again?

1. did some errands today and ran around town for a bit. but it thunderstormed most of the day so i stayed inside and started a new book and watched some tv. you know, the usual.
2. talked to a bestie for about a half hour on the phone tonight! it made me really excited for the fall!
3. I WENT OUT TONIGHT! shocking, i know. but i went out with the girl who i am subleasing from, so random. but it was fun and hopefully her friends i met will be going out partners for the future. 

so i'm not really in the blogging mood tonight, but here i am, blogging anyway. this is dedication. well, stubbornness. i hope that the beach trip with my family and the boyfriend works out! a summer with no beach trip is not a summer. BP can go to hell because i will find a way!

bakelitequeen

1. no pool today, which put me in a sour mood. i had on sunscreen and everything! 
2. finished bel canto by ann patchett and HATED the ending. don't even want to talk about it. 
3. went to an arts festival thingy in downtown with the family friend's friend and her family tonight. it was fun being with people! and they have an adorable little girl who was dressed as a ladybug just for fun. 

i got a package today from my grandmother and it was an empty bottle of chardonnay and a new bakelite bracelet!!! i've been using empty wine bottles to put my bracelet collection on and it looks fabulously shabby chic--love it. i have this thing about bakelite. it's a slight obsession for which i blame my grandmother. she has a wonderfully fabulous bakelite bracelet collection. but maybe i am ahead of myself--what is bakelite, you may ask? it's a vintage plastic from the 30s and 40s that was made only for that time period into jewelry, appliances, knick knacks, anything you can think of. it went in and out of being hugely collectible and it's back on the up and up. my grandmother got me started on it and now i have a nice collection of my own. i love the stuff and wear it a lot. it makes such a pleasant noise and is totally unique on the accessory front. so i'm very excited to have a new piece and i always have to hold off from buying more! look how cool...

"it don't matter if you're black or white"

1. enjoyed reading a book during a nice morning thunderstorm. then the sun came out and i went to the pool to keep enjoying my book!
2. didn't realize until late in the day that it was thursday today! i thought it was wednesday. yay! less than 2 weeks until the hopeful beach trip...
3. went out for coffee tonight with a family friend's friend and really enjoyed it! she told me more about this place and also mentioned that i might get some baby sitting clients. that'd be great!

oh, thank you michael jackson. he sure did have some glory days. anyway, what prompted me to talk about racism was something my boyfriend mentioned to me yesterday about a text one of the ladies at his job received. essentially, it was very racist and stereotypical. something i argue about with him a lot is southern culture. i love the south and he's a northerner (kind of, also a transplant). so while i understand the concept of living in the south, it is really foreign to him. he claims that you have to be born into southern culture to get it. that may be true, but i am just thankful that i wasn't born a northerner. anyway, racism is a big issue for him. don't get me wrong...it infuriates me. it was pretty prevalent at my high school and always a topic for jokes. mainly racism against blacks or hispanics, but sometimes asians. so blatant racism bothers me a lot and often upset me in school. what i want to make a point of proving, though, is that everyone is racist. yes, EVERYONE (even you). while not every person is blatantly racist, most social psychology research agrees that people of all races have stereotypes about other races/religions/social classes/intelligence levels/genders/sexual orientations/etc. so while it may be an uncomfortable topic, especially for people who claim not to be racist, it is true. everyone is racist or prejudiced in some ways. part of it is just in-group and out-group bias, simple social psych stuff. but a lot of it is more deep seated for us--how we were raised, in what environment, around which people. racism is not always taught, but can be picked up from parents, friends, media, books, any source of information that people use to shape their world views. anyway, my point is that, yes, racism is an awful thing and has torn people and countries apart, there are none who are guiltless. racism affects everyone and racism exists in everyone. disclaimer: this picture is not meant to imply that racism is only whites hating blacks--that is not so--"racism" encompasses a lot of things in the context i am using the word.

