100 Days

On the 100th day of reading I am only on letter H. Whoops. I should be way far ahead. This blog will commemorate the past 100 days of learning from books, laughing from books and being inspired by books. It will commemorate the love for books in which I hold dearly in my heart. It will also be to celebrate the fact that Barnes and Noble is entertaining and it will be to celebrate the fact that interesting things have happened...I have had good things happen, bad things happen...I have met all kinds of people, made new friends and taken some pretty cool pictures...books have allowed me to open my eyes to some pretty cool things.

So, H is Game Change by Heilemann and Halpernin.
G brought The Sandman by Neil Gaiman.
F brought Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safron Foer.
E brought about What is the What by Dave Eggers.
D brought about Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas.
C brought about Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
B brought about The Child Thief by Brom.
and...where it all began...A brought about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

So far, I have gone from England to outer space. New York to Avalon. England to Wonderland. Iran to California. Sudan to Atlanta to Ethiopia to Washington state to Kenya. America to Ukraine. Dreamlands to Hell...and the almighty capital of the United States of America...Washington, DC...which has included side trips to Chicago and Iowa. Because of my budget being cut back this year, I have gotten to use books as my outlet for my love of travel. I have also had customers to talk about travel with and share experiences of my international travel. I have lived vicariously through books the past 100 days (even though no matter when I read, travel or not, I live through books). These are the places I have physically traveled since beginning my reading: Chicago, Homewood, Wilmette, Winnetka, Skokie, Niles, Lincolnwood, Oak Park, Evanston, Rogers Park, West Ridge, Sauganash, Rosemont, O'Hare, Wicker Park, Buck Town, South Shore, Andersonville, Old Irving, North Center, Lincoln Square, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, The Loop, West Loop, Streeterville, Old Town, Edgewater, Near South, Polish Village, Garfield Park, Hyde Park, Bridgeport, Indiana and Ohio...I know none of these places are anything compared to some of the places above, but they have been fun!

Over the past 100 days, I have had peeing children, bitchy customers and incredible people come by at Barnes. I have met teachers, Ozzy Osborne, Newbery winner Rebecca Stead, authors, publishers, illustrators and a number of other interesting folk. The L in Barnes and Noble has fallen off the store.

I have made new friends...Tim, Justin, Jeff, Bridget, Fabiola, Stefano, Troy and a couple of others. I have befriended managers and co-workers and customers. I have had entertaining trips to bars and restaurants with all of these people. I have attained a new roommate.

I have been on interviews and I have tried new foods. I have taken so many pictures and read on the beach. I have ridden the Skokie Swift and the 97 bus for the first time. I have seen Garfield Park Conservatory in two seasons. It has snowed, lightninged, thundered, rained, hailed and been incredibly windy.

In 100 days, I have been to the doctor for allergies and sinuses and a messed up wrist. I have had teeth taken out. I have had surgery. I have worked out. I have made two new workout partners on top of Brian...Dexter and Brandon. I have gained weight and lost weight, bulked up and added a little fat.

I have caught up with friends. I have been positive and I have been negative. I have been in graduate school. I have worked for Gap, too. I have seen an opera and I have seen a musical. I have seen January, February, March and April. I have learned to Skype and have seen my parents, Katie and the new dog Banjo.

I have been to South Carolina and I have seen tulips bloom again in the beautiful Chicago. I have seen my amazing family for whom I am so fortunate. I love them very much. I have also seen my wonderful SC friends including Dr. Criswell, Stephanie, Carolyn, Joyce, Camille and Jonathan.

I am truly fortunate for these 100 days, but most of all, I am fortunate for these books. They have helped me realize how much I love reading and what I want to continue doing. Books are the best. I never realized how much has happened and how much good has happened. I am here, I am alive. God has provided.

So, Happy 100! (author/illustrato Leo Lionni...will be turning 100 this year). Here's to the next group of books and many more fun days...

Thank you for reading my blog!!!!

