Friday Fun! (Happy 2010!)
Sorry for the hiatus last week, guys. I was recovering from my New Year’s Eve fun. For New Year’s Eve I acquired First Night buttons so I could go see the Kaiju Big Battel (sic) taking place in Boston. (Side-note: I cannot for the life of me understand why it’s called First Night and not Last Night. It’s the last night of 2009, not the first night of 2010! Ideas?!) I happened to catch some crazy Middle Eastern dancing that was occurring on a stage nearby while I was waiting. I have no idea what kind of dancing it was. It wasn’t bellydancing, and they hopped around waving their arms and fake swords a lot. Anyway, so Kaiju Big Battel is essentially WWE only the wrestlers are wearing monster costumes ala Godzilla and the stage has miniature buildings set up that they also smash. Two of my favorite characters of the night were Plantain and Dusto Bunny. Dusto Bunny was actually dusty! (Sorry I have no pictures of Kaiju to show you. I have yet to upload them from my camera). Anyway, then I met up with friends in the Common to see the ice sculptures and rang in the new decade on the Esplanade. It was definitely a fun night!
This week has been busy busy busy at work. They’re renovating my library (again). Currently all of us are crammed in one room while they work on the rest of it, but the exciting part, you guys, is I’m going to go from having a cubicle to an almost office! It’s pretty much an office minus a door, but I’ll have a divider up in lieu of a door. Plus they’re building me bookshelves, and I’m getting a brand new wood desk! I’m excited to move into my new office. It’s going to make me feel much more part of the team, since currently I’m the only one without an office.
In cooking this week, I tried out making gnocchi from scratch for the first time using sweet potatoes. It’s pretty simple, actually. You just cook the potatoes, pass them through a sieve, then combine it with spices, egg, and flour. The tricky part, I discovered, is adding just the right amount of flour. The consensus upon eating it was that it was neither good nor bad. A bit too floury. However, on reheating the leftovers, it went to good. I’m thinking maybe I just didn’t cook them long enough? I’ll definitely try it again. I think it’s one of those recipes you improve with over time. Kind of like pizza dough.
Oh, also, I’m all caught up in Lost now, so I’m totally ready for the new season. Bring. It. On!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Book Review: The Creation of Psychopharmacology By David Healy
Summary:
A historical look at the emergence and development of psychopharmacology (psychiatric drugs) from the earliest time of psychiatry to the end of the 20th century. Particular attention is paid to the impact psychiatric societies, economic systems, cultures, and drug companies have had on psychopharmacology. Psychiatric drugs explored in-depth include chlorpromazine and SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors aka antidepressants).
Review:
I was quite excited to learn about the topic of this book, as psychopharmacology is one of the key aspects of psychiatric treatment. It is therefore unfortunate that the author, Healy, allows his own biases to get in the way of presenting factual information.
The first portion of the book that discusses asylums and the original drugs discovered by scientists to work on psychoses does present the facts in an unbiased manner. Unfortunately, Healy could not possibly write in a much more boring manner. I have never in my life read a text that is so stale, and I do read scientific nonfiction for work on a fairly steady basis, so this is not a bias of my own against scientific writing. The man just drones on and on.
The larger problem arises in the second half of the book when Healy arrives in the 20th century. Healy’s obvious anti-drug and anti-psychiatry bias emerges. He flat-out gets facts wrong and displays paranoia, ranging from the typical conspiracy theory that the mental health community is in league with the drug companies to the more extreme idea that depression shouldn’t be treated because then there would be no more art or spirituality. He also claims that personality disorders should not be treated, comparing such treatment to cosmetic surgery. This claim is offensive and harmful to people who wish to become higher functioning, happier individuals.
