Vacation = Me time

post-finals week:
1. sleep like a bear. sleeping more than 4 hours a night?! unheard of! feels good though
2. too much free time that i squander online when im not out socializing
3. cold. very cold. freezing up north. whopping 42 degrees in the sun in the middle of the day. by my aversion for the cold (though it gets much much colder in other places), one would think i'm cold-blooded. no wonder i chose a socal college.
4. worried about my grades. as usual. get a grip. nerd.
5. meeting up with friends and characters
6. odd discussions with my parents
7. freaking out about future plans yet again
8. pondering over whether or not to get that tattoo
9. strange desire to pierce my eyebrow
10. longer runs

i've read two books so far:
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Not my favorite. I enjoyed Blink and The Tipping Point a good deal more. I feel as though Gladwell's quest to break down simplistic acceptance of the existence of "outliers" (aka incredible success stories) is marred by the fact that he provides another formula that simplifies success as the perfect cocktail of opportunities, family dynamics/ideals, cultural backgrounds, and the like - though this formula does require a significantly greater amount of thinking and analysis of the outlier's situation. While he makes quite a few good points, Gladwell also falls into the sad little trap of stereotyping, or reaffirming certain stereotypes about certain racial/ethnic groups. Mr. Gladwell, not all Asians are Chinese/Korean/Japanese, thank you. Overall, an entertaining read. Makes you think a little bit, or a lot. But still not enough.

Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain. I've been introduced to another fantastic villainness! I love the really sick mother-daughter relationship in this book. I watched the movie adaptation of the novel just a little over a month ago and it really was quite entertaining and fascinating . . . I quickly learned to hate Veda, Mildred's daughter. Anyway, the book version is quite different, but Mildred's unrelenting quest to please her insatiable daughter is roughly the same, even magnified in the novel. Daughters are cruel, I will say that much.

Next on the list is Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. I've been told to read David Sedaris' stuff for ages now, I just haven't really done so. There is always too much to read. Well, I'm finally getting around to it, and I am really very excited.