My sister and I are going into business together.

Yup, we’re taking the plunge and starting our own business. Well, not really our OWN business. We’re going to be selling Lia Sophia jewelry.

We’ve been thinking about it for a while now, ever since my brother’s girlfriend invited us to our first Lia Sophia party. We’ve hosted two parties since then, and we have two more upcoming. After seeing what the company’s about and how much fun Lora (the advisor, well, our advisor) has with it, not to mention the beautiful jewelry, it’s time to turn those thoughts into actions into reality.

We’re both so excited. We can’t wait to get started!

More as it unfolds.

I’ve been having a hard time sticking with my first thoughts. Any writer will tell you, first thoughts are usually where the good stuff is. But I can’t. I’m censoring myself, I think. Why? I don’t know. I’ve been having a hard time with creative writing this semester. I think I’ve lost something, and I can’t get it back. We’ll see.

The first week of classes are over and done with. WHEW! Well, it’s going to be fine. Busy, but fine.

I haven’t been feeling well all week. What else is new?

Work is fine. School is fine.

For the moment, things are fine.

Finished The Old Man and the Sea on Saturday. Lovely tragic story. He found just the right words for everything. I’ll have to read it again, though, to get the full effect, since it essentially took me two days to read (Sunday and Saturday), and I could probably read it in one afternoon. Pop made a good recommendation with that book.

Started Crime and Punishment on Saturday as well. It’s interesting so far. I agree with Kendall Hailey: no one would be able to talk for so long without being interrupted. I guess I didn’t mind, though, because it was informative. I’m about four chapters into it at the moment.

The only problem with all this is my schedule will not allow for much more than weekend reading. Drat it. Well, I’ll do what I can.

…it begins.

I started my journey to becoming an autodidact yesterday, with Ernest Hemingway. I started reading The Old Man and the Sea, on a long-standing recommendation from Pop (my grandfather). It was either Hemingway or Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky will be next now. I went out to Half Price Books this weekend and got some Dostoyevsky, some Tolstoy, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I completely forgot to look for George Orwell’s 1984; thought I’d give that another try, as I didn’t like it the first time I read it.

I also completely forgot about giving my library card a run – I was planning on checking books out of the library and reading them and seeing if I liked them before I bought them. Oops.

Well, I figure the books I bought will be keepers, so it all works out in the end.

Go figure, my first post back would be a meme. Well, I’m feeling lazy. I found this via Green Duckies; she’s got more interesting answers, of course.

This probably isn’t already stuff you didn’t already know. I plan on redoing this one in one year, to see how far my promise to myself has gotten me (See the answer to 22). Just so you know.

And I tag Amy. Otherwise, anyone can do this one.

1. What author do you own the most books by? ~Sylvia Plath. I have practically everything she wrote. Two close seconds would be Sarah Vowell and Edith Wharton.

2. What book do you own the most copies of? ~I don’t. I have one copy of every book I own. I used to have two copies of The Bell Jar, but I don’t anymore.

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions? ~No. Better that way than saying “Of what book do you own the most copies?” or “By what author do you own the most books?” That would sound silly. Far more appealing to end them with the prepositions.

4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with? ~Severus Snape. *blush* Not a secret anymore, is it? I blame Alan Rickman.

5. What book have you read the most times in your life? ~It’s a tie between The Language of Goldfish by Zibby O’Neal and Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen.

6. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old? ~The Language of Goldfish.

7. What is the worst book you’ve read? ~I haven’t read a book yet that constitutes the ‘worst’ book, because I haven’t read them all. I mean, I wasn’t partial to 1984 by George Orwell when I first read it, and I didn’t like Sarah Vowell’s The Wordy Shipmates, but they wouldn’t qualify as ‘worst’ books. Maybe I’m just being too generous.

8. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year? ~Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer.

9. If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be? ~Birds of America by Lorrie Moore.

10. Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature? ~I don’t know.

11. What book would you most like to see made into a movie? ~I don’t have an answer to that one. Most of the good books have been made into movies already.

12. What book would you least like to see made into a movie? ~Again, I don’t have an answer for that, because a lot of bad books have also been made into movies. I’d have to say The Bell Jar, although they already made it into a movie back in the seventies, and, from what I heard, they’re planning a remake with Julia Stiles as the star. Ick.

13. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character. ~Haven’t had one yet. “Yet” is the key word there.

14. What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult? ~Hmmm…….Lowbrow as in guilty pleasure – Phantom by Susan Kay. Lowbrow as in lowbrow – Innocence by Jane Mendolsohn. Really dumb book. I only read it because I liked her book I Was Amelia Earhart.

15. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? ~Dune by Frank Herbert. Didn’t get through it at all. I dislike sci-fi.

16. What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen? ~Sorry, there’s no such thing. Shakespeare is everywhere. I think I saw or read them all in high school.

17. Do you prefer the French or the Russians? ~You have the likes of Victor Hugo and Alexander Dumas (French) versus the likes of Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Russians). No question, the Russians.

18. Roth or Updike? ~Neither. Actually not familiar with either one.

19. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers? ~Dave Eggers. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was okay.

20. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer? ~Well, not Shakespeare, because my brain goes numb with Shakespeare. The other two, I haven’t read yet. Yes, I know, I haven’t read The Canterbury Tales yet. Shame on me. I’ll borrow it from Amy.

