4 years ago I started a series of day posts...They're only days. It was in reaction to my impending divorce and move to BCS. I went back 6 years for that one. But I have always been a little bit obsessed with important days, dates, nostalgia and the like. I don't think I live in the past but I can't help remembering it- constantly. Okay maybe it's a problem. Lets look at some days!
313 days ago I told my apartment complex in BCS I'd be ending my lease May 30, 2016...I didn't have a job yet, but by hook or by crook I was heading home at the end of May.
243 days ago I got into Law School! St. Mary's Law School- the only one I wanted to go to. Where my dad went and of course back home in San Antonio. I cried hysterically, called my dad and he totally lacked enthusiasm because he had no doubt I would get in- THANKS DAD! Then I called everyone else and we all cried together.
Shit was getting real.
215 days ago I accepted my position at Palo Alto on the phone at 5:05 PM and proceeded to cry on Greg and Andrew's shoulders for another half hour freaking out about life.
183 days ago I left College Station. I thought my decision to leave San Antonio was hard, this was harder. I voluntarily left to pursue a new job, law school, and most importantly being with my family more.
These past 9 months have been amazing. They've also been incredibly challenging. Like when I moved to BCS it's hard to make new friends, start a new job knowing no one and of course not having your wine drinking friends by your side is just the worst! (Miss you my ladies that drink!) But these months have been filled with laughter and tears and love and hugs and more tears and music and stress and delicious REAL Mexican Food. So it's all worth it.
I don't have any major insights or anything but I'm weird about dates and couldn't just let it go by.
A blog about stuff. Movies, books, music, my life. Just whatever I feel like writing about.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Why did I give that book 2 stars? (aka Mid-Year Book Report)
Normally this time of year, or really two months ago, (2015) I would do a mid-year book report on my stats, what I’ve liked, what trends I’m noticing and the likes. This year however my mid-year book report is really sad, I haven’t read very much and don’t really have more to say than what my reviews are saying. I’m at 14 and I could make a million excuses but the main one is I haven’t wanted to- I moved and am spending way too much time doing a million other things.

2011- this is a year I remember as the year I read all the Harry Potter books and started the Sookie Stackhouse series.
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. Why did I give this two stars? I didn’t even write a review on Goodreads how sad! I remember this book super fondly and then read the sequel a few years later. I remember enjoying the family aspect and the wanting to branch out from your family stuff as well as a somewhat non-cheesey romance. I don’t think it deserves like 5 stars but at least a solid 3 stars at least. I think I got it as a Nook Freebie or for like $1.99. Interesting

Graveminder by Melissa Marr. The book that started this! I don’t remember hating this book at all! Looking back at it I think of it as a super fun book about a paranormal graveminder, with zombies I’m okay with, gangsters, weird dimensions, and a young woman having to make a choice about her life and love. My review “The ending was horrible. It felt rushed and thrown together. some things were never resolved and parts were written like it was going to be a series instead of a stand alone book. I expected a lot more from this book and it did not deliver. the idea had promise, it just wasn't realized.” I don’t remember the ending now...or at least I don’t remember why it was horrible, but this is seriously a book I check out every once in awhile to see if a sequel has been published because I’d like to revisit the world.
2013- Another year in which I read too many damn books, 56 this time. Also the year I read all the Margaret Atwood and Fantasy type books, I read the Narnia series for the first time. There are no dissonant 2 star reviews this year. The books I gave low star counts too totally deserved it. I also got better at writing reviews this year I so I still stand by what I said.

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs. I really liked this book! Duh. The problem with the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series is that as a whole I really liked the series, but individually I had a lot of problems with the books. Goodreads status update from 44% into the book “eeek this is intense”. Glad I added that insight. In my review I note that it could have been a 2.5 but Goodreads only works in whole numbers so I went with the lower 2 rating. I don’t know. I remember this book better than a 2 or a 2.5...again a solid 3.
2015- Nothing! I was accurate but also it may not have been long enough yet to really judge these books again…
So not too many that I judged too harshly but a handful that surprised me. I think there are probably a lot more in the 3 star range that should have been 4 or 5 but that's over a hundred books to go through and apparently my review writing wasn't as good 5 years ago and my memory sometimes sucks. Either way it’s always so fun to go back and look at what I read and what I was doing with my life when I read things. Now I need to finish my book for my bookclub… it’s not going to get a very high rating from me and I currently believe that’s appropriate...ask me again in 3 years!
