Love & Truth

Music Monday: Dessa

2011-11-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

Dessa (also known as Dessa Darling, born Margret Wander) is a spoken word artist, author, and MC from Minneapolis, MN. She is best known as a member of the Doomtree Hip-Hop Collective. (Thanks Wikipedia!)

Dessa is one of my favourite female MCs and I always find myself going back to her stuff no matter what else I've got going on. I was originally introduced to her though Sarah Von of Yes and Yes in a post that she wrote back in 2010 I do believe....

In any case! Dessa has a really great sensual/gravelly yet feminine voice and she plays with the big boys while promoting great messages through her songs. She has three albums out, the first a 15 minute EP by the name of False Hopes is what got her signed on with Doomtree Records the album was also heralded as one of the top local albums of the year by the local newspaper.

In January 2010, her first solo full length EP, "A Badly Broken Code" was a major hit and has solidified her place as a power house MC.

Music Monday: Dessa by Eliza Fournier on Grooveshark

Anyway, check out her website and let me know what you think of her, and suggest some of your favourite female MC's as I'm currently on the lookout. (:

Love & Hugs!

Eliza

Things I Love Thursday

2011-11-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

This TILT is a list of pictures of places that I desperately want to visit. I think that these photos are incredible and the history to each of these places is equally remarkable. If you've got any questions feel free to ask.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Auschwitz, Poland

Bora Bora, Tahiti

Capitol Hill, Washington DC

giant Christ Statue, Rio de Janero

Easter Island, Polynesia

the Grand Canyon

the Great Wall of China

Loch Ness, in Scotland

Machu Piccu, in Peru

Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota


Niagra Falls, from the Canadian side of course

Pamukkele: water steps in Turkey

Stonehenge

the Taj Mahal in India

the Kremlin in Moscow

Santorini, Greece

Egypt: the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids

the Vatican

What photos do you love that inspire you to see the world? Have you got any amazing photos you'd like to share?

Anything else you're loving this week?

Love & Hugs
Eliza

Music Monday: Bobby Darin

2011-11-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

This week's Music Monday is a bit different than the past few weeks; I've decided to go back to the 1950's and introduce you all to a gentleman by the name of Walden Robert Cassatto, publicly known as Bobby Darin.

Born in 1936, Darin was raised listening to and idolizing big band musicians like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Darin was actually raised by his grandmother (Polly), though he was unaware of this fact until his early 30's. His mother, Giovannina Juliette "Nina" Cassotto, only 19 years his senior was unable to raise a child at the time of Bobby's birth and as such Nina spent the better part of Bobby's life pretending to be his sister. Throughout his childhood, Darin was incredibly ill and told he would not live past the age of 16. Due to his illness, Polly kept him home from school and introduced him to vaudeville, while instructing him in various instruments and providing vocal lessons.

Darin's career took off in 1958 with his hit "Splish Splash" which he wrote because of a bet in under an hour while prepping for a radio interview. Since his first hit Darin has written dozens of hit singles and produced numerous albums while also staring in Hollywood films along side Sandra Dee who later became his wife.

Below is a playlist of some of my favourite Bobby Darin songs, as well as a YouTube clip of him performing and a link to the biography film acted in and produced by Kevin Spacey who early in his career was a Bobby Darin tribute singer.

Music Monday: Bobby Darin by Eliza Fournier on Grooveshark

Beyond the Sea a film by Kevin Spacey

Anyway, that's Bobby Darin for you. He was a gem and incredibly underrated and a really wonderful guy. You should check him out and watch the movie by Kevin Spacey, then let me know what you think!

Love & Hugs

Eliza

Music Monday: Ben l'Oncle Soul

2011-11-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

This week we're taking a trip across the Atlantic ladies and gents. Ben l'Oncle Soul, is a French soul singer/songwriter who gained his international recognition in 2010 with his full length debut album of the same name. Soul Wash EP (2009) was his first solo work recorded by Motown Records in which he performed 6 cover songs sung primarily in English. His stage name is intended to be a play on "Uncle Ben's Rice" and although he was originally going to go as "Oncle Ben" he didn't want to risk any sort of copy right infringement (understandably).

