Isn't it Cool When Things Turn Out the Way You Want?

I sure think so. I guess I'm a tough customer, because it doesn't happen very much. My expectations are always too high. With a job and homelife about as unpredictable as Lindsay Lohan, I like it when things turn out the way they're supposed to--according to my brain. I'm referring to the picture here of my living room.

This is some art work that my husband and I created last week. We bought the shapes several months ago and planned what we wanted, but we didn't have a good block of time to put it all together until last week. My husband spray painted each one, we measured out the grid on the wall with string, and voila! I love being married to an engineer, because you know that everything will by leveled, measured, and calculated to the max. We were both very happy with how it turned out. We've been in the process of turning our 1970s place into a more mid-century modern kind of place. We have huge walls to fill, and we didn't want to spend a fortune, so we chose our own "do-it-yourself" project. To me, it's perfect!

Since I've been laid up in bed lately, I've been reading a lot. I just finished an interesting book called Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century. At first I thought their marriage was so romantic, but as I kept reading, I realized it was just a horrible case of co-dependency. Seriously, that book just made me want to drink Jack Daniels and pick incredible fights with my husband, because that's what I was reading about all day long. Wow, those two had some blowouts! Still, it was a fascinating read.

A few of my friends from college have new books out that I'm excited to recommend. Julia Story's new book of poetry, Post Moxie, has been garnering praise and multiple award since its recent publication. The book is hauntingly gorgeous. Marc Rahe has a new book of poetry called The Smaller Half, and it, too, is full of surprises and beauty. Both of these talented poets have been writing for a long time and know how to craft some of the most interesting contemporary poetry I've read in a long time. Another friend from college, Joshua Ferris, was recently named to the New Yorker's Twenty Under Forty for his fiction. His first novel, And Then We Came to the End, was a National Book Award finalist, and Stephen King just named his second novel, The Unnamed, as one of the summer's must-reads. How did he do that? He was always talented, but I actually remember him complimenting me on my writing back in the day. Where's my Pulitzer?!