Weekend plans?

What are you doing tonight? If you live in Chicago and don't have plans, you should show up at the MCA for this awesome event. See you there!

All apologies

I'm feeling bad about it, but I'm lacking topic ideas for this month's challenge of blogging every day. I'm not sure if it's the longer time of sunshine, my business, a general case of writer's block, or the fact that I'm trying to follow a low-carb diet for the next two weeks and it's making me want a candy bar with the passion of a thousand suns. 

Regardless of the "why", I'm feeling relatively "ho hum" about this month's challenge. I did, however, commit to it, so I'll trudge along and when I can't think of anything to write about I'll just randomly select a past prompt and respond to it. YOU ARE BESIDE YOURSELF WITH EXCITEMENT. Yes. Yes you are.

Things I must do this summer.

Visit Six Flags. I've lived in this city for almost five years and have never been...for shame.

Attend Summerfest again. I love Milwaukee.

Boat! I need to get on a mother f**kin' boat!

Baseball games! Tigers vs. Sox, Cubs vs. whomever, my Tigers in Comerica Park, culminating with a trip to Fenway with Lu in August!

Swing for the fences at a batting cage.

Get my swing on at a driving range. 

Movies in the park.

Concerts in the park.

I know one does not need a significant other in order to have a good time/experience fun things in life, but it sure would make it easier to knock off my to-do list if I had a regular partner in crime. I tried to find someone to go have dinner and a drink with last night, at the last minute, and was horribly unsuccessful.  I have no problem going to things on my own, but most of the things I list here are much more fun with another person!

Bucket List AGAIN.

Not only did I attend my first Bulls game Saturday night, I also crossed some things off my bucket list, things I had no idea were even ON my bucket list. Sometimes I come across situations that are just so fun and unique that I assign them to my bucket list on the fly.  Saturday night, some of these things were:

1. Get hugged, kissed, and slightly fondled by Benny the Bull.

2. Say "Hi Lovie!" to Lovie Smith, head coach of the Chicago Bears, as he brushes past me mere moments after my encounter with Benny.

The third thing was perhaps the favorite lesson of the night.  We learned that "buy me lunch" means "slip money into my usher jacket as a bribe to get you into better seats." We learned this important educational lesson from an usher, one I will not name so as to not get him in trouble (cause the UC randomly started following me on Twitter last week, so who knows!)

We arrived at UC about an hour before the game so we walked around the lower level to soak in all the activities (holy cow - there were a lot.) While doing so, we popped into an aisle to get our picture taken, and in the process I proceeded to tell the usher "This is our first ever Bulls game! We're so excited!!!!!!" (I get gushy when I'm having a fun time. Really gushy.) He said "Where you sitting?" I replied "Oh, up in the 300 level, we're just slowing making our way. We were offered free tickets and couldn't pass them up!" He stated "When the second quarter starts, come see me...maybe if you buy me lunch I can see if I can get you in this section..." My friend and I were a little flabbergasted and squealed "Oooh, okay!" While walking away, my friend said "Lunch? It's nighttime..." I said "Well, maybe since he works different hours he calls it lunch since it's halfway through his work day?" She thought this made perfect sense (and of course I thought it made perfect sense) so we made plans to check back at the second quarter.

We enjoyed the first part of the game in our ticketed seats, while scoping out empty seats in the section that we were hopefully going to be sitting in and worrying about how all this was going to work and whether or not we'd get kicked out of the game (put two girls with high anxiety levels into a situation like this, and you get lots of "what if's..."). When the first quarter ended we quickly made our way out of our aisle and down the stairs and my friend was like "Let's wait to get something to eat when we get down there, since we're getting him lunch..." I was all "Good idea!"  Yes. Yes we really thought we were going to buy him food.

I don't want to make this post pages and pages long, so I'll sum up that we walked up in his aisle, he said "You can put the lunch in my pocket..." to which we were like "What?" with puzzled expressions on our face, followed quickly by an "Oooooohhhhhhhh...LUNCH." Then we scurried out of the aisle when he said "Walk out and walk back in..." and headed straight to the bar for another Guinness. While at the bar we sent texts to about everyone we knew who might be able to give us guidance (including Twitter) "How much do you tip an usher for a seat upgrade?" Answers were varied, perhaps shedding light on the fact that some of the people we sent texts to are incredibly cheap, so my friend and I came to a decision we were comfortable with, walked back in the aisle, I slipped the "lunch" in his pocket, and he took us to some killer seats. During halftime, they celebrated the Bulls 1991 Championship, which meant SCOTTIE PIPPEN AND MICHAEL JORDAN were on the court. Ummmm...worth it.

