words and pictures

what a strange lifestyle this is, spending whole afternoons barefoot on the couch with a mug of tea and a new book, not just on weekends but every day. it's wonderful, but it makes me feel terribly unproductive, especially when i log on to begin a new post and realize that i have absolutely nothing new to say. in another sense, the blank space welcomes reflection in a way that, surprisingly, a long day of walking does not. i've found that while hiking, i can focus fairly successfully on hiking itself - a new area of soreness, hunger for a specific food, an estimate of the miles behind and ahead, evaluation of the trail's condition, anticipation of an upcoming view - perhaps just lacking the energy that serious thought requires.

i've also been spending some of my time transferring pictures from my camera to our photobucket page, so those of you who wish to see more can check them out here. along the left side of the page, you can select the album that you'd like to view, which are organized by region. more work will be done on this page, so please try not to shudder too severely at the amateur layout that's there now :)

for those of you who are interested in this sort of thing, i thought i'd also share a bit about the books that i've been reading, as i've found some unexpected gems as well as a disappointment or two.

currently reading: (i like to have options)

dark star safari, paul theroux

letters to malcolm: chiefly on prayer, c.s. lewis

tess of the d'urbervilles, thomas hardy

woody allen: a biography, john baxter

read:

the pilot's wife, anita shreve

surprisingly good. the author describes grief in a way that i, though mostly untested in this experience, found to be realistic and moving.

new zealand disasters, nicola mccloy

this one's more of a coffeetable book than a serious read, but it filled a rainy afternoon and educated me about the famous erebus plane crash (on a sightseeing tour in antarctica) and the sinking of the wahine ferry in the cook strait.

the film club: a memoir, david gilmour

one of the bigger disappointments so far. i'd been looking forward to reading this one, about a film critic father who lets his son drop out of high school if he will watch three movies a week (of the father's choosing), but couldn't get past the author's snobbishness and incessant name-dropping.

water for elephants, sara gruen

not sure what all the fuss is about with this one. it was fine. not a masterpiece.

james herriot: the life of a country vet, graham lord

while it contained plenty of interesting tidbits about the life of alf wight (known to his readers as james herriot), i couldn't help but feel that author assumed a closer relationship with his subject than was actually there and focused uncomfortably on unimportant details.

south: the endurance expedition, sir ernest shackleton
the best read of the bunch, by far. everyone needs a moderately obscure historic leader to claim as their personal discovery, and i believe i have now found mine.

a certain justice, p.d. james
i'd never heard of p.d. james before, but she's apparently famous in britain for her thrillers, and i now consider myself a fan. though the book is stocked almost completely with unlikeable characters, it's written so insightfully that i couldn't wait to pull it out in the tent each night - sometimes even before dinner! :)

enduring love, ian mcewen

this one's from the author of atonement (which gives it an automatic boost, though i admit that i've only seen the movie) and made it onto my reading list because of this bill bryson quote on the front cover: "i cannot remember the last time i read a novel so beautifully written or utterly compelling from the very first page." it is well written, and the first chapter is more than intriguing, but my interest faded midway through and i finished it more out of obligation than anything else.

the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, mark haddon

i've fingered this one in barnes & noble quite a few times, and finally got around to reading it a few days ago. it's written from the perspective of an autistic fifteen-year-old, who investigates the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers some significant information about his family along the way. well worth the quick read.

where are you now?, mary higgins clark

terrible, just terrible, but i had fun reading the many cringe-worthy quotes aloud to bryan. here's a good one: "an innocuous statement, i thought, remembering the dictionary definition of the word "innocuous": 'pallid; uninspiring; without power to interest or excite.'"

props to those of you who read this far :)

-rachel