Barack Obama spoke on campus yesterday.  On one hand, I adore the man.  I read his autobiography, “Dreams from my Father,” and fell in love with his character, his vision, and, since he wrote the book before really getting into politics, his capability to say whatever he wanted about his past, even the not so pretty stuff.

But I’m not so sure I like the Barack Obama who spoke at UW-Madison yesterday.  I wasn’t able to go to the rally, since the line to see him extended, literally, for miles.  But I did see his speech on television and it made me feel sick.  Where was the man I loved?  All he spoke about was what Republicans were doing wrong, how they wanted to cut taxes for the rich, step all over the working man, pillage villages and eat babies.  I recognize that it was a rally /for/ the democratic party, but still – where was the man who spoke about the integration of parties?  Where was the man who wanted cooperation from all sides of government?  Couldn’t he still have promoted the democratic party without slinging mud at the republicans?

What’s more, he never gave examples of what /he/ was going to do.  What actual plans the democratic had.  It was all just “progress” and “change” but there was no context.  It didn’t /mean/ anything.  And even though he said he was working on making good on his original campaign promises, I can’t say I know what they are.  After all, one of his goals was to facilitate bi-partisanship cooperation, but apparently he isn’t big on that right now.

When he finally did say some broad goals, I found myself infuritated.  Particularly when he said he was going to work at creating jobs, “in the United States of America.”

When are people going to GET it?

I’m all for nationalism. I don’t think anyone could say I’m not a patriot.  I believe in the American way of life and I believe we have a fantastic country.  But I think we are all such a bumble-fuck of arrogance we can’t even see straight.  That being said, I’m not sure there are many other countries in the world that are less arrogant than us, but I disgress.  When are poeple going to see that a JOB in a JOB no matter where it is?  When will they realize that China pulling ahead of the United States in GDP doesn’t matter?  There isn’t one pie of wealth.  By China getting richer, we aren’t getting poorer.  We all have the capability to become better without harming the people around us.

What is the con to an American company outsourcing a manufacturing plant to China?  American workers wouldn’t participate in the working of that factory, likely an American company wouldn’t be building it, etc.  There’s probably more, but those are, I think the main ones people come up with.

What are the pros to an Americna company outsourcing a manufacturing plant to China? I think I might need a bulleted list for this one.
- The American company, assuming they assessed the opportunity correctly, prospers.
    – As the company does well they, theoretically, can pay their workers better.  Or at least increase the wealth of their stockholders if they are a public company.
    – Because the cost of labor is cheaper, they are likely able to sell their product at a lower price.  Let’s say the item they product is a “necessity”.  American consumers are able to purchase this product at the lower price, therefore increasing their overall household spending income.
    – It is highly likely that jobs were created in America to facilitate this process.  Many years were spend reseraching the opportunity, creating the game plan, and executing it.  What’s more, many managerial level jobs – the kinds Americans want – were created to manage the plant both here and abroad.
-  In China, the Chinese worker prospers with an income they wouldn’t otherwise have (yes, this IS a pro. Again, there is not just one pie of wealth).
     – This Chinese worker now has a higher income.  They can buy and invest in more products.  Beause many American businesses have their products in the Chinese market, this Chinese worker is likely to purchase an American product and increase an American company’s wealth.
     – In general, this Chinese worker is /better off/.  But I suppose it’s possible that we don’t give a rat’s ass about him because he’s Chinese, so this pro might be negated.  But we can assume that since he’s not /worse off/ and because most people aren’t EVIL, it’s at least not a con.
- Because the American company is manufacturing their product in China, the likelihood is that they have decided to sell their product there as well.  By becoming a part of the Chinese market they are suddenly opening themselves up to billions of potential buyers.  And since they are employing some of those Chinese citizens, it’s likely that those Chinese will buy their products and increase the company’s wealth.
    – This will AGAIN increase the wealth in the United States, likely to increase incomes for American workers and/or the wealth of the stockholders.

Okay, so you might not agree with all of this.  But don’t worry – I have more.  Have we thought about how many companies, FOREIGN companies, are currently employing United States citizens?  I’m not so sure we truly understand just how many jobs are created FOR US by FOREIGNERS.

