Odds and ends - summer's over

This is going to be a potpourri of thoughts and musings provoked by the summer drawing to an official close this weekend.  Students are back on Tuesday, and I'm doing my teaching show starting Wednesday.  However, I officially returned to the land of adulthood and responsibility this week, attending meetings, taking notes with a purpose, and dressing somewhat more professionally than my summer garb.  While the look-like-a-working-person issue is not the most challenging aspect of the summer to work transition, I do have to make an adjustment, especially in the shoe department.  After wearing flip-flops 90% of the time that I had to wear shoes, my feet then suffer when they are suddenly confined.  Not that I wear uncomfortable heels or anything like that, but even my most comfortable of "comfort" shoes (yes, I'm an old lady) give me blisters.  

Overall, being back and seeing people - reconnecting with old colleagues and meeting new teachers - makes me feel optimistic about the year, but the meetings do fray my nerves a bit.  By the end of the day on Wednesday, I came home and crashed and felt completely depressed that the summer was over and the year was about to commence.  Fortunately, I have "snapped out of it", but I needed a low-key night in order to strengthen my resolve and shift my mindset to a more positive one.  Nothing like a beer, burger, fries and wings to lift my spirits.  In addition to seeing colleagues, there are several parent/trustee functions that I must attend (those obligations continue until mid-October).  Last night's "party" marked the beginning of these soirees, but at least alcohol accompanied the schmoozing!  It's easier for me to talk to high-powered executives if I've had at least a glass of wine or two.  

Now that the summer is over, I can think about what I actually accomplished over the past few months. I often view summer as a great opportunity to read good books, do some professional development, travel, hike, cook, go to the movies, spend time with friends and family, and explore a bit of LA and/or California.  This summer, as I've recounted ad nauseam, I focused mainly on the Boulder race and then Nicaragua, so the major event pressure was on the back end.  However, I did accomplish much of that list: read (not good books, but that is another issue), PLENTY of travel, not much hiking, a decent amount of cooking although few new recipes, good times with friend and family, only saw one movie at the theatre, and somewhat limited LA/CA exploration.  So, it all evens out in the wash I suppose.

As far as the summer books I read, I'm almost embarrassed to list them because the list is both brief and filled with plenty of fluff!

- First of all, the Game of Thrones TV series sucked us in at the end of the academic year, so I read Books 1-5 over the summer.  They are easy but long reads and completely like mental crack - so addictive and pleasurable at the time, but don't leave much of a lasting impression.  Still, quite fun, despite the fact that most of my favorite characters are now dead.  

I did read two "real" books this summer:

- Black Swan Green (link is to NYTimes book review) by David Mitchell.  Really enjoyed this coming-of-age novel set in 1980's Britain.  It does make me want to read Cloud Atlas, which is bolder, more complex and ambitious.  

- The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.  I'd wanted to read this book for a while and picked up a used copy at a book store in Denver . It is beautifully written reflection on death, dying, grief, relationships, memory, and so many other themes.  

And another a fantastic adventure book about the Tour Divide, a mountain bike race from Canada to Mexico.  Be Brave, Be Strong by Jill Homer is not the best memoir I've read, but it fascinated me and I often found that I couldn't put it down.  

I'm also reading Canada (NYTimes review) by Richard Ford, his latest novel, and I'm enjoying it, but I find myself easily distracted.  I would like to finish it before the month of September ends!

In terms of other forms of leisure/entertainment, we did see plenty of movies, but I only saw one movie in the theatre, as I mentioned.  The movie selection for me was underwhelming, to say the least, but I did enjoy the one movie that we saw July 4th - Brave.  Not the best movie I've seen, to say the least, but I didn't resent the fact that I spent money to see it.  We seemed to trend to older movies this summer, mainly because the new releases just look terrible.  So, we re-watched a few oldies (Double Indemnity which is just amazing, Charade, which also held up; there were a few of them that were not as good as we had remembered, The Moderns being an example of that). We also took a chance on plenty of  movies, classics or not, that we ended up loving.  Some surprised us with their relevance today (Network was a prime example of that) or they delighted us for other reasons (Hopscotch and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three - the original, not the remake - fell into that category - although I think that Walter Matthau had much to do with it in both of those movies).  So, a light season of summer blockbuster hits for us, but plenty of satisfying movie watching over these past few months!

And now, I have started to turn my focus to the fall - the weeks have already begun to fill up with plans, events and some travels, and thoughts of school occupy my mind.  But I plan to fully enjoy this weekend as the last breath of summer!

Final book reviews of the year!

I believe that one of my random 'goals' for 2010 was to read more. While it's uncertain that I read more than in 2009, I will say that I read some very high-quality books, in addition to a few totally crappy quick reads. I won't mention the crappy reads, which I consider to be junk food for the brain that normally come out during long airplane trips or family visits. I did finish strong, so I'll give myself credit for that.

The most recent reads are:

Americans in Paris by Charles Glass.

My uncle recommended this book to me, and I'm not much of a history buff, don't spend hours watching the History Channel, but this sounded fascinating. It's about the American community that lived in Paris during the Nazi occupation. There were moments of great sacrifice and selfishness, heroism and treachery. All in all, a very interesting book. It did take me months (literally) to finish it - I think that I started it in October and finally finished it up over Christmas break. Shew!

Then came a quick read: The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman.

This book was SO GOOD. I know that I've said that about a multitude of books this year (okay, a handful, the handful that I've read), but seriously, there was so much to like about it. Funny at times, devastating yet restrained at other, it seemed to reflect the entire range of human emotions and experiences in it's slim 200+ pages. I loved the structure, which made it not seem like a novel in some ways, more like stories connected, but then very much novelistic in others. And the end? I cried. I was so sad that it ended. Very few books that I've recently read pulled my emotional cord, and this one did, but without manipulating or contriving. It was a brilliant, funny, sad book.

Finally, I, Claudius by Robert Graves.

I read this book years and years ago and very much enjoyed it then. Michael and I have been watching the HBO series Rome, so I gave this book to Michael for his birthday. He took it with us to Colorado, and I ended up reading it on trip back. It is filled with intrigue, politics, war, perversion... All of those fun aspects of the Roman Empire that historical fiction can bring to light. Graves slyly plays with history, fiction and narrative, and he writes quite well too. I've now sworn to Michael that I won't read Claudius the God until he reads this one. We'll see if I keep my promise!

Just to recap a few old favorites that I read this year:

The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead - Definitely one of the most original novels that I've read in recent years.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark - Billed as "Harry Potter for adults", it's actually much, much more. A fun, wonderful read.

Travels with my Aunt and The Quiet American by Graham Greene - Both are REALLY well-written books that seem to catalogue a different era and generation, and the melancholy and nostalgia of growing old. Mixing in politics and intrigue, they make for satisfying reading.

Next on the list: Some Mario Vargas Llosa. I have a book in Spanish and one in English, so I'll work through both of them in the new year and refresh my Vargas Llosa base. I'd also like to read Italo Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler which looks marvelous.