I kind of wanted to do a legitimate review of The Da Vinci Code because it was such a riveting read, but it's also a profoundly controversial one. I don't want to offend anyone, so I'll just touch on why I was so engrossed by it. The books I get most attached to make a point of developing characters and fostering all kinds of relationships between them. This did nothing like that. The only character that was developed at all was Leigh Teabing, and even that was only to heighten the intensity of a later plot twist. The only semblance of characters interacting in a way that wasn't directly necessary for the progression of the plot was a kiss between the two protagonists in the last chapter of the book. It's completely unprecedented. Readers may suspect this is coming because that's precisely what happened between Robert Langdon and Vittoria in Angels and Demons, which was Dan Brown's first Langdon-narrated novel. Nothing ever came of that from the first book to this one, and Langdon often reflects on being used to life as a bachelor. There's exactly one moment, when Langdon smells Sophie's perfume, that he appears to take any notice of her as a person. This lack of human development is something plenty of good books can have, but it's not something I've found in any of my favorite reads before. I guess I'm just shocked that a book with virtually no characterization or human element could hold my attention so strongly.
That aside, The Da Vinci Code is an eye-opening read because it's so rooted in facts and history. After finishing, I did a lot of reading into the Gnostic Gospels, the Merovingian dynasty, and the real Priory of Sion. There are varying amounts of historical evidence for all of these, which was intriguing to learn of. Despite conspiracy theories and pseudo-historical claims, I really recommend this book. Just go in with an open mind and be prepared to sort out your own thoughts afterwards.
Gosh, that took longer than I imagined it was going to for not even being a full review.
Now onto more mundane and happy topics!
Happy Birthday to my beautiful and beloved (and thoroughly missed) Shannon! Nineteen and Crazy indeed!
Saturday was also Sydney's Sweet Sixteen. I've been to precisely 13 formal Sweet Sixteens with ball-gown-and-tiara-wielding birthday girls. Generally, these are preppy occasions. I've seen dresses in red, orange, gold, green, aqua, teal, purple, fuchsia, hot pink, baby pink, and white. Girls usually walk in to pop songs like "Gotta Feelin'," "When I Grow Up," or "Party," or equally peppy songs related to the party's theme, like "Supermodel," (Fashion) or "Ever Ever After," (Disney Princesses). I hadn't been to a single party where the birthday girl didn't do a full or partial updo accompanied by curling iron curls.
I really have to commend Sydney on throwing a definitively Sydney party. Very few girls could pull off wearing black at their own parties, entering with a complete Thriller dance number, and requesting songs like "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Sell Out." Her hair was pulled back just enough that she wouldn't get sweaty on the dance floor, and it was her customary straight, dark red. I'm just very impressed by how atypically she designed her red, black, and gold Masquerade-themed party. I'm really proud of her. I remember the days when our parents would go out to dinner and leave Chelsea, Sydney, Deels, Eric and me at one of our houses and we'd be ridiculous and crazy together for hours at a time. Remember that time we heard Jake (their dog) running up and down the stairs, and we though he was a burglar? It was super S's to the rescue that day, armed with brooms and rakes against a cocker spaniel. Seeing Sydney all grown up and lady-like made me feel nostalgic, but also proud that our families have been so involved with each other for over a decade. That connection is really special, and I'm beyond honored that we were called up for a candle.
Basically, Sydney, I loved the unique quality of your party and I'm honored to have been a part of it. I love you guys a lot and I can't wait until Woodloch 2012!
On an even more mundane note, I today was lovely. We saw The Avengers which was stunning to watch, even if it didn't have the most clever or original plot. I say "stunning" because the graphics were unreal. If you plan on seeing it, it's worth spending the money to see it on the big screen. Also, Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans are wonderful to look at. A side note would be that I do agree with Andy: some of the dialogue was painful to listen to. Some though, usually any involving Iron Man (played by Robert Downey Jr., for those living under a rock), were witty enough. I then did like 10 minutes of Zumba to let off steam and then helped my sister with her Trig homework. I'm so proud of myself for recalling enough math to actually be helpful! Who knew?
In other news, I've lost 10 pounds on my all-liquids diet, and have reduced my Advil intake from 90 milliliters a day to 50. I'm allowed to sleep in my own bed again, and no more decongestants either! I still can't drive, speak properly, or eat regularly, but we're getting there. My next check-up is Thursday, which means that with any luck, I can progress to soft foods. Having pastina on my birthday would make my life much more pleasurable at this point in time.
I'm having video issues with my beautiful Boston friends, so I'm finishing this blog instead of hanging out with them in Google Plus for a few minutes to give my lazy computer a break. It should be good now, or so I hope. Until next time, my darlings.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
“Telling someone about what a symbol means is like telling someone how music should make them feel.”
