My pitas page

one hundred years of solitude
i finished it last night. two words: a-mazing. please read it if you haven't already. see oprah's handy guides at the link above. and no, i can't believe i just accidentally read an oprah book club book. and freaking loved it.

dog training
in a few weeks, we'll begin some in-home dog training with baci, using this company. the girl i spoke with sounds so darn nice. and we shall cure baci of her separation anxiety together!

so excited, just can't hide it
new vacuum cleaner is on its way. bagless, baby! (not really excited, don't worry. still hate to clean.)

i got flu
or maybe just a cold. whatever it was, i felt yuck on sunday and yuck yesterday and thus took the day off from work. and now i am back at work and my tummy still feels really weird and jumpy. what's up with that? at any rate--a handy flu v. cold symptoms game awaits you at the link above.

also
my husband has a blog. he claims it's not supposed to be funny, even though some things he says are, i think, humorous on purpose. do judge for yourself.

thank you
the art of the thank you note. goodness knows i could use help with this. no doubt many of mine have come off as miers-esque....

paris webcam
i just found this, and i have to say it's suiting my mood these days. i'm waxing nostalgic for the vacation i spent there back in '01 with a.m.--the weather was kind of blah but it was probably the most transformative trip i'd taken up to that point. such a cliche, but i don't think there ever is a trip like one's first time to paris. and yes, i do know how poncey that sounds.

growing up, getting old
in yet another nod to growing up (coming firm on the heels of definite decision to move to brooklyn and to buy a used but good car in the next 6-8 months, inclusive) i've subscribed to the weekend ny times. looking at the calendar it seems that c and i will be home on many upcoming weekends, and staying in as part of our plan for fiscal responsibility, so why not have more reading material. as well as another resource to gawk at theoretical apartment listings, of course.

fall means more than changing leaves
everyone i know seems to be entering a huge new life cycle moment. it's a little weird. the latest example: just about everyone (including ms. a.m. linked above) is looking/needing to move, hoping for maybe a backyard, maybe lower rent, maybe more fiscal solvency, or all of the above. it's so weird how the gang tends to do stuff together even if we're not technically doing it together. and nice, in a way. perhaps this is what growing up is all about. (not related: watched "hitchhikers guide to the galaxy" last night. two thumbs up from the humans in the household, no vote from the canine who slept through most of it.)

one hundred years of solitude
this is my new book, and can i ask why on earth i've never read this before? i'm intoxicated and in awe and i'm only less than half-way through. it has the best opening line i've read in a long time, the first quote on the linked-to webpage.

a car built with dogs in mind
have a good weekend, all.

it's banned books week
perhaps i am too close to the subject to be unbiased, but i think the people who petitioned to have the books "the chocolate war," "a day no pigs would die," and "a wrinkle in time" banned from their local library or school should be drawn and quartered. same for those who objected to "to kill a mockingbird," "bridge to terabithia," and "pig man." and let's not forget "the stupids," which is a freaking hilarious catoony kids' book series (as i remember it anyway). god, where would my childhood reading have been without these? i shudder to think.

new dog walker
we met the new dog walker last night. he seems like a really nice kid. he just moved here from houston, he had a yellow lab there, and he wants to be a songwriter. in short, he reminded me of my brother. and baci loved him, which is the most important thing!

england, england
another book down in the quest to read all of the tomes in the house. this time it was booker prize nominee from a while back "england, england" by julian barnes. cliff notes version: egotistical rich guy decides to build a mini-england theme park on the isle of wight, gets emotionally stunted woman to help. and it's funny. i enjoyed it. those smarter than i can see the literary critiques to which i link above.

disbanding angelcakes
all of my weirdly huge or strangely small wedding-cake-type pans have been sold on e-bay. i am so happy to have more room in the apartment, but it's certainly a bittersweet thing. maybe someday i can try this all again, but i suspect it's going to have to be many years from now. in the meantime, props to e-bay, where one woman's trash is another's treasure.

the dog
if you'd like to see the latest good photos of baci taken by my dad when we were in agawam this weekend, they're here on his website. that there is a "baci page" and not an "angela page" certainly shows where i am in the hierarchy of my parents' affections. but how could the dog not win out? she's so freaking cute. i'd write more...but my new resolution is to do a ton of actual work at work. so here i go!

i feel good
except when i don't. which is usually related to work or to a migraine. today it's not about a migraine. so you know what sort of day it is then. i think i speak for most of the gulf coast when i say "why, rita? why???" but for me it's due to the selfish reason that every big media hit i have for this one book is scheduled for monday. and every producer has said i should prepare the author to get cancelled over the weekend once they know what's going on with said hurricane rita. and this is a very needy, fragile author. GOOD TIMES.

the challenge begins
so this whole reading every book in the house i've not yet read is going to be a challenge. the first choice: the heather blazing by colm toibin. i understand why he's considered a great writer, and why this book won such high praise. and in the end i am glad i read it. but the simplicity of his writing, the spareness of the narrative, and the crushing weight of hopelessness and despair it created (to go along with the character's hopelessness and despair, natch) made it a bit of a slog. i never said i was a literati, kids, so forgive if i offend. but i got through it: recommended if you want great descriptions of the Irish seaside or a stark portrait of an emotionally distant and damaged man. one down, many, many to go.