NEW BLOG: morgancates.tumblr.com

I WILL NO LONGER BE POSTING ON THIS BLOG.

I'm changing to a tumblr blog.

Here's the link:

morgancates.tumblr.com

It's called The Overhead Light. I think this will be good.

Allons. . .

This Christmas, David and I will be headed

here. . .

plus England, Switzerland and Italy.

We have the tickets, we have 16 days - I can't wait!!

photo via thedailygreen.com

Currently Reading

Remember when summer would roll around and the summer reading list for school would be released? I always looked forward to finding out what books were on the list and going to the library or book store, picking out the books, and coming home to pour over the pages all summer long.

I really miss the summer reading list. Being an adult is sometimes not as magical as being a child or adolescent. When I find that magic slipping away, I try to hold on to those simple things, like a reading list, that are able to inspire the levels of jubilation I experienced as a youth.

This summer seems to be consumed by work and moving. . . and little else.

I have, however, managed to create my own summer reading list, of sorts, and I'm currently working on what I think is one of the best books I have ever read.

The summer started with a selection made by Dana, for the e-book club. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, was a fun, easy read. I enjoyed starting the summer with a romance, set the the backdrop of post-World War II England. The love story is light and sweet, but the real jewel of the novel is the stories of the German occupation of the Guernsey Channel Islands. I had no prior knowledge of this event and reading about it in a fictional setting was, I think, a very interesting way to learn about it. I am a big fan of post-war fiction. War alters so much more than the landscape of a country, it is ever-present in the minds of the people who live through it. The novel was simple, but I love any book that reminds me of the weight of war.

I decided to stay on the British track for my next novel selection. David has been urging me for some months to read Last Orders by Graham Swift, so I obliged him. The story is about four men, charged with the duty of spreading the ashes of their friend. Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the men, including the dead friend (prior to his death, of course). The stories are funny, disturbing, touching; they encompass the events of the men's lives and show the entanglement that results from a lifetime of friendship.

I am currently working on a novel that is very different from anything I have ever read. White Noise by Don DeLillo is, on the surface, a story about a typical blended family living in the 1980s. But beyond that, it is a post-modern examination of what makes a life. I think DeLillo suggests that what so many of our lives consist of is distraction and that the driving force of our distraction is an all-encompassing fear. Fear of what? DeLillo talks about one particular fear in the novel, bit I don't think it's as simple as categorizing our fears, I think the novel suggests that life itself is a fearsome thing. I am about half-way through the novel, and I am in love with DeLillo's writing. His phrasing of simple sentences is beautiful and the characters, while sometimes troubling, are so ridiculously human. I love literature that is able induce long periods of introspection and self-examination. White Noise is definitely one such book.

images via about.com, book rags.com and bookswim.com

Bicycle

"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race"

- H. G. Wells

We had a very lovely Saturday.

We were lucky enough to have our wonderful friends, Josh and Natalie, come see us.

We spent the day talking, eating great Cuban food at Papi's, watching the cyclists race the Omnium at the velodrome and planning future adventures together.

It was a great day!

Listening To . . .

Just a handful of songs that are getting me through the summer in this hot, hot city.

1. “Cosmic Love” – Florence + the Machine

2. “As If by Magic” – La Roux

3. “Fake Plastic Trees” – Radiohead

4.”Pale Blue Eyes” – R.E.M.

5.”Here Comes Your Man” – the Pixies

6.”Don’t Worry Baby” – the Beach Boys

7.”Girls Just Want to Have Fun” – Starf***er

8.”Rockaway Beach” – the Ramones

9.”Glorylight and Christie” – Cotton Jones

10. “Main Theme from Gone with the Wind” – The City of Prague Philharmonic (this one might seem odd, but living in Atlanta, it seems apropos. It’s a little surreal listening to it as I’m riding over the city on MARTA)

And most importantly, the number one thing that gets me through my summer days is NPR podcasts of The Moth: Storytelling Series, and my favorite, Car Talk!

