Guilt and Bare Feet

Introducing my latest guilty pleasures:

This is probably one of the worst cereals you could possibly eat. It’s filled with corn syrup, sugar, and all kinds of random crap. Too bad Mike and I both love it so when we found it on sale last week we went crazy and bought four boxes. Yikes. Luckily it’s too sweet to eat for breakfast, but every day when I get home from work the box calls to me from the cupboard like so much chocolate and peanut butter-flavored crack cocaine. I usually end up eating a bowl while curled up on the couch watching this:

I have no idea when this TV show came into being or what channel it was originally on but for some reason when I found it streaming on Netflix I was intrigued and watched the first episode. Then the second. And the third, fourth, and so on. It’s safe to assume that I’m hooked. Pushing Daisies is unlike anything I’ve ever seen on TV–it’s quirky, charming, and has the visual appeal of a Tim Burton movie. Plus Kristen Chenoweth is in it and the whole shebang is narrated by the actor that also narrates the Harry Potter audiobooks. If you're looking to fill the void that LOST left in your TV life then this show probably won't be your cup of tea, but if you're in the mood to think of the world as a simple, colorful place I would recommend giving Pushing Daisies a try.

OK, so now that I’ve fessed up to eating junky cereal and watching mindless TV, I’m going to try and redeem myself by sending a health-related question out into the blogosphere: what have you heard about these shoes? After getting my first running-related injury this spring (a stress fracture in my foot), I’ve been really intrigued by the concept of barefoot running (listening to this interview also made me curious). Supposedly all these high-tech running shoes are making our feet weak sauce and actually causing some of the injuries that many runners get, so running barefoot is the way to go. I can understand this concept in theory but what I’m interested in is the practical side of things. Have any of you run in vibrams for 5+ miles or know anyone who has? Are these shoes really as awesome as people claim or have you heard of some drawbacks? Any and all information on this subject would be welcome. In the meantime, I’m going to go pour myself another bowl of Reese’s puffs.

M & M

Last week on a beautiful August day, my little sister Masha married Matt Mulcock. I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that my little sister, who also happens to be one of my best friends and favorite people, is now someone's wife. Seems like just yesterday we were fighting over our one cabbage patch doll and speaking to each other in gibberish Japanese.

That said, it thrills me to no end to see Smash as happy as she is when she's with Matt. He treats her like gold and complements her personality perfectly. Matt also gets bonus points for picking up on the family dynamic so well. Case in point: at the wedding dinner Mash and I were talking about something random and apparently Matt needed to have a word with my sister so he stood right by us for probably five minutes waiting for a break in the conversation. Of course that break never came, so finally Mike had to come over and bring Matt's presence to our attention. I felt pretty rude but Matt's reaction was classic: He turned to Mike and said "I know there's no interrupting these two." Oh Matt. Apparently you too are aware of the phenomenon that Butch refers to as "the sister zone." Sorry dude.

Of course I forgot my camera that day, but here are a few photos I stole from facebook pages:

Smash and I at the wedding dinner:
And at the temple. Isn't she a gorgeous bride?

Butch and I.

The Preo sisters. I love these two more than words can say. Family at the reception. Mom's face is classic.

Dema and Alex

Baby Anna in her yellow dress. It doesn't get any cuter than this:

The Little King raiding the candy dishes.

Bridesmaids (and a little bit of baby Anna). I look pretty dang stubby and pale standing next to supermodels Hannah and Erin. Bad choice.

Smash with the G parents. Who are still kickin at 90.
Brothers and sisters. Apparently I am the only one in "picture mode" and Dema just said something interesting.

Well, it looks like Wedding Season is finally winding down. Our fridge is a little less cluttered with announcements and the calendar space once crowded with showers, receptions, etc. is looking blessedly free. I love weddings as much as the next person, but going to a ton of them in a row leaves me completely exhausted. And admitting that makes me feel like I am 24 going on 80. Or maybe just socially handicapped.

The Pages I've Been Turning

I love to read year-round, but when summer hits my appetite for books becomes absolutely insatiable. This is probably because I still associate summer with my younger years, when its blessed arrival meant freedom from responsibility and ample time to spend lounging by the pool absorbed in a good read. No such luck this year, but between Bear Lake weekends and the afternoon reading breaks a few of my co-workers and I have instituted, I’ve been able to finish a few books.

Here’s the breakdown of what I’ve read lately:

Sarah's Key is one of those books that had promise because of the interesting subject matter (French involvement in the holocaust), but it wasn’t my cup of tea. The writing style reminded me of instructions they give you in junior high English classes, I could guess most of the plot twists from about twenty pages away, and the whole thing felt a little forced and melodramatic. It was also very sad. But not in a beautiful way.

Oh. My. Land. Jonathan Safran Foer is incredible. That’s all there is to say. But I will say more anyway. Namely that I loved this book from start to finish and I wish I could have the experience of reading it again for the first time.

The plot centers around a nine-year-old boy whose father dies in 9-11 and this novel is narrated mainly from his point of view. His voice reminded me a lot of the boy in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, so if you enjoyed that then Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is definitely worth picking up. Easily one of the best books I’ve read in years.

I think this is one of those books best read in one sitting when you have a few hours to do nothing but soak up some good old-fashioned storytelling and descriptions of the Norwegian countryside. It’s very slow and quite vague, but the writing does have a definite beauty to it. Maybe I just had a hard time with Out Stealing Horses because I was forced to read it in small chunks, and, after the postmodern busyness of Extremely Loud, it was difficult to focus on a book as nuanced as this one. I guess you could say I appreciated it but didn’t really enjoy it all that much. Maybe I’ll give it another try when I have ample spare time on my hands.

Chuck Klosterman’s essays are kind of like an inside joke; funny if you get what he’s talking about and completely lame if you don’t. Unless you are a bona fide expert on pop culture, chances are you’ll find yourself scratching your head more than a couple of times. But when you do understand Klosterman’s subject matter, like when I read his essay on Saved by the Bell, he is pretty clever. Albeit in an overthought, cynical way best enjoyed in small doses. Also, Chuck can be pretty crass at times. Just putting that out there as a warning of sorts.

Ah, the token summer bestseller. I read this book for the same reason that I read The Help, DaVinci Code , Twilight (ugh), and countless other titles: because everyone else was doing it. Like those other books, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is not going to win a Pulitzer Prize any time soon, but it was entertaining in a trashy, quasi disturbing way. I don’t recommend reading it when you are all by yourself at night, though. If you’re anything like me you will be convinced that every creak of the floorboards is a serial killer hell-bent on breaking into your house and smuggling you away to Sweden.

Everything is Illuminated is up next on my summer reading agenda, but after that my list of library holds is a barren wasteland. So tell me friends, what have you read and loved lately?