Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta

It's Time

Thanksgiving draws near and it's time.
It's time to visit my Thanksgiving home.
It's time to fly to Connecticut to see my dad's relatives.
It's time for my dad to ask us if we've packed everything...and then ask at least 3 more times before we leave.
It's time for the hustle and bustle to get to the airport.
It's time for my dad to give the same "make-sure-to-say-please-and-thank-you-and-offer-to-help-out" speech he gives every year without fail.
It's time to watch my luggage ride the conveyor belt and disappear, only to reappear in the tiny Hartford airport hours later.
It's time to listen to the same computerized voice tell us when to get off the train. "The next station is Concourse B, Concourse B. Concourse B is the next station."
It's time to fidget in my seat at the gate and wait for our section to be called to board the plane.
It's time to watch the old safety video with the same actors who are unusually calm during the simulated emergencies.
It's time to tell the flight attendant that yes, peanuts would be nice and a Sprite would be great, thanks.
It's time for my sister to make fun of me for one thing or another...she doesn't get to do that daily anymore with me being in college, so she uses her time well when we are together.
It's time to descend into Hartford and then have to remain seated at the gate for at least 20 minutes before we can get off.
It's time to watch for our suitcases and get mad when ours take the longest to come out.
It's time to look for Uncle Bill waiting to greet us and drive us to his house.
It's time to see the familiar landmarks along the way and wonder how my family has changed since last year.
It's time for big hugs and "How are you?" and "Look how much you've grown!"
It's time for Aunt Janet's cooking: several batches of pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin muffins, and the Thanksgiving feast.
It's time for hours of video games and ping pong in the basement.
It's time for watching the snow fall through the bay window and hurrying outside to enjoy it.
It's time to catch up with relatives I haven't seen in a year and answer the same questions about college and what I want to do with my life over and over again as more family arrives.
It's time to see just how similar my dad and his brothers are.
It's time to listen to crazy stories from their youth and imagine what they were like as kids.
It's time for games of poker every day with my uncle's customized poker chips and his usual, "Come on guys--one more game. Just one more game."
It's time to appreciate the Miller family traditions that never let me down.
It's time to fly back to Atlanta and wish that Thanksgiving wasn't so far away.
It's time to eat at Applebee's for dinner and head back to my dad's house.
It's time to go to sleep and dream about next year.
It's time.

Too Many Books

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
-Arnold Lobel

I saw this quote online the other day, and I think it suits me. No, I'm not going to have a beard seeing as I'm a girl, but technicalities aside, I do have a pile of books that I need to read. I try to keep one with me everywhere I go--you'd be surprised how often you find yourself sitting on the bus, or with a large gap between classes, or any number of places where a good book comes in handy.

Just a few books in my pile:

• The rest of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. See the description below for more details.
• Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. Yes, this is the book that inspired the musical by the same name. I own the book--it was a Christmas gift from last year--but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. That's my next task once the Dark Tower is done with my soul haha.
  
• Maus by Art Spiegelman. 2 of my friends have recommended this to me. It's a graphic novel depicting the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats...I'm told it's brilliant and moving.
  

Here are some books that I would recommend:

• Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Honestly, he wasn't an author I planned to read, but a few of my book-loving friends convinced me to try him out. It's a 7-book series with a very diverse set of characters from different wheres and whens coming together in search of the elusive Dark Tower (shocker). I envy King's imagination--especially when I read these books. They're very long but well worth the read.
  
• Anything by Bill Bryson. As I've noted in previous posts, the man is brilliant. I've read 3 of his books and I own 5, but I'm in the midst of the Dark Tower series...
• The Keeper's Son and Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam. If you ever saw the movie "October Sky," then you'll know the name Homer Hickam--that movie was based on the book Rocket Boys and it's an excellent read. So is The Keeper's Son, which takes place in a small coastal town in WWII. I really like fiction that takes place in small southern towns...throw in the beach and you've got me hooked already.
  
• Fact, Fiction, and Folklore in Harry Potter's World: An Unofficial Guide by George Beahm. As an anglophile and an avid Harry Potter fan, I must recommend this book. Beahm tackles 4 main categories: Fabulous Beasts, Wizards Through the Ages, All Things in the Magical World, and Enchanting Places; he gives detailed descriptions (all in alphabetical order by subject) and important background information for all the entries that give the average Potter fan more understanding into the beasts, characters, things, and places J. K. Rowling writes about. Excellent read.
  

Next Blog >>

Have you ever clicked the "next blog>>" link at the top of the page? I did just now and saw this quote posted prominently on a blog entitled "headlines on things that matter":

"I'm old enough to be satisfied with what I have, and young enough to still want more; Lucky enough to have been really stupid and lived to tell about it--cursed enough to have a good memory; Intelligent enough to understand that I still have a lot to learn, and ignorant enough to continually prove to myself that I still haven't."

I like it. :)