The Hunger Lames

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins… everyone was talking about it, my girlfriend devoured the trilogy, and – despite my biggest deterrent: hype – I was intrigued enough to dive into the series.  

I liked reading the first installment (The Hunger Games) because it was easy and quick to read, the chapters were short (which can be a really nice thing), and because it was a literary idea like I’d never read before.  It was imaginative, original, creative, and fascinating; these are great elements in a novel.

I started reading Catching Fire (the second book of the three) because I had to know what happened next.  I read this novel even more quickly than the first.  I loved this one in particular because it went in a direction that I had never predicted.  It was surprising and even more engaging than its predecessor.  I was hooked!

Then I moved on to Mockingjay and I faltered.  I pushed through the first bit and then couldn’t get hooked again.  It lay gathering dust on my kitchen table for weeks… I think it took me nearly 2.5 months, if not more, to get through it in the end.  It just didn’t deliver like the others did.  Sure, it was a new story, but it wasn’t that same action-packed, page-turning excitement that had me racing through the first two. 

Then – worst of all – the ending fell flat.  I liked what I gathered some of the overarching themes were, bleak as some of them may be, but it was just so… unsatisfying.  It wrapped up too quickly without enough loose end-tying.  It just kind of went splat – there you go, it’s over.  The definition of anticlimactic.

Was it worth the read?  Absolutely.  But as my friend Waleed said, “It’s not a good sign when you’re really happy you’re done.”

[This whole unsatisfying experience was heightened by the sigh of relief and overwhelming sense of sustenance I felt when I dove into my current read: In One Person by John Irving.]

Posts to come... a full update on Reading Challenge #4 + anniversary dinner at Yours Truly & a beer beforehand

Life in TO

Guess what?!?  For the past 10 days I have been, and moving forward I will continue to be, an official resident of the city of Toronto.  I haven't truly lived here since 2005... it's pretty wild how time flies.  5 years in Waterloo, 2 in Port Hope, and now I'm back... and I couldn't be happier!

Was it hard to leave Port Hope?  Not really.  My two years in PH were formative and important and happy and satisfying, but the time was right to make the move, and I was just flat-out excited when moving day (June 30th) finally came.  But it's important to note that I really did love my apartment in PH and it was somewhat sad to say goodbye to that great place, but onwards and upwards!!!

At least, it will be upwards soon... temporarily I'm living at my parents' place, and likely will be until September.  It's a pretty sweet gig for the meantime, and I'm grateful that I have a place to stay.


So how have I enjoyed my time back in the city???  FULLY.  The weekend I moved home just happened to be: Toronto Pride + the Canada Day long weekend + my sister's 30th birthday.  Does it get any better???  On June 30th, once all the moving craziness was done, I spent the evening celebrating 3 decades of my sister's life at the historic Lambton House (built in 1847) in the west end of Toronto.  She rented out a room at this great venue for a private party with a bar and her own DJ.  It was awesome - great music, great friends, quirky drinks (including "The '82" and "The Extra Dirty 30"), a dress code theme ("indie darling"... I was inspired by Hannah from "Girls"), and generally a lot of fun!


On Sunday, July 1, I woke up, showered, wore my finest combo of Pride and Canada Day-appropriate clothing, and headed down to the Church-Wellesley village to celebrate the gorgeous weather and the special day.  3 friends and I started the day off at Lola's Kitchen, which I believe I've mentioned before.  We were lucky enough to get a table on their patio and we took our sweet time enjoying many summery drinks (mimosas, Caesars, sangria, and watermelon spiked lemonade), their delicious food (I had the day's special: grilled cheese Benedict - delightful!), and the perfect combination of summer sun and heavenly breeze.  

Once we finished, we headed down Church St. from about Charles all the way to Carlton, checking out the vendors, people-watching, and generally taking it all in.  We crossed Carlton, down the subway stairs, and up to the corner of College & Yonge, and found a good spot to watch the parade out front of Hoops Bar, just north of College on the west side of Yonge.  It was a great spot to watch from, and despite feeling complacent about Pride every year when it comes around, once again I was overwhelmed by my own pride while watching the parade - pride for my city, my community, myself, and the amazing people I saw marching for various causes, all in the name of acceptance and gay pride.  Yes, I may be proud all year long, but what's the harm in marking a day to celebrate it in particular?  Nothing.  In fact, it's wonderful!!!


After about an hour or so of parade-watching, my girlfriend and I headed back up to her house for a Canada Day BBQ.  We ate snacks, drank beers, watched the Jays' game, sampled some delicious summery cocktails her sister put together (all tea-based... very cool), and then dug into the feast -- home-made burgers, corn on the cob, salads... TO DIE FOR.  Kudos to Steph for all her labour.  It was very well-received.


THEN we had the holiday Monday, on which we celebrated my sister's birthday again: the family edition.  We had a great little lunch in the backyard and then went to Canada Square movie theatre to watch "Take This Waltz", Canadian director Sarah Polley's second feature film, starring Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby, and Sarah Silverman.  I don't want to go into too detailed a review of this film.  My feelings about it are complicated which makes me feel like Sarah Polley did exactly what she intended, which I respect and appreciate.  I loved how unashamedly she highlighted Toronto - it was such a thrill seeing the city displayed without trying to pretend it's somewhere else, presumably in the states.  The acting was really incredible, and there were some extremely powerful moments.  Overall I liked it and I'm glad I saw it.