He got his professional start as a vocalist in the Fitiavana Gospel Choir, which he joined in 2004. The Tours-based gospel choir made its album debut with I Have a Dream (2009), a collection of English-language soul classics such as "Killing Me Softly," "Lean on Me," and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman." (Jason Birchmeier, All Music)

Music Monday: Ben l'Oncle Soul by Eliza Fournier on Grooveshark

I absolutely love this guy. He's incredibly talented, has some really funny stuff, some just plain awesome stuff and I can't wait to see what he comes out with next.

Hope you enjoy!

Love & Hugs

Eliza

Music Monday: Mother Mother

2011-11-01T07:00:00.000-06:00

Mother Mother is a five piece Canadian Indie Rock band, originally from Quadra Island, British Columbia; now based out of Vancouver. They also have three incredible albums: Touch Up, O My Heart and Eureka. From humble beginnings, this band has grown to be incredibly popular throughout Canada with their unique sound and obscure vocals.

In 2005, they released their self-titled debut album independently and later re-released the album on Last Gang Records in 2007 retitled Touch Up. After the release of their self titled album, the band landed a nationally broadcasted concert, opening for K'naan and the Wailing Jenny's; land in 2006 they opened for another of my favorite bands, The Cat Empire at a sold out Jazz Festival.

The band released their second album, O My Heart, in 2008. That album reached Single of the Week on iTunes for the week of October 8, 2008. Their latest album, Eureka, mixed by engineer Mike Fraser (who did AC/DC and Franz Ferdinand), was released on March 15, 2011^, with a lead single, "The Stand", that entered the Canada Singles Top 100 chart in May, 2011; spending one week on the chart and peaking during that week at position 76.

Anywho, I love these guys, they're incredible and they're apparently really fun to hang out with.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Let me know what you think?

Love & Hugs
Eliza

Away!

2011-10-24T12:40:00.001-06:00

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of posting! I'm working too much lately to have any time for posting and as such won't be back until the first week of November.

Hope you're all enjoying your autumn!

Love & Hugs
Eliza

Music Monday: Band of Horses

2011-10-17T07:00:00.000-06:00

It's Monday again, unfortunately -- but its time to share another awesome group with you that I really can't get enough of of.

These guys are Band of Horses, an awesome American indie rock group based out of Seattle, Washington. They've currently got 3 albums out, and they're all incredible. The group is regularly featured on NBC's "Chuck" with their songs "No One's Gonna Love You" and "On My Way Back Home" regularly featured.

Their first album Everything All the Time, came out in 2006 and features re-recorded versions of their Tour EP, as well as a handful of new songs. The band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman in June of that year and became a minor hit in Scandinavia. Cease to Begin came out in 2007 after the band toured the United States and Europe, with this album they reached the Billboard 200, and the album was also voted 49th Best Album of the Year by Rolling Stone Magazine. Their third album, Infinite Arms came out in May of 2010 and entered the UK chart at number 21, giving Band of Horses their first top 100 UK chart hit and debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200.

These guys are currently on Tour and have a show in New Orleans on the 28th, and then they take off for Australia where they will be playing 8 shows.

I desperately want to see them and can't wait for them to come to Edmonton on tour... hopefully 2012?

Anyway, if you guys are Chuck fans listen out for these guys (and if you aren't you really should be), if you're living in Australia, go see them in November and if you happen to be the band reading this, then come to Canada and I'll love you forever.

Hope you guys enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Love & Hugs
Eliza

I'm Still in Love with the '90s

2011-10-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

The other morning, Nate and I woke up talking about awesome things from the 1990's and what we miss most. I have absolutely no trouble admitting that I am a child of the 90's and still love just about everything that was popular at the time. From the music to the television shows, it's all a guilty pleasure and I really just can't help myself.

My Favorite'90s Music

Now, obviously these aren't the only great songs from the '90s, and obviously I like a ton more songs from the time, but these are the ones that came to mind first when I was browsing Groove Shark. I think its got something to do with the fact that '90s music makes me feel incredibly happy; probably because of all of the new electronic influences and synth voices, but it makes me happy none the less.

I remember dancing around the house to Barbie Girl by Aqua with my older sister, Danielle and her best friend Tiffany, I remember listening to Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears while they did my make up and dressed me in their clothes as if I were their doll. I remember hanging out with my new friends after moving right in the middle of 3rd grade and bonding over the fact that we all loved the Spice Girls.

