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This year was a doozy, and these last two months were the sugar rush on top of an already lopsided, over-decorated, gluten-to-the-max cake. I feel full in so many ways (most of which are good).
Before I get down to business, a big thank you. Thank you for following my wee blog to its new location, for the comments and the shares and the likes. Thank you for encouraging me and your kind words about our work or our kids. Thank you for still reading.
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It is no secret October is my favourite month. It is absolutely the most colourful, versatile, cozy and outdoorsy time of the year. October for me is when the world makes sense. It's when Ella was born, and when Matt and I met in Chicago, and where I carry almost all the best memories. Which is why I haven't been here so much... there are more memories to be made.
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Most months I think you can’t possibly want to know what I’ve been reading, watching, thinking about all through the month. Karen from Kansas doesn’t exactly have the most refined palate. Nevertheless, I show up back here at the end of every month because I need to remember what I’m into, I need to look back at what I fill my brain and heart with, I need the accountability that says, “pick up a book! Leigh expects you to have read something.” So here we are again…
Red Joan was the first book I read this month and jumpstarted my need for more fiction in my life. Jennie Rooney treats us to the fully fleshed out - though at times maddeningly naive - character of Joan, a bright-eyed student at Cambridge turned lovesick young adult who finds herself attached to the wrong crowd but ingtrigued by their passion and fortitude nonetheless. While I can't say I relate to or approve of all of her choices, one can't help but respond with understanding when it comes to being swept away by idealised young love and the dreams of changing the world. One minor quibble: Rooney overuses and misuses the term "giddy" nearly a dozen times. A “giddy” spy? Yep.
Jojo Moyes' novel, Night Music, is the story of an old mansion of a house in small-town England and the cast of characters driven to the brink because of it. I have to admit I actually had to skip to the end to set my mind at ease, as this book caused me no small amount of anxiety. I could relate to so much of it, but particularly this: a widowed mother of two finding herself in over her head in an old house signifying fresh starts and hopes, and a cunning man who takes devastating financial and emotional advantage of her. The ending is satisfying and the story well-told, but it sure was stressful getting there.
I also read my first ever JK Rowling book (I know, I know), otherwise known as Robert Galbraith, with The Cuckoo’s Calling. I lazily read through the first half of the book over the course of two weeks, not really caring all that much about a model who may or may not have committed suicide or the gruff and strange antihero Cormoran Strike (related: where do authors come up with these names??). But somewhere in the second half I found myself unable to put it down and rather invested in Strike and his secretary-turned-protégé Robin. I happily look forward to the next book in the series.
(let's be friends on goodreads)
Still love my date nights with Matt watching The Office. We finally watched The Grand Budapest Hotel and… well… I just feel kinda meh about it. Don’t get me wrong: this is another fantastical tale and the characters are witty and funny, and how Ralph Fiennes managed to make an equally dodgy, crass and wonderfully sympathetic character out of M. Gustave, I’ll never know. But it just didn’t have that overarching balance of essential goodness I’ve come to expect from my Anderson films (The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr Fox, Moonrise Kingdom).
Also, Catching Fire is now on Netflix UK and upon second viewing, I was distracted by how wooden and downcast the acting was. It picked up steam and pacing near the end, but I’m more than a little hopeful Mockingjay will overpower this sullen predecessor.
I've been walking to a steady stream of The Frames and Snow Patrol this month, and The Civil Wars last album has a decidedly autumnal feel to it. And I'm half-heartedly listening to the new U2. I don't care about the "hipster tsunami of whinging" or that it's just a lucrative financial partnership bordering on world domination. They can do no wrong in my book... well, apart from Lemon.
Nights by the sea
Meeting an old friend for lunch
How much my children love school
Wedding + communion + hymns + this view
A quiet house
Writers group and shared stories on the table
Dinner with friends (at Third Space's monthly Square Meal)
Women like me are abused worldwide. Here's why.
The amazing - though it should've been obvious because of how wonderful they are - fact that my sister and Amy Poehler share a birthday.
Kim Kierkegaardashian on Twitter
A minimalist black outfit is classic. It says: I suffer the most extreme form of human misery.
— KimKierkegaardashian (@KimKierkegaard) September 17, 2014Afternoons at the Botanical Gardens
Biking in Phoenix Park with Matt
Dublin on the edges of Autumn
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you odd.”
Linking up with Leigh Kramer for What I'm Into. What were YOU into this month?
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Ah, the changing of seasons when we embrace jackets and scarves and the leaves change colour... IN AUGUST. I mean, I'm crazy for autumn, but I'd like summer to come to a solid close.
Two minor things happening this month. First: did you know you can now subscribe to the blog and get new posts in your inbox? I think? It's all a bit hazy, but I'm fairly sure it's working.
ALSO! A couple of months ago on a whim I nominated myself (for shame) for Blog Awards Ireland. I thought that was the thing you did and then judges would select you for a Long List, not knowing that just putting your blog in there guaranteed you to the Long List so people were congratulating me for (choosing myself to be on) the Long List... so that was embarrassing.
BUT!...
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I spent most of June in post-wedding/post-transatlantic-trip recovery. Thankfully July has provided some much needed white space and down time. Here's what I've been into this month:
I just finished reading Notes from a Blue Bike* by Tsh Oxendreider, an easy, pleasurable read about cutting out chaos and living with an intentional slowness. I found I related so much to the longings of the former, simple (though not always pleasant) way of European life when we repatriated back to the US. At times, I did find myself asking, "What isn't she perfect at?" But Tsh did well to write about more vulnerable moments...
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