Book Stuff

1. Read The DaVinci Code.

Thank the Goddess I am done! As long and boring and miscast as the movie was, the film was still head and shoulders above the book. The writing is just so bad. I mean really bad. It's a sad state of affairs that this kind of crap is what tops bestseller lists, that readers don't demand better quality writing. Everyone I know writes better than Dan Brown. Everyone.

Anyway, bygones! Onward to #21! I'm quite excited to begin this reading list, though some of the titles seem painful, I'm sure I'll find some good stuff here. I've no idea where to begin. I can't imagine my brain making the leap from DaVinci to Faulkner or Joyce. I need to build my brain cells back up slowly. Maybe Joseph Heller or Henry Miller to begin? Or maybe I should read something off-list in the interim to get the blood flowing again? Lord knows I've lots of books around the place that I haven't read yet. A good dose of Canadian literature should bring me back to life.

Ripping Your Heart Out

Why is it that all these Oscar winning movies rip the heart and soul right out of you? How come a really rollicking good time movie never wins best picture? Like There's Something about Mary or Wedding Crashers or even Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. We really should reward the comedies that actually work, celebrate them, because so many are just so terribly done these days.

This weekend I watched The English Patient. Oy! Yes, I've seen bits and pieces before. Yeah, I was sort of dreading watching this one because my feeling was it was long and boring and slow. I think you need a certain level of maturity to embark on this Academy Award Winning viewing blitz that I lacked before. I had the same feeling with Out of Africa and ended up loving it. But my God! This one ripped the guts right out of me. Am I just getting sentimental in my old age? Thankfully I've been granted a slight reprieve in my Oscar quest as the second season of Deadwood begins to trickle in.

Money Matters

91. Tuck away a hundred dollars just in case.

Nearly two months ago I opened a high interest savings account and I've been slipping a few dollars into it here and there. Finally, I've got a hundred tucked away just in case. I'll continue to slip in a dollar here and a dollar there. The plan is to save for something big . . . like a notebook computer . . . or a trip . . . or a bicycle. My deal with myself is that I need to keep the hundred in there though as a base that never gets spent, unless it's an absolute emergency.

93. Pay cash for every purchase for a month.

My last debit card purchase happened June 13th at the Save-Easy. My last credit card purchase was early in May. I'm living cash 'n carry. I figure out how much I have to live off and I go to the bank machine and take it out. I find this helps me from buying things I really don't need. I'm less liable to spend my last 10 bucks on a dvd when it's in my wallet. And this has helped with my saving above.

He Was Not Mine

Tonight I watched Academy Award Winning Best Picture of 1985, Out of Africa. Have seen bits and pieces before, maybe the entire thing, but never in one sitting.