Book Review: Lanark

This is the first time I've written a book review on my own accord, rather than by assignment from a professor. I'm not an English major, nor do I have a really vast knowledge of literary information. I can't comment much on genres or styles, so everything following this introduction is just my take on the book -- without anything particular to compare it to. I'll try to make it worth reading, and not spoil anything, too.

I should also point out that I'm picky when it comes to books. I usually stick with non-fiction. It's not that I don't have a good imagination (I'm an art student, remember?) -- I just can't take it seriously. Several friends have tried getting me into the Harry Potter series, and I couldn't do it. Same goes for Twilight and all those omigosh-Vampires-in-high-school books. Anyway, moving on to my thoughts.

If you're like me and have a hard time taking fantastic situations in novels seriously, you'll do OK with this book. Alasdair Gray did an excellent job with incorporating rather absurd scenarios with symbolism and realism, so the fantasy didn't make or break the story.

I'm getting ahead of myself. I should start by saying the book is divided into four, out of sequence books. Gray introduces the main character, Lanark, as he's thrust into the dismal city of Unthank. He arrives by train, with no knowledge of his past other than some sand and seashells in his pockets. He becomes acquainted with the elite clique in Unthank, but consistently feels out of place. Void of sunlight and companionship, Lanark is engulfed into the earth.

Next, Lanark struggles with life in "The Institute", where he overcomes a skin disease and eventually turns from patient to doctor. While in the institute, Lanark is told the story of his past life by an oracle. This takes up half of the novel (books one and two). Gray introduces Duncan Thaw, and gives his Bildungsroman (coming-of-age story). Just as Lanark in Unthank, Thaw struggles through life without every finding true companionship or love. You don't exactly feel sorry for Thaw, but you can relate with him. He suffers through various women, does poorly in school, and loses work due to his unwillingness to compromise.

The final book picks up after Lanark learns about his previous life as Thaw, and leaves the institute. He is continually forced into awkward positions after returning to Unthank. At this point, Gray plays with time, and we see the remaining years of Lanark's life unravel and fall apart.

Based on other reviews I've read, and from how I interpreted the novel, books one and two seem to be Lanark (Thaw)'s life. Books three and four represent hell, or another plane of existence that's clearly undesirable. The theme throughout is man's lack of love leading to destruction. One and two show Thaw's personal demise as a result of being unable to love/be loved. Three and four show mankind's failure due to lack of compassion.

“Man is the pie that bakes and eats itself, and the recipe is separation,” is repeated several times in the novel. You'll get it once you read it -- so go do that. I don't want to give away too much. It's not a difficult read. It is rather long, but I finished it in two weeks, so I'm sure you'll manage. My only real complaint is that Gray seems to add a little 'fluff' here and there by describing the settings in scrutinizing detail. At times it was intriguing and necessary, but often it seemed a bit redundant. Still, it's definitely worth a read!

Camping in the NJ Pine Barrens

Over the weekend Dan, Robert, Teresita and I went camping in Wharton State Forest. I've never camped in the Pine Barrens before, so it was interesting to say the least. It was almost a two-hour drive, which was filled with bad attitudes and stress. Despite the problems, we made it to the registration office and somehow found our camp site. We were rather disappointed by how small the designated camping area was, but we didn't really have a choice.

We set up the tent and built a fire. It had been an exhausting day, so we fell asleep relatively early. I woke up early the next morning, mostly because Dexter was whimpering to be let out of the tent. I snapped a few nice pictures of the area, before we were bombarded by 20-something boy scouts and their leaders/parents. There was literally a caravan of minivans filling into our already small camping area. We waited for Teri to arrive, feeling quite bitter.

We left our camp site Saturday afternoon to hike in another, less populated area. We trudged through about five miles of the Barrens, stopping for lunch and an occasional rest. Dexter ran loose through most of the hike, and did quite well. He knows to stay close to us and his recall is getting better.

We saw a lot of pretty and unusual sights. A lot of the streams we passed were black in the deep areas, blood-red near the shallow shores. Teri explained it was cedar water, which forms "when water is allowed to stand in highly acidic soil with a high iron ore content. The iron ore discolors the water, and the acid deters the presence of microorganisms which might otherwise proliferate and clarify the water. Cedar water can also develop when trees with highly tannic leaves, such as oaks, neighbor a waterway and drop their leaves into the water, causing it to discolor with time. Lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams can all develop cedar water." (The more you know!)

