I gave up on the book extravaganza, considering I never returned the books, owed the library 50 bucks and therefore had a collection agency calling. Awesome.
So ... giving up.

Need to focus on finding what I want to do with my life.
Fast.
If i go back to school I'm stuck at my house a few more years, but if I find a job with my degree, maybe I can move out quicker.

Here's to hoping.

Who knows..

Amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PqI12R8YNU

This is absolutely divine. Period.

Day 1 of Book Extravaganza

So I looked at the Time Magazine and I decided that I would go with the list from there. Because the books seem more enjoyable and I would have to say that I trust Time Magazine and enjoy it very much.


So with that knowledge, I chose to pick a few books randomly and then go from there. The books I chose to start with are: The Haunting of Hill House by: Shirley Jackson, White Noise by: Don Delillo. These are both horror books and I know the basic story. But I chose to start with Shirley Jackson's book because well, she wrote "The Lottery" Which is probably my all time favorite story. The story is horrifying and very entertaining to say the least.


Instead of buying these books, I decide to head to the good ol' Berwyn Public Library where I spent most of my days in grade school glaring at the millions of options for myself. I walk up the familiar stairs and see many kids from high school sitting inside chattering away about homework, boys, girls, the football team, everything that high schoolers think about... I go up to the woman and say, "Hi, I had a library card and I definitely lost it." She looked at me with attitude (probably a rough day) and stated simply, "I need two forms of I.D., one from column A and one from column B," as she handed me a piece of paper. "Shit", I think in my head. I tell her, "I only have my license." She just stared and repeated from a script, "If you only have your license, you are only allowed to take out two books, and your card will be mailed to you within the week." I nodded. "Only two books," I thought. This was ok... because really, I needed to make sure I finished the books within the two week span that I had until they expired. After what seemed forever, she smiled at me (what a shock) and handed me back my license. I think to myself, 'Happy reading.' And then I was on the hunt. I went to the Young Adult section, and looked up JAC, my eyes scanning for The Haunting of Hill House. I see the book and get excited. I take it in my hands, moving it around, examining it fully. Then I see printed: Immaculate Heart of Mary High School Library Westchester, IL. I smile; surely fate wanted me to pick this book up. My high school, Immaculate Heart of Mary, closed down a year after I graduated. And it was a few towns away from Berwyn... So I felt that I was meant to read this book, in a way, or at least to begin my LONG list of books with this one. And this particular copy. (When I showed it to my father, my avid reading partner, he laughed and said, “Creepy how a book finds you sometimes, huh?”).

I smile thinking of the little IHM library and the fact that this book ended up in Berwyn's, while I go to the Fiction section for the second book of choice.

I search for "DEL" getting irritated that there are so many DEL authors/codes. I also note that Delillo has written many books but I turned nothing up that was White Noise. Disappointed, I look at the next shelf hoping it was misplaced, Yes! It was! Perfect. So I run up to the desk and take out the two books. And my adventure of reading the Top 100 books of all time had started.

I started reading it as soon as I got home. The first chapter is sort of eerie. And I’m already within the 4th chapter. And I am very excited that I’ve begun this journey of sorts…

Am I a nerd? Yes. But I love being well-read. And I am very excited about this.


Happy reading.

PS

This blog is now going to be focused on my reading of these books/seeing of these movies.
I wonder how this will turn out.

Books. Nerdery. Etc.

One of my closest friends from high school and I were discussing the numerous books we read from high school...things she remembered, things I rememebered.
And she reminded me of a story that we read for our American Lit (I think?) class.

And funny enough it's by Kurt Vonnegut.
It's titled "Harrison Bergeron".
It's a FANTASTIC read...and if you are in the mood for a good short story. I recommend it:

http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html

And on that note... I have decided that I want to read at least all of the books on the Top 100 best books of all time list made by the Modern Library. Now, this seems like a BIG deal, but I am actually quite good at reading, as well as, in college I would read 3-4 books a week at the same time. So I think this "goal" (of sorts) is quite possible.
There are two lists on this site. One is the list made by the Modern Library and then there is the fan's list. There is also a list from Time Magazine, but they unfortunately don't put it in numerical order but in Alphabetical. SO I am kind of debating what ACTUAL list to go by. I also want to see all of the 100 top movies of all time. God, am I a nerd. But now that I have a full time job, and I don't go out as much because of having to be up so early... I think it's something I can do for mysel, that is'nt in anyway spending TONS of money (well the movie one, yes, but w00t for the library). So here go the lists...the bold is what i've read/seen.

