So far this year, Part II

Back in the summer, I recounted the books I'd read this year up to that point. Now that the year's almost finished, I figured I'd take stock of the rest. Here's what I've read:

"When Trumpets Call" by Patricia O'Toole: A fantastic biography of Teddy Roosevelt after his presidency. It also has great history of Taft's presidency, as TR was a major factor in that.

"Sex, Drugs and Coco Puffs" by Chuck Klosterman: This was a Powell's impulse buy, and I have to admit, I've since become a Klosterman disciple, as he is able to write intelligently and analytically about pop culture, which is basically what I aspire to do in life.

"Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James Lowen: This book makes a great case for the need to reform the way kids are taught history in school. It talks about unnecessary hero worship (Columbus Day, anyone?) and the lack of women, Native Americans, and other minorities in history books. A great read for any future educators, or anyone interested in that process.

"Killing Yourself to Live" by Chuck Klosterman: In this, Klosterman includes his musings on society, music, and affairs of the heart against a backdrop of a trip he's taking in which he visits the death sites of famous musicians. It's incredibly enthusiastic and thoughtful writing.

"A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers: Clearly, I was on the memoir tip after reading Klosterman. I have to agree with Blake's assessment that this book never quite lives up to how good the writing in the first 1/3 of the book is, but even so, the writing is, yes, staggeringly good.

"Tales From the Oregon Ducks Sidelines" by Brian Libby: A totally awesome book about Oregon football history, written by my equally awesome brother. And a foreword by Joey Harrington!

"Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History" by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich: I first read Ulrich's book "A Midwife's Tale" in college, which is widely considered a breakthrough for the field of social history. This book's title comes from a phrase this author originally wrote in an otherwise little-noticed article that eventually spawned a mini revolution -- you've probably seen the phrase on T-shirts, bumper stickers, etc. Interestingly enough, Ulrich explains in the book, the phrase was never meant to be a call for women to behave improperly, rather, she was lamenting the fact that the everyday lives of women who labored in the home were rarely recorded.

"The Partly Cloudy Patriot" by Sarah Vowell: This is a collection of essays by a fellow female history nerd/social observer. While I liked her writing, I mostly felt annoyed that I could have written virtually the same book, and perhaps slightly better.

Quote of the Day

"You can't gild a turd, people. I enjoy his films, but brotha' be homely."
-- a comment left on Defamer by a user named Hamsterpants, in response to Quentin Tarantino's less than dapper appearance this morning during the Golden Globe announcements.

RIP, Reggie

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the death of my beloved iPod, Reggie. Reggie and I went through a lot together.

When I broke up with my last serious boyfriend (who actually gifted Reggie to me, ironically enough), me and Reggie sat on the Daily Trojan balcony for hours at a time, listening to "A Lack of Color" by Death Cab for Cutie on repeat.

When I sold my first article to the Los Angeles Times, Reggie assisted me in pumping my fist in the air to the tune of "I Can" by Nas.

And, when I get nervous on airplane flights, Reggie always soothed me with selections from my calming "Sleep" playlist.

As I've been a distance runner since 7th grade, it took me a while to warm up to the concept of running with music. Now, I can't run without it. It will take me a while to save up for a replacement for Reggie, which means I might grow out of shape in the process.

Reggie is preceded in death by Beth's iPod, Shirley (yes, Beth named her iPod after my mother).

Finally, I just want to say that Reggie was everything I wanted in an iPod, and he will be sorely missed.

Third time's the charm?

The Grammy nominees were announced today, and even though they're completely irrelevant, I am cautiously optimistic that this will finally be Kanye's year to win album of the year.

Though he's been nominated twice before, Kanye lost both times to the Grammys' go-to award winners: old people whose music no longer matters (or, more specifically, Ray Charles and U2). When Bono accepted the award two years ago for "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," his first words on the podium were "Kanye: You're next."

Sadly, this year Kanye has the sympathy vote on his side, since his mother recently and unexpectedly died. But more importantly, he's more established now, and while Amy Winehouse is still a media darling (am I the only one who doesn't get this?), I think this is the best shot Kanye has had so far. Then again, old-timer Herbie Hancock is also up for the award, and I wouldn't be surprised if they gave it to him.

My new obsession

Earlier today, my co-worker Heidi turned me on to a sweet Web site (made even sweeter by the fact that it's miraculously not blocked by our office's Nazi Web filter). It's Pandora, a Web-based radio site where you type in your favorite artists, and it plays them, as well as other artists it believes you would like based on your choices. So far, the suggestions it has made for me have been awesome. It has played songs I've never heard before, like "Ghetto Manifesto" by The Coup, and songs I love that I haven't heard in ages, like "Case of the Ex" by Mya.