Paperback.

When the weather looks like this...

 

 ...I like it when my evenings look like this.

 Tea and a book... What could be better?

Oh my gosh. I loved this book. I also cried like a baby, and felt like that meme about experiencing emotional trauma at the hands of a paperback explains my life so well right now. Or maybe this one. I bawled. A lot.

I don't want to talk much about the book, because I feel like it is intensely personal. Some people connect with it, some people feel like the dialogue of the protagonists is not age accurate... I personally wasn't bothered by the latter. Augustus' obsession with metaphorical resonance was enough for me - even though they are teenagers, his, Hazel, and Isaac's insight is that of someone far older due to the life experiences they have had that other teenagers have not.

But my favorite quote from the book comes from Van Houten, and sums up how I've been feeling lately:

Unbearable Lightness.

I just finished reading the book Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi. It is her memoir of anorexia and bulimia, and it is a phenomenal book. At once both inspiring and horrifying, it really opens your eyes to the terrible images women hold as ideals thanks to the media. Somehow our value as people is still tied to our looks, accomplishments aside.

Reading this book made me excessively grateful that I am okay with my body. I may not like everything about it, but I am sufficiently okay with it to not feel the need to emulate the look of a sick person who has not had her period in over a year because her body has no extra material to use, and is slowly dying.

Everyone should read this book. It took great courage for Portia de Rossi to share her feelings of self loathing with the world especially since they are bound up with her old fear of exposing her sexuality.

Seriously. Read this book.

Sheep.

I love reading, yet I don't read as often as I would like. Sometimes I think I should do something about it, but then it usually becomes pretty clear why I don't read too often. I don't like delays in books; I have a very hard time spreading out the reading, putting a book down and picking it up again in a few days... I like to read NOW, which usually involves sacrificing other things that need to get done.

I figured this break from school would be a good time to do some reading- what does it matter if I stay up late reading? I don't have to teach tomorrow. I started reading Leonie Swann's Three Bags Full on the recommendation of my teacher librarian. It's a delightful mystery about a flock of sheep who turn detective when their shepherd is murdered.

It really does keep you guessing until the end, because the sheep are unreliable narrators. Not purposefully, but there are a lot of things about humans they don't get, and if they don't know what something is, how can I? There is an entire chapter where the flock finds "a Thing" and it takes several pages before they describe it well enough to figure out what it is. These moments keep the book light and funny, and I thoroughly enjoyed such a different mystery.

Summer Reading.

I love to read. During the school year, I try not to read too much because I tend to get sucked into books and, unable to put them down, stay up significantly past my bed time.

But, summer! Oh summer. How I love you. In summer, I indulge myself and read all the books I haven't had time to the rest of the year. Since the end of June, I have read books to my hearts content. Some with lots of substance, some entirely frivolous. Some good, some not so good. (I had been particularly looking forward to reading Shadow of the Night, sequel to A Discovery of Witches that I got sucked into in January.)



 

From here.

I shouldn't have to tell you that the Hunger Games trilogy is worth reading, but if I do, you can check out Kate's blog post about it. She sums up my feelings about it pretty clearly (including the part about Katniss being a bit obnoxious at times... maybe it's that I deal with teenage angst too often at work, it annoys me when it slips into my summers?) and I also read Mockingjay in one sitting. A single sitting that ended at 3:30 am when I thought "screw it, I'm not sleeping until I find out what happens."


  

From here.

I also read a fantastic gothic novel called The Shadow of the Wind. It is a thrilling whirlwind of a book, blending past and more past Barcelona with a riveting mystery. It is a spellbinding novel that I would highly recommend!

From here.

When I am in the mood for something light and frivolous, nothing can beat Janet Evanovich. Anything by her pretty much fits the bill of easy, breezy, fun summer reading. Latest on my list was Love in a Nutshell, which is classic Evanovich, in that there is a big lovable dog, quirky supporting characters, a little bit of romance, lots of laughs, and more mayhem than you can shake a stick at.

From here.

Last (on this list) but certainly not least, I highly enjoyed Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. I love Bryson's writing style, and his hilarious account of hiking the Appalachian Trail blends quick, evocative narratives with histories of the region.









Summer's not over yet, but my reading will probably slow down a bit, since August promises to be busier than July. But, I can't think about going back to school yet... my reading list isn't complete yet!

Super Powers.

From here.

I have been reading Bill Bryson's very entertaining memoir The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.  It is his account of growing up in America in the 1950's, and truly a fun read.

