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I have officially given up on reading A Clockwork Orange. Which is sad because I was really looking forward to reading it. It’s just so damn hard to read. Burgess uses this Russian based slang that he has created for the book so frequently that it makes it hard to understand what he is talking about. Maybe I will give it another shot someday in the future but for now I’m done with it.

I’m still feeling like I want to read a bunch of classics so I’ve decided to make a plan. A goal. A challenge. I made myself a book list and my goal is to have it done by the end of the year. If I run into another A Clockwork Orange I might have to make a substitution but here is my list:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
2. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
3. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
4. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
5. Animal Farm - George Orwell
6. The Divine Comedy (Paradise) - Dante <-I’ve already read the other two parts
7. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
8. On the Road - Jack Kerouac
9. Gulliver’s Travels - Jonathan Swift
10. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
11. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
12. Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes
13. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
14. The Odessey - Homer
15. The Jungle - Upton Sinclair

I’m starting with To Kill a Mockingbird but I don’t know how I’ll go about it from there. If I actually finish this maybe I’ll do contemporary novels next.

I'm not exactly sure why I stopped writing on here but I've decided to start up again. I like using this as a way to keep in contact with friends. Although I'm not sure how many of you actually write on here anymore. I realize my last post was a little dismal and want you to know that life is great right now. I've been thoroughly enjoying my summer and lack of responsibility at my current part time job. It's been about six months since I was laid off at PSA and though I miss the people I don't miss the workload.

Happiness seems to be all around me also. Friends are getting married, buying houses, having babies...and I've managed to snag my boy that I've been pining for for so long. I guess there's something to be said for persistence haha! The transition from friends to dating has been surprisingly easy. He makes me so happy.

I hope everyone is doing well. I can't wait to start reading about what's going on in your lives!

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2" in diameter.He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "Yes."

"Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter - like your job, your house, your car.

The sand is everything else. The small stuff."

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued "there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life.If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. The rest is just sand."