it's always the quiet ones

I've mentioned the struggles I sometimes have with my job. Well one day last week was one of them. Last Monday I unwittingly took part in a social experiment … at about 1PM I realized that beyond exchanging pleasantries with coworkers in the kitchen and bathroom (as in “hi, how are you, good, how are you, not bad, have a good day”) I did not have a substantive conversation with anyone in my office. There are 400 people that work in my organization. About 90 or so are on my floor, 60 of whom are in my business unit and 12 people who have offices along my hallway and not one of them went out of their way to engage me in conversation. I guess the question could be, well, why didn’t you make more of an effort? And I did – I said hi to the guy parking his bike beside mine this morning. I asked a colleague if she wanted to grab a coffee. She had a meeting so couldn’t. And then I ran into someone from another floor in the elevator and she said we should go for coffee later. I said sure, but she never did ask me for coffee.

So on this particular Monday, when I realized that I really hadn’t talked to anyone in depth, I wondered if I could make it through the rest of the day without doing so. No suspense really – it was easy. No one came by my office and no one said hello when I passed them in the halls. I even made sure to get up and move around more than usual. Seriously - I did laps around my floor. I hung out in the kitchen, pretending to read the paper, ready to discuss current events with people who came in to grab something from the fridge. Still nothing. They say silence is golden, but this was a bit ridiculous. It's not always this way of course, but I'm pretty sure I could become a mute and my co-workers might not notice. It's a good thing I have such interesting voices inside my head - otherwise I might never have a conversation with anyone ever again.

back to the lake, back to the books

So just like last year, I went home to the family cottage this summer and devoured a few books. Here is my reading list and my impressions of the books:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - You know sometimes you just want to read non-fiction? Well this one fit the bill - fascinating story, well written, a subject matter that is not too heavy yet makes you think, interesting characters, and so on. Plus it validated my choice never to become a doctor. Well choice might be a bit overblown ... I got 51% in grade 11 biology which pretty much prevented me from ever going into any type of scientific field. The story is about the HeLa cells - the first human cells to grow outside of humans. These cells were then used in various medical trials that ultimately led to the polio vaccine, treatment for cancer and parkinsons, etc etc. The real story though is about her family, with the ultimate question of the book being an ethical one - is it immoral to use human cells without permission, even if they have led to scientific breakthroughs. It also got me thinking about the commodification of our body. Really interesting stuff. But it wasn’t until page 130 or so that the author explained why it was that Henrietta’s cells grew were able to be successfully cultured in the lab while so many others had died. The answer? There is none. Really. This brings me back to my earlier statement about grade 11 biology - the problem I had with biology in high school still exists today - you just have to accept certain facts. There is no explanation for them, it just happens. I’m always searching the root cause of things, the series of steps that enables certain events - in biology events just happen. They are the root cause and that’s it. Case closed.

The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb - I really enjoyed this book. Love Camilla Gibb. This was an easier read than Sweetness in the Belly, not quite as heart-wrenching, but equally lyrical. Set in Vietnam, with the war, politics, art and food woven throughout. One of the main characters sells Pho on the street and the vivid description of how he makes his soup had my mouth watering on almost every page. Needless to say that while reading all I wanted was Pho and so as soon as I landed back in Calgary I hit up the closest Vietnamese restaurant to devour a bowl.

When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman - The first part of this book is quite funny - like laugh out loud funny. The description of the main character’s struggle with God and then her school play were very amusing. The sad story of her best friend’s mom and her brother’s struggle with love were also very touching. Then the characters grew up, they became quite serious and far less interesting. I definitely lost interest in the second half. Too bad - such promise! But apparently Kate Middleton was reading it this summer too! Such kindred spirits we are ...

Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane - As previously mentioned I love a good mystery. Watched the Lincoln Lawyer on the plane and I highly recommend it. This one is a sequel of sorts to Gone Baby Gone, which I never read, but did see. It was a quick read, with good dialogue, but kind of a dodgy storyline, that I never really bought into. But whatevs, it kept my interest for the day.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer - I’m not sure why I had never read this book before. I really enjoyed his first book (Everything is Illuminated) and the History of Love, by his wife Nicola Kraus is one of my favourite books. I think I’ve picked it up a million times, skimmed through the pages and decided it was bit too precious, so never took the time to read it. Glad I finally gave it a go - was surprised at how engrossing it was. At times it feels a bit contrived and somewhat like he’s trying too hard, but all in all I enjoyed it. They’re making a movie of it right now - have no idea how that’s gonna work. It has really random characters, with fantastical backstories, and is not set out in a linear fashion at all.

on laziness and vampires

I have been remarkably bad at updating my blog this summer and so on this Saturday night as I lie here on my couch catching up on True Blood - which as a sidebar, I think we can all agree went super downhill this year - I don't know about you, but I don't care about witches. At all. Also, Eric in sport shorts and hoodies? Me no likey - give me back the black leather and tank tops. At least in tonight's episode he was back ... when he ripped that dude's heart out and then licked his finger? Well, come on. Just beautiful.

Ok, back to the task at hand. Now that September has arrived and the fun of summer is slowly coming to an end (more on that later), I vow to get back to the blogging on a more regular basis. Because I know my 7 readers have missed me, I will write something at least twice a week! Oh and I will also eat fewer carbs and exercise more regularly. I find I need to set more than one goal, because then if I only meet one, I don't feel so badly about totally failing at the others.