I feel so loved lately. I want to thank everyone again for the cards, flowers, and messages I've been lucky to receive. This would be infinitely harder if I didn't know how much love and support my family, friends, and community have for me. Thank you all so, SO much! <3
So proud of my Blueshirt boys! Also, I want a Staal brother. My sister claimed Carl Hagelin back when he was still a draft, so any Staal that isn't already married, I'll gladly take.
Side note-- I feel WAY less bad about all the losing Northeastern did to Boston College since Kreider is now a solid rock on the Rangers. We'll get 'em next year, Huskies.
I can't wait to be back during hockey season at Northeastern. Pep band and hockey and then all may frandz hangin out an bein silly afterwards sounds delightful.
Besides the mouth situation (it feels like I'm walking around with a cinderblock clamped between my jaws), my days have been enjoyable. I've been watching lots of Friends, Seinfeld, and How I Met Your Mother. Additionally, I'm about a hundred pages away from finishing The Da Vinci Code, which is an utterly fantastic read. It's been a long time since I've read something so gripping. It's not my usual genre or style, so I'm intrigued by my own interest in the thing. It's a historical fiction novel that calls the Roman Catholic Church--not the Catholic faith, but the historical administration of the church-- into serious questioning via ACTUAL secret societies, historical events, histories of symbols and icons, and seemingly insignificant details in the masterpieces of Da Vinci. Where fact and fiction collide, I'm starting to wonder. I may do some research once I finish this thing. After this, it's back to Dante's Inferno, then a short novel by the author of Life of Pi, entitled Beatrice and Virgil. I'm interested since those are the names of Dante's (sort-of) lover and guardian angel, respectively. It's actually about a donkey and a monkey, but with a title like that, there must be some interesting connections.
Also, with so much focus on the Holy Grail in Da Vinci Code, I was inspired to watch Monty Python for the first time. It is very, very silly. I was caught off-guard by the "Sir Galahad, the Chaste." WHERE did "Why, Mister Galahad..." come from, Andy?! On that note, I love the titles of Andy's blog entries, even though (or especially because?) they don't make sense until you finish reading the blog. The most recent, entitled something to do with "48 Johannas" got me really excited momentarily. Having 47 other Sabrinas wandering around could be totally entertaining.
So with all this loafing around and having my butt planted in a recliner LITERALLY 18 hours a day, I'm still managing to lose weight thanks to the "chicken soup and chocolate milk" diet. I'm down six and a half pounds from Surgery Day! At roughly 1000 liquid calories plus about a liter of liquid medications dispersed over each day, I am starting to miss real food. Today was the first day I've been properly hungry since the surgery. I guess that means my body's that much closer to being normal again, but being able to WANT food again puts me no closer to being ABLE to eat food again. Other things are pretty much normal again-- swelling has gone down intensely, I can shower normally, no dizzy or light-headed spells, and I'm even feeling good enough to do my hair and makeup again. I'm thinking it'll get much better after this first week. Apparently during the surgery, my jaw shattered in an extra spot, meaning the process took an extra hour and I have one more titanium bracket than was planned. I should have come out able to open to my jaw but I've been instructed not to. I visit the doctor tomorrow, so we'll see what changes in my diet and abilities.
If I try really hard, smelling good food is almost as good as having some. For instance, last night we got Greek takeout for Mother's Day. Just sitting there and basking in all the aromas of what I'm sure was a delicious meal for everyone else without gorging on the exorbitant amount of calories I surely would have incurred if I'd been capable to eat was almost even refreshing! Even now, as Dad and Eric munch on Doritos during Period Three of Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals (Rangers and Devils at MSG), I can enjoy them without bearing the burden of 600 extra calories. I realize this is the flimsiest silver lining ever, but for a girl who has 44 more days until her eating habits can return to normal, it's the best I can do.
My biggest complaint after the pain, discomfort, and medication schedule is how removed I feel from real life. I haven't left the house or hung out with anyone in the last six days, save 20 minutes of catching up with Rebecca and a lot of time with my surgeon. I haven't seen anyone from Northeastern or Smithtown in person, giving me this weird sense of reclusiveness from everything. As soon as my face stops looking like a teenage mutant ninja turtle, I'm excited to reinitiate Google Plus video chats with my Tremont Street Raiders and future Suities and have all my beloved Smithtown sweethearts come visit me. Cheers, guys!
So proud of my Blueshirt boys! Also, I want a Staal brother. My sister claimed Carl Hagelin back when he was still a draft, so any Staal that isn't already married, I'll gladly take.