Side bar: Thank you Spice Girls for making that traumatic move more tolerable. (;

Being that I was born in 1990, I was majorly into kids TV shows at the time, and I have incredibly fond memories of a number of different shows, both educational and not so much... that make me smile. Does anyone remember the Magic School Bus? I absolutely loved that show, the sound episode where the went to the haunted house? The engines episode where the students went inside the engine and learned how combustion works? So awesome. My first 3rd grade teacher was covertly referred to as Mrs. Frizzle, and thought she didn't have a pet lizard nor a Magic Bus which could shrink us down to miniature versions of ourselves, she did take us on incredibly awesome field trips.

A rather long montage to awesome '90s things...

it's a little tedious, feel free to skip it.

I also still have fond memories of Power Rangers, Popular Mechanics for Kids, Recess (even though they only had something like 40 episodes and I'd seen them all a million times), X-Men and Sponge Bob Squarepants.

And then there were all those incredibly awesome Disney Movies, the TV Show Feature Films and the awesome technology..... walkmans and discmans anybody? How about the clothing? I used to love my overalls, scrunchies, bedazzled denim and knee high socks.

I think that the '90s are the most underrated decade, for me it's all fond memories.... I'm without a doubt a 90's kid, and I always will be. What were your favorite things about the '90s? Am I alone in loving that decade or are there other 90's kids who love it just as much as I do?

Have a great weekend everyone! And wish me luck at my new job tomorrow!

Love & Hugs
Eliza

Things I Love Thursday

2011-10-13T07:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Thursday everyone! Its the most wonderful time of the week? We've all survived "humpday" and the weekend is just around the corner!

This week's installment of TILT is Autumn focused because I'm really loving all the falling leaves, the necessity of toques and scarves and the chance to bust out my winter wear.

these owl and rose bobby pins by loleysco on Etsy

this beautiful navy blue alpaca infinity scarf by smittenkittenorig on Etsy

Starbucks Peppermint White Chocolate Mochas

this Herrigbone Coat by Ricki's

these brown leather boots by Fossil

the 2010 Vancouver winter Olympic mittens

so warm and comfy! i love mine, thanks mom!

this Victoria's Secret cashmere sweater

this beautiful drawing by "sepraven"

this autumn collage

that this woman (Alison Redford) was just elected as Alberta Premier and she's standing up to all the boys to make major changes

this adorable couple and that comfy looking old quilt

this awesome pumpkin photo

pumpkin pie...
Nate and I have been making it a bunch lately. so tasty...

And that's all I've got for today. Fall is without a doubt my favorite season, there are so many wonderful things about it. What is your favorite season and what are you loving this week?

Love & Hugs
Eliza

Music Monday: Paper Lions

2011-10-10T07:00:00.000-06:00

Time for another new segment here on Love & Truth, today it's Music Monday. A chance for me to share some incredible artists that I really truly love. For my first music post I'd like to introduce you all to a Canadian indie rock band by the name of Paper Lions. Formerly known as "Chucky Danger Band", Paper Lions have been on the periphery of my life for the past 4 years, but I never really paid attention, nor took an interest in them until this past summer.

Currently on tour throughout Canada, Paper Lions will be playing in Edmonton at the Pawn Shop on October 27th, 2011 and Nate and I are planning to go. I've never seen them before, but Nate has seen them half a dozen times and tells me they are incredible live, and that I'll be disappointed with their album after seeing them perform. While I hope this isn't the case because I can't stop listening to them right now... I'm really excited to see them and figure it may be worth the future disappointment.

Obviously if I actually end up going to the show, I'll be posting about these guys again so I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do.

Let me know what you think?

Also, Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends!

Love & Hugs
Eliza

Facing My Fear

2011-10-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

In recent conversations with my best friend Crystal (who really is an inspiration and I'm so thankful that she's in my life), it has come to my attention that my fears are holding me back from reaching my full potential. Part of me really wants to say "Oh great! I've realized what's wrong! That's progress, that's enough for me. Now lets go back to almost where we were before and do nothing about it."; but I know that I can't. I want to be the best version of me there is.... and that involves facing my fears and getting on with things.

I hadn't ever really thought about the things that I'm afraid of, or at least not thought about them in any capacity other than "What do I need to do to avoid encountering them?" until just now and it turns out that its a daunting list. I'm nearly paralyzed by my fears and now that I'm aware of it its a horrible feeling somewhere between self-pity and self-loathing. Being that it's nearly the end of twenty-eleven and the start of twenty-twelve, I'm nearly twenty two years old and it's about time I got my life in order... I should probably deal with these things.

