Eat, Pray, Love up to page 203

Liz and her friends at the Ashram talk about marriage and her friends decide to find a way to help Liz have closure with her ex husband since their divorce ended so badly. They get her to go to a roof top, the highest point in the Ashram and tell her in a note there is nothing between her and God, so all she has to do is let go. She meditates and gets to a place where her and her ex are together and talking. She feels she has achieved closure and can now move on with her life. Her friend Richard from Texas is leaving he Ashram, and tells Liz she must move on, and that the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else...lol. Liz is chosen to host a series of retreats at the Ashram, which she is kinda excited about because she feels like she needs to be in silence more, which is what these retreats are all about. Liz also makes the realization that we need God because he provides us with grace. And God needs us because he loves to feel things through our hands. I feel like this is a really good point, and explains why God would do so much for us and sacrifice so much. Liz ends up enjoying her first retreat, finding that she learned more than she taught the visitors. This experience is helping her become even better at meditating and finding a connection with God which ultimately leads to her happiness.

Eat, Pray, Love up to page 182

Liz has indeed found what she was looking for in India. She begins this next section explaining how she felt like she was praying/meditating wrong because her mind would always wander. Apparently, a wandering mind is an untrained mind that cannot be controlled by the owner of the mind. This prevents the person from meditating properly and listening to what God is saying to you. Praying is talking to God, meditating is listening to what he has to say. If your mind is filled with other thoughts, God will not talk to you and give you guidance. The goal of people who follow Gurus is to have a successful meditation where the mind does not wander and one can interact with God and become enlightened. Liz tries to do this, and only fails. She gets very frustrated, changes the mantra she recites to an easier one, and asks other wise followers of the Guru how the meditate, hoping to get good advice. Then one day in the Ashram while meditating, Liz falls into a deep sleep/ state of meditation and experiences a blue shock, which is described in some beliefs as a visit from God. Liz is thrilled she has finally been enlightened but works to strengthen this connection she has just built with God. Also while at the Ashram, she befriends a man named Richard who is visiting from Texas. He's a lot older than her, but the two become friends quickly, and soon Liz explains her problems, mostly the love life ones, to him. She realizes how much she still misses David, even after sending him the email that he agreed with about how they should never really be in a relationship, except she doesnt know if she can live without him in her life, but really its best for them to never speak again. It was quite a confusing email, but Liz had good intentions. Except, she's struggling to follow through with this email, as she still has strong feelings for David. Her prayers continue though, asking God to help her out every time. Liz also considers the concept of destiny, and how it is a cross between divine grace and willful self- effort. Half of our destiny we can control and the other half is pure luck. This brings her to the topic of how she can control her own thoughts. This concept applies to her meditation and helps her learn how to meditate more successfully. Liz also meets a young teenage girl and tells her all about her life, especially about marriage. In this girl, Tulsi's, culture, she is regarded as a legitimate marriage prospect at the age of eighteen, which she is soon approaching. Tulsi will have an arranged marriage, which she is not too happy about. She claims she would never get married if it were up to her, and says it is commendable of Liz that she was the one to end her marriage and become free to roam the world. This kinda confused me at first, but really when you think about it, it is kinda commendable and courageous of Liz to get herself out of a bad situation and take charge of her own life.

Eat, Pray, Love up to page 130

I reallly liked Liz's trip to Italy. I was sad to see it come to an end, but i also think this new adventure to India will be just as great! Upon leaving Rome, Liz realizes she's put on a lotttt of weight while she's been travelling the country enjoying all different kinds of cuisine. but she's kinda ok with this because she is going to India...where she will probably not eat as well and she'll be doing a lot of meditation and yoga, which will help her get into shape. I guess it would also help for me to better explain why Liz has chosen to come to India. She is following a religious Guru. In the book, she explains that you come to a Guru with the "hope that the merits of your master will reveal to you your own hidden greatness." Only super special people can become Gurus, so this chick shes visiting is kinda super important. except, the Guru isn't actually there, so she's just visiting her Ashram, which is apparently almost just as good and help you get even closer to becoming a greater person. To be able to stay at the Ashram, you have to be serious about keeping up your studies. this place is like in the middle of nowhere and its in a pretty run down town. Most people at the Ashram are just students visiting. Liz's trip is at the same time as New Year's so she gets to celebrate with her new friends! she talks about the beautifully dressed women who are dancing to drum beats and how shes having a lot of fun with people she doesn't even know, just celebrating another year of life to come. unlike her previous struggles with loneliness, Liz is now surrounded by people, possible new friends, and claims she is not lonely at all. This is a nice change of pace for her, and I hope she finds India as satisfying as she hoped it would be!

