Things I've been playing with

What I'm Reading

Following Living Oprah, I started Julie Powell's newest book. It's been out for a while but I just got around to it.

This is a story of Julie's apprenticeship as a butcher but it's not just about that. Things are never about what they are about. Right?

There are many mixed reviews of this book. You can google them to read. I'm not a professional book reviewer. I can only give you my opinion.

I loved the Julie/Julia project (Julie's blog and subsequent first book). In fact, I credit Julie Powell with inspiring me to explore new things. That inspiration led me to a few freelance writing jobs, a fairly successful local blog and a new attitude about the second half of my life. So I guess some of my success as an accidental writer is because of Julie Powell.

I tried to keep this fondness for Julie from skewing my view of her second memoir. So here goes... I have never read a writer who was so brutally honest in my life.

I read the book in only a couple of days, stealing a minute to read whenever I could. All I kept thinking was, " The chicks got balls". As a writer it is incredibly hard to not want to present yourself in the best possible way. This could have been a rather boring book about butchery -which is interesting to me but, possibly, not to the masses. Instead, Julie explored and exposed almost everything about herself on the pages. She was completely honest, vulnerable, and self-deprecating. She had to know that this honesty could damage her career considering her squeaky clean image in the Julie and Julia movie yet she wrote it anyway. I finished the book over a week ago and am still thinking about it.

While I found parts of it pretty graphic and disturbing, I had to read on. Whether you end up loving Julie for her honesty or hating her for it, I think the book is worth the read.

By clicking the image above, you will be taken to Amazon if you want to purchase the book.

You can find Julie Powell at: http://juliepowell.blogspot.com/

New Music Mondays - The Wandering Bards

On new music Mondays, I'll bring you a link to a new group that I've been listening to. While the group or song may not be "new" they are new to me.

This past week or so, I've been obsessed with The Wandering Bards; particularly, the song, "Spam in a Can". I can't get enough of it. Love the harp licks.

So check them out at http://wanderingbards.com/home.html

Vintage Pic Of The Week

They gave me a uniform to do this?

-caption by Mike

ReadyMade magazine

I love Readymade magazine! Many of my favorite mags have "ceased to be" during the recession. I was in deep,deep mourning (still upset over Country Home) but ReadyMade has eased some of the pain.

If you have not read it....be sure to pick up a copy or check it out online.

In fact, it was through one of their blogs that I found out about the free music from Levi's.

http://readymade.com/magazine/

Free Music from Levi's

http://www.levispioneersessions.com/


This awesome website is brought to you by Levi's (as in jeans). They invited pioneering musicians to re-create the songs that inspired them. The free downloads are available by following the link above.

There are some incredible musicians including:

The Swell Season (one of my personal favs)
John Legend and The Roots
She & Him
The Shins
Dirty Projectors
and many more.

What I'm reading now

Living Oprah - My One-Year Experiment to Walk the Walk of the Queen of Talk

by Robyn Okrant





This week's library book has been both entertaining and thought provoking thus far. As a "sometimes" watcher of Oprah and occassional reader of her magazine, it's been a lot of fun to read Robyn's adventures while she is trying to live out all of the suggestions that Winfrey makes through her show, web site, and magazine to encourange women to live their best life.

I'm all about the encouragement but I'm finding out that to truly "Live Oprah" it takes a lot of time and money.

Anyway... it's worth the read so pick up a copy or borrow it from your local library. Great summer read.

Hoarders

Has anyone else had the Hoarders inspired cleanout? Every time I watch the show, more clutter gets hauled out of this house by the bagfuls. My husband - a minimalist- is loving it.

The first thing to go was butter tubs and Cool Whip containers as this seemed to be a common trait of the shows participants. We threw away a large bag of them as move were not the type of plastic that can be recycled.

Next, I started going drawer by drawer and closet by closet, organizing and clearing out. My linen closet has never looked better.

I am slowly working my way through some old magazines that are stored neatly but I don't really have to keep them all. I could tear out the pages that are important, store them in a folder and recycle the magazine. So I started that project on Monday while watching...you guessed it...Hoarders.

I sympathize with those who suffer from this disease. It's tough when you have so many emotions wrapped up in stuff. It's hard to let something go that has a precious memory attached to it but we only have so much space. It's also hard to let something go when it's in perfectly good condition even if you don't use it.

So the rule now is this: When something new comes in...something must go out. It has to go into the yard sale pile or be immediately donated. I have to say that it's nice to open a cabinet or drawer and not have to dig through a bunch of stuff to find the one thing that you're looking for.

Can't wait to start organizing the yard sale. The stuff is in the garage until I get it together.

So let me ask? Do you watch the show and has it inspired you to clear the clutter?

P.S. You can watch episodes and clips of Hoarders at A&E's website

Vintage Pic of the Week

Last summer, I posted a vintage pic of the week featuring some photos of summer fun. Now that the summer season has officially begun, I thought I'd start posting them again. Enjoy.

This picture was taken at Lake Erie in the late 1940's. My grandma is pictured on the right. She had that bathing costume for a long time. I used to wear it in high school.

Please do not copy or reproduce this picture. It is part of my personal collection. Thanks.