Oh yes, I have heard of these… these… DATE NIGHTS? They are a rare and exotic creature in our house. The planets have to align just right, there must be a elder in town (aka Grandma Bloo) from the faraway regions (aka Yakima, WA), and there must be well, honestly, the date night participants cannot be in a knock-down-drag out fight….
Dave and I are simple folk. We’re not foodies or art-lovers. The perfect date night for us is a night at a pub (one of our favorites isTHE ATTIC in Madison Park, Seattle) having pub food and a malt beverage. Even better if there is a Seahawk or Mariner game on while we dine. Follow that up with a walk somewhere interesting — along the water, on a trail, down a city-block — winding up in a bookstore to browse. We may throw in a movie if there is something we are dying to pay $75 (it seems) to see. Our only rule is we are only allowed to talk about the kids in the car… once out of the car, we must talk about something else. Oh, our other only rule is that no one is allowed to puke. We once went on a three-in-a-row date night stint where one of us ended up puking at the end of the night. No, we did not over-indulge… the flu, food poisoning, and vertigo were the culprits.
Have you ever had a moment when you thought “You couldn’t make this stuff up?” – -that is why I like memoirs. Real life can be sooo much more interesting and poignant, funnier, than fiction. About 10 years ago I started reading memoirs and it QUICKLY became one of my top (if not THE top) favorite genres. So as part of my January Top Lists. Here are five memoirs worth reading –in no particular order.
#1 – Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. Okay. Don’t read this one. LISTEN to it. David Sedaris is perhaps the funniest memoir-ist alive and he is even funnier if you listen to him read his own writing. I was listening to part of this book one day while driving through the U-District in Seattle (a place that demands your attention) and I had to pull over into a Burger King parking lot because I could not SEE from all the TEARS of laughter running down my face.
#2 – A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L’Engle. Bragging rights here – I have an autographed copy of this book that my friend Me Ra got for me when she met Ms. L’Engle. L’Engle just simply knows how to WRITE! Here she talks about God, writing, family and life. She is one of my favorite writers and philosophers of all time.
#3 – Traveling Mercies by Anne Lammott. Really any of Lamott’s memoris are suburb. You could pick up any of her memoirs and be changed. She is also one of my influences as a writer (and human being).
#4 – The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells – This one hits way too close to home for me. I had to read with my hand on my stomach. But, this book is amazingly well-written, compelling, and worth everyone’s time.
#5 – Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert But, of course…
Honorable Mention: Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams. I have not actually gotten past the 1st few pages of this book (only due to trying to find the time to deal with a emotional memoir.). But it came recommended to me by someone I really trust. A story of William’s mother’s death parrelled in the lives of the birds in the marshes of the Great Salt Lake.
Okay, take air and shelter out of this equation — I will also not judge you if you don’t say kids, or husband, or wife, or mom, or Jesus. But here is the question today: What ONE THING do you need to “make it” each day? What do YOU need to feel like yourself? Please post a comment and let me know.
For me, it is hands down SLEEP. Am I cop-out on that one? Okay, how about this one then… a SHOWER. You may not know it to look at me, but I need a shower each day. I can wait if I have to. I can take my shower at night if the morning just gets away from me. But standing in that boiling hot water washes away all the crud… USUALLY no one comes to talk to me in the shower…. I can think, pray, and sometimes cry (if I need to) in the shower. Sometimes I take two… sometimes three… yup… three in one day. I love them THAT much.
Beyond that I should probably be totally honest and say a HAIR BAND.