Let me take ten seconds to name off some companies that I know I foreign: BP, Nestle, Toyota, L’Oreal, Nokia.  Okay, my ten seconds are up.  You can probably name more.  What does this mean?  That we live in a global economy and that when it comes to improving wealth, things like nation’s borders just don’t matter.  So many of us, myself included, believe in the concept of a free market economy.  But when people really start thinking about what that means, that true competition is going to force business outside of the United States, we want to pull in, we want to support ourselves, which is in of itself a socialist idea.

And even with all this, all of these reasons for why its good for business, why it doesn’t hurt Americans economically, I don’t even think that’s really the point.  For me the point is that we are all PEOPLE.  And regardless of our nationality, we should want people to prosper.  We shouldn’t be pissed off that Mexicans are making money within our borders – we should be happy for their improvement of life.  People want the quality of living to go up in rural Asia, but they don’t want to do it if it maybe, possible, might take away a job here (which, I don’t believe it does).  People pretend to care about people, but they really don’t.  When are we going to learn that we’re all the same, we’re just born elsewhere?  We might believe different things and hold different practices but that doesn’t mean that some people are better than other people.

So many of us wonder how/why foriegners hate Americans.  There’s so much anger, people want to kill us – for what?  So many of us sit around and wonder why but don’t make the connection that we have the same exact feelings.  We don’t understand them, we do everything we can to make sure that we are the ones prospering, not them.  We don’t like their practices, we don’t like the way they live, heck – many of us downright hate them and yet – somehow we’re better?  What, because we don’t actually want to kill them?  In my mind, I don’t see a very thick line between hate to hate and hate to kill.  Can’t we make a better world just by caring a little more about /people/?

It just makes me sad.  I don’t understand how people just can’t see the big picture.  So many Americans go abroad and are frustrated by an inability to work, by getting caught up in red tape, by needing a visa for this, a visa for that.  Can’t we see that we do the same exact thing?

I think the problem is that I ultimately still believe what’s written on that Statue of Liberty by Emma Lazarus. – “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”  This is the kind of mindset I want America to have about progress – for it to be about ourselves, let it first be about others.

1. Everything Comes to Him Who Waits : Read a book you have been patiently waiting to be released OR a book that you have patiently waited to borrow or buy OR a book that you have been too busy to read. – Of Love and Other Demons – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

2. Just Like Us: Read a fiction/non-fiction book where a college student (or somebody who is of the age of a typical college kid) is the main character. – Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami

3. College Students Blog: In honor of the launch of the College Students blog (The Broke and the Bookish), read a book that was reviewed or listed in a top ten list.  – The Help – Kathryn Stockett

4. Picture Perfect: Read a book that has a fall/winter scene or something that reminds you of fall/winter (snowflake, sled, Santa, elf, mistletoe, candycane, pumpkins, turkey, leaves, etc. – The Cider House Rules – John Irving

5. Spooky Reads: Read a scary (to you) book! It could be a horror, true crime, or a thriller. – The Eyes of the Dragon – Stephen King

6. Disney Days: In honor of Walt Disney’s birthday (December 5), read a book that is related to a Disney movie, was inspired by a Disney movie, or inspired a Disney movie.  - Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

7. Hats Off to You: National Hat Day is a bizarre holiday celebrated on January 15. In honor of this holiday, read a book with a hat on the cover.

8. Not so Valentine’s Day : Instead of reading a traditional “lovey dovey” romance story, as we’ve already done that last Winter challenge, let’s read a book about unrequited love, a romance gone bad, or a main character who is navigating the dating world! The Summer Fletcher Greel Loved Me – Suzanne Kingsbury

10 Points:

1. Head And Shoulders Knees & Toes : Read a book that has a cover that has only a body part rather than a whole or half of a person—like a face, or a foot, or hands.

2. Life Changes : Read a book where a character experiences a major life change (moving, a death of someone close, marriage, etc.) – The Coffee Trader – David Liss

3. A Chain is Only As Strong As Its Weakest Link: Pick an author that you’ve already read before this challenge. Look through their books on Goodreads that they have written. Look at the ratings and find the one with the lowest rating and read it. Do you think it really is the author’s “weakest” book? How does it add to their canon of work? – A Hollywood Ending – Robyn Sisman or The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam – Ayaan Hirsi Ali or Sleep, Pale Sister – Joanne Harris

4. National Diversity Day (October 1) : Read a book written from the perspective of someone from a different socio-economic status (poverty, upper class ect.) or sexual orientation than you.
Force of Nature – Suzanne Brockmann (gay romance)

5. Ask a Stupid Question Day: In honor of all those teachers who will be telling their students this semester that there is no such thing as a stupid question, read a book with a question in the title.

6. Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16) : Read a book that is either primarily set in Mexico, features a main character who is Mexican, or a book written by a Mexican author.  – The Tortilla Curtain – T.C. Boyle

7. Stand Up For Your Rights : Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday is January 18. Read a fiction/non-fiction book about someone who makes a strong stand for what they believe in.  – The Giver – Lois Lowry

8. Geography Awareness Week (14-20): Use this spinning globe to get lat/longitude coordinates. http://ptocheia.net/globe/ Read a book taking place in the geographic region you landed on. If you get the ocean, pick again! – After about a million spins that landed me in water, I found myself in Tanzania, which is very close to Rwanda… We Wish to Inform you that Tomorrow we will be Killed with our Families: Stories from Rwanda – Philip Gourevitch

15 points:

1. Give Credit Where Credit is Due: For this challenge you will be reading 2 books. Read a book that another author praised or reviewed (you know, those blurbs another author gives on the cover of a book) and then read a book by that author. So, let’s say I want to read The Time Traveler’s Wife. Jodi Picoult wrote a blurb of the book..so I could read any book by Jodi Picoult.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – Lisa See AND Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden who said that Snow Flower is, “An engrossing and completley convincing portrayal of a woman shaped by suppering forced upon her from her earliest years, and of the friendship that helps her to survive.”

2. Familiarity Breeds Contempt : Read a genre that you rarely read.  – Murder in the White House – Margaret Truman

3. Dead Men Tell No Tales : Read a book published after the author’s death or a book where the main character has passed away –Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Steig Larsson

4. Order in the Court : read a fiction/non-fiction book about a case, or has some sort of legal case throughout it.  – To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

5. Ancient History : Read a book that is primarily set anywhere between 3500 BC – AD 476. – The Odyssey (or Iliad) by Homer

6. World AIDS Awareness Day (December 1): Read a fiction/non-fiction book about someone with HIV/AIDS or where the issue is a big part of the book, a book about AIDS research, or a book set in a country that is plagued by the AIDS epidemic. – Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir by Paul Monette

7. National Roof Over Your Head Day (December 3): Read a book about a person or a dog/cat who is homeless or was once homeless or a book about an orphan/child in foster care. – Grand Central Winter – Lee Stringer

8. Black Tuesday : The New York Stock Exchange crashed on what came to be known as “Black Tuesday” on October 29, 1929 which started the Great Depression: Read a book that takes place during the Great Depression or written by an author during the Great Depression.

20 Points: (Tasks will be added after Spring/Summer challenge ends)

1. Group Read : Read a past group read OR a group read that happens during one of the months of this challenge AND post to the discussion thread what you thought about the book.  – Persuasion – Jane Austen

2. Spring/Summer Challenge Winner’s Task (Jess): Read a book that has a one word title. – Dubliners – James Joyce

25 points

1. Thanksgiving Time : Let’s celebrate the feast between the Pilgrims and the Indians. Read a fiction/non-fiction book about those early settlers (anything before 1700′s—could be about Salem witch trials) AND a fiction/nonfiction book about Native American Indians (does not have to be in that time period) The Winthrop Woman – Anya Seton or The Heretic’s Daughter – Kathleen Kent AND Life of Black Hawk, or Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak – Dictated by Himself

2. Teen Read Week (October 17-23): Read a book that your parents were reading when they were teenagers & read a YA book that teenagers are reading today (written in the last 5 years). If your parents were not readers, find a book that was popular when they were of the teenage years. I will post direction on how to easily look this up.

3. Back to School:  Find your birth month and see which subject you will be studying first period. Pick a fiction or a non-fiction book related to this subject. THEN pick one of the extracurricular activities you’d like to participate in. I purposely left off English because that would be easy!

