2014 book tally

I wanted to read 25 books in 2014.
I was not so awesome. The MBA gods were unkind.

BUT I made it to 15, which is not too shabby for a full-time working professional and full-time student! I'll take it. I am updating my books page for 2015 and putting this here.

1. Divergent; Veronica Roth
• I am sad that I didn't enjoy this more. I think it's because it wasn't the Hunger Games and Tris does not even approach Katniss badass status. Maybe in the next books? We'll see if I get there... Also: less teenage lovey dovey, more overthrow of corrupt system, please.
2. Night Film; Marisha Pessl
• OK. This book, sometimes... SO SCARY. I needed lights turned on. I needed puppy cuddles. It also has a really interesting multimedia element -- there is an app you can download (I read the hardcover version, so I'm not sure how the ebook would work), and scan symbols hidden throughout the book for extra content. It's always a surprise what comes up (video? text? audio?), so that's fun. Throughout the book also, the text is interspersed with clips from magazine articles, photos with "handwritten" captions, etc. I can see how other readers might find this gimmicky or a novelty distracting from the story... but I thought it was cool. It's a mystery, so these are like little pieces of evidence that are being revealed to the reader and the protagonist side by side. Like I said, the story was very suspenseful and engaging. Other reviewers on Goodreads were disappointed in the ending, but I found it oddly poignant and just... heartbreaking. Months later, I still think about it.
3. Chew Vol. 1: Taster's Choice; John Layman (art Rob Guillory) (Yes, short volumes in graphic series count. My goal, my rules.)
• Light. Funny. Crude. Gross. Entertaining. Awesome art.
4. Chew Vol. 2: International Flavor; John Layman
• Same as above.
5. The Shining; Stephen King
• I think it was 6th grade when I got really into Stephen King books and other pulpy, imaginative, high-action fiction. Oddly enough, though, I didn't read The Shining until after watching a documentary on Netflix called Room 237. It is kind of a kooky movie. It's all about hidden symbols and diversions from King's original story which Kubrick intentionally used in the making of the movie. Kooky... but interesting. The book starts slow but gets really scary. Scarier than the movie. Something about inanimate objects taking on evil intentions (hedge animals... I just can't) which the movie did not capture and which gave me nightmares while reading the book. It is certainly interesting to see the differences between the movie and the book. Now I need to watch the movie again from the perspective of having read the book.
6. Doctor Sleep; Stephen King
• This is the sequel to The Shining, which I would definitely recommend reading first. What's with all the scary books this year? This book catches up with Danny, the kiddo from The Shining. It turns out that "shining" is much like other traits that are relatively harmless in children but become kind of devastating in adulthood. I read this immediately after The Shining. Throughout The Shining, it's pretty clear that life is really never going to get that much easier for this kid -- whatever that means -- so it's good to catch up with him. It carries on and expands on the idea of "shining" -- Danny is kind of isolated in his "gift" as a kid, but he begins to understand and meet others like him. Danny has a sort of second coming of age, which is very satisfying to read. While it's not as scary as The Shining, and I do not think it carries itself enough as a standalone (nor, honestly, does it intend to,) it's a suspenseful, enjoyable read.
7. Watchmen; Alan Moore (art Dave Gibbons)
8. Saga Vol. 1; Brian K. Vaughan (art Fiona Staples)
• Alana is a badass, Marcus is a hunk, and Hazel is a really fun narrator. I totally love Fiona Staples's art; it is so beautifully vibrant (without being cartoony) and expressive (without being too serious). I'm going to stick with this series.
9. Saga Vol. 2; Brian K. Vaughan
10. Acacia: War with the Mein (Acacia #1); David Anthony Durham
11. The Dark Knight Returns; Frank Miller
12. Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief; Lawrence Wright
13. The Goal, Eliyahu Goldratt
• Required reading for an MBA course billed as a "novel." SPOILER ALERT: if you have a multi-step process, speed up the slowest one first, before you look at any of the other steps. Now you don't have to read it. Terrible. Just... terrible. It was a novel, so I'm counting it. And it was a comically awful experience, so upping my book count is the one bright spot.
14. The Year of the Flood (Maddaddam #2); Margaret Atwood
• Awesome trilogy -- Finished Maddaddam (Maddaddam #3) in the first days of 2015, so at least I have a head start on that list.
15. The Magicians (Magicians #1); Lev Grossman
• Also fantastic! Can't wait to read the next two over the summer or 
16. The Likeness, Tana French
• In progress... never finished (oops)
17. Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat; Hal Herzog
• In progress... never finished (oops)
18. The Other Lands (Acacia #2)
• never finished (oops)

Goodreads is seriously the only way I can keep track. Whenever I hear about an interesting book on the radio, or a friend makes a recommendation, I try to pull up the app and add it to my "to read" shelf. There are currently 353 445 books on that shelf. I will never make it through.

Business school classes love to talk about opportunity cost. Though it's definitely worth it (so far... I think... I hope,) I've been thinking a lot lately about what I'm missing in exchange for Saturday electives and Sunday study sessions. Spurts of reading over breaks are wonderful and welcome, but it's harder to really focus on the things that bring me joy (other than learning.)