The Windy City

I have heard Chicago is windy for several reasons...the lake wind, the wind between the skyscrapers and the corruption and scandal with Chicago politics. In reading Game Change, the winds shift faster here than they do in a hurricane. As of today, I am back at a rough spot for Obama. He is doing horribly at debates. This is more of the Obama I remember from reading and watching as the election drew nearer. I feel as though he always stumbled...and sure enough, this book proves it. His first licking from Hillary was in Las Vegas, Nevada. Funny how his problem was on Health Care Reform...seems it is still his problem today. Hillary was able to eat her way out of anything just like I can eat red velvet cake. She was a smooth talker and knew all the answers at debates. She made him look like a fledgling...which he was. And he still is in some ways...but who can recover after George Bush? Seriously. I think he is doing a good job with what he can do. And...getting a Nobel Peace Prize for "Change." So, anyway, Hillary is totally knocking the crap out of him. She is taking everything by storm. Obama knows it, too, and it intimidates him. It makes him antsy and as the book says...bratty...a lot. Michelle was not around a lot with the kids, so that was when he really showed out. It was not until the one day a week she said she would be on the road with him that he acted civilized. They said she wasn't around enough....haha. So, he was a grump. His staff finally had to have an intervention for his bitchyness and his horrible skills and lack of knowledge. He knew it was coming. It was no surprise to him. Michelle did not even like having to watch him in debates because it was so nerve racking to watch him have to crawl out of a hole. So, this is where I am today. Inevitably, tomorrow I will get to a part where he is back on top and Hillary is back on the bottom.

Speaking of wind...we have had a lot of wind and rain here today. In fact, the wind was so bad it blew the "L" off of our Barnes and Noble sign on the top of the store. HAHAHA! It is now downstairs in our receiving office. I left my window open like an idiot, too, tonight and my bed was wet when I got home and all of my books have crinkled pages. Time to iron it all out.

Well, off to bed. I open Barnes in the morning. UGH. Thanks for the clopen.

Earth Day...was yesterday

Sorry I did not post a blog last night. I was just so tired. Yesterday felt like such a long day. I got sufficient sleep the night before, but I still did not feel like staying awake in the evening. I went to the gym and worked out with Brandon, as usual, and then came home and crashed. I had no energy. The good news is that my mouth feels great now. I am glad I no longer feel any pain in the location where I had my surgery. It doesn't even feel that funny in the area with the missing teeth. I thought it would drive me insane, but it hasn't as of yet. I have still been eating pretty soft foods. I did introduce the gym back into my diet this week. I didn't want to put any pressure on my mouth by lifting or running last week. I even got a couple of compliments from personal trainers at Bally saying that it looks like I have slimmed down a little.

My reading has not been going so well at all. I have had no energy and the fact that grad school is picking up again. We have two weeks left of class, so I am going to be writing papers crazily the next week. So, I might be rather slim on reading my book as well as blogging. So far, where I am, is the point where Obama has now re-realized that he has a chance. All he needs is Iowa and he is in the bag. I just don't understand how up and down and up and down all of this is. I feel like one minute, Hillary is ready to be president and the next isn't...the same goes for Obama. One minute everyone loves him and the next no one does. Good thing Oprah exists. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have a president. Just a few pages ago, he was having trouble finding donors...and was a little worried. Now, he is laid back and having no problems at all. New York investment titans are willing to give him money and this should set him. My question is: how much money did Oprah give him? I wonder if it was a lot. So, in this neverending quest for presidency, who will have to battle the most? I am wondering in the end who has to really give it their best shot. Both of them have tons of supporters and both have lots of money rolling in. She is experienced, he is a novice. Plus, what does race have to do with it? It seems as though Hillary has most of the African American popularity at this point. Obama wonders what type of identity issue this will cause for him. It must be hard to be in his position. When you represent a minority in a Caucasian majority, you have to be tough.

