Reading is fun(damental)

Read a book this week. Preferably one below in honor of banned book week. I chose the particular list because as I was skimming it I realized that I read a handful as assigned reading in high school during the time they were most frequently banned. Support your local library!

The 100 Most Frequently

Challenged Books of

1990–1999

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Forever by Judy Blume
8. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
9. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
10. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
11. The Giver by Lois Lowry
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
14. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
15. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
16. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
17. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
18. Sex by Madonna
19. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
20. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
21. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
22. The Witches by Roald Dahl
23. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
24. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
25. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
26. The Goats by Brock Cole
27. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
28. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
29. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
30. Blubber by Judy Blume
31. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
32. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
33. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
34. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
35. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
36. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
39. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
40. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
41. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
42. Deenie by Judy Blume
43. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
44. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
45. Beloved by Toni Morrison
46. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
47. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
48. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
49. Cujo by Stephen King
50. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
53. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
54. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
55. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
56. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
57. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
58. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
59. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
60. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
61. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
62. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
63. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
64. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
68. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
69. Native Son by Richard Wright
70. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
71. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
72. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
73. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
76. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
77. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
78. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
79. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
80. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
81. Carrie by Stephen King
82. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
83. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
84. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
85. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
86. Private Parts by Howard Stern
87. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
88. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
89. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. Jumper by Steven Gould
95. Christine by Stephen King
96. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
97. That Was Then, This is Now by S.E. Hinton
98. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
99. The Wish Giver by Bill Brittain
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

1 comment September 29th, 2008

Pays to complain

I’m in Miami for work and things are going well. Maybe a little too well because I’ve been sitting in breakouts all day and had nothing better to do but email JetBlue about my most recent first world problem…

“Hey! I take Jetblue ALOT. Like 2 trips in the past 2 weeks. I love you guys. Anyway i just had to say that on 2 of the 4 flights (home to vegas, then to Ft Lauderdale) the TV at my seat did not work. DID. NOT. WORK. Both flights were fairly full and I wasnt going to move to a middle seat but I just wanted to say that i was very very sad. Could not believe it happened to me twice. I am on flight BLA on Tuesday the BLA, seat BLA. Can you please please please make sure the tv works. ;) thanks!!” 

I just got this back:

Dear Mr. Kart,

Thank you for contacting JetBlue Airways regarding your last two flights with us. We appreciate the  opportunity to respond to your concerns.

We regret that you were unable to enjoy JetBlue’s inflight entertainment on your recent flights. It is unfortunate when there is a malfunction of this kind, especially twice to the same valuable  customer! To make up for not having this complimentary service available on your flights, JetBlue  has issued an electronic $15 voucher to you per our Customer Bill of Rights. The information needed to redeem the voucher is below. Please be aware that JetBlue vouchers are nontransferable and may be redeemed online near the end of the booking process or when you call 1-800-JETBLUE (538-2583).

We hope the following link will provide you with all the information you will need regarding booking your reservation with a JetBlue voucher: (taken out so you don’t steal my monies)

We thank you for choosing JetBlue Airways for your jetting needs Mr. Kart, and we look forward to serving you again soon.

Sincerely,
Tammy
Customer Commitment Crew

Thanks Tammy. I don’t know who this MR. Kart is but I’m totally using his voucher!

PS- Please go visit Dooce and watch this. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. Beware, its obscenely shocking and scary.

Tags: travel

Add comment September 25th, 2008

To Do

Check out the food coop

Sign up for a sewing class at home ec   I did this today!

Buy a trainer package

Have a stoop sale

Clear old work clutter out of office

Start using pearbudget

Add comment September 23rd, 2008

Decisions

I’m not really political but I can’t get this out of my head:

“We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.” Sarah Palin

Merriam-Webster’s definition of decision:

Main Entry:

¹de·ci·sion 

Pronunciation:

\di-?si-zh?n\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle English decisioun, from Middle French, from Latin decision-, decisio, from decidere to decide

Date:

15th century

1 comment September 22nd, 2008

Getting the band back together

I ordered Rock Band 2 while I was in Vegas and it was here when I got home Friday night.

On Sunday we invited Tim over for a delicious roast beef dinner. We tried Kosher this time because they didn’t have regular in the size we needed. It was delicious, we will definitely do that again. Highly recommended A+++.

Unfortunately our old Rock Band characters don’t transfer over (IMISSUPOOKIE) so we had to create new ones.

The first song we did on the new game was “Eye of the Tiger” . I totally killed it! And also like 5 other songs. I’m a damn fine singer whipping up 100s all over the eastern seaboard with my make-believe band.

I’ll let you guess who is who. I’ll just say that one of us has a name that is not deemed as “classy” and not allowed to use xbox live unless we change it. 

Tags: fun

1 comment September 22nd, 2008

Well Hello

I’ve been pretty out of it the past few weeks. 10 days were spent in Vegas working many, many hours. I got home Friday night and caught up on TV all weekend. Feel free to talk to me about the following:

True Blood

Weeds

Gossip Girl

90210

Project Runway

Mad Men

Supernatural

and, um, Tabatha’s Salon Makeover.

I know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas but thought I’d share some of my highlights…

My awesome suite at the Venetian

Spending time with out-of-town friends 

Dinners at David Burke. 2 words. Wedge Salad.

Stupid private jokes brought on by lack of sleep (rubber chicken microphones, having a conference, calling pedro back)

Post show massage at Canyon Ranch

So I know it seems like I didn’t leave the hotel. That’s because I didn’t. We got there Wednesday night and walked to the Wynn for dinner. After that we just grabbed dinner at the hotel after work, or went directly to bed.

Here is the single photo I took while there - It’s a pic of my friend Carolyn at Woo on our last night in Vegas. Shortly after ordering this drink we left because it was too hard to understand the menu.

Attn Woo: Your food is delicious but overpriced and confusing. CHEERS!

Tags: travel

Add comment September 21st, 2008

RIP My Dishwasher

Dishy

pre2001-2008 

In the spring of 2001 we bought a used portable dishwasher from friends who were having a brand new fancy one installed in their kitchen. It cost us $100 and was a lifesaver many times over. To say its been on its last leg for a while is an understatement. There’s been a wheel missing for as long as I can remember, making it difficult to move the 18 inches to the sink.  About 4 years ago the door latch stopped working and you have to really bang it closed which is a complete pain in the ass, then right before Matthew left the little soap holder inside broke. The past few times I’ve used it I noticed the dishes were far from clean and got totally grossed out. Today after emptying it for the last time I broke the sad news to Matthew that we were going to have to ditch it when he comes home. I refuse to keep up the farce of rinsing the dishes, loading the dishwasher, listening to its loud clanking for 45 minutes then washing half the dishes again. Since new portable washers are running about $700 and we are moving next summer (to hopefully an apt with one already installed) I just don’t see the point in spending the money. Besides, I already have a perfectly good dishwasher that works like a charm. His name is Matthew.

2 comments September 1st, 2008