Life & Lit: Of Heat, Book Club, and ’80’s Movies


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Life and Lit

It’s hot here in the mountains of North Carolina, folks. Hot like we only see a handful of days in the year, thank goodness. We’ve been on the wrong side of 100 degrees for a couple of days now and I think we’re all feeling it. I know that’s normal for some of you, so feel free to call me a wimp if you want; I’m still going to complain. And I’m getting cranky. Not because of the heat (although I’m sure I would if I had to be out in it), but because of the AC. You read that right. I have a love/hate relationship with air conditioning. My parents didn’t put it in until after I moved out. I know my elementary school didn’t have it and I’m pretty sure my middle school didn’t have it. So I never got acclimated to it in my formative years. Don’t get me wrong; I’m thankful for the cool air when it’s this hot, but I hate to have cold air blowing on me. HATE. I can’t seem to get away from it this weekend. Wherever I go in this house, the air conditioner is blasting me. I would set the temperature higher, but I’m married to a Florida boy who finds such talk sacrilegious. Oh, the compromises we make in a marriage.

Enough complaining.

I’ve spent the weekend downloading pictures off my camera’s memory card. My aunt almost lost six months of pictures recently and she was sick at the thought of it. I have two years’ worth of pictures on mine. Holy cow. I’ve downloaded a few events here and there, but I decided to learn her lesson and get to work. I’m up to Christmas 2010 right now. O_o

The Princess Bride

A local theater has been screening old movies on their big outdoor screen this summer for free. We went to see The Princess Bride a couple of weeks ago, and it was awesome. I’ve never seen it on the big screen, so that was cool enough in and of itself. But it was so much fun to see it with a group of old friends and a huge group of other people. Kids seeing it for the first time were so enthralled. The adults were laughing before the punch lines and quoting our favorite lines. For the record, I know I threw out, “You keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think that it means” (which I always say wrong but I love it anyway) and “I want my father back, you son of a bitch.”

The Breakfast Club

We went with the same group last week to see The Breakfast Club. I admit that I’ve never seen it. I don’t think I’ve even caught a few minutes flipping through channels late at night. My friends were appalled because they love it, so out we went. It was fun. I can see why people love it, but I came to it when I was a little too old. It’s not a new favorite by any means, but I don’t regret seeing it either.

Cover of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

My book club met Thursday night. We discussed The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. Only four of us made it to the meeting and only one of us had really and truly read the whole thing. Oh, I read it in college but I don’t remember one thing about it. I only made it halfway through before the meeting but I decided to go anyway because I just wanted to see everyone and I didn’t care about spoilers. Our group was not impressed with the book. Not the one who really finished it, not the one who skimmed through to the end and not the two of us who only got halfway. It’s a very bleak book and we decided that the message is “Everyone is lonely, life sucks, and then you die.” We gave each other permission not to finish. But now that I’m home and it’s looking at me, I think I will finish it for my Southern Lit Challenge. I just hate to give up on a Southern Lit book when I’m hosting that challenge. Next month we’re reading my choice though. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman. We’re all looking forward to it already! At least it sounds like it might have some laughs in it!

What’s been going on in your life?

I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop’s, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase books through links on my site.

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