Day of travel, here I come!
Not really though, as I am still lying warm and cozy in my blanket cocoon. I did, however, manage to do most of my packing last night while listening to/watching fantastic Alfred Hitchcock film Notorious. It is one of my favorites and is notoriously... good. Hahaha... I am tired still.
I realized that I still haven't said anything about Hunger Games (da film), and that makes it seem like it was bad or forgettable. It was actually very good. A little on the longer side coming in at 2 hours and 20 some odd minutes, but all minutes well spent. The thing that surprised me the most (in a good way, mind) was how little the characters talked. Given that the book is mostly told in Katniss' internal monologue (I just typed "brain narration" and thought: no, you're an English major and there's a word for that) there were a lot of ways they could have shot the film to handle that. I think the fact that they chose a "few extra lines and y'all better act good" as their strategy was great. Some very nice cinematography and overall a very close follow of the books. I thought it was good fun.
Now, this trip... Before I go on trips I get nervous. I get nervous in the same way that I get nervous standing in line for the biggest roller coaster at the amusement park. I'm excited and I know it will be fun, but I'm also afraid I might die. It's mostly unfounded because generally people don't die on roller coasters (or airplanes), but ohmygodwhatifIdie! Still, if I really think I'm going to die before I get there I shouldn't waste my time packing but, guys, I have packed so many things. I have packed a ton of stuff because in my head Venice might be so great that I will decide to stay there forever, and I'll need extra clothes and books for what will become a transitional period in my life. Also, you will all be needing passports to come visit me.
I'm going to get up now and take a shower. Unless I get extremely bored in the airport this is the last time you'll hear from me until we reach Zurich, where assuredly things will be nice and Swiss. Hoping to find cheese, hot chocolate and someone who can point me toward the gate to my transfer flight in at least 3 of Switzerland's 4 national languages. Will try to learn Romansh during the layover! I promise my next post will have pictures too. I know words are so dull all on their own.
XOX
Books I'm taking with me, in case you were wondering (not counting the ones on my PC Nook reader thing, which are all the ones that it came with anyway; I just cant convince myself that eBooks are something I want to involve myself with yet. ANYWAY):
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I started this book several months ago and then got distracted by life and other books and had to put it down. Very ready to pick it back up again. Sherlock Holmes mysteries are some of my favorites.
Travels with Myself and Another: A Memoir by Martha Gellhorn
Similar to Hound, I was reading this book right in the middle of a lot of things and I had to put it down and attend to life. But now I have time and I'm so looking forward to it. I'm in the middle of an early chapter where she's in China with an unidentified companion (my guess is Hemingway) and her descriptions and stories are incredible. She was a travel writer and novelist and so fascinating. When I read this book I always feel like I need to don a shirt dress, get some of that 1940's verve, and go on some grand adventure for greater purpose. Martha Gellhorn was a bad ass.
The Best of Nancy Drew: Classics Collection Vol. 2 (including The Hidden Staircase, The Ghost of Blackwood Hall and The Thirteenth Pearl) by Carolyn Keene
I love Nancy Drew. I have since I was little and I will until I die. Her mysteries are fun and not so scary that I can't read them before bed (I'm looking at you Hound...) And, as a character Nancy is just so charming and absurd at the same time. Her dad buys her everything, she gets into trouble and no one cares, she hardly ever goes to school and she solves mysteries with her two best friends who aren't as smart or pretty as her. She's like the Barbie of YA literature. If you have any love for Nancy Drew then you should check out these comics with haste. Kate Beaton's interpretation is hysterical(ly accurate.)
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