june...

i can't believe it's the middle of june already. i've been busy as hell the past few weeks. several things: caught meshell in concert twice; once in madison and once in chicago. i'm not even gonna go into how disappointed i am at chicagoans for the way they treated meshell for performing with the spirit music jamia instead of her usual solo singing performance. but i got to meet her both times after the shows, so that was cool as hell.

driving back from madison was no easy task however. my friend r and i were smack dab in the middle of a thunderstorm which was both beautiful and scary at the same time. as the driver, however, i was not thrilled with the way the flashes of lightning were, at times, blinding. we actually ended up pulling over for a few minutes because at one point the rain came down so hard that i couldn't see shit and literally felt like i was driving under water. not.fun.

i've been cleaning like a mad woman the past few weeks as well, in anticipation of the arrival of mi mama. it was a blessing in disguise however, as i finally got my shit together and cleaned the whole house and rearranged (and threw out) furniture. my bedroom is complete. i managed to get rid of a shit load of junk that was making my bedroom look quite messy and crowded. now, it's beautiful. i finally bought a desk and a file cabinet. add to that the bed i bought last february and those are the three single pieces of furniture in the room. as hard as i try to be a minimalist and sometimes fail, i'm really proud of the way i did up the bedroom. it looks just the way i want it to. clean and spacious. the only thing left to buy is a low nightstand. as for the living room, i just got through purchasing this coffee table which is on sale like a motherfucker. and it's on casters! deshigrrrl loves furniture on casters. mobility is a good thing! so eventually i need to buy a tv stand and i'm all done with my furniture purchases. it's all coming together now. the condo is starting to look good.

so mom's here, safe and sound, though feeling a bit under the weather. and of course i've been consuming copious amounts of home cooked bengali food. it's great to have her here, though it's annoying to have to go to work and leave her alone. plus it's always a bit hard at times to see my parents so infrequently (in this case, six months). they're getting older, of course, and it's just really saddening to see all the aging signs. like, she walks a little slower, gets tired more easily, etc. which is so weird to me considering it wasn't so long ago that i was the little one trying to keep up with her. the mortality of my parents is quite possibly the single most fearsome thing in my life.

but onto less morbid topics.

i'm traveling quite a bit this month... my job is sending me to hotlanta for a few days next week. and i'm looking forward to meeting ej and the brotherlove while i'm there!

when i get back, it's gay pride weekend in chicago which is always fun. this will be the first time in 3 years though that i'll be single during gay pride, which is just a tad bit interesting to say the least. and of course i've timed my mom's trip to miami to see my aunt and grandmother accordingly... yes, i know, i'm evil.

the following week i'll be joining mom & co. in miami over 4th of july weekend and then when i get back i have a week and a half of chillin' out before mom comes back and gets ready to leave for bangladesh the following week.

but it's already mid-june and i feel like summer is slipping away... i need to make plans... roadtrips to canada or a trip to the caribbean or something... i half thought about going back to amsterdam for gay pride in early august, but i don't know if my finances are quite up to par. though my sis and niece will be in copenhagen so it would be a great opportunity to meet up with them. ugh. i need to play the lottery. and win of course.

so that's the scoop ladies and gentleladies. be well. if i don't blog for a while it's because i'm either (a) busy with family, (b) traveling or (c) getting laid. actually, umm... scratch (c)... cuz that's just wishful thinking.

me? a bookworm... no.

but summer tagged me, so here goes:

total number of books you own: gosh, i'm ashamed to admit this, but i suppose a rough estimate would be, like... fuck, i dunno... like 40 or 50? yeah, i know, pitiful. thing is, similar to movies, i didn't used to feel the need to actually own things that i'd only read or watch once. i've since changed my view on that with regard to books. i now own them instead of just borrowing them, but i still don't buy movies.

last book i read: babyji by abha dawesar

current book reading: the god of small things by arundhati roy. i've been reading it for a while now, but only because i haven't had TIME to finish it! deshigrrrl has been lacking quality coffee-shop-reading time lately. sad, but true! i've also started reading the angela davis reader but it got a little heavy so i set it aside for a little while until i have the time and brain cells to continue.

fiction or non-fiction: fiction for the most part, but i do enjoy some non-fiction every now and again.

first book read: shit, that's a hard one. probably the one with "see jane run" in it, whatever it's called. is that a dr. seuss book??? as a kid though, i used to love reading the little teenage mystery novels, like the hardy boys and nancy drew or the sherlock holmes novels. and archie. man i loved me some archie comic books. my mom would have to bribe me with archies to make me go places with her when i didn't want to go.

largest impact: i've no fucking idea. i guess that means none, right? i don't think i've come across a book that actually impacted me. i mean, i like a lot of books, and some books make me think about shit i wouldn't have thought of, but i can't say any of them actually impacted my life.

favorite scholarly book: does "the 99 critical shots in pool" count as scholarly? i mean, i learned a lot of little tricks from that one... haha...

most read book: i don't think i've ever read a book more than once.

sexiest book: when i was 12 or 13 i read some trashy little book whose name i can't even remember. but it had its hot moments for sure.

biggest disappointments: i'm gonna have to hop on the personality chix bandwagon here. love by toni morrison. i just couldn't get through it.

see? i'm a boring ass book person. i've only recently starting reading a lot. i used to pretty much be a non reader when i was a teenager but that's only because i was always out and about looking for trouble.