Perspective

I posted a few days ago about the government shutdown and the World War II veterans from Mississippi who stormed the National Mall so they could see the WWII Memorial. Their memorial. As the shutdown continues, it means lots of different things to different people. Although D.C. doesn't have its own "state" budget, Mayor Vincent Gray has deemed city employees essential, so our trash is getting picked up and we're still getting parking tickets (and in all honestly, a host of other government resources that I'm too lazy to enumerate). So far, for me it's more of an annoyance than a life-altering incident.

It's easy to complain and moan about how ridiculous Congress is acting over this, and I think [most sane] people across the political spectrum agree that a government shutdown is in fact, ridiculous. Trash building up on the National Mall is a sad sight to see, tourists spending money to travel to national parks and memorials that are closed are understandably frustrated, and many businesses are losing money because of reduced spending. However, this is a good time to keep things in perspective and differentiate between irritants and actual tragedies, like cancer patients not receiving treatment, veterans and their families not receiving benefits, and other harmful, serious and potentially life-threatening effects of the government shutdown. 

A friend (not the author) shared this Facebook post about keeping things in perspective. It's a good reminder for everyone.

Perspective. Got stuck in the lone checkout line at Safeway behind a woman buying groceries with her EBT card (food stamps). She had her teenaged son with her and a huge stack of coupons. I’ve been having a frustrating week. I was wearing coat and tie and probably had a grumpy look on my face when I arrived. The woman working the register kept looking at me apologetically as time went on and the line grew.  

The shopper had a coupon for almost every item. She went through that stack of coupons four times slowly because she was missing one. I think she had coupons for apples, soup, pasta, rice, beans, and bread. She was missing a 60 cent coupon for her two cartons of almond milk. She had a list and had calculated to the penny what she could buy, had $70 on her EBT card and $20 or so on a check she had written but she was $1.20 short to finalize the purchase. 

I was tempted to pass the woman two bucks but she was already starting to radiate with awkward embarrassment. Her son stood behind her and stared at the floor. Finally the shopper asked the register worker if there was any way she could look through the weekly flier and find the coupon she needed and the worker started paging through it for her.  

My irritation dissipated the longer I stood there. Its been a long time since I agonized over $1.20 for food. I’ve never had to do it with a crowd behind me. I could see the time and care she had put into her shopping trip, calculating the cost, clipping coupons, buying cheap healthy food.  

I relaxed. I smiled. The coupon was finally found and the sale made. The register worker kept thanking me for my patience. I suppose these days most folks expect a certain amount of eye-rolling and grimacing when a customer is inconvenienced for a few minutes. We’re very busy people. 

By Monday the shutdown will have cost me enough from a plane ticket change fee and a lost weekend of National Guard wages that it will sting. But I won’t miss a meal, or even skimp. I won’t miss a mortgage payment. I won’t fear for my phone or electricity being shut off. I have friends that may. I’m grateful for all that America has given me. I’m glad my wife has a good-paying job. 

Not everyone is so lucky. We have young National Guard soldiers here in Washington State that rely on their drill pay for food and lodging and on military tuition assistance to pay for college. They won’t be getting either due to the shutdown. Each of them volunteered to serve in their nation’s military during time of war, uncertain of the cost.  

This will likely, hopefully, be resolved before my young soldiers or friends in federal service even have time to apply for food stamps or unemployment. But not, perhaps, before a few missed payments, missed meals, and sleepless nights. It bothers me to see them treated this way.

The Legislative Branch of our government has its work cut out for it. I’d like to see them take up that task with the same zeal, teamwork and selfless sense of service to nation and community I see in the young soldiers and law enforcement officers that work for me. I’d like that a great deal. 

All I did. The best I did today, was to stand patiently in line behind someone less fortunate than myself and not act like a complete ass. The woman at the register seemed appreciative. Almost like she expected me to be annoyed. Is this what we’ve come to? Is this what people expect.

Patience. Compassion. Persistence. Teamwork. I expect these attributes of my most junior employees. I expect them of myself. I expect them of my government.

Shutdown, Schmutdown

Well, the federal government officially shut down this morning at 12:01 a.m. I was awake catching up on Nashville (OMG DEACON) and reminiscing about Snood with my fellow insomniac Kelly when the shutdown began. The earth did not tremble, the lights did not go out, and sirens were not sounded. Basically, the government continued to do nothing, as usual. (If you're wondering what happens to us folks living in the District of Columbia since we are not a state, our illustrious mayor Vincent Gray has deemed all D.C. government employees "essential", meaning parking attendants will still be waiting for your time limit to go over by ONE MINUTE before ticketing you. If you weren't wondering, well, now you know.)

Anyway, the #shutdownpickuplines hashtag on Twitter has been entertaining while the finger-pointing and mud-slinging from both sides reminds me a lot of pre-school.

