the 3 best reads of 2011

so it's late and i'm throwing the caps lock away because tomorrow is the start of a big 2-day new year's celebration in chicago.  i always get so excited to simply escape from my normal routine, travel somewhere...anywhere...and see a concert or two.  anyway. i definitely had a lot of blog ideas regarding top whatevers of 2011, but wouldn't you know it, i'm flat-out running out of days. hence the elimination of the shift key, even though through habit, i'm bound to start capitalizing again soon.  regardless, i've been kicking this idea around in my head for the last month, and i'd definitely like to immortalize my top 3 book picks of 2011. (Note: this post is being finished in late January, I've re-enabled the use of my shift key, and even though these are picks for my top three books read in 2011, they don't necessarily have to be of books published in 2011.)

3.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I've written about this book before within the confines of this blog, so I'll keep the description to a minimal nothing. Read this book.  It's a breeze, and if you're a regular reader, you'll probably burn through this banned, young adult book in a maximum of three days. It'll take you back to your high school days, make you sympathize with your "problems" from another, simpler, time, and maybe even jerk a few tears from the ducts. Coming to a big screen near you in 2012. (Its release date in Norway is September 28, 2012, so that would make the American release date...ah, I don't know. But the movie does star Emma Watson, whom you may remember from such films as "Harry Potter 1," "Harry Potter 2," and so on.)  Anyway. Read it. You shan't regret it, and if you do, I'll totally buy you a coke.



2.  The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman.  Dude. OK, so Klosterman is by far my favorite modern author, and perhaps my favorite writer to read, ever.  I just love his takes on pop culture and reflections on human perception and semantics. I'm a semantic person, and Klosterman might very well be the mack-daddy of semantics in pop culture.  His first novel, Downtown Owl, was, putting it nicely, a worthy first effort at a novel. It had some decent characters, interesting setting, and something reminiscent of a plot. The Visible Man shatters the notion that Klosterman can't pull off fiction. Set in Texas and alluding to the Sopranos "bad guy goes to the therapist" story line, this is a psychological head-fucker that starts out as entertaining and turns into "Holy crap." Contrary to the title, it's actually about a guy with the power to be unseen. (don't worry, anti-Harry Potter fans...it's nothing like an invisibility cloak. OK, well, it is, but there's really no magic involved. It's all scientific.)  This man's observations and perceptions on people's solitary reality will seriously make you think, and this book definitely felt more in-line with Klosterman's favorite niche, human behaviors and perceptions of reality. Definitely a page-turner, and one of my favorite books of 2011 that was actually published in 2011.

Sweet beard, Fyodor.

1.  Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky. This was definitely not release in 2011, much less the 21st Century.  This was my first stab at classic Russian literature. I picked it up for a few reasons...it was a classic, and it was an absolute monster of a book. It's got the right thickness that, should I ever encounter an intruder in my house, Crime and Punishment would serve as a great weapon. I haven't read many 1,000+ page, 19th Century novels...perhaps any before this...but consider me a Dostoevsky fan. At times it's laborious, as you'd expect for a 1,000 page book...but the character development and inner monologue of the main character, Roskolnikov, kept me interested throughout the 16 days it took me to burn through this classic. Maybe all the stars aligned -- right time (dead of winter), right theme at a crucial time in my life, and just the right easy chair and flavor of tea -- to make this as enjoyable of a read that it was for me, but I truly can't wait to dip into some of his other books.

2011 Honorable Mentions:  The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, How to be Good by Nick Hornby, Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls, and Everybody Loves You When You're Dead by Neil Strauss.

Nintendo Wii, you've done it again...

As a teacher, I've discovered that I need significant periods of down time when, basically, I don't have to use my brain.  Being on a literal stage in front of a live student audience every day becomes taxing on the mind, and sometimes I just want to come home and NOT.THINK.

Luckily, Nintendo Wii has my back yet again.  This time: Archery.

I hadn't ever tried the Archery function on the Sports Resort game because I'd been way too fixated on the 3-point contest. Who would ever need more?

After a brief stint in Archery with a friend over Christmas break, I came back to Pulaski in January with the idea that I wanted to try this one out a little more. About 20 hours later, I can honestly say I've become a bit obsessed.

I at least hope it's a healthy obsession. It allows me to focus on something other than academics and teenagers, and presents a challenge with paying close attention to detail. How I love details.

My best score is a 117 out of 120 (in the beginner's level), which means that I nailed all bull's eyes except for 3 arrows, which still hit the "9" portion of the target. Not bad. The intermediate level adds moving targets to the equation; I'm still struggling with breaking 100, but I'll be there soon enough.

After a 4-hour stint of Archery last Saturday, I started to think, "Hey, I should really take this up. It'd definitely be fun." But, then I remembered that the Wii is a gateway to thinking you can do things that you really can't do in real life. (See:  Guitar Hero and playing guitar, 3-point contest and shooting basketballs, Bowling, and to a lesser extent, DJ Hero and DJing.)

Oh well. I still think it's awesome and the sound effects are pretty realistic. At least with the Wii, I'm not in danger of shooting my eye out.