If this is chemical.

And so, it is the 46th week of 2009, and guess what? I'm on book 49 of 52! BOOM! I last updated this list back in September, and I never know what's going to be picked next or what I'm in the mood to read, so it turned out a bit differently than expected these last few books -

01 A Clash of Kings, George R.R. Martin (01.05.09)
02 World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max Brooks (01.18.09)
03 Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer (01.20.09)
04 The Road, Cormac McCarthy (01.22.09)
05 Y: The Last Man, Brian K. Vaughn (01.27.09)
06 Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyers (01.31.09)
07 Infinity Blues, Ryan Adams (02.12.09)
08 The Best American Magazine Writing 2008 (02.28.09)
09 First Love, Ivan S. Turgenev (03.08.09)
10 Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (03.15.09)
11 Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (03.16.09)
12 The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera (03.24.09)
13 Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro Kazuo (03.29.09)
14 The Last Vampire, Christopher Pike (04.05.09)
15 Whisper of Death, Christopher Pike (04.13.09)
16 Monster, Christopher Pike (04.21.09)
17 A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin (04.30.09)
18 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Grahame-Smith (05.15.09)
19 Crimson, Brian Augustyn (06.15.09)
20 2666, Roberto Bolaño (06.07.09)
21 The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson (06.17.09)
22 The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett (06.19.09)
23 The Lover, Marguerite Duras (06.22.09)
24 The Sound of My Voice, Ron Butlin (06.25.09)
25 Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy (07.07.09)
26 L.A. Confidential (Film Criticism), Manohla Dargis (07.10.09)
27 Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea, Chelsea Handler (07.12.09)
28 Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card (07.18.09)
29 The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (07.26.09)
30 Nine Stories, J.D. Salinger (08.05.09)
31 Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion (08.09.09)
32 Seven (Film Criticism), Richard Dyer (08.15.09)
33 Delta of Venus, Anais Nin (08.17.09)
34 The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende (08.23.09)
35 The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters (09.05.09)
36 To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf (09.10.09)
37 White Teeth, Zadie Smith (09.27.09)
38 Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote (09.29.09)
39 Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Márquez (10.02.09)
40 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson (10.08.10)
41 Jesus' Son, Denis Johnson (10.12.09)
42 Perfect Fifths, Megan McCafferty (10.13.09)
43 The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (10.19.09)
44 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson (10.27.09)
45 Bad Behavior, Mary Gaitskill (11.03.09)
46 Come Together, Fall Apart, Cristina Henriquez (11.09.09)
47 Daughters of the North, Sarah Hall (11.15.09)
48 Night, Elie Wiesel (11.16.09)
49 I, Lucifer, Glen Duncan (CURRENTLY READING)

Possibly next:

50 Delirium, Laura Restrepo
51 Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
52 1984, George Orwell

Also, I know I had the Sherlock Holmes books in there before, but do you know how hard it is to relax comfortably and read with an 800+ page, mini-font size, hardcover anthology?! For me, it's next to impossible. I'm seriously considering buying the books individually. Or perhaps I will attempt it again! I feel like I need to be sitting in a library with a big wooden table and a reading light to get through something in that format. No? Am I being weird? I tell you what - that book sits on my bedside table mocking me every time I go to bed. Sometimes I pick it up and then grunt at its weight. The cats have watched me struggle to "curl up in bed" with it. It has sharp corners and resting it on my stomach literally (HA) causes enough pressure to induce an ache.

Last night I finished the harrowing memoir Night, by Elie Wiesel - it recounts his time in concentration camps during WWII and though it's only about 120 pages long, it's incredibly heavy. Afterwards, I needed to pick my next book so I lay a few unread titles on my bed and then Pee Wee jumped up and lay in my lap, apparently wanting to help with my decision.

Here is Pee Wee pondering over the titles and book covers with me.

After reading the back cover, he pushes away Bukowski.

He decides Glen Duncan's I, Lucifer should be my next read, over Laure Restrepo's Delirium.

He hopes that I am pleased with his decision, as he certainly is satisfied with his literary prowess.

Waiting for the sun to clear away the haze.

Pee Wee says "Good afternoon to you. I hope you are having a fabulous day."

Where was I? Where am I? Honestly, I'm trying to figure out how to continue using this. There are many people now in my life who remind me - "don't blog about this (nervous laughter)" and at the same time I often tire of writing solely about myself. I started this whole thing because I wanted to continue writing in some regular way; however, I think I've found that with another venture and now I don't know how to incorporate the ol' blogspot in my routine. I'll figure it out. I envision some more thinking and a reshaping for 2010.

My weekend? Let's see -

It began with a viewing of The Fantastic Mr. Fox alongside Jesse, Gaby, Kells, and Mike. It was, indeed, fantastic. The animation was adorable, along with the characters and the voices. George Clooney stars, but I was really captivated by Jason Schwartzman's turn as his son, Ash.

Jesse and I slept in on Saturday - like, REALLY slept in. It felt great after the hectic three weeks of work I've been having. We got up at around 1:30pm. Okay - wait, I got up at around 10am, took a shower, blowdried my hair, and then got back in back at noon until 1:30. It's really hard for me to stay asleep in the mornings these days!

We promptly went to brunch upon waking, only to be met with an hour wait that didn't get food into our stomachs until 3pm. The humanity!

Speaking of...probably my biggest guilty pleasure is huge-budge, special-effects-laden disaster movies. And 2012 came out this weekend and I simply HAD to see it. However, nobody would go to see the "crapfest" with me, so I was determined to see it by myself. I trudged in the rain to Manhattan from Brooklyn and found myself seated in the packed theater between two others seeing the movie solo. I tell you what: it didn't disappoint! It was like a rollercoaster of DOOM and DEATH and then quiet hope. Haha, nobody cares about that hope and the survival of the human race! The earth is crumbling around these characters you like and dislike! People die! It was amazing. But I can't do it justice like The Awl did - read the best review of the film HERE. It's entitled: "'2012' is Awesome and Haters Can Suck It" - the body just amazing as the title.

Afterwards, I headed to SoHo to meet up with some lovely ladyfriends - Kells, Amber, Tiffany, and Anabel - for some exquisite English cuisine and a gabfest. It also included some zoom-in shots of Willem Dafoe's neck-skin, as I had to google image-search the actor after someone divulged in a certain crush. These are the things we talk about...

Anyway, then Amber and Kells and I headed into Brooklyn to meet up with Jesse, Mike, James, and Adam and played UNO and darts. At a bar. Until around 3 in the morning. I am always at my loosest when in the presence of Amber and Kelly - you never know what I'm going to do or say, and sometimes I don't. As you may have already guessed, we slept in on Sunday as well.

But upon waking, I made Jesse what he termed, "the best breakfast sandwich I've ever had." I then congratulated myself on my burgeoning domesticity and we settled in for some football. I also called my father as it was his BIRTHDAY! Happy Birthday, Dad!!!

Erica and I made margaritas for the evening Colts v. Pats games with one of the wedding gifts Jesse and I recieved - a blender. I was very impressed by its power to get me tipsy.

On the football front, my six-week fantasy football winning streak has come to an end, as has Belichick's infallibility and that is all I can say about last night's game, as I am too bitter to linger on it long. Soon after that, I curled up in bed with book #48 (!!!) of the year. Progress report to come soon, along with another (longer) tale of domesticity.

How was your weekend?