Now granted, some of these things are valid fears and those aren't things I'm too concerned about because really, anyone who isn't afraid of limb-sized creepy crawlies and man-eating reptiles aught to be declared criminally insane. No, those are legitimate and revolting and I want nothing to do with those (nor even the miniaturized versions we have in Canada), and I don't have any intention of getting over those fears. It's the life-halting, can't function, do things the round-about-backwards way to avoid them fears that I need to deal with.

So anyway, after that great ramble and self-pumping up to get myself in a mindset where I'm ready to face these things... here is what I am afraid of:

Failure - on varying levels... not meeting my own expectations, not meeting someone else's expectations
Rejection - from job interviews to my boyfriend, to meeting new people and even student loan applications
Abandonment - fairly self explanatory, once I trust someone and let them in I really don't want them to disappear
Embarrassment - I want to impress people, I want people to like me, I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of people
Gossip - people talking behind each others back, what things have I told someone in confidence that they are then going to go and tell the world?

I suppose those are the major issues that I'm dealing with. While it might not seem like a big deal, and usually it isn't; sometimes it's terrible.

A friend of mine always asks me why it is that I care so much what people think and I really can't explain it. I usually tell him something along the lines of "because its human nature to want to be accepted by your peers" something about evolutionary "safety in numbers" and "being accepted and having people you can relate to". To which he always replies "It doesn't matter what people think of you, so long as you are happy with yourself and know the truth." While he's right, and about sixty percent of the time I am happy and really honestly don't care about people's opinions, its that other forty percent of the time that causes the trouble.

Its that 40% of the time when I need to write a killer essay for a scholarship or need to rock a job interview or meet people in a new class. I'm tired of social anxieties getting in my way when generally I'm an entirely happy confident person; so that's it. I'm done with it.

I will not let my nerves get the better of me, its time that it motivated me to make a change. So here goes. Time to face the music and get on with my life. University application, here I come.

What are you afraid of? Are your fears holding you back?

Love & Hugs
Eliza

Bloglovin

2011-10-06T16:49:00.000-06:00

So, I'm now on Bloglovin, come find me and follow me and keep up to date! <3

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Things I Love Thursday

2011-10-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

Things I Love Thursday is one of my favorite weekly posts by a number of blogs I follow, and seeing as I am new to this game, I'm going to take a page from the book written by the masters, and do my own segment. I have a million photos on my computer, all meticulously sorted and organized into folders within folders of things that I like, which inspire me and just make me smile (I am beginning to think that I am perhaps a little OCD?) in any case! Take a look at the things I'm loving this week.

Hippopotamuses are without a doubt my favorite animal.

Followed closely by Elephants and Jellyfish.

Red hair. I'm obsessed. I did a stint where I colored my hair red and I loved it, though sadly I don't think it suits me as well as I wish it did.

I am without a doubt obsessed with Harry Potter. I love the books, I love the movies, and I want a time turner.

I also have a strange obsession with Zombies. I love this photo, I think both the subjects are beautiful and its a great shot of the Zombie Walk in Paris, France.

this adorable little home "drive-in" theatre

this tree swing. how incredibly perfect is it?
i just wonder how you get in and out without a boat....

this adorable hedgehog

this beautiful fishtail braid.

i like the shade of brown that her hair is...would it suit me?

the blue lagoon in iceland.

this incredible underwater restaurant

how cool would it be to eat dinner and see a shark swim by?

this song by Caro Emerald
actually, all song by her. new obsession much?

this movie "Born Free"

definitely a feel good film

anyway, those are a few of my favourite things right now.

what are you currently loving?

next installment of TILT will be on Thursday, October 13th, 2011.

Love and Hugs,
Eliza

Women of Outstanding Character

2011-09-29T14:09:00.000-06:00

There have been lots of articles in the news the past couple of days about women's rights and women who have made huge contributions to society and drastically changed people's perceptions of what women can and cannot do. This has gotten me thinking about how I am blessed to have always had really strong female role models in my life. From my mother, who moved out on her own when she was 16, dropped out of school and then raised 3 children on her own, to my older sister who embraced the unknown and moved to the other side of the world, to my high school guidance counselor who motivated and inspired me to reach for the stars, these women and many many others have encouraged and supported me throughout my life.

I have a huge incredibly long list of role models in my life, both men and women that I look up to and admire and aspire to be like. People who have changed history and ultimately made my life a better place by changing the world for the better. As it would be impossible for me to list off all the the men and women I admire, I've decided to limit this list a few of the women who I look up to and will forever admire for their hard work, determination and spirit.