Bryson ties his narrative together by recalling a childhood fantasy (very reminiscent of the Superman origin) of finding a moth-eaten sweater with a lightning bolt on the front, which was clear evidence that his parents are not really his parents, and he must have come from another planet and have superpowers of his own.

Many of the chapters end with Bryson claiming to have used his powers to achieve some end.

"All heroes of the day had particular specialties. Superman fought for truth, justice and the American way. Roy Rogers went almost exclusively for Communist agents who were scheming to poison the water supply or otherwise disrupt and insult the American way of life. Zorro tormented an oafish fellow named Sergeant Garcia for obscure but apparently sound reasons. The Lone Ranger fought for law and order in the early West. I killed morons. Still do."

I envy your powers, Mr Bryson. And would highly recommend this book.

Punching my way through space. Obviously.

Good Books.

I love reading books. However, I cannot read all the time. If a book is good, I get sucked in and can't put it down. I love good books, but they tend to ruin my productivity; I have to wait for specific times of year to allow myself to be absorbed by a good book.

From here.

During exam break in January, I got completely engrossed in Deborah Harkness' A Discovery of Witches. I'm not really a vampires kind of girl, but this book completely blew me away. First off, the protagonist is a science historian (history of science being my favorite subject) which meant I pretty much wanted to be her, and secondly, the fantastic elements were presented in a very believable and accessible way. I started reading the novel around 8 pm, and didn't look at a clock until 2 am when I decided I needed to pee. If you like a little romance, a little history, a little suspense, and a little science mixed in with some magic, this book is all that and more. The science parts could get a little overwhelming if you aren't well versed (the male lead is a vampire/geneticist) and the history very detailed (I found myself going to wikipedia a couple times afterwards to remind myself which one Christopher Marlowe was again...) but that only adds to the book; at no point does any of this feel dumbed down. My only problem with the book is that it is the first of a trilogy - I have no idea how I am going to wait until July for part 2!

From here.

A couple of days ago, I got sucked into another book. This one I'd intended to last me all of Spring Break, but once I started reading, I could not stop and ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting. The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern, is also a suspenseful fantasy-romance, but from a different angle. The magic in this novel takes a different form from A Discovery of Witches supernatural; the protagonists are illusionists whose illusions are real. I loved the descriptions of the scenery, clothing, and acts in the traveling circus that forms the main setting for the novel. I found some of the characters under-developed, and the ending a bit weak (everything ended a bit too well tied together, and certain plot points left unexplained... things also seem to be set up for a possible sequel?) but it was a delicious read. The romance is not overwhelming (the lovers pretty much don't meet until half way through the book) but the narrative jumps around from different points of view, and different points in time. This book would not be for everyone (if you're not a fan of fantasy, I wouldn't go near it with a 10-foot pole) but it was a great bit of escape-ism. Just what Spring Break called for.

For the rest of Spring Break, I also picked up Bill Bryson's At Home, which hopefully will last me a bit longer.

ATASC Conference 2011.

So, as I mentioned, I went to the ATA Science Council Conference mid-October, in Lake Louise. I mentioned one of our keynotes was Dr. Jane Goodall, who was phenomenal (no surprise there).

I also ate some fantastic meals, enjoyed the scenery and the beautiful facilities, networked with colleagues and visited with friends, and attended some pretty neat sessions on physics labs and one excellent one on encorporating story-telling into science classes. (History of science is one of my secret geeky interests... all the others are definetly not-so-secret...)

However, one of the surprise highlights for me was our Friday morning keynote speaker, Dr Joe Schwarcz. Dr Schwarcz is the director for the Office for Science and Society at the University of McGill, whose passion in life is dispelling many of the myths the public has around science, chemistry in particular.

Unsurprisingly, as he hosts a weekly radio show in Montreal and has written several popular books about chemistry, Dr Schwarcz was an engaging speaker -you really have to be, to keep an audience of 300 teachers captivated for an hour and a half... we really don't make good students. He addressed many misconceptions that the public (and our students) have around chemistry, and what we can do to promote critical thinking.

After one and a half hours of the chemistry of Barbie's hair and why we shouldn't always trust Dr Oz, I know what I want for Christmas!

My room. Oh yah. Lake view!

Books.

I love books.

There is something soothing about cuddling up on a rainy day with a hot, steaming mug of tea in one hand, and a beloved book in the other. A day spent lounging in the sun is also made better with a good book in tow.