This is the Modern Library's Choices:

ULYSSES by James Joyce
THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce
LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov
BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
CATCH-22
DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler
SONS AND LOVERS by D.H. Lawrence
THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck
UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry
THE WAY OF ALL FLESH by Samuel Butler
1984 by George Orwell
I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf
AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser
THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers
SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison
NATIVE SON by Richard Wright
HENDERSON THE RAIN KING by Saul Bellow
APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA by John O'Hara
U.S.A. (trilogy) by John Dos Passos
WINESBURG, OHIO by Sherwood Anderson
A PASSAGE TO INDIA by E.M. Forster
THE WINGS OF THE DOVE by Henry James
THE AMBASSADORS by Henry James
TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald
THE STUDS LONIGAN TRILOGY by James T. Farrell
THE GOOD SOLDIER by Ford Madox Ford
ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell
THE GOLDEN BOWL by Henry James
SISTER CARRIE by Theodore Dreiser
A HANDFUL OF DUST by Evelyn Waugh
AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner
ALL THE KING'S MEN by Robert Penn Warren
THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY by Thornton Wilder
HOWARDS END by E.M. Forster
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN by James Baldwin
THE HEART OF THE MATTER by Graham Greene
LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding
DELIVERANCE by James Dickey
A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME (series) by Anthony Powell
POINT COUNTER POINT by Aldous Huxley
THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway
THE SECRET AGENT by Joseph Conrad
NOSTROMO by Joseph Conrad
THE RAINBOW by D.H. Lawrence
WOMEN IN LOVE by D.H. Lawrence
TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD by Norman Mailer
PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT by Philip Roth
PALE FIRE by Vladimir Nabokov
LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner
ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac
THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett
PARADE'S END by Ford Madox Ford
THE AGE OF INNOCENCE by Edith Wharton
ZULEIKA DOBSON by Max Beerbohm
THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy
DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP by Willa Cather
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY by James Jones
THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLES by John Cheever
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess
OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham
HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad
MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis
THE HOUSE OF MIRTH by Edith Wharton
THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET by Lawrence Durell
A HIGH WIND IN JAMAICA by Richard Hughes
A HOUSE FOR MR BISWAS by V.S. Naipaul
THE DAY OF THE LOCUST by Nathanael West
A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway
SCOOP by Evelyn Waugh
THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE by Muriel Spark
FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce
KIM by Rudyard Kipling
A ROOM WITH A VIEW by E.M. Forster
BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh
THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH by Saul Bellow
ANGLE OF REPOSE by Wallace Stegner
A BEND IN THE RIVER by V.S. Naipaul
THE DEATH OF THE HEART by Elizabeth Bowen
LORD JIM by Joseph Conrad
RAGTIME by E.L. Doctorow
THE OLD WIVES' TALE by Arnold Bennett
THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
LOVING by Henry Green
MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdie
TOBACCO ROAD by Erskine Caldwell
IRONWEED by William Kennedy
THE MAGUS by John Fowles
WIDE SARGASSO SEA by Jean Rhys
UNDER THE NET by Iris Murdoch
SOPHIE'S CHOICE by William Styron
THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE by James M. Cain
THE GINGER MAN by J.P. Donleavy
THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS by Booth Tarkington