Healy goes on to offer predictions as to the direction psychology and psychiatry will take in the 21st century. Now that we are a decade in to that century, I can definitively tell you his predictions are wrong. He argues that an increasing number of drugs will be used to remove most individuality and that therapy will continue to fall by the wayside. In fact, the first decade of the 21st century saw a new movement toward CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), which are all about helping an individual change their harmful behaviors, thoughts, and tendencies purely through therapeutic techniques. Healy is attempting to fear-monger his readers into believing psychiatry and psychology wish to drug us all up, when in fact the mental health community wants to use what works best in each situation. Contrary to his claims, there are in fact biological bases for some mental health issues.
Although his facts are accurate in the earlier history of psychopharmacology, the second half of the book presents false facts and harmful ideas. Due to this fact, I cannot recommend this book. For an educated look at mental health and drugs, take a look at the DSMIV and the PDR.
1 out of 5 stars
Source: Library
Movie Review: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Summary:
Aspiring writer and kept man Paul moves into a new apartment building where he meets quirky Holly Golightly. Holly pays her bills by going on dates with wealthy men and sneaking off with the $50 they give her for the power room. The two start to entwine into each other’s lives, and Paul discovers there’s more to Holly than meets the eye.
Review:
As I was watching, I thought this was a meh movie, but then in the last five minutes I suddenly came to love it. That’s what classic movies can do that modern movies often don’t. They set up a world that just seems average, but then blow your mind in the end with what you’ve actually seen and learned about the characters. You’re being touched while watching the movie without even realizing it.
The film moves at a meandering pace that allows you to truly get a glimpse of NYC in the 1960s. The outfits, the decor, the drinks, the smoking….. It truly is a period piece. There was one large sour note in the film that is reflective of when it came out though in the form of Holly’s upstairs neighbor, who is the definition of a racist caricature of Asians, and he wasn’t even played by an Asian or Asian-American actor. I wish he wasn’t in the movie, but it is reflective of the times.
Holly Golightly is such a well-written character. You alternate between identifying with her, loathing her, and feeling sorry for her, and that is what makes her seem like such a real person. By the ending, I really wasn’t sure if I hated or cared for her, but either way, I understood her. That’s a wonderful thing to come to understand someone who has the issues Holly does.
If you enjoy classic films or films built around careful character building, give Breakfast at Tiffany’s a shot. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.
4 out of 5 stars
Source: Netflix
Movie Review: Being John Malkovich (1999)
Summary:
There aren’t many job openings in Craig Schwartz’s chosen career–puppeteering. His animal-loving wife suggests he get a job in the meantime, so he finds one filing for an office on the 7 1/2 floor of a building. There he finds a small door that allows whoever goes inside it to be inside actor John Malkovich’s mind, seeing through his eyes, for 15 minutes before being spit out on the roadside. He and a woman he works with start selling trips for $200 a visit, but there’s more to being John Malkovich than meets the eye.
Review:
What a trippy movie. It’s a little bit of a character study of loser Craig and his equally loser wife, and what it does there is excellent. Plus you get to see Cameron Diaz being frumpy, which is worth the watch in and of itself.
The puppet scenes are simultaneously disturbing and funny, but mostly it’s just amazing that people can make puppets move so intricately. Although the other characters laugh at Craig for “playing with dolls,” the viewer comes away with a greater respect for it as valid theater.
The plot though is what makes the movie. It twists and turns taking the characters to unexpected places. Everything that made me like the movie from a plot stand-point is a spoiler, so I can’t say much beyond that it surprised me, and that takes a lot.
If you enjoy head-trip movies with a touch of gentle social commentary, definitely check this one out.
4 out of 5 stars
Source: Netflix
Reading Goals for 2010
I don’t want to over-plan my reading for 2010, but I do want to give it a loose structure and maybe broaden my horizons a bit. I also want to be practical about my reading, for instance the fact that I rarely have time to go to the library (erm, the public one, not the one I work at 5 days a week). Anywho, with that in mind, my loosely-defined goals for 2010 are:
- Read the books I bought for undergrad classes but didn’t have time to read then. Seeing as how my two majors are topics I actually like (History and English and American Literature), I actually do want to read these old “assignments.” Expect to see a bit of ancient literature, Chekhov, and noir.