Groundbreaking.

Yesterday, on the first day of Lent, I woke up around 5:30 am to use the ladies (I just have one bathroom, so it's actually unisex, but it sounds fancier to call it "the ladies".) I was a little stunned to be waking up to go to the bathroom at that time and thought to myself "Should I just stay up?  Is it procrastinating to lay back down?" but then decided I'd lay down and see what happened.

Well, if you know me, you know that falling asleep is not something I find difficult. I feel asleep but woke back up at 6:45 am. This time, I was like "GET YO' ASS OUTTA BED. STOP PROCRASTINATIN'!"

So I got out of bed.

The day started on a high note, with me doing the following before leaving work:
1. Getting out of bed, fully, before my alarm. This has probably happened never before in my life.
2. Putting away clothes that had been drying on my drying rack.
3. Taking out my trash.
4. Washing all my breakfast dishes (I usually leave them in the sink to take care of when I get home).
5. RSVPing for a wedding shower.
6. Emailing a friend to see if she wants to go to a networking event with me.

Unfortunately, as it often does, the work day brought it's own set of challenges. I did get quite a bit done at work and was able to cross some things off my list that have been on there for a couple days (lingering because they were/are not urgent, but still lingering nonetheless) providing me with an accomplished feeling. My plans for the night were slightly derailed when a coworker walked into my office and asked "What are you doing tonight?" My response "Yoga." His response "(my wife) just scored some tickets to Bon Jovi tonight at the United Center...interested?" My response "Oh, that sounds so fun! Have a great time...I really can't..." We chatted for a bit (and I was a bit short, as I was frantically trying to finish up some stuff before heading out the door to get to the other campus to teach) and then he left.

About three minutes after I left I thought "WTF Kristen? BON JOVI. Free! You know you'd never pay for that concert but you know it'll be a great time." I quickly sent him an email apologizing for being short and basically saying "I'm kind of an asshole, I hope you forgive me, but yes. JON BON. Let's do this."

I'm all kinds of conflicted about it, but I will say it was an amazing time. The purpose of this Lenten journey is not to beat myself up, make myself have less fun, or anything of the sort. It's getting me more conscious of how I spend my time and learn how to spend it in a way that brings me closer to my goals. Last night, my impromptu goal was to spend time singing "YOUR LOOVVVE IS LIKE BAAAADD MEDICINE, BAD MEDICINE IS WHAT I NEED."  No regrets.

Lenten Promises.

I am mostly a bad Catholic. I am pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-birth control, have engaged in pre-marital sex, think priests should be able to have sex if they want to, don't believe people who commit suicide will go to hell (I'm glad they've loosened their stance on this), etc. I do not regularly go to church, haven't been to confession since it was required for my confirmation, and cannot remember how to pray the Rosary.  If the Catholic church reads this, they'll probably revoke my membership.

I am, without a doubt, a spiritual person, but I am agnostic in a lot of ways. I always used to get aggravated at people who acted like they were somehow superior because they went to church every week but who were often unkind, lacking compassion, and self-serving. What's that all about? Just because you go to church you think you are better than people who don't, but at the same time you're kind of a horrible person?  That does not fly with me. I think spirituality is a natural and organic thing. Maybe you like to have a moment to reflect on your spirituality when you're exercising, or driving in your car, or on the train. Just because you're not in a labeled "house of worship" doesn't make your worship any less powerful or meaningful as someone who does go to church.

All that aside, I firmly embrace Lenten sacrifice every year. I'm generally on a continual quest for self-improvement and I find the spirit of the season a great motivator. That, coupled with my own spiritual development over the past year, has encouraged me to blog about my experiences during Lent this year.  I am going to attempt to sacrifice something that is really at the root of both my personality and, regrettably, my problems, so this could be a lot more challenging than say, giving up chocolate or Facebook or cheese (things I've successfully accomplished in the past.)

My friends, I'm giving up procrastination for Lent.

