The Piano Teacher

I just finished reading this book today. It started as a bargain book I picked up at the Border’s which was closing on Michigan Ave. 40% off of $3.99 how could I resist? I may have heard the of the book but only in passing.

It had been quite a while since the last novel I read. Med school does that to you, but when I got through to the epilogue, I couldn’t help feeling somewhat unsatisfied. I had not gotten enough, there were questions, hopes and desires that I had for the characters.

The best word to describe this novel: Haunting

It took me a bit to realize that the book jumped at times from one time period to another and that everything was connected; subtly yet seamlessly if you took another look back. The writing reminded me a bit of Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife, which I absolutely loved.

The story of two women from different backgrounds, circumstances, faced with different challenges and sacrifices encircling the same man who profoundly changed their lives.

Although the book’s title and cover depict Claire as being a central character, it was Trudy Liang that I could not get enough of. The character that Janice Y. K. Lee created was fascinating, charming, daring yet devastatingly realistic at the same time. She absolutely broke my heart.

The Piano Teacher unfolds slowly, almost to where you start getting frustrated with the point of all the words only to realize and then quickly flip back to attempt to put together the pieces. The characters are realistic, relate-able and very very fragile. Their choices and secrets make you realize just how ephemeral everything really is. Everything can change before you know it, and then how do you continue on?

I cannot wait for another novel by Lee. If this was an indication of what is to come, I’m hooked.

T.R.A.V.E.L.

I would love to travel. In fact, there are tonnnns of places that I want to go and visit. Have you seen Jetsetter.com yet? They have some really AMAZING trips on there. Now that I'm on break, there are some days where I just browse through all their flash sales and imagine what it would be like if I didn't have school and actually was making money. Maybe I could go on that Antarctic Expedition...or that Indian Tiger Photo Safari...or that Yukon Dog Sledding trip. AHHH! I want to do all of that!!

Sadly sadly, I am making negative money. And I do not feel good using and asking for my parents to pay for these trips, especially knowing that they themselves do not embark on any adventures of their own.

However...I am taking one trip this year! Nothing spectacular, but going to LV for a couple days. Going to catch a Cirque show. Something I've never seen before, so I'm hoping that that will be well worth it. The first vacation of the year, at the end of the year.

It's frustrating seeing all those status updates about people going on their vacations. Not even their first vacation. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc, etc. And some of them don't work, are younger, and so forth. It certainly is fabulous that they are able to do so. However, it leaves me wondering, where did I go wrong?

My 20s right? That's when I'm supposed to be enjoying life, vacationing, adventuring. And I thought that I did all the right things. I didn't party and get wild in high school or even college for that matter. I studied hard, got good grades, mapped out a plan for post-graduate life. But throughout these times, I can count on my hands the number of trips I've taken. 2 New York, 1 cruise, 1 S'pore + Thailand + Taiwan. 


One day right? "One day it will pay off." I hear that all the time. But reality-wise, I will be quite a bit older and this whole free-living travel phase will be over and it will be time to think about starting a family in which case traveling gets put on hold for another bout of time. And of course there are the loans that must be repaid. And obviously the job that really will not give me much time for much else besides doing it. 


That "day" seems very non-existent. 


Where did I go wrong?

Round Up Your Girls!

I’ve noticed this for a while already, although I didn’t think it was substantial enough to put down until I had a couple more “cases.” I’m sure I’m not the first person nor the only person to see this phenomenon. In fact, after talking to some of my guy friends, they deem it NORMAL and the way things should be!

Okay. So what am I talking about? Basically…I’ve been noticing, at least in my vicinity, that a group of friends that sees each other every weekend is dependent upon the males in the group, not the females. I’m not saying that females just ditch their friends when they get a boyfriend. Not at all. In fact, I’ve myself kept the same close knit of girl friends since high school. But the thing is, when we get together, it must be more of a planned event and usually, it’s just us 4 girls.

Now on a weekly basis, I see my bf’s best buddies and their attached girlfriends, who in turn have become my friends. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not knocking on my bf’s friends. In fact, a couple of them are my very very dearest buddies as well. And some of the gf’s? They’ve become good friends of mine too. But what is with this phenomenon?

It just seems rare to me to see a boyfriend join his girlfriend’s group of friends. It seems mostly that the girls tag along with the group that the guy has already established.

Is this some kind of alpha male mentality? Or is it just male mentality. Or is it intrinsic female non dominance? Or just female indifference.

Or is it just me seeing these strange things.