Last and…um, probably least, I completed Leslie Morgan Steiner’s Crazy Love, a true story about Steiner’s abusive first marriage. I say it was my least favorite of the bunch because it just didn’t read well, but not because the story was “bad.” I fully respect Steiner’s right to tell her story, and a horrifying story it is! I commend her on her mission, which is to expose (re-expose? pound home the message?) that abusive relationships don’t just happen to poor, uneducated non-White people.

Steiner grew up very wealthy, is Harvard-educated, and even received her MBA while living through a nightmarish marriage. Under the writing (which I personally didn’t like) is a message many people need to hear: it can happen to any one of us. And it is.

I by no means think Dan Brown is a literary giant or genius or anything like that. But, the man sure does write a perfect cloudy, lazy post-Halloween Sunday novel. I actually finished all 509 pages of The Lost Symbol last Sunday!

I don’t want to give anything away since I know how crazy Dan Brown fans can be, but I’ll say that I didn’t like it as much as the others. Maybe because it was based in the U.S., or maybe because by now his stories seem predictable. I totally called one of the twists at the end, and I’m usually the last one to figure these types of things out. I’m sure people will still enjoy it, though!

With hopes of understanding sister bonds and relationships, I picked up Deborah Tannen’s You were Always Mom’s Favorite!: Sisters in Conversation Throughout Their Lives. After completing it, I was no more enlightened than before. I’m not sure that anyone would be. The entire book felt a little obvious, like the points she made about communication between sisters and rivalries and all that seemed like basic stuff. I’m no expert on sisters whatsoever (I only have a younger brother), so perhaps people with sisters will relate to this book better.

Being sick has really been a downer, but in the precious hours after taking Advil, the fever breaks and I get a welcome respite from the fever. How did I spend those precious moments? Attempting to read. I picked up and put down several (they just weren’t very appetizing) but managed to finish a few that I had started pre-swine flu including Why Cant U Teach Me 2 Read?: Three Students and a Mayor Put Our Schools to the Test, by Beth Fertig.

This non-fiction piece follows three New York City young adults, Yamilka, Alejandro, and Antonio, as they struggle to learn the basics of reading and arithmatic. All three have some level of learning disability, and managed to reach their early 20s without being able to read. Can you imagine passing through each grade, or being shuffled from one school to another, only to reach adulthood without the crucial skill of reading? I can’t.

Through an explanation of Mayor Bloomberg’s educational overhaul, as well as of the structure of the NYC schooling systems, Fertig does not provide answers, but an idea as to how this could have happened. She also helps explain the additional difficulties faced by students with a variety of learning disabilities. Reading came easily to me because I had the support of my family, my schools, and no learning disabilities to combat. But this is certainly not the case for everyone, and this book opened my eyes to the many challenges facing new readers.

A bouquet of vitamin C from my lovely fiancée!

This is what I’ve looked like all week, except when I was sweating buckets with fever. Otherwise it has been me and my blanket.

Who sleeps like that?! Seriously!

Is it sad that I was hoping getting H1N1 was God’s way of helping me look better for my wedding?

Answer: YES.

Jack pretty much sums up how I feel.

I’m a little late on this, but congratulations Dr. Pasquerella!

Oh. That would be now.

Last night was the first Halloween in years that I wasn’t sick, but I had to be convinced by coworkers to get into the spirit of the holiday. Boy, am I glad that I let them talk me into it, because it was a whole lot of fun!

Vanessa was a phoenix in brilliant red, Rodrigo and Alice donned their Target toddler-sized costumes complete with plush animals/dinosaurs, Vim was Indiana Jones, Lyon was a disco ninja turtle, Katherine was a zebra, and I was an 80s aerobics instructor (with less satisfying hair due to lack of time).

The evening started off with dinner/drinks in downtown NoHo where we celebrated Rodrigo’s last weekend in the area. It was bittersweet, as we were all in a festive mood but also hating to have to say good bye to our dear friend. After a tearful goodbye at The Dirty Truth (where we had migrated post-dinner), we tried to keep our spirits up by dancing the night away at NBC. Much fun was had, despite the DJ’s refusal to play Shoop again for our benefit.