I love cake. I love books. These are awesome.

Source: Flavourwire 

Let's Play

I am kind of an awful. reader considering how much I love to read. I have a really short attention span and I need to be hooked on a book right away in order to be interested.For this reason I tend to shy away from long novels (I have been trying to read Les Miserables for years and I have come to terms with the fact that I will probably never read War and Peace, it will just sit on my bookshelf mocking me) and will turn to plays.

I thought that I would provide a list of some plays that I have read over the past year or so with a small summary and how I rated it out of five stars.

Spring Awakening

This play is about a group of young people in 19th century Germany. The play deals with the kids discovering themselves and deals with topics such as sexuality, abortion and suicide.

My Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Waiting for Godot

A play in which two characters wait endlessly for the arrival of someone named Godot. Was voted the most significant English language play of the 20th century.

My rating: 4/5 stars

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Set in the plantation home in Mississippi, the play surrounds Big Daddy Pollitt, a cotton tycoon and examines the relationships among the members of Big Daddy's family, focusing mostly on his son Brick and Maggie the "cat", Brick's wife.

My Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The Normal Heart

The play focuses on the rise of the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York City between 1981 and 1984, as seen through the eyes of writer/activist Ned Weeks, the gay Jewish-American founder of a prominent HIV advocacy group.

My Rating: 4.5/5 stars

You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think.

Dorothy Parker is a gem; she is highly entertaining and insightful. Lately I have been reading The Portable Dorothy Parker and have come across some of her excellent poetry so I thought I would share some of my favourites. Enjoy!

A Very Short Song

Once, when I was young and true,

Someone left me sad 

Broke my brittle heart in two;

And that is very bad.

Love is for unlucky folk,

Love is but a curse.

Once there was a heart I broke;

And that, I think, is worse.

Observation

If I don't drive around the park,

I'm pretty sure to make my mark.

If I'm in bed each night by ten,

I may get back my looks again.

If I abstain from fun and such,

I'll probably amount to much;

But I shall stay the way I am,

Because I do not give a damn.

Inscription for the Ceiling of a Bedroom

Daily dawns another day;

I must up, to make my way.

Though I dress and drink and eat,

Move my fingers and my feet,

Learn a little, here and there,

Weep and laugh and sweat and swear,

hear a song, or watch a stage,

Leave some words upon a page,

Claim a foe, or hail a friend-

Bed awaits me at the end.

Though I go in pride and strength,

I'll come back to bed at any length.

Though I walk in blinded woe,

Back to bed I'm bound to go.

High my heart, or bowed my head,

All my days but lead to bed.

Up, and out, and on; and then

Ever back to bed again,

Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall-

I'm a fool to rise at all!

Coda

There's little in taking or giving,

There's little in water or wine;

This living, this living, this living

Was never a project of mine.

Oh, hard is the struggle, and sparse is 

The gain of the one at the top,

For art is a form of catharsis,

And love is a permanent flop,

And work is the province of cattle,

And rest's for the clam in a shell,

So I'm thinking of throwing the battle-

Would you kindly direct me to hell?

Learn more about Dorothy Parker:
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/756
http://www.poemhunter.com/dorothy-parker/

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is an Oscar-winning short film directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg. This short film is a wonderful tale of the powers of literature and definitely worth a watch.

PUNS

Puns, I'm crazy about them. While most people hear one and let out a groan or a light chuckle, chances are you will find me still laughing 5 minutes later, and then again when I remember it again later in the day. I can't help it, wordplay is funny, end of story.

I would like to share two of my favourites with you and as a frame of reference, I heard the second one approximately 5 years ago and I'm still laughing just as hard as I did then.

1.

Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, but when they lit a fire in the craft it sank-proving once and for all that you can't have your kayak and heat it, too.


2.
The friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise funds.
Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought this was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not.
He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him.
So the rival florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to "persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop.
Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that: Hugh, and only Hugh, can prevent florist friars.

Side note: There are no puns in my introduction paragraph, I know, I'm disappointed in myself as well.

A Post

As a continuation of my last post I would like to share with you what is probably my favourite picture on the internet. It combines my love of Salvador Dali with my love of puns, and that's all I could ever really ask for.

It's a "Dali Llama...."

You're Welcome.

Salvador Dali

I am crazy about Salvador Dali. Everything from his crazy paintings to his ridiculous mustache, I love it all. I first took note of him when I saw his film he created with Luis Bunuel called Un Chien Andalou. I watched it for a film class I was taking and it was one of the only films that stayed with me from that year. It was sporatic and crazy, everything you would want it to be and more. From then on I was hooked, I couldn't get enough Dali.

You may be wondering why this is on my blog about books, and to that I would say: "Geez, give me a minute to set a scene and I'll tell you. You're so impatient. I've always said that about you..."

In 1969 Salvador Dali illustrated an edition of Alice in Wonderland (a book!). Only 2,500 copies were ever created and I felt the need to share some of the illustrations on this blog because they are awesome. I would kill to get my hands on a copy. They do exist but they'll set the buyer back as little as $7500. I don't know about you but that seem a little...(wait for it)... surreal to me. A girl can dream though, right?

Check out some of this illustrations:

Title Page

    

Down the Rabbit Hole

                                                                                                    

Advice from a Caterpillar

Mad Tea Party