Time Capsule 2006

Time Capsule: 2006

Pop Culture and The Arts

I. Favorite Movies
Little Miss Sunshine
Mad Hot Ballroom
Mysterious Skin

II. Most Watched TV Shows
The Office
Without a Trace House
CSI
*Favorite new show: Studio 60
*Back in the mix: ER

III. Favorite Books
Wish you well by David Baldacci recommended by my friend, Becky.

*David Baldacci has made a name for himself crafting big, burly legal thrillers with larger-than-life plots. However, Wish You Well, set in his native Virginia, is a tale of hope and wonder and "something of a miracle" just itching to happen. This shift from contentious urbanites to homespun hill families may come as a surprise to some of Baldacci's fans--but they can rest assured: the author's sense of pacing and exuberant prose have made the leap as well.
The year is 1940. After a car accident kills 12-year-old Lou's and 7-year-old Oz's father and leaves their mother Amanda in a catatonic trance, the children find themselves sent from New York City to their great-grandmother Louisa's farm in Virginia. Louisa's hardscrabble existence comes as a profound shock to precocious Lou and her shy brother. Still struggling to absorb their abandonment, they enter gamely into a life that tests them at every turn--and offers unimaginable rewards. For Lou, who dreams of following in her father's literary footsteps, the misty, craggy Appalachians and the equally rugged individuals who make the mountains their home quickly become invested with an almost mythic significance:
They took metal cups from nails on the wall and dipped them in the water, and then sat outside and drank. Louisa picked up the green leaves of a mountain spurge growing next to the springhouse, which revealed beautiful purple blossoms completely hidden underneath. "One of God's little secrets," she explained. Lou sat there, cup cradled between her dimpled knees, watching and listening to her great-grandmother in the pleasant shade...
Baldacci switches deftly between lovingly detailed character description (an area in which his debt to Laura Ingalls Wilder and Harper Lee seems evident) and patient development of the novel's central plot. If that plot is a trifle transparent--no one will be surprised by Amanda's miraculous recovery or by the children's eventual battle with the nefarious forces of industry in an attempt to save their great-grandmother's farm--neither reader nor character is the worse for it. After all, nostalgia is about remembering things one already knows.

Necessary Hunger by Nina Revoyr.

*Nancy Takahiro is a star high school basketball player who is smitten by a new player, Raina Webber. When Nancy's father falls in love with Raina's mother and the families move in together, Nancy's love for Raina becomes positively excruciating. This novel grapples not only with the awkwardness of adolescent love, but also with race: Nancy is Asian American, Raina is African American. And if that's not enough, it's full of information on college sport recruiting techniques.

*I took a flyer on Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller recommended by my friend, Molly, who swears she isn’t trying to change me. ☺

IV. Favorite Artist(s)
Great Big Sea
Jack Johnson
Indigo Girls
Joan Jett

IV ½. Favorite New Artist(s)
Daniel Powter
James Blunt

V. Favorite Song
Indigo Girls: Pendulum Swinger
Indigo Girls: Little Perennials
Joan Jett: A,C,D,C
Jack Johnson: Banana Pancakes

VI. Memorable Events
Joan Jett concert and getting her autograph after the show.
The cold plunge at Ten Thousand Waves in Santa Fe.
Attending the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

VII. Favorite Male Celebs
Hugh Laurie
Steve Carell

VIII. Favorite Female Celebs
Angelina Jolie
Ellen Degeneres

Seize The Day

I. Best Days
Taking the high road to Taos.
Driving from Orlando to Tampa, eating lunch in Lakeland, and swimming in the ocean.
Attending the Minnesota State Fair

II. Trips
Santa Fe
Kansas City
Orlando/Tampa
Minnesota
Oklahoma City

III. Favorite Foods
Carnitas Torta from Meli’s

IV. Favorite Restaurants/Bars
Meli’s
Red Hot and Blue
The Grapevine

Material World

I. Memorable Gifts Given
Tickets to see Carol Burnett to my mom for her birthday
Coat to my brother for Christmas
A piece of horsehair pottery to a friend

II. Memorable Gifts Received
necklace from Olivia for christmas (that she made herself)
Red hardback suitcase
Recipe book from my sister

III. Significant or Meaningful Purchases for self
Rabbit teapot from Santa Fe
Gem pendant from laurabeamer.com

IV. Appearance changes
continuing to grow
My hair got much much longer

V. Favorite Clothes
Plain white tees
Anything with a safety pin on the sleeve
Brown hoodie (given to me by Steve and Mari for Christmas some time ago.)
Gap jeans

Sports

I. Favorite Hometown Athletes
Antoine Winfield
Joe Mauer
Kevin Garnett
Mewelde Moore

II. Favorite Non-Hometown Athletes
LaDainian Tomlinson
The New Orleans Saints
The Misdemeanors