tumbly.

Progress: 3 down, 37 to go (list)

Which: The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Nick Carraway is the first unreliable narrator that I can remember recognizing. Even before the eye-roller that is, “I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.”

What made laugh this time around is… there’s really no one to root for (my chief complaint about and non-starter with Wuthering Heights [ugh]). They’re all careless and mostly unsympathetic, although Gatsby feels more hapless than malignant in his calculating.

But still there is the language. It is so concise even when it feels rambly, it’s worth putting up with Daisy’s stupidity.

I’m super-curious to see what Luhrman’s going to do with it; it can’t possibly be worse than the 1974 version, right? Don’t get me wrong: Redford in suits? Sure. But that movie is no good.

I love that my camera lets me shoot in ridiculous low-light like this. (:

(1/2)

Men who explain things

kurafire:

Classic article by Rebecca Solnit on the societal construct when men explain things to women. Worth a re-read if you’ve read it before; a must-read if you haven’t.

Most women fight wars on two fronts, one for whatever the putative topic is and one simply for the right to speak, to have ideas, to be acknowledged to be in possession of facts and truths, to have value, to be a human being. Things have certainly gotten better, but this war won’t end in my lifetime. I’m still fighting it, for myself certainly, but also for all those younger women who have something to say, in the hope that they will get to say it.

(via tiffehr)

The switch flips. My sadness turns a corner and runs smack into self-reliance. No matter the mental obstacles, an athlete is still in control of her body, and that has to be enough.

“London Calling — Disappointment breeds new energy”, Kathryn Bertine (via @keavy)

This.

Drive (2011)

In what universe was I not going to like this movie? Bad-ass cars driven hard? Check. Bad-ass cars driven hard on the streets of Los Angeles? Check. A cast that pretty much kills it? Check. And hot pink Mistral not meant ironically? Please.

There is only one Ridley Scott, but! Refn does really well here and even though the movie’s a little too… self-aware a few times, it doesn’t suffer much for it. The thousand-yard stares and the enigmatic non-smiles and the long silences. Just because you can see how it works doesn’t mean it doesn’t.

Can we talk about how watchable the opening and title sequences are? And how the car chases aren’t the sum total of the movie’s action? Or heart?

I dig it.

Progress: 2 down, 38 to go (list)

Which: Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick

When I first flipped through Wonderstruck at the store, the combination of text and full-bleed drawings almost had me plunked down in the aisle to read. Somehow I did the grown-up thing, bought it, and brought it home.

Wonderstruck’s a great lesson in pacing: even when you spot the next reveal, Selznick’s in no hurry to get you there, but he never drags his feet. It’s a hefty book at 600+ pages, but somehow it reads fast without rushing you along.

…action scenes are often like sex scenes — they are just hanging there, an exclamation point on the end of a sentence that we’ve already read.

Maggie Stiefvater writing five things about the book The Lock Artist.

On-set photos by Gary Oldman from Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Fantastic.

“Settle Down” - Kimbra.

This.

This week on Instagram: blue/yellow.

untitled by popesaintvictor / “Surf SF” by doublecap / untitled by robertjosiah

Progress: 1 down, 39 to go (list)

Which: How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming, Mike Brown

Well, I finished it this year, so…

You should read this book. Whether you think SPACE IS RAD (hi) or you have only a passing interest: you should read this book. Brown, I think because he’s not just a hardcore astronomer but also a teacher, tells a great story and in 257 pages is never dry about it. A feat, if you ask me (I’m pretending you asked).

The final count for books read in 2011: 24 of 40. Fewer than 2010 by 5! Tsk.

I will try again for 2012 (3rd time lucky, right?) without choosing books ahead of time; my hope is to not end up with a months-long lull again. In 2010, the second half of the year saw very little reading and 2011 had almost a full quarter of …nothing.

My books-to-read shelf is, no surprise, still jam-packed. Perhaps this year I’ll make a significant dent in it! Whether I’ll stop buying new books before the ones I have are read is the real que—hahah, no of course I won’t.

Okay, here goes!

“That Man” - Caro Emerald

Toe-tapping. Bright. Fun. Love it. (Bonus! Saul Bass-y video!)

This week on Instagram: in the trees.

Childhood tree fort, now overgrown. by kevinruss / Gate by doublecap / new trail across from the Ogden estate! by maxogden

FOX gets points for the Christmas-light time-out indicators today. (:

tumbly. by dotsara!

Men who explain things

The switch flips. My sadness turns a corner and runs smack into self-reliance. No matter the mental obstacles, an athlete is still in control of her body, and that has to be enough.

…action scenes are often like sex scenes — they are just hanging there, an exclamation point on the end of a sentence that we’ve already read.