Xia Diaz’s Neighborhood

Hello Vox!  I've missed the neighborhood feel of Vox over on my WordPress blog, but keeping up with you all in my Google Reader is working quite well.  In case you are interested, here's what I've been up to and what you're missing since I'm posting at bookishlyfabulous.wordpress.com now.  If you missed my last post about moving over there, add me to your Google Reader (or whatever RSS reader you use) if you miss me. :)

I've started running, and I'm planning to run a 10K on Thanksgiving Day.  I ran the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure last Saturday in my grandmother's memory.

I've posted book reviews of:

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

And I gushed about the movie Bright Star.

I haven't been posting here because it has gotten to be a real pain.  Vox loads so slowly that I don't even want to attempt posting. Half the time I have to retype a post that got screwed up because I tried to add a picture, and typing in Word makes it look funky once I paste it. 

I have not decided whether I'm definitely leaving Vox, but I plan to continue to read and comment on neighbors posts while I try out Wordpress.  I will still read my neighborhood even if I decide to move my blog somewhere else.  If you are interested in following my blog there, here is the address.

It was a tough decision to try another platform because I love the social aspect here on Vox, but I'm going to try something else and see how it goes. 

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After a night out with friends and an emotionally draining day, I slept in a bit and headed east on I84. 

The drive was long but the decision not to take I90 across Washington was the right one.  No offense Washington but eastern Oregon is much prettier; besides, I am not even entirely sure how many times I have crossed Washington so part of it is probably the newness factor.

The playlist consisted of a mix of songs I can sing along to.  Umlaut seems a bit confused, but overall seems to enjoy the somewhat frequent stops and exploration of new smells in new locations.

I stopped at a Char Burger for lunch, the food was meh, but they had guns on the wall and more importantly pie.

The drive was long and I rolled into Boise around 10P and found a room at a hotel.  Apparently everything closes at 10P in Boise (at least where I was) and the only thing I could find for dinner was Taco Bell.  I must remember to pick up some bread and other easy to eat dinner foods, or otherwise eat dinner earlier.

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Due to a need to sleep, I did not take off nearly as early as I thought I would.  It was all good though since the plan was only to go so far as Portland, OR.

After a few final errands and good-byes Umlaut and I hit the road and headed south. 

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I made a pit stop at a Mount Saint Helen’s visitor center and at Mrs. Beesley’s for a quick late lunch early dinner.   I am not even sure where it is, but Jennifer knew.

Jennifer is a friend who graciously said she would put me up for the night, but then had to go to Seattle at the last minute so she left me the key all the same so I could stay the night anyway.

I was exhausted when I got there; though the drive was relatively short it was emotionally draining.  To know that I was driving away and though I would be back for visits, I was leaving the amazing friends I had made in my almost twelve years in Seattle.

When I arrived at the little white house on the corner I was greatly impressed by the amazing bathroom.

After taking some time to relax, I called some other friends in Portland whom I had not seen since college and we went to the Kennedy School House for a late dinner and a few beers.  Though I was exhausted, I am glad I made it.

I managed to get to bed at a decent time; then stayed there until fairly late.  Finally at nearly noon, I hit the road…  on to Boise.

More photos available on flickr.

What’s the best book you’ve read recently?

(Tell me you didn’t see this one coming?)

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This question was timely because I just finished reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo last weekend and enjoyed it immensely.  I have grown a little weary of the thriller genre lately (especially the Americans) because they seem to all be so formulaic and unoriginal.  Apparently, I just needed to look to Sweden.  Steig Larsson crafted an engrossing tale that kept me up far too late on several nights.  Part mystery, part business intrigue, and part family saga, this was one of the best books I've read this year.

I'd put a book cover in, but Vox wouldn't let me.

From the design to the features, what should the perfect kid-friendly laptop include? What would you leave out?

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I'd leave out the laptop and by them a book.  Kids don't need their own laptops.

It has been a while since I posted about what I've been reading so here's a list.

Milan Kundera - The Unbearable Lightness of Being - This was a book club book picked by the same person who loved One Hundred Years of Solitude so I was wary, but I really enjoyed this novel.  It takes place in Prague before and during the invasion of the USSR.  It is a story of several interconnected people and their liaisons.  Even though I enjoyed the book, I agree with everyone in my book club that the only likable character is the dog.