- Read a bit more nonfiction in areas I want to be more educated in, preferably science. Seeing as how I work in a medical library, this should be pretty easy to pull off cheaply.
- Utilize Swaptree to get rid of books I weeded from my collection at the end of the year and in turn get books I want to read. Since I’m doing an exact 1:1 exchange, this should keep my book collection on the smaller side.
- Courtesy of a challenge from @shaindelr over on Twitter who gasped about my not having read any poetry in 2009–read one book of poetry. However, I’m not making any promises that it won’t be of the ancient variety. ;-)
- Finally, watching Japanese movies got me pretty into the stories their culture has to offer. That along with seeing some graphic novels in friends’ houses made me want to give the genre an official shot, so I’ll be reading at least 3 graphic novels/manga in 2010. I’m super-excited to read my first Battle Royale, which I wanted to read after seeing and loving the movie.
Movie Review: Killer at Large Why Obesity is America’s Greatest Threat (2008)
Summary:
A documentary about America’s obesity epidemic, Killer at Large interviews scientists, politicians, activists, and parents about the causes of and cure for obesity. Included among these are genetics, perpetual stress, and lifestyle changes from our hunter-gatherer past.
Review:
This documentary is definitely interesting to watch. It is akin to watching a mini-marathon on TLC (back before TLC was only about huge families, little people, and cake-making). Scientists’ discussions of our past and present are accompanied by amateur flash illustrations. However, these make the fat talk seem to not be bashing, which is a good thing. Particularly memorable to me was a comparison of an FDA approved school lunch of chicken nuggets and fries vs. a non-FDA approved lunch of salad and fruit. Since poor children get the bulk of their food from school, this definitely should be an issue. However, the main crux of the film seems to be that America is obese because our genes want us to be hunter-gatherers and the government has us in a state of perpetual stress over terrorism (stress makes us store food). Sorry, but I just don’t buy that. The whole planet evolved from hunter-gatherers; Europe is facing the same terrorist threat, and you don’t see them weighing in at 300 pounds (or whatever the metric equivalent is). I personally believe the culprit is overly processed food combined with driving everywhere, but this documentary shies away from actually saying that, although it comes close. Overall, it’s worth watching, but I’m sure there are more memorable food documentaries out there.
3 out of 5 stars
Source: Netflix
Best Discoveries of 2009–Boston Places, Web Clips, and Recipes
Yesterday you got to see my best discoveries–aka I encountered them for the first time–of 2009 in movies, tv shows, and websites. The day before in my reading stats for 2009 you saw my favorite books I discovered. Today I’ll be finishing up my discoveries lists with Boston places, web clips, and recipes!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hinagiku/ / CC BY-ND 2.0
- The Friendly Toast (1 Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA)
Known as a hipster joint, this restaurant serves breakfast/brunch foods all day long. It’s decorated with fun vintage posters, many of which are scifi themed. The portion sizes are huge! You really get the bang for your buck here, and vegetarian options are numerous. You even can get vegetarian sausage! The servers are also super-friendly. This is currently my favorite breakfast place in Boston. - Berk’s Store (50 JFK St, Cambridge, MA)
I was hunting everywhere for waterproof knee-high boots without a heel, when I wandered into this store. Crowded into a small space is the best shoe store I’ve found in Boston. The styles reflect the needs of Bostonians–good for walking and the weather without sacrificing style. The employees are friendly and–get this!–you can put a deposit on shoes and have them hold them for you to pick up later without paying anything extra. This is great for if you find a great pair of shoes/boots but don’t want to drag them on your commute with you. - Boston Bed Company (1113 Comm Ave, Boston, MA)
More than just mattresses, they offer bed frames, bedroom furniture, living room furniture, sofas, and chairs. This business is locally-owned, and they understand Bostonian’s needs. Everything is reasonably priced, the sales associates are friendly but also understand giving you space to wander about the store on your own, and you get free delivery (over a certain price point, which I forget right now, but I easily reached it when buying my mattress and box spring). Definitely check them out for any furniture needs. - Hootenanny (36 JFK St aka The Garage, Cambridge, MA)
The clothing off-shoot of Newbury Comics, this store is great for funky clothing, shoes, and bags. I got my Glomits there, as well as a steampunk skirt and dress. They also offer vegan shoes for my vegan friends. The prices can be a bit steep on some items, but they have continuous sales which knocks them right down to reasonable. - Jacob Realty (279 Newbury St, Boston, MA)
I had to apartment hunt this year, and after many phone calls that ended with me mad at an agent who couldn’t accept my price limit as a real price limit, I finally landed on Jacob Realty. My realtor actually listened to me and treated me with respect, and she helped me land a great apartment! Definitely check them out if you’re on the apartment hunt.
