On Hobbits and running

On hobbits

I have been thinking an awful lot about Hobbits lately.  Firstly, because I am hobbit-sized and still haven't recovered from my love of the shire.  Secondly, because I am very excited for the movie to come out in December.

Please enjoy yet more photographs of the accountant and I in front of Bilbo Baggins's house. I can only assume we were seconds away from Bilbo meeting Gandalf at the door when these photographs were taken.

On running
The other day I ran the farthest I have ever run, 14 miles.  This is pretty awesome until you realise that I have signed up for a marathon and have to add 12 more miles to that.  At any rate, as I was running, I thought of Samwise Gamgee and how he said, "If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been."  In reality, I can't really get much further from home than New Zealand, but sometimes I feel like tackling this marathon is a bit like trying to get a ring of power to Mt Doom.  There are no nazgul or orcs in training for a marathon but there are rainstorms, cars that don't yield to runners, and the unfortunate realisation that you need to pee when you have 8 more miles to go.

Running is hard. Really hard. Most days I ask myself why the hell I keep going after this ridiculous goal.  I guess I just remember that not too long ago I couldn't run around the block without getting winded and now I'm running a half marathon regularly as part of training.  

Moral of the story:

You are what you read

I have been thinking about books lately.  Not just books, but the art of reading, how we approach reading, what we hope to gain from reading.  These are the things that keep me up at night: books, global warming, and how people have chosen to make their political/social views known by eating chicken sandwiches.


"When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does."


When I was learning to read, I used to sit on a stool next to my mom while she sewed.  I remember looking up into her sewing light and asking her what words meant.  She patiently explained words to me, I remember admiring her wisdom (still do). I spent hours sitting under the desk in our bedroom with a blanket and a book completely engulfed in Jules Verne, Harry Potter or Tom Sawyer.  I devoured books.


Reading led me to an English degree, which has in turn led me to an egocentric opinion on all things literary.  I have had a rather conceited opinion about what people read.  In fact, I have spent a few weeks brooding over how ridiculous this whole 50 Shades of Grey obsession is when there are books like Wuthering Heights which should fill the public's need for a scandalous and complicated romance.  


However, as I write this blog, I have realised that we all read for our own purpose, some read for self-help, some read to find faith, some read to be transported to fantastical worlds, and some read for pure nostalgia. Reading is a personal hobby, it is an investment in yourself and if you chose to invest yourself in 50 Shades of Grey, who am I to judge you.  So, good for you, for all of you who find yourselves reading a book, any book.  I am glad you are reading and I will even attempt to withhold my condescending looks and urge to dry heave when you tell me how wonderfully complex Christian Grey is.

Happy Birthday

To my Michael:

Unfortunately, we spent your birthday sitting around, getting eaten by mosquitoes, and in airport lobbies.

Despite all of that, I hope you had a wonderful birthday.  There's no one I would rather spend a week in Samoa with perusing stuffy markets in sweltering heat, and drinking pina coladas poolside.

May the last year of your twenties, be the best yet!

bubblegumgoods: Super Moon

The accountant and I took this from Kohimarama Beach, isn't she gorgeous?

bubblegumgoods: Masterpiece Theater

There was a time in my life when my dad would turn on Masterpiece Theater and I would be bored before the trumpets finished playing the opening chorale.  Thankfully, I have matured enough to appreciate how amazingly awesome Masterpiece Theater is.

I recently watched the MT adaptation of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, and I LOVED it! I mean, how handsome is grown up Pip?

What I have found most fascinating about this film is that it exposes everyone to Dickens.  For example, my parents watched it (my mom watched it twice) and suddenly we are all talking about how tricky Dickens's plot was and how Ms Havisham was such a disturbed lady.  I think it's amazing that a film can unlock so many timeless characters to those who might not otherwise know of them.

Oh what a day

It's getting cold in New Zealand...sigh.

I am having one of those days where all I want to do is come home sit in an amazing bathtub full of bubbles until  my feet turn into prunes and read about the great Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy.

Unfortunately, I don't have a bathtub.  But, I do have a  Mr Darcy.

bubblegumbooks: The Kite Runner

This book review is brought to you by two days Facebook free. Hopefully this will be my most productive month ever.

I have heard rumors of The Kite Runner long before I have actually mustered up the courage to read the book.  I always knew that this was a heavy read although I have completely underestimated how this book stays with you and encompasses all of your thoughts. 

The Kite Runner follows the lives of two boys in Kabul Afghanistan, the boys are Amir and Hassan.  Hassan is Amir's servant, but the boys are inseparable and are more like brothers than a servant to a master.  When Hassan is brutally bullied by some of the boys in the neighborhood, he spends the rest of his adult life on a heatbreaking journey to redeem himself from betrayal. 

Although all of this book is haunting, I feel the passage below is the most profound and yet obvious passages in the book:

"There is only one sin, only one.  And that is theft.  Every other sin is a variation of theft.  When you kill a man, you steal a life...you steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father.  When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth.  When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.  If there's a God out there, then I would hope he has more important things to attend to than my drinking scotch or eating pork."

I think about this passage regularly since I have read this book.  Maybe it's because I think we are so obsessed with what appears right or wrong in terms of "drinking scotch or eating pork" that we are willing to rob each other of the things that are more important in an effort to keep up appearances.

I give this book 5 Facebook free days out of 5.  Khaled Hosseini is an amazing storyteller, I could not put this book down once I started reading it.