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Review: Hamilton: The Revolution

My rating: 0 of 5 stars
So good! This was like a behind the scenes tour or audio commentary on your favorite movie. I didn't need these stories to love Hamilton anymore but here they are they made me love it even more. This book made me cry in basically every chapter. So many heart breaking stories, so many beautiful moments, and so much passion and drive! Between the story about my fake boyfriend Leslie Odom Jr. finding his burr and Wait For It. Of course the gut wrenching stories behind It's Quiet Uptown. The entire cast was clearly sent from God, because they're perfect. It's one of those things where everything had to fall into place perfectly for it to work and it did. This is a short book - 230ish pages- and I had it pre-ordered from Amazon so it arrived yesterday on time on it's release date. But when I woke up I didn't want to wait till after work to start it, so I downloaded the audiobook and listened to the first half on my commute. I read the second half in my hardback copy. This book is gorgeous! The pages are beautiful, the pictures and the sketches and the notebooks, it's just a gorgeous item I already cherish. The audiobook is delightful, Mariska Hargitay's voice is very soothing and appropriate. I'm still going to listen to the audiobook over the next few days on my commute because sometimes they throw different things into the narration that make it fun. Also I'm waiting for Lin's part in the audiobook. In the libretto parts of the book I can't help but sing along in my head, I've been listening to this musical for half a year now and so I know it by heart. I love the backstory and the backstory of the backstory too. If you're a fan pick it up.
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Wednesday, March 2, 2016
My life in BCS through musicals.
In 14 days I'll be moving back to San Antonio. After 3 1/2 years I've come to really love this place and the people. When I first moved here I hated it, I was so homesick I wanted to just pack up and head home. My boss joked back then that when I went home for Christmas that year she wasn't sure I would to come back! It was bad. But over Christmas I made the decision that would end up changing my life here. I looked up information about the community theatre that did musicals in town and decided to audition for one of my favorite shows. It was through this threatre that I met some amazing people and three very special ladies who would become my closest friends while living here. So it's only fitting that as I get ready to head home I commemorate my time here through songs from the shows I was a part of.
***warning sappiness to follow***
The first show I did was in the February and March of 2013. Sunset Boulevard one of my favorites growing up (my step-father had been obsessed with it). So I knew the show very well and was so excited to be in the cast and have a bunch of fun random little parts. I love the music for this show, it's Andrew Lloyd Webber on crack, fun harmonies and crazy piano, it was a fun show...well kinda dark but still really fun. The costumes were cool and 40s-ish? and it was fun to be back in character shoes after taking about a 9 year break from doing musical theatre. I wore my hair in a snood because I will always have too much hair for my own good. The song that always comes back to me is "This time next year", it takes place at a New Years party and everyone is singing about their hopes and dreams and plans for next year. I've been planning and talking about this move for almost a year now too so it's great that it's actually finally working out. My only resolution this year was to find a job, get into law school and move home- all those things are happening so I consider it a successful resolution so far.
***warning sappiness to follow***
The first show I did was in the February and March of 2013. Sunset Boulevard one of my favorites growing up (my step-father had been obsessed with it). So I knew the show very well and was so excited to be in the cast and have a bunch of fun random little parts. I love the music for this show, it's Andrew Lloyd Webber on crack, fun harmonies and crazy piano, it was a fun show...well kinda dark but still really fun. The costumes were cool and 40s-ish? and it was fun to be back in character shoes after taking about a 9 year break from doing musical theatre. I wore my hair in a snood because I will always have too much hair for my own good. The song that always comes back to me is "This time next year", it takes place at a New Years party and everyone is singing about their hopes and dreams and plans for next year. I've been planning and talking about this move for almost a year now too so it's great that it's actually finally working out. My only resolution this year was to find a job, get into law school and move home- all those things are happening so I consider it a successful resolution so far.