You can read more about each of these inspiring ladies by clicking on their name, I have only written a little bit about what each of these women have done with their lives and why I admire them, but there is so much that I haven't included in these mini-bios. I have also added a quote or two that inspire me and I hope will inspire you as well.

And so, without further ado, Women of Outstanding Character:

Eleanor Roosevelt, former first lady, founder of the UN Association of the United States and noted women's rights activist, Roosevelt was a champion of the human rights movement and referred to as the "First Lady of the World" by President Trueman.

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't."

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do"

Wangari Maathai, environmental and political activist in Kenya, Maathai was a Nobel Peace Prize Winner; the first woman to earn a doctorate in East Africa and the Chairwomen for the National Council of Women in Kenya during the 1980's.

"We can work together for a better world with men and women of goodwill, those who radiate the intrinsic goodness of humankind. To do so effectively, the world needs a global ethic with values which give meaning to life experiences and, more than religious institutions and dogmas, sustain the non-material dimension of humanity. Mankind's universal values of love, compassion, solidarity, caring and tolerance should form the basis for this global ethic which should permeate culture, politics, trade, religion and philosophy. It should also permeate the extended family of the United Nations. "

Marie Curie, the Head of the Physics Laboratory at the Sorbonne, nobel prize winner and Director of the Curie Laboratory in the Radium Institute of the University of Paris in 1914; Curie was also member of the Conseil du Physique Solvay and a member of the Committee of Intellectual Co-operation of the League of Nations.

"Humanity needs practical men, who get the most out of their work, and, without forgetting the general good, safeguard their own interests. But humanity also needs dreamers, for whom the disinterested development of an enterprise is so captivating that it becomes impossible for them to devote their care to their own material profit. Without doubt, these dreamers do not deserve wealth, because they do not desire it. Even so, a well-organized society should assure to such workers the efficient means of accomplishing their task, in a life freed from material care and freely consecrated to research."

Mother Teresa, Roman Catholic nun, founder of Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta and international humanitarian and advocate for the rights of the poor and helpless. Mother Teresa was canonized by Pope John Paul II and given the title, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

"We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty. "

"Do not wait for leaders. Do it alone, person to person."

Nellie McClung, Canadian feminist, politician and social activist; Nellie McClung was a member of "The Famous Five" who started the "Person Case" which fought to give women the right to be a "qualified person" and sit on the senate committee.

"Women who set a low value of themselves make life hard for all women."

"By nice women . . . you probably mean selfish women who have no more thought for the underprivileged, overworked women than a pussycat in a sunny window for the starving kitten in the street. Now in that sense I am not a nice woman, for I do care."

Amelia Earhart, was one of the earliest women in history to prove that women are just as capable as men, American aviatotion pioneer and author, Earhart was the first woman to receive the Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

"The effect of having other interests beyond those domestic works well. The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one's appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding companionship."

"Never do things others can do and will do if there are things others cannot do or will not do."

Margaret Thatcher, the first woman to head a major UK political party, and in 1979, the UK's first female Prime Minister. Thatcher earned the nickname the "Iron Lady" for her hard line stance in regard to trade unions and opposition to the Soviet Union.

"Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country."

"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't. "

"I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end. "

Audrey Hepburn, a British actress and humanitarian as well as a noted fashion icon throughout the 20th Century. Hepburn devoted much of her life to humanitarian and philanthropic work with UNICEF, in 1992 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work as a Goodwill Ambassador.

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone. "

"I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person. "

Indira Gandhi, an Indian politician and leader of the Indian National Congress. Gandhi was the 3rd Prime Minister of the Republic of India where she served for a total of four terms (three consecutively). She was India's second female Prime Minister and served for the second longest term a woman has held in office, in the world.

"Even if I died in the service of the nation, I would be proud of it. Every drop of my blood... will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic. "

"The power to question is the basis of all human progress."

Do you have a list of role models and people that you look up to? Do you agree or disagree with my list?

Please let me know what you think and who you admire, and don't stop trying to change the world for the better.

Love & Hugs
Eliza

A Phenomenon

2011-09-23T16:16:00.000-06:00

Right now is a phenomenon. Right now extraordinary things are happening.

