Kara v. Book #1: November 2010

Nick Hornby writes a column for "The Believer" in which he lists all the books he's bought and all the books he's books read in a given month. It is subtitled "A hilarious and true account of one man's struggle with the monthly tide of the books he's bought and the books he's been meaning to read". Now, I know I am not nearly so awesome as Nick Hornby [1], but I am surely not a stranger to the battle of the books (as anyone who ever seen me flip out in a bookstore can attest to). And so, though I know my book reading habits are not nearly as intriguing as those of a nationally known author, I thought it might be fun to give this a go. Anyone with a violent opposition to literature or reading-related auto-immune disorder is advised to turn back now.

Barley Bear protects (and sometimes samples) my Rilke

I would like to start off by pointing out one key aspect of my book buying strategy, which is this: If I think I will read a book quickly and never look at it again (for example: fantasy novels, mysteries, bestsellers, etc.), I will generally get it from the library. If, however, I believe I will read a book slowly and refer back to certain passages in the future (for example: philosophy, "literature", poetry), I will generally buy it. This leads to an automatic (and somewhat unfair) disparity between the books I buy and those I "complete" - because "completing" a 300 page book of collected poems or a 500 page philosophy anthology in less than one month is paramount to mental suicide, and, in my opinion, ruins the experience of an art form that must at times be savored slowly. So, please have mercy on me for the all the glaring discrepancies - they are there for a reason.

So, with no further ado, here are my lists:

Books Bought:

• Kierkegaard, a very short introduction, by Patrick Gardiner [2] 
• Swann's Way, by Marcel Proust (translated by Lydia Davis)
• Consider the Lobster, by David Foster Wallace
• The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays, by Albert Camus [Used]

I bought the 1991 Vintage edition of Sisyphus particularly for it's cover

Books Completed:

• Darkness Visible, by William Styron
• Gathering Blue, by Louis Lowry
• The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde [Library]

Darkness Visible is currently loaned out to a friend

 Books Read in Part: Kierkegaard: A Short Introduction (30 pages), Swann's Way (10 pages), Considering the Lobster (60 pages), The Myth of Sisyphus (60 pages), A Kierkegaard Anthology (30 pages), and The Elegance of the Hedgehog (30 pages).

Yes, it has happened! Grad school has turned me existential! In the words of Camus: "If I see a man armed only with a sword attack a group of machine guns, I shall consider his act to be absurd." [3, pg. 29] And who, as a graduate student, has not felt exactly like a lone man battling a barrage of machine fire with nought but a dull machete? - if you don't believe me, just imagine your last meeting with your advisor!

Whether or not I am in an "existential crisis", whatever that means, I have been finding a great deal of comfort in Camus and Keirkegaard. These two philosophers double as authors, and so bring their thoughts closer to real life then some of the big boys like Hegel or Kant. For example, a quote by Camus:

"At the final stage you teach me that this wondrous and multicolored universe can be reduced to an atom and that the atom can be reduced to the electron. All this is good and I wait for you to continue. But you tell me of an invisible planetary system in which electrons gravitate around a nucleus. You explain this worl...d to me with an image. I realize then that you have been reduced to poetry: I shall never know" [3, pg 20]

I started this entry too late - I must be getting to bed. But if you would like to know my thoughts on any of the books I mentioned, please let me know in the comments section. I am happy to discuss books at length with anyone with the patience to put up with me.

Cheers!

Notes:

[1] In case you are not familiar with Nick Hornby, he wrote "High Fidelity" and "About a Boy", which have been made into Hollywood films starring John Cusack and Hugh Grant, respectively. He has written a number of other novels, which in my experience are quick and breezy yet still well-written and intelligent - in other words, perfect novels to help you take your mind off of grad school or a depressing job. You should check him out!

[2] I actually bought this book on October 31st, Halloween night, at the Harvard Coop while dressed in my costume! See, I took a picture:

[3] Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays.Vintage International Edition, New York: 1991.

Toilet seat etiquette, straight from the source

(Taken on an undisclosed bathroom wall somewhere in Cambridge)

Winter brings its small consolations

Finding hope amid the great darkness! (Also, the first post of the Bitter Boston Bicyclist to actually feature bicycling).

The absence of leaves creates thoroughly unexpected view of the Boston skyline from my bedroom window! While decidedly not spectacular, the sight of the city lights at night is quite thrilling.

Despite the cold dry air, the grass plant (for cat munching) manages to create it's own dew each morning.

Biker Balaclava Ninja!!

The employees at Toscanini's decided to string polar bears from the ceiling. I took the liberty of naming them. Avalanche is my favorite.

Coffee is, of course, always a consolation. Cheers!