If you have never listened to Car Talk, you’re missing out. Click and Clack are the funniest Bostonian brothers ever!

I love this video from Florence + the Machine-great visuals!

video via youtube

LA ROUX

There are some days that turn out to be not so brilliant.

We all have them.

Sometimes, at the end of the day, I feel extremely tired or stressed or miffed, if you will. On those days, I turn to my ipod for a song to improve my mood.

I love music. Nothing else has the ability to change my state of mind and make me instantly happy or sad or any number of emotions in the way that music can.

When I’m looking for a song to make me happy, I always wind up scrolling to La Roux.

I am in love with all of their music, but I especially love “I’m Not Your Toy”.

Just ask David, when this song comes on – at home, in the car, waiting for MARTA – I can’t help but dance and smile. It is such a fun song.

Which is why I’m very, very excited that David has procured two tickets to see La Roux at the Variety Playhouse on July 31^st!

It is going to be wonderful. I will be dancing all night long!

Please enjoy one of my favorite La Roux songs:

Her hair is odd, she is odd, she loves Prince and David Bowie - she's perfect.

video via youtube.

-Once again, my blog does not seem to be able to handle files of a certain size.

Any Ideas?

I can't seem to find the right shampoo.

Never in my life have I been completely satisfied with the shampoo or conditioner I have used.

For years I have used Bumble and Bumble Gentle Shampoo and Super Rich Conditioner.

They work pretty well, but I'm just not completely happy with the texture of my hair after I've washed and styled my hair.

We recently purchased Nature's Gate Tea Tree Calming Shampoo.

This shampoo actually works really well as a clarifying shampoo on my hair, but it's not ideal for daily use.

So I'm putting this out there. Does anyone have any suggestions for all natural (or at least almost all natural) shampoos and conditioners that they absolutely love? Ideally, they would work well on my semi-thick/humidity-induced frizz/bi-weekly blow dried hair. I don't really use shampoos like Pantene or Garnier, because the alcohol and other ingredients in them really dry my hair out and only add to the frizz/tangles.

I thought about just purchasing the Nature's Gate regular shampoo, because I think it's a good company, but I would prefer to use something that comes highly recommended, rather than just blindly trying something out.

Any ideas?

Otherwise, I think I will be trying out more Nature's Gate.

image via the vitamin shoppe

Currently Reading

Once again, I am behind on my Currently Reading blogs. I’m just going to stop saying “Once again”, because I’m ALWAYS behind. I think it’s becoming my trend to remember to blog after every 3 books. Or maybe the end of the third book is somehow corresponding with my 1 hour of time that I truly consider to be “free” per month. Hence the reason I have not blogged in . . . about a month.

Lots of things are happening, I just can’t seem to find the time or energy to talk about them.

And while it is possible that no one else will find my Currently Reading blogs interesting, I feel a strong desire to catalogue what I’ve been reading. I think this desire is due in part to the fact that besides working, reading is about all I do – and I barely have time for that these days.

So here goes, three book reviews condensed into one post:

The first book is really short – I think it’s only 80 pages or so. I guess it would be considered a novella. It’s My Mortal Enemy, by Willa Cather. Yes, I am getting closer and closer to finishing all of her works, which is both exciting and bittersweet. This story is told from the perspective of Nellie Birdseye, cousin to Myra Henshawe. Myra is married to Oswald Henshawe, and the narrative revolves around Nellie’s two main encounters with the couple, plus her memories of facts and fictions about the couple told to her by friends and relatives. Through Nellie’s encounters, Cather provides a glimpse into the marriage of Myra and Oswald, showing what their marriage looks like at different stages in their lives. Myra is the ward of a wealthy uncle. When Myra is young she decides, against the threat of disinheritance, to run away with Oswald to New York and start a life with him. Oswald is poor, but has promise and Myra is certain that with time, they will find themselves happy and living comfortably.