*March & August: Science – Breathing Space – How Allergies Shape our Lives and Landscapes – Gregg Mitman
Debate Team: Read a book about a very controversial issue. – The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness

4. Intimidating Reads: On the College Students blog we made a top ten list of our most intimidating reads. Think about a book that really intimidates you for whatever reason (length, time period, genre,etc.) and look that book square in the eye and conquer it! THEN, read a book of your choice to reward yourself for getting through it! – The Communist Manifesto – Karl Marx AND Enitrely Yours – E.R.Haze

5. I Like Big BOOKS and I Cannot Lie : Read a book that is over 700 pages. Perfect time to get those big books in for the challenge! – Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray

6. Books Men and Women Should Read : Read a book off each of the following lists. Do you agree that every woman or man should read that book?
75 books women should read  - Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
75 books men should read – Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

7. Backyard Travels : Take the state, county, region you live in. Read a fiction/non-fiction book related to a local historical event and post a sentence or two about what you have learned. For example, I live close to Valley Forge Battlefield. I might read a book about the Revolutionary War which would include the battle at Valley Forge or a book about George Washington whose headquarters were at Valley Forge.  – Rads: The 1970 Bombing of the Army Math Research Center at the University of Wisconsin and its Aftermath – Tom Bates

8. A New Year : Read a book related to something you want to do (could be a goal or a resolution) or something big you know you will be doing in the coming year AND read a book related to a big event in your life or a resolution that you worked on this past year.

Goal for Future – Travel – Wall to Wall: From Beijing to Berlin by Rail – Mary Morris
Big event for last year – landing a solid internship (which will hopefully be a job!) – The 4-hour work week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich – Timothy Ferris

Before I went into work, I cracked the back windows of my car, hopefully ensuring my car would not be a heat box when I went home for the night.  At 5 it was still an oven – and also a wonderful nesting place for an entire layer of cotton.  I stood outside my car for a moment, mystified and wondering how in the world I was ever going to get all the cotton out of the upholstery.  I rolled over the engine and as my car revved to life, I felt a grin pull across my face.  I lowered all the windows and took off down the street.  The cotton instantly rose in the breeze, racing around the car and out the windows.  I was a real life, moving snow globe.

Anyone watching from the side of the road would have seen a 21 year old girl, driving alone in her car, laughing hysterically in a cloud of white cotton.

Eric was here this weekend, like usual, and we all had moments where we were sitting in the living room, staring blankly, wanting to entertain ourselves in some form of game or conversation, but instead focusing on how, even though the fan was blowing, our uncovered shins were clammy with sweat.  Our shins!  Why in the world would a shin sweat?  On our walk to Chipotle, Eric and I rested on an air vent in the sidewalk. I normally avoid this like the plague because the air grosses me out – but the vent was cool and the air soared right up our shorts.  Passersby smiles were both of amusment and jealousy. 

We’re irritable.  The weather makes people react differently.  Eric and I alternated between holding hands and not, what level of heat can we hold between our palms before it was uncomfortable?  The good-bye cuddle lasted approximately 3 minutes before we determined that the embrace was sufficient.  Our tempers flared and stewed throughout the day, riding the waves of our physical discomfort.   

But, ultimately, the heat reminds us of summer and the joys that it holds. Our air condintioning is not on.  I don’t want it on.  Fresh air and heat – that’s the meaning of summer.  But gosh, it really is miserable.

Anyway, update. I didn’t even check to see when the last time was that I wrote.  Too long ago, obviously.  The end of the school year came with much celebration.  This was a terrible semester.  And now the lightness that I feel after that pressure is simply joyous.  The face that it coincided with beautiful, spectacular Wisconsin summer days is all the better.  Seriously.  The reason why people live in Wisconsin during the winter is so they can experience the wonder that is Wisconsin summer.  Sure, it’s humid, but it’s full of life.

I’ve started wrking full time at my internship.  It would be great, except by main boss (I have three) is resigning.  So now I’m not 100% sure where that leaves me.  I definitely have a job, but I’m not sure so I have enough tasks, if you know what I mean.  I’ve been working on a project for the past week of matching job descriptions to each of our employees – and our org chart is 53 pages.  It’s extremely tedious, albiet important.

I have been taking advantage of every moment of free time I can gather and, as you might expect, attempting to spend it outside.  I’ve been reading outside, although i haven’t gone through nearly as many books as I had hoped by now.  I’m currently on The Lovely Bones, which isn’t quite as spectacular as I had anticipated.  I’ve also spent hours playing tennis.  I convinced the boys in the apartment to buy rackets and balls and we’ve been going down to lakeshore to play.  I absolutely love that frickin’ sport.  Unfortunately, it’s created a rather large blister on my foot; so I have to tape myself all up and be strategic when to play.  When my feet tell me I can’t play tennis anymore, I’ve been riding Eric’s bike.  I’m working up the stamina and courage to ride my bike to work.  I think I should be able to do that by June… or at least a week in.  We’ll see how it goes.