Bloggies "Tales of Bibliophile"

So i chose the blog Tales of a Bibliophile for my Bloggie award. I really enjoyed their mix of reading and personal posts. Here's some of my favorite recent posts of theirs:

http://123tidbit.blogspot.com/2011/04/optical-illusions.html

this post was about some abstract optical illusions. I thought it was especially cool because they were illusions made out of real pictures, as opposed to illusions from shapes and colors together.

http://123tidbit.blogspot.com/2011/04/poisonwood-bible-1-45.html

I really like that they combine pictures with their reading logs, it gives me insight into what they're thinking while they're reading, which kinda combines personal posts with reading posts.

White Noise topic #5

Jack Gladney's stereotypical comments made during the suggested evacuation of his town expose a common grand narrative in American culture. Jack believes him and his family are safe from the black billowing cloud because the wind never blows in their direction. He judgmentally claims that since he is the head of a department at a college, he can't see himself "fleeing an airborne toxic effect." In his opinion, fleeing from these disasters are "for people who live in mobile homes out in the scrubby parts of the county." Gladney is conveying a claim that really isn't true or proven, but are accepted as a truth by the public because of how often it is true. His claim is part of a postmodernism theme of exposing these socially accepted truths that are realistically false.

White Noise Part One Questions

In Chapter 15, what is the significance of the back and forth discussion over Hitler and Elvis Presley presented by Jack and Murray?

Why is Babette so forgetful and how does she not know if she is taking any medications?

Why won't Wilder stop crying? Why is his nonstop crying and his parents' reactions to his crying significant?

Explain the family's conversation in Chapter 17. Why doesn't Jack make any remarks?

If people of this time are so afraid of dying why does Jack dwell on the idea of death at the beginning of Chapter 20? What points does he bring up?

Eat, Pray, Love up to page 102

recently, Liz has been enjoying her stay in Italy. she and a friend have found two Italian male twins, Giovanni and Dario, who are extremely gorgeous. they exchange lessons in each other's languages. Liz somewhat wishes Giovanni would kiss her, but knows it would only end badly, and he's like ten years younger than her lol. i think she's just jealous because her friend is hitting it off with Dario and she just wishes she had someone to love while she's in Rome. who wouldn't though? anyways, she travels around the rest of Italy...so lucky...and is surrounded by beautiful scenery. when she arrives in Venice, she realizes she isn't depressed in the city. probably because the city is more depressed than she is. i find this a weird way to look at it, but i guess she's probably right.

i find it funny that she is struggling with such conflicting feelings dealing with her love life. she leaves New York to find peace and tranquility and a balance between love and religion. however, she starts with finding love...which is probably the most difficult thing to understand in the world. our minds and our hearts tell us totally different things, and quite honestly i think Liz is right. she would complicate things so much by kissing Giovanni. she doesn't really love him, she lusts after him. again, Italy is like the place to be for love and she really isn't doing herself any favors by exposing herself to potential new boyfriends/lovers so shortly after she ended a marriage and a short lust relationship with that David guy. i hope india is more promising for her with her spiritual balance...

Eat, Pray, Love up to page 48

i thought this book would be really good because it was recently made into a movie i heard was good. and i figured that since i have yet to see the movie, i might as well read the book first right? this reading has definitely got me excited for the movie. here's what these first forty- eight pages have been like.

