Remembering a Younger Me

You ever have one of those moments where you think of yourself and your past. Past choices, decisions right or wrong, people who have moved in and out of your life. I have been having one of those times. So I sit here in the morning before going to a job I don't really like thinking of my past. I am not sure how to put into words the feelings I am having it is not nostalgia in anyway, I know that the past wasn't better. It isn't sadness or anything as simple as that, it is maybe more melancholy. Maybe it has been reconnecting with a few friends and seeing how things have changed or not changed with them. Not sure... 

Solitude is Over

I have finished "One Hundred Years of Solitude" it has quickly vaulted into my top all time favorite novels. I feel like I may have to end up rereading this novel which I rarely if ever do. I think an accurate description for how Marquez wrote this novel is like an onion you peel away layers to find more layers...oh wait except now you notice that the layer that you peeled away was actually two or three layers not one...and where did this other onion come from.
Every sentence, every paragraph, every page is so full of meaning and description, everything is so well drawn that it is impossible to not forget or miss things. I think that is exactly the point. For example, Santa Sofia de la Piedad, she is there for most of the novel, barely noticed but there. As I was reading the final pages of Santa Sofia de la Piedad, I realized that I could not remember when she had entered the story or which Buendia she was related to. It was as if she had just materialized out of the darkness of the Buendia house. I had like so many of the Buendias become as comfortable with her presence or lack of presence, taken her for granted. Then she leaves, and when she does her need in the house comes in to focus, you realize that she is the last bit of reality left. The Buendias are now no longer moored to reality, they are free to destroy themselves. In fact there is nothing left for them to do but destroy themselves. And they do, they fulfill their destiny and bring about an almost biblical destruction that will wipe them from the Earth completely. 


It is a beautifully written novel, I loved it. I am now moving on to another novel. Here is my list I started out the year with...
1. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet - David Mitchell
2. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
3. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
4. Underworld - Don Delillo
5. Nueromancer - William Gibson
6. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 
7. The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton 
8. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
9. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
10. Atonement - Ian McEwan
11. The Folding Star - Alan Hollinghurst
12. Titus Groan - Mervyn Peake
13. The Cider House Rules - John Irving


I am thinking that I am going to read "Something Wicked This Way Comes" next.

Mornings are just not my thing

I am sure all that know me know this, I am not a morning person. I do not get up easily, I do not like a lot of noise or talking in the morning. I get up read some news on my computer, look to see if Erin has a new blog post. I want to just sit in quiet drink some tea or water and read. Now, I seem to have a propensity to choose people in my life who are morning people. These people get up and talk, sing, make noises and are generally genial in the morning. All I can ask is why...why must this be can't we just sit for a hour and not say anything. I just want to say nothing.

An now on to something completely different...

I am looking forward to a few things this summer

1. Vacation...I hope to got to Gladwin, yes, Gladwin Mi...I haven't visited my Aunt Susie and cousin Stephanie in far too long.
2. Vacation... Chicago
3. The Yeasayer Concert.
4. The Last Harry Potter Movie
5. Transformers 3
6. Super 8
7. Reading some more very good books

It Is Done

The Riverbank Run is done and I finished in 2hrs 57mins.  It was just under a 12min mile which though a little slower then I would have liked, I was shooting for 11min, I am perfectly happy with it. My only goal was to finish the race, as I am a slow runner finishing is the important think for me. I am now thinking of what my next race should be I am sure it will be a 5 or 10k just because during the summer that is about all that is run. I am thinking that the Reed's Lake Run in East G.R. would be a good run.

Motherfucking, God Damn, Son of a Bitch, Fucker....

...This is what I yelled when some how I opened the back door on my foot. In a weird maneuver I was trying to keep a dog in the house while not having shoes on because I left them in the car (seriously don't ask) and open a door at the same time...and the motherfucking door opened up on my foot stubbing my middle toe. Now this would normally just piss me off for a little while but in typical Michael Vander Elzen fashion I stub my toe so that it is now black and blue and bleeding, 10 days before a 25k.

In other news I had a lovely time at Elizabeth's birthday party, and was muy jealous over her nook.

So I am going to state the obvious and must be included in every blog this week.  Osama Bin Laden was killed by the U.S. government. I found it weird in the way that I found the news of Michael Jackson or Elizabeth Taylor's deaths were weird. Bin Laden had become somewhat of a fixture in the world in the way that politicians or celebrities do, now he is dead. He's dead and I find myself not caring, not finding anything to celebrate, and not finding any closure. He masterminded a huge tragedy, that lead to even more deaths because our government involved us in to wars with seemingly no end. No Bin Laden's death doesn't bring anything to a close. It is just odd something lost but something that you don't really care much about.