Well, at least now Bailey is awake.  Eric’s still sitting there like a lump.

What else?  Zoe and I are starting a story together again.  It’s all very exciting, although we tecnically haven’t started writing it at all yet.  We’re merely plotting   It’s about superheroes though, which reminds me of Save the Day.  If I have any time at all I’ll work on that, although I figure that’s probably a lost cause. 

Well, that was a blow by blow account of my life as current.  Oh, the excitement.

On Wednesday, my mother and I went and saw “The Last Song” – yes, that’s the movie with Miley Cyrus.  Yes, it was pretty horrible.  I never had any intention of seeing it but we wanted to see a movie and with our limited block of time that was the only possibility.  We know now we should have just passed but we bot hoped it would at least be a silly little romance that warmed the heart.

So, anyway, what the movie really got me thinking about is the makings of society, and it’s movies that like that really bother me.  The only people who are going to enjoy that movie are 13 year old girls.  Why?  Well, first off, because it’s Miley Cyrus.  But also because the main story is about this cute boy, whom she accidentally meets, and who instantly falls in love with her, works really hard to date her (even though she’s being completely bratty) and who then does everything to stand up for her including alienate himself from friends and family.  She’s also able to get upset with him at least 5 different times in the movie, storm off, and have him run after her apologizing and asking for forgiveness.

What in the world is this teaching people?  Why does our society perpetuate the idea for women that they are allowed to flip-out over /anything/ and the man is just supposed to be an apologetic little puppy?  That a girl can get upset over the littlest thing, but hey, if the guy loves her then he will understand how wrong he has been.  Especially in these stories about young love, you rarely see a guy stand up for himself to the girl – always to his friends who are “wrong about her” – and of course the guy is always a *great catch* and somehow manages to still fall in love with the girl even though she’s awkward, new in town, playing hard to get, etc.

I don’t know, I guess a lot of this is just the making for a good romance.  After all, I enjoy a lot of these things.  But it’s really the arguments that bother me.  I really think that many young girls think they are allowed to be angry about anything and that they have the right to scream and push and be all around mean to their boyfriends.  How is that appropriate for anyone? 

Obviously a civilized discussion that ends in a mutual agreement doens’t make for a very good movie plot… but I think it makes for a much better life.

I’m waiting until it is the appropriate time to head over to accounting tutoring.  I have an exam tomorrow and some accounting club (how exciting!) offers 2 hour tutoring every Tuesday night.  I have to say, it’s a wonderful thing that they do that because I need all the help I can get.  I just didn’t want to arrive right at 7pm, when they start.  They seems a bit too…. um, eager, I guess.  Ha.

Eager is probably the best way to describe everyone on campus right now.  If people can be eager while they are exhausted.  Spring break is a long time coming – but it’s finally arriving.  I don’t need to remind anyone about my plans, I am sure.  I’m so excited that I almost am not – meaning that it doesn’t feel real. Everyone once in a while I think, “Oh right, I should do this before I go…” etc. etc. but truly it hasn’t hit me.  I’m sure it will once I’m in the car down to Chicago and my mind is obsessing over that extremely large flying contraption I have to shove myself into.  What am I going to do for 12 hours on a plane?  This is where I’m thankful for the grogginess that all my medications creates.

The world has been delightful lately – gifting us with such fantastic weather.  I laid out on our balcony for far too short of a time this afternoon.  I literally whimpered when I realized that the sun wasn’t hitting me anymore – I hate that we face east and not south – and the shade was still pretty chilly.  The world is so much happier in the sun.  It’s amazing the things you can forget after a long winter.  Of course, there’s the cliche birds chirping, but even more than that I notice that the world has scent again.  I dont’ always mean good scent, of course, but when the world is blanketed in snow there just isn’t anything to smell.  Now that it’s all melted away I can actually tell that things are alive besides us humans.  It’s nice to know.

Well, I suppose I’ve passed enough time.  I have to get a move on otherwise I risk convincing myself that I don’t actually need the tutoring – when I desperately do.  Wish me luck tomorrow – I can only hope I do better than other people around me (isn’t that awful?  I hate curves!)