Right now…

A small group of people are building something that will soon make the impossible possible.
A firefighter is running into a burning building to rescue a perfect stranger.
A young mom is lying in a hospital bed and holding her newborn baby twins for the very first time.
Someone is taking a shower and singing happily at the top of their lungs.
There is someone out there who smiles when they think of a specific moment they once shared with you.
Volunteers in major cities all over the world are working at homeless shelters caring for those who are less fortunate than themselves.
A high school athlete just broke her own personal record.
Two teenagers just received their very first kiss ever from each other.
A husband and wife who were drowning in debt five years ago proudly hold a balance of zero on their credit cards.
A new small business owner just wrapped up his first profitable year working for himself.
A grandfather is holding his granddaughter’s hand and they’re both smiling from ear to ear.
Someone just placed their spare change in the charity collection cup at the grocery store.
A breast cancer patient just found out her cancer is in complete remission.
Honest people are working for various government entities to help protect your basic human rights and civil liberties.
An emergency room surgeon is in the middle of saving his patient’s life.
Someone is holding the door open for the person behind them.

Right now is a new beginning. Right now is an opportunity.

Do something extraordinary.

I don't remember where this came from, its something I read and one point, loved and copied into a word document on my computer, and thought that I should share with you.

Credit for this lovely inspiring little piece goes to its author, thank you for sharing this incredibly uplifting message.

Love & Hugs
Eliza

Top 100 Books of all Time

2011-09-23T15:06:00.001-06:00

A few months back, my darling older sister, Danielle and I had been discussing our love of reading and the desire to read the top 100 books of all time. Now, Danielle being a far more motivated person than I, immediately started on this project and how now chewed her way through at least a third of the books on the list and is powering through the rest of them at ludicrous speed (anyone seen Space Balls?). I being my usual, lazy, procrastinating, silly self, haven't even looked at the list until just the other day when I decided that it was about time I started on this semi-daunting task.

Part of me thinks that this isn't going to be too hard to do because I love reading, but the other part of me thinks "ohmigod you're going to commit us to something so huge and sometimes incredibly tedious as a book list as suggested by some stuffy pencil pushers who wouldn't know fun if it slapped them in the face?". Well.... yes. I am. I'm going to do it, but I'm going to do it my way. I'm only going to read 75 of them (that way I can leave out the worst ones) and I'm going to make myself read at least one a month, and post a brief review of it.

And so, without further ado! The list!