Web Clips (yes I know there’s a lot of cats on this list)
- Surprised Kitty
Holy fucking squee is all I have to say about this one. - Protecting and Maintaining Your Heterosexual House of Cards
Hilarious look at the lengths straight guys go to in order to not appear gay. - The Mean Kitty Song
A guy wrote a tongue-in-cheek song about his new kitten’s activities in his apartment and managed to make a music video for it too. 
Know Your Meme–O RLY? Owl
I love all of the Know Your Meme episodes, but the O RLY? YA RLY! NO WAI! Owls are my favorite meme, so that’s why you’re getting this episode.- Keyboard Cat
I love this video. I now have my kitty “play piano” sometimes. - Jingle Cats–What Child Is This with Hava Nagila
It’s a kitty cat Chrismukkah!
Recipes
- Emeril’s Vegetarian Egg Rolls
Confession. I have a deep fryer, and for my housewarming party I wanted to use it. I’d made egg rolls with my dad when I was a kid, but those were meat-filled (this was before I went veg). Anyway, I was shocked to discover Emeril has a vegetarian recipe. They require a bit of work what with making up the filling and wrapping them, but they came out very good. Even my friends who don’t like egg rolls liked these. 
Little House Apple Pie (The Little House Cookbook: Fronteir Food from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Classic Stories by Barbara M. Walker)
I’d gone apple picking with two of my best buddies, and I wanted to make apple pie. The problem was that I’d never gotten the family recipe from my mother who I disowned, so I needed to find a good new recipe. Omg, people, you should ditch family recipes more often. This pie is so good! Side-note, I always use Emeril’s Basic Sweet Pie Crust with my pies.- Vegan Sweet Potato Latkes (current issue of Vegetarian Times, apparently isn’t on their website yet)
I wanted to make latkes for my Chrismukkah gathering, but wanted a healthier version than the traditional one. I love sweet potatoes and already had a stash of them, so this seemed like it’d be cool to try. Instead of eggs, the recipe has you boil some sweet potatoes and mash them to use for binding the shredded potato together. I was skeptical as to whether this would work, but it totally did. These were a big hit.
That’s it for my best-of lists! Hopefully next year I’ll have more recipes to share with you guys. I hope you all made some fun discoveries of your own in 2009.
Best Discoveries of 2009–Movies, TV Shows, and Websites
You guys got to see my favorite reads of 2009, but what about all else entertainment? I do, surprisingly, do things besides read with my (little) free-time. So here’s Part One of my best of all-else entertainment list from 2009. I’m not limiting myself to things that came out in 2009, just things that I encountered for the first time in 2009. Consider everything listed as accompanied with the highest recommendations.
Movies
Coraline (2009)
The story of a little girl rightfully frustrated with her parents who discovers another world is delightfully creative, but the animation is what makes this a must-see. It is truly a feast for your eyes.- The Hangover (2009)
Bust a gut, laugh out loud funny. A groom and his buddies go to Vegas a few days before his wedding for his bachelor party, and when they wake up the next morning, the buddies can’t find the groom or remember what they did the night before. Uproariously awkward situations make you feel way better about that one night you can’t remember. 