The Reader's List of Best Books:
ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand
THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand
BATTLEFIELD EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard
THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee
1984 by George Orwell
ANTHEM by Ayn Rand
WE THE LIVING by Ayn Rand
MISSION EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard
FEAR by L. Ron Hubbard
ULYSSES by James Joyce
CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller
THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
DUNE by Frank Herbert
THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert Heinlein
STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND by Robert Heinlein
A TOWN LIKE ALICE by Nevil Shute
BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger
ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell
GRAVITY'S RAINBOW by Thomas Pynchon
THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell
LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding
SHANE by Jack Schaefer
TRUSTEE FROM THE TOOLROOM by Nevil Shute
A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving
THE STAND by Stephen King
THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN by John Fowles
BELOVED by Toni Morrison
THE WORM OUROBOROS by E.R. Eddison
THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov
MOONHEART by Charles de Lint
ABSALOM, ABSALOM! by William Faulkner
OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham
WISE BLOOD by Flannery O'Connor
UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry
FIFTH BUSINESS by Robertson Davies
SOMEPLACE TO BE FLYING by Charles de Lint
ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac
HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad
YARROW by Charles de Lint
AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS by H.P. Lovecraft
ONE LONELY NIGHT by Mickey Spillane
MEMORY AND DREAM by Charles de Lint
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf
THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy
TRADER by Charles de Lint
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams
THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers
THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood
BLOOD MERIDIAN by Cormac McCarthy
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess
ON THE BEACH by Nevil Shute
A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce
GREENMANTLE by Charles de Lint
ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card
THE LITTLE COUNTRY by Charles de Lint
THE RECOGNITIONS by William Gaddis
STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert Heinlein
THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP by John Irving
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson
AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner
TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller
INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison
THE WOOD WIFE by Terri Windling
THE MAGUS by John Fowles
THE DOOR INTO SUMMER by Robert Heinlein
ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE by Robert Pirsig
I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves
THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS by Flann O'Brien
FARENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury
ARROWSMITH by Sinclair Lewis
WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams
NAKED LUNCH by William S. Burroughs
THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER by Tom Clancy
GUILTY PLEASURES by Laurell K. Hamilton
THE PUPPET MASTERS by Robert Heinlein
IT by Stephen King
V. by Thomas Pynchon
DOUBLE STAR by Robert Heinlein
CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY by Robert Heinlein
BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh
LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST by Ken Kesey
A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway
THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles
SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION by Ken Kesey
MY ANTONIA by Willa Cather
MULENGRO by Charles de Lint
SUTTREE by Cormac McCarthy
MYTHAGO WOOD by Robert Holdstock
ILLUSIONS by Richard Bach
THE CUNNING MAN by Robertson Davies
THE SATANIC VERSES by Salman Rushdie

I haven't read a lot of those... which list to choose from... hmmm...
And the final list: Movies:


1.
Citizen Kane (1941)
2.
The Godfather (1972)
3.
Casablanca (1942)
4.
Raging Bull (1980)
5.
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
6.
Gone with the Wind (1939)
7.
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
8.
Schindler's List (1993)
9.
Vertigo (1958)
10.
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
11.
City Lights (1931)
12.
The Searchers (1956)
13.
Star Wars (1977)
14.
Psycho (1960)
15.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
16.
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
17.
The Graduate (1967)
18.
The General (1927)
19.
On the Waterfront (1954)
20.
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
21.
Chinatown (1974)
22.
Some Like It Hot (1959)
23.
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
24.
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
25.
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
26.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
27.
High Noon (1952)
28.
All About Eve (1950)
29.
Double Indemnity (1944)
30.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
31.
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
32.
The Godfather Part II (1974)
33.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
34.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
35.
Annie Hall (1977)
36.
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
37.
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
38.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
39.
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
40.
The Sound of Music (1965)
41.
King Kong (1933)
42.
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
43.
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
44.
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
45.
Shane (1953)
46.
It Happened One Night (1934)
47.
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
48.
Rear Window (1954)
49.
Intolerance (1916)
50.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
51.
West Side Story (1961)
52.
Taxi Driver (1976)
53.
The Deer Hunter (1978)
54.
M*a*s*h (1970)
55.
North By Northwest (1959)
56.
Jaws (1977)
57.
Rocky (1976)
58.
The Gold Rush (1925)
59.
Nashville (1975)
60.
Duck Soup (1933)
61.
Sullivan's Travels (1958)
62.
American Graffiti (1973)
63.
Cabaret (1972)
64.
Network (1976)
65.
The African Queen (1951)
66.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
67.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
68.
Unforgiven (1992)
69.
Tootsie (1982)
70.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
71.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
72.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
73.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
74.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
75.
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
76.
Forrest Gump (1994)
77.
All the President's Men (1976)
78.
Modern Times (1936)
79.
The Wild Bunch (1969)
80.
The Apartment (1960)
81.
Spartacus (1960)
82.
Sunrise (1927)
83.
Titanic (1997)
84.
Easy Rider (1969)
85.
A Night at the Opera (1935)
86.
Platoon (1986)
87.
12 Angry Men (1957)
88.
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
89.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
90.
Swing Time (1936)
91.
Sophie's Choice (1982)
92.
Goodfellas (1990)
93.
The French Connection (1971)
94.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
95.
The Last Picture Show (1971)
96.
Do the Right Thing (1989)
97.
Blade Runner (1982)
98.
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
99.
Toy Story (1995)
100.
Ben-Hur (1959)

