Book 17: The Gospel According to Coco Chanel: Life Lessons from the World's Most Elegant Woman by Karen Karbo

I am not sure why I even picked up this book for my tablet, but I did.  It maybe that it was on a sale and it was late at night.  I am sure I bought it for less than the $8.00 it is currently selling for.

With all that said, I liked the book and was irritated by the book.  I really enjoyed the topic and I really didn't know much about Coco Chanel and her career.  I was fascinated by her early life.  What irriteted by was the writing style of Ms. Karbo.  I always feel a tad icky when I say this, I mean who am I to criticize someones writing knowing I would be no better.  But basically, I felt the author was too wordy and was trying too hard to be clever.  It felt like a blog writer who was trying to sound like she was having a personal conversation with the reader over drinks.  She just inserted herself too much into the story for my taste.

However, for an introduction into Chanel, it was satisfactory.

Book 16: Cary Grant: A Celebration of Style by Richard Torregrossa

Ok, so there is a reason why I read a book on Cary Grant, besides the obvious answer that he is just nice to look at.  I picked up this book as research for my final project.  For class we needed to pick a celebrity to design a room for, alive or dead.  And after doing some research I ended up with Cary Grant, because of his style icon status.

I found this book very interesting, it is centered around the way Cary Grant dressed himself, and how he transformed from a poor boy from Bristol to fashion icon.  It focuses on his fashion philosophy and his over all sense of style.

Well done.

Short Stories 38-47: Just too many to list - remaining stories from 1930-1931

The Bridal Party
Two Wrongs
One Trip Abroad
Babylon Revisited
The Hotel Child
A New Leaf
Indecision
A Change of Class
Between Three and Four
Flight and Pursuit

I am not even sure where to start with this grouping of stories, some them are fantastic, like The Bridal Party, Two Wrongs, Babylon Revisited and A New Leaf.  There are Tender is the Night cluster stories: One Trip Abroad, Two Wrongs and the Hotel Child.  And there are some stories that were just written to pay the bills and lack the finesse of his great stories: Indecision, A Change Of Class, Between Three and Four and Flight and Pursuit.

Honestly I am a little surprised that there is such a wide gap in the qualities of this cluster.  But when thinking about how stressed and strained he was at this point I think it becomes clearer.  he was struggling to complete Tender, Zelda starts having melt downs, Scott is struggling with alcoholism.  It is all just one big jumble, which accounts for some of the stinkers, and the struggles can also help create the gems.

As always, I have links to Fitzgerald Musings where I write in more detail of the stories listed here.

Book 15: Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

This is a book that has been on my reading list for a long time.  People love this book and Holden Caulfield is referenced so often that I needed to see what it was all about.


My honest opinion on the book...  When I finished it I was wondering what the big deal was about the book.  I didn't like the voice of Holden.  I did not care for all the "goddamns" that was sprinkled throughout the book.  Yes I get he is a 16 year old boy and that is how he speaks, I just found it distracting.  Also, I kept wondering if there was going to be an event that happened.  But nothing "big" emerged.  I knew going in that Holden was an anti-hero and not one that you can really care about.  I am not adverse to that kind of character, as Fitzgerald has many of them, and in the end they are much more real.

I finished the book and then went to bed.   In the morning I was able to appreciate the book more.  It being a story of not wanting to grow up.  How Holden kept referring to his sister and and how important she was to him.  How he was lost in the big city and was not able to grab hold and right himself. 

I think in the end I like the book, but I don't know if I would read it again.  I like the meaning of the story but the writing, like I said, was a distraction.  I can see why this book resonates with teenagers.  I like that they can see that literature does not have to be all fancy writing, but it can use language that they use, in the end it is the story and the message they are trying to convey.

Hair: Month 1

Ok this is a post that is strictly for me and my hair.  I am at a point where I am going to grow my hair.   I have never been able to get it long, and I am going to see if I can get it longer.  I have been documenting it for about a month.  Here are my first pictures.

I have been trying to avoid my hair dryer, teasing, and curling my hair.  I am also trying a different shampoo to see if there is a difference, and I am taking some biotin.

 Now lets see if there has  been any noticeable growth.  I am not expecting to see much, but I have noticed a difference in texture since I have started using the new shampoo. 

Here are the pictures from today.  I had my daughter actually measure my length, from the crown of my head to the tips, and it was 12.5 inches.

So here are all the details: I dyed my hair red about 2 months ago, and the color has faded.  Before that I had very serious blonde highlights in my hair.  I was very blond as a child, but now I think my natural color is more of a dark or dirty blond.  Besides laying off of the heat, teasing and products (except for special occasions) I will be letting my hair grow out naturally.  My hair is fine and there is not a lot of it, it has a somewhat silky texture, so it doesn't hold barrettes or much of anything in it.  I have always worn my hair short because when it gets to shoulder length it looks stringy and I hate it, but I want to see what it is like longer.  I am guessing I am not going to like it long, but I want to do this once so I can get it out of my system, also I would love to be able to put my hair in some funky ponytails and such, but I am guessing with how thin my hair is it won't look as nice as I would like it to.  Also as of right now, there is no short hair style I am dying to try out.  I am sure if I see one that I fall in love with this experiment will be over.  Oh currently I have short bangs, I will be keeping my bangs, and I do blow dry them, it is the only area that will get heat.  I am making that concession because my hair is so limp and I am not sure I could do it any other way.

So there it is, lets see what happens.