Don't go towards the light - you'll fall and break your hip.

My littlest sister is coming to visit me next week. -- in 3 days to be exact.

(Someone called me on calling her my "littlest" sister. He was like, "You mean youngest?" And -- given the astute judge of semantics that I am -- I said, "Huh?" And he said, "Well, I'm sure she's not actually the littlest." And then I had to concede that yes, she is in fact taller than I am. But still.)

I was talking to Heather about the things that I needed to do to get ready for the upcoming visit. My concern about getting ready is compounded by my mom, Carla and Cary coming as well during that week. Mostly I feel like I have to get the "Mom Clean" done this weekend.

And so I said to Heather, "Yeah, and I should try again to clean the bugs out of the kitchen light fixture, but I've tried before and I couldn't get the cover off."

And Heather said, "You should definitely try. Mom's already commented on that before."

"Yeah, she has. And then I bought a ladder, and she said, oh good, now you can get the bugs out. But I've tried and I can't get the cover off the light."

"You could replace the light and get a new fancy track light," Heather suggests.

"Right, no, here's how it would go. I try to get the cover off, and then I crack it because it's just flimsy plastic. And of course I would never be able to just go buy a new one so I would have to replace the entire light fixture."

"And you could get the track lighting with the spotlights that you can point in different directions."

"Right," I respond, "But the wiring would be different, so I would have to get the kitchen rewired. And then the hole that is already in the ceiling would be the wrong size--"

"Would it?"

"Sure it would. Long rectangular light needs a different hole than the track lights. So I would have to redo the ceiling drywall and mudd it."

"And then you would have to paint it."

"Yup."

"And you wouldn't find paint that would match exactly. So you would have to paint the entire ceiling. Which means the entire ceiling of your entire downstairs because it's open concept."

"Yup," I agree again.

A horrified gasp, "And do you have popcorn ceilings?"

"Yup."

"And you would have to repopcorn the ceiling." A pause. "Or take all the popcorn down!"

"Yeah. Wow."

"Yeah, that's not worth it."

"Totally."

And so the bugs are staying.

(Secretly that's not my actual kitchen light. But it looks pretty accurate.)

I wonder what I will do when the lightbulbs burn out?

Exactly! There's games up there and books and...

I think I will give you some more of the backstory in my next post (yay, something to look forward to), but here I will just try to simplify it.

I started listening to podcasts this summer. I discovered that there are tons of totally free podcasts that can be downloaded on iTunes, and they are on all kinds of topics. So I have tried out quite a variety of podcasts, and I have some definite favorites.

Favorite #1: the Smart People Podcast. There are two guys (Chris and Jon) who get together and interview all kinds of smart people. Generally the people that they are interviewing have written a book, and so they get background, further insights, explanations, etc. So far, I've listened to interviews with Mike Rose (a big name in education), Gary Chapman (author of the 5 love languages), Bill Poundstone, and several others.

One of the interviews I listened to recently was with Kerry Patterson who wrote a book called Change Anything.

The first thing that Patterson explained in the interview is that we -- people, all people -- think that change is based on willpower. I eat the chocolate doughnut because I have no willpower or I don't because my willpower is so strong. Patterson said that all the research shows that this idea of willpower is false. People who are able to change use a lot of other skills in order to do so.

Well, that got me fascinated. And I'll explain why.

If you know me, or maybe even if you've been reading the blog for a while, you know that I have food issues. When I have to eat with other people, the same thing happens over and over and over. I explain my food issues as simply as possible, and they say, "Oh I could never do that!" "Oh, I could never give up bread!" "Oh, I could never give up cheese!"

When I first went gluten-free, I used to think, yes you could. If you were as sick as I was you would.

And then I started meeting people who didn't. People who were as sick or sicker, and still didn't stop eating gluten.

And then I thought, well, maybe it is just me. Maybe I'm wired differently. Maybe food isn't as important to me (yeah, right). Maybe it's because I live alone. Maybe I'm too obedient.

So I was fascinated by the ideas Patterson shared in the interview, and I went and checked out the book from the library (Oh, did you seriously think that this wasn't a book review?).

The Book: Ok, so Patterson and his colleagues start off explaining the bit about willpower. Fascinating stuff. And then they explain the Six Sources of Influence, how we are always impacted by them and how we can use them to our benefit. There are a lot of really specific examples throughout, and a lot of ideas about how you can apply the ideas to your specific situation. In the third part of the book, they give specific examples about applying changes to different areas -- careers, weight loss, addiction, and relationships.

The Review: I read the entire book in about 3 hours (and it only took that long because I was also doing laundry, cooking, and seasoning my wok). It was really interesting and a really easy read.

So when I started and got the full explanation of change not being just about willpower, I was feeling a little like, bummer, so I'm not as fabulous as I thought I was for making all these dramatic dietary and life changes to get healthy? But as I continued reading, I could see how the 6 sources of influence played a role. So one of the influences is social (actually a lot of the influences connected with the forces discussed in Sway), and for me my family became "friends" rather than "accomplices." I knew they were expecting me to keep to the diet and they were helpful in a lot of ways. Even just by saying "that's not Emily food," I stopped entertaining the idea of eating it.

Now I have two (more) goals that came to mind as I was reading. So I have to decide where those fall on my priority list and if I will get to them next month (meaning Monday) or if I will wait another month.

Oh, and the final word on the review: This book was totally awesome. If you are working on any big goals or little goals, I would highly recommend it.

Could be worse. You could be wearing a skirt.

The Skirt: Take 2

I liked Liz's suggestion of making a pillow. But my mom convinced me to try making the skirt again.

So first, I unpicked the entire thing. Then I put the zipper back in with the smallest seam possible. I did the smallest seams possible down the back and down the sides.