Charlaine Harris - Definitely Dead, All Together Dead, From Dead to Worse, Dead and Gone - There isn't much to say about these books.  They continue the Sookie Stackhouse series.  They have all started to blend together in my mind, but there are some new characters introduced that I really like reading about, and the shapeshifters and werewolves have a really good story arc.

Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere - I would describe Neverwhere as a dark Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.  I love Gaiman's writing style.  He can make you laugh about really dark situations.  The character's Croup and Vandemar are perfectly written, and I found myself giggling through their scenes.   

Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games - This is one of many recent Young Adult post-apocalyptic novels.  The interesting twist here is that there is a tyrannical Capitol that rules 12 districts.  Each district must send two teenagers annually to fight in the Hunger Games, a televised game where the 28 teens fight to survive.  Only one teen leaves the arena alive.  It was riveting, and some of the best YA fiction I've read recently.  I loved that it was also a social commentary on reality TV and celebrity.  This will be a trilogy, with the second book, Catching Fire, coming out in September.

Suzanne Collins - Catching Fire - No spoilers here, I promise!  I was lucky enough to land an Advance Reader's Copy of Catching Fire from a Collection Development Librarian who went to Book Expo America this year.  I will just say that it is awesome, and I can't wait to read the final title in the trilogy.

David Wroblewski - The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - This is the book club book that we will be discussing on Saturday.  I don't usually read Oprah's Book Club selections (except for the classics), and this title hasn't made me want to in the future.  I do have to say that Wroblewski is an awesome writer.  The prose is wonderfully crafted, but I found that I had to make reading assignments for myself to finish this book because I wasn't riveted.  I did find myself really wanting a Sawtelle dog.

Jane Green - The Beach House - After making myself finish the thick tome for book club, I needed a nice light read to loll around on the beach with.  The Beach House was perfect.  It was predictable and formulaic, but just what I needed.  I loved the Nantucket setting, especially since I read a good portion of it on the beach. 

At some point, I hope to post regularly again, but I'll do one of these bullet point things for now.

• We are officially moved into the house.  It's great!  The best thing about it is the quiet.  No more bass coming from our neighbors apartments.  Our neighbors all look like they are probably on social security, and that is just fine with me.
• On the fourth night in the house, I walked into a cabinet door in my beautiful new kitchen and broke it.  I was truly devastated, but the sellers were great in leaving us all paperwork so we found the model number and have ordered a replacement from Lowe's.  The lady there was awesome.  She actually remembered them ordering the cabinets.  I think she's going to get them to give it to us free because it shouldn't have broken so easily. 
• I have reduced my caffeine intake to one can of diet coke a day.  Hopefully, this will help me sleep better.
• I lost 3 pounds the week of moving.  That's awesome because I gained two while packing and shopping for the house.
• I finally finished The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, and is was meh.  I feel that way about most Oprah books so I'm not surprised.
• I got stung by jellyfish twice on Sunday, and the stings don't bother me much, apparently.  It stung for a few minutes and then went away.
• I had a library tour with 19 kids today, and it went well. 
• I just saw a kid walk by on a leash.  I really don't understand those, but maybe I'll get one for Dan to keep him in line.

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Today I made Tomato Tuna Melts, these are perfect for a hot night because you can microwave them to melt the cheese and since there is tomato instead of bread you do not get that weird gummy effect with the bread. 

I took halved roma tomatoes emptied them out, the guts were chopped and added to a bowl with diced green apple, celery, juice from half a lemon, about 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, ground pepper and sea salt and a can of tuna fish.  After mixing it all together I stuffed the halved tomatoes with the tuna salad and then topped with grated cheddar and jack cheese.  I then put them in the microwave and heated them until the cheese melted.

I served them on a bed of lettuce with some rosemary bread and cucumber salad from last night.  It was a nice filling but cool dinner with a little bit of warmth in the tomato. 

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Since most of my stuff is boxed up in a storage unit my creative outlet has moved to food.

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It has been a really nice summer in Seattle, hot, not too humid, not too dry, just overall really decent.  That said though one of my favorite things to cook is chili and stews, it isn’t exactly the right weather so I have been trying a few other things.

Tonight was a Mediterranean inspired meal.  I cheated on the falafel and used the “Fantastic Foods” brand that comes in a box, but made the rest.  I used quinoa instead of cous cous on the tabouli which turned out really nice, though I could have increased the lemon and parsley (which just seemed really bland as far as parsley goes) a little for a bit more punch.  The cucumber salad was really simple, onions cucumber, yogurt, dill.  It was a nice cool dinner for a hot night.