21. Austen or Eliot? ~Edith Wharton.

22. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading? ~Right now. As I’ve grown up, I’ve discovered I’m not as well read as I would like to be. I want to change all that, by following Kendall Hailey’s lead and becoming an autodidact by way of reading everything ever written. So. I vow to work on that. (How I Became An Autodidact by Kendall Hailey is a good book, too; it’s hard to find, but well worth the search.)

23. What is your favorite novel? ~The Language of Goldfish by Zibby O’Neal, hands down. Sure, it’s a young adult novel, but it’s really really good. It would tell you more about me than any other source.

24. Play? ~Haven’t ever seen a play for my own enjoyment, so I don’t have one.

25. Poem? ~I own poetry books by Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Sara Teasdale, Dylan Thomas, Robert Lowell, Nikki Giovanni, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Jane Kenyon, Robert Frost, and Langston Hughes, among others. My favorite poem is “Tulips” by Sylvia Plath.

26. Essay? ~Probably anything by Thoreau or Emerson, I guess. I don’t know. I haven’t read them all.

27. Short story? ~”The Public Hating” by Steve Allen, only because of the visceral reaction I experienced when I first read it. I was a junior in high school, and I went on a three and a half hour crying jag after I read that story the first time. No joke. It’s a good story.

28. Work of non-fiction? ~Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell. Highly recommended.

29. Who is your favorite writer? ~Sylvia Plath. She’s a literary goddess.

30. Who is the most overrated writer alive today? ~Huh! Like I said, I’m not well read, but I’d have to say either Dan Brown or that chick who writes the Twilight novels, Stephanie Meyer, I think.

31. What is your desert island book? ~Either The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides or Midwives by Chris Bohjalian.

32. And … what are you reading right now? ~The 3 AM Epiphany by Brian Kiteley. It’s a book of unique writing prompts. I’m working up the courage to try some of them.

I’m going to post this, and then disappear for a week or so. We get to go to Illinois this weekend to visit family, of which I am very happy for. So I thought I’d just post this now.

Some exposition: Panini thinks Chowder is her boyfriend, and Chowder spends the whole cartoon trying to tell her he isn’t her boyfriend. This is of one of Chowder’s more elaborate attempts.

Funny AND ingenious. Plus, it features Shnitzel in a dress! (Shnitzel is the “Rada rada” rock monster.)

Actually, it’s funnier to just hear Chowder scream “I’M NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND!” (Alas, that’s not in this video.) That’s good stuff. Nicky Jones (Chowder’s voice actor) is perfect.

Enjoy, and I’ll see you next week sometime!

No Funny today. No nothing today. I’ve been having a hard time saying what I mean lately. I have to work on that.

I forgot to listen to my dad’s radio show last night! I can’t believe I forgot! Well, I’ll definitely listen tonight. From 7 – 9 pm CST (8 – 10 EST), and just click on this link. Radio-free. The Seventh House. MoZo will be there. I’ll be listening this time.

I wish the Z102.9 DJ would shut up about how nice it is outside. I would love to be out enjoying the nice weather, but I’m at work all day. *SIGH*

Amy and I are both really excited about her Lia Sophia party at the end of July. It’s going to be so fun! I already have a mini shopping list of things I want to buy.

I’m also really excited about the upcoming Illinois trip to visit family. My uncle Paul is getting married on Friday, and then he’s visiting family next week. We’re going down next weekend to visit him and everyone else. It’s going to be so fun!

Nuala had a vet appointment on Saturday, because she was due for her yearly shots. She was a good girl. She didn’t make a sound when she got her shots, and only growled a little toward the end of her examination. She’s got a clean bill of health, and is good for another year on her shots. The past couple days, she’d been really mellow, and she tagged along with Mom and me a lot, sitting beside us on the sofa, letting us pet her, etc. Just this morning, she was back to her ‘no attention unless on my terms’ self. She’s feeling better. =)

Muirne has also been a good girl lately. She really obeys commands, well, except for “Off” when she jumps up on people. Yesterday, as I was cleaning Nuala’s litter box, which is upstairs, Muirne wanted to get in on it, sniffing and everything. I told her “Down!” and pointed for her to stay downstairs, and she sat at the bottom of the stairs and waited until I was done. Mom was impressed. Muirne’s learning, and she’ll be good. =)

Some weekend highlights:

* Saturday afternoon, we went to see the movie “Up.” It was a really good movie. I highly recommend it. I liked the kid Russell, and the dogs. It was wonderful and colorful and not a wasted moment. Really good film.

* Saturday evening, Matthew, Nathan and I went to a Kernels game. Cedar Rapids Kernels versus the Burlington Bees. The Kernels were winning 3 to 1 until the ninth inning, when the Kernels closing pitcher absolutely choked, giving up four runs. The final score was 5 to 3. Kernels lost. But it was a good game overall. We had lots of fun.

* Yesterday, Amy and I went to Lisbon for a Lia Sophia party. Matthew’s girlfriend Maggie had invited us, and we went. It was fun, too. Amy and I each won a prize – I won a ring, she won a bracelet. We ordered some jewelry as well, for us and Mom. Amy is going to be throwing her own Lia Sophia party at the end of July. Click here to visit the official Lia Sophia site. Their jewelry is really amazing and beautiful. It’s a pleasant surprise, really, at least it was to me.

This week should be relatively slow. Boss A is on vacation at Hilton Head. (Lucky.)

June 20th is almost here! I can’t wait!