Then I unpicked the darts.

And it fit!

I decided that after all that, I was totally never going to try and put a hem in, and the pattern said to do the waistband with twill tape, so I just bought some bias tape and ran it around the waist and the hem.

(Please ignore the hair -- It's HOT!)

If it were any smarter, it'd write a book, a book that would make Ulysses look like it was written in crayon.

I was chatting with a friend last night. Sometimes she reads my blog and then tells me what she thought of it. (Sometimes I feel really weird about that, like what I write here is totally private and no one should read it. And sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who writes a blog -- by definition public for the world -- and feels that way.)

So last night she said, "So you've been reading a lot of books."

I totally couldn't decide if that was just a statement of fact or some kind of commentary. It felt like a judgement. And I thought, so reading books is a bad thing? Please see the earlier post about how much free time I have!

Total side note: I was listening to a podcast (can't remember which one) and the guy they were interviewing said that the average American reads less than one nonfiction book each year. So if you were to read three nonfiction books on one topic, you would be an expert. He was quick to point out that he means comparatively and the bar really isn't high there.

So I'm trying to decide what to become an expert on. Any suggestions?

And back to the real purpose of this post, which is (naturally) another book review. (I feel like I need to justify again how I'm spending my time, but I'm not going to!)

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

This is also for my American Lit class. I'm getting really excited about the class. I actually have a whopping 22 students enrolled. That's double the number I have ever had in my largest lit class. (The polling sample of that statistic is so incredibly small it renders that statement not statistically significant).

The House on Mango Street is a collection of vignettes told through the eyes of Esperanza, a young Mexican-American who moves to Mango Street. She tells about her life, her family's life, and the lives of the neighbors that she observes.

The stories are good, but mostly the novel is interesting stylistically.

Final review: It's a great read that will take 2 hours at the most.

He's out of your league. He's reading a book.

I walked out to my mailbox on Thursday, opened it up, and looked inside. Wait, it's a package from Amazon! I love packages, I love Amazon. But I didn't order anything. I love surprises.

I got back in to the house and opened the package. Inside was a book Don't Kill the Birthday Girl. My mom had mentioned it to me the week before, asking if I had heard of it. I said no, and just filed the title away to look into later. I didn't realize she was going to send it to me. (Best mom ever, right?)

Don't Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life by Sandra Beasley

The story: This book is being sold as a memoir, the story of Sandra Beasley who has been severely allergic to a variety of foods for her entire life. To get the real picture there, she had her first reaction on her 1st birthday, and she includes the list of foods she is allergic to: dairy (including goat's milk), egg, soy, beef, shrimp, pine nuts, cucumbers, cantaloupe, honeydew, mango, macadamias, pistachios, cashews, swordfish, and mustard.

While the book unfolds by following Beasley's life and her reactions to food, it is not merely a memoir. Beasley writes detailed scientific information about what is happening in the body when it has an allergic reaction, she examines the prevailing societal attitudes about allergies, she questions why food allergies are becoming more common, she explores the deep cultural ties to food and how it becomes ritualized, and she explains (clearly and simply) what the medical field is researching in relation to allergies.

Beyond being a tale of how Beasley has gotten through life, it is a truly informative look at food allergies and a commentary on the accommodations for those who live with them.

The review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. To prove how much, I started reading it yesterday afternoon (when my brain felt like sludge from grading and watching 2 episodes of Millionaire Matchmaker -- don't judge) and I finished it at 11 pm. I couldn't put it down.

Ok, the first thing I'll address is the memoir-side of the book. I was fascinated. In one episode, Beasley goes in to her college dining hall and is trying not to eat the same thing that they served her every single day. She just wants the normal meal with her boyfriend. So seeing the risotto, she asks the server, "Does it have dairy?" The server responds, "No." -- and I am yelling, "Yes it does! Yes it does! Don't eat that!!" -- And after a bite, she winds up in the hospital.

The stories were amazing and horrifying. I could relate so completely with her stories of going to restaurants and asking questions and the reactions of the servers, and with her stories of traveling, and with her stories of family gatherings. Her allergic reactions are so severe, which is what makes the stories horrifying. Generally, she describes breaking out in hives, her throat closing, and going into anaphylaxis. Beasley is one year older than I am, so I also liked the references to a life I can totally relate to -- she mentions her college dorm mates downloading songs on Napster.

The scientific and social commentary also fascinated me. Her explanations were really clear. I didn't know all of the medical research that is being done to "cure" allergies, but I find it very interesting. Beasley is also very direct with her commentary on how allergies are being talked about today. As she says, "That's the balancing act." She must go through life working hard to keep herself safe, but she wants to live life, and doesn't expect the world around her to keep her safe.

Citizens, I need firepower.

I don't know if everyone has this situation, but sometimes I get up and get dressed and think hm... this shirt/skirt/pants fit differently than the last time.

Usually I blame this on the dryer.

I got up Friday morning and put on a shirt and thought, wow these sleeves feel tight.

Instead of blaming it on the dryer, I thought of a new reason.

That book was accidentally destroyed maliciously...

Well, I wrote that whole post about having so much free time. And this week that all changed. I had a lot of work meetings (Three! Long ones! During the summer!) and that left me without a ton of time for reading. Which was frustrating because I really just wanted to get this book over with.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

When I was in grad school, I did an independent study class. The scheduling just wasn't working really well for me, so I created my own class about twentieth century American Literature. I created a reading list of book I hadn't ever read and asked my advising professor what he thought. The Catcher in the Rye made it onto my list, and his comment was "No. That book is only for 16 year old boys."

So I had still never read it.

He was right.

And as I was slogging through this 277-page novel, I was thinking "Um, how did this get named the great American novel?"

And then I thought of the scene from Despicable Me: "You call this literature?"