Is There No End To The Awesomeness Of The IntelliQuest?

So, once again, my resolution for 2014 was to continue the IntelliQuest by reading 6 non-fiction books and watching 2 documentaries.

Once again, I completed my task.

And, once again, I didn't keep track of my books and movies, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  Here's what I do remember, though:

1) The Everything World War II Book

I love Cliff Notes on history!  I got a great understanding of World War II and -- true to form -- have promptly forgotten most of it.  Except that Hitler was an asshole (but I already knew that).

2) Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders

Cults, the murder of pregnant starlets, secret (evil) Beatles lyrics (how guilty do you suppose they felt about that?) and a racist white man trying to start a black revolution . . . this is the book I read this summer.  You know, like a "beach read".   I do recommend it if you ever want to learn about Charles Manson; prior to reading this book, I really knew nothing about the murders, other than that a good friend of mine was related to one of the murder victims (Six Degrees between me and Charles Manson!!).

3) The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride

Continuing on with my light reading, I learned all about the Donner Party.  It is truly sad that poor-timing, greed, and a few thefts caused the group to be trapped and starved.  It is remarkable to me that there were any survivors, what with them struggling through 8 feet of snow in thin flannel.  How sad it must have been for the travelers to watch their family and friends die, and then have to make the tough decision to hack up the bodies so they wouldn't follow suit themselves . . . now cannibalism makes perfect sense to me.  The most surprising thing I learned was that more women survived than men . . . weaker sex, indeed.  (It was due to their fat stores.  See?  If there's one thing the Donner Party taught us, it's to binge on more chocolate; you never know when you'll get caught in a blizzard.)

4)  The Partly Cloudy Patriot

I read this book based on your recommendations, but also mostly because I knew Sarah Vowell is the the voice of "Violet" in The Incredibles.  It was a good book, particularly because it was a group of essays: perfect for my short attention span.  It was a mix of American history, political musings, and the author's personal reflections.  Having grown up oversees, I've often considered myself a Partly Cloudy Patriot; I've just never been able to express it as well as Sarah does (i.e., in such a way where other Americans don't want me deported.)  As a frequent NPR contributor, Sarah knows how to write something intelligent that can be clearly expressed in only a few minutes; I was both in awe of her and irritated that reading such concise prose reminded me of how I rarely even try to have depths anymore.  When I was done reading this excellent work, I had to wash my brain out with a romance novel.

(It didn't make me feel any better.)

5)  Instant Mom

That's right: I read this book about adoption solely because My Big Fat Greek Wedding wrote it.  It was actually quite good: light (of course, not as light as say, Helter Skelter) but with emotion and interesting information about what people go through to adopt and be adopted here in the U.S.  What was particularly good was that Nia was able to tie in all the gossip we wanted about her rise to Big Fat stardom with the subject of adoption in a sort-of-relevant way.  It was an autobiography about her life, Hollywood, and how awesome Tom Hanks is, all cleverly disguised as a book about adoption; read it without feeling shallow!

6) The Tao of Martha: My Year of LIVING, or Why I'm Never Getting All of That Glitter Off of the Dog

This book combines two people I quite like: Martha Stewart and humorist Jen Lancaster.  As Jen tries to spend a year living with purpose -- as does Queen Martha -- we get to vicariously be a part of all her triumphs and glitter-bombs.  As much as I loved the project, I was pretty irked reading this book.  First, because I always resolve to live more like my Living magazine suggests, but I never do; and here's someone who's getting off her lazy ass to do it (although SHE just buys the perfectly-appointed accoutrements; I'd rather thriftily re-purpose from Goodwill's [the Ghetto-Chic end result, unfortunately, never quite lives up to Martha standards]).  Secondly, I was irritated because the things that drive me batty about Jen's writing are the things that drive me crazy about my own.  I like to think that it will make me change my writing style . . . but, then again . . . that requires effort.

Hey, look; that's six books!  I did it!

I watched more than 2 documentaries this year, but forgot them, too.  I know I watched Gimme Shelter, because I always wanted to know more about Altamont.  Oh, and Twenty Feet From Stardom, which is about back-up singers (yay, Darlene Love!).  I thought both those documentaries were OK, but nothing spectacular.  I also watched a short documentary called E-Mail Order Brides, which really just made me feel kinda icky. But I don't remember anything else (unless you're willing to count the Property Brothers show as a documentary?).

What's also good is that I've found myself listening to NPR more.  I guess this IntelliQuest stuff really works!

I am starting my 2015 IntelliQuest year off with a bang, having already watched a boring and confusing documentary called Sexy Baby about the pressures on girls and women to be sexy.  (Which makes me really glad to have a Mr. C and not a Miss C.  It also makes me hope like hell that Facebook will be a thing of the past by the time he's in 6th grade.) 

And I'm excited to have found Morgan Spurlock's series called "30 Days", where he lives like other people for 30 days.  Bee and I watched the episode where Morgan and his fiance lived on minimum wage for a month; scary, and it makes me angry that our system is such that those without health care are screwed.

So, I will once again strive in 2015 to read 6 non-fiction books and watch 2 documentaries (give me more suggestions!).  I will also try to continue listening to NPR more.  And now, I am adding on a third goal: I would like to actually prepare some of the recipes I rip out of my Living magazine each month, instead of shoving them all into a messy file folder, never to be looked at again.  So I am going to fight Bee for stove-time to make 2 dishes a month, and I will endeavor to keep you updated on my progress (yet-another goal for 2015: less TV-watching and more blogging!).

First up (and I'm really excited about this one, since I used to LOVE this at my Italian grade school): Arancini With Sage

You know mine are going to look EXACTLY like these.