Manet Monet

I just successfully upgraded my computer to Snow Leopard so I can now install the new software update and finally get Lightroom, to edit some wedding images I made a couple of weeks ago. I’m a couple of years behind on this, but I feel like computer maintenance is becoming my bag.

While the updates were taking place I began catching up on Girls and Lena Dunham and I was completely reminded of how much I loved her in Tiny Furniture and just how much I love sharing every letter except one of my name with this person. I never knew any Leta’s growing up or Lena’s so name sharing is not something I’m familiar with and it’s a bit weird. I feel for your identity crisis John, no not you John, that John. I have no clue what it is like to be mistaken for someone else with the same name. And although I liked always like being the only one with my name, it’s dooce’s daughters name that got me addicted to reading her blog. Basically, I just want to be the Manet to her Monet, or vise versa.

And that’s why I’m excited to be part of an exhibit this weekend at Politics and Prose. The opening is on Saturday at 7 pm. Hope you can make it. More info here.

Memorial Day

Not that long ago, memorial day weekend would mean my first trip of the summer down to our lake house. Three years ago memorial day weekend was Poppy’s funeral. That was a bad memorial day weekend. Now memorial day really means something close to my heart. The burgers, hotdogs, swimming and man boobs will always stay the same, it will be my poppy that I miss.

War&Peace

Recently I decided to read War and Peace along with an online group at war and peace and stuff. I would totally link to that right now except I am so exhausted that I can barely bring myself to tap out this post, and the only reason I am making myself go there is because if I can do this than I shouldn’t even bother setting myself up for failure by starting W+P.

There are a few reasons I am reading W+P

1) I am at the end of a three day hellacious move from one house to a temporary space to a new city and to a new house. I’ve never needed a book more than ever. It’s the one thing I can be certain of while the rest of my world gets shaken up like little pieces of confetti and tossed down Georgia Ave. And all of my other books are locked away in storage.

2) Here’s where I talk about my father. My dad read War and Peace on his i-phone, and as he was talking about the adventure in Feb, he gave me a hint - he had a list of characters. And 6 other pages of notes. For some reason that totally got me thinking this might be possible. I’d also quote LT talking about Marie’s father right now except that I can’t move my body from all the heavy lifting I did yesterday, but will come back to that. update: “…there were only two virtues: activity and intelligence. He occupied himself personally with his daughter’s upbringing, and to develop the two chief virtues in her, gave her lessons in algebra and geometry…”

3) War and Peace is not only one of the longest books ever written, but also said to be the best. Who doesn’t want to read the best book ever written even if it is about war history, which is so far less interesting peace, until the sat line of each section. All of the family dynamics and character descriptions and potential paths crossing are the more interesting sections. My question, what will Pierre do with all that scratch? And will daughter Rostov really marry Boris in four years? And Sonya + Nikolai? And Lize’s sister in law, Marie, hook up with the bad Vassily and escape the cruelty of her father?

4) I missed Infinite Summer when the online world read Infinite Jest. I always regretted that and hope tmn does that again in 160 years.

5) Happen to stumble across warandpeaceandstuff.tumblr.com.

Now to catch up on last weeks Real Housewives of Jersey, I mean finish Week 2 Book 1 pt 2. Housewives War and Peace Housewives.