Flags of our Father's Part II

I'm sure you're wondering how long it takes me to read a book. Usually, not that long, but since I have not been reading on a regular basis well, obviously I won't get my book read.

This past memorial weekend I went to visit my friend Danielle and her fiance down in Los Angeles. I was excited and nervous all at the same time. Los Angeles is the Mecca of film and television, but at the same time, it's also a whole new world of ethnicities, races and vegetation. My pine trees were replaced by palm trees, and my shrubs were replaced by cacti. My small city was replaced my 4-6 lane freeways and all the white people I'm used to seeing, were replaced by a mixture of blacks, asians, middle easterners and latinos. The architecture was different too, a mixture of European and Spanish terra cotta.

Anyway, my point was that I'd have a two hour plane ride that would force me to read, so I took with me Flags of our Fathers'. I'm sure it looked a bit funny to see a late twenties latina reading a book about WWII. Usually you'd think it be a military dude or a geeky historian. Truth is, I am a geeky historian, I just don't quite look like one. US history fascinates me at all different time periods. People's stories fascinate me which is what, to me, history is, and should be about. We should be telling everyone's different story, no matter how horrendous because history is in the eye of the beholder and I think a lot of people could learn to empathize and sympathize from people that are not like them, or grew up with a different experience on the same subject matter.

The part of my book I'm at is D-Day +3 and it's one of the most brutal things I've ever read. It's so real and raw. As I was reading it, I could feel the chaos and the panic these young men had to face. The men/children ranged from 14 years old to 24 years old, younger than I am now, seeing their buddies' heads roll of their backs and entrails being blown apart along with legs arms. Ay. Gosh, I really don't know how to respond to what I've read except keep reading, learning and honoring our veterans for what they did by doing what I do right now, read about their stories.

Yeah, it's been a while

I unrealistically keep thinking I'm busy. I work out, I work, I hang with the bf, take a photography class and that's about it, yet I feel like I don't have enough hours in the day or days in the week, to get all that I need done. I have not been reading, I have not been writing, I've just been "busy". What am I doing with all this time? I don't have reliable internet, and I don't have steady television (I have an antenna that only works perfectly on CBS, ok on ABC, and is non-existent on NBC.) What am I doing?

Well, I just moved into my new apartment (ok, I moved in March) and I just got my couch in (ok, two weeks ago.) I think this uneasy, unsteady feeling comes from the fact that my apartment is not done. It feels life a half home. My bedroom is pretty much ready for hangings, but my living room? Not so much. I know I shouldn't be feeling this way, but I'm anal and a bit OC about how things should be and look and feel. My living doesn't "feel" right yet, and I don't think it ever will and I'll have to live with that. If I had all the space in the world, I'd move my couch around my tv, etc, but I don't. It's a lot of work to move anything around in such a small place so I end up spending most of my free time at home, thinking up ways of how much better it could look. I also spending time packing for the next day. Since I live about 15 minutes away from the gym now, it's not realistic to go to the gym, come home, shower change and head back to work since work and gym are just 4 blocks apart, so the night before, I have to pack my back, get my clothes ready for the morning, get lunch ready, so by the time all of that is done after I get home, it's about 8 and I perhaps watch a show, perhaps not, then I head to bed. I always find *something* else do to, but it's always home related.

Today however, I'm hoping to have most of these little Andrea-annoyances taken care of. Isaiah will be helping me bring up the new drop leaf dining table and two chairs I bought on sunday, and we'll be taking down a coffee table and end table that has no room. I'll start clearing out the extra "junk" that litters the living room and I'll feel a bit more stable. I'll be getting rid of an extra bookcase and transferring all my books into my larger-than-the-living-room bedroom. After all that is done, a rug is in place for the sofa and walk hangings will be put up.

I guess the true reason I'm so "busy" is because I'm busy "nesting" and being with myself. But man, nesting has never taken so long . . .