Yes, I know it's vague and I know the best goals are S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely.)  I teach small group communication, I could recite that bidness in my sleep.  Saying I'm "giving up procrastination" is hard because everyone might have a different definition of what constitutes "procrastination" (for instance, am I procrastinating on cleaning through my papers or do I legitimately not have time to get to them yet?) I understand there will be things that I consider procrastination (thinking "I should take out my trash..." but not taking out the trash until the next day) that other people will be like "Dude, lighten up!" and I'm okay with that gray area. But let's be real: we know when we are truly procrastinating. We are all wise and thoughtful enough to know when we are wasting time on meaningless tasks because the other shit that is more important is usually more difficult/labor intensive/hard to accomplish.  Procrastination is, at times, a blessing or protective measure, but there are far too many times in my life when my natural inclination toward procrastination is just getting in my own damn way. This Lenten "sacrifice" (I am sacrificing comfort, since this could, at times, be a painful, eye-opening endeavor) will hopefully allow me the opportunity to identify barriers that are preventing me from being the best I can be, both socially, professionally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.  I can't think of anything more spiritual than that.

Officially over my break.

I knew it wouldn't last. During my month of blogging in February, I discovered how cool Google Analytics was, and really enjoyed seeing if people were reading my blog or not. Well, the only way to get people to look at your blog is to post new content, so therefore I think my self-imposed vacation from blogging is over! I am not going to commit to an every day thing, but I do think I'll aim for 3 - 5 times a week.

I posted the new NaBloPoMo badge for their March theme, but think I might follow a theme of my own. Stay tuned for details!

Small victories!

So much to talk about (ie - so many thoughts and musings swimming around in my head) but not enough time (mostly due to my poor time management skills. Funny I was bemoaning my total lack of ability with time management last night (to myself, during a vicious hate-talk session) and Rachel posted about it today.  I'll bookmark it and read it later in the week) to properly flesh said thoughts out.  I'd guess that one of the first steps in learning how to properly manage your time is to learn how to properly prioritize, and I have more pressing-urgent-so-completely-necessary-to-get-done-within-the-next-24-hours-or-else-I-might-have-a-mental-breakdown things to do. Soooo. Thursday or Friday, I'll read it, but if you're great at time management and just looking to get better, go read it now!

Ya'll!  It's February 28! Since this is NOT a leap year, IT'S THE LAST DAY OF FEBRUARY! I put up a blog post EVERY DAY in February.  Whoooo hooo, right?! RIGHT.

I will be taking a short vacation from blogging (maybe a couple days). I mean, it's only fair, right? I have, however, become so addicted to looking at my Google Analytics, and I'm sure people will only visit if I have new posts, so said vacation should not be too long.

Today, kick your heels together and celebrate small victories. If you'd like to see me write about a topic in March, leave an idea in the comments!  ALSO, for all you Catholic folk, Lent starts next week. What are you doing to acknowledge it?

Time Saving Tip.

A while ago, at job #3, my retail job at one of my favorite clothing stores (I can't tell you which one, because I had to sign a social media agreement and to be honest, I didn't read it, so it's probably just best to not mention it) I greeted a really petite woman while she walked in the door.  By looking at her, you could tell she was, on a bad day (for her) a size 0.  There was a slight language barrier (as there is with the majority of the people who walk into the store, giving me the illusion that I am working a retail job in a glamorous country) but when she said "Pants, pants" I knew where to take her.  I decided to not tell her about our awesome pant fits and decided we'd do most of this visually, because as a communication scholar, I know that nonverbal communication is often more effective than verbal.  I held up a pair of pants to her (in a size 0, as those are the first ones on the rack if they are properly sized) and she said "No, no...big.  Smaller?" to which I replied "These are the smallest size we have...you could try them on to see if they fit?"

What she did next pretty much blew my mind.

She took the pants out of my hand, took them off the hanger, grabbed each end of the waistband, and circled the pants around her neck. She then turned to show me that the pants overlapped (meaning the waistband did not meet together perfectly, it overlapped when circled around her neck) and said "Big...too big!" I was like "What the hell is going on?  What does her neck have to do with pants?!" but instead encouraged her to try the pants on. She refused, stated she was in a rush, and left the store.

