Sunday, April 27, 2014

a cat on a mission

two ruby posts in one day?  when you see this video, you'll understand why you needed another dose of ruby tonight:


a ruby a day

I haven't had a lazy Sunday at home in a while. This afternoon: knitting a new critter now, yoga later. I've missed lazy Sundays, and clearly so has Ruby. Love this girl.


Monday, April 21, 2014

breaking news alert

i love this.

i love that the winner was an american (yay america!), but i love even more that he is an immigrant.  how appropriate - to be reminded that one can be american and be an immigrant, when the accused bombers, too, were american and immigrants.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

what i'm listening to right now

i bought sara bareilles' new album, and it is every bit as awesome as i'd hoped it would be.  i love this song - "chasing the sun":

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

10 year duke reunion!

duke was as gorgeous as ever.  we felt old, but not too old.  we laughed a LOT.  we drank an appropriate amount.  we ate burritos at 2:30am.  we got a noise complaint at the hotel.  we reminisced.  we made new memories.  i am so so lucky to have these friends, to have attended this school.





and i came home to this, which isn't half bad either.


Sunday, April 13, 2014

what i'm listening to right now

where "right now" = "in an airport waiting for my flight home from duke reunion weekend and grading papers even though i really don't want to."

"sex on fire," by kings of leon:

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

“Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal.”
--Rumi (1207-1273), Persian poet

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

a ruby a day

ruby supervises me while i make dinner - from a location that is close enough to the action for her liking but not close enough to get yelled at.  good kitty.

Monday, April 7, 2014

a photo a day

last night i made a carrot cake for a coworker's birthday, and this is what the pan looked like after our party/staff meeting today.  no sight could make a baker happier!  it was an awesome recipe and the cake turned out really moist and the frosting the perfect amount of sweet (i used less sugar than was called for, which was a good move).  baking success!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

march: 4, 5, 6, & 7

2014 started out as a slow year in books, but i picked up my pace this month!  in march i read:

me before you, by jojo moyes (thomas gave me this book for christmas, and i really liked it.  the basic premise is that a woman gets hired as the personal assistant for a young man who is a paraplegic.  it's one of those books where both of the main characters are changed by their interactions with one another, but the book is well written and not nearly as cheesy as i just made it sound.  it was a quick and interesting read and i'd recommend it!  would be perfect for spring break or a long weekend without work.)

what the dog saw, by malcolm gladwell (okay, so i listened to this audiobook in the car, but i'm counting it because this is my blog and you can't stop me.  people!  this book is awesome.  it's a bunch of essays that gladwell wrote for the new yorker over the years, so the topics are varied and all quite interesting and well-researched, as all of gladwell's stuff is.  my friend jenny LOVES audiobooks, but i haven't had great experiences with them in the past because i don't concentrate well enough on them (while driving) to follow plot lines in fiction books.  but!  turns out non-fiction is the perfect thing to listen to while driving.  i'm midway through another non-fiction audiobook, and loving it, too.  i think i have been converted.)

the maid's version, by daniel woodrell (mama bought this for me for christmas, and it was another great book this month.  the author wrote winter's bone (which became a pre-hunger games jennifer lawrence movie), and this too is a story about the ozark mountains.  his writing style is really different from most of what i read - sort of faulkner-esque, in that you don't exactly know what he's writing about for a while - but as the story came together it was fascinating.  i definitely want to re-read this book at some point, because i imagine the beginning of the story will be more meaningful now that i understand where it's going, but either way, this was a good read.)

the ocean at the end of the lane, by neil gaiman (womp womp.  it was my month to pick books for my book club - when it is "your" month, you pick 5 or so books and the rest of the members vote on which book to read, and this book won.  i had never read any neil gaiman before and, um, i didn't really like this.  i read on amazon.com that this book started out as a short story, and i think it should have stayed that way.  there some some magical realism - not my favorite - and the book just wasn't what i was expecting in general.  i read it, but i wouldn't necessary recommend this to anyone.  neil gaiman seems like a cool author if you are slightly nerdy, though, so i wanted to like this.  it just didn't happen.  sorry to let you down, book club.)

Saturday, April 5, 2014

gorgeous aerial photos from around the world - such a cool new perspective!