Side note-- I feel WAY less bad about all the losing Northeastern did to Boston College since Kreider is now a solid rock on the Rangers. We'll get 'em next year, Huskies.
I can't wait to be back during hockey season at Northeastern. Pep band and hockey and then all may frandz hangin out an bein silly afterwards sounds delightful.
Besides the mouth situation (it feels like I'm walking around with a cinderblock clamped between my jaws), my days have been enjoyable. I've been watching lots of Friends, Seinfeld, and How I Met Your Mother. Additionally, I'm about a hundred pages away from finishing The Da Vinci Code, which is an utterly fantastic read. It's been a long time since I've read something so gripping. It's not my usual genre or style, so I'm intrigued by my own interest in the thing. It's a historical fiction novel that calls the Roman Catholic Church--not the Catholic faith, but the historical administration of the church-- into serious questioning via ACTUAL secret societies, historical events, histories of symbols and icons, and seemingly insignificant details in the masterpieces of Da Vinci. Where fact and fiction collide, I'm starting to wonder. I may do some research once I finish this thing. After this, it's back to Dante's Inferno, then a short novel by the author of Life of Pi, entitled Beatrice and Virgil. I'm interested since those are the names of Dante's (sort-of) lover and guardian angel, respectively. It's actually about a donkey and a monkey, but with a title like that, there must be some interesting connections.
Also, with so much focus on the Holy Grail in Da Vinci Code, I was inspired to watch Monty Python for the first time. It is very, very silly. I was caught off-guard by the "Sir Galahad, the Chaste." WHERE did "Why, Mister Galahad..." come from, Andy?! On that note, I love the titles of Andy's blog entries, even though (or especially because?) they don't make sense until you finish reading the blog. The most recent, entitled something to do with "48 Johannas" got me really excited momentarily. Having 47 other Sabrinas wandering around could be totally entertaining.
So with all this loafing around and having my butt planted in a recliner LITERALLY 18 hours a day, I'm still managing to lose weight thanks to the "chicken soup and chocolate milk" diet. I'm down six and a half pounds from Surgery Day! At roughly 1000 liquid calories plus about a liter of liquid medications dispersed over each day, I am starting to miss real food. Today was the first day I've been properly hungry since the surgery. I guess that means my body's that much closer to being normal again, but being able to WANT food again puts me no closer to being ABLE to eat food again. Other things are pretty much normal again-- swelling has gone down intensely, I can shower normally, no dizzy or light-headed spells, and I'm even feeling good enough to do my hair and makeup again. I'm thinking it'll get much better after this first week. Apparently during the surgery, my jaw shattered in an extra spot, meaning the process took an extra hour and I have one more titanium bracket than was planned. I should have come out able to open to my jaw but I've been instructed not to. I visit the doctor tomorrow, so we'll see what changes in my diet and abilities.
If I try really hard, smelling good food is almost as good as having some. For instance, last night we got Greek takeout for Mother's Day. Just sitting there and basking in all the aromas of what I'm sure was a delicious meal for everyone else without gorging on the exorbitant amount of calories I surely would have incurred if I'd been capable to eat was almost even refreshing! Even now, as Dad and Eric munch on Doritos during Period Three of Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals (Rangers and Devils at MSG), I can enjoy them without bearing the burden of 600 extra calories. I realize this is the flimsiest silver lining ever, but for a girl who has 44 more days until her eating habits can return to normal, it's the best I can do.
My biggest complaint after the pain, discomfort, and medication schedule is how removed I feel from real life. I haven't left the house or hung out with anyone in the last six days, save 20 minutes of catching up with Rebecca and a lot of time with my surgeon. I haven't seen anyone from Northeastern or Smithtown in person, giving me this weird sense of reclusiveness from everything. As soon as my face stops looking like a teenage mutant ninja turtle, I'm excited to reinitiate Google Plus video chats with my Tremont Street Raiders and future Suities and have all my beloved Smithtown sweethearts come visit me. Cheers, guys!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Every feelin', every beat, can be so very sweet, you gotta taste it.
I'm listening to a very feel-good playlist tonight. Let's Get Loud, We Got the Beat, Ladies Night, Dancing in the Street. No clue where this extreme optimism came from but I'll take it while it lasts... even though we're down to 9 days till Doomsday. I'll leave those thoughts for then there's like a day left.
Today was Eric's birthday! Most of my friends remember him like he's six. It's like all their last memories of him are when he crashed my sleepover party in sixth grade to be fawned over by all my girlfriends. Thing is, he's actually thirteen. Like, he's a teenager now. I'm going into my last year, he's going into his first. Time goes by so quickly.
Anyway, he his team won their dek hockey game tonight! They scored twice in the first period and the other team,l ast season's defending champs, scored twice in the third. They won in a shoot-out and it was super exciting! Can't quite say the same for my Blueshirt Boys, but it's only the second game of the series. There's time yet.
