Nov 11, 2008

Review: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

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Title: The Thirteenth Tale
Author: Diane Setterfield
Series: Stand-alone
Genre: Mystery
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My gripe is not with lovers of the truth but with truth herself. What succor, what consolation is there in truth, compared to a story? What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like a bear in the chimney? What you need are the plump comforts of a story. The soothing, rocking safety of a lie. –Vida Winter

The reason I decided to read The Thirteenth Tale is because of a book group I joined on Shelfari.  The group is called Play Book Tag.  (For those of you not familiar with this term, tags, a method of folksonomy, allow you to manage, annotate, and categorize content.)  Each month a new tag is chosen, allowing you to pick a book from a list of books categorized within that tag to read.  It’s a book club with a little more freedom, which I like.  Anyway, October’s tag was “England,” so I chose The Thirteenth Tale.

I thought the story was very intriguing.  I found myself wanting to know how everything fit together.  Miss Winter’s past had such an element of mystery to it that I couldn’t help but wonder what was really going on.  When I finished it, I wasn’t disappointed and I came away with a satisfied feeling.  It’s definitely a good read.

Filed Under: Book Reviews ·  Tagged: , · 1 Comment
Nov 7, 2008

Will We Ever Move?

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We thought we’d be moving tomorrow.  In fact, we had even enlisted help and everything.  However, we found out on Monday that our closing date was probably not going to be until the 17th and we wouldn’t really know if that was for sure until Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday! That’s fine and dandy most of the time when one’s buying a place.  However, remember that our landlord wanted us out by the end of October and he already gave us a week extension?

Around 3:30 yesterday, we finally found out that our closing date will more than likely be the 14th or 17th.  Notice how were still not positive. We were told it won’t be any later than the 18th, which is good. However, the difference between the 14th and 17th is critical since it means adding on another week to our pro-rated rent so we can move on a weekend when more help is available.

I called our landlord yesterday to find out if he would let us stay in our current place until the 22nd.  He was a little hesitant and said he had to check on a few things and would get back to us.  Today, he told us we could stay.  At least, we won’t be homeless for the next two weeks.

This is just so frustrating! I don’t know why the paperwork is taking so long.  It’s amazing that when professionals need something from you, they need it right now. However, when you need something from them, they’ll get to you when they can.

Filed Under: Life, Vents · 7 Comments
Nov 6, 2008

Into the Woods

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Last night, I had the opportunity to go see one of my favorite plays with my friends Debbie and Rachael.  Into the Woods is playing at the Hale Centre Theatre in Salt Lake until the end of November.

If you’ve never seen or heard of Into the Woods, I highly recommend it.  It’s a great play that’s a lot of fun because of its humor and ingenuity.  It combines the stories of many well-known fairy tales into one.  The main characters come from Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella.  Those stories are tied together by a story involving a baker and his wife and their quest to have a child.

My favorite characters are the princes.  They have very foppish personalities, which make for some funny moments.  One of my favorite moments of the play involves them singing the song “Agony.”  However, I like the reprise more because of the line, “No, there was a dwarf standing guard.”  I think it’s hilarious!

This was my third time seeing the play.  The two times before were performed on a traditional stage, whereas the Hale Centre Theatre has an ampitheater-like circular stage.  It’s hard to explain without seeing it.  However, it was really neat because you could see most of the stage no matter where you sat.  The stage floor also moved, assembled, and disassembled as needed for the scenery.  I enjoyed how it all turned out.

Filed Under: Friends · 2 Comments
Nov 5, 2008

Surreal, but Thankful

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Today I found out that 16 of my co-workers, some of whom I know personally and some I don’t, were laid off.  They were part of a 300-worldwide lay off.  I guess with the recession my company’s Wall Street investors were getting anxious, so upper management decided to lay off 2% of their employees to show the investor that the company is cutting costs and make them happy. I don’t really know how to describe how I feel.  I’m sad for my co-workers and friends, but at the same time, I’m thankful I wasn’t laid off.

Filed Under: Work · 3 Comments
Nov 4, 2008

Presidential Election 2008

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I felt like it’d be appropriate to post my view of the presidential race since it’s Election Day.  I’m not a political person.  There’s just too much conflict and bickering that ensues from discussing the differences in opinion about the needs of the citizens of the United States.  I’m not going to change someone’s opinion if they’re strong in their own convictions.  Why argue about it?  Even though I’d like to say that others with the same morals I have should vote the same way I do, that’d be a very close-minded view of the world.  The truth is everyone interprets their beliefs differently.  Because I feel I have the right to stand by my own convictions and make my own choices, I’m going to show the same respect to others.

As I said in the post All About Me, if I had to choose between McCain and Obama, I’d vote for Obama.  Even though Obama and I don’t have the same views on abortion or traditional marriage, his views on national defense, foreign policy, health care, and the recession are closer to my views.  Yes, the issues of abortion and traditional marriage are important to me and a lot of people.  However, whatever the individual states decide to do with those issues, I don’t think these issues will ever be decided on a national level, at least within the next four years.  Unfortunately, if I have to choose between supporting a candidate with the same views on abortion or traditional marriage versus national defense, foreign policy, health care, and the recession, I’ll choose a candidate that supports my views of the latter.

Back in November 2007, I made a post about me supporting Ron Paul for president.  Even now that he isn’t a major presidential candidate, I still stand by my decision to support him.  If he would’ve been chosen as the Republican candidate, then I wouldn’t have had to choose a candidate with only most of the same views I find critical during this election.

It was with a heavy heart that I approached this election.  I didn’t want to vote for a candidate just because I didn’t want to vote for the other one or because I was voting for the “lesser of two evils.” Honestly, until last night, I was still thinking about writing in Ron Paul if the electronic system would let me.  If not, then Obama it’d be.

Luckily, Corey came across an old announcement a couple of days ago in which Ron Paul pledged his support to Charles Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate.  Because I avoid politics like the plague, I didn’t really pay attention until last night.  I looked up Charles Baldwin and read about his views.  Once I read his views, I knew I had found my candidate.  Also, because I believe the Constitution was inspired by God, the fact that he’s a member of the Constitution Party is an added bonus.

Some of you may think I threw away my vote by voting for a third-party candidate.  I don’t see it like that.  I actually like the way Charles Baldwin stated it:

When asked why they will not vote for a third party candidate, many people will respond by saying something like, “He cannot win.” Or, “I don’t want to waste my vote.” It is true: America has not elected a third party candidate since 1860. Does that automatically mean, however, that every vote cast for one of the two major party candidates is not a wasted vote? I don’t think so.

In the first place, a wasted vote is a vote for someone you know does not represent your own beliefs and principles. A wasted vote is a vote for someone you know will not lead the country in the way it should go. A wasted vote is a vote for the “lesser of two evils.” Or, in the case of John McCain and Barack Obama, what we have is a choice between the “evil of two lessers.”

Charles Baldwin is referring to Abraham Lincoln in the first paragraph.  What better example could you have?

When I walked away from the polls this morning, I felt like I stood up for my beliefs.  Even though it’s very unlikely Charles Baldwin will win, I feel like I didn’t compromise my values by voting for the “lesser of two evils.”  I can hold my head high and be proud that I stood up for what I believe.

When you vote, you should be able to hold your head high too.  Whether you vote for McCain, Obama, or a third-party candidate, just vote for the person you feel represents your beliefs the best and don’t degrade others that don’t feel or believe the same way you do.

Filed Under: Politics · Leave a Comment
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