lazy day

1. woke up relatively early, applied for another job, started a new book. such is my life right now. 
2. sometimes i get paranoid that i repeat blog post titles. 
3. have i had a lazy day before? oh goodness yes, but hopefully not as a title! forgive me, if that's the case.

i want to be productive. i want to start my work here. and i would love to have a real job that pays money too. i like being productive and working hard and being a useful contribution to society. i could never be an heiress! i would feel so lazy and slovenly and bored. and yes, i could travel and shop and eat and do whatever i wanted all day, but what's the fun in that? why spend the money from daddy's (or mommy's) little piece of plastic? the fun is to earn the money yourself and then do all of that stuff! and if an heiress, where's the real contribution to society? i mean, yes, you could give to charities, but does it mean as much when a celebrity who has mega millions gives $10,000? not really. and where is the exercise of the brain? sure, you can go to school for fun, but there is no drive to make money or to make a name for yourself through a job or scholarship. so that's that. glad i'm not an heiress (but also a little bit jealous)!

a facade of culinary woes

1. the pool was nice today! it's really hot here but the pool definitely helps buffer some of the heat. 
2. finished the book on suicide (thankfully) and am starting a new book tomorrow! can't wait to read novels again, haha. 
3. found a perfect pair of red pumps. alas, they must wait until i have some spare change. 

sometimes i don't write about what i really want to on this blog. it's not a diary and i can't use it as a portal to vent all my feelings. unfortunately. so tonight, i am using a facade of talking about the food network show chopped instead of using this space to talk about what i really want to. this show is about four chef competitors who face off against one another and compete for a $10,000 prize. the twist is that each round of the competition, appetizer/entree/dessert, there is a basket of mystery ingredients that have to all be used in that round. 20 minutes/30 minutes/30 minutes. every time i watch this show i live vicariously through the chefs. i would love to go to culinary school and learn how to cook for real. i would love to study in france and italy about how to cook amazing food. but there are also other things i want to do with my life--more pressing things that i am more passionate about. for now, i will stick to watching the show and talking about what i would cook if it were me.

this book i'm reading

1. went to the pool today until it started to thunderstorm! it was nice to get some sunshine time in but we need rain here too.
2. grocery store, vacuum, wash dishes, make dinner, tidy up. such a productive person (today anyway).
3. watched the bachelorette from 8-10. this girl is kind of stupid and keeping some dud guys around. and the guys aren't even all that decent this season. bummer. 

i'm reading this book "why people die by suicide" for my summer work. it's a really depressing book, naturally, that is basically all about this model that tries to explain why suicide happens. i'm about 2/3 of the way through it now and on the chapter about genetics, neurobiology, and mental illness risk factors (yawn). but the final chapter is about prevention and treatment--what i'm most excited to learn about. okay, not excited, but most interested in learning about. the book has some pretty sad anecdotes about suicide and one really stuck out in my mind. a new yorker article in 2003 (i think) wrote about golden gate bridge suicides and told a few stories, one about this guy whose suicide note said something like "i'm going to walk to the bridge. if anyone smiles at me, i will not jump." well...he jumped and died. that is so heartbreaking. our society these days is so globalized and connected yet there are over 1 million suicide deaths per year worldwide. all it would have taken was a simple smile from someone, and the man would not have jumped to his death. it is an uncomfortable story, especially when coupled with the refusal to build a suicide barrier on the golden gate bridge for "aesthetic reasons." such. bullshit. but anyway, my rant about suicide is more a rant about people becoming desensitized. i was driving on the highway one night with  my boyfriend in the front seat when a man came out into the road slowly, waving his hand for me to stop. he seemed pretty normal, glasses and average clothes, and i slowed down to stop but my boyfriend told me to keep driving. granted, it was a deserted road and late at night and kind of suspicious, but i wanted to stop. i felt bad and guilty and like i wasn't helping someone who needed help. i would not have stopped if i was alone, but i figured it couldn't be that bad with my boyfriend in the car. he pointed out how it was weird and possibly unsafe and was logical about it, but i still couldn't get the image out of my head. and i walk past homeless people almost every day in my college town but usually don't stop and help. as a young female, the issue of safety is always brought up as a reason not to help people. but when did our society become so unhelpful and so untrustworthy? it's a damn shame.

