Archive: October, 2008

As many of you know, I've had problems in the past with vertigo and it recently flaired up again and wasn't going away. Yesterday I was able to get in with a neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic who specialized in balance and vertigo problems. Jeff blogged about that visit quite extensively, so you can read it here if you like. In a nutshell, I have BPPV which is treatable and managable over time.

At this point, I'm just hoping for some relief soon!

I recently heard about The Big Read which is a top 100 book list that came out in 2003 from the BBC. The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. Below is the list - I've read the ones in bold. I've read 6 of the top 10, and a total of 26. Not bad...not bad at all.

1. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (read in grad school-took an entire class on Jane Austen)
3. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (one of my favorites in H.S.)
7. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
10. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
18. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
20. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
23. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
24. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling
25. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
26. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch by George Eliot
28. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (one of my top 10)
29. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
31. The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
35. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion by Jane Austen (read it in grad school)
39. Dune by Frank Herbert
40. Emma by Jane Austen (read it in grad school)
41. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
42. Watership Down by Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (read it in H.S)
44. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm by George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (read it in my 20's and ran the stage performance for more that 200+ shows)
48. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
53. The Stand by Stephen King (one of my top 10 and my favorite King novel)
54. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
56. The BFG by Roald Dahl
57. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
60. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (read it in H.S. - liked it alot)
61. Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (LOVED it!)
63. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (one of my top 10 and have read it numerous times)
65. Mort by Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
67. The Magus by John Fowles
68. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
69. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (read it in H.S. - creeped me out)
71. Perfume by Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda by Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
77. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses by James Joyce
79. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
80. Double Act by Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits by Roald Dahl
82. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
83. Holes by Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
85. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel by Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
89. Magician by Raymond E. Feist
90. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather by Mario Puzo
92. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
93. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine by Anya Seton
96. Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
97. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls in Love by Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Lately there's been a lot of drama around my wedding and frankly, I'm fed up with it. I've spent more time than I care to think about crying (much to Jeff's dismay as well) and I think it's time to stop. This is our wedding and we should be able to make the decisions about what goes on that day, end of story. Coming from a family that's ingrained in Italian culture where family comes above all else, I've been feeling pressured to change things and it's not right.

I've learned something about myself this weekend concerning family. The phrase that blood is thicker than water is not something that I believe in. I think that family is extremely important, but I'm not going to let my decisions in life be dictated by family just because they are related. Jeff and I need to do what is right for us - he is my family. To me, being family isn't an entitlement. It's a privilege.

Let the bidding begin...

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/10/national_city_reportedly_for_s.html

Two of my favorite things combined into one!!!

http://www.anderoid.com/~seander/archives/images/photojournals/Halloween/DSCN1300.JPG

and wants his ski hat back.

Earlier in September I learned a new knitting technique, Fair Isle Knitting, which is knitting with 2 colors simultaneously. In the class I took, they provided a hat pattern on which to practice. Since I have a niece who likes to ski, I decided on colors that she would like and was going to make it as a Christmas present. As you can see from the pic above, not what I intended and would be better suited for Dr. Seuss. So, I found a new pattern and made another hat for my niece.

Much better.

After much shopping, I decided on a wedding dress and put the down payment on it last night. That is such a relief! It's a dress by designer Mia Solano - it's strapless with a corset back and made of organza and beaded lace. Now I just have to wait until January/February or so for it to arrive.

I'd show some pictures, but I know that my future hubby checks this site.

Thanks to all who shopped with me: Sherry, Jennie, Michelle, & Michelle!