The best thing I've read today is the story of the Mississippi veterans storming the World War II Memorial on the National Mall. Located on national park grounds, the memorial was officially closed today, but National Park Service personnel and perhaps a Congressman or two simply move the metal barricades and let the veterans inside. 

via Buzzfeed

F*ck yeah, America.

Wedding Weekend

Last weekend I attended my first Indian wedding, and I'm going to talk about it. I've been friends with Anjali since second grade, and she is one of the sweetest, kindest people that I know. Not only was I was excited to attend her wedding last weekend, but our friends from Katie and Kristen also came all the way from Mississippi to be there, too.

showing off our henna

Anjali and Gaurav held a traditional Indian wedding including a mehndi celebration and the baraat, followed by the marriage ceremony. A couple of Anjali's cousins adopted us, as we were the few non-Indians in attendance and explained much of the symbolism behind the mehndi and other rituals. The decor and clothing were all stunningly beautiful; pictures really don't do the colors or the dancing or the singing (obviously) any justice.

Anjali and Gaurav at the mehndi celebration

dancing at the mehndi celebration

baraat

Anjali and Gaurav Khullar

showing off our henna on day two

Kristen, me, Anjali, and Katie

The wedding festivities ended on Saturday night, so Katie and Kristen and I spent all day Sunday sightseeing in DC. Living here means that I often take for granted the memorials and museums, so it was a great day to visit the National Mall for some walkin'. After delicious brunch at Bayou, we visited the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Washington Monument, waved to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, and finished up with a visit to the Natural History Museum. It was a sunny day with a bluebird sky and was a fitting reminder about those who have served our country, just in time for Veteran's day this Monday.

Vietnam War Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool

Korean War Memorial

Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool

World War II Memorial

Washington Monument

Natural History Museum

Henry at the Natural History Museum

The Hope Diamond at the Natural History Museum

Washington Monument at sunset

The Book Thief

Pre-unemployment, I borrowed my roommate's copy of The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak.  I cannot do this book justice by writing my own review, so I'm going to borrow one, which I'll get to in just a second.  One day last week, when I had nothing to do since I no longer have to be at work from 8:30am-5:30pm, I stopped in at Barnes & Noble for a coffee and for some browsing.  I was a few chapters in to The Book Thief so I decided to pick up a copy and read at the store while I sipped my coffee [for those wondering, this is entirely legitimate and even encouraged by Barnes & Noble staff; I know because I've asked].  

Trouble was, I couldn't find the book.  It's had a bit of buzz so I thought perhaps it was sold out; I pulled out my trusty iPhone to make sure I was spelling the author's name correctly, when I realized that The Book Thief is actually a young adult novel.  Cue surprise.  The novel doesn't read like The Twilight Saga or Judy Blume, so I was surprised, but upon reading the author's biography, I realized that he is a young adult author, therefore causing this novel to fall into the young adult genre.  Regardless, I finished the book (not at Barnes & Noble) and have to recommend it.  This story is heartbreaking, heartwarming, funny, and very sad, but overall it's a wonderful book about one girl's struggle to survive Nazi Germany and how the power and comfort of the written word helped her through it all.  

I told you that seemingly random story about not being able to find the book so you'd understand why this review is from Teenreads.com:

"A human doesn't have a heart like mine. The human heart is a line, whereas my own is a circle, and I have the endless ability to be in the right place at the right time. The consequence of this is that I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both."

So muses the narrator of Markus Zusak's powerful and moving bestselling novel of 2006, THE BOOK THIEF, which is now out in paperback. As you might guess, this is no ordinary narrator. The contemplative first person guiding you through this book is Death, an at-once fitting and ironic vanguard for a tale that both celebrates the power of words and agonizes over the consequences of their use. 

Set against the tragedy-stained canvas of World War II, Death tells the story of young Liesel Meminger (the eponymous book thief) growing up in Nazi Germany under the watchful eye of a staunch foster mother and kindly foster father who teaches her to read. She attends meetings of the BDM, a youth group aimed at indoctrinating young girls into Hitler's ideology. She plays soccer with the boys on her street, holding her own in any disputes that arise. And all the while, dreams of her dead brother haunt and goad her into a fascination with reading and words that inevitably leads to her life of crime. 

...

While other writers have employed Death as a narrator, Zusak makes his own indelible mark on the technique in the dimensions he gives to the character. Death is simultaneously dispassionate about his work and the impact it can have while striving to understand humanity's resilience. Death boasts an omniscience of what will happen in life but also a naivety about what can happen in the human heart. 

...

Read this book.  That is all.

