black swan green

I've fallen behind again having just finished #9 for the year. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell is a book I've had on my list for over a year ever since reading Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks.

The story is about Jason Taylor in his thirteenth year. One of the reviews listed it as the UK version of Catcher in the Rye and I can totally dig it. Catcher in the Rye is one of my favorite books. I even have a tiny hardback copy that I stole from my high school and I might consider it a prized possession. The first thing I have to say is that the issues Jason experiences are more relatable than Holden's since it is set in more recent history, the 80's to be specific. Holden was stuck in the 40's but A) books are supposed to transport you to another time so ultimately it's a non-issue and B) the internal struggles he's faced with are just the same.

 Overall I really, really enjoyed this story but compared to David Mitchell's other works it was not a favorite. I'm hoping that makes sense. If you enjoyed Catcher in the Rye I would recommend giving this story a whirl and head into Kingfisher Meadows and meet Jason Taylor.

There were tons of quotes I loved, but most need the context or characters to be described or explained and felt like it would just ruin it. And all I'm thinking about is the episode of South Park with George R. R. Martin and how he can never finish a story. BUT, this one struck me particularly.

"People'er a nestful of needs. Dull needs, sharp needs, bottomless-pit needs, flash-in-the-pan needs, needs for things you can't hold, needs for things you can."



Read it before Hangman gets ya.
Leia

recent television

Over the past few months I have been in such a sweet spot for television. I've started and finished so many amazing series.

First and foremost one of my most beloved shows came to an end and in a way I never imagined it would. It really showcased how each of the girls changed (or didn't) and how all their decisions were leading up to their 'fate'. So often I had different mood swings of emotions with all the girls individually. From absolutely loathing them to cheering them on when they were down on their luck. I'm so sad to see this series go but I'm so happy it ended before it ever had a chance to turn tacky and unfamiliar.

Netflix for the win with this one. The Santa Clarita Diet had me in STITCHES. So many fucks and other curse words that I saw coming out of Drew Barrymore's mouth! It was so unexpected and it truly added to my enjoyment. If you like dry humor and unpredictable weirdness I HIGHLY recommend this short series for you.

Shameless. A show I just wanted to try out to fill a void in my television cycle. Everyone is constantly talking about Lip Gallagher this, fucking Frank Gallagher that and I finally had to see what all the buzz was about. Poor, white trash America at it's finest. At times it seems a little too far fetched but nevertheless it is extremely entertaining.

After Shameless came Bates Motel. It was always just lingering under "shows you might like". Brendon had previously watched it when I worked evenings, but never religiously. We started that up and I was so, so, happy we did. Creepy as hell, sketch, dramatic and you never know who to take at face value. Romero is my dude. And no spoilers because I don't have access to the final season!

Then I had full intentions of watching Thirteen Reasons Why after I read the book. Brendon had started watching Sons of Anarchy and I was literally like "ew, I'm not watching that." Somewhere in the middle of season three I caught about half an episode and by the end of it I was in tears; mind you I hadn't even gotten attached to any of the characters yet. I was literally asking names as I'm crying about them. I have yet to watch the beginning seasons but have watched diligently through the rest of the series and finished it off last night literally sobbing my eyes out. About halfway through the episode my mind saw where things were going and I could not control my emotions. It was all too sad for me. So many notable deaths and the amount of tears I shed is on the verge of embarrassing. Side note, I never saw the full on attraction for Jax. He was nasty, greasy, completely absent and had no sense of reality when it came to his loved ones (for the most part). Nice face and bod? Sure, I'll give him that.

Intermittently I have watched some of Bill Nye's new show. The format is different than what I expected, but I like it! I only wish that the episodes were longer and the people who should be watching it were; but they aren't. Ya know the ones that somehow think that a mass population of people are making science up? The show is definitely aimed at the younger generation but the topics discussed are important ones. So far they have ranged from climate change to GMOs to alternative medicine.

Shows I still need to watch include but are not limited to: Thirteen Reasons Why, the new season of House of Cards, and Girl Boss. And there are probably others that I have forgotten about.

Other shows that I've recommended this week? Westworld (still seething that we won't be blessed with season two until 2018), Spoils of Babylon (the most underrated show and was only given two seasons), and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp.



Binge watching powers, activate!
Leia

veldheer farm and tulip garden: a photo series

And yes part two of our day in Holland! There were so many pictures that I felt like each portion deserved their own time to shine.

