one, and in terms of being a bandwagon jumper I normally try to rebel but this one got to me, despite the hype and the movie and Oprah, etc. This is an amazingly written book. You feel like the author is talking directly to you and her honesty and openness is really refreshing. Of course I finished it on Tuesday.

And so the summer of reading continues - I have a friend who read this blog and wound up buying "One Day" and loving it - so I don't have to wait for my turn in the hold line (I should have bought it) and my turn is almost up for the library copy of "Furious Love". And my True Blood obsession will continue with books 6 and 7!

Wheee!

Red's Summer Reading List

So I now have a library card and I'm not afraid to use it.
Since my last book review post I have polished off four books, and two halves, one half not worth mentioning. Here goes:

This happens to be the tv movie I worked on so I was curious about the book - also the whole polygamy as religion thing is fascinating to me. This book has two narratives going on at once. The first is a fictional autobiography of Ann Eliza Young - a real person and the 19th Wife of Brigham Young. And the second is a modern day murder mystery set at a polygamy compound with an outcast son returning when his mother is accused. It was a pretty good read with a great history of polygamy in America and plenty of shocking details of the hidden world of polygamy. My main complaint was the ending seemed rushed or incomplete. This elaborate world is painstakingly set up and the ending just sort of wraps it all up without the same level of detail.

So this was a fairly easy read - I finished it in about a day - but it was captivating and funny. The characters are incredibly rich and I can see why Hollywood jumped on it.

I also think there is a bit of who-dun-it on the author's part because she sets up the end scene at the beginning of the book and then when we get to the end, something is different. So which version is correct? Has the old man re-written his memories? I don't want to give it away but this one is a great summer read.

This one was an accidental grab at the library. I think Carrie Fisher is a hysterically funny person and refreshingly honest about the Hollywood life. And I was curious about her work as an author. The beginning storyline was amazing, but when she switched focus onto a different character I seriously lost interest. And it was very different from what I thought the movie was about. I guess I'm going to have to track it down and watch it. Note how often I read books that have a movie version (completed or in the works). My hubby hates reading a book that has become a movie but me, I think I  love it!

 

This was on the New and Notable shelf at the library. I figured it was just your run of the mill murder mystery but I really liked it. Set in Dublin it follows a detective as he unravels the mystery of his first love (a redhead of course) who he thought had left him years ago. The author certainly has a way of creating vivid characters and family relationships and the flow of the story was pitch perfect. Of course I guessed who dun it at about the halfway mark but nonetheless it was worth a read.

So I am currently about halfway through this one, written by the same author as The Other Boleyn Girl and I must say this isn't as captivating. I know once I open it again it will draw me in but it doesn't burn in my brain the way other historical novels have.

What's next on my list? I can't wait for these ones... but the hold lists are too long so I may have to make a purchase!

Hello? Where'd You Go?

Oops - sorry. Bless me friends for I have sinned. It has been over a month since my last "confession" and to be honest, I don't really have an excuse. July hasn't been crazy busy or anything - I guess I've just been computer averse.

Now, where to begin? How about a quick list recap... you know how much I love lists.
1. July long weekend in Creston while my hubby stayed home and worked on the house.
2. July 15-19th in Montreal. Fantastic trip! Good friends, good food, good memories.
3. The post vacation blahs... yeah, a little for sure. And there are no trips on the horizon to look forward to. Maybe I need to plan a VanCity trip?
4. My library card finally came in and I've been reading up a storm. Wait, can that be my excuse?
5. August long weekend in town. My nephew had his 1st birthday party and... we worked on the house. The number of times I've said that, you'd think we'd be done by now.
6. Trying to enjoy what little summer nature gives us. We also threw in a 17k hike on the long weekend and it still rained a little.

So there you have it... not crazy busy but still pretty full. Gotta keep running...

Extra Red

I just finished three days on a film set in Black Diamond as an extra, hence the quiet blog. I actually didn't have long days since it seemed they didn't really want to pay us overtime but by the time I got home each day I was wiped out.