this is kitty genovese, by the way.

carrie was right

1. woke up late today and still felt crappy...
2. so i went to the doctor and found out that i have a sinus infection. yay for me!
3. watched legally blonde and made dinner, then did some more homework-ish stuff.

okay, i hate to admit it. carrie from sex and the city 2 was right. carrie annoys me usually and is such a drama queen, but she was right about one thing in the new movie--time flies. she says in the beginning how years pass and suddenly a decade has gone by in what feels like a second. i have this document on my computer where i record all the topics of my blog posts to make sure i don't repeat topics. i got behind on this document and hadn't recorded any topics since march 30th. going back through all my posts and reading them again made me realize how quickly this year is passing. every christmas i get all excited for the new year and know that it will seem to take forever to go by, but in all reality it flies! it's already may 30th!!! where has this year gone--into thin air?! i feel like such an old person talking about time flying by, but it really is true. and i know that once august hits and school starts back up, i'll be like "ugh, a whole nother semester." but before i know it, it'll be december 31st again and hopefully i'll be preparing to go to italy for a semester. so much in life is temporary and i want to do great things with my life but have to question the necessity of it all. i get that being the best is important and working my butt off is important too, but there also has to be joy and zest for life in order for all of that to mean anything. i've realized with this blog that it's hard to talk about stuff just on the fly--i thought it would be easy to think of nightly topics, but it's been hard! but i am still committed and still stubborn and still all the way invested in this project. reading other blogs is fun too. and i love that i just came up with this idea one night and decided to stick to it--that's a very typical move for me. i'm very driven by emotions and how i feel at the time. so i decided to do this thing and have been doing it since.
bucket list item--design a room for my house that is just for me.

ehhh

1. slept late and went to the salon today. talked for awhile with the people there, but they are all kind of old, haha. well, too old for me to hang out with anyway. 
2. saw sex and the city 2 again (matinee) and got more out of it this time. i have the seasons to watch but forgot a vcr player and the first three seasons are all vcrs--so i'm screwed until my family comes to (kind of) visit. 
3. made dinner tonight and then went out to tcby and bought myself a parfait! great decision. thinking about going running tomorrow unless it's sunny and hot (aka pool weather).

i think tomorrow might be a legally blonde kind of day. i love that movie (!) for obvious reasons and need some inspiration. i am reading a book that is pretty depressing right now and want to get through it so that i can read some novels instead. i am starting to feel safer in the apartment but am still worried about being out and alone, so i try to keep my head on straight at all times. living in a city is a big adjustment for me, especially when i'm living alone! i don't have much to say, other than i am still waiting to adjust and still waiting to start work. that is next week, and my mentor seems pretty excited about it, which is good because i want to be busy busy busy! this summer  needs to be what i thought it would be...

simple as

1. went to the pool today. i think that everyone else knows how stupid it is to be outside around here during the summer. but it was nice for me! no one was there, though. 
2. went to the workout room too and it was lame-o! broken machines and no free weights. to get to use the rec center on campus, i'd have to pay $$$ if they even let me join (since i'm not a student). looks like it'll be DIY workouts this summer...
3. did some work on an abstract for a conference and made dinner and watched tlc. it was a nice friday evening, but i'd rather be hanging out with other people (like what was happening in other apartments i can see). 