Nellie’s narrative begins when she meets Myra and Oswald on their visit home. The visit is short and Nellie is eager to see Myra again and learn more about her. Nellie has heard all of the stories about the couple and is eager to see what has come of their scandal. She travels with her aunt to New York, to pay a visit to Myra and Oswald. The couple seems to be living just as they had planned, and at first glance, their lives appear wonderful to Nellie. However, (and there’s always a “however, isn’t there) as Nellie becomes privy to a few revealing encounters, she soon realizes that all is not as it seems. They travel in an artistic circle, which appears glamorous on the surface, but they are struggling to maintain a life in the city – and Nellie perceives a strain between them which at first, she suspects must be about money. Cather uses the typical notion of financial strain to reveal a peculiarity in the couple. One would think that money is at the root of the strain, but it’s not. It’s something deeper, something that Nellie can’t seem to grasp. Cather ends Nellie’s visit in New York, and it is years later when Nellie next encounters the couple. Their circumstances are drastically altered and through the change, Nellie is able to see what is at the crux of their relationship, what is killing it from the inside out.

I’ll stop there. It’s a short story, but it is packed full of so many ideas about relationships and perceptions and how one’s own nature can be the very thing that sabotages any chance of happiness. Cather is the master of being able to convey so much with so few words!

The next novel is, again, by Cather. It is titled Shadows on the Rock and it is WONDERFUL! I know I probably say this about everything that she writes, but I think it may be my favorite, or at least tied with a couple of her other works for favorite. It is set in the 17^th century and is about the founding of Quebec. It follows the lives of the early French settlers in the area. The main family in the novel is Euclide Auclair, the village apothecary and also a widower, and his daughter Cecile. The novel centers on their lives and the lives of the people in their little community. In many ways, this novel is a discourse on the practices of these early settlers - their religion, their means of survival, their connections to their home country, etc., but it is so much more! It is the story of the founding of a national identity. The thoughts and fears and passions of these first settlers are ingrained in the ongoing story of Canada. They are the “shadows on the rock” of the modern-day Quebec. My favorite character is Cecile’s little friend, Jacques. He is the son of a pathetic, shiftless woman, who gives him no real care, but he has such a strong desire to be good. He is drawn to good, clean, beautiful things - they seem to suggest salvation and safety to his young mind. His innocence and the care of his community is what seem to save him – such a lovely idea. The Catholic religion is very present in the novel. Cather’s depictions of what is good in religion and what is bad are always so truthful and insightful. It is a great story of beginnings and is, as always in a Cather novel, full of wonderful descriptions of both character and landscape.

The last book is My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki. I feel as though I should include a disclaimer with this review.

***DO NOT read this book if you have a strong affinity for meat*** Or maybe I should be saying ***DO read this book is you have a strong affinity for meat***

The book has very graphic depictions of cattle production and meat processing. It is disturbing, but very truthful.

I think the second disclaimer is the best, because despite the graphic nature of the novel, it is a wonderful book and I think it should be a mandatory read for every American citizen, or even for every single human being who consumes commercially produced meat! But the novel is not just about meat.

The protagonist of this novel is Jane, a Japanese-American and a documentarian by trade. She is approached by a Japanese television company, sponsored by beef industry executives, to produce a Japanese television show called My American Wife!. The show will document the daily lives of American housewives and will feature a segment in which each wife will prepare their own recipe for a beef dish. Jane is hesitant, but accepts the assignment and begins a year of travelling the U.S., visiting the different wives. Jane starts the year detached from the work she is doing, but as she learns more about each wife and also about the beef industry, she becomes entangled in the deception that pervades the industry. She becomes intent on exposing the truth about the beef industry, but even more, she desires to understand the truths in her own life and in the world around her. The novel also has a parallel story, which follows Akiko Ueno, the wife of Joichi, or “John, a representative of the beef industry execs who fund the tv show. Akiko is lives in Japan and is trapped in a terrifying, abusive marriage. Her husband assigns her the task of watching each episode of My American Wife!, hoping that some of the American sentiments about what makes a family will rub off on Akiko. His plan is successful, but not in the way he had hoped. What Akiko learns from Jane’s shows is the beauty of difference, and most importantly, that happiness is possible.