Life Update

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." Robert Frost

I've put off posting because, quite frankly, I didn't want to put these words into writing yet again.  The short story is this: my position at work has been eliminated, and I'm out of a job.  The longer version doesn't really matter at this point, except that I was already looking for a new opportunity, and now I'm much more motivated to find one.  From here on out, January 25, 2012 will be the day that lives in infamy (as well as February 17, 2009).  Though on second thought, perhaps I shouldn't compare my loss of employment to the December 7, 1941, the day that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the day that truly lives in infamy.  [See, there I go again, making a World War II reference, and that relates directly to *my next post.]

*Initially, I inserted what is now the following post in this spot, since the segue from "the day that lives in infamy" miraculously fit the book I'd most recently finished.  BUT, I think I'm not quite being fair to myself if I don't at least mention a few things that have been floating about in my brain.

Losing your job sucks.  It fucking sucks.  Since this has now happened to me twice, I consider myself an expert and know all the things about losing jobs.  When you work somewhere for almost five years, that place becomes home.  Did I wake up with absolute joy every day because I was heading in to the office?  Did I adore every single one of my 400+ co-workers and colleagues?  Was I happy with my job responsibilities after holding the position for almost three years?  The answer to these questions is a resounding no.  In fact, I'd begun looking for a new opportunity, though I was in the very, very early stages of such.

However... did I find satisfaction in my job, helping people achieve a difficult task?  Yes.  Did I make a difference in people's lives?  Yes.  Am I proud of the quality of work that I leave behind?  Yes.  Did I consider my direct co-workers and many of my colleagues friends?  Yes.  Did I have three years worth of junk (but my junk) accumulated inside and underneath my desk?  Yes.  Please don't interpret this post as a complaint, because it's not.  I choose to see this situation as an opportunity; for three months I'll be paid to look for a new job while not actually have to work at the old one.  That's a win-win, right?

compliments of my former co-workers

More than anything, I am so very extremely lucky and fortunate to have wonderful friends and family who have sent me love, cupcakes, and funny someecards to brighten this time in my life.  I am also lucky to have been treated well upon my exit, and I harbor no ill-will toward my former place of employment.  I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and that God has a plan for each of us even if we're reluctant to follow.

That's all, folks.

Books I've Read Lately and Liked

So, yet again, I'm apologizing for not posting to my blog [even though I have a nifty little button over to the right side of this blog that states I'm blogging without obligation, i.e,. I will not apologize for not updating my blog on a consistent basis.  Yet, that's exactly what I'm doing.  Sorry for the stream-of-consciousness.  At least I used punctuation.  Virginia Wolfe could learn a lot from me.].

Anyway, I've read a lot of books in the past few months that I wanted to mention.  I've started this post several times and scrapped it because... well, because shit happens and I got busy.  So, in no particular order, please find below a listing of books that I've read and liked:

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hiter's Berlin, by Erik Larson.  I can safely say that I'm an Erik Larson fan (so is the NYTimes reviewer).  Larson is the author of Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck (both of which I enjoyed), so I was looking forward to reading this book based on his past performance.  I have a strange fascination with the Nazi movement (and WWII in general), and this book tells the story of the U.S. Ambassador to Germany as Hitler rises to power.  It's a very well-written, fast-paced book about history; if a "history book" does not sounds interesting to you, then I might recommend that you make your own informed decision before purchasing.  Larson spends a lot of time in the details, but that's exactly why he is so adept at storytelling.  He does his research and presents it in an unbiased way to further the story.  I'd give it a solid A overall.

Recently, my book club chose from some classic literature and read Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson.  Honestly, I'm a bit indifferent about this novel.  I never read it in school, so I was looking forward to reading it for the first time.  What I didn't really care for was the overall plot; there was so much time spent leading up to the actual voyage and treasure hunt that I was sort of bored by the time we arrived on Treasure Island.  However, what I did like was reading about the inspiration for so many characters in pop culture, from Long John Silver to Captain Jack Sparrow to the ubiquitous pirate-with-a-parrot-on-his-shoulder-and-a-peg-for-a-leg.  Overall, I'd give it a C+ (remember, to those type-A students like myself, a C is actually average, not necessarily a failure).

The 19th Wife, by David Ebershoff.  I actually really enjoyed this book that is simultaneously about the life of Ann Eliza Young (the 19th wife of Mormon prophet Brigham Young) and a present day murder-mystery that takes place in a modern-day FLDS family.  It's interesting to see how the stories intertwine, and I have to admit that I knew very, very little about the Mormon faith other than the commercials for TLC's Sister Wives (which I have never actually seen).  A note about this novel: the newspaper clippings, Wikipedia articles, etc., are presented as historical fiction; some of them do not actually exist.  Overall, I'd say B.  [This novel was also apparently made into a Lifetime movie, which makes me not like it although I realize that's dumb and very similar to my dislike of books with the "Oprah's Book Club" sticker on them.]

