I've moved!

Catch up here.

hey there, pretty girl

you know exactly what you got

So I'm going out tonight, for a friend of a friend's engagement party. Mel's here, to pregame. So here's everything:











Also, I drank this.


We're not going out anymore. Unfortunate circumstances. Still feeling it, but I'm losing my buzz. Not going anywhere now, but I think I might still kill the bottle.

Book #50: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

We Need to Talk About Kevin is a novel told entirely in letters from a mother (Eva) to her husband (Franklin), while their son is in prison for multiple murders. He committed a school massacre. At first I had a few doubts about the formatting of the novel. I didn't think that one-sided letters would be effective, but I changed my mind one hundred pages from the end. The one-sided letters are extremely effective. The novel itself is set up like a thriller, slowly revealing details of Kevin's life from birth until 18.

I have never been quite so physically affected by a novel before. Perhaps its the combination of contributing variables in Kevin's life - his obvious sociopathic tendencies (although the term is never mentioned), his mother's lack of connection and dislike for him, their fractured family homelife. It's obvious that the narrative is building to something extremely destructive. It made me very nervous.

The nature versus nurture debate is in full effect here - and I found myself switching sides more than once. I've always been a fairly staunch 'nurture' supporter, probably because the possibility of a sociopathic genetic malfunction is terrifying. How can 3% of the population be born entirely inhuman? Our grasp on human connection, mercy and morality cannot be so tenuous. In Kevin's case, though, it appears that it is. No amount of Eva's poor parenting seems to affect what already exists inside him. And that's unsettling.

In fact, all the books I've read so far for this Cannonball, (50!) this one has single-handedly affected me the most. When I finished it late last night, I felt jittery. I had a tight little ball in my chest - the panic rat - that I typically get before an anxiety attack. And it took me a long time to fall asleep.*



*This may also have to do with some impromptu research on Ted Bundy I did earlier this week. Why, I have no clue. Did you know he was shockingly, terrifyingly handsome?

Book #49: Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Holy dysfunction. Before I saw the movie the first time (not long after it first came out), I had no idea this was a memoir. Who carts their son off to live with their psychoanalyst? In a house that could be featured on Hoarders? Oh man. I'm glad he became a critically acclaimed writer and all, but it makes me wonder what Burroughs is really like.

That aside, I loved this book. It's hilarious. Such a quick read. And Burroughs manages to make everyone relatively sympathetic - the Finches, his crazy-ass mother Deirdre, Bookman. It's a dark coming of age story told through a glossy lens: Augusten craves a beauty empire, Augusten has his first gay sexual relationship while underage, Augusten punches the kitchen ceiling out. The plot is so smoothed over with hilarity and irreverence that once you adjust to life with the Finches, everything seems commonplace. It's also easy to get lured into the Finches and Deirdre's adventures - the thought of doing whatever you want is very appealing. Who doesn't want to throw the contents of their house into the backyard sometimes?

Rum Punch

Note the actual coconut floating inside. Is it pure rum? Rum punch? Why is it so blue? Don't worry I'll find out.

Book #48: Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

Tender Morsels is a vast, well-written fairytale. And it is marked as YA, which I think is a misstep. It's beginning is ridiculously mature subject matter, and I had to put the book down and walk it off a few times. It's sad and scary and awful, but it drives the story. I think teens would be put off by it. (Seriously, what age bracket is YA directed at?) However I would in no way change that beginning, because it adds credibility to the central storyline - the fairytale.

Liga Longfield, after suffering through some outstanding hardships, is offered another world. A place where she can go and raise her kids and be happy forever. She accepts. I knew about the magical otherworldly turn that this book takes, and I was hesitant while approaching it - would it be believeable? Could I actually be invested in a glowing moon-child? Resounding yes.

The story doesn't really hit it's stride until the midpoint, when the various plot threads come together. Liga realizes that her new perfect heaven-world is a) not fair to her children and b) kind of fucking terrifying. Everyone is all blank and Stepford-y and passionless. She recalls, with understandable hesitation, the brutal and terrible (albeit passionate) world that she came from. Which will she choose?

If you can stomach the first few chapters, this book is worth it.
Sidenote: I have never included a cover image before, but I will now. Because the cover is beautiful.

Update: I've included cover images. Only because Amanda and Clair's blogs look so pretty.

Fearless 2010: Cooking

I think this would be an amazing hangover pizza. Potato pesto pizza via foodwishes.

Fearless 2010: Cooking

Winner winner chicken dinner! Literally! This is orzo with chicken and peas and it's AMAZING. The best thing I've tried so far. Orzo is my new favourite thing - possibly because it combines two of my other favourite things (pasta and things that are rice-like). Via foodwishes!