The novel is so beautifully written and yet it is also so hard to read. It is disturbing, enthralling, touching and best of all – it educates.

I cannot recommend this book enough. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read it.

The most important thing I learned from this book is awareness. We should all be aware of what we are sending out into the world. We should constantly be questioning our actions and our motives. We should always be thinking “Is this the best I can do? Is this product, or this idea, or this work the best I can give?” If it isn’t, then we should go back to the drafting table and work until we know that what we are sending out is the best. So many people are content with “good enough.” I don’t think I could stand to live in a world where everyone espouses that sentiment. I look around and I’m scared by the number of people who are settling for “good enough." But most of all, I’m scared by the overwhelming mass of people who prefer to stay comfortably blind to what is going on around them.

I love this book, because it ends on a very hopeful note. And I felt very hopeful when I contemplated the idea that novels like this can and are bringing about positive change. This book was actually published back in the 1998, so there are some improvements that have a happened since it came out, but we still have a very long way to go till we get where we need to be. We are the ones who shape this earth, and books like this are wonderful in helping us figure out how the world should look. It is definitely worth reading and is most definitely worth considering the ideas presented.

I think the next novel should be a fun, interesting read. I'm going to be reading Dana's book club selection, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society!

images via amazon.com, longitudebooks.com and popculturebookreview.blogspot.com

Whaaaat?

I can hardly contain myself.

The SERIES finale of LOST is on tonight!

It's a 4 1/2 hour event - I will be glued to the TV for every minute of it.

I must say, so far this season, I've been a little disappointed with the way things are rounding out (it's really all about "the light"?), but I am hoping that tonight every question I have ever had will be answered.

This seems like a tall order, but I am really counting on Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof to deliver, otherwise I may find myself questioning what the last six years have been all about - and that's a philosophical trip I don't want to take.

I have never experienced a show like LOST before.

It's not a show that you can casually watch, catching episodes here and there.

Once you start watching, you're hooked. On many occasions I have found myself beyond confused, but it's a fun confusion and I am always anxiously anticipating the next week's episode.

It's like one big puzzle and it's been fun trying to put the pieces together over the last six seasons!

We're not having a LOST party - although we've seen some pretty nifty ideas for ones - but other than my brothers and a couple of friends, I don't know any true Losties. So it's just me and David, a bunch of snacks and the couch for the evening!

I will either be ecstatically happy after the next 4.5 hours, or I will be an irrational mess, demanding that I be given the last six years of my life back.

I hope it's the former!

Here's to a great six years of TV.

I don't know what will ever be able to take its place.

image via abc.com

4

Happy 4 Year Anniversary, Love.

A great architect is not made by way of a brain nearly so much as he is made by way of a cultivated, enriched heart.

-Frank Lloyd Wright

You have both and you have my heart as well.

I am so proud of all that you are.

You make me smile.

Do something pretty while you can . . .

Just some songs that I can’t seem to do without lately

Angel in the Snow - Elliott Smith

Your Arms Around Me – Jens Lekman
We Rule the School – Belle & Sebastian
The State I Am In – Belle & Sebastian
Lost Cause – Beck
Worried Shoes – Karen O and the Kids
I’m on Fire – Chromatics

I'm on Fire - Kate Tucker
Mega Secrets – Family Portrait
Daylight - Matt & Kim
Living of Love – the Avett Brothers
I Want Someone Badly – Shudder to Think

I love all Elliott Smith - he is/was amazing.

image via amazon.com

Happiness is . . .

Happiness Is . . .