1. "Ulysses," James Joyce

2. "The Great Gatsby," F. Scott Fitzgerald

3. "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," James Joyce

4. "Lolita," Vladimir Nabokov

5. "Brave New World," Aldous Huxley

6. "The Sound and the Fury," William Faulkner

7. "Catch-22," Joseph Heller

8. "Darkness at Noon," Arthur Koestler

9. "Sons and Lovers," D. H. Lawrence

10. "The Grapes of Wrath," John Steinbeck

11. "Under the Volcano," Malcolm Lowry

12. "The Way of All Flesh," Samuel Butler

13. "1984," George Orwell

14. "I, Claudius," Robert Graves

15. "To the Lighthouse," Virginia Woolf

16. "An American Tragedy," Theodore Dreiser

17. "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter," Carson McCullers

18. "Slaughterhouse Five," Kurt Vonnegut

19. "Invisible Man," Ralph Ellison

20. "Native Son," Richard Wright

21. "Henderson the Rain King," Saul Bellow

22. "Appointment in Samarra," John O' Hara

23. "U.S.A." (trilogy), John Dos Passos

24. "Winesburg, Ohio," Sherwood Anderson

25. "A Passage to India," E. M. Forster

26. "The Wings of the Dove," Henry James

27. "The Ambassadors," Henry James

28. "Tender Is the Night," F. Scott Fitzgerald

29. "The Studs Lonigan Trilogy," James T. Farrell

30. "The Good Soldier," Ford Madox Ford

31. "Animal Farm," George Orwell

32. "The Golden Bowl," Henry James

33. "Sister Carrie," Theodore Dreiser

34. "A Handful of Dust," Evelyn Waugh

35. "As I Lay Dying," William Faulkner

36. "All the King's Men," Robert Penn Warren

37. "The Bridge of San Luis Rey," Thornton Wilder

38. "Howards End," E. M. Forster

39. "Go Tell It on the Mountain," James Baldwin

40. "The Heart of the Matter," Graham Greene

41. "Lord of the Flies," William Golding

42. "Deliverance," James Dickey

43. "A Dance to the Music of Time" (series), Anthony Powell

44. "Point Counter Point," Aldous Huxley

45. "The Sun Also Rises," Ernest Hemingway

46. "The Secret Agent," Joseph Conrad

47. "Nostromo," Joseph Conrad

48. "The Rainbow," D. H. Lawrence

49. "Women in Love," D. H. Lawrence

50. "Tropic of Cancer," Henry Miller

51. "The Naked and the Dead," Norman Mailer

52. "Portnoy's Complaint," Philip Roth

53. "Pale Fire," Vladimir Nabokov

54. "Light in August," William Faulkner

55. "On the Road," Jack Kerouac

56. "The Maltese Falcon," Dashiell Hammett

57. "Parade's End," Ford Madox Ford

58. "The Age of Innocence," Edith Wharton

59. "Zuleika Dobson," Max Beerbohm

60. "The Moviegoer," Walker Percy

61. "Death Comes to the Archbishop," Willa Cather

62. "From Here to Eternity," James Jones

63. "The Wapshot Chronicles," John Cheever

64. "The Catcher in the Rye," J. D. Salinger

65. "A Clockwork Orange," Anthony Burgess

66. "Of Human Bondage," W. Somerset Maugham

67. "Heart of Darkness," Joseph Conrad

68. "Main Street," Sinclair Lewis

69. "The House of Mirth," Edith Wharton

70. "The Alexandria Quartet," Lawrence Durrell

71. "A High Wind in Jamaica," Richard Hughes

72. "A House for Ms. Biswas," V. S. Naipaul

73. "The Day of the Locust," Nathaniel West

74. "A Farewell to Arms," Ernest Hemingway

75. "Scoop," Evelyn Waugh

76. "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," Muriel Spark

77. "Finnegans Wake," James Joyce

78. "Kim," Rudyard Kipling

79. "A Room With a View," E. M. Forster

80. "Brideshead Revisited," Evelyn Waugh

81. "The Adventures of Augie March," Saul Bellow

82. "Angle of Repose," Wallace Stegner

83. "A Bend in the River," V. S. Naipaul

84. "The Death of the Heart," Elizabeth Bowen

85. "Lord Jim," Joseph Conrad

86. "Ragtime," E. L. Doctorow

87. "The Old Wives' Tale," Arnold Bennett

88. "The Call of the Wild," Jack London

89. "Loving," Henry Green

90. "Midnight's Children," Salman Rushdie

91. "Tobacco Road," Erskine Caldwell

92. "Ironweed," William Kennedy

93. "The Magus," John Fowles

94. "Wide Sargasso Sea," Jean Rhys

95. "Under the Net," Iris Murdoch

96. "Sophie's Choice," William Styron

97. "The Sheltering Sky," Paul Bowles

98. "The Postman Always Rings Twice," James M. Cain

99. "The Ginger Man," J. P. Donleavy

100. "The Magnificent Ambersons," Booth Tarkington

There you have it folks. The Top 100 Books of all time, as composed by The New York Times. The BOLD GREY TITLES have already been read (Thank you Mr. McMonagle in high-school English 12) so there are only 71 books to go! Yay me! Today I am going to order Ulysses in at my local branch of the Edmonton Public library, and it should be here within the week.

Have you read the top 100 books of all time, or composed some other list of books that you need to read? Was it hard to accomplish?

Love & Hugs
Eliza

Little Monster

2011-09-18T12:01:00.001-06:00

My beautiful older sister and her husband are pregnant. This in itself is old news. Nine months ago old news. In fact, the baby was due on September 12th, seven whole days ago.

Now, I know that babies are almost never on time, and I'm not the one carrying the beast, dealing with all of the crazy things that accompany pregnancy (did you know you get an itchy belly, have random strangers rub your tummy on the metro and devour an entire tub of Breyer's in a half-hour? I certainly didn't... but I'm about 9 years away from my first pregnancy so I figure not being in the know is okay); but I mean really! When is the little one planning on making an appearance?

I know that my sister is going crazy and our mother is headed down there to help look after monster and let my sister get some sleep when the monster arrives, but at this point it's looking like the ladies will be going for lunch rather than trying to feed the little one.

In any case. I am ecstatic to be an auntie and I cannot wait for Monster to arrive.

Wishing the parents to be every happiness, a smooth delivery and a wonderful happy healthy baby any day now.

Love & Hugs
Eliza