The next show I got to do with the theatre was 9 to 5- sooooo fun! I mean Dolly- come on how could you go wrong? This show had a lot more dancing in it than I was used to/qualified for but it was just a blast! We started rehearsing for it at the end of May 2013 and it ran sometime in the Summer. So since it was summer I feel like all the cast just had a lot of fun with each other, we went out almost every night after rehearsal and it was just too much fun. I feel like all the songs were particularly meaningful to me and if I thought about certain ones I would get a little teary. I feel like the show just spoke to me so much because I had left a husband, started a new job and was feeling all the overwhelmed feelings too! "I just might" always made me tear up and we were in really low lighting so it was all sorts of emotional, "Shine like the sun" was so great too when you listen to the lyrics, but I think "Change it" is the song that really fits my time here because it was a song I always looked forward to and it cheesily plays into my own thinking. If you don't like something then get off your butt and change it! Whenever this song comes on my playlist I can't help but sing along and smile, and tear up because I'm a sappy mess.
Then I took the fall off the next semester but came back in December 2013 and January 2014 for Jesus Christ Superstar. JCS has been my favorite musical for as long as I can remember. I've seen it at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio at least 3 times as well as 3 community productions and have wanted to be in it forever. I was so thrilled when I found out I got to be in this one because I love the show but also it was Director selected, no audition. It only ran one weekend because it was a fundraiser show and it had an abbreviated rehearsal schedule, but again it was a super fun show, the dancing was a weird sort of modern, and we needed to wear kneepads under our flowy hippie dresses. It was just a cool experience once you got past all the bruises. "Heaven on their minds" will always be my favorite song from this show- I just love it so much, but for a song that I feel represents my time here in BCS or my attitude I think "Could we start again please" is it. Not that I want to do over anything because I've loved every experience I've had here, but because I want to relive it! I would have joined the theatre community a little earlier, done some shows in the fall now that I know what my schedule looked like, but I just want to relive it all again! This who experience was unexpected for sure.
Immediately after JCS I auditioned for Little Women the show in which at 28 I played a 12 year old blonde girl from Massachusetts. Don't worry no one believed I was 12. I was so shocked when I was cast as Amy March, I believe I started screaming at 6AM when I woke up and saw the cast list. My mom was staying with me and just started laughing. This was another fun show to be a part of, a super small cast compared to the other shows I'd done. One of my favorite things about this show besides the awesome people I got to work with, were the costumes! So fun. My wedding dress was gorgeous, my back from Europe dress was shiny and pink and my dresses as young Amy were super cute with the aprons on top of them. Then of course getting to dye my hair Blonde was fun too. Yes blonde's really do have more fun I promise. I killed my hair, but it was so fun to completely change my appearance so drastically for a show. (I'll never do it again!) This is a show I was pretty much completely unfamiliar with the music prior to the show, so I'm so glad I did it because there are some great songs in it. When I think back on this show I think the song at the end of the first act that everyone loved belting out backstage or in their cars is the one that sticks with me the most. "Astonishing" it's a great song to pump yourself up and tell yourself that you're going to do the best you can and you're going to be great at it. You'll conquer everything you need to, to reach your goals. So I love it.
The last show I did at the theatre was a very different experience than all the others before it, so that's why it was my last. It wasn't bad it just didn't have the same feel and this was the point where I started to realize that the theatre had served it's purpose here to connect me with some amazing people and new friends. So my last show was the summer of 2014 for Legally Blonde. I had already started to dye my hair back to it's natural color now, so it's a good thing I was cast as Chutney the curly haired killer daughter. I was also a law student but all these roles could be done as a legal brunette. This was another dancing heavy show and I feel like it was an excellent work out between the "ethnic movement" and the prison jump rope scene. The music for this show is just fun and happy and another great motivational song that I always come back to is "What you want". This is the number we wore band uniforms and hot shorts for (good god the hot shorts). But Elle is studying for her LSAT and trying to get into Harvard and she has to deal with all these distractions while studying and I feel like I lived that this whole song last year, studying for my LSAT and applying for law school and jobs and having so much up in the air, but I still did it all my own way and it paid off in the end...like it did for Elle ;)
So that's it! My sappy journey through musicals! I have so many pictures from these shows and some great stories, a few injuries, some good and bad costume choices and questionable eyebrow makeup. I used the word fun too many times, but that is what it was. As someone who used to be very opposed to fun, I learned to enjoy it and embrace it. I met some amazing people and created memories I'll cherish forever. I'm so glad I went out on a limb here and got involved with the theatre, my life in BCS would have been very different and possibly much shorter if I hadn't. Thank you theatre community!