1. spring weather
2. pretty spring dresses
3. Trader Joe’s chocolate pudding
4. Trader Joe’s tart dried cherries – great snack
5. Sundays with David
6. fun yard sale finds
7. the return of Glee
8. good books – read The Razor’s Edge by W Somerset Maugham – it’s wonderful!
9. planting veggies for the summer – tomatoes, squash, peppers – yum!
10. a great “new” job

from Easter Sunday

SPANXTACULAR

It’s official!

I’m the new Inventory Coordinator at SPANX.

I’m basically still doing what I’ve been doing, but with added responsibilities and eventual added independence.

I love my department! My boss, Sue, is the best!

I’ve already started nesting, i.e. bringing in pictures and snacks (9 hours is a long time to do without any snacking- or to do without seeing David's face, for that matter!)

This is my desk, not done yet. I'm sure it will take some time!

This is my view from my desk.

There are way better pictures of the office that Interior Design Magazine shot in an article about SPANX.

http://www.interiordesign.net/article/CA6714747.html

I’m having a great time. Wish me luck!

p.s. I must give credit to my brother Aron for the use of the word "SPANXTACULAR". It is his coinage and since he's in advertising, I wouldn't want to steal his intellectual property. Love you, bro.

Currently Reading . . .

Wow, I am way, way behind on my “currently reading” posts. Three books behind, to be exact.

Since finishing My Ishmael, I have completed The Song of the Lark and The Bohemian Girl, both by Willa Cather. I am attempting to complete all of Cather’s works this year, as she is my favorite authoress. I don’t want to read them back to back, however, because I think that they might all bleed together, and I wouldn’t be able to distinctly recall each book. So I have determined to read a couple at a time, taking breaks to enjoy other novels, as well.

I will try to give a short review of the two books before moving on to the book I am currently in the middle of, W Somerset Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge.

The Song of the Lark is one of Cather’s earliest novels, and by far her longest. Many critics are very hard on Cather for The Song of the Lark, suggesting that the novel is too long; that Cather extends the ending of the novel well past the point of interest. I think the novel is wonderful, and I found myself engrossed in every inch of the story, even the ending chapter, which reviewers are most critical of. I think the last chapter only further cements ideas Cather presents in the novel, but in an unexpected way.

I was so intrigued with the main female protagonist, Thea Kronberg. I always find Cather’s females interesting, because they seem to never fully understand who they are and what they want, and I think to examine Cather’s female psyche is to examine Cather herself. Cather’s females are always driven by an ambition for self-improvement and to escape undesirable circumstances, whether they’re the circumstances of youth, family, or place. Once Cather’s females achieve their ambitions; they often find themselves missing something that they can never quite put into words. Most often their inability to see themselves clearly leads to a state of confusion concerning their own true desires that can only be resolved by some connection to “The Male”. Such is the case with Thea Kronberg, the daughter of a Colorado minister. Thea is a talented pianist who escapes the life of a common piano teacher by moving to Chicago, where she improves her musical talents and learns that her true gift lies in her voice. Thea becomes a famous opera singer, but at the height of her success, she is plagued by self-doubt and the feeling of never being able to achieve her true potential. In the end, Cather suggests that our feelings of success and failure are a menagerie of different points in life and our notions of how we are perceived, by ourselves, by characters from our childhood, adolescence and adulthood merge together to provide us with a sense of who we are and also where we are in connection to where we and others thought we would be. This novel is definitely worth reading. A notable section in the book is Thea’s summer spent amongst Native American cliff ruins in the west. Cather’s description of the ruins is beautiful. I could go on and on about all of the different things Cather brings up in this novel, as well as how this novel reveals so much about Cather’s complicated relationship with self and with place, but I won’t. Read it.

On to The Bohemian Girl. This work is actually a collection of Cather’s short stories, rather than a novel.

The Bohemian Girl is brilliant because in it, Cather links a single idea together seamlessly through stories that on the surface, differ so much from one another. The linking element in all of the stories is LIFE. Life in its brevity, in its beauty, in its terror, in its quietness. The task of all of the characters in these stories is to understand what version of life is most desirable. In one of her stories, a brief but brilliant life of self-satisfaction is gratifying above all others. In another story, a life based on a sense of place and belonging is most attractive. Cather makes no indication as to which versions of life are the “best”, but rather which will bring happiness or pain to certain types of people. I loved every story in this collection, even Paul’s Case which was rather disturbing.