The rest of the week was pretty uneventful.  I'm working part-time from a home office in Toronto which has been a great new routine to adjust to and I'm finding it to be a very productive situation.  I saw some apartments and actually applied for one yesterday (stay tuned!).  Then on Friday night I went to Mississauga for the evening with some of my very besties and had a very chill time, eating Thai food and watching "The Comeback".  

Saturday morning I woke up relatively early, my sister picked me up from my friend's in Mississauga, and we drove down the 401 + the 402 to Sarnia, ON, my mom's hometown, and where some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins live.  We spent 24 hours at my uncle's place, which used to be my grandparents' house, so I've been there many times before.  He's done some incredible work on the interior and it's so amazing to spend time there, filled with memories of the time spent there as a kid, but then to be surrounded by a beautiful variation on the place I've known so well.  We arrived around 3:30, spent some time relaxing and catching up with my aunt and uncle, and then my aunt tucked me into the hammock where I read Mockingjay and took a snooze.  [Aside: I'm finally getting back into Mockingjay.  I'm determined to finish it this month and move onto something totally new.]  After a snooze and a shower, I joined more family and friends for a perfect summer dinner: BBQ'd ribs.  It was a delicious meal with fabulous company and I went to bed fully satisfied and fell fast asleep with the sound of the waves in my ears.


Sunday morning we woke up early and after some breakfast down by the lake, we took 3 dogs (my sister's, uncle's, and aunt's) for a long walk down the shore.  The combo of sun and breeze was delicious and we took our sweet time walking.  When we got back to the house, I went for a swim.  The lake was more wavy than you would imagine, and I felt like a kid again - turns out 15 years later it's just as fun to jump into the waves as it was before.  After that we had sandwiches by the beach, a little more reading and sunbathing, and then we packed up the car and headed back to TO.


So - needless to say, life in TO is off to a wonderful start!  I can't wait for whatever comes next...

rc-4: Kelly Cutrone enlightens

Guess what?!?  10 more days until I move to Toronto.


In other news, it's been a while since I updated you on Reading Challenge #4 a.k.a. rc-4.  Almost 6 months in and 7 books down.  Not bad, but I'm going to have to kick it up a notch to reach my goal of 20 books in 2012.


My latest read (which I finished this morning) was If You Have to Cry, Go Outside by Kelly Cutrone -- Fashion PR Queen of New York: known for dressing in black, speaking her mind, and appearing on a variety of reality television shows, from "The Hills" to her own, "Kell On Earth".


The book wasn't what I expected.  I had been unsuccessfully reading Mockingjay, the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy.  I had really hoped to read the trilogy without stopping, but I regret to say that Mockingjay simply did not hook me.  The first book, The Hunger Games was fascinating throughout, hard to put down.  Catching Fire was so far from what I expected that it kept me engaged the whole time.  Mockingjay, on the other hand, was such a change of pace (read: slow) and just a whole other kind of story that I couldn't push through the first third.  It's now gathering dust on my kitchen table.  I'll try to get back to it next, but I won't force it.  I will finish it soon enough (everyone says it's worth pushing through for the sake of the ending), but if I'm not engaged, I'm not engaged.


Anyway, back to KC's "memoir".  First of all, I'd been reading The Hunger Games, so moving from that to a PR powerhouse's memoir, if you want to call it that, was a tough transition.  Secondly, feeling somewhat well-versed in spiritual language and ideals, it felt a bit rich to have spiritual advice coming from someone who I've seen straight-up call someone on their eating disorder in the middle of a bar on "The City".  However, when I got past my skepticism, I started to realize that Ms. Cutrone genuinely had a lot to offer.  She tells her own story - which is tumultuous and comes with all sorts of twists and turns - interspersed with both business-related advice as well as spiritual suggestions.  It's got a good flow, a fresh tone, and I actually got a lot out of it.  Definitely worth a read if you're looking for something different and light.  We'll see what I get to reading next.

rc-4 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

rc-4: Commercial Fiction

Time for a quick & dirty Reading Challenge IV update.


rc-4 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

Quite the mix so far, I would say.  Non-fiction, memoir-ish in the form of short stories, full-blown memoir, psychological thriller, and... commercial fiction, for lack of a better genre.

Speaking of The Hunger Games, I'd like to make a few brief comments about it.  I'm about 20 pages away from finishing the second book, Catching Fire, and plan on starting Mockingjay right after.  What do I think of it?  I love it.  Completely engaging and a real page-turner... almost to the point of being a bit manipulative.  As my friend said to me, it feels like a book meant to be made into a movie, which would be a bit off-putting if it wasn't so engaging.  I can only compare it to The Da Vinci Code in that regard.  I'm loving it though.  Will it be one to re-read?  Maybe, maybe not, but this is one series I'm willing to read to find out what all the buzz is about... unlike Twilight which I've never read, seen, and will never read or see.

Another update to come soon!