The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton.  I enjoy Edith Wharton (particularly Ethan Frome), and she did not disappoint with this novel.  Set in New York City in the late 1800s, it tells the story of the beautiful socialite Lily Bart and the unfortunate series of events in which she continues to place herself.  I have a hard time feeling sorry for Lily, as she brings many of her troubles upon herself, but I liked the glimpses into the high-society of Manhattan in the 1800s.  Edith Wharton wrote as she lived; she was born Edith Jones, and her socialite family inspired the phrase, "Keeping up with the Joneses."

Recent Readings

As mentioned in yesterday's post, my book club's last selection was Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay.  This novel is heartbreaking, but also engaging and enlightening.  The story centers around Julia Jarmond, an American journalist who has lived in Paris for over 20 years with her stereotypically arrogant and philandering French husband, Bertrand.  Julia's personal life, namely her deteriorating marriage, plays as significant a role in the novel as does Julia's work assignment to research the little-known Vél' d'Hiv' roundup of Parisian Jews on June 16, 1942.  Although the orders for the roundup came from the German Nazis, it was the French government who actually conducted the raids and imprisoned almost 10,000 Jews in an indoor cycling arena, the Vélodrome d'Hiver, awaiting transportation to various concentration camps.  I remember spending nine weeks studying the Holocaust in the 6th grade, and I still find stories surrounding the events of World War II interesting and horrifying.  This was a memorable story, as the more we learn about Sarah, the more we see Julia learn about herself.

After flying through Sarah's Key, I began A Son of the Circus, by John Irving.  Now, I love a good John Irving novel, although he's not everyone's cup of tea.  My favorites, of course, are A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Cider House Rules, two of his more popular books.  A Son of the Circus was a bit hard for me to get into, but once I did it was classic Irving.  At times humorous, at times sad and sometimes a bit pathetic (the characters, not the writing), I enjoyed the book as an escapade into the Bombay of the late 1980s involving dwarfs, trans-gender prostitutes (this is Irving, after all), murder and mayhem.  If you're an Irving fan, go for it; if not, I would recommend that you start with The World According to Garp or A Prayer for Owen Meany before diving into this one.

I've been reading, what have you been doing?

So, if I didn't make it clear in my previous post about reading, I love to read.  True story that one day I will be embarrassed that I wrote about--in junior high, I looked forward to summer vacation so I would have more time to read books of my own choosing, rather than those forced upon me.  Granted, much of this time was spent by the pool or at the beach working on my tan, but still.  Anyway, I recently read two books that I really wanted to write about it.  They are The History of Love and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

“Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend the rest of his life answering.”  As happens so often to me, I had picked up The History of Love numerous times in numerous book stores, only to replace it with another book.  Why?  I don't know.  A friend lent me the novel to read, and I immediately regretted not buying it for myself.  I don't often reread books, but I would read this one again and again.  The blurb on the back cover doesn't do much to explain the plot, which is probably one reason for my indecisiveness in purchasing the book.  It's basically two interwoven stories, one of a teenage girl named Alma who is desperately trying to connect with and please her mother, and the other of an elderly Holocaust survivor, known as Leo Gursky, living alone in Manhattan.  To make matters more interesting, the story itself revolves around a novel appropriately titled The History of Love.  The novel deals with the themes of love, loss, and longing; not only that, but the prose is beautifully written and constructed.  I can, without a doubt, say that this is one of my favorite books.  Ever.

As for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society--with a title like that, how can you not want to read this book?  What is Guernsey?  Why does its society deal with both literature and potato peel pies?  What, in fact, is a potato peel pie?  In short, you can find the answer to all of these questions by reading the book, which covers the occupation of the British Channel Islands during World War II.  (Long parenthetical: As I write, I realize that this is the second book in a row that I read dealing with World War II.  This is unintentional, although I do find the accounts of World War II interesting and horrid and disturbing and gripping. [A second aside: When I was younger, I misunderstood and thought this particular war was called "War War Two."  To me, this actually made sense; it must have been the second war, and to emphasize this fact, they used the word "war" twice.  I am pretty sure I learned the correct verbiage sometime before the 7th grade, when I had a nine-week study of the Second World War and the Holocaust in my rotation class.])

The plot progresses through a series of letters between a female newspaper journalist and the inhabitants of Guernsey, an island located in the English Channel.  The personal letters between the characters provide an intimicacy that seems as if you actually know the characters, and/or are eavesdropping on their private correspondence.  Those who live on Guernsey are basically prisoners of Hitler's troops who have overtaken the Island as a point of defense in the English Channel; the inhabitants are subjected to curfews and strict rules.  The only freedom they can find is in books, and in their discussions of said books.  Hence, the Guernsey Literary Society.  I'll let you read the book yourself to find out how potato peel pies fit into the story, but please take my word that you will enjoy this book.