Books 'n Booze

Check me out! Posting on time. Huzzah!

Busy schedules, traffic, meetings and the make-up aisle at CVS caused a much-postponed, sort-of abbreviated Book Club this month. We even un-invited the boys since we were short of time. Yay girls!

We started a bit late, around 8pm, with a combo appetizer dinner that included chips with super-yummy queso and salsa (thanks, Sarah!) and a dinner of pita with beef and turkey, homemade tzaiki, hummus, and salad with goat cheese (note to self: pregnant women cannot eat goat cheese. DAMN!). Dessert got overlooked until the end of the evening but Sarah and I didn’t have a problem eating Des’s Rice Krispie Treats at 11pm.

We moved right into book conversation and actually chatted about it at the table which was kind of nice. Everyone liked the book – it was a light, pretty quick, read which was just what everyone needed with this crazy-busy month of travelling and working. Sarah read it after her trip to England and recognized some of the places she had visited (which made me happy since that’s a big part of why I picked the book). We did think there were some parts that were very silly and/or unrealistic, and the treatment of women was so amazingly 1970’s, but we thought the book would still make a good movie, with some modifications. Would probably hit it big, especially the portrayal of a corrupt big business mogul getting his comeuppance (do people still use the word “comeuppance”?).

Next up we listened to our tunes. I’m happy to say my choice of music theme, European artists or songs, was something that hit a niche of songs we hadn’t used yet and everyone had some unique stuff to contribute. Should make a good CD!

Finally, we went through our Current Events, although having not seen each other much for the last 5-6 weeks we meandered through a variety of topics. We agreed that the lack of planning by American’s for retirement is absolutely terrifying and we wonder how that will go down as the country continues to age. We talked about how depressed we are with the NC legislature and the embarrassment of laws passed in the last few months. This also led to depressing tales of woe from Sarah (re: English department), Jen (re: OIT), and then Des, on behalf of Tim who has his own work frustrations. Stupid work.
We spent a good chuck of time on mother’s and parenting, as usual. An item not on the website was a Time magazine article on the benefits of remaining childless. We discussed this trend of women who “selfishly” don’t want children and how this is leading to the lowest birthrates in the US since the Great Depression. Des talked through the “5%” of her psyche that wants kids, and how she realizes that she may be confronted with this desire more strongly than ever in the coming year as two of her friends (including Sarah!) are preggers. We also furiously discussed an article from a woman who regrets her dog now that she has kids (AND OMFG I JUST READ THAT AND YOU WERE TOO NICE TO THAT WOMAN! If I met her on the street right now I would kick her in the baby-maker and steal that dog. Jesus, what a bitch. “Did I mention he sheds? Not his fault, exactly.” Wha?? RAWR!). And we talked about the fact that more and more the ones having babies are the poorer and less-educated (‘Idiocracy’ is coming true!) and what that means for the future, including Medicare and other government systems that support those groups.

Very enjoyable, tasty, and intellectually-stimulating evening, as usual. And very international this month: Mexican AND Greek, with a classic American dessert, a British book, and European music! So nice to have everyone back in town and available for fun hang-out opportunities, including ones with the newly-minted TCA (Technical Communication Association). 🙂 Next book club will be earlier in September, and hosted at Sarah’s before she has to start packing up for her move to Spain (aka, North Raleigh). So much going on!

See you next month, readers! Thanks for checkin’ in!