Prague by Arthur Phillips

Prague by Arthur Phillips
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

i got this book as a gift (i was living in prague at the time and i think the giver mistakenly (though understandably) believed the book was about prague (spoiler: it isn't.). the book is set in budapest among a circle of expats in the early years just after the fall of the iron curtain.

i finally got around to reading it and i enjoyed it. the characters are interesting and the setting is fascinating. i met a few expats who lived in prague in 1990 and their stories are great.

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2 weeks of selfies: day 7

if i have learned nothing else in the past week, it is that i should embrace lip color.

2 weeks of selfies: day 6

...and i'm back at home and working.

2 weeks of selfies: day 5

the first one is me relaxing only 1 foot from a 1000m drop into the fjord. the second is from the last ridge before the parking lot. it was a great day: i am proud of the hike and less proud about chickening out before i got onto the kjeragbolten and happy to have met some new friends.

2 weeks of selfies: day 4

still terrible hair. still eating well. i even resisted fairy cakes at a birthday party!

two weeks of selfies: day 3

hair still comically bad. maybe i will go in search of a hat soon.

but! eating is going well. i have stopped eating sprinkles right from the bottle ("because i have to use them up before we move"). i have not had chocolate. i made pancakes for breakfast today and didn't have any myself.

two weeks of selfies: day 2

hair still unflattering (how do i fix this?). lipstick upgrades me from "dead" to "alive".

i ate healthily yesterday and plan to continue today.

here i am

it's wednesday morning. i'm 36 years old and working from home and not wearing makeup.

i need to be doing something with my hair (some sort of easy up do, i think). don't know what though. and some kind of makeup.

but the point of this is that i need to eat better. i am resolving now to eat well for the next 2.5 weeks. we are moving and starting a trip so there is no better time to feel at my best.

the hair probably isn't going to improve during that time so don't get those hopes up too high.

The Castle in the Pyrenees by Jostein Gaarder

The Castle in the Pyrenees by Jostein Gaarder
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was my first foray into Norwegian literature. I didn't enjoy it. Maybe it's because I couldn't relate to any of the characters. Or maybe it's because the epistolary form was not believable. There was too much detail in the letters to be realistic.

I wouldn't recommend it to any adults. Maybe to an adolescent for whom a debate about spiritual vs scientific is exciting and covering new ground.

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Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin

Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i flew through the book and got a lot of tips about changing or enforcing habits that i have already put into use. i wouldn't say that everyone would enjoy reading the book, but i would say that everyone could learn a lot from it.

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