Luff.

The thing is, it’s not even that anything has really happened.  It’s just that my activities have been more – more desperate, more challenging, more boring even.  I’m not sure how to thoroughly explain the way I felt I have been living for the past couple of months, but it’s been strange.

The thing controlling my life the most right now, as you might expect, are my classes.  Normally, I don’t mind that very much – after spending a semester in Spain and not learning anything academically, I’ve realized just how much I love schooling.  Education is totally my thing – but this semester is throwing a wrench into my normally ambitious self.  I get no thrill from any of my classes. 

My accounting are professional communication are not only boring but pointless – and, even worse, time consuming with hours of homework.  My just-for-fun step aerobics class doesn’t even include step aerobics as a regular exercise – we spend more time sitting on the gym floor listening to the 56 year old instructor talk about proper atheletic shoes. Religious studies, arguably my most looked-forward-to class of my entire educational career has proved to be horrific.  I find myself feeling more like I’m sitting in Sunday school (to which I’ve never been) than in a university classroom.  I have no religious background whatsoever and find myself completely ignorant about which everyone else in the class can speak candidly.  Even my best classes, Compensation and Leadership in China, are marred by an extremely time consuming semester long group project in the former and a disconnect with my classmates in the latter.

Then, of course, there’s always the emotional problem of Eric’s absence.  It hasn’t been bad, we’ve been able to see each other every weekend – but that means that Friday and Saturday are a bubbling fizzle of happiness (and no homework) but then with Sunday comes a crashing low and an inability study, think, or have any sense of optimism as I look forward to a string of classes that take up all my time.

Okay, so I know I’m complaining – whining, even, and that I really shouldn’t be because I have a lot of great things in my future.  It’s hard not to get down though, especially today as the misty/rainy/fog makes the entire world gray.  I just look forward to the days when my homework lessens, when I can feel that I am really on top of my work, and I have the opportunity to pick up a book at my leisure.  I’m not used to living in a way that I am just waiting for the better to come – that’s not how I enjoy my life.  I’ve never been a TGIF girl before, but now the end of the week can’t come soon enough.

On that note, I had better spend some time reading before my next class!

Spring/Summer Official Task List – ends August 22nd (although I’m going to give myself until at least the first day of school  – September 2nd!

5 Points:

1. Reading Is Fun Week- (May 10th-14th): Read a book of your choice that is something you would consider just a “fun” read..light, fluffy, & just pure fun.
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold

2. Fight Procrastination: The second week in March is Procrastination week. Let’s help fight our procrastination by:
-Read a book that you have owned the longest but have never read OR  -Read a group read that you planned to read but didn’t end up reading OR – Read a book that you have started more than once but have never finished
Dreams from my Father – Barack Obama

3. Make A Friend: Read a book by somebody on your GR friend’s list that they have rated 5 stars OR a book that they have previously recommended to you. If you don’t have anybody on your friend’s list, pick somebody in this group and read a book that they gave 5 stars to.
Fanny: Being the True History of the Adventures of Fanny Hackabout-Jones – Erica Jong

4. Alfred Hitchcock Day: In honor of Alfred Hitchcock, pioneer of many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genre, read a mystery/suspense/psychological thriller book.
Savages – Don Winslow

5. Passport Required: In the months when the travel bug bites, read a travel memoir or a fiction book where the main character is traveling for most of the book. This book must take place outside of your own country.
Wall to Wall: From Beijing to Berlin by Rail – Mary Morris

6. Bibliophiles Unite: Read a book about books or a book where the main character is a bibliophile.

7. April Showers Bring May Flowers: Read a book with the name of a flower in the title or on the cover.
White Oleander – Janet Fitch

8. Summer Scenes: Read a book with a summer image on the cover: beach, ocean, boat, sun, sandcastle, seashell, pool, lake, etc.

9. Passionate Reading: Read a book pertaining to an interest/hobby/activity that you enjoy doing. If you are into horses, you could read a fiction book about a jockey, a nonfiction book about horses, etc.
Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert

10. Do You Believe In Magic? : In honor of Harry Houdini’s birthday (March 24th 1874): Read a book with a main character who has magical powers.
Mister Monday – Garth Nix

10 Points:
1. Be Amused: Amusement park, carnivals, zoos, and circuses are popular spring/summertime attractions. Read a book that is (mostly) set at an amusement park, zoo, carnival, or circus OR read a book with an amusement park ride in the title (rollercoaster, swings, Tilt-A Whirl, Carousel, Merry Go Round, Ferris Wheel, etc.) or has a ride on the cover.

