Get to Know Aisha

If you could have anyone's house from TV, whose house would it be?

-American Horror Story Season 1

-Hemlock Grove 

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All time favorite book? 

-Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte 

Last person/band you saw in concert?

Trailer Park Boys at Chicago Theatre

Celebrity you wished you looked like? 

Scarlett Johannson 

Celebrity you're most attracted to at the moment?

TOM HARDY, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Michael Fassbender, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

What is something people might be surprised to know about you?

I scare incredibly easy 

What is your biggest weakness?

Being criticized 

Biggest strength?

Humor

Weirdest thing you ever did at work?

-Wore a head scarf for a week and burned it in a trash can on the last day

Least favorite house hold task?

dishes 

First real life crush?

Boy from YMCA named Ian

First non real life crush?

Chris O'Donnell 

Were you named after anyone?

Steely Dan song, 'Aja' 

Favorite smell?

The smell of a man 

Favorite fragrance/spray/cologne?

Dolce & Gabbana Desire 

What book are you currently reading or what was the last one you read?

Reading 'Dark Places' by Gillian Flynn 

Last read 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn 

What would you do with a billion dollars?

Buy a gorgeous condo in Malibu and open a used book store near the beach 

Favorite actor?

Sean Penn, Robert Deniro, Gary Oldman, Daniel Day Lewis 

Actress?

Kiera Knightly, Juliette Lewis 

Top three favorite tv shows of all time?

Roseanne, 

Trailer Park Boys

True Blood

Favorite store?

Barnes & Noble

Someone gives you a 100 dollar Target gift card, what do you spend it on?

Books, iPhone accessories 

Worst injury?

Throat surgery from childhood 

Favorite writer?

Thomas Hardy, Bronte Sisters

If you could keep any animal as a pet, what would it be?

Lemur

Least favorite holiday?

I hate Christmas

You can be any Disney princess/prince/hero.

Princess: Aurora from Sleeping Beauty 

Prince: Arthur from Sword in the Stone 

Twin Peaks Obsession

I've seen the Twin Peaks series and the prequel film 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me' many times but I'm getting into it again.

In case you haven't heard of the series, it's a television murder mystery drama with a supernatural angle created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The Pilot aired on April 8, 1990 and it follows the time after the murder of the town's most popular girl, the Homecoming Queen, Laura Palmer. She was a tudor, volunteer, and one of the most 'seemingly' happy and together girls in Twin Peaks. It turns out Laura had a pretty messed up life with drugs, s&m, pornography, prostitution, incest and murder. The Twin Peaks TV series follows FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper as he tries to piece together Laura's murder. It's super twisted and the prequel film, 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me' (TPFFWM) follows the days leading UP to Laura's murder, from Laura's perpesctive. THAT is where the real gem is I think of the whole Twin Peaks phenom..is watching TPFWWM and understanding what the hell is happening. 

The TV series is on Netflix Watch Instantly. Both seasons. Right there at your disposal. This series DEFINITELY has tons of slow parts that almost make it hard to get through....BUT give at least the Pilot episode a chance.

The pilot episode was ranked #25 on TV Guide's 1997 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. TV Guide ranked the series at #45 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2002. and, in 2007, it was listed as one of Time's "Best TV Shows of All-TIME". Twin Peaks placed #49 on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list and #12 in their list of the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years"

Literary Lunacy

In 2012 alone I have read:

Villette: Charlotte Bronte

Far from the Madding Crowd: Thomas Hardy

The Return of the Native: Thomas Hardy

Tess of the D'Urdervilles: Thomas Hardy

Desperate Remedies: Thomas Hardy

Jude the Obscure: Thomas Hardy

Anne of Green Gables: L.M. Montgomery

The Thirteenth Tale: Diane Setterfield

Fifity Shades Series: E.L. James

The Wind Through the Kehole: Stephen King

House of Leaves: Mark Z. Danielewski

and my latest literary endeavour...

Cloud Atlas: David Mitchell

This week I finished 'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell. I can't say enough about this book. It consists of 6 stories that start in the 19th century Pacific Northwest seas and ends up in a post-apocalyptic Hawaiian tribal wasteland. The 6 stories have a 1-2-3-4-5 *6* 5-4-3-2-1 Sequence where the first 6 stories end mid-way through with the 6th story (Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After) becoming a full story median that locks the stories in place with correlations and deja vu similarities when they pick up the second time through.

The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing
Pacific Ocean, circa 1850. Adam Ewing

Letters from Zedelghem
Zedelgem, Belgium, 1931. Robert Frobisher

Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery
Buenas Yerbas, California, 1975. Luisa Rey

The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish
United Kingdom, early 21st century. Timothy Cavendish,

An Orison of Sonmi~451
Nea So Copros (Korea), dystopian near future. Sonmi~451

Sloosha's Crossin' an' Ev'rythin' After
Hawaii, post-apocalyptic distant future. Zachry

This novel was definitely what I needed after a year long delve into 19th century british literature. David Mitchell's style is exacting and precise and every word kind of melts into your subconscious. The book as a whole has stayed with me this week.