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
A troop of American Jews led by Brad Pitt go on a Nazi-killing spree in WWII Europe. Confession. I fucking love WWII history. I have ever since I was a kid. I also absolutely love blood and guts movies. The more gruesome the better. I also love Jewish fellas (I blame my undergrad university for that one). Additionally, I love Brad Pitt. *swoon* German is also my foreign language, so I didn’t even need the damn sub-titles. Can you say must-see movie? My only gripe is that not enough time was spent on the awesome group of American soldiers.- Kill Bill Volume One (2003)
The Bride has a score to settle with her old boss Bill and everyone who helped him commit the slaughter of all present for her wedding day (not to mention almost killing her). So many epic fight scenes. So many bad-ass women. Not to mention the whole blood and guts thing previously mentioned. 
South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)
The boys’ parents get all upset when they sneak in to see the R-rated Terrence and Phillip movie, which clearly leads to a war with Canada. This basically is South Park The Musical and gave us the gifts that are the songs “Uncle Fucka” and “Blame Canada.” Top it off with a giant talking vagina, and you have a seriously hilarious movie.- The Shining (1980), review
Jack takes his family with him on a live-in caretaker job in a remote, empty hotel in Colorado. Did I mention the hotel is sinister? It takes a lot for a film to scare me, and this did.
TV Shows
- Lost (2004 to present)
The tale of the survivors of a flight that crashed on an uncharted island. I remember when this first came out that I avoided watching it because I knew I didn’t have time to get addicted to another tv show. Netflix Instant spurred me into watching it, and holy shit. This show’s mystery and scifi are so good that I am literally yelling at the tv (yes, I bought the complete set). Me yelling at the tv is a sign of a good tv show, btw. I’m on the fourth season and am bound and determined to catch up before the new season starts in February. 
The Simpsons (1989 to present)
That sound you hear is the collective shock of everyone reading this, but I seriously had never watched The Simpsons ever before this year. No, not even one episode. I really can’t explain why. I just never got around to it. Well, now I get what the obsession is with it, and I’ve watched a ton of episodes, let me tell you.- South Park (1997 to present)
No big surprise here with the movie listed above, but I also was newly introduced to this show this year. The pop culture commentary is epic. All you need to do is see the Kanye West fish sticks episode to understand. 
True Blood (2008 to present)
A small Louisiana town deals with daily life and the recent coming out of vampires with the Japanese invention of synthetic human blood. This show has everything: bayou setting, vampires, sex, drugs, comedy, and mystery. Watching an episode is like taking a vacation. It also provided me with the hilarity that is me imitating Bill saying “Sookie is mine!” I can’t wait for the second season to come out on DVD so I can watch it!
Websites
- Etsy
Buy and/or sell handmade or vintage items and supplies. It’s kind of like having a craft fair in your browser, and I love buying one-of-a-kind earrings there. - Regretsy
My friends and I were doing what this blog does for a while–finding the hideous things people offer up as “vintage” or “handmade” on Etsy (not the majority of things found there at all) and mocking them. This blog is sure to send many giggles your way. (or horror) - Sock Dreams
I love wearing snazzy socks, tights, and legwarmers, and this website has the best selection for the best prices. - Tor
I’m a scifi freak, and their theme months are great. This month was Cthulu Christmas, for instance. Also they host a bunch of amazing give-aways.
Coming up in Part Two, Boston places, web clips, and recipes!
2009 Reading Stats!
At some point (oh, about two or three weeks in), this blog that started out as a purely opinions blog (with a focus on libraries) turned into an about 50% book blog. This really shouldn’t have surprised me. I mean a librarian with a blog about opinions is going to *gasp* review books? Say it ain’t so.
