Book Review: Ysabel

Once in a while W and I will got to Powell's Books to browse the stacks and look for interesting books which we text message to ourselves. Back at home, we order them from our awesome library. There are certain authors that I always check (primarily in the Sci-Fi section) and I am very happy to find new books. On our last trip, a few months ago, we found many new books to read. One book I came across is by an author that I really like to read named Guy Gavriel Kay. I especially enjoyed "The Fionavar Tapestry" which was a series of books involving both travel to distant planets and Celtic myth. When I saw that he had a new book, Ysabel, I got very excited. I eagerly awaited receiving it from the library and I was not disappointed. The book pulled me in form the first few pages. It is the story of two teenagers in modern day France who stumble on to a mystery. In some ways it reminded me of The Da Vinci Code but in others it resembled Kay's previous work, "The Fionavar Tapestry", with a weaving of Celtic myth.

I could not put this book down and I kept waiting for it to go all wrong the way books do sometimes. But it never did. It captured me and kept me intrigued until the very last page. I loved it and consider it the best book I have read all year. Check it out!

Blog Action Day 2007

Blogging has not been my top priority for the past few weeks. My mom was in town (Hi Mom!) and so extra time was spent sewing my 4 year old daughter a gold lame dress (don't ask) and playing lots and lots of scrabble. I apologize if you have come to my blog and not seen anything new. I am back!

Today's blog post has a special topic. The topic is the environment. As part of Blog Action Day 2007, I am making it a priority to talk about the environment today. I have been working in the area of the environment for over 7 years. I have seen it change dramatically in that time. When I first started working to green printers in my high tech company, the environment was a sideshow. And I don't mean that in a nice way. It was the ugly duckling, the kid on the playground no one wanted to talk to. It was filled with fiery-eyed yuppie environmentalists and old school hippies. It was so not cool.

But the past 7 years have wrought a change on the world that I am surprised and happy to witness. Instead of being the ugly duckling, the environmental movement is just showing signs of transforming into a swan. It isn't there yet and amongst it's graceful steps there are still trips and falls. But the change is dramatic. Could you have imagined 7 years ago that Al Gore would win the Nobel Peace Prize? Could you have imagined giant Wal-Mart creating their own sustainability program for their employees?
Could you have imagined Arnold Schwarzenegger saying OK to a ban on phthalates in children's products ? Could you have imagined environmental heroes like Leonardo DiCaprio or Brad Pitt ?

The world is changing. Are you changing with it? Do you even know what you need to do to live more sustainably? There are many, many, many "top things you can do to green your life" kinds of lists out there. You can also get daily green tips or daily green news here or here. A fun thing you can do with friends or in your workplace or place of worship is to take a Northwest Earth Institute class. These are discussion courses that gently educate you on how to be more earth friendly.

What step are you going to take today? I challenge you to do one thing today to make the world a better place or to reduce your impact on the world. What you do is up to you.

Clutter Battles - Part 8

Some day I believe that I will let go of my "clutter battles" and move on to different topics. However, reporting here in my blog is keeping me on track. For anyone reading this - I appreciate your support!

Things out of the house:
Big steamer trunk
1 bag assorted computer equipment to Free Geek
1 pottery vase
2 pottery bowls
5 paintings
1 bag of baby clothes and baby toys
Half a box of books to Powell's

Things waiting to go out:
1 bag nice kids clothes
2 pottery bowls
2 pottery vases
~ 10 paintings
Clothes to Full Circle Consignment
1 bag plus some books to Goodwill

Things to go through:
Lots of books
Clothes that don't fit me
Lots of boxes of paper (?!?!)

Things / Places to organize:
Garage
Art supplies in playroom (K started doing this - thank you K!)

Things I don't know what to do with:
My art (although I have started giving it away to friends and family)

Clutter Battles - a boost

Thank you B & B for giving me the ability to utilize the services of Kathie England, personal organizer! I wrote about her in several previous posts. Many of the surplus material goods are out of the house but what I am left with is mostly paper. Let me rephrase that and say, "paper - the bane of my existence". (Do I really need my second grade standardized test scores? I think not.) In some ways I want to wait until I make some more progress getting material things out so I can focus on the paper but I know myself and what I need to do is to call her ASAP so that I can get on her schedule. Knowing I have a meeting on the books will spur me to action. But realistically, I will take a week to mentally prepare to start working on the "paper project".

Thanks again!

Dark, Important and Dangerous

Have you ever played the fortune cookie game (see popular culture section)? It is where you read your fortune cookie aloud and add the words, "in bed" at the end. Here are a few examples:

* "A secret admirer will soon send you a sign of affection" would read "A secret admirer will soon send you a sign of affection in bed"

* "Love is for the lucky and the brave" would read "Love is for the lucky and the brave in bed"."

Of course it doesn't always work but it can be amusing. Last week we played the super fun game Apples to Apples. In the game you need to match the nouns in your hand to the adjective card on the table. At the end of the game, assuming you won some hands, you end up with some adjective cards. We decided to say that these adjectives described us. So according to that, I am "dark, important and dangerous". I felt bad for the person who got "lumpy" (sorry Nicole!).

Clutter Battles - Part 7 An Update

The progress continues and we are amazed at how clean and open our basement looks. Here is an update on the variety of things I have been dealing with.

Things I have gotten out of our house:
1 violin
1 large keyboard, stand and chair (lent out)
1 printer
1 book
1 Package w/3 books, shirt, sunglasses
2 bags shredded material
1 small bag of diaper covers
1 small bag of waffle style baby blankets
4 bags to Joanna
3 bags to Goodwill
1 CD

My new total of things out of the house is 60 "grocery bag units". And we are not done!!! All I can say is this has been really fun once we got going. We definitely have momentum. I will need all the momentum I can get to go through all the remaining paper which is the bulk of what is left.

Clutter Battles - One Piece of Paper at a Time

Lost

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

David Wagoner
copyright 1976

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Ok. Now I can recycle that piece of paper. :)