August 22, 2013

Wild


did you like Eat, Pray, Love? did you hate it? did you, like me, love the book, hate the movie, and then realize that everything you hated about the movie was kinda in the book too?

regardless of how you felt about EPL, you will like Wild. it is the book EPL should have been. very similar "Woman in Crisis Abandons Life to go on a Physical/Spiritual/Mental Quest" story, but this crisis is a little more genuine (poverty, abusive/absent father, mother dies early from cancer) and the quest is a little more respectable (hiking the punishing Pacific Crest Trail solo), not that the two ladies' experiences should even be compared, that's kind of a shitty thing to do. oh well.


I've never stepped foot on the PCT, but I have hiked parts of the Appalachian Trail, its East Coast counterpart, so I was already a little familiar with the culture- trail registers, trail names, re-stocking at small towns along the way, etc. I was a little wary of an entire memoir about hiking solo, but Strayed did a great job of weaving the stories from her broken past into the trail narrative. and not only that, the trail writing was really good. vivid, suspenseful, funny. I found myself wanting to Google her route as I read, to see what she saw and further explore her surroundings.

as with EPL, Strayed embarked on the journey to Heal Herself- from her past and more pressingly, from her mother's death. it does happen, but not in the epic "tears on mountaintops" way she imagined, of course. it's a subtle transformation that she weaves into the story with a couple cathartic moments at the end, making me tear up just like this NY Times reviewer. overall, a great read. highly recommend.

August 8, 2013

2013 Drink of the Summer


I know what you're thinking.... it's well into August and she's just now declaring her drink of the summer?? think of all those hot nights suffered without a signature drink to keep one happy and cool. never fear, the DoTS was established as soon as the snow stopped falling- so, May- it's just taken a while to make it internet official. but first, a re-cap:

Drinks of the Summer
2010- whiskey sour
2011- gin & tonic
2012- red wine sangria

and this year's distinct claim goes to the deliciously spicy Dark & Stormy. I first had one last July at a friend's wedding, but it wasn't until this year that I decided to start mixing them at home. i'm super lazy, so it's just Gosling's dark spiced rum, Gosling's ginger beer, 3 ice cubes, and a squeeze of lime. perfect for hammock laying and book reading, or whatever lazy summer activity you're prone to indulge in.

August 2, 2013

Sky Art



that is some seriously impressive use of negative space. these are by French artist Thomas Lamadieu, seen here. his website is here.