book club

Book Club: The Final Countdown

 

The day before Book Club.

I was given 3 or so MONTHS to finish this book. The meeting had been put off and put off, but it was finally here. The day ahead glared at me like an evil witch, judging me for my sins. D-day. Do you know how far I was into this book, the day before the book club meeting, that I had had MONTHS to read???? Page 94. I officially made it to page 94. In 3 months. ACTUALLY, more like 4. FOUR months. If I did my math right, I would like you all to know that that is 30 pages on average a month. If you break that even further down, you sexy mathematicians, you will get one page. A day. Average.

So I planned on doing what any of us would have done, I cheated. I googled for spoilers, I read endings. I am a book club failure.

I was pretty sure I could fool everyone, though and I intended to try. I was going to go down in a blaze of glory. All or nothing. Lying to these nice people who let me into their group and their homes as I ate their pastries with confidence, commonly defined as “Of-COURSE-I’ve-read-this-book”-edence, blueberry scone crumbs clinging to the corner of my lying lips.

Look, in college I was an English Major, you think I haven’t faked this kind of thing before??  And by “English Major” I mean, “don’t look too deep into that because you’ll find I was inexplicably labelled a ‘Speech Major’ and I was too scared to go talk to anyone to get it changed. So I just made it all up as I went and then refused to completely graduate so I didn’t have to deal with it all and now here I am writing my bad-grammar blogs for free on the internet.”

So cheating and lying my way through this book club meeting like a snake oil salesman was the grand plan. And it would’ve worked too if it weren’t for that meddling Anxiety!  Because when Anxiety found out about it, she jolted me awake at 3am with judgements, panic, and an idea! Who cares about sleep, we Research! We can’t do it any other way. We’ll be kicked out of Book Club!! Several hours, and coffees, and pages, and post-it notes later, I was done.

And that’s how I finished a 306 page book. In 3 or so months. Actually more like 4. I read an entire book in almost 4 months and had to come and brag about it online.

Anyway, the next book has been chosen. I have about 6 weeks. What’s the over/under on whether I finish? One day I’m finally going to get my life together and you guys are going to be blown away.

These Boots are Made for Walkin’, or How I Plan to get my Own Category on NextDoor

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I don’t know what’s happened to me. I’ve become a walker. It’s ridiculous how much I have taken to it. I walk now. That’s a thing I do regularly. I had walked 5.32 miles yesterday before it was even 11 am. Out loud, that doesn’t sound like I’m living up to my original, diva-esque, Mariah Carey year plans, but in looking back over that resolutions list, I’m not actually that far off. My vision of the year probably involved a lot more champagne and foot rubs, however, as I am sorely lacking in champagne and foot rubs. I also noticed from that old post, we were just about to Supermoon.  And here we are, capping off the whole month with another Supermoon. This one yesterday was all eclipsy. I did not turn into a werewolf, sadly. I did not Thriller dance in the streets. My eyes, they did not yellow.

So fun news! I have a new, additional walking buddy, because, let’s be honest, if I’m not able to gossip and laugh while I walk, then what’s the point. I’ll look like a random hoodlum and will wind up on NextDoor under a “Suspicious Character” titled email. I mean, I might be on NextDoor anyway but I don’t need to prompt them.

Or maybe I do. Maybe I plan an elaborate prank that will last weeks that will get all the neighbors riled up and cause them to go all Hardy Boys. I’m going to tell Nurse Friend about this new plan. She’ll be thrilled.

So new walking buddy that hasn’t replaced Nurse Friend will hereby be known as Book Friend. Book Friend and I like to walk on the other side of Encino. The super rich people side. The house James Dean lived in when he died side, the Liberace Piano Pool house side, The Jackson Family Compound side. Two of those are actually in Sherman Oaks, but not the Jackson house. That’s Encino and speaking of the Jackson house, Tito has not come out and greeted me with a warm cup of tea yet, but it might happen if I wish hard enough.

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Liberace Piano Pool house

Yesterday Book Friend and I accidentally (on purpose) walked onto a live car commercial shoot. They yelled “HOT SET!” at us which I think meant, “shut up about your bad life choices and get out of the shot, pajama girl”. That was not exactly how I’d dreamed of being discovered, but we can’t all be Marilyn.

The rich people side is super nice though and we even saw one of those Little Free Library things that look like a bird mansion with books that people set up around the city. The one we came across had nice books in it like Hamlet and Jane Eyre. I’ve wanted to set one of these Little Free Libraries up around my side of the tracks but $10 says that someone would throw a Playboy and a used condom in it and then hit it with a baseball bat.

Look, my side of the Boulevard isn’t so bad. It’s real nice, actually. They have chairs out for you when you need a rest. Give me a glass of champagne and a foot rub, and it’s like, Tito and his tea, who?

That emerald toned, Lazy Boy is as, if not more lavish than any piano pool, don’t let the lure of Hollywood sway your perception.

The next time Book Friend and I walk, I’m going to pick up one of those Maps of the Stars so I can gawk and awe. Do they have a Valley edition? If they don’t, TMZ Tours better look out. They’ll have some Valley competition soon.

I’m going to get kicked out of Encino, aren’t I?

Does This Book Come as a Podcast?

I made a New Year’s resolution to write a blog everyday. Here I am, Day 2 and I’m at a loss of interesting thoughts. My brain has had “Never Gonna Give You Up” on repeat for around 3 hours now and nothing else. My brain would rather rickroll me than help me become an upstanding member of society. I’m doing great at this. 

I’m also supposed to be reading a book. I joined a book club a few months ago and have read maybe eleven pages total. There have been 2 books. I’ve read ELEVEN (11) pages. How am I so bad at this? On the downlow, how morally reprehensible would it be, really, to CliffsNotes this bad boy? I’m so going to get kicked out of book club, aren’t I? I don’t want that! This feels like high school all over again but with a lot less 90210 to watch.

I love book club. Not only am I the youngest by a couple of decades which makes me feel super young but the other people in the book club are such interesting and smart people! I have so much to learn from them. And I’ll never get the chance because they’re going to kick me to the curb soon because I can’t stop researching conspiracy theories on the internet, thereby giving me no time for reading actual books. 

I need to make the time. I’m pretty sure that’s how resolutions work. Ugh. This feels so restrictive and unfair. Who decided we need to be better people?? Whose hair-brained idea was it to decide everyone needs to be healthier and nicer and more cultured just because it’s a new year? That was asking for trouble right out of the gate because I was a bit drunk on champagne when I thought of this dumb list and hungover when I decided to publicly announce that I was a “New Me” so now I feel obligated to whine loudly to anyone who happens to be in the vicinity of my online tantrums. You’ve brought this upon yourselves.

If you’re keeping score on my resolution revolution, then you should know that I have showered, you’re welcome. I have gone outside, because I had to take out the trash and that counts, it should count twice because it was the trash. I’m currently blogging, and I don’t actually remember the rest of my list but I’m sure the exercising part is going to be the catalyst that will drag this whole lifestyle change into the gutter so we’re not going to mention it.  So see? I’m doing great! I just need to read my book. After checking in on my social medias. And googling “hauntings”.

Wish me luck! I’m on page 7. I want to get to at least page 34 tonight. Think I can do it? I need someone to be my conspiracy and celeb gossip looker-into-er, though. Who wants that job?? It’s for the greater good so I don’t get kicked out of Fight Club. Oh my god, what if they beat me up?? This is exactly like high school, time to bust out the chokers, plaid mini-skirts, and Doc Martins. I’ve got reading to do.