I am also not a book snob; almost all books have an equal share of my affection. My personal bookshelf is teeming with novels (both good and trashy) of all persuasions (mystery, fantasy, romance, historical, graphic), biographies, science literature...

While I have a fairly decent collection of books, it's kind of my addiction... there is always one more book I would love to have! I dream of one day having a room devoted entirely to books (preferably one with a ladder to reach the top!). So when I stumbled upon this website... Words cannot describe my envy.

Kind of reminds me of this...

...droool.... Excuse me whilst I pick my chin up off the floor.

House Plants.

Not long after I moved out of my parents house, my mother gave me some books. She had been doing some house cleaning and discovered she had multiple books on plant care (you'd be surprised how handy they are). Deciding no home was complete without one (or two) she gave me this...

Foliage Plants for Modern Living. Copyright 1974. A classic. (I also have a copy of Hanging Plants for Modern Living)

Apparently, it was Ben Franklin who said "Opposable thumbs, running shoes, and cookies for breakfast are the only things separating us from the animals." It would seem that foliage plants are the only things separating us modern humans from savages.



I have a lot of friends who have trouble with plants... they can be quite tricky to grow in certain spaces (most apartments and condos are relatively low light) and we tend to get suckered in at greenhouses by all the lovely blooming flowers they have, without knowing whether or not it will successfully grow in our own homes.
Enter Foliage Plants for Modern Living. It outlines certain rules of general plant care, defines the terms you are likely to see on the little plastic tabs that give you "instructions", and helps you identify why a plant might not be thriving. It also has descriptions of common household plants, complete with illustrations and specific care instructions. (Common meaning "plants that were common in households in the 70's". While certain plants like the Ficus are classics (think rubber tree plant), it is much less common now to keep an Asparagus Fern in a macramé hanging basket.)

While I have already talked about my love for my plants, here is a list of a few that are the easiest to grow; they require very little maintenance, aren't picky about lighting and could be a good addition to any space that needs a bit of "greening up".


Birdsnest Sansevieria. Typically, dark leaved plants do better in low light than ones with lighter leaves. These can get by with relatively little water, and pretty low light. Bright, indirect light is best (articfical is okay) but I have this one about 10 feet away from a north facing window. Sansevieria's spread by rhizomes (undergroud shoots) so you can start off with one little rosette, and eventually more will come up until they are growing in a clump.

Another type of Sansevieria that grows well indoors is the Snake Plant. Pretty much the difference is the height (mine are about a metre tall) and the shoots produce single leaves, rather than the rosettes. Earlier this summer one of mine flowered with greeny-white blossoms on a long stalk.

One of the most famous easy to grow plants is the spider plant... they do very well in partial shade/north light. Spider plants can also handle bright artifical light - they grow quite happily in classrooms with no windows. They produce baby plants by little "spiders" growing off cascading stems - these spiders can be cut off and placed in dirt to start new plants.

 Devil's Ivy. Grows perfectly well in total artifical light. This one is happy as can be in a glass of water in my bathroom. A climbing ivy, it will actually cling to walls with the little sucker-like pads it has on  the stems it puts out. I have actually had more luck growing this ivy in water than I have in soil... (a word on hydroponic growing... most plants like tap water! Distilled...  not so much. Tap water will leave deposits on the glass, so don't use anything you are too attached to. I find mason jars work well...)

The easiest of them all.  Swedish Ivy. Likes any light... indirect... shade... artifical... Also grows very well in water. So well, that it will put out roots wherever its stems encounter water or soil (so don't place next to any other plants or they will become attached!). Makes excellent cuttings to start new plants. Typically, swedish ivy would prefer to hang, but mine is doing okay getting bushy on a side table.

Stay tuned in the future for the "slightly advanced" group of easy to grow house plants!

Europe.

I've been thinking a lot about Europe lately. In two days, my parents are going on a two-week jaunt to London and Ireland. As well, this time two years ago, I was returning from a fantastic month-long trip around Europe. Now, in two weeks, my lovely travel companion, Courtney, is getting married!

How time flies... this seems like just last week...

Edam, in The Netherlands

One of my favorite places we visted was the Natural History Museum in London. Typically, museums consist of dramatic and brightly colored displays to attract visitors, and, in part, the Natural History Museum is no different. However, historically musuems were designed to store collections for posterity and the scientific community, not the public. Collections were stored systematically in drawers, away from everyday view. Having these catalogues of animal and plant species, fossils, mineral samples, etc, was an important part of scientific history. Darwin's collections from his voyage on the Beagle are all still carefully stored away in the back rooms of the museum.