2. It’s the Future: In honor of 2010, a very future sounding year, read a dystopia or apocalyptic book.
Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury

3. Life’s a Beach: Read a book off the NPR 100 best beach reads list (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story…)
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte

4. Directionality: Read a book with one of the following directions in the title: North, South, East, West, Up, Down, Left or Right.
All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque

5. Dear Diary: Read a published journal or diary OR read a fiction book that is written in the form of a journal or diary.
Zlata’s Diary – Zlata Filipovic

6. Island Dreams: Read a book that takes place primarily on an island.
The Sex Lives of Canibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific – J. Maarten Troost

7. African Liberation Day( May 25th): In honor of the many countries in Africa with tumultuous pasts who have been liberated & those who still are in that process, read a fiction or non-fiction book that primarily takes place in Africa.
We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families – Philip Gourevich

8. International Women’s Day (March 8th): Read a memoir written by a woman from a different country than you.
Infidel – Aayan Hirsi Ali

9. Doctor’s Day (March 30th): Read a fiction/non fiction book where the main character is in the medical field.

10. Point of View: Read a book that is written from the point of view of multiple characters.
Bent Hope: A Street Journal – Tim Huff

15 Points:

1. July 17, 1918: The Imperial Romanov Family was shot and killed—Read a book that takes place in Russia during the Romanov dynasty (1613-1917)

2. Book Club Favorites: Read a book off the GR’s most popular book club books list of all time. http://www.goodreads.com/book/popular_gr…
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

3. In The Year You Were Born : Read a book that won an award the year you were born OR read a book that is on the top 100 popular books published in the year you were born list. http://www.goodreads.com/book/popular_by…
The Crystal Shard – RA Salvatore

4. Barbie Girl: Barbie Doll’s first appearance was March 9 1959– Barbie has always been a source of controversy when it comes to body image. Read a fiction/non fiction book related to body image. It could deal with things like anorexia, bulimia, obesity, “ugliness”, etc .
Fat Land – Gret Critser

5. Nom de plume: Read a book by an author who writes under a pen name. Example – Nora Roberts writes under the name JD Robb or Mark Twain is really a pen name for Samuel Langhorne Clemens. You could also use a classic where a female first put the book out under a pen name (Charlotte Bronte wrote under a pen name when she wrote Jane Eyre) for gender neutrality reasons.
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

6. Albert Einstein’s Birthday (March 14th): Read a non-fiction book related to any aspect of science OR a fiction book where the main character is a scientist.
In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto – Michael Pollan

7. Family Matters: Read a book a “non traditional/unconventional” family. Basically could be a book with a single parent, same sex parents, etc. There could be a few different options so just ask if you aren’t sure.

8. In A Lifetime: Read a fiction book that spans several decades of a character’s life (or the life of a family) in detail. (Example—Love in the Time of Cholera, The Poisonwood Bible, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Namesake). It doesn’t need to be a whole lifetime but should be more than 3 or 4 decades.
Russian Winter – Daphne Kolstay

9. Young Authors: Read a book that was written by someone before they were the age of 25.
P.S. I Love You – Cecelia Ahern

10. Philosopher John Locke’s birthday (August 29th) : Read a book with strong philosophical undercurrents, such as, The Fountainhead or The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
The Atrocity Paradigm – Claudia Card

20 Points:

1. Group Read: Read a past group read OR a group read that happens during one of the months of this challenge AND post to the discussion thread what you thought about the book.
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides

2. Coast to Coast: I live on the West Coast and my family lives on the East Coast so it feels like I am always going back and forth. Read one book set on the East Coast and one set on the West Coast.
The Cide House Rules – John Irving (Maine) AND Going to see the Elephant – Rodes Fishburne (San Francisco)

3. Spring is a time of beginnings and growth, and literature had to start somewhere too. Read a book that was written pre-1700s AD; it can be from any country, fiction or non-fiction.
Othello – William Shakespeare

4. Jules’ task (2nd place Winner of the Fall/Winter challenge): Spring, the time for new love: Read two books by authors you haven’t read before.
Dubliners – James Joyce AND The Tortilla Curtain – T.C. Boyle

25 Points:

1. Evolution of a Country: Read 2 books from the same country set at least 30 years apart. So, you might pick a book set in China in the 1800’s and then one set in China from the 1970’s.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – Lisa See AND The New Rich in China – David Goodman

2 . Ethical Issues: Read a fiction book that deals heavily with one of the following ethical issues AND then read a non-fiction book related to that subject.