Later that day, a woman came in, and although she probably had the same native language as the woman mentioned above, she and I had an easier time communicating.  When directing her to our pants and describing our pant fit, she DID THE SAME THING. I was really starting to wonder if perhaps this was a secret way of trying on pants that was specific to a certain culture. I decided to play it cool and pretend like this was normal (cause maybe it is, but I'm just not normal or enlightened enough to know this trick?)  This woman also thought our size 0s were too big and asked us why we don't carry any smaller sizes (to which I, in my head, replied "Well, because that would be pretty unnecessary in America...")

After all this was over I asked one of my coworkers about this neck-circling method, thinking we'd maybe have an incredulous conversation about people using their neck as a way to try on pants. Instead she stated "Oh, you've never heard of that? If you pick up your size pants by the ends of the waistband when it's lying flat, it should perfectly circle your neck. If it overlaps, that means the pants are too big for you, and if the sides don't meet, the pants are too small."

Well. I NEVER KNEW THIS! Did you? Of course when I got home that night and took off my pants, I tried it. AND IT WORKED. This was like the day I found out that your foot is as long as the length between the inside of your wrist and the crook of your elbow.

Bodies are cool.

Undiscovered Talent?

Back in the fall of 2010, I purchased a Groupon for a 4 week pottery throwing class. I've always been intrigued by pottery throwing, not just because of Ghost, but because I heard it was a really tough thing to do, but highly satisfying.

I had my first class on Thursday and made these little guys!  They aren't big enough for anything of substance/worth, like cereal, soup, or ice cream, but might make lovely holders for my paper clips or something of the sort. Next week we'll trim them, then we'll glaze them, and if nothing disastrous happens during those steps, they'll be all mine!

I am pretty proud of myself, in case you couldn't tell. SORRY. I usually don't toot my own horn (at least I don't think I do...maybe I do and I'm just an arrogant asshole?) but the teacher said "Wow...that's really good for your first time at the wheel." about the first one (the top one). I replied "WOW!  Really?!"  At the end of class he told me "Nice work...most people don't make anything their first class."

Pottery throwing is hard work ya'll. It's funny that I'm starting this two weeks before my doctor's appointment to get to the bottom of my shoulder/neck/back issue, as this activity works the exact same areas that are giving me angst. Such is life!

This sort of relates to the NaBloPoMo theme of character because I've been trying to be a more optimistic person about my life. As the teacher was at the wheel, showing me the beginning steps (I was just watching) I thought to myself "Hey...maybe you'll pick this up quickly...how cool would that be?!" In the past I would have watched him effortlessly make a shape on the wheel, something totally unfamiliar to me, and would have thought "AS IF...no way will you be able to do that." (yes, apparently I quote dialogue from Clueless in my head.)  Positive thinking, I haz it.

February Resolution

Early last year I started to see minimalism blogs with regular frequency and realized this was a movement. People were going to extreme measures, like possessing only fifty items or wearing only six items of clothing, while others were preaching the benefits of simplifying life; less stress, more time for friends and family, less time spent cleaning and organizing...things I wanted.

Some of my favorites and most frequently read are Joshua Becker and Erin Doland.  There are a lot of great minimalism bloggers, but I think you have to find people who promote an existence that seems possible for you. For instance, there's no way I could only possess 50 things. I like reading their blogs and do so with admiration and awe, but that is a lifestyle that I could never lead. It's good to know your limits. 

After I started getting "real" with my clutter, and shortly after my first wave of minimizing, I read the book "Throw Out Fifty Things" and started my list.  One thing that is tough is that a lot of these books are aimed at people who live in homes and with other people.  I have lived alone for about seven years and have lived in a 600 square foot apartment for about five of them.  Compared to most American's, I do not have a lot of stuff.  I have four rooms; kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, and two good sized closets.  Even knowing that my possessions are modest in comparison, I sometimes feel a little suffocated by my things.  It's so easy for my bedroom to get out of control with stacks of mail, school papers, and clothes.  It's tough for me to find a place for all my kitchen supplies in my kitchen, especially since I've been cooking more and have accumulated more kitchen utensils.  I used to be a serious beauty product hoarder, so my bathroom shelves are comfortably full with bottles of lotions and potions.  I've been really diligent about not buying any new body lotions until I used my supply, and committed to using one perfume EVERY DAY until the bottle was gone.  This was fun, as it was very easy to see progress.

