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Consuming Culture

Nope, this isn't a post encouraging you to eat probiotics. It's about culture or entertainment, if you may.

What is your favorite type of entertainment?

For me it is books, bar none! I read lots of non-fiction for professional reasons, but for pleasure I'm all about fiction and good literature.

Lately I have read a slew of awesome novels, which I highly recommend:

* The Birth House by Ami McKay
* Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
* The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger
* The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
* Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

People always ask me when I find the time to read and the answer is: it's an integral part of my bed time routine. Some nights if I am really tired, I might only read for 5 minutes before I put down the book (or fall asleep with it in my hand) but other nights I might read in bed for an hour before going to sleep. It relaxes me and takes my mind off of everything else.

Of course there are other forms of entertainment I enjoy too. Adam and I have a rather long list of television shows we tape and then watch together (The Good Wife, House, CSI, Criminal Minds, Being Erica, Rookie Blue, etc.) and I will admit to having a serious HGTV addiction (real estate shows and home reno shows make my pulse quicken!).

I also share Adam's love of music, however we consume music quite differently. For me, listening to music is something you do while doing something else (i.e. exercising, driving in the car, etc.). Watching people perform music does nothing for me. In contrast, Adam is a concert aficionado. He has seen everyone from Prince to Bon Jovi to Journey. Fortunately, his dad loves concerts too so I am usually free to stay at home with the girls while he goes out rocking the night with his dad.

Unfortunately, Adam also loves live theatre and I do not. According to my parents this makes me a philistine. Are they intellectual snobs? Absolutely! I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree though, as I detest most reality television (The Bachelor, The Real Housewives of..., etc.)and cannot fathom how any human being with more than an IQ of 00 can watch that crap.

Anyways...Adam recently voiced a desire to see "Two Pianos, Four Hands" before it leaves Toronto. So I generously offered to accompany him as long as he could find a show that isn't past my "pajama time" (i.e. after 7pm). He obliged me with tickets to the 2pm matinee today. I wouldn't exactly say I am excited to see the show, however, I love the idea of having a date with him on a Wednesday afternoon. With the girls in daycare, we don't even need to find a sitter AND I'll be home before pajama time!

Comments

  1. 2P, 4H; that's a great show...saw it YEARS back.... I studied piano until Grade 10 Conservatory, and now it's just a hobby, so at the time I saw the show I was a piano nut.......what did you think of it? ALSO, I am getting back into books, in a BIG way.....one of them kept me up until 1:30am because I was tossing things over in my head so much after reading a few chapters before bed! Lately: Wally Lamb "The Hour I First Believed", and Janet Fitch, "White Oleander".

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're totally right, I am eating crow today, I absolutely LOVED the show!!

    Oh I love Wally Lamb, but I haven't read that book of his, nor have I read White Oleander, thanks for the suggestions.

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