Date a Reader

I saw this on Pinterest a while ago and my friend just posted it on Goodreads and I was reminded of how much I like it.  So, I thought I would post it for all of you to read.  Now, I just need to find a guy that wants to date a reader!  Might not happen, as I am almost 29 years old and have never dated a single soul, but I like to think that it could happen.


“ You should date a girl who reads.
Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes, who has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she has found the book she wants. You see that weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a secondhand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow and worn.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas, for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry and in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who read understand that all things must come to end, but that you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes." - Rosemarie Urquico 

Stepping it Up

From October 1st- November 1st we had a contest at work.  Every member of the staff was given a pedometer and we were encouraged to take as many steps as possible during the month long contest.  Immediately people were saying that that is not fair, because I would win, due to the fact that I am a runner (they have legs too, right?  What is stopping them?).  Little did they know that I am in the biggest running dry spell that I have ever been in and that I would suffer for a cold for the entire month (and beyond!  It has been two months! My longest relationship!).  So, we all went off to count as many steps as possible.

Boy, if you want to see the ugly side of your co-workers give them a competition like this.  The complaining!  The claims of cheating!  It was never ending!

The average amount of steps one should take in a day is 10,000.  This ensures normal health, supposedly.  I wanted to get more than that per day, because I thought for sure that I would get 10,000 at work alone.  I spend most of the time in my class walking around to all of my students.  However, I found out that my average was between 7,000 and 8,000 steps.  I also found it very hard to encourage myself to go out and get those extra steps in, once I had gone inside my house after work.

I knew I would not win this competition, because a co-worker walks her dogs every day and dances the night away with her kids, but I still gave it my all because my students were really into it.

Over all, I registered 232,557 steps... plus the countless others I logged when I forgot to wear my pedometer.  I mean I danced the night away at a wedding!  I walked through Los Angeles!  I am pleased with these results.  I am also pleased with the fact that my waist line is a little smaller, because I was getting out there and stepping it up.  As I move on from this contest, it is my goal to keep on trying to get those 10,000 steps per day and if I am lucky, I will get more.

Get out there and step it up!  It really is fun (at least for me) to see how many steps you take in a day!

Some Surprise

A few years ago, this was one of my favorite songs.  It is off of the album 'Cake Sale', which is also just a great album!  Check the song and the album out.

I was really heavy into The Frames, Snow Patrol, Lisa Hannigan, Ben Harper, Damien Rice, etc. then and I still really enjoy their music.  If you enjoy this, then you will probably like music by Glen Hansard (The Frames, he's in the movie The Commitments and it is fabulous, The Swell Season), and The Swell Season!


Some Surprise


The Cake Sale album was part of the Make Trade Fair Campaign (I didn't realize this was the cause when I bought the album!) in Ireland, in 2005.  This brings me to my next topic, Fair Trade.

It was definitely some surprise to me, that I did not know about Fair Trade before, but it has recently come to my attention via friends from college.  I have been so shocked to find out that giant chocolate companies like Nestle, Cadbury, and Hershey's buy their cocoa and beans, etc. from farms on The Ivory Coast and in Ghana.  These farms typically pay their farmers hardly any money at all and they also have their farms harvested by young children and women. This is why we get chocolate for such a cheap price here in the states.

If you would like some alternatives, from companies that give their farmers a fair wage for their work, check out:

Equal Exchange (I just started getting my baking cocoa and chips here)

Divine

Madecasse

Alter Eco Foods

Ripple Brands Collective (I think they are at Costco)

Guittard

Lake Champlain

Shaman Organic Chocolates

Green & Blacks

Brandstorm Inc.

Sweetriot

Sjaak's Organic Chocolates

Read up on Fair Trade here:  Fair Trade USA, Fair Trade Federation

And don't forget to look for Fair Trade logos on the products that you are buying!

          

          

Pretty Flowers

I love this song.  It reminds me of songs of old.  I love Dolly and I love Steve's sound!  It's been a while since I have listened to this, so I thought I would share it with you!


This is not my song, no copy right infringement intended.

Pumie Heavy Duty Scouring Stick

I have lived in my apartment for a year and a half.  When I moved in, it was disgustingly dirty, and the land lord did not have it cleaned for me.  For the last year and a half, I have stared at the hideous ring in my toilet, having no clue how to get rid of it.  I have hated it.  I have loathed it.  It is just plain awful!

My friend Allison told me a while back, that I could get a pumice stone and it would take the ring right off.  Well, today, I finally got to the cleaning isle in Home Depot and got the 'Pumie Heavy Duty Scouring Stick'.

It is a miracle worker!!

I know the last thing you want to look at is the inside of my toilet, but it took my toilet from this:

To this!!:

Amazing!  I suggest you get this if you are having issues with toilet rings as well!

It works for deep stains in your bath tub, hard water rings, rust and paint, and carbon buildups in your oven!  A tool I shall never forget.  And, it only cost me $2.49!  Can't be beat!