Being the reading freak that I am, I keep track of the books that I read over on LibraryThing. I just finished a book, and I doubt I’ll finish another one in 2009, so without further ado, here are my reading stats for 2009.
Total Books Read: 52
Average Books Per Month: 4.33
Month Most Read: August with 10 (The only month I didn’t have school? Surprise, surprise).
Month Least Read: January with 1 (I was really sick).
Fiction: 47
Nonfiction: 5
Genres (some books counted as multiple genres):
–Scifi: 12
–Romance: 12 (This really surprised me!)
–Dystopian: 10
–Horror: 8
–YA: 8
–Classics: 5 (Pleasantly surprised by this).
–Historical: 4
–Memoir: 3
–Contemporary: 3
5 Star Reads:
–The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, review
–Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
–The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
Honorable Mention with 4.5 Stars:
–Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Read and Reviewed on This Blog: 27
I’m not the type to set goals for myself with reading, since I do it for fun. However, I will try to work in a few more nonfiction books as I’m a big believer in life-long learning. I do think this is a bit skewed since a lot of my nonfiction reading is in the form of current scholarly journals as opposed to books. I also think a book a week is a good pace for reading to still be enjoyable, but also not a neglected hobby. We’ll see if I naturally speed up or slow down next year. If you guys have any suggestions as far as specific books or genres for me to try in 2010, I welcome them!
Book Review: All I Want For Christmas Is a Vampire By Kerrelyn Sparks (Series, #5)
Summary:
Toni never meant to wind up working as a daytime security guard for vampires. She meant to be spending her December focusing on finishing up her masters degree so she and her best friend Sabrina would be one step closer to their dream of running a high-quality orphanage. But Sabrina was attacked and her claims that vampires orchestrated the attack has led to her uncle locking her up in a mental institution. Toni is determined to prove to Sabrina’s uncle that vampires are real, so she has gone undercover guarding the good vampires seeking some definitive way to prove their existence. Much as she wants to hate vampires, a certain Scottish highlander vamp named Ian has a way of making her feel very much alive.
Review:
Since I received this book as a present and there was no indication on the cover, I had no idea it’s the fifth book in the series until I was partway in and did a little bit of investigating. So, I haven’t read any of the other books in the series.
Of course, I don’t particularly think I would want to. The book starts out strongly. Toni is a character who it is easy to identify with. She’s a young adult with dreams and struggling with her self-esteem via a list of positive affirmations she says every morning. She is fiercely loyal and intelligent. Toni’s character does develop throughout the book, unfortunately not in a good way. Instead of realizing her own strength, she now has a whole new set of people–vampires and shape-shifters–to feel inferior to.
The vampire world that Sparks creates is simply not appealing. She sets up two groups of vampires–the good guys and the bad guys, or as the good vampires call them, the “Malcontents.” The Malcontents enjoy making others feel fear and pain and want to kill off all of the good vampires. The good vampires, no kidding, have their own priest and Mass. Yeah, you read that right, the vampires are Catholic. WTF?! That’s almost as bad as vampires that sparkle.
Additionally, the good vampires seem to have a thing for marrying mortals, and the leader of the good vampires has come up with a way to splice male vamps’ genetic material so that the mortal mother can give birth to a child who is half-vampire. Naturally these children have super-human abilities, such as levitating, but they also seem to be able to miraculously heal the sick. Reading these scenes gave me the same feeling as fingernails on chalkboard.
On the other hand, the romance portion of the plot is actually quite good. Toni’s and Ian’s witty banter reads realistically, and their sex scenes are fun.
If you’re just after the romance element and won’t mind the world Sparks has created, you’ll enjoy the book. All others should stick to Charlaine Harris and Nora Roberts.
2.5 out of 5 stars
Source: Gift from a friend
Previous Books in Series:
How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire
Vamps and the City
Be Still My Vampire Heart
The Undead Next Door
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This work by Amanda Nevius is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Opinions of a Wolf 