Nerd Tested; Nerd approved

I am a sci-fi nerd, there I said it. This is something my husband didn't even know about me until the new Star Trek came out and I was giddy. Here are my two new nerdy pursuits both combine post-apocalypse and human drama.

Battle Star Gallatica:
Yep I guess people(nerds) have known about it for quite some time but I am just now watching it. All I can say is that I love it. It is so amazing the way it connects to culture and yet has created a world all it's own. I can't even begin to tell you anything about it because I will ramble on and on and it will seem like crazy nonsense. Suffice it to say a) watch it and b)talk with me about it when you do.

Hunger Games:
Late to the party again on this one. This is supposed to be the new it book in young adult fiction, the new HP or the new Twilight. There are supposed to be making it into a movie. It is a quick read and it is so interesting. Here is the general idea: In a post apocalyptic world two kids from every district have to participate in the games which are a real life Survivor for television viewers. Do you love it all ready?

Both of these make me wonder why I don't have a creative enough brain to write and come up with amazing ideas like these.

Paris, I want to go to there.

This week we went to Midnight in Paris, the new Woody Allen film. I loved it. Not just because I enjoy many of the actors in the movie (Rachel McAdams, Owen Wilson, Kathy Bates, etc) but because I love reading/thinking about the writers and artists who lived there in the 20s. My favorite book of all time is A Movable Feast. I love the way that Hemingway writes and enjoyed getting to see him. Although he seemed a little too dark and brooding, different than I had imagined him to be. I mean yes he was an alcoholic and depressed a lot of the time but I felt that this portrayal overdid it. I also am now really interested in reading more about the Fitzgeralds. I know they were quite an interesting pair and I want to read more about their wild lives.

This also tied nicely with the book I just finished, The Paris Wife. It was about Hadley Richardson (Hemingway's first wife) and is historical fiction. I devoured this book and could hardly do anything else besides read this book. I love the idea of what life must have been like for her (and other wive's of successful creative types). I also really enjoyed both of the books written in this style about the ladies in Frank Lloyd Wright's life, Loving Frank and The Women: A Novel. I much preferred Loving Frank but enjoyed both. It is a great way to write because you don't have to know all the facts and can make up a cool/interesting story and feelings for the people we know so little about.

These two things have made me very excited for travel in general and made me wish, again, that I could plan a trip to Paris/ time travel to the 20s.

Something Borrowed

My friend Kate loaned me this book and I have been devouring it. I am still in the middle of reading The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt (It was nominated for the Booker Prize, blah, blah. Let me just say that it is no Possession) but I feel that I need a small rest from these "chunkster" books that I have been reading. My thinking behind this is that you can't eat cheesecake every night after dinner (despite how much I might like to try) it is just too rich. Similarly you can't read thick (let's be honest) boring books all the time. Sometimes you need a little lighter fair, and this book is perfect for that.

A Blast From the Past

Did you ever read the Sweet Valley High books? They were an important part of my childhood and they are back. I read this article in the New York Times about the return of Jessica and Elizabeth in Sweet Valley Confidential and how they are all grown up. They are ingeniously marketing these books towards the 20/30 somethings who read them as kids. I don't usually like to read smut (yes, I said smut) but who doesn't want a chance to satisfy that childhood curiosity and see what happened to some of their favorite characters as they grew up. It sounds like there are some folks who are disappointed about the way the girls turned out. Whose life didn't turn out differently than they thought it would when they were 15 or 16? Mine certainly did. The real mind blowing detail in all of this is that while looking for a picture to put with this blog post I stumbled upon photos from a television show. I am sad that I didn't know about that when I was in high school. I might end up buying the book or checking it out from the library. That would definitely complete my trip down memory lane.