The Complete Persepolis

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Excellent! Even though I’d seen the movie and the book does not play “Eye of the Tiger” when you reach the part where Marjane starts going to the gym, it was worth the read. Marjane’s experience as a girl growing up during a complicated and deceitful revolution, seeing relatives and friends paying the price of war with their limbs and their lives is worth delving into this story for a second time. I felt that I learned more from the book because it went deeper into the explanations of the religious upheavals of the 80’s and 90’s in Iran. I also really enjoyed reading about how Marjane and her friends had to alter their behaviors while still finding ways to express their inner personal sense of freedom. Because Marjane spends her real coming of age years in Austria, she is able to be a guide to outsiders while explaining the complications of what was happening in her culture, her family, and her government. I highly recommend The Complete Persepolis.


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My new favorite band

My new favorite band is The Last Shadow Puppets.

They are Arctic's Monkeys' Alex Turner and The Rascals' Miles Kane looking like a couple of young Paul McCartney's and playing epic songs in minor keys. My favorite song on their 2008 album The Age of the Understatement is Separate and Ever Deadly. There is no video for that one so I will post this.

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YouTube - The Last Shadow Puppets "The Age Of The Understatement"

Camera Obscura - Forest and Sands

 

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YouTube - Camera Obscura - Forests

David Gray at Downtown Records studio

David Gray performed five songs from his new album, Draw the Line, at a cozy listening party for the album at the Downtown Records studio last night. David is best-known for the song Babylon from his 1999 album White Ladder. His songs have appeared on TV shows such as Smallville and E.R. and as it turns out, he's a super funny and nice guy. Even if you're not a fan, there's no denying his skill and talent as a singer and musician. As soon as he was sitting, he was belting out the notes of the first song, capitvatingly and pitch-perfect. The album is due out on September 22nd. You can read more about it here: http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/david-gray-ready-to-draw-the-line-1003978758.story

David Gray fun fact that I was unaware of: David contributed vocals (along with Thom Yorke obviously) to the Venus In Furs, the band made up for 1998's Velvet Goldmine. Additionally, he's also a snazzy dresser and wears very nice suits. He scoffed at Bill's suggestion that the summer clothes he packed for New York included Hawaiian shirts.

YouTube - David Gray - Babylon (UK Version)

Renegade Craft Fair

I picked up two beautiful necklaces and a cool t-shirt for myself and some lovely jewelry as presents for other people at the Renegade Craft Fair last Sunday. It was a beautiful day and the fair topped last years for me in several ways. First, last year at the temperature hit a record high of 8 billion degrees. Second, because the fair was in the park and not the pool there were trees and buildings to block the sun, and generally made for a more pleasant atmosphere. Third, prices seemed to be a bit lower. This may be due to the recent economic troubles. Lastly, there was more vintage, remade jewelry. I had to pull myself away from many of the booths so that I didn't spend all of my money.

I bought this t-shirt: http://loyaltyandblood.com/product.php?cmd=show&category=21&type=28&id=327 from Loyalty & Blood, a locket similar to this one: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26091422&ref=sr_gallery_9&&ga_search_query=heart&ga_search_type=category&category=jewelry.necklace.locket&ga_page=4&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title from Nous Savons, as well as presents from Sprout Studio, www.sproutstudio.net. I love their stuff. Other notable booths were Dolan Geiman, www.dolangeiman.com, Handmade Jewelry, www.courtneyfischer.com, and Wreckords By Monkey, http://www.wrecordsbymonkey.com/



See a couple of more pics at my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30194098@N04/

Review of The Halfway House by Guillermo Rosales

The Halfway House by Guillermo Rosales

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
The Halfway House was sad. It tells the story of a Cuban refugee who has come to Miami to live with his family and to have a better life. However, he gets caught in a downward spiral when his family in Miami feels they are unable to help him. He is strange and cannot adjust to his new life. He is then sent to the Halfway House where he is stuck with a cast of mentally ill characters. His moral compass fails him as he sinks to low levels of behavior typical of the house. He feels that it is not worth trying to make it a better place, but better just to leave--to move himself up and make a new start.



I think this book sets out to make the point that it intends to but is too short with little story or character development.



What is most interesting about is that author Guillermo Rosales burned most of his written work before killing himself in the early 90's and The Halfway House is one of his few surviving works.


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Money

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10261942-93.html People don’t value their money enough because it’s too easy to buy things। Websites have credit cards and billing addresses saved and all you have to do is push a button in order to buy things। It adds up and people spend their money too freely now rather than saving. I realized that since I’ve moved to NY I have been saving any money and decided to take some steps in order to start saving again. I think it’s important now more than ever to be careful with personal finances. If my income is going to disappear I don’t want to be the cause of it. So this is what I do. Every Friday I take money out of the bank, actually a pretty small amount considering. $20 goes to vacation savings and the rest is my spending money for the week which includes eating out, drinking, basically anything I want to buy that I don’t absolutely need and things that I buy when I’m hanging out with people. For things that are necessary, like food shopping or toiletries, I put on one of my cards. The kicker is that money for any extra shopping I want to do (clothes, make up, shoes, purses) comes from whatever is left over at the end of the week. If there is anything leftover at all, I put it aside and save it up. I was surprised how quickly the value of my money suddenly went up. I know it will take longer to save it up so I won’t buy a shirt unless I absolutely love and it was something that I intended on buying. There are no impulse purchases anymore. It may sound a little strict but it’s actually not that difficult. It just requires some planning and feels kind of like a game. Since I started this, maybe a month ago, I’ve finally been able to put some money back into my savings account.