To me, the building itself is part of what makes the Natural History Museum so special; it's steeped with history (and I am a huge science-history buff). When the collections got too large to continue to be housed in the British Museum, a new home was built in Kensington. The original curator, Richard Owen, was a deeply religious man, and believed that the stunning variety of life on Earth should be showcased to provide evidence for God's glory (Owen was one of the first people to believe that museums should also be open to the public). Accordingly, he had the museum built to resemble a great cathedral...


Since it was raining the day we went, photo credit here.

 Instead of saints and gargoyles outside, the carvings are of great animals. Inside, every column and ceiling panel is adorned with carved birds, fish, mammals, vines and more.

 The main hall contains a replica model of a Diplodocus, and the ceiling panels are painted with local plant species.



View of the Main Hall from upstairs.
Note the statue of Darwin at the top of the stairs.

 The majority of visitors prefer to spend their time on the main floor, where the flashy, modern exhibits are. But if you venture upstairs, some of the collections are still shown as they would have been before museums relied on money from tickets. This gentleman has a wonderful Flickr album devoted to some of the collections, and his pictures showcase the displays far better than mine. The simplicity of the displays allow the specimens to speak for themselves, and the lack of flashy signs ("something exciting right here!!") means you feel a sense of pride in discovering a particularly interesting item.

Poor Courtney. We didn't spend nearly as much time in the Museum as I would have liked, but probably far more than she would have... (since we spent the earlier part of the day indulging her in the musical intruments wing of the Victoria and Albert Museum, I didn't feel too bad) and there were so many nooks and crannies I would have liked the opportunity to explore. Probably I should have finished reading Richard Fortey's Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum before we went, but hindsight is 20:20. I'll just have to go back!

"Treats from the Orient!".

I am rather sad. Tomorrow Danielle finishes her stay in Edmonton. Accordingly, we have been getting in as much hang out time as possible (the benefit of being teachers in summer... free afternoons all the time!)


Today I got a hair cut on Whyte Ave (which will explain the distinct lack of curl in my hair), then stopped by her place to visit, help pack, and go on one last random Whyte adventure before she leaves.
Happily, the weather was nice....

...unlike the last time we went window shopping.... (when it looked more like this. For the record, that is my mother's umbrella. D is FAR too cool to own anything like that.)

I ended up buying some earrings to wear to a wedding on Saturday (more on the weddings another time!)

We also had a great adventure in Chapters. Danielle found a random gift card while cleaning her room, so we decided to buy something that matched the monetary value left on the card. (It ended up being $1.77)

In this book, Seed Catalogue: A Poem, the author writes things like "No. 1248. Hubbard Squash" and random stories that seem to somehow be about life on a farm. But we were a bit confused at the sections that started "My father was mad at the badger..."

(Even if we could have afforded it... we weren't about to buy it. As an English teacher, she did not approve)

I will clearly need to read this one to be convinced as to How the Hippies Saved Physics. If it's because everyone was on drugs when they named the quarks... well that's nothing new. And don't get me started on string theory. Mathmatically it's okay, but in layman's terms? "And everything is made of tiny vibrating strings!" Someone was definetly on something when they coined that explanation.

One of the more "interesting" books we found was a wannabe Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging. Called Withering Tights, the jacket actually contains the following words:

"What she doesn't expect is feeling like a tiny bat's barging around in her mouth when she has her first snog."

GOOD GRAVY, WHAT IS LITERATURE COMING TO?

I also discovered my hidden talent at the Harry Potter display...

I am KILLER at Magic Eye. Oh yes. I can look at them, and in about two seconds, without moving the book towards or away from my face, say "obviously it's Hedwig" or whatever the picture is of. How's THAT for a wicked cool party trick?

So what did we buy with the gift card you ask?
  

A knock-off My Little Pony called Filly Princess, of course. That may or may not be named "Duchess Romantica".

The other patrons of Block 1912 must have been sooo jealous of how awesome we are.

We ended our visit with gelato (not the 2 lbs. she tried to feed me last time... a more respectable scoop) on the walk back to her house. I will miss her heaps when she is gone... but we've had some awesome times hanging out the past few weeks!!

(I need to say things like that as she plans on showing this blog to her students as a way to get them into blogging as a form of journaling... HI DANIELLE!!)