Liz introduces herself and gives a...well not so brief summary of her life. and by life i kinda mean like the past few struggling years she's dealt with. she married a man and was with him for like 7 or 8 years. she has a job as a writer and pretty accomplished at it. she recently divorced her husband because she was too pressured by marriage to end her life of freedom to settle down and have children. she simply was not happy and struggled with so much depression during the divorce she was forced to go on antidepressants after no other tactic would work. she involves herself with another man, which only leads to more depression. but this man has shown her to a religion guru, who she becomes very interested in following. she decides she must go to India to her ashram, as well as Italy because she needs a reason to learn the language she finds so beautiful. She also needs to go back to Indonesia after she was sent there for a business trip and a medicine man told her she would return. these pages end with all this nonsense built up while Liz is in Italy and is suffering from a returning visit from loneliness and depression. she is trying to ward them away but just can't seem to.

rereading my summary, i'm quite sorry its a bunch of nonsense and random thoughts exploded into a paragraph. if you can follow it, great. kudos to you and i hope you find that this book seems as interesting as i think it is. i just really like these stories of women recounting their adventures and the crazy things they get themselves into. like how Liz quit her job to go travel to these three different places? i'm almost positive i forgot to mention that, but she does. i think its crazy, and ambitious and i love it. go Liz. this is definitely a story i'll want to continue.

White Noise Response

11: Expostulate on the narrator's idea that it is "always odd numbers at a time like this (47)." -fifteen miles east

I believe the narrator was referring to the unluckiness odd numbers represent. The time reads 3:51 in the morning of his 51st birthday. The narrator believes odd numbers are something like an omen, and seeing as he is approaching his 51st year of age, also an odd number, he is closer to dying, a prominent fear of his. The narrator sees odd numbers all around him, which is why he claims there are “always odd numbers.” “A time like this” refers to the current situation he is in; in bed, waking drenched in sweat as he felt so close to death in his dreams.

Chapter Nine:
The elementary school is evacuated due to children getting "headaches and eye irritations, tasting metals in their mouths." Does this event foreshadow more troubles to come? -She Said She Said

I think this event foreshadows upcoming trouble. The children are obviously suffering from some sort of disease or infestation and are just beginning to show symptoms, hinting that more may come from this. Especially after a man in a suit made to protect himself from whatever could have harmed the children dies while inside the building, it seems more likely that something more will come from this strange occurrence. Personally, I think there is a problem with one of the products or appliances used in the school that has been recently developed and the people are not very familiar with yet, such as lead in the paint.

5. Describe the contrast of Murray's thrill of white packaging and keen obsession with smell. -Whatcha No Bout Me?

The obvious contrast between Murray’s love of white packaging and ability to judge all grocery products by their smell is that he enjoys the look of simplistic items but is delighted by the distinctive smells of foods that distinguish them from one another and help to rate their goodness. Murray shows his satirical side by his appreciation of the plain white packaging of the generic products, even though they contain products that taste just as good as the name brand colorful products. He realizes that not every good thing in life comes is wrapped in pretty colors with an expensive price tag. The smell of food, however, can judge the true quality of the products even when the appearance might be deceiving.

Naturally Beautiful

Todd Selby's website displays numerous photographs of unique homes, one of which belongs to Dan Martensen and Shannan Click. The couple's rustic home adorned with a quaint vegetable garden and artwork created by Click exude the home's intimacy. The home is constructed of wood, giving the interior the feel of a cabin. Click is an excellent artist and her paintings grace the walls of their home, connecting the couple even more with their abode. The decorations and design of the house give the home a comfortable and cozy feel, something I think is very important to have, which makes me like this home the best of the three different homes featured by Selby.

White Noise Chapters 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11

1. What is Jack Gladney's, the main character, most prominent achievement?
3. Describe Murray Jay Siskind's personality and attitudes toward life.
5. How does Murray feel about Babette?
7. Describe Jack and Babette's relationship.
9. Where does Murray invite Jack and Babette and how does he act when he does so?
11. How old is Jack turning and how does he feel about this?