For the Tulip Time festival there were so many different areas to be explored so it was hard to pick and choose. Ultimately we went with Veldheer Farms because they boasted 5 million bulbs planted each year. Which, how could one not be interested in seeing what 5 million tulips looked like!? Well, Leia you know just because 5 million were planted doesn't mean that 5 million grew right? Yeah, so! And leave your fancy drone at home because it was explicitly noted as a 'no drone zone' which I found to be extremely petty but I guess they are just trying to make a living too, right?

The trip to Veldheer Farms started off by going into their gift shop/wooden shoe factory which was an absolute mistake. Both girls tried on the traditional clogs and Piper fell head over wooden heels in love.

 After a lot of bribing we were able to convince Piper to leave the shoes behind so we could begin the next part of our tulipy adventure!

 The tadpole 'pond' was the next little snag in the road. It was nice letting them sit down for a minute and check everything out and granny even graciously scooped one out so Kennedy could examine it for a moment, but these kids would have been happy to sit here all day. I kept waiting for Piper to fall in because all afternoon she had been tripping over her feet. I think her rubber uglies were just causing her grief. As I predicted based on how the exit from the wooden shoes went, Piper was not going to leave without a fight. I resorted to walking away shouting, "okay, bye!" After I rounded the corner out of her sight she reluctantly came bounding back towards us but I was now feeling sketch about how the rest of the afternoon would play out.

Each plot was numbered and you could look them up in their brochure to purchase and have shipped to you. Kennedy ended up circling almost every number. More of a scavenger hunt than a shopping list.

 Each row of tulips were separated by a a small ditch and Piper fell down almost every single one. But she also was just randomly falling down all day like I said earlier.

Played it off pretty smoothly, Pipes.

This is the point when Piper had just had it. After letting her stay in the tulip plot for a picture she refused to get out and I obviously had to go into mean mom mode. I probably looked like I was trying to snatch her up because like a nervous dog who had just run away, each time she met eyes with me she would scamper ahead of me further with her arms folded exclaiming, "not my friend ever again!"

And then Ken had her moment shortly after. We had bee non-stop all day but a quick race to see who could get to granny first solved all those issues for the most part.

No one is cooler than Piper.

 Good one.

And in a world where conformity is key, be the tulip that is doing it's own thing and surviving just the same.

But I would totally recommend a trip to this farm. Admission for adults was $10 and I think $5 for children over the age of 3, but as you can see from the pictures you're free to roam around all day at your leisure and even set up a temporary art studio if you're feeling creative. The flowers seemed endless and once again I was blown away by all the varieties. Half didn't even look like tulips and my favorites were the peony/tulip hybrids. Absolutely beautiful.  By the end of the day both girls were covered in dirt and ready to head home.



Veldheer: Where Flowers Bloom and the Buffalo Roam.
Leia

window on the waterfront: a photo series

The week before Mother's Day the girls and I took a day trip with granny to Holland Michigan for the Tulip Time festival and if the name doesn't give it away or you had expected to see anything but tulips you would have been sadly mistaken. Holland is a city in Michigan that is rich Dutch culture and their website happily exclaims that, "Long time residents can't imagine living anywhere else; newcomers wonder why they didn't move here sooner!" When I told Kennedy that we were going to a tulip festival she kept asking me if she was going to be able to ride the rides. I can't tell you how many times I had to tell her that there weren't going to be any rides.

We had the most perfect weather and overall it was a very laid back day. Next year I will do better research and likely plan to stay overnight because there was in fact an actual carnival with rides in their main downtown area but we had either arrived just after the setup or were visiting during "non-business" hours because nothing was up and running. You should've seen the look Kennedy gave me; the ultimate I-told-you-so grin.

We found a random parking lot that was a close walk to one of the noted recreation/tulip viewing areas on the Tulip Time map.

Piper wanted absolutely nothing to do with these statues. She kept saying, "I don't like him."

And Kennedy really knows how to lock down a photo op.

 How coincidental that the 'World Friendship' sponsored tulip patch was dead.

 Then we stopped and ate our little brown-bag style lunch we brought with us and explored in town for a little while.

This park was not overly large but there were still SO MANY tulips! Varieties that I never knew existed as well as colors but I'm also not a botanist on any level. If flowers are your thing I would highly recommend making the trip at some point especially if a vacation to The Netherlands is out of your budget. Even though the festival was slotted to go another week at the time we visited I'm glad we went when we did because some of the plots were very noticeably past their prime and/or dead.

Tulip Time ® is a registered trademark of Holland Tulip Time Festival, Inc.

Leia