so i have had a  few thoughts about myself and my life confirmed by this summer's experience so far. i love my college. i love my family. i love my friends. i am shy at first, but i like being with people. i am a scaredy cat. let me elaborate... the college where i go to school is my perfect fit; it's the right size and the right population and the right place for my career interests. i love the people i have met and can't wait to spend two more years meeting more wonderful people. on that note, i love my family. my family is my soul and i would not be me without every single member of my family. big, fun, loving, crazy. the best! my friends--i can't even say how much i love them! the best part is that we all get along and love to hang out and go out and love college. my home friends and my school friends have very special places in my heart and i am fiercely loyal to them (same goes for family). i am shy around people i don't know well. i have a hard time simply introducing myself to new people, especially when i'm alone and not with another friend or group of people. i would much prefer being approached than to do the approaching. i am afraid of a lot of things! i much prefer the daylight hours and being a young female in a city alone at night is kind of intimidating. but i am also smart and (mostly) rational so i can think about the situation logically. but i still sleep with the door to my mini-apartment locked at night! overall, these three days have been quite a learning experience so far--i'm just anxious to get started!

doing the damn thing

1. walked around campus today--it was so hot. like a whole new level of brain-stifling hotness. can't wait to deal with it all summer!
2. got my student id card, did some few remaining errands, and figured out the bus system (kind of). also went on mini-job search. 
3. saw sex and the city 2 tonight!!! all by myself and loved every minute of it (the clothes! the shoes! the hats! the men! the decor!)

so i have decided that i should just woman up and do this summer thing. yes, i am writing this as much as a declaration of commitment as a promise to myself as an attempt to prove that i can and will. i'm still nervous in this big apartment alone, but i am doing it. i miss my family and my friends and my boyfriend and my mountains but i am doing it. i have to do it. part of me is looking into the future with this summer. living on my own, doing what i love to do (hopefully in a cooler climate), and being me. i want to make friends here, though, and want to have things to do on the weekends and people to have over to my apartment. so that's my next step. it'll probably be the toughest one (secretly, i'm maybe, kinda, sorta, possibly shy around people i don't know) but that will be the ultimate test for me in this new place. p.s. i LOVE and WANT carrie's dress...

the best laid plans...

1. shew. big day. moved to my new summer location and it took a long time (8.5 hours) and i only had to stop for help twice (both times near the end because street names had changed).
2. being an adult is hard! i had to unpack my car by myself, move everything to the second floor, and then go to walmart for misc./groceries. note to self: check for shower curtain before going to the store and then realizing that you don't have one. 
3. i am kinda anxious being alone in this apartment all by myself--it's pretty creepy. i am sure i will get used to it, but for now, it's lonesome and strange.

i don't exactly know where to start tonight. i have crossed one item off my bucket list that i'm making for this year--living alone. so far (yes, i realize that it's just been one night, but first impressions are important!) i am not so sure that i am the kind of person who can live alone. i love solitude, yes, but i also like people. and half the fum of an apartment (own room is half--duh) is having friends who live with you! two problems: my apartment is empty, and i have no friends in this town. sooooo. riiiiiiight. ummmm. hopefully i'll meet people at the pool tomorrow. and i am going around the campus sometime this week/weekend to get a feel for things. it'll be very different, i'm sure, since it's summer. it's hard to believe that  my summer has actually started. the plans i freaked out in happiness/excitement about are finally about to happen and it's crazy! this year is flying by and i can't wait to see what else is in store. yes, i am still nervous (!) but i have faith that it will all turn out somehow, even if it's not the way i envisioned. 

"on the wing"

1. had a wonderful, yet bittersweet day. 
2. can't wait for tomorrow, but am nervous about driving. 
3. i love a starry sky. 

i don't have much to say tonight, other than au revoir. here's to (hopefully) a helluva summer!

risky business

1. had breakfast with one of my besties today. said goodbye and it was sad! but i can't wait for people to come visit meeee. 
2. did some errands and started to pack since i am leaving on wednesday. 
3. very excited/nervous and still need directions...working on that now. 