***I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that in Summer 2015 I did do a brief thing with another community theatre in town, but I only came in for one song or olio during their intermissions and then left, but it was a super fun and cool experience too with the Stage Center, it was really fun to see how a different theatre in the community worked and I wish I'd done more there in my time here***
***I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that in Summer 2015 I did do a brief thing with another community theatre in town, but I only came in for one song or olio during their intermissions and then left, but it was a super fun and cool experience too with the Stage Center, it was really fun to see how a different theatre in the community worked and I wish I'd done more there in my time here***
Labels:
9 to 5,
bcs,
jesus christ superstar,
legally blonde,
little women,
moving,
sunset boulevard,
theatre
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
What did I read in 2015?
44 books. I read 44 books last year and my goal was 40. So yay! But I feel kinda bad because I definitely cheated this year. Of those 44...17. 17 were audio books. I drove home to San Antonio at least once a month last year and a couple months twice. So every trip home I got through at least 1 audio book and sometimes two. So now that my dirty, secret (so wasn't a secret), confession is out there lets talk about what I read!
Every year I keep a spreadsheet on Google Drive that tracks what Genre (my defined genre may not align with the rest of the world's), the authors, audio books, if I liked it, how many a month and a few more variables I like to keep track of. For someone who hates math I love to look at these numbers. Here are the most important ones to me:
13 books in the Memoir/Nonfiction category.
8 books read in July. (only 1 audio book)
6 books by Hugh Howey (but some were a collection- I know cheating again)
480 Pages was the longest book The Hypnotist's Love Story
17 books that were released this year
1973 oldest book published The Princess Bride
4 Sequels
16 Library books (a student worker said I go to the library more than him)
17 audio books
24 EPUB books3 Physical books
In 2014 I only read 30 books and I remember it came down to December 30th before I hit that goal. In 2015 I hit my goal on November 8th. Comparing from year to year Non-Fiction is a new winner category for me. This year I just couldn't get enough of real stories! And my favorite book of the year comes from this category- we'll get to it. July is typically the month of the year I read the most. It's summer, it's hot outside, so I stay in and read a lot. Hugh Howey is a two year winner for Author I read the most from, but I only discovered him two years ago so I've exhausted his catalog now. in 2014 my longest book was 1,300 pages...so I fail there. I wasn't tracking the other stats prior to 2015, so I don't know on those, but it does look like in 2014 I read a lot more sequels.
The worst book I read this year I didn't even rate with a star, Holly Madison's Down the Rabbit Hole was a fine book. It probably doesn't deserve a no star review but since it was such a guilty pleasure read I just couldn't rate it. The second worst book I read this year and did feel it deserved a 1 Star to bring it's rating down was Lena Dunham's Not that Kind of Girl. OMG who is rating this thing so high. If you want you can read my review here but I did not like this book. I assume it was geared towards her fans but there was no redeeming value in this book uhg. Then in the 2 star spot we have a tie between the final installment of The Southern Reach trilogy and The Girl on the Train. Reviews are linked. I actively hated both these books but I finished them because I had to. I'm just that stubborn.
The rest of the books this year I have really fond memories of. Now that they're done the ones that stick out most in my mind that I enjoyed are:
Once Upon a River the second book I read this year, fiction. About a girl who's unfortunate circumstances send her floating down a river and surviving the only way she knows how (by attaching herself to men). A heartbreaking story with a beautiful ending. This was a recommendation and I loved it. Also a library and audio book.
In a Dark, Dark Wood Probably my favorite mystery read of the year. A creepy story of a bridesmaid (Hen) weekend gone awry. There's lost memory and conspiracy and lots of snow and running. I don't know how this book came on my radar but I'm so glad it did. Another library audio book...I'm noticing a trend
The Good Nurse A true story of serial killer nurse! Sign me up! Such a great story too, how did this guy keep killing patients for so many years? Because our health system allowed him to. What a creepy story. This was a library book as well but an Epub one.
Pirate Hunters Okay next year I'll write down how I heard about my books. I loved this! Nothing like scuba diving treasure hunters trying to make history. A great non-fiction account of what it took to find the legendary Golden Fleece. Another library book but I checked out the actual physical book. I read this one at Fish Camp and kept bugging everyone with how good it was.
Isaac's Storm I read this during a particularly rainy weekend and I devoured this thing. I could not put it down. Erik Larson is my favorite nonfiction writer and I just loved this book so much. The story of the great Galveston hurricane. I bought the actual physical book from Half Price and when I went to pay the cashier asked if I was buying it for a class, I told her no it was just for fun and she looked at me oddly. Apparently this book is a textbook!