I've sort of been slacking on my minimalism efforts so I'm dedicating some time in February to tackling some areas that need attention.  I just read this post by Erin and thought it couldn't come at a better time.  My parents came to visit a couple weekends ago and brought me a desk I had in my bedroom at home.  They recently did some work on their house and were going to get rid of the desk, but I resisted.  The desk is not aesthetically unique or elaborate in any way, but it was my grandmother's, and I have a vague memory of staining it when I "inherited" it after her death.  It has three good sized drawers that will provide great, hidden space for my office supplies (which some extreme minimalists would argue are clutter, but I would argue are necessary in my life).  Not to mention these things are currently in an IKEA crate stacked on another IKEA crate, and I really want to make my apartment less "IKEA" (ie - hodge-podge.)

So, in February, I am committing to organizing my office supplies, papers (SO! MUCH! PAPER!), filing cabinet, magazine collection, and bookshelf.  Whew...I'm exhausted/frustrated just thinking about it.  Is there anything you have been putting off that you can tackle in February?  Commit in the comments and we can cheer each other on!

"Here I Go Again..."

I got an email today from NaBloPoMo regarding blogging everyday in February. Initially, I was skeptical.  I know February is the shortest day of the month, coming in at a measly 28 days, so if any month is the right month to accept a daily commitment, it's February.  At the same time, February is a shit month.  I love black history and am a big fan of groundhogs, but otherwise the month is full of angst (with or without a partner, Valentine's Day is annoying ya'll), dark days, and usually some really frightful winter weather.

After opening the email and seeing that the topic for the month is "Character", my interest level increased.  Here is some topic suggestions:

The theme for February blogging is CHARACTER. It's a flexible theme, allowing you to blog about all sorts of things:
1. The people in your life who stand out in regard to their outstanding (or lack of) character -- the use of pseudonyms might be prudent here;
2. Experiences in your life that have helped you build moral character, and the work you might still need to do;
3. It's a chance to try writing in character -- try on different personas and voices for fun, or to address things you might not normally talk about;
4. Character is another word for a letter or symbol, if you feel like it's finally time to indulge in some font nerdery.

If my increasingly random encounters have brought me anything, it's a cast of pretty colorful characters who have provided a lot of potential material. Secondly, if there is anything I can claim to have, it's character.

And clearly, a love for Whitesnake.
 


Join me?

Small Business Saturday

A lot of attention is paid to "Black Friday", when many retailers go into the black for the first time all year, but I'm more excited about American Express's Small Business Saturday.  Support your local businesses by shopping in their stores on Saturday, November 27th, and American Express will pay you back!  Awesome!

Thinking and not thinking.

I've been trying to come up with short sayings or relevant words that I can use as a new blog address, but every time I come up with something seemingly brilliant and OMGZ perfect for me, I check and find out it's taken. 

SIGH.

I just mixed up a batch of No Pudge brownies that are now in my temperamental oven (I mean really...how often does a normal pilot light go out?) and as I was mixing it up I thought of two things:

1.  I love the concept (and taste) of No Pudge brownies, but find their mascot, a skinny pig, very unsettling.
2.  Science aside, why does it take so long to make brownies (25 - 30 minutes) if it only takes 9 - 11 minutes to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies.  I say "science aside" because I totally get the density issue (brownies are usually made in a pan, which means more batter on top of each other and more general mass) and I even get the "all vs. some" issue (i.e. - you have ALL the brownie batter in the oven at one time vs. portions of the cookie dough) but I wonder: if I were to attempt to make small brownies using a muffin tin, would it take 25 - 30 minutes every time, or could I cut down the cooking time due to the variance in density?

This, my friends, is the kind of stuff I think about.

New look.

I have this awesome talent of, when I have legit things to do (i.e. - pack for my trip home, clean my kitchen floor, etc.), thinking of about one million more things that I "have" to do.  Tonight I had these grand plans to get my apartment really clean so it's in tip-top shape when I get home late Sunday night after the weekend in Michigan.  While I've made progress on that goal, I'm no where near where I could have been if I had only STUCK TO THE TASK.  This is one of those times I wished I had a Type A personality.  In place of cleaning and packing and general TCB'ing (so I've been alerted that not everyone knows what that means.  TCB = take care of business) I've been browsing through my iTunes, looking at sports scores, reading Twitter and Facebook, and picking a new template for this here blog.  I generally don't look at my blog in the actual format since I mostly operate from the Blogger Dashboard, but I thought a change might be nice.  Hope it's easy to read!

