We came here today to have Lucas experience his first fair. Thought that we'd only stay for a couple of hours but ended up being there 6 hours.
When you enter, the first thing you will notice is that wafting through the air are the scents of barbecue and grease. I was pretty excited and had a mental checklist of what I wanted to eat: barbecue brisket, jumbo corndog, fries, funnel cake, and barbecue corn. I even skipped breakfast! But, as is always the case with me, I get so full so fast. After eating the brisket sandwich I didn't feel like chomping down on the corn, let alone even think about the corndog. The brisket was that good though!
After a couple of hours enjoying the petting zoo and the pig races, I was ready for the funnel cake. This time, Lediya and I shared it. Sweet strawberries and the powdered sugar complimented the fried though nicely.
All in all a great experience. Lucas enjoyed the petting zoo immensely, he was hitting the goats so hard was surprised they didn't hit back. Will return again next year!
This guy can write. In fact, this book is one of the most original that I've come across in a long time.
Like the layers of an onion, Diaz peels back the layers of years to reveal the back history of Oscar and his sister Lola. And what a history it is! The Banana Curtain is unveiled and the horrors of Trujillo -- the raging narcissist and despoiler of women -- are unflinchingly revealed, creating shudders of revulsion and flashes of understanding in this reader.
Junot Diaz creates a language and a tempo unlike any I've read before, peppered with Spanish colloquialisms, street talk, and video game terminology. Somehow, though, it works - and works beautifully - even if you don't know an "hola" from an "adios" or have never played a video game in your life.
I will not soon forget Oscar Wao, the 300+ pound romantic, Lola, Yunior, or his mother and the Gangster and his ill-fated grandparents. The book is compulsively readable. For all of those who say that "the novel is dead", I say: read Junot Diaz.
Just got back from a quick weekend getaway to San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park. Lucas enjoyed both very much. He especially liked the pink flamingos and the monkeys that were wrestling around with each other.. We actually visited the zoo twice in one day - he got tired in the afternoon so we went back to our hotel to rest and returned to the zoo in the evening when there were much less people. Best exhibits: elephants and the monkeys.
The next day we had breakfast at Papaleccos and then drove over to Balboa Park. It's a very nice Spanish-themed urban park, with numerous museums in the area. We went to the free Botanical Gardens and checked out the lily ponds. We also treated to Lucas to a miniature train ride that he liked a lot.
All in all a great weekend down in San Diego. We stayed at the Double Tree hotel in downtown that was very close to the attractions where Lucas had a chance to play in the pool for a bit. We'll come back again when Lucas is ready for Sea World.
Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee is an excellent novel about a young, bright daughter of immigrant parents, Casey, a young woman full of potential, just graduated from Princeton in the mid-1990s. She has everything, or seems to, but can't quite realize the value in what she has. Min Jin Lee does an excellent job of conveying the New York City of the oversmart and overprivileged of that time. The title, "Free Food for Millionaires", is a reference to the free lunch provided periodically at an investment bank during that time. It's a perfect summary of the worlds Casey lives in - the striving world of her parents and the overprivileged one of her Princeton classmates, where peoples needs and wants are seemingly either denied and oversupplied. Happiness is never full--something is always missing. That lack of perfection makes this a strong novel. Lee does some interesting things with her characters -they and their stories take some unexpected turns.
Overall, though, this is an enjoyable read, full of flawed and human characters. This one would probably be a perfect book club read--it will give readers much to discuss.
We came here today to have Lucas experience his first fair. Thought that we'd only stay for a couple of hours but ended up being there 6 hours.