We returned from our hike and gathered more wood. Rob built a fire, which Dan and I maintained. Rob and Teri made a dinner of chicken, potatoes, string beans and carrots in foil pouches. After eating, we grew tired of the listening to the boy scouts (they were now having some sort of award ceremony), and decided to pile into the tent. We enjoyed another one of nature's gifts, got silly and snacked heavily.

We slept through a chilly night and morning, which I survived quite well thanks to the 50-pound dog on my legs. Again I woke up before everyone else (except Dexter) and decided to hike a little. I walked him around our camp area and caught a glimpse of a steaming stream, with the light from dawn making everything sparkle. It was one of those awe-inspiring moments and as cheesy as it sounds, I was completely happy. I stood for a few minutes, with Dexter anxiously tugging to move on, breathing in the clean, crisp air. It made the whole trip worth it. My only regret is that I didn't have my camera on me to capture the moment. But it's OK, perfect memories can live on without photographic evidence.

Presenting FREE Things You Should Care About

1. Nerdcore Rising - Head on over to your Netflix and stream this movie instantly. Director Negin Farsad follows the triumphant first tour of Nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot and his band. Even if you're not (yet) a fan, you'll enjoy this movie... and probably grow fond of Front and his geeky, hip-hop style. Includes appearances by Brian Posehn, Weird Al Yankovic, MC Lars, and many other nerdcore artists. Peep it! Why wouldn't you? It's free (if you've got Netflix, but c'mon, who doesn't?)!

2. MASHed Potatoes by K.Flay - I first heard K.Flay on MC Lar's CD, This Gigantic Robot Kills, and I knew she was something special. Her latest EP with Lars (Single and Famous) is tight. This EP is no different. Her concept: "take dope tracks. chop, screw, and sample them. add my own fresh production. write new lyrics that play with the song’s original title and record them in a basement. mix until lumps are gone. eat the batter." And hey, what do you know, it's fricken' awesome. Listen to it, love it.

The Beatles, GameCore Con, Hacklebarney and Fears of the Future

This past weekend has been a hectic one, so I'll try to mash it all into one coherent entry. Friday night was spent playing Beatles Rock Band at our friend Teri's house. I was extremely disappointed with the game. I've never been a huge fan of the Beatles, and after singing through many of their hits -- I can safely say, I'm still not a huge fan. Their lyrics are either really boring and cheesey (their early stuff) or really weird and cheesey (their drug-induced stuff). My one favorite Beatles song, Hey Jude, was not on the game. Thumbs down.

We stayed out too late, which made getting up at 6:30 AM quite difficult on Saturday. But Dan and I managed, and made it to GameCore Con just after 10:00 AM. It was our first time with actual press badges, which gave me a bit more confidence when it came to randomly snapping photos of people. We also received a bit more attention from people looking to get media attention.

We sleepily made our way through the convention for a few hours, talking to random vendors and digging through boxes of old Sega and N64 games. We watched Nerdcore Rising again around 12:30 PM, which features almost all of our nerdy heroes.

Later on we caught YTCracker's performance, followed by MC Lars. I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing nerdy rap performances (MC Lars, YTCracker, MC Frontalot, Schaffer the Darklord, just to name a few).

Hunger and sleep deprivation started to kick in, so we headed back to greasy NJ. I got my usual QuickChek sub before we walked over to Alyssa's for some drinking and unwinding.

I arose the next morning (or should I say, afternoon) to a wine-spritzer-induced headache, though not exactly a hangover. We (Dan, Rob, Alyssa and myself) finally broke out of our hibernation and went hiking in Northern NJ. Chester is one of my favorite places to be in the fall: apple picking, pumpkin picking, tea shops, delicious meals and lots of memories (new and old). After hiking, we went to the Lamplighter (with a $25 off coupon I got online for a buck) and filled ourselves with pasta and sandwiches.

Sunday night was peaceful, though my head is stormed with stress and worries. As of late, I've been feeling increasingly trapped in a future that already seems pretty well-defined. I hate monotony and I am terrified of getting old and "settling down". My relationship with Rob seems to be headed down a steady road that I'm not sure I want to take. At least, not just yet. It troubles me that I don't know quite what I want, but I suppose that I shouldn't know -- not at 22-years-old. I just hope that whatever happens in the coming months, I don't screw things up too badly.