Which brings me to this: It's been over a year since I've been on a legit hike. It's been way too long since I've been on any hike. So, in honor of what I'm told the kids call "Throwback Thursday," a throwback to the most legit hike I've ever done. 

My dad hiked the Deadman Canyon loop in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks a few years ago with some friends (guy stuff), and it seemed like as soon as he got back he was planning his next hike. Dad loves hiking, and not just that -- he is really smart about it. He knows what he and the group needs, and while he tracks his gear and food inventory, striving to knock off one more ounce like a golfer working on his score, he has little interest in yuppie backpacker nonsense (my characterization -- of course not his) like $700 sleeping bags. He truly and fully enjoys the journey but never loses sight of how many miles to the next campsite and hours until dusk. The things that make my dad great in hiking also make him great in life -- I could write a whole post about dadisms learned while hiking.

There's a map here of the Deadman Canyon Loop, which is basically what we did -- we deviated on our last day to cut off a few miles, but for the most part, this is the route.

Twin Lakes (above) was our second campsite. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen (until the next day... then again the next day, then...) It was a fairly short distance from our camp the night before (I want to say 2.2 miles?), but it is a pretty solid elevation gain (2700 ft) for so early in the journey, so we stayed to avoid altitude sickness.

My pack, complete with duct tape patch and solar panel. High and low tech, people; it is the total PACKage. I'll show myself out.

Heaven. Elizabeth Pass is in the distance, which was kind of like hell. Beautiful, strenuous, hell.

This is the view from a section of the High Sierra Trail, and it is also ridiculous.

More ridiculous scenery.

Sometime after May 2015, I'll have another adventure. Until then, I will lament in my shoddy history education and try to understand how the ef the EU works.

It's officially 2pm snack attack time when...

You are distracted by an article you think is entitled "Favorite All-Natural Vegan Doughnuts"

...only to realize it is actually "Favorite All-Natural Vegan Deodorants"

I guess that's cool, too.

workout plan

1. Take a couple weeks off from the gym due to... let's go with "extenuating circumstances." (read: work events, study sessions, plague of happy hours, and a comfy couch. Wait, forget those last two.)

2. Finally get back to the gym. Make it count.

3. Too much counting; proceed to be sore for about a week.

4. Take some time off to heal. Take some extra time off because... well, you know.

5. Repeat.

"I put you down for the vegan meal. Let me know if that's OK."

The deadline to RSVP to a wedding of a friend of a friend recently passed. She and I are not super close, but we casually keep in touch.

It was kind of a late-notice invitation, so instead of immediately saying YESYESYES (which is my natural response... because weddings are the best), I had to think about it for a minute.

It was pretty easy to refute all the cons (Must buy present? -- that is why I have an "other" budget. Flying solo? -- since when has not having a date stopped you from doing anything. Do I really need to be there? -- if you're important enough to invite, you're important enough to be there.)

But the easiest hesitation to dismiss: Will there be anything to eat? And, you know, I was a little mad at myself for a moment for even going there.

This is a lifestyle that's totally compatible with any and all special moments (provided the special moment isn't, I don't know, a pig roast. But maybe you could even make that work). 

It is not a lifestyle of restriction and denial, it is a lifestyle of mindful abundance.

Anyway, so put me down for one more in 2014. Next weekend, to be exact. So, that makes three this year.

Who's next? Do I hear a fourth?

After making a mental note to eat before leaving and to pack a couple snacks, and before popping the card in the mail, I text to let her know I'm coming RSVP (Emily Post would not approve, but pragmatism wins when you're 2 weeks out from the event).

"I put you down for the vegan meal. Let me know if that's OK."

What the kale??? How great is this gal? How great are weddings?

"The Street"

So, school is hard.

Well... work is hard. and school. and working out (erm... not working out but feeling guilty and lazy and tired for it.) and tending to the fur babies. and keeping up with Netflix. You know. Important stuff.

Anyway, we've covered how sometimes people say funny things in the MBA. Sometimes people make a comment about how it's important to consider a company's "performance on the street," as it is impacted by financial decision making and reporting and etc.
"performance on the street."
Um... do you mean the much more straightforward term "stock price"? All in attendance nod knowingly, and I'm like... did you say what I think you said? It's not that bad, it just makes me feel like I feel when people use the words "exquisite" and "exhilarating" in non-ironic, casual conversation. I think I just have weird word triggers. Evidently that is one.

Also, I picture a corporate fat cat doing a jig in a top hat and red thigh-high, high-heeled boots. Wait, the top hat is on the sidewalk collecting tuppence. Wait, the corporate fat cat is an actual cat.

Is that a normal thing to say: "the street"? I know with websites and wonks it ain't no thang, but for a human in real life? Is it just me? Is "exhilarating" a normal thing for a human IRL to say? "tuppence"? "ain't no thang"?

MBA jokes

The countdown to Year 2 continues.



Q: What did 2 Chainz study in b school?
A: Supply CHAINZ



Q: What did the two economists talk about in the cold pool?
A: Shrinkage in the private sector.



This is the part I look forward to.
No, I'm... I'm being serious.