That’s all I have to say about Cather for now.

Finally, I’ll relate a few thoughts about the novel I am currently reading, The Razor’s Edge.

I have never read a novel like it before. The novelty (ha!) I am referring to is not so much in the story, but in the construction. Maugham relates the affairs of a handful of characters through his interactions with them, meaning he is in the novel – his thoughts, his actions, his dialogues with the other characters, etc. I know that this is not a new construction, but it is one that I have never encountered and enjoyed as I do this novel. Once I overcame the notion of having the author as a character in the novel, I was able to focus on the story, which is wonderful. Maugham’s story is really about a young man, Larry Darrell and his interactions with Isabel, the girl he is in love with, her family and their circle of friends. The story spans almost half a century, covering post-WWI America, the Great Depression, and the years of recovery after the Depression all while following how these events affect the character’s relationships. Maugham only encounters the characters a handful of times, but through these interactions, and various items of news he receives concerning them, he reconstructs the rises and falls in their lives during this turbulent time in the world. I find this novel wildly appealing, because it explores how people who are about my age react to a very troubling time in American history. Some of the characters are faithful to the American dream and industry, both personal and economic, while Larry chooses a path of nomadic spiritual enlightenment, which seems to bring an inner peace. Through his clever observations, however, Maugham questions who is really happy – and the answer is so complicated! I am only half-way through, but I will say that after reading as much as I have, I feel a strong desire to leave my job and my place in the world and loaf about Europe concerning myself only with the pursuits of the spirit – as Larry does in the story. Be careful when reading this novel, you may wish to join me!

I don’t know about anyone else, but I find writing about what I read immensely helpful. Whenever I finish a book, I like to think about it for some time and writing my thoughts helps me sort out how I feel about the work. This blog has been a great way to journal what I read. My problem lies in remembering to write within a reasonable timeframe of finishing the book!

Hopefully, I can do a better a better job of cataloguing my reading in the future, and take one novel at a time to write about, but if I know me, I will probably continue writing extremely long posts anyways – one novel at a time or not!

p.s. I love cover art. I think these are particularly beautiful, especially the first and the last!

images via wilbrahamlibrary.org and amazon.com

ugggggh

ok, i'm frustrated.

i loaded these mexico pictures on the smallest setting, and it still cut half of each picture off.

can anyone help me figure out how to not waste my time loading pictures that are too big?

tulum

and by tomorrow, I mean two weeks later.

So I'm not so great at consistent posting.

I try.

ere are a few of my favorite shots/moments from our trip to heaven, I mean Tulum, Mexico

morning walks on the beach . . .

las ruinas de Tulum

las ruinas de Coba

our drive down the eastern coast of the Yucatan with a stop in the breezy, sunny, beautiful Lake Bacalar

yummy Horchata and seeing a very relaxed David in Lake Bacalar

relaxing at our cabana with our soldier friends

perhaps my favorite - snorkeling in El Cenote Dos Ojos

our guide y amigo Isaias

The biosphere Sian Ka'an

not so favorite memory - the only way to take in the view of the biosphere - a tiny tower swaying in the wind.

a hike in the biosphere that was totally worth falling and scraping my knee - it lead to our own private beach!

our last night strolling downtown Tulum

and my favorite bittersweet memory, the beautiful sunset our last morning in Tulum

the trip was amazing. i can't wait to start planning our next adventure together!

volver

Annnd we're back. The trip to Tulum was wonderful. I've posted pictures on facebook, but a long post will have to wait till tomorrow. I'm tired.

Let's just say that I think I will have a hard time topping this view for the next several months,

but Spring is here. And everything is beautiful and light and happy in the springtime!