Eight Years

I wasn't sure if I wanted to write a "remembering 9/11" blog entry, mostly because it would feel fake. I was extremely lucky to come out of that day without losing any loved ones. As the day unfolded, I didn't even take the event seriously at first. I was a freshman in high school eight years ago, and it was an ordinary day. Bright and sunny, the first month of being a high school student, and I was just settling in.

The first bit of news I received was in Dr. Weiner's biology class. A friend came in, saying a helicopter had flown into the Trade Center. I didn't think much of it, other than "Wow, worst pilot ever." That rumor was way off, of course.

It wasn't until I got into Spanish class that I learned what had actually happened. The teachers were told not to talk to us about the attacks -- for fear there would be a panic, or something. Luckily, my Spanish teacher realized we weren't in elementary school and told us everything she knew. She was also too upset to teach; her son-in-law worked in the city and she was worried sick. (He was O.K.)

I walked home from school that day, with the smell of the burning city heavy in the air (I live in central NJ). I went on the computer, checked minute by minute news and watched T.V. at the same time. It was a weird feeling, watching reporters at the scene and hearing what sounded like giant water balloons hitting the ground. The noise was actually people who had jumped from the towers. That memory sticks out the most in my mind.

That day will always be very clear in my mind. The days, weeks, months and years after are a blur of fear, anger, sadness, patriotism, declarations of war and ultimately, more fear and anger. There were the inevitable conspiracy theories, people who believe our government planned the whole attack. With the years that followed -- mainly, Bush's presidency -- I can't really blame the theorists. But on that whole subject, I have no comment.

I can't say any more than that; what I experienced on that day. I didn't lose anyone I love, and for that I am grateful. I can't pump any unreal emotion into it. As I remember, it was a very surreal day. It was a bad dream; it didn't make sense.

As a resident of New Jersey, New York has always been a part of my life. I have a love/hate relationship with the city (see my entry about Peanut Butter & Co.). The towers themselves always reminded me of going to Shea Stadium with my dad. And it's always a sad reminder, driving into the city and seeing the gap in the skyline.

Personally, I think they should rebuild the towers -- that'd be the biggest "fuck you" to the culprits. No freedom tower, no corny memorial garden that defies phsyics (A.K.A., wouldn't work). Just a way of saying Americans can overcome.

Pet Post: The Cats

I fear that if I make a separate post about each and every one of my pets, my blog will ultimately become incredibly boring. Or one of the blogs MC Frontalot talks about in his song (see: I Hate Your Blog). So to spare you all the constant pet-postings, I have decided to combine the cat post into one.

The oldest cat in the house is Malakai. We took her in when she was a few months old in 2003. She's very skiddish and overall not too friendly. I sometimes go weeks without touching her -- she only allows it when she feels like it. She recently had some kidney problems, which caused her to have seizures from time to time. She's made a full recovery, and continues to be the bratty little boss cat of the house.

Next oldest is Mama. Real original, I know. Yet another stray that showed up at our door step when she was around a year old. We brought her inside when we noticed she was very pregnant. She gave birth to five kittens in July of 2006. She's a very unusual cat. For along time she followed Malakai around and tried to be buddies with her. Mali only recently started to put up with her. She's also a bit skiddish, but loves getting pet. Just don't make any sudden moves and she'll love you forever.

Kirby, Princess and Gremlin are the remaining three kittens. The other two, "Alien" (now Thomas) and Sheba (now Pita), were adopted. These three each have completely different personalities. Kirby is a loveable oaf. He's pretty easy going, though not too bright. He's my sister's cat more than anyone else's. Princess, on the other hand, is my baby. She's got a weight problem (that I intend on fixing when we move out). She's the most affectionate cat I've ever had. She loves to cuddle and "hug". Last we have Gremlin, the little demon. She thinks she's the boss, and loves patrolling the house looking for trouble.

Our newest addition, Matilda, is probably a few months younger than the "kittens". My mom started feeding her in the winter of 2007/2008, and was finally able to bring her in just as the weather got frigid. Since she had five cats already, Robert and I took Matilda to our apartment at school. In the long run, she ended up back at the house with all the other pets, but it was a good opportunity for her to adjust to in-door life.

