THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND: CONTRIBUTE A VERSE

O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill'd with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I,
and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the
struggle ever renew'd,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see
around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring--What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.
That you are here--that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

Thank you Mr. Whitman.

CABINET OF FAVORITE THINGS

I went looking for my book of Whitman poetry this morning. Specifically, I was looking for the poem Nacho quoted in a meeting this week. I pulled open the cabinet in my living room and it occurred to me right then how many of my favorite things are in there.


{Jane Austen and Shannon Hale}























{Milan Kundera and our box of curious rocks gathered in Nice, France}























{a watercolor I did called "blue chair"}























{Kerouak and C. S. Lewis}























{Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet, and James Joyce's The Dead}























{The old books I found in Chicago}























{Canterbery Tales, and Tom Sawyer}























{The one mis-matched book called The Razor's Edge}























{wedding pictures. Me and Nate, my mom and dad}























{The owl Holly made, my harmonica, watercolor "old chair", and a candlestick my parents brought from Nauvoo}























{The Power of One, My Beat Reader, and Tristram Shandy}























{The tiny book of love poems my brother Andrew gave for Christmas one year}























{one of our engagement photos, a shell Nate brought from the Philippines, a pola from Kauai}

IF BOOKS WERE LOVERS

...I'd be a cheap harlot.
I have finished Tribes by Seth Godin {Do NOT read unless you want to be inspired to be a better leader} and now crack the seal on Groundswell. I have a full line up after Groundswell that includes; Small Giants, Why We Buy, Rapunzel's Revenge {yay Shannon and Dean}, and The Groucho Letters. I heard a review of the latter on NPR and I admit with shame that I never knew how really funny and charming Groucho was. Perhaps a new obsession?

WHAT A CUTE BOOK

"Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane."
When I have kids, and they are old enough to have an attention span beyond 20 minutes, I'll read this book to them when they are sick. They will snuggle up to be with their fever-sweat and I'll teach them the story of a rabbit that learns the importance of loving and being loved. Then I'll make them some tomato soup and tuck them in for a nap. Thanks Ryan and Ruth!

BOOK LOVAH

Jenna had a fun idea on her blog so I'm going to steal it. Participants welcome; the more the merrier!

1. Pick up that book sitting next to you.
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the fifth complete sentence.
4. Include the sentence and the book title in the comments section.

I'll start.

"She was twelve years old, lying still like this, waiting, shivering in the narrow bunk with polished mahogany sides." -On Chesil Beach, Ian McEwan

WHAT I'M READING

I'm prepping for my new job by reading some marketing books I've been meaning to read for a while. Here are a few of the titles I've got bedside. Go Amazon.

WHAT WOULD JACKIE DO?

Kym gifted me this book and I love picking it up and reading it when I have a few extra minutes. Such great tidbits; I'm going to share it from time to time. I hope you find it as humorously wise as I do.

Page 174: "Perfect your stare-through glare. Nothing says "leave me be" like a stone-faced mug. No need to affect an angry or mean look, of course- Jackie's go-to-hell-gaze was ever so benign. By refusing to visually engage or acknowledge people, you are telling them to stay out of your orbit."

I HATE MY OWN EGO

I don't mean to get all Oprah on you and force you to read my latest book club book. But I guess, this one time, I will stand by Oprah in saying, "this book is good." I'm about half done and I've already found many things that inspired me to think organically about topics I've never considered.
Not yet half way through the book, though, and I'm pretty sure I hate my own ego. Nate and I named ours the other night after reading a few pages. We call his ego Hank. Mine is Gladys.

Dear Gladys, can we stop being best friends? I'm ready to move on to someone new. Love, Tonia

This book is just over $7 at Costco, and yes, I am attending the biggest online book club discussion extravaganza with Oprah and Eckhart Tolle on March 3. If you find yourself jealous, it's just your own ego. Whom, if you read the book, you will learn to hate very soon. Enjoy.

A GOOD READ

I don't expect I'll have much reading time in Kauai. If I want to go whale watching, snorkeling, scuba, hiking, kayaking, waterfall jumping, shopping and just all around exploring, I may be packing a book in vain.
We will be spending one afternoon at Waimea Plantation Cottages. It looks beautiful and might give me just the right amount of R&R time to turn a few pages.
I am looking for a good book to take on the trip. Any recommendations? I'd love to hear titles...and why.

FOR THOSE WHO READ

Remember the cool cover art from your first edition favorites? Catcher in the Rye. The Great Gatsby. For just over $20 + shipping PopArtUK will send you poster sizes ready to frame. This is sure to up your intelligent quotient by at least 20%. Click on the images to go to the site.

MY GRANDMA HAS EVERYTHING

Except {I'm hoping} for this book. If you came to my house right now you'd find my snowflake books sitting out on the coffee table. This book talks about how snowflakes are made and shows you photographs of different kinds. So pretty. I recommend this book to anyone who seems to have everything. My Grandma and Nate's Grandparents will be receiving this book for the holidays.

NEXT NEW READ

Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology at Harvard, wrote a new book called, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature. I heard him talking about the book on NPR {or course} and decided it would be my next new read for the fall. It's scholarly and smart and sure to make me feel all "back to school". It's time to pull out my birkenstocks and hunker down for a good read.

BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS

Nate and I watched Shannon's cute kids while she and her hubby went to dinner on Friday. We had lots of fun with Max and Maggie; we watched a movie, gave each other tattoos, ate spoonfulls of sugar, and had a pillow fight. Though she's a toddler, Maggie sure can pack a punch.
When Dean and Shannon came home from dinner they brought us a fabulous fruit tart from Market Street Grill and then Shannon gave me a copy of her most recently published book; Book of a Thousand Days. I'm glad she gave me one because I saw a box full and considered stealing a copy. Before you get really, really jealous, know that she also signed it and well, it's the first one she's signed so mine is extra special.

THIS IS...

I'm intrigued by the series of "This is" books by Miroslav Sasek. With stories about big cities and charming illustrations, this series dates as far back and the 1950s and can be quite expensive to collect. Sasek died all the way back in 1980. But oh, just think about it. Imagine the shelves in your nursery stocked with these stories. I'm sure the bebe would grow up with an urge to travel the world.