Literature that Started as a letter, and Surviving Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

I started writing this letter, and realized that the bulk of this was going to turn into a blog anyway, so I cheated and cut and pasted the body of this letter into this blog.

Yup, why not, it'll catch you up on my life anyway.


My roommates and I survived Carbon Monoxide poisoning last night. All four of us slept through the alarm. Thankfully our upstairs neighbors heard the alarm go off and called the landlord. It looks like the levels weren't out of control. Turns out our chimney fell in, so we are without warm water and heat until 9 0'clock tomorrow morning (I don't know how the two relate), if things go as planned. And here I sit, afraid to sleep, because I'm afraid that I won't hear the alarm go off again.

That's about the most adventurous things that's happened this week. Then again, it's only monday, so what does that say about the rest of the week? If things go as planned, I start graduate school tomorrow. I'm a bit scared about that too. Sounds like most everyone in the class will be about 5 years younger than me. I'm afraid they're going to be savvy too. I'm excited at the prospect of getting back into learning mode though.

So lately, I've been getting back into the french literature stage. I love Alexander Dumas-even though it takes me a year to read most of his books--so I decided to try out his son. I read this book called Camille-or Lady of the Camellias. Despite the fact that it's one of the most pathetic love stories I've ever read, I absolutely loved it. Now I'm on the lookout for the live performances of it. (sh. . .it's my newest obsession.)

Since I finished that book I decide to stay in the love story/literature mode, so I've started reading Lady Chatterley's Lover. So far, I'm not sure what to think about the writing. I'm not as drawn into the story as I first imagined I'd be, and frankly, the characters are somewhat annoying, but we'll see how I feel when I get further into the book. Next book I want to read is Dona Barbara. I'm still watching the Spanish soap opera version of the book, but the more I read into the social critique, the more I want to read the book myself. So, off the library I shall go, in hopes of finding a decent English translation of the book.

Links to my Current Soap Opera Obsession
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doña_Bárbara
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEG9QMJM1Q4&feature=related
http://msnlatino.telemundo.com/novelas/Dona_Barbara/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOPRKKnNiL4&feature=related