A Bread-less Boston Thanksgiving

It is evening before Thanksgiving, and I am gearing up for my first turkey-day with friends rather than family and, also, without bread. That's right, no more bread for me! At least, not of the wheat-containing variety (ie, the good kind). A couple months ago, during a none-so-pleasant stomach flu that was persisting into it's third week, I received a positive blood test for Celiac disease, an autoimmune disease in which eating gluten destroys the lining of the small intestine, resulting in malnutrition and stomach pain. It requires a genetic predisposition ("Hey baby, I'm genetically predisposed to you . . .") but can manifest itself anytime during one's life, and is often triggered by stress (uuhhhh, as a fourth year phd student I have no idea where I'd get that from).

There is no cure. The only treatment: a lifetime ban on gluten. (Good job MIT. In addition to taking away my pride and my sanity, you have now also succeeded in taking away my ability to eat BREAD!)

I was actually incredibly relieved to have the diagnosis. I have been struggling for months with unexplained fatigue (I asked my doctor for a mono test at the beginning of the summer. She said it was allergies and handed me some Zyrtec. And a pregnancy test - because at MIT medical, all ailments are a result of pregnancy. Seriously, dudes, I dare you to go to the clinic complaining of nausea and fatigue - someone will ask you when your last period was) and it was nice to finally know the cause.

And, somehow, maybe not by accident, I have just never really liked bread that much. Rolls? Nah, I'll stick with mashed potatoes. Donuts? Rather have a Twizzler (Ooops, they are also made of wheat. Uh, I'll take some chocolate then). Pasta? I'll go with the tacos instead.

Finally, one more reason not to feel too sorry for me (though, some pity is always appreciated): I live in Cambridge, MA. There are two Whole Foods, two health food co-ops, and one Trader Joes within walking distance of my house. A pizza place that makes it's entire menu using gluten-free dough (i.e., with rice and sorghum flour rather than wheat). A bakery/cafe with freakin' gluten-free take-out dinner options. Not to mention, tacos - with corn tortillas - are always gluten-free (and lord knows how easily I could live on nothing but tacos).

Anyhow, this Thanksgiving I'll have to skip the rolls and pass on the mac and cheese, but I'm cooking a wild rice side dish, mashed potatoes, and some gravy with corn starch rather than flour - and lord knows as long as there are mashed potatoes and gravy, something is going right in the world.

For those who are curious, and to clear up some misconceptions:

Gluten-y foods: Anything containing wheat, rye, and barley. This includes bread, cereal, pasta, baked goods, and beer (nooooooo!), plus just about every processed food made in America (beware of "vegetable thickener"!) and also just about every restaurant item made in America (as I've discovered from a couple highly disappointing "gluten-free" dining experiences)

Gluten-free foods: All kinds of rice, beans, quinoa, potatoes, corn, sorghum wheat, and buckwheat.

Cheers!

An Honest Question from an Honest Bum

"Can I ask a question? Why do kids these days always think they're younger than they are!? This is killing me!"

Any thoughts?

Dude, I'm trying to write a blog post here!

And you are TOTALLY not helping.

I can haz interwebs?

On being 25, feeling both old and young

Hello all. I know it has been awhile since my last posting. I returned from Corsica and life hit like a monsoon (I have learned, in my fledgling adult years, that stress, when it comes, often comes in buckets). And, as anyone who has ever tried to keep one of these silly blog things knows, when life attacks, online writing is generally the first to go.

Speaking of "fledgling adult years" - I have been more than three years on my own now, and still I am so overwhelmed with questions. Questions, questions, everyday more questions, every minute more questions. What do I want to eat today? Or, more importantly (though less often asked) what can I afford to eat today? Should I wear the green shoes or the pink shoes? Where on EARTH did I lock my bike? Am I forgetting something?  Aren't I due for my next dentist appointment? OH SHOOT it was last week - will they let me reschedule?

And that's just the easy stuff. We haven't even gotten to:

Did I do my taxes right? Wait, wasn't there a student loan payment due at some point? Is [such-and-such friend] doing okay? Am I being supportive enough of [such-and-such friend] as s/he struggles with [such-and-such problem]? Do I want to be in a relationship right now?! Am I on the right career path?! Oh god, I am of childbearing age?!?!?!

And then the little questions start to bleed into the big questions, and the big questions infiltrate the little questions, and I want to grab that 40-something woman next to me on the subway and scream "How have you not yet been crushed by the weight of life?!" (I must say: no wonder so many of us 20-somethings find refuge in the warm and fuzzy embrace of our beer jackets [or, take your pick: vodka coats, rum mittens, wine scarves, margarita balaclavas?])

In celebration of his 25th birthday, my friend Raoul was sent a rack of ribs (fedexed, overnight, on dry ice) from his uncle, and early one Saturday afternoon a few of us gathered at his house to enjoy a nice barbeque lunch. And while the meal-time conversation was decidedly "adult" (no, not in that way you perv) - centering on such issues as "who's ready for marriage?" and "what are you favorite kitchen appliances?" - somehow we afterwards all gathered in the bedroom, where we spent a long afternoon lazing on the bed, playing silly games on an ipad, and giggling like little girls.

Amid the hailstorm of Big and Little Questions, it was nice to spend a few hours feeling like a kid again.