Eric and I spent the afternoon looking up and trying out glitches in Super Mario 64 for Nintendo. We got outsmarted the Never-Ending staircase in the 70 star room and got into the final Battle with Bowser with only 54 Stars! We're such badasses.
We also had delicious chocolate fudge and Banana Cream cakes. I love birthdays.
Two of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me are that I'm whimsical and that I have a sense of adventure. I'm rather pleased.
So despite my dread for Doomsday, I found an up-side. Scratch that, two. Well, two good outcomes from one crappy aspect of it all. Since I only have eight days left of being able to eat normally, mom's making every food I like between now and then. This includes prime rib, pasta with basil pesto sauce, Little Vincent's Pizza, chinese food, KFC, homemade chicken soup, and lambchops. I'm going to eat ALL the food this week.
Also, since I can only eat liquids after, I at least get to lose 20 pounds. Despite all the other crap, it could be worse.
It feels weird to be caught up on Doctor Who. I just finished Season Six. While it was fantastic, I can't help but be uncomfortable knowing I've watched all their is for now. I have to wait HOW LONG till Season 7??
"That's what monkeys do. When they smile, it's because they're about to KILL YOU!" Eric.
(After I just explained what a honey badger is to Deels and she blatantly didn't get it:)
"And the deer, Oh My God, it was like honey badger!" Deels.
"Woof." Eric.
"You couldn't handle a basilisk." Deels
"Well you couldn't get to the Department of Mysteries, let alone get OUT of it." Eric
And now for some Winnie-the-Pooh:
"An adventure is a wonderful thing!"
"In the printed word is where truth lies."
"I wonder if you're dreaming too, wherever you are."
"Perhaps the place you are is not on a map. How very nice for us!"
"You're braver than a bee, longer than a tree, and taller than a goose... or maybe it was a moose?"
"You're smarter when you're pink!"
"You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."
Thank you Pooh's Grand Adventure. I just found those pearls of wisdom hidden away in my phone. It was a truly pleasant surprise.
Today was Eric's birthday! Most of my friends remember him like he's six. It's like all their last memories of him are when he crashed my sleepover party in sixth grade to be fawned over by all my girlfriends. Thing is, he's actually thirteen. Like, he's a teenager now. I'm going into my last year, he's going into his first. Time goes by so quickly.
Anyway, he his team won their dek hockey game tonight! They scored twice in the first period and the other team,l ast season's defending champs, scored twice in the third. They won in a shoot-out and it was super exciting! Can't quite say the same for my Blueshirt Boys, but it's only the second game of the series. There's time yet.
Eric and I spent the afternoon looking up and trying out glitches in Super Mario 64 for Nintendo. We got outsmarted the Never-Ending staircase in the 70 star room and got into the final Battle with Bowser with only 54 Stars! We're such badasses.
We also had delicious chocolate fudge and Banana Cream cakes. I love birthdays.
Two of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me are that I'm whimsical and that I have a sense of adventure. I'm rather pleased.
So despite my dread for Doomsday, I found an up-side. Scratch that, two. Well, two good outcomes from one crappy aspect of it all. Since I only have eight days left of being able to eat normally, mom's making every food I like between now and then. This includes prime rib, pasta with basil pesto sauce, Little Vincent's Pizza, chinese food, KFC, homemade chicken soup, and lambchops. I'm going to eat ALL the food this week.
Also, since I can only eat liquids after, I at least get to lose 20 pounds. Despite all the other crap, it could be worse.
It feels weird to be caught up on Doctor Who. I just finished Season Six. While it was fantastic, I can't help but be uncomfortable knowing I've watched all their is for now. I have to wait HOW LONG till Season 7??
"That's what monkeys do. When they smile, it's because they're about to KILL YOU!" Eric.
(After I just explained what a honey badger is to Deels and she blatantly didn't get it:)
"And the deer, Oh My God, it was like honey badger!" Deels.
"Woof." Eric.
"You couldn't handle a basilisk." Deels
"Well you couldn't get to the Department of Mysteries, let alone get OUT of it." Eric
And now for some Winnie-the-Pooh:
"An adventure is a wonderful thing!"
"In the printed word is where truth lies."
"I wonder if you're dreaming too, wherever you are."
"Perhaps the place you are is not on a map. How very nice for us!"
"You're braver than a bee, longer than a tree, and taller than a goose... or maybe it was a moose?"
"You're smarter when you're pink!"
"You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."
Thank you Pooh's Grand Adventure. I just found those pearls of wisdom hidden away in my phone. It was a truly pleasant surprise.
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