A quick story: at one point, we lost Matilda. The window screens in our old place were broken or non-existent, which lead to Matilda falling or jumping out one of our living room windows. About a week went by with no sign of her. Some friends told Robert about a dead black cat a few blocks from our house, and we feared the worst. Then, a day or two after the horrible news, who should come running home -- none other than Matilda! She saw Francis (our roommate) and followed him in, eager for some dinner.

OK -- that's all for the cats. I still have the ferrets, rabbit and dog to discuss... but I'll leave them for a later date.

Official Summer-Goodbye, Labor Day

My town's favorite holiday has come and gone, and aside from a stabbing in my neighborhood (yikes), it went off without a hitch. We celebrated with our annual family/friend BBQ -- which gets bigger every year. New and old friends shared drinks, food and games all day. Even Dexter had some doggy friends to spend the day with.

Labor Day is undoubtedly the fastest day of the year -- I get up and go to the parade in the morning, and in the blink of an eye, we're all gathered around the lake for the fireworks.

I'm settling into a fairly pleasant routine. I have plenty to look forward to, which makes the monotony of the work week not so bad. This weekend, we're getting decked out in plaid and picking apples. Afterwards, we will hopefully make a pie (pictures and recipe to be posted here, if all is successful). The weekend after we'll be heading out to the woods for some camping. I'll have photos, even if it means layering my D60 in Ziplock bags for protection.

I'd like to end this post with a summer treat that Robert and I made, and will surely make again with different, more Autumn-y ingredients. We love smoothies, and decided to make them into a dessert of sorts. We purchased pre-made, little cakes -- I presume intended for strawberry shortcakes. We blended a banana with strawberries, yogurt and mashmallows (to thicken it a little) and poured the mix into the cakes -- topped off with a blackberry.

I wish I had some sort of whipping contraption, because the first few were a bit runny. We put the remaining cakes into the fridge, which made them thicken up and easier to eat. However, the cake wasn't as tastey. So all in all, an interesting treat -- but not yet perfected. I think I'll try again in a few weeks, with peanut butter, apples and vanilla cream cheese.

Top Five CDs

Last night, Rob proposed the question, "What are your top five favorite albums?" What CDs could you listen to every day and not get tired of. Surprisngly, this wasn't very hard for me. Mostly because there are only a few CDs I actually do listen to, daily. This is because I no longer have an iPod (thieves!) and because it's all I have on my computer. However, I feel no urgency to add more music, so that must mean these songs doing something right. At least, for my musical taste. Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Marathon (Self-Titled, 2005)

I have no idea what this CD actually looked like, and I can't find a picture of it, so we'll use our imaginations. Someone burned it for Rob, and I ripped it onto my computer and iPod (when I still had it). I basically listen to at least two songs on this CD every day. Gravity's Temptation is by far my favorite track. I'm not sure what it is about this band that draws me to them. I started listening after they had already broken up, which is extremely depressing. Rob tells me tales of their last show in a New Brunswick basement. There's such energy and passion in their lyrics, which makes their songs automatically and instinctively catchy.

2. The Killers, Sam's Town (2006)

The Killers are undoubtedly my favorite band, and Sam's Town is a masterpiece. For Reasons Unknown, Read My Mind, Bones, My List, The River Is Wild, and Why Do I Keep Counting? are are among my favorite songs (ever) -- and they're all on this CD. How the hell do they manage to be so talented? Usually I only like a few tracks on a CD. Maybe half. But almost every song is nearly impossible. The Killers have a way of mixing stories with weird and sometimes whimsical lyrics. They've got that trashy, Vegas casino band sound -- but they don't suck. I love driving down the highway at night with the windows down and this CD blasting.

3. The Killers, Day & Age (2008)

O.K., they're my favorite band, so they're showing up again on this list. I was tempted to include Hot Fuss and Sawdust, but variety is the spice of life or some shit. Day & Age is what I liked about Sam's Town, amplified. Human and Spaceman are so odd but perfect. A Dustland Fairytale paints a better story in my mind than many books I've read (not bad for 3 minutes and 46 seconds). Neon Tiger is another favorite. Most main stream bands sound the same to me. They're all singing about the same crap. And then there's The Killers.

4. MC Lars, This Gigantic Robot Kills (2009)

This CD means more to me than any I've listed thus far, but for a different reason. I first started listening to Lars about three years ago. I saw him perform at Hamilton Street, and fell in love with his dorky songs and laptop beats. He was also really sweet, though I was too shy to say much to him. Fast forward to this past year. Rob, Dan and I started our magazine, and we needed someone to interview. I thought about artists that I liked, and thought might be approachable. Lars came to mind, and he's been popping up in issues ever since.

