Paperwork: 1, Me: 0

So, nothing great was really accomplished on my end in the last week. I have yet to sort through all my paperwork and need to answer all sorts of e-mails; I wasted all sorts of time on Pinterest and Facebook, for which there is really not much to show for. I guess I did officially turn 28 (that's some sort of an accomplishment, right?) and I finished two books: The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel and The Thomas Sowell Reader.

The first book was lent to me by my boss and our other co-worker snagged it first and read it in about 48 hours. So I took that as a challenge, naturally, and borrowed the book next and it took me a little {ok, a lot} longer to read it, as I was mostly only able to read it on the metro during my commute to and from work, with varying levels of nausea determining my pace. At first the book didn't really pull me in, but after reading a few of the "chapters" which are really just the correspondence between an English Author to some folks in Guernsey {one of the Islands on the English Channel that was occupied by the Germans during WWII} shortly after the Occupation. It turned out to be very interesting...

Since blogs are always better with pictures, I Googled Guernsey for images and I discovered a few things:

1. Apparently there is some famous/pro tennis player from Guernsey by the name of Heather Watson.
2. Guernsey is beautiful.

The Thomas Sowell Reader was delightful all around. I love that guy. It is a collection of short excerpts from many of his works on a wide range of subjects. I read his autobiography last fall and found his life very fascinating. He also happens to be extremely insightful and very easy to read, he has a magical ability to explain very complicated things in simple language that is clear and straightforward. Since he is quite accomplished and has written on many subjects, I have quite a few options for my next Thomas Sowell book and I can't wait.

Since blogs are always better with pictures, this is what I discovered when I Googled Thomas Sowell for Images:

1. Apparently if I want a hipster-like T-Shirt with his face on it I can get it here.
2. This awesome watercolor painting:

In case any of you {Brittany, Val, Michael Ball or Jenny~because I'm pretty sure you are the only ones who might read this} are interested, and since I like making lists, these are the books on my reading list {in no particular order}:

• I'd like to finish {I got about halfway through} Reading Lolita in Tehran.
• A Conflict of Visions and Basic Economics (by my boy Thomas Sowell)
• Notes from a Small Island & Neither Here Nor There (by Bill Bryson ~ who is hilarious by the way, I've read two other books by him and literally have laughed out loud reading him: A Walk in the Woods & Down Under)
• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dane gave me a nice copy of this book for my 19th Birthday (crazy to think it's been almost ten years). I read through half of it but never finished. I even lugged it across the tallest peak in Cuba under the ridiculous delusion that I might get some reading done on a camping trip...
• The Pilgrim's Progress. Daniel Ball has taught this in his 4th/5th Grade Class and at the end of the semester he takes the kids on a long hike where they literally carry rocks in their backpacks and his friends dress up as characters from the book and pop out of the trails as they climb to the top. Once they are at the top they get to take off their heavy loads. I have never read the book but it sounds cool and I wish I could go back to grade school just to be in Mr. Ball's classroom because it sounds awesome. 
• Arthur Brooks' new book The Road to Freedom. Mostly because I have a {mild} crush on him. 

That might be a bit ambitious but I hope to get around to them at some point in the relatively near future ~maybe less than 10 years?