Book Review: The Great Gatsby

-
In May, I read F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. I remember having an option in high school of books to read during the summer, and my brother told me this was a boring book and to read one of the other options instead. Years down the road, I think he wanted to protect me from the idea of sex and affairs.

I enjoyed The Great Gatsby! It is wonderfully written, and I appreciated its simplicity. During the 1920's, a man, Jay Gatsby, spends his life trying to win over the girl of his dreams, Daisy. The ends justifies the means; Gatsby will do what it takes to become a success and impress her. This includes moving to West Egg and living in the house across the bay from her house. He throws lavish parties and is a wonderful host to all his guests. Daisy, unfortunately, has married a man while Gatsby was away making himself a better man. This husband is having an affair with another woman, and Daisy and Gatsby find themselves back in love. Probably because I'm a sucker for love stories and tragedies, I read the book quickly (and it is a short book--180 pages). I don't want to spoil the ending, but it is an exciting finish. I can relate to the narrator's feelings towards everyone at the end (as probably is the same with most people).

As for the movie, I have not yet seen it, but I am trying to make time to go watch it!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Race Recap: Four Courts Four Miler

-
Image
Yesterday I ran my third race of the year at Pacers' Four Courts Four Miler in Arlington, VA. Race Prep I've slowly been adding a few more speed workouts, mostly just shorter intervals (I did my first 2x1600m this week), and bumping my long run up to 12 miles each weekend. For the most part, I'm eating healthier and sleeping in until 6:00AM. The night before, I ran 2 miles, picked up my race packet, climbed one route at the gym (what can I say? I didn't feel very energetic), and went to Shooter McGee's in Alexandria for a not-so-healthy dinner. I had 3/4ths of a beer (Kona Longboard) and a lobster crab cake sandwich with fries on the side (one of the few non-red meat items on the menu...no red meat on Fridays during Lent). After falling asleep at the dinner table, my boy finally agreed to go home. I was in bed by 11:30PM. Pre-Race The weather was perfect for racing--low 50's, slightly cloudy! The race didn't begin until 9AM, so I was able to sleep
Read more

Shoulder Surgery Recovery: Wrapping Up Week 5

-
Image
Physio Update: Yesterday, I had my third physical therapy session . I’m happy with my progress so far—increasing my range of motion slowly with the pulley and table slides! Dr. Dan added some dowel exercises (I use an old shower curtain rod at home). The exercise looks like a bench press, but my non-op arm is doing all the lifting and the op-shoulder is along for the ride. At home, I like to do a set of 20 pulley pull-ups, 20 pulley punches, 10 floor dowel bench presses, 20 table slides, and 20 scapula squeezes followed by a set of 30 body weight squats and 10 lunges (front + back, each side). I try to do three full sets at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with one set here and there throughout the day. Here is an image of my shoulder flexion progress from day one of physical therapy to now (14 days of progress): Exercise Update: I think the lunges, squats, and banded side steps help with blood flow and getting my heart rate up/allowing me better range of motion. I think I overdid the bik
Read more

Lab Lessons: Mils, Not Millimeters

-
This post is a little embarrassing, but I think it's a funny learning lesson...in hindsight. Once upon a time, I was given a task. At the end of this task I had to give a measurement in "mils." Me, having never worked in a lab or with science or engineering in the real world (college was a few years ago, and I was more focused on the military than my studies), thought perhaps this meant "millimeters." The man who asked me this is a very smart man. Sometimes I felt like he asked questions he knew the answers to in order to test me. He can do math in his head like a genius, so when he asked me to convert this millimeters into mils, I was baffled. What the %#*@ are mils?! An hour or so ago, I had sat down with my measurements, converting my inches to meters to millimeters. What where mils?! I told him I would figure out the "mils" and get back to him. It makes me nervous when he stares me down while I'm trying to do math in my head. This conver
Read more