Forty out of one hundred ain't too bad lol.

happy movie seeing.
and as always, happy reading.



P.S. I read Twilight and I don't care what anyone says. It's a fantastic book.

things that irritate me (tonight's issue)

1. People asking for money.
Ok, I understand. We're all broke from school, our own debts whatever. And I know some people who have put up the donate sign on their blog/myspace/facebook whatever because they really need it. But for me, in my opinion, I just want to say, "We all have $cashmoney$ issues, why should I donate to you?" I guess if you have a REALLY good reason then I understand. But if it's because of school, too fucking bad. It happens. And if it's because you put yourself into debt, whoopdeedoo. And if it's because you have minimum wage job, big deal, there are families out there who have two minimum wage jobs and still can't make the mortgage with kids.
I'm sorry, but if you're between the ages of 18-24, and you're asking for your friends on the internets for fucking money? No. It's called the realworld. Get over it. Unless you have to pay for hospital bills because you or a family member has gotten ill. Ok. If you have kids to worry about, ok. But if you're just some 20 something fuck I knew in high school and just need money, well write a letter to Santa, hunny, because we all need fucking money.

2. Men who think asking a girl they barely know over to have sex with them.
This is the main reason for writing this all out tonight... Now everyone gets horny..but to tell a girl you kind of know that you want to come over so that things "ensue". Nice fucking try buddy. And if you're a girl who agrees to it... sigh. you're not helping my cause. I understand that we all need some sometimes...but seriously people? Do I look like a person who wants to be asked that question? No. Or at least I don't believe so. and I haven't ever had 'random encounters' where someone can spread information aroudn saying that I would, either.

Irritation.
Irritation.
Irritation.
Happy holidays.

Almost like a rolling stone article..

I've been really into music lately.
I know that I have always loved music. And I mean all types. When I was a child, I was lucky enough for my parents to take me to see things like: Joseph and the Technicolor Dream coat, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, etc. And within this year (from yesterday til next year) I will see 1 opera (last night) and 2 musicals (RENT and Jersey Boys, I cannot wait). My dad really got me into the music that I really love though.
Rock.
So I was thinking the other day... What are my favorite albums of all time? And how would i categorize it? Would I just say top albums ever, period? Or would it be top rock albums? Top 80's albums? Top musical albums? I mean I couldn't put Wicked next to Jethro Tull could I?
That would be weird...

*************************************************************************************
Avenged Sevenfold: Self-Titled
As Tall As Lions: Self-Titled
Those two definitely. Absolutely amazing. I can listen to all those all the way through...without skipping a song.. Those are both under rock.
Under soundtracks it would definitely be: Rocky Horror. Wicked. Rent.

hmmm more on this later

(THe Football game is getting too good. minnesota might lose, and I'm kind of counting on it so the bears can have a chance in the playoffs).