the bachelorette premiered tonight! the new girl, ali, gave up her job working for facebook, her apartment, and her life to go on the show and hopefully find love. touching, yes, but not the reason i am blogging tonight. her fear of leaving the conventional behind is what broke her off from jake, but she gave that up to find love (on a reality tv show that only produced two successful couples in 15 or so seasons...right...). anyway, ali is taking a risk and i admire that. i am taking a pretty big risk on wednesday, moving to a totally new city for an internship that i am not even sure will work out how i want, but i am feeling okay about it. really nervous but confident that i will do well. i feel blessed for the opportunity to learn about and test myself. i want to push to the limit and figure out some more stuff. this 20th year has been working out pretty well and i still have great hopes for 2010. it's almost halfway over and that's scary but to be expected. time marches on, and i just have to keep on keeping on. i'm excited and apprehensive all at the same time. like i said earlier today, "i guess this is 'growing up,' huh?"

disney classics.

1. went to church today and carried a banner in the service--happy pentecost!
2. laid out by the pool at this random hotel with some friends. it was a cloudless day and hot and so nice--part of me is excited for the summer weather i will get to deal with!
3. have been fighting a lethargy most of the day--feel really physically tired and have a pounding headache.

sooooo i have been listening to the disney classics cds for the past several days now. don't judge! they are great. but it is a nice segue to the topic for tonight. favorite disney movies! i took a fairy tales class my freshman year of college and learned a whole lot about fairy tales (disney movies included). one is particular that i always liked was the little mermaid. she was curious and i always liked that about her. while her choice in men was flawed (did prince eric even speak?), she was still a pretty good princess. her hair color was...well, i won't go there. but she was pretty and ursula was a hoot. the message is rather...twisted, but that is expected of any fairy tale. at least disney made its version happier than the hans christian anderson tale...that involved bleeding feet, pain like knives, and eternal flying about in the air. no love, no happy ending. sorry, kids. sleeping beauty is an old disney movie and i loved it as a girl. the fairies were my favorite part! going back and watching it, though, i see that there was not much conversation. just floating about, dancing, and dragon killing. all exciting elements, but how do you just fall in love without speaking? such a great message, disney. but she was blond and had blue eyes and a lovely pink dress (though the other fairy wanted blue). what's not to love about that combination?! on to the serious disney movie--mulan. based on a chinese legend, mulan tells the story of a badass girl who defies her father and country (byah!) and saves china (that's what's up) from the huns. that damned hun guy is so ugly and mean. but mulan and her tiny dragon ancestor (eddie murphy) save china with the help of a cricket and hot chinese soldier (how to they make cartoon characters attractive, and is that weird?). anyway, they are all great movies and i like the songs and the characters and the messages (mostly). but let's be real, i love all disney movies.

bucket list item: visit disney world again! 

fashion--turn to the left. fashion--turn to the right.

1. i love looking at ugly prom dresses! tonight was my old high school's prom and it was and will be entertaining to look at all the prom bombs of the night on facebook.
2. helped my mom get ready for the company this evening and tried to not get sick. 
3. watched the grey's anatomy season finale! insanity.

i chose the three designers who i did because they all have different styles that evoke different aspects of my personality. betsey johnson is fun and whimsical and daring. oscar de la renta is gorgeous and fantastical and soft. diane von furstenberg is sophisticated and smart and classic. my mood affects how i dress every day and what i choose to wear. if i could afford these designers, i'd love to have a closet with the majority of the clothing from these three designers. sigh...maybe one day.

i don't think we're in kansas anymore

1. went to breakfast with an old friend. caught up over chocolate chip pancakes--wonderful idea.
2. visited my mom's school again and hung out for a little bit, then did some errands before heading home.
3. went to dinner with the boy and then hung out at the house. watched american pie, haha.