The next David Mitchell book I plan to read is definitely Ghostwritten. But I currently have 'The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet' checked out from the library.

I got sidetracked with 'Shirley' by Charlotte Bronte, which I have become entranced with after 50 pages. I've missed Bronte's words and it's so refreshing to come back to her voice and familiar style.

30 Things Every Woman Should Have And Should Know

By 30, you should have ...

1. One old boyfriend you can imagine going back to and one who reminds you of how far you’ve come.

2. A decent piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in your family.

3. Something perfect to wear if the employer or man of your dreams wants to see you in an hour.

4. A purse, a suitcase, and an umbrella you’re not ashamed to be seen carrying.

5. A youth you’re content to move beyond.

6. A past juicy enough that you’re looking forward to retelling it in your old age.

7. The realization that you are actually going to have an old age -- and some money set aside to help fund it.

8. An email address, a voice mailbox, and a bank account -- all of which nobody has access to but you.

9. A résumé that is not even the slightest bit padded.

10. One friend who always makes you laugh and one who lets you cry.

11. A set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra.

12. Something ridiculously expensive that you bought for yourself, just because you deserve it.

13. The belief that you deserve it.

14. A skin-care regimen, an exercise routine, and a plan for dealing with those few other facets of life that don’t get better after 30.

15. A solid start on a satisfying career, a satisfying relationship, and all those other facets of life that do get better.

By 30, you should know ...

1. How to fall in love without losing yourself.

2. How you feel about having kids.

3. How to quit a job, break up with a man, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship.

4. When to try harder and when to walk away.

5. How to kiss in a way that communicates perfectly what you would and wouldn’t like to happen next.

6. The names of the secretary of state, your great-grandmothers, and the best tailor in town.

7. How to live alone, even if you don’t like to.

8. Where to go -- be it your best friend’s kitchen table or a yoga mat -- when your soul needs soothing.

9. That you can’t change the length of your legs, the width of your hips, or the nature of your parents.

10. That your childhood may not have been perfect, but it’s over.

11. What you would and wouldn’t do for money or love.

12. That nobody gets away with smoking, drinking, doing drugs, or not flossing for very long.

13. Who you can trust, who you can’t, and why you shouldn’t take it personally.

14. Not to apologize for something that isn’t your fault.

15. Why they say life begins at 30

List excerpted from Glamour's "Thirty Things Every Woman Should Have and Should Know By The Time She's 30."

Mexico 2012: Puerto Morelos

Bella Jewelry

Today I received the Bella ring from Infinite Jewelry!

It's the ring Edward gives Bella when he proposes in 'Eclipse'.
Click here to watch Edward give Bella this ring in 'Eclipse"

"The face was long oval, set with slanting rows of glittering round stones. The band was gold- delicate and narrow. The gold made a fragile web around the diamonds."
p.458 ch. 20 Compromise. Eclipse.

If you are a Twilight series fan, and like Bella's jewelry, I would definitely go to http://www.infinitejewelryco.com/ or http://www.infinitejewelryco.com/product/bella-ring and check it out.

They also sell the bracelet that Jacob gives Bella. I'm Team Edward...sooo I'll pass on that.

Next on my list is Bella's Turquoise Bracelet.

My book buddy Crystal made me the Moonstone ring via Etsy and I LOVE it!

'She, to Him' (Poem, 1866) Compared to 'Desperate Remedies' (Novel, 1871), Thomas Hardy

She, To Him: II

Perhaps, long hence, when I have passed away,

Some other's feature, accent, thought like mine,

Will carry you back to what I used to say,

And bring some memory of your love's decline,

Then you may pause awhile and think, "Poor jade!"

And yield a sigh to me--as ample due,

Not as the title of a debt unpaid

To one who could resign her all to you

And thus reflecting, you will never see

That your thin thought, in two small words conveyed,

Was no such fleeting phantom-thought to me,

But the Whole Life wherein my part was played;

And you amid its fitful masquerade

A Thought--as I in your life seem to be!

Desperate Remedies 1871

(VOL 11, Ch. V, Pg. 251)

"Perhaps, far in time to come, when I am dead and gone, some other's accent, or some other's song, or thought, like an old one of mine, will carry them back to what I used to say, and hurt their hearts a little that they blamed me so soon. And they will pause just for an instant, and give a sigh to me and thing, 'Poor girl,' believing they do great justice to my memory by this. But they will never, never realize that it was my single opportunity of existence, as well as of doing my duty, which they are regarding, they will not feel that what to them is but a though, easily held in those two words of pity, 'Poor girl,' was a whole life to me; as full of hours, minutes and peculiar minutes of hopes and dreads, smiles, whisperings, tears, as theirs; that it was my world, what is to them their world, and they in that life of mind, however much I cared for them, only as the thought I seem to them to be."