This is the Story of a Happy Marriage a collection of essays by Ann Patchett. I loved this book. I checked out the physical book from the library and had been wanting it for so long. It was great. All her stories about love and marriage, friendship and opening up a bookstore. I had never read anything by her but have added her fictional works to my TBR list. I remember this book so fondly and with many tears. It was lovely.
My second favorite book of the year another physical library book I was waiting and waiting for it's release. Wind/Pinball by Haruki Murakami my favorite Japanese author (ok and probably the only one I've read). These are his two first novellas printed in English for the first time. They're also a part of the Rat stories Rat 1 & 2. As the first things he published it was so neat to see where he started and the beginning of what has become such an amazing storyteller. I loved reading about his process of translating and how he originally became a writer, the stories themselves were great as well but the whole was just so special. I keep a list of all the books I want to purchase hardbacks of when I have my house again and space and this is at the top of that list.
Then my favorite book of the year....a library audio book...DEAD WAKE by Erik Larson. Two of his this year made the list. I started listening to this book during the great Memorial Day weekend flood of 2015. Appropriate as well. I was stressed, the roads were closed and I couldn't get home! We all know the story of the Lusitania, but do you know the story of the passengers or the crew. What about Woodrow Wilson? Did you know he was dating while he was in the White House? Did you know how freaking dangerous U-Boats were? Seriously I question the sanity of those who signed up to be a U-Boat sailor (for many reasons). The stories are all interwoven and anything in this book is there for a reason. Even though you know the ending it is still so suspenseful and I totally kept thinking ooooh they're going to make it! This is why Erik Larson is so great. I got the audio book for my dad for Christmas because he's been driving a lot for work and he recently finished it and loved it too.
Looking back on 2015 I'm happy with what I read. I've started out 2016 reading a book for a book club and planning for a slightly less impressive reading goal of 35 because I hope to move home, start a new job and go to law school this year. I don't think I'll have as much time to read this year. But I will probably continue my audio book trend as I drive to and from San Antonio, I'm really enjoying using my library and I still like to shop for bargain books at half price. Happy Reading in 2016 friends.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
What did I see in 2015? Movies!
Happy New Year! This is my first of my annual movies and books and sometimes music of the past year review. Last year I saw quite a few movies, I even saw more movies than a good friend of mine who I feel is always at the movies. Technically 21 but I saw one twice...can you guess which.
Here's the quick and dirty view of what I saw and my immediate thoughts afterwards (***Star Wars maybe spoilers if you haven't seen it yet****)
Here's the quick and dirty view of what I saw and my immediate thoughts afterwards (***Star Wars maybe spoilers if you haven't seen it yet****)
- Big Eyes- good, predictable, but good
- Whiplash- so good!!! OMG why aren't I a musician?
- Mortdecai- about what was expected which was not a lot...I don't know why I saw this...who's idea was this?
- A Most Violent Year- SO GOOD! Really enjoyed. OMG
- The Last 5 Years- terrible, awful, no good. Why God why?
- 50 Shades of Grey- about as expected- actually I expected a little more maybe...thank god for purse alcohol
- Woman in Gold- nothing special, but fine
- Aloha- not as bad as I expected but not good
- Magic Mike 2- Tanning Chatum is everyone's type...
- Trainwreck- not nearly as good as expecting- such an average chick flick
- Minions- saw for work..it was fine
- Ricki and the Flash- excellent mother daughter movie...awwww
- The Gift***- soooo good!
- The Man from UNCLE- really good, very enjoyable, just fun
- Grease- Sing-A-Long...ummmm I remember this movie differently
- American Ultra- weird but good
- Psycho- TCM September movie- good
- The Intern- cute chick flick nothing special
- The Martian- LOVE!
- Joy- interesting...not bad but not excellent, loved the actors
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens- OMG! Why, why did you kill him? Rey is so Luke's, I must see this again.
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens- second viewing...Duh Rey is so Luke's bite me if you don't believe me listen to the music. Also why is their piano, Star Wars doesn't do Piano...this deserves at least one more viewing...
