C2 Summer Reads

I know summer is coming to a close and this post would have made more sense in June, but I didn't really know what my summer reads were gonna wind up being back in June.

It started with "The Girl Who Fell From the Sky" by Heidi W. Durrow. Then I simply had to re-read the final Harry Potter book before seeing the movie, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling. Next up was Steve Martin's latest novel "An Object of Beauty". Finally, I am finishing up the summer with another book that is now in theaters, "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.

I highly recommend all four books and they all carry my #1 mandate for summer reads: they're easy.

My favourite places to read in the summer are at the beach or in the park.

Read in the trees!

Great camping reads:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Definitely climb up a tree and read in the branches with this one!)

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer

The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert

Reading any of these books in nature is an epic experience!

Inspire- Go For It... Jump!

JUMP!



I dare you ;-p

Whatever it is in your life that scares you, just tell your mind to shutup and do it.

By the way that day my girlfriend Jenna and me made more of a fuss leaping into a cold lake than jumping off a bridge. Isn't it funny how so often in life it's the little things that bugger us up more than the big things? Think of how much a paper cut bothers you versus a real cut...

What now?

It has happened, I have passed all my courses and I qualify to graduate. In a couple weeks I will walk across the stage to receive my B.A. diploma in English Literature. I am seriously proud of myself for this accomplishment, heaven knows it wasn't easy. My boyfriend often remarked that I made getting a first class education seem like serving a life sentence in Guatanamo Bay (I don't know how to spell that but whatever, moving on); and it's true I did.

Anyways now that I am done I don't know what to do with myself. Great. I have incredible anxiety that I should be busy all the time which my friends who have their degrees tell me won't go away for at least a year. It feels like the one skill I perfected in University (certainly not grammar) is procrastination. I can out procrastinate anyone on the planet (okay that's definitely an overstatement but that's how I feel.)

So here I am on a rainy Wednesday wasting time on the internet psyching myself up to read "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield. I have a heavy sense of forboding that this book is going to hit close to home...

Inspire.

Sleep is totally underrated. I recently took a page from the book of a 4-month old baby, she slept so much. I realized something, I do not sleep enough. Much like the baby when I get overtired I get moody, instead of letting it all out like she does and crying until someone rocks me to sleep, I grab a coffee and attempt to push on through.

I'm currently doing a 30-day yoga challenge which is very rewarding and challenging. A good friend of mine is challenging herself to a detox involving: no sugar, no alcohol, and no caffeine for 30-days. Next month I'm thinking I may implement a 30-day eight hours of sleep a night challenge for myself. I bet it too will be very rewarding and, honestly, challenging to force myself to get to bed on time!

Arianna Huffington, creator of the Huffington Post, recently gave a short but sweet TED talk about the power of sleep. It seems like most of us could use a little more of it.

Arianna Huffington: How to succeed? Get more sleep | Video on TED.com

Inspire.

Whoa it's been a rather long time! Full time school plus full time work has equaled zero time for blogging. Finally, I have a little breathing room and I am eager to share some fun stuff I have come across in class and in life. At this moment I am working on a music appreciation assignment and I am compelled to recommend the following:

Listen to: Claude Debussy's composition "Clouds" and Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring", two totally different and beautiful pieces of modernist classical music.

Stravinsky's piece was composed for the Ballet Russes in Paris and an excerpt of the dance is performed in the movie "Moa's Last Dancer" directed by Bruce Beresford and based on the autobiographical book by Li Cunxin. If you enjoyed "Black Swan" and are hankering for more classical dance movies to watch check that one out. As long as I am recommending dance movies my favourite is "White Knights" directed by Taylor Hackford and starring dance legends: Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines! You'll be attempting pirouettes in your living room in no time!

Inspire.

I wonder if that boat is still there?


just a little swim hole to escape a busy day...

Inspire.

ahh summertime...

Inspire.

Inspire.

GUMPTION

initiative; aggressiveness; resourcefulness

courage; spunk; guts

common sense; shrewdness.

What a great word. Gumption is the word of the day today. It has, spunk, as a synonym!

I love that word. Someone with gumption is sassy, intelligent, and self-possessed. Those moments in life when you smile and really have respect for yourself are so fabulous. Whatever your day has in store for you, approach it with gumption. Get out there and go for it!