Movies I haven't seen...

...that maybe everyone else has?

Iron Man
The Hangover
Borat
40 Year Old Virgin
Titanic (at this point it's become sort of legendary)

Detox.

After almost six days in New Orleans, where they seem to fry almost everything you can eat, I'm feeling a little bloated, a little sluggish, and am craving food that is either picked from a tree, the earth, or really anything not smothered in breading or butter.  WHO AM I?!

Some things I ate while in New Orleans:

Fried green tomatoes
Macaroons from sucre (OMG. I DIE. They are SO GOOD.)
Fried okra
Fried oyster and shrimp po boy
Veggie mufaletta
Crawfish Monica
Fried Eggplant with crawfish sauce
Beignets (once in the afternoon and once at 5:30 a.m.)

I also discovered the best iced mocha I've ever tasted at PJ's Coffee, therefore having a mocha at least four times while in New Orleans.

In other words, the next week will be a crash course in detoxing from the excesses of vacation.  I'm hoping my pants will fit better as a result. :)

Amazing and then some!

The Swan Lake performance last night was AMAZING. We are talking mouth-gaping, "wow" whispering amazing.  The second Act is probably one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  I found a clip of one of the parts, done by ABT (but not last night):



I'm no dance critic, but it's pretty apparent when you watch someone who has talent that is out of this world.  The woman who danced the role of Odette/Odile last night, Paloma Herrera, was breathtaking. Her lines, her fluidity, the fact that she made every single move look totally effortless, etc.  Amazing.

I am so glad I had the opportunity to see the performance!  Next on my list (after the Joffrey's spring program) is to see Giselle.  Not only is it supposed to be beautiful, but the role of Giselle is apparently one of the most difficult roles in all of ballet.

Big Deal.

Tonight I get my own Jody Sawyer moment.  I get to see Cooper Neilson (Ethan Stiefel) of the American Ballet Theatre dance in Swan Lake.  I'm soooo excited.  I was super excited just to see the company, as I've become a pretty frequent ballet watcher (thanks to my job at the gorgeous Auditorium Theatre, home of the Joffrey Ballet), but once I read COOPER NEILSON would be dancing tonight I about fell off my chair in excitement.

No, I am not expecting a dance-off for my affections, but you know...I'd be okay if he and Charlie (Sascha Radetsky) wanted to duke it out in a bad boy vs. nice guy battle.

My next target.

In reference to this post, I've decided upon my next minimalism project: my bookshelves.

After paging through (I'm sure I sometimes say "thumbing through") my Google Reader and reading this post about how you can tell a lot about a person based on the books on their shelf, I decided I need to take charge.

I haven't been much of a book buyer for about five or six years.  The reasons I don't buy books is multi-fold: 50% because I find them to be a pain in the arse to move, 15% because I think "Why spend money on something I'm really only going to enjoy once?", 10% because I have friends and a set of parents who are big book buyers who are also good at sharing, and 25% is in response to my inner hippie...I feel bad killing trees for something I can borrow at the library.  That is not to say that I don't ever buy, or want to buy books.  Sometimes I love a book so much that I dog-ear about 75 pages that contain passages or quotes that I find so amazing that I honestly will pick up the book at random and revisit these passages.  I also not-so-secretly covet this collection and plan to buy it when I get in a more permanent set-up, because holy-hell, those are some beautiful hardcovers.

Even though I haven't bought books in a while, I have still accumulated quite a few.  Some were gag gifts, some were randomly given to me, some were left by my mom or dad when they came to visit.  All in all, it makes up for a super random, slightly embarrassing collection.  Therefore, what better place for my next minimalism project?!  'Tis better to minimize this train wreck than have any apartment guests see "Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities" next to "Why You're Still Single" next to "Confessions of a Shopaholic" next to "Bergdorf Blondes" next to "Who Moved My Cheese" next to "Jane Eyre's Guide to Dating". TRAIN WRECK, and I've only actually read three of those.  No, I'm not telling you which three.