Happy New Year | rc-4: Concluded

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Bring it on, 2013!


I am back to work today, in ways both professional and personal, so it felt timely to update good ol' Sugar & Gravy.

How was your holiday?  Mine was great!  It was the perfect balance of seeing family and friends, eating food, sleeping, resting, socializing, and more.  I had a great New Year's Eve, too; very low-key with some loved ones.  The holiday felt long, too, which is a surprise... not to say that it was easy getting back to work today, but still, it feels nice to be back to routine.

I owe everyone a salute to John Lennon, but it just doesn't feel right anymore, being nearly a month since the anniversary of his death.  Moreover, there's not necessarily a significance to the 32nd anniversary of his death, so perhaps I'll save it for 2015... here's hoping I keep S&G up until then.

I also owe y'all an overview of all contestants (seasons 1-4) on "RuPaul's Drag Race".  This post I will absolutely do, as it's partially written and I think will be a lot of fun to write and get feedback on.  I hope to get this written in January, but I won't make any promises yet.


rc-4 Year-End Update
What I will do right now is give my rc-4 update.  Another year has ended, and so therefore has another one of my reading challenges.  Reading Challenge #4, more commonly referred to as rc-4, was to read 20 books in 2012.  Once again (17/20 in 2011), I have not completed my challenge.  In fact, I only completed 60% of it, but.....

WHO CARES?!  The challenge is arbitrary to some degree.  It's a great regular segment to blog about, a chance to discuss the books I'm reading and what I plan on reading next.  And, the whole point was always to keep me reading after I was done my English degree, and I have been.  12 books in 2012 is fine.  A book a month is likely above average, and plus - I'm not competing with anyone.  rc-4 was for me, but hopefully any regular readers got some enjoyment out of it, too.  I know I did!!!

All that said, here's what I did read:

1. What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell
2. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
3. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
4. Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
6. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
7. If You Have to Cry, Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone
8. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
9. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom **re-read
10. She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb *favourite author **re-read
11. In One Person by John Irving *favourite author
12. Lennon Revealed by Larry Kane **re-read

In Sum: 12 books read, 9 new books and 3 books re-read, 10 different authors, 1 series, 6 non-fiction, 6 fiction

As for what I'm going to do in 2013 or rc-5... I'm not sure yet.  I think I'm just going to re-commit myself to reading lots, blog about it here, but not make it a challenge.  I may change my mind, but I'm a bit over the challenge: not the intent of it, but the whole being a challenge part.  I'll read, I'll write about it, but that'll be all.

All my best for a great 2013, all!  Until next time.....

Currently reading... Grace: A Memoir by Grace Coddington, Quiet by Susan Cain
Posts to come... An overview of all contestants to date on "RuPaul's Drag Race"

rc-4 update

Reading Challenge #4 continues...

Just this morning I finished re-reading Lennon Revealed by Larry Kane. It's a biography of John Lennon, written by long-time friend Larry Kane, a journalist who was assigned to travel with The Beatles on their two North American tours in 1964 and 1965. It's a great, honest biography of John Lennon, which all the good ones seem to be. That's how John would've wanted it.

Stay tuned for a dedication piece to John in December, on the 32nd anniversary of his death.

I'm struggling with what to read next. I think I'm going to try to dive into Susan Cain's book, Quiet, but we shall see!


What I've read so far...

1. What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell
2. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
3. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
4. Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
6. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
7. If You Have to Cry, Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone
8. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
9. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom **re-read
10. She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb **re-read
11. In One Person by John Irving
12. Lennon Revealed by Larry Kane **re-read

Rest in Peace, J.L.

He is my hero. He wasn't a perfect person, but that's what I love about him. He was rude and crude and said stupid things and did stupid things... but he was always human. He was always so beautiful in his flaws. Above all things, he just wanted peace. His message hasn't vanished, but the need for it has grown. He is always remembered and his spirit still lingers. 30 years since his death, let's keep trying to make his dreams come true.

T C B

First of all - talk about a thrill! Today I get a direct message from @alexandluke (remember them?) telling me that I've won their most recent draw, meaning I get to choose their next destination. I had to choose between Tennessee, Virginia, or Missouri. I chose Tennessee - purely on the basis that it has 3 sets of double letters in it. Why not?

Update on the Reading Challenge: With 2 bus trips of 1.5 hours each this weekend, I got to work on finishing some books, and I did! I finished Cynthia Lennon's bio of John Lennon, entitled John, AND Sex Drugs & Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman. A short word on each...

John: Beautiful. Captivating. Upsetting. A tribute. The book sent me in a million different directions throughout. I mentioned before that John seemed to be much more loving with Cynthia than I would've first thought, and he was, but once I got to the divorce... Good God! It was hard to see my hero acting in the way that he did. Anyway, I won't get into a lot of details about it, but it was a great read! Cynthia wrote beautifully and honestly. I think for all of us die-hard Lennon fans, it's a necessary read. He's human, after all.

Sex Drugs & Cocoa Puffs: Oh Chuck Klosterman - you are a pretentious dork, but I love you anyway. A lot of his essays went over my head (I think because I was born in '87), but so many of them rung true to me, and often made me laugh hysterically. In many ways, Chuck is the male version of what I would aspire to be if I didn't have more than one passion. Anyway, I certainly plan on reading more of his stuff, that's for sure!

Now I've gotta finish Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. It's a great book, but seems a bit more sophisticated after what I just got through with. I'll get back there though. And, what happened to my love for fiction? I've gotta get back to that, too!

Book Worms & Other Musings

Things I'm trying to do more of (and starting to succeed):

• Eat meals at my kitchen table (versus sitting on the couch or at my desk).
• Falling asleep without a TV show or a movie playing AND with my computer actually off.
• Reading before bed (and in general).
• Floss (you know this already).

That reminds me - I guess in a sense The Great Flossing Challenge is over. I used to have a chart on my bathroom wall with how many times I'd done it, but I took it down because now I don't have to see the chart in order to floss. I guess that means the Challenge was a success. YAY! I'll let you know how the next dentist visit goes. No more lying!

The reading challenge is going well, although I have to make myself finish one book before starting the next. I've got 3 books on the go right now:

• Sex Drugs & Cocoa Puffs - Chuck Klosterman (nearly done)
• Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell (about 1/3 to finish)
• John - Cynthia Lennon (about 1/3 to go as well)

So I'm nearly done all of them, but I haven't finished any yet. Time to really get to it! Last night I got into my bed (so, SO comfy) and read for an hour and a half before falling asleep... AT 10:00 pm!!! WTF?! It felt so good though. I should try it more often.

By the way - John is such a good book. I don't know if it's ghost-written or not (I like to assume it's not and that Cynthia is a brilliant and glamorous woman), but whoever wrote it did an amazing job. The stories are fantastic and new and fresh - it's like she's filling in the gaps in between the stuff that those of us who are Lennon-obsessed already know.

Thoughts so far... John is much less cruel and disinterested as I might've thought. I figured he would've neglected Cynthia more than it appears he did. He's much more loving and tender and reassuring than I imagined. Then again, I haven't gotten to their separation...