What I Love Wednesday: The Inaugural Edition

I’ve decided that I spend far too much time focusing on the things I can’t control (mainly: no job come June due to an epic upcoming move) and stressing out incessantly. Instead of looking at the negative, I’m going to have a weekly entry about the things I adore at the moment. And this is the Inaugural Installment. Welcome to What I Love Wednesday!

What’s rocking my world this week?

• Glee! It’s back and last night episode was very promising. And so SO full of Darren Criss goodness. His version of Gotye’s “Somebody that I Used to Know” was amazing.
• Sushi. Really Japanese food in general. I love it. After a tummy full of Hollywood and Spicy Tuna rolls, I decided that Japanese food is in my list of Top Five Foods EVER. I could eat sushi and/or hibachi several times a week and not get tired of it. Florida better have some good Japanese and Asian restaurants for me to frequent!
• The 50 Shades of Grey series. I devoured the first installment (after being a tad nervous to buy it) and timed it so that I’d finish right before book 2 came out, only to find out the 2nd and 3rd books weren’t going to be released until next week. Waiting is agony. The writing is so much better than critics are saying it is and, while quite erotic (don’t read it if you’re squeamish about sex or don’t want to learn about the world of BDSM), the story of Christain and Ana is engaging and engrossing. April 17th come fast because I want to read the rest of this series, dammit.
• Manicures. I blame my lovely friend, Melissa, for getting me into them. Her nail blog inspired me to do a bit more self care and now I can’t stop painting my nails and drooling over the gorgeous Essie and OPI colors in Target. I love feeling a little more puled together with a well polished manicure. It’s a cheap luxury, which I sorely need in my stressful life.
• Hearing my residents say “you’re my favorite RD ever.” It makes me feel like I’m doing something right at a time when I feel like I’m getting little validation professionally. My students make my life. Seriously.
• The Texts from Hillary Clinton Tumblr. It makes me laugh so much. Viva la Hillary!

Grey Area

“So you’re going to find out what all the hype is about, hey?”

I felt my cheeks get warm. I was hoping that the Barnes and Noble salesperson wouldn’t ask about my book choice, simply because adult erotica wasn’t exactly the normal thing that I buy at a bookstore in a conservative Catholic town (very close to the conservative Catholic college at which I work). But I couldn’t resist. I needed to know what all the hype about 50 Shades of Grey was about. So I simply shrugged. “I’ve heard so much about it! I can’t resist anything that causes an online scandal.”

The 6o-something year old woman chuckled. “I don’t blame you. I downloaded it myself.”

Oh? This was not how I was anticipating this conversation going. No longer was I a bit embarrassed. Now I was intrigued. There has to be something about this book if this grandmother-looking lady openly admitted to reading it.

“What do you think?” I was dying to know what this woman thought.

She shrugged as she scanned my purchase. “It’s not as bad as I thought it’d be. BUT. It is quite…quite…” She waved her hand looking for the right word.

“Racy?” Because that’s what I’ve heard about this new novel, exploring sexual themes of domination and submission.

The woman giggled. “Yes. It is quite racy. But I liked it.” She smiled, clearly pleased with her review and the book I was about to dive into. “You’ll have to let me know what you think. I’m sure you’ll be back to get the second installment next week–I know I’ll be reading it.” She grinned as I exited the store.

That short encounter was refreshing–and really telling about the kind of book 50 Shades may be. If I’m being honest I’ve been waiting to read this for over a month, ever since I read an NPR report about it and how it’s being heralded as “mommy porn” with women raving about and devouring it. While it’s not the normal kind of book I’d read, there’s a reason why I’m intrigued by the premise (the plot line of which, I read in an article, began as a re-imagining of Twilight with Bella as a young college graduate and Edward as an executive who have a kinky relationship since there’s a severe lack of action in those damn books). I’m very honest about my own sexuality and exploring things that make me feel good. I want to learn as much as I can about the many layers and subsets of sex/making love/fucking in order to better understand myself and how I can relate to others. I love sex. I love learning about sex. And I have a feeling I’m going to love reading about a woman exploring her submissive self. There’s a reason this book has gotten a lot of buzz. If it’s making women of all ages intrigued and/or excited, there may be something to it. I’ll report back once I resurface from the pages.