i used to want to go to home college when i was little. basically, i wanted to be home schooled and never leave my house! that should be proof enough that i love my home and will always love my home. but aside from my house, my favorite places in the world are san sebastian, spain; lake como, italy; and hawaii. san sebastian has the best of both worlds--it has beach and mountains. the mountains are so close to the water and the city is quaint and beautiful. and the beach and the water--gorgeous! it is the perfect town for a vacation, although i would not mind living there either. i have some wonderful memories attached to san sebastian from a spring break trip in high school. it is just a gorgeous mix of ocean and mountains. similarly, lake como in italy has a remarkable view of the mountains and is a glacial-fed lake with icy cold water. the lakeside towns are all different and fun to visit. there is a lot of history on the lake as well, and the scenery can't be beat. i love italy so much, but lake como is definitely one of my favorite areas in the country. the final destination is the ultimate mountains-meets-ocean place. hawaii is absolutely amazing. my trip there last summer was an experience i will never forget and hope to repeat! i only went to maui and kauai but fell in love with both for different reasons. hawaii has so much to offer and is definitely the number one spot on my state rankings list (so there, you know who). i want to and am determined to return to all three. the picture choice for tonight was difficult, since i have beautiful pictures of all three places, but decided upon...

putting it off

1. ate lunch with my daddy and his friend from work today. it was fun!
2. went to the mall and shopped around a bit. that was fun too. 
3. had a great night with my boyfriend and his family. yup, you guessed it--fun!

anyway, i'm stressed out and contemplative right now and don't really feel like blogging, especially about my favorite places. so i'll put that off until tomorrow night and then finish up on sunday instead of saturday. sorry for being boring and messing with the schedule, but i do what i want! and that, right now, is to sleep. and figure everything out.

most excellent adventures

1. ate lunch with an old, good friend today and very much enjoyed myself. had a great calzone and cinnamon knots!
2. visited my mom today at her job and it was pretty funny/fun. it's weird knowing that i was in that same place only six years ago.
3. just hung out with the family tonight. very interesting dinner conversation.

okay, so favorite in this sense means more like "most interesting to me." these moments are all filled with bloodshed and heartache and devastation, but they are what interest me most in history. the revolutionary war is probably one of favorites because...i am an american? it's just such a cool moment in history. the cause! the uprising! the war! the victory! the death and birth! i think the whole process of overcoming the might of the british and defeating an empire to claim our own country is so cool. and it worked! but really, how cool is that. we transformed the global status quo and reshaped how weaker nations saw themselves. the true strength of character that it took to win the revolutionary war still awes me and makes me very thankful to the forefathers of my nation. i'm a huge history buff for WWII for two reasons: the holocaust, and the psychology behind the war. the holocaust is a terrible and fascinating thing to study--the enormity of the holocaust and the unimaginable horrors victims experienced are overwhelming. but to try to understand why and how it happened is so crucial for the present and future generations. building off of that, the psychology of WWII is fascinating. how hitler mobilized his nation, how he conquered other nations, how fdr got support for the war, and how the interactions of all these different people and places came together for the most terrible war in history--all that just intrigues me. the reason that i love the roman empire (a very long time span) is because it was pure power combined with novel concepts about government and leadership, that melded with new intellectual and religious movements, as well as ideas about art and society and war. so much happened! and so much changed! the roman empire was absolutely huge and the roman influence from then until today (and beyond) is shocking. i  mean, they invented concrete. how much more influential can you get? and that's just for starters! their influence spread much further and much wider than just concrete. i took a roman art class this semester and it really opened my eyes to just one facet of roman society. i think it's crucial to consider the beginning of society--and while the romans were definitely not the first, they were early on and massively important. thoughts are always welcome...

mmm mmm mmm

1. got my hair cut this morning, only 1/2 inch off since i'm letting it grow. also got a pre-summer plans pedicure. it's a lovely orangey red color--very appropriate.
2. had a great day just hanging out around the house. then had a great night with my boyfriend eating yummy food and getting to know his family. 
3. my departure date is drawing nearer and i get more and more nervous/excited.

