More Recs, etc.

Jesus, I wish I got to update this thing as much as I would like to... but oh, well! We do what we can do!

So a couple weekends ago, I saw a review for I Sold My Soul on eBay, and the concept sounded so interesting, I actually went to Borders later in the day and picked it up. The basic premise is the author, Hemant Mehta, auctioned off the chance to send him to church, because he's really open-minded, and he wanted to see what he got out of it. Well, the auction raised $550, and every $10 bought someone a week, so the winning bidder and Mehta worked out an agreement, and he went to church for a year. He went to small churches, medium churches, big ones and megachurches, participated in the services and took notes of what worked and what didn't work. People hoping that he converted to Christianity might be disappointed, as Mehta remains an atheist at the conclusion of the book. But if you like honest discussion of the strong and weak points of religion from an outsider's eyes, and especially if you're looking for the big answers yourself, you'll probably really like this book. I did. A lot of the stuff that Mehta grapples with is stuff that I'm trying to work out as well. We have a lot of beliefs in common, with one difference: (well, not just one, but for the purpose of this point) I believe in God, and he doesn't. And you know what? That's not really that big a deal. Because the bottom line is we're both good people who want to do good things in the world and ultimately want to get as close to the truth as we can. Check out his website The Friendly Atheist for more on him.

Furthermore, I can't for the life of me figure out why I wasn't watching Arrested Development when it was on? I've been watching it with Jon since we started dating (actually a first date activity!) and it is seriously brilliant. Jason Bateman has been totally upgraded to TV boyfriend, and so has Michael Cera. It's to Will Arnett's credit as an actor that he hasn't been, as Gob is one of the funniest and most irritating characters I've seen. Get thee to Netflix and rent it if you haven't seen it!

Damn, what do I do on this thing besides recommend stuff? Bitch and moan, right. Well I don't actually have a bitch and moan in me at the moment, so this'll have to do.

Good Bad Bullet Points

• The heat wave mostly broke! Hurray!
• It's the busiest week of the year for my office. Un-hurray.
• My dad has the cutest puppies on the planet (pictures forthcoming to verify this as true.) Huzzah!
• Charlie, the younger of the two, freaking got me up at a quarter to five this morning because, well, he was done sleeping. Boo.
• I get to see Jon in the next day or two! Joy!
• I haven't seen him in two weeks because he's got diverticulitis. Suck.
• ...I'm so tired I can't remember any more bullet points. Lame.

In other news, because I'm not completely useless, I did read a good book over the weekend. Lucky, by Alice Sebold. Sebold wrote one of my favorite books, The Lovely Bones, and one of the big things I admired in that was how poetic the language was in it, it was really quite beautiful. This book doesn't flow in the same way, but is definitely as good. Sebold gives an account of being raped at the end of her freshman year of college. Despite the seriously heavy subject matter, the book has a lot of fun bits, and it's amazing to read the way she handled herself during one of the most difficult things a person and her family and friends can go through. She actually seems to have a harder time processing a tragedy that happens later to a friend of hers. And a lot of it is being strong for others and defiance, but it works, and given that this is the way I deal with stuff, I really jived with it. If you haven't read it yet, I definitely recommend it.

F You Heat Wave!!!

This weather is horrible, and worst of all there's no foreseeable end in sight. Would the person who has offended God please repent so He'll turn the earthly air conditioner back on? Thanks so much.

Alternatively, my friend Jenn and I have determined that the heat wave may be coming from the collected heat of the pants that are ablaze in Washington DC these days. Either way, it needs to cool off before I go on an unfortunate water-gunning spree.