The Saga of Krissy vs. Twilight

  I do not like the Twilight series. In fact, if you pressed me, I’d go into great lengths about how much I hate those damn books. For the life of me, I cannot understand why people like the series. It’s poorly written, vapid, unoriginal and is, essentially, the story of a predator. (Edward is ONE HUNDRED YEARS OLD. He’s marrying a TEENAGER. How are more people not ok with this?!?)

I will concede, however, that when I tried reading the first book I was not in a good place. I was three months into my own personal saga of Krissy versus her douchebag ex and still wrapping my mind around the fact that I had been attacked by the once-and-never-again love of my life. So I got about halfway through the first book and got to the part where Edward promises Bella that he’ll never hurt her or leave her. Here’s how the drama went down in my world…

Krissy: opens Twilight and begins to read…

Edward: “I’ll never leave you, Bella. I could never hurt you. I promise never to hurt you. Blah blah blaaaah…”

Krissy: (begins groaning and then yelling) “Lies! LIES! LIIIIESSSSS! All! Men! Are! LIARS! You are LYING, EDWARD CULLEN!!!”

Krissy: proceeds to hurl the book across her bedroom, where it then lies in the corner collecting dust for the next six months.

I never made it past that part. Mentally and emotionally, I just couldn’t. A couple of friends have told me that I should try to revisit the series as it deals with some of the same emotional issues I was struggling with at the time. Each time I’m told that I just shrug off the recommendation–I gave it a shot, it made me angry, why would I want to revisit it? There are approximately 93843098 other books that deserve my time; I figure I should probably focus my energy on those.

And yet.

I am now the owner of a ticket to the 12:01 showing of Breaking Dawn in November. And I have homework from my friends: I have to read all four of the books and watch the first three movies in the next month. All in the name of bonding. And because they keep saying “you can’t talk about it because you don’t even knooooow!” That gets annoying. And I hate being a hypocrite–if I’m going to be shelling out criticisms I should have a sturdy hook to hang my hat on. And so I’ll revisit Twilight. And read the rest of the series. And even watch the movies (though I’ve heard they’re awful). I’m mature enough to give the books a second shot–mainly because I’m in a much better headspace now. And who knows? Maybe I’ll enjoy them. Perhaps I’ll get a little obsessed. If not, it’ll at least give me another way to connect to my friends and students. That in and of itself is worth the time it’ll take to dive into this challenge. Edward Cullen: helping me to grow. Who knew?

Hungering

These books right here?

I am obsessed with them right now. Seriously–obsessed.

I began the first book on the plane to Florida last week and tore through half the novel by the time I landed in Orlando. I ripped through the rest of it on my flight back, I was so engrossed with it. I’m almost done with Catching Fire and forcing myself to pace the book because the final book Mockingjay won’t get here until tomorrow. (Hurry UP, Amazon!)

I have not been this engaged or engrossed with a novel or series of books since the Harry Potter series came out. Several friends have talked up the books for the past half year or so, but I thought the plotline sounded off-kilter and gross. Essentially it’s a  Young Adult series about a post-Apocalyptic society where the government forces its youth to enter a televised contest where they fight to the death as the nation watches. Yeah. I know. It’s not exactly Krissy material. And yet I’m so SO hooked. The writing is strong, character development is fantastic, the plot is intriguing and fast-paced and the narrator is relatable without being cloying or annoying.

They’re the best fiction books I’ve read in a long time. If you have a week and some time on your hands, grab this series. And be prepared to hunker down–the series will grip you and you won’t be able to put them down. And that’s a very good thing. Now excuse me, I’ve got a date with Peeta in Panem.