So why is this CD so important to me? It marked the first victory for our magazine -- we received the CD before it was released, for free, in order to talk about it in his interview. Not only does it inspire all those good feelings, but it's actually really, really good. The songs are smart, catchy and fun. This Gigantic Robot kills is my favorite song, but they're all great. True Player for Real, We Have Arrived, White Kids Aren't Hyphy, Hey There Ophelia... all of them. I'm always impressed by hip-hop artists and I especially love when it's not crunk rap.

5. Jimmy Eat World, Bleed American (2001)

I admit, I don't listen to this CD as much as the other four -- but it will always be one of my favorite CDs of all time. I could listen to it any time, anywhere. Again, every song is one of my favorites. Hear You Me is probably my favorite favorite. This is one of those albums than transports me back to 2001, when I first heard it.

Honorable Mentions: Motion City Soundtrack, Commit this to Memory. Death Cab for Cutie, Transatlanticism. Barenaked Ladies, Stunt. Our Lady Peace, Gravity. Northstar, Is This Thing Loaded?

Hippie Day

I'm a day behind with most of my blogs posts as of late. Again today, I'm posting pictures from yesterday. I won't do anything interesting today, in order to catch up tomorrow.

Yesterday I was dressed in one of my "hippie" outfits. Long, flowery skirt; plain, white razor back; messy hair and a head band. Oh, and my parrot earrings from Epcot. They're so cute. To coincide with my peace-loving ensemble, we decided to eat at Saladworks for dinner. (O.K., so a restaurant chain isn't exactly "hippie", but salads are. Plus, they're just an L.L.C.!)

No pictures of the food since I didn't have my camera on me -- but it was tasty. They give you a whole lot of food and the staff is friendly. They gave us extra hot peppers and olives, even though our salads weren't supposed to come with them. It's a little on the pricey side, but it's not outrageous. I got the "Tivoli" salad: lettuce, tomato, mozzarella, chicken, pepperoni, macaroni noodles and a bunch of other things. Rob got some mandarin orange thing, which was a bit more exciting.

So if you're ever in need of a quick lunch, and Saladworks is one of your options, give it a try. They even have sandwiches and wraps if you don't like salad.

Moving on... there's a lot I want to do in this blog, and just, in general. I need to paint my bedroom. I also want to sand and repaint all my furniture, since I plan on keeping it when we move. Another goal is to assemble "grown-up" outfits that I can wear once I start working in the office (instead of from home). All of this I want to document in blog posts, but I have yet to get the ball rolling.

I am doing a lot, which explains my delay. On top of working full-time, I'm designing an issue of Jagazine for two to three weeks out of every month. I've recently begun doing volunteer design work for a husky rescue. Oh, and then any free time after that is spent on my commission-based job (Garden State Apartments). It's no wonder most of my time is spent online.

Dog Dreams

I will devote a separate post to write Dexter's "story" (as I did with Tiki, and plan to do with all the other pets) -- but for now, a short tale from yesterday.

When Dexter was a little over six-months-old, we decided he was trustworthy enough to be loose in our bedroom during the night. Originally, we gave him a dog bed that we had received from a friend of my father. It was horrendous. It was way too big, a terrible color, held onto his hair and trapped every foul oder he produced. But it was free, and we were cheap college students.

When we moved out of our apartment, I happily threw it out. Our new bedroom had plushy carpet; I didn't think Dexter (who often slept on hard wood flooring) would mind. Boy, was I wrong. The first few nights he tried to crawl into bed with me. He'd shove his wet dog lips against my cheek and turn on my touch-sensitive lamp with his nose. I finally caved in and appeased him with an old comforter.

I knew this would only be a temporary fix, though. He was chewing holes in the comforter and pulling out the stuffing in clumps. He'd drag it around the room and leave it in a crumpled pile. No, that wouldn't do.

Finally, we went to good ol' Target and found a semi-decent bed. It's navy blue and white, so his hair won't be as noticeable. You can also unzip the cover and wash it, which was a major selling point for me (owner of a dog who pukes stomach acid when he gets hungry). It's looking a bit deflated in this photo, but I think the stuffing just needs to settle.

I'm sure he'll chew through this bed and before long I'll be out buying a new one. But, at least for the time being, he's a content pooch.