So my favorite movie is a tie between The Gift and The Martian and yah I guess Star Wars (we'll get to that later). The Gift was a total surprise favorite I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. It was creepy it was suspenseful I'm not a good mystery solver so I was surprised. I just loved it. The Martian was a non-surprise favorite. I loved the book and knew I'd love the movie. This was just a fun feel good movie.
The three runner ups and also surprises that are in the favoritish category are Whiplash, A Most Violent Year and The Man from UNCLE. Whiplash was intense, I hadn't planned to see it but some friends were going and I was invited- movies are $4 here it's easy to justify going to any of them- and I was so pleasantly surprised. I knew it would be good but didn't know how good. Fun, intense movie. A Most Violent Year I really wanted to see because of the actors in it and it did not disappoint. I had just watched another violent movie that weekend and this fit right in. Not a feel good movie but great. It was so pretty in a dark mysterious way. I just really liked it and remember it fondly. Then The Man from UNCLE I didn't hear about till the week it came out and was like, okay why not go to a movie. It was so fun! I loved it. I found it light hearted and entertaining something I don't normally go for in movies, so it was fun.
WORST movies I saw this year hmmm that' tough there were a lot...Mortdecai- still don't know why we went to this movie, seriously someone please remind me- terrible. The Last fucking 5 Years. Who is responsible for this?!?! Seriously WHO and WHY and please don't ever direct anything again. 50 Shades of Grey- eh we knew what we were getting into so we brought alcohol. It wasn't worse than expected though...
Everything else is somewhere in the middle. Movies I'll probably purchase eventually from 2015- Ricki and the Flash, The Gift, The Martian and Star Wars. That's really it.
Now Star Wars- oh Star Wars. I could probably just write a full review but I'm lazy. I loved Star Wars. I was supposed to originally see it at Midnight with my family, I was going to drive to SA and see it with them, but then we decided we were too old and would just see it when I get home. THEN one day I get a message from my brother in law asking me when I was coming home for Christmas...I responded and he said something along the lines of that sucks and I slowly learned that his office has rented out theaters to see it and he and my sister would be seeing it without me. I disowned them and told them they were dead to me...then got over it and made a plan to just see it with my dad when I got home. My sister loved it and decided she wanted to see it with our father too so she saw it for a second time when my father and I saw it for our first on the Saturday after Christmas.
I only cried 3 times. I was expecting more tears, but it was great. I loved it immediately and decided I needed to see it again. So two days later I got to see it with my brother in law and his best friend for my second viewing. This time I got a little misty but not big tears. I still loved it. In the end I got to see it with my dad, sister and brother in law- the three people I wan't to see it with most and who care that I didn't get to see it when it first came out. I successfully avoided all spoilers for it and didn't know who died or really the backstories of anyone and so all was good. I will still probably see it one more time before it leaves theaters.
So it was a good year for movies. I think like last year I wouldn't have seen so many movies if I didn't live in a town that has $4 matinee prices. Evening prices are only $6 so that's not really bad either. In San Antonio I don't even want to think about how much 22 movies would have cost me, but here in College Station I'm fine with it.
Here's my movie post from last year.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Review: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Really enjoyed this one. I have been following Caitlin Doughty's 'Ask a Mortician' YouTube series for a few years now and always loved her 'death positivity' and the way she shared information and her thoughts on the death industry. Her book was terribly informative but also very humorous and real. She has such a passion for her profession and the people/bodies she takes care of it comes across throughout the entire book. Parts of the book were really gross, lots of details on embalming and cremation, but humorous anecdotes that reminds you even in the death industry you have to find things to laugh about. Caitlin is also the founder of 'The Order of the Good Death' a community of morticians, doctors, artists, and death positivity folks who want to help get away from the commercialization of the industry, as is said many times in the book and it's horrifying to me, but death is big business and big money. So the Order wants to make it more personalized and let the family be involved again, all things that do sound lovely.
I've pretty much wanted to be cremated since college when I took a 'Death and Dying' class but just because you're cremated doesn't mean there aren't pre-cremation services, viewings or rituals that could take place. So while I know this is probably a touchy subject to a lot of people and most people wouldn't want to read a book like this around the holidays, I really enjoyed it and don't get scared talking or thinking about it. If you've ever been interested or just have a morbid curiosity about cremation, mortuary scienty, or why a young woman from Hawaii would choose to go into the death business after getting a liberal arts degree then I'd say pick it up, you might like it.
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