Today, I drove to Homewood, Illinois to apply for a job at Millennium School in Homewood School District #153. I will have to say they were incredibly friendly. I was nothing short of being impressed by them. They were really top notch. I was welcomed by both the school and the District Office. Turns out Katy Gray Faz from Lexington Middle School...the Spanish teacher...taught at this same district and school. They really love her. They ranted about her. I hope knowing someone will give them the extra push to love me and hire me. Homewood reminds me a lot of Lexington...Lexington that is 30 miles South of Chicago. The drive was really quick. Although it is that distance from Chicago, the Sears Tower still sits on the horizon. It is kinda creepy that a man made structure can be seen from such a distance.

Tonight, I went out with a group of my friends. We had a lot of fun. They all stayed out and I was the party pooper who had to come back home early. HAHA. I am old. Oh well.
I just have a lot to do. I have a graduate school presentation to work on with Carrie and Elizabeth tomorrow morning and then I work at Barnes at 4. Barnes was nuts tonight at close. So many people would NOT leave the kids section. It took me, another Lead, a manager and a security guard to get them out. Whoa.

I also went to Baha'i Temple today in Wilmette. It was beautiful. I saw a chipmunk and a rabbit. How exciting. HAHA. I am going to use this trip as my Earth Day celebration because of how beautiful the grounds were. The tulips and all of the trees were in bloom. Add some wildlife, the lake and the rest of Spring and it was awesome!
Google's Earth Day art was pretty cool, too! This is it below:
By the way, a new Neil Gaiman book came out this week...it is published for kids. It is called Instructions; the purpose of it is to guide you in life. It is a set of instructions for YOUR journey in life. The poem was first published in the anthology of his works titled Fragile Things. It has some very uplifting and insightful words. I think everyone should own a copy of it. I actually spent the first money on a book in a while on it tonight. I am very impressed with it! The book is, no doubt about it, a Gaiman writing. It would be perfect for a grad...or just someone who is looking for something in life. It kind of reminds me of a quote from the movie Mona Lisa Smile: But not all who wander are aimless, especially those who seek truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond the image. ~Betty Warren (Kirsten Dunst)


This is an excerpt of the poem:

Remember your name. 
Do not lose hope —
what you seek will be found. 
Trust ghosts.
Trust those that you have helped 
to help you in their turn.
Trust dreams. 
Trust your heart, and trust your story. 
When you come back, return the way you came. 
Favors will be returned, debts will be repaid. 
Do not forget your manners. 
Do not look back. 
-Neil Gaiman, Instructions

Well, have a wonderful morning!

Keep it positive

Everything is moving just about as wacky as Hillary and Obama's campaigns. I hope life will slow down just for a moment. I have very good feelings about my job interviews and other schools to come. I feel as though I will be teaching next year.

Today we had a Bookfair at Barnes with St. Francis Xavier School. It went really well. It is always nice to make connections with schools around the area. I heard the Bookfair went very well. Barnes was a very nice day in general today. A lot of us were scheduled and it was very pleasant.

When I got home tonight, I went to the gym. After the gym, I watched The Emperor's New Groove; it always makes me feel great to watch it!

Tomorrow, I am at Barnes from 9-5. Then, workout, then grad papers, then, I think I will watch A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Have a wonderful night.

Back and Forth

Hillary has got everything except Iowa. She cannot win them, she spends time there, she loses, she invests money, she loses, she woos, she loses. No win. She's got it all and Iowa withholds. How sad. But, from today's reading, I am starting to remember the way some of the election went and how some of the primaries ran...Hillary was way ahead of Obama for a while. She was more popular and everything and it came from out of nowhere. She really did well. Obama slid back and did not get any donations or anything. She kept getting more and more support even if she did make people mad. She started crushing him at conferences where her knowledge of just about everything trumped his. This is how her popularity started rising. She was obviously not the rookie. So, she decides to choose a running mate in this segment. I did not realize she thought about using Biden, as well. They are such an incest little party. So, this is where I am in the elections...3 years late...today.