i love food. i told my boyfriend tonight at dinner that i was happy that he loves that i love food--to eat/to cook/to bake/to buy. it's nice knowing that i can eat as much as i want and feel zero shame (like really, would i even feel shame anyway--uh, no). i have been a vegetarian my entire life (perhaps another post) but still have enjoyed my share of delicious food. okay, so why did i list foccacia with olive oil, nachos, grilled sole with lemon-butter-caper sauce as my favorites? right...have you ever had foccacia freshly made and warm from the oven with real, authentic italian olive oil? no? oh, so that's why you don't understand why it's listed as one of my favorite foods. the rustic and simple food is often the best. did i mention italian? italian food is definitely my favorite type of food. especially when i'm eating it in italy... but on to nachos! one word: qdoba. okay, okay, these are definitely not the best nachos on the planet (but they sure seem that way at 2 am). i love nachoes. i like the tortilla chips to be homemade, with lots of black beans and cheese and jalapenos and corn and salsa and guacamole and tomatoes. wow. now i really want some nachos. they are relatively healthy if made properly and with fresh ingredients (lots of veggies, whole grains, protein). and finally, the seafood dish of choice, grilled sole with lemon-butter-caper sauce. um...yum! sole tastes like what it sounds like--a delicious piece of soulful fish. it is buttery and flaky and light, but so simply prepared that it is perfect for any season (especially summer on lake como). the lemon freshens up the whole dish, while the butter roots it down to earth, and the capers are acidic and salty, rounding out the balance between the two flavors. what's not to love?! again, a close fourth for this list was watermelon (fresh, on the rind, on a hot summer day, seedless). now i just want to go cook...and then eat. but i'm going to bed instead! tomorrow is favorite (most interesting to me) history moments.

bookie!

1. slept in today and didn't even leave the house. it was so nice! i miss just having absolutely no plans.
2. i watched peter pan because the song "you can fly!" had been stuck in my head. now the whole soundtrack is stuck in my head.
3. i baked orange-pecan-bluberry breakfast bread because i was bored. it was a bit of an experiment but it turned out well!

disclaimer: contains some plot elements for listed books, so don't read it if you haven't read these books! so why harry potter, life of pi, and east of eden? when examined together, they all seem to invoke a similar question about human nature and attempt to answer it in different ways. humans innately need to know the answers (if my previous posts have not made this clear) and we seek out those answers primarily through works of art--books, dramas, paintings, music compositions, etc. my first selection, though not necessarily my favorite, is the most well known. the harry potter series is...the closest to my heart. i grew up with the books and with the characters and my pre-adolescent and adolescent years were characterized by reading the newest book and waiting for the next one. the whole series tackles the question of good and evil remarkably well. it captures the imaginations of younger readers and raises difficult questions for older readers. the seventh book, though, stands alone as a superior work of literature. the finesse and the detail and the allegory is captivating and thought-provoking. i love the story element combined with the philosophical element. and yes, harry becomes a jesus figure, but this is the coolest way of portraying that story that i have come across. i am still waiting for my hogwarts letter... on to life of pi. again, a way of talking about life that is unique and fresh. i read somewhere that yann martel used animals as a way to project characters so that the reader would have no preconception about the characters while reading the story. it seems like the perfect palate for characterization, even though we do stereotype animals, it is not in nearly the same way as we stereotype our fellow humans. the twist in life of pi where pi offers the story that the animals on the boat were actually humans...it kind of blew my mind. i didn't see it coming, but maybe i'm just dense. the story itself is such a good read and woven so well, but the questions it raises about morality, humanity, and sanity are fascinating. east of eden i love. it's over 600 pages of wonderful writing and even better storytelling. the plot is fast-paced and gripping. i have read it three times and each time find a new piece of the story that i missed before. and the pure hatred that i have for cathy is only matched in one other novel by one other character--dolores umbridge in the order of the phoenix. that should tell you something about the characterization capability of  both authors. but the pure evil of cathy and cal is horrifying, while the extreme goodness of aaron is almost sickening. the story asks questions about the way one lives one's life and the morality of that way of life. all three are fabulous books and i love them through and through and can re-read until my heart's content and never get tired of them. another note, poisonwood bible was a very close fourth place for this list. another excellent book that has similar themes of these three!