Here's the lowdown:

Day 1: Call time 6am so up at 4:45 to get ready and drive the hour. I arrived 15 minutes early, got into my CSI officer costume (pictures to follow hopefully) complete with CSI photo identification and got ready to wait. My CSI partner became a fast buddy since the rest of the extras were dressed up as fundamentalist polygamy folks and actually were in most of the shots, while we sat around. We stayed up at the location for most of the day, where there wasn't much shade until they brought up tents after lunch. We did not get to be in any scenes...

Sidebar: The hierarchy on film sets is crazy to observe. I am now an Actra Apprentice so technically I am considered "on voucher" so I can eat off the crew "craft" table but it's a very tenuous position because I am still just an extra... extras who usually get the scraps and have a separate snack area with only basic water and a few cookies. I wound up eating with the rest of the background rabble, who aren't "on-voucher" and are being paid about $10/hour because I didn't want to step on any toes... sigh - where's that backbone?

Day 2: Call time 6:30am so an extra half hour of sleep - wheee! I arrived 15 minutes early, as usual, got signed in, breakfast, costumes, hair, makeup and again back to waiting. This time I had a different CSI partner and he was a little... how should I put this nicely... full of himself and acting like he owned the set when really he was just an extra like the rest of us. We got sent up to the location but again didn't get in the scene and CSI dude convinced the wrangler to send us back to the holding area if we weren't needed, as if he was inconvenienced being on set. So we waited down at the holding area for the rest of our eight hours and then they sent us home, again without filming.

Day 3: Call time 10:30am woohoo! And another hour drive out of town this time with more traffic on the roads but of course I planned for that so I managed to be 20 minutes early... I figured they wouldn't call us back for an extra day if they didn't need/want us so I had a good feeling. And my original CSI buddy was back so I didn't have to put up with the other guy. We went through the procedure and settled in for waiting... lunch came and went... and finally about 4pm we were taken up to the location. And we waited again... and finally we got into our scene with the dead body. It was awesome - and it only lasted about 15 minutes but at least we got to see some action!

So three days of getting paid to eat and sit around... not bad work if you can get it. I'm hoping my CSI buddy comes through and emails the pictures from set!

Ingredients for a Perfect Day

Ingredients needed:
- a restful sleep the night before (Saturday morning sleep-in, ahhhh)
- a lot of Vitamin D (ie. sunshine finally)
- coffee walk (activity with a reward at the end, ps - thanks for the gc Nic & J!)
- productivity in multiple disciplines (gardening, laundry, doing the dishes, prepping and painting window trim, and repeat)
- music to help the productivity (ipod's at 305 songs now)
- a healthy amount of breaks (a couple of episodes of guilty pleasure tv during lunch)
- some fun (shopping after dinner, more coffee, blogging)

Life is good!

Red Reads with Eric Bana?

Thank you to the library of Cee for letting me borrow a couple books for our May Long adventure. Somehow I managed to pick two books that became movies starring Eric Bana. You would think I was a fan or something.
But no - just a coincidence.

First on the docket: The Other Boleyn Girl
I love historic novels - LOVE! My favorite being a book about Elizabeth I (redhead) that I read while traveling Europe in 1999 - I should try to figure out which one it was... I wonder how many are titled simply "Elizabeth" - but I digress...
I mostly found this a fascinating read although sometimes the author seemed to skip things that seemed like they may have been important... and to be honest she kind of glossed over the sex scenes. Not to say I like all the dirty details but sometimes it felt like chunks were deliberately missing.
This novel also made me think about how history repeats itself and how the courts of nobility seem to parallel the idea of celebrity nowadays. An interesting diversion was imagining that the Kardashians were some reaching family desperate to rise in the ranks... similar to the Boleyns in the book. Agree/Disagree? And who would be the King and/or Queen? Brangelina perhaps?

Second on the docket: The Time Traveler's Wife
All I kept thinking about as I read this was wow - what kind of storyboard/web did the author have to set up to keep this all straight in her head. It took me several chapters to wrap my head around things... May Long was a while ago so my reaction to the book has faded but I did thoroughly enjoy it. I want to see the movie too but all I keep hearing is how people fell asleep while watching it. Not a great indicator...

I can't wait to get my library card - I'm thinking downtown library lunch runs - good idea yes?