All back and forth.

Today, I ran from Bucktown to Bally on Clark. It was a long but great run. It was nice to be out in the beautiful Chicago weather. I am ready to start riding my bike!

I also found out that my property management is going to reject me and Bridget because neither of us has the income to sustain life in this apartment. They told me I would probably have to leave this apartment. Some way to treat someone who has lived here for 2 years. Now we have to have a co-signer because the fact that we both have good credit and that we CAN pay the bill is not enough. Now, I have to work like crazy over the next 10 days before May 1 to figure this out. The lease is not over til May 30, but the fact is that Meagan is gone May 1. If Bridget can't move in (which I will have her live with me for 1 month regardless), then I am screwed. So, now, we have to verify some sort of income with Property Management. I can give them paystubs, but it won't be enough for the rent. I am so confused. They can't let me go homeless.

I applied for a new teaching job in Homewood School District #153 in Homewood, IL today. I am hoping that all of these positions are going to come through. I know I will be teaching next year...the question is where? Millennium School in Homewood is only grades 5 and 6 and it is general music. That is up my alley! So, I have submitted all of my info. I am going on Friday to check it out! Keep your fingers crossed...I don't wanna move.

That is all for tonight. I am promising myself not to panic over the apartment. It is all going to work out.

:)

Rude

Hillary is apparently rude. She let her campaign "cabinet" fight and do whatever they wanted to do such as cutting each other down and fighting and did not care. I think, by the way the book discusses, she actually enjoyed watching them disagree. She let them speak to each other in any way they wanted. They would bicker over small things and these arguments would explode. Oh la! And...Bill would just sit to the side, too.

The major issue of what I read today was harnessing Iowa...that wonderful state next door. Iowa was not such a huge fan of Hillary. The best part is...she didn't care. She had problems with the state. She viewed it as one of those "Who would visit there?" type places. I cannot say that I wouldn't do that either, though. The only place I want to go is Pella to see the Tulip Festival. They have he most tulips outside of Holland in the world. Martha Stewart probably has more in her yard, but that is not the point. So, Hillary did not really care about Iowa even though they carry so much of the vote when it comes to anything. It is one of those four really important states including South Carolina. But, with a push for Bill and the rest of her campaign, she came around. The best part is that she said something pretty negative about the state and it leaked into The New York Times. She had to pay for that. She wasn't intending on really spending the money to woo the state, but she ended up having to place some face time and money into it. She ended up having to spend all of July 4th and the surrounding days around the state speaking to its people at Town Halls, State Fairs and parades. Bill spent time traveling around the state giving the same 6 minute speech in different towns on Hillary's behalf.

Her team was not too happy about having Bill pulled into all of this. Despite his presidency, they saw him as being a factor that could bring her down. They new he would spend too much time talking about himself versus her. But, he did well in Iowa. They managed to escape feeling pretty good. I believe it did pay off in the Primaries for her.

Obama looked like a Gap compared to Hillary. His campaign was selling t-shirts, pins, bumper stickers and other items. There is a great quote about Hillary in this part. She said she needed to do stuff like that but one of her campaigners said "Do we need to set up a shop and sell it out of backyards?" They were upset about his gain in finances from all of the college students. He was making money through the public and through regular people. So much of his money was not even from private donations. Hillary was being crushed.

Today, a little bit of my soul died. I worked at Gap. It makes me crazy and that is all I have to say. I did workout again today. It was the first time in a week. I met up with Brandon at Bally and had a great workout. After, I met up with my new roommate Bridget, our friend Tim and Jeff all in Bucktown. They are all within 3/5 of a mile from each other right now. We all hung out for a while. It was great! I am looking forward to having Bridget around!

Well, tomorrow is grad school!

Sleep well!

