Read It and Weep

I've landed in Phoenix and am settling into the desert sun and heat, and the relative languor of vacation. This morning, I picked oranges, grapefruits, and lemons from the backyard and did my physical therapy exercises and some strength work on my legs and abs.

I've spent most of the rest of the day reading Rick Riordan's The Lightning Thief outside (in the shade, of course) and consuming massive quantities of sun tea and water. Riordan's book is an entertaining young adult read that postulates that titans, gods, and demigods walk among us in the contemporary world.

After the pool cools down (we washed and removed the insulating cover a bit ago), I'll take a swim.

Let's see. What else? Last night we went to RA, a sushi joint up the street, for happy hour, played with the Wii (according to which, by the way, I suck at most physical tasks :)), and watched a movie.

I also wanted to mentioned the book I read right before this one. It's called The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and I was so enthralled that I burned through it in about four days. It's set in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi and is told through the voice of two African-American maids and one white woman. The white woman is writing a book about the maids' experiences, which was a dangerous and subversive act during this volatile period. Read it and weep, literally. It will make you cry, it will make you laugh, and above all, it will make you think.

The Knights who say Knee

Since my knees have been aching, I've been exercising less. I'm doing the R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, and elevation) regimen and will see a Sports Medicine person next week. It's very challenging to rest all the time. I mean, as a general rule, I begrudgingly go to the gym, but exercise does make me feel better and relieves stress.

Since I'm kind of laid up, you'd think I'd have lots of time to write in my blog. Alas, that does not seem to be the case. Well, I guess I have the time; I just haven't been devoting it to writing. I have been reading a fair number of books, though. Let's see. Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides, Laura Esquivel's Swift as Desire, Janet Fitch's Paint It Black, and Dai Sijie's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. And now I need a new book. Any suggestions?