Reading!

I just listened to this graduation speech. It was an alright speech, with two of the most valuable points being:

1. Go to Paris to be in Paris, not to cross it off your list and call yourself worldly.
I think a lot of people need that advice and I'm sure I've been a part of that group at one time or another. I look at my world map on my wall and want to go to all of the countries so I can shade them in and say I've been everywhere. I dated a guy whose friend had the goal of having sex with a woman in every country. In case you are wondering, the woman didn't have to be from the country, he could bring her there. Anyways, I understand we all have different goals, but I can't help but hope, for him, that he got even more out of the trip. There's more to say about 'being somewhere to be there', rather than to accomplish an empty objective, but I'm no expert.

2. Read.
For the past few months I've been casually dating a wonderful guy. While we're still dating, we've recently discovered that we may be on slightly different pages in terms of relationship needs. As I've evaluated what's been and what I need I think of more and more wonderful effects he's had on my being. He, knowingly or unknowingly, has helped me eat healthier and perhaps even more beneficial, he's given me some great books to get me back on the reading kick. In the past three weeks I've read Graham Greene's "The Quiet American" and "The End of the Affair". They were both absolutely wonderful and I'm still thinking about "The End of the Affair," though I read it first. Since I only borrowed two Greene's I decided to go for something I thought would be lighter next. I'd brought back one of Roald Dahl's chapter books from home. I don't know how I hadn't read "Going Solo," but it'd been sitting on my bookshelf, waiting for quite some time. It's been the perfect subway book, divided up into adventures. I'd recommend it for a great escape read! While it was lighter, I still found myself tearing up just a little bit at the end. I think reading helps me be more present when I'm not reading. It gives me a genuine retreat from my thoughts. Many people use music, but I tend to find music reinforces where I was already at. Instead, books help me run away to someone else's life or perspective. Sure, I over-identified with aspects of both Greene's books, but the added perspectives were incredibly valuable.

So, more aspects are added to SarCare every day. Some days I do well on lots of fronts, some days I only do well one way or another, but I'm still at it. I ran this morning, did my best to eat responsibly (minus the Mud Mocha... oh, Mud Truck <3). Tomorrow's another day and every day takes energy. Good luck with yours!

In fact, that's where music comes from.

A while back I created a list of 100 things about me and every once in a while I write another. I think that's one of my reasons for not writing the 25 things and tagging 25 people on facebook... 25's not enough. However, if I were to write one now, I think one of my 25 (or 100 depending how ambitious I was feeling) would be that I don't care about Valentine's Day. I don't know if I ever have. I like hand-made cards and cookies and chocolates and flowers and love, and yes, I get excited about those sorts of things. My parents sent me a card and Melissa left a cookie by a bunch of our doors- all wonderful things, but I like that every day and am not more bitter if someone has it one day than if they have it the next. Rather, my bitterness depends on how tired I am or when the last time I ran was. It's been 6 days since I ran, but I slept 'til late today so that leaves me somewhere in the middle.
Although, I do have to mention that when the tube is terribly crowded, which it was about 30 minutes ago when I was on it- since it was dinner time- I am uncomfortable with people kissing and being slightly touchy. To be honest, I don't like it most of the time. It's alright if one of them is getting off the tube or something, but the whole ride? Being lovey-dovey is nice, but on the tube it's odd.
Whenever I get frustrated about little things I find myself remembering Charlie, in The Perks of Being a Wallflower stating that how happy he is for other people depends on his own state of mind. He knows he's happy if he's happy to see other people happy. I guess I'm the same way.


I think it was my sophomore year of high school that I lent my copy of The Perks of Being a Wallflower to a girl I graduated with. I think she lent it to someone else or maybe she just set it on her bookcase and forgot, but I never received the book back. I am okay with that, as it is one of the books that I think everyone should read, so I am glad it was being passed or valued enough to be kept around, but I often wish I had it with me. I would just like to reread some bits. I have been saying that for quite awhile so I think I will invest in another copy sometime soon.


I have a problem. That problem is buying books. I want them all. I don't really have space for them all, nor time to read them... and it's not terribly practical to purchase them now, as I will have to transport them all home. I spent somewhere around 30 minutes in a bookstore today, only to convince myself that if I was going to buy the books I'd probably have to leave them here because I wouldn't have room in my suitcase... and if I did that then I might as well buy them for a lower price off of ebay or amazon or halfprice. I will probably do just that. It was hard to leave them in the wonderful 2nd hand bookstore though. It was a nice store to support and they were both books I have been wanting to buy for a long time now... a collection of Samuel Beckett plays and a collection of Walt Whitman's poems- including Leaves of Grass. All the same, I have a lot of books and plays that I am in the process of reading anyways. I just keep taking books out of libraries. Sometimes I think I just like to look at them on my bookshelf and get excited about the amount of knowledge they contain.

Note to self: Don't forget you were also looking at that anthropology book about O and that Neitzche book.

When I took the Mass Communications class a year or two ago we talked about books being all online. You could just bring up your Shakespeare or Dickens or your textbook or whatever on your iphone and you wouldn't have to carry books around. And while I admit this would be good for your back, I don't want it. I want to hold my book, scribble in the margins (if it's that kind of book) and watch the binding fall apart as I begin my 100th read. Yes, I do google quick answers rather than flip through 500 page reference books in the library when I'm not sure if they will even know what I am asking. However, if the book is meant for a straight read, I want to cuddle with it.