Not DRY material

So, in my hiatus of blogging, I have read some and have been quite entertained. Wow. Hillary is a bia. Bill is a bia. Their campaign is a bia. Or, is Obama the bia? I am really not sure who the real big bad wolf is in this election. Hillary of course endorsed Obama early on in the senate and then he turned around and decided to run for president thus backstabbing her indirectly. I am not sure if that was really a bad move of him. She cannot control what he does. His decision is his decision and you certainly cannot stop from doing something you want to do just to please someone else. It makes no sense...one could never be happy. But, he has many "underground" cheerleaders. More and more celebrities, top journalists, politicians, etc are creeping out of the woodwork in support of Obama. The trouble is that they would have all been in deep crap if Hillary would have won the presidency. Everyone tiptoes around the subject and supports him quietly but loudly at the same time. Billionaires normally in support of the Clintons have now stepped forth and asked to help Obama. But, Obama does not like spending a lot of money campaigning. He makes his marks through his speeches. For some reason, people are mesmerized by his presence in an arena, on TV or anywhere. His words placate crowds and transform opinions. Hillary does not know what to do to stand up to this.

So, there is only one thing to do. After Obama gains support from Geffen, a billionaire living in Beverly Hills who works with Dreamworks people, Hillary goes nuts. Geffen used to be a Clinton supporter until Clinton (Bill) supported a pardon for a crook and did not pardon a man that was guiltless. Geffen decided it would be nice to support Obama and piss off Hillary. Plus, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist...someone Dowd...is in on it all, too. She wants to write a column that would destroy the Clintons. Finally, she does and shite hits the fan.

In response to this column, Hillary and her campaign decides it is time to dig up the trash on Obama. His worst suit is the fact that as a senator, he supported the war in Iraq. He said there was nothing he could really do about it and just accepted it. So, Hillary went to use this little piece of commentary to try to destroy. Bill tried using it at a Harvard get together and did not request her permission. But, of course, no one cared. They only cared about the pro-war thing when Hillary voted for it in the Senate. What a double standard. At this time, Hillary is really going crazy. No one knows how to stop the Obama machine. She is also worried that she will lose her group of African American supporters. The majority would surely go to Obama. So, she had to think of a way to appeal to those voters and to the white male liberals. Good luck, Hillary.

There is a new book that is out titled Obama Zombies. It is about his ability to brainwash this entire generation into standing for him. It looks into the fact that he was able to use Facebook, Myspace, e-mail, TV, bumper stickers, computers and virtually anything out there to put himself out. It highlights on how fascinating it is that a whole generation, being mine, fell for him and put him into office. The book uncovers his strategies and why it was good or not and if we were really ready for what we thought we were ready for. This is like I explained above, Hillary is so lost as to how to approach anyone when it comes to the brainwashing Obama can do to people. She has to work against a whole new type of person and power.
So, that is all for the book for today.

At Barnes today, a kid peed on the floor. I would like to know if I peed on the floor ever when I was younger...at a retail establishment. I don't think parents were dumb enough to let their kids pee on the floor out in public when I was growing up. I think people have gotten stupider. The little boy's pants were not even wet when his dad was taking him out of the section which leaves the question: Did the boy pull his pants down to pee? Probably. His dad probably let him do it. What an idiot. Why have I had to clean up so much pee lately and why are kids peeing so much lately. I think it must be a defense mechanism against parents since they are being drug into a store when it has been so nice outside.

Then, a little dumbass spun the spinner rack around all the way as fast as possible so all the books fell on the floor. Who the HELL lets their kids do that. Stupid people.
I took the Skokie Swift to work today which is the Yellow Line. Fabiola and her brother took me to the train when I got off work. I love the Skokie Swift...it is sooooo fast.

Ok, well I am fading now. I am so tired. I work at stupid Gap tomorrow. I have got to find a new part time job before having to work at the most miserable place on Earth. They are the rudest most negative people I have ever worked for outside of my co-worker last year. I don't ever want to go there and if I could, I would call off.

Sleep well!