So you would read a book like Slaughterhouse Five and then a nonfiction book about war or a soldier if you picked war. I’m open to other ethical issues if you have something in mind..just let me know.

3. Mia Hamm’s birthday (March 17th): Read a fiction/non fiction book pertaining to sports. This could be a memoir written by an athlete, a book about a sports team or a sport, or a fiction book with a main character who is an athlete, etc.

4. William Wordsworth birthday (April 7th) — Read a book of poetry from the 18th century AND a book of Contemporary poetry (after World War II) The book of poetry must be at LEAST 75 pages. If you are reading from an anthology just pick 75 pages to read from.

5. Body & Mind: Read a book about a person with a physical disability/handicap AND a book about a person with an emotional/social/psychological disorder.

6. Under & Over Rated: Read a book with less than 1,000 ratings on Goodreads AND read a book with over 50,000 ratings.
_____________ AND The Giver – Lois Lowry

7. A Body of Work: Read a book by an author who has only written one book (at the time you are reading the book) AND read a book by an author who has written 10 or more books.
_________ AND The Eyes of the Dragon – Stephen King

8. Judge a Book by Its Cover: Read a book with a cover that you love AND read a book with a cover that is not appealing to you. To claim your points, tell us which book was a better read—the one with the cover you loved or the one you didn’t love
Summer in the City - Robyn Sisman AND Survival in Auschwitz – Primo Levi
I ended up rating both of these books 5 stars – but for obviously different reasons.  I could never, nor would I ever, compare the two (althoug it certainly seems that I intended to, by putting them both in the same category!)

9. The Great Debate: Read a book about an issue written by someone who disagrees with your stance. (So you if you were pro-choice, you might read a book written by someone who supports pro-life or if you are someone that believes in Creationism you might read about evolution, etc.)

10. Emotional Reading: Read a book that has an emotion in the title (anger, sad, happy, joy, pride, fear etc.) AND read a book that is known for eliciting a strong emotion (a “tear-jerker, a “feel good” book, a book that angers, etc.)
Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices AND The Notebook – Nicholas Sparks

Okay, well, a since September life update, hu?  According to my last post, I was still reading Gone with the Wind.  Finished that, loved it.  I guess that’s about it, I’ll post again soon!

Ha, kidding.

It’s weird to think about the things that had not happened to me in September.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’ve done all that many exciting things, but it’s still like – oh right, I’ve lived since then.  Strange, really.  One of the biggest things, as my subject line suggests, is that I’m learning Mandarin.  Cool, right?  Why?  Oh, you know, because I’m going to China.  Yeah, spring break.  I’m taking a class where for ten days at the end of March they are shipping us over to China.  You have no idea how FRICKIN EXCITED I AM.  Seriously. Ecstatic.

What else?  Oh yeah, I got a job.  Mmm hmm, internship actually.  I work with Recruitment for Rayovac Remington.  Pretty slick, right?  I’m really enjoying it.  There’s a career fair here next week and I’m totally going to be WORKING at it.  Soo snazzy.

Um, well, Eric is back in Rockford.  You’d think he wasn’t back at all, but he did live here all semester.  He, so far, is coming up every weekend which is really nice.  I can’t wait to see him tomorrow - I really do miss him a lot.  We’re going to see RENT on Sunday and I can barely contain myself.  Last Saturday was his birthday and we went ice skating – I am horrible.  Terrible. Awful.  Six year olds were readily passing me, it was disgusting.

Have you ever tried to just sum up your life?  It’s awful.  I wrote a NaNo novel, as you might expect.  It was trecherous, let me tell you.  But I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I’ve taken to having one-person dance parties now that Eric has left me again, it’s delightful.

Okay, well, now that this has just turned into a silly ramble, I’ll be off.  Maybe I’ll write again before June.