Updating my blog this frequently is unusual, I admit. But this is the only way to prevent me from posting:
- Self-pitying status on either Facebook and/ or LINE (self-pitying comment has already been written - too late to do anything about that);
- Picture containing self-pitying statement;
- Profanity-filled status on the two aforementioned social media;
- Picture stating my current/ latest emotional condition (angry/ super pissed off/ worried shitless/ helpless/ desperate/ sad - yeah, no positive feeling at all. AT ALL. I almost wished my flight fell into Hindia Ocean or something. Just kidding! Just a macabre, inappropriate joke. After all, I am not nice enough to enter any version of heaven in any religion. If my heart is weighed against the feather in Egyptian version of heaven, the scale wouldn't freaking balance. The side that carries my heart will maybe just drop. I need to bank more good deeds. Heh.)
- This
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| Ain't she charming? |
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| Or, stab me with your stiletto. I beg you, don't. |
Binge Sims 3 gaming, commence. That poor PC.
Blogging and reading a fun book are admittedly counterproductive, but they are the least counterproductive from all the activities I can choose. And I did productive things before. But, after all, you can only have that amount of dirty dishes. And you can only eat that much before you feel full and/ or balloon. And, counterproductive as they are, at least they are good media for practicing my English.
So now, it's about the book. As you maybe have deduced from the title, this book is a light read. I don't care, judge away. I frankly prefer reading materials that entertain me, not the ones which make me seem more intellectual or whatever. This book is a sequel to Bitter is the New Black, which I have read before. I read Bright Lights because I like Bitter.
Why was I interested in Bitter in the first place?
Because of the subtitle, obviously ^^
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| Whoa. Carrying a Prada bag. To the unemployment office. マジ？ |
After finishing reading it (didn't take a long time because Jennifer Lancaster is a very entertaining author), yes, マジ。
But I've read Bitter quite a long time ago, so I cannot really review it. On the contrary, I just finished re-reading Bright Lights recently (as recent as two-three hours before this post is published) so I am absolutely in good capacity to review it.
I like Jennifer Lancaster plenty as an author. Her tone is witty and there is enough sarcasm and dry wit in her books. Bright Lights highlighted the events after Bitter, in which their situation gets better after unemployment caused of the burst of the dot-com bubble. Bright Lights can be enjoyed as both sequel and standalone novel. After reading two novels by her (and in the middle of the third), I must say that I think Jen Lancaster's husband is either a saint or crazy about her or both. Both is very probable.
The lifestyle you can have from a couple (whose female half working a temp job and writing and the male half working a permanent job, but not necessarily long lasting) in Chicago, Illinois, USA is very different from Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. But maybe the fact that this couple only has two human mouths to feed (not counting two dogs and three cats, if I recall correctly) also contributes to the difference. I mean, this couple can still consume lots of food I consider luxury (pork chops, liquor), buying things at IKEA, and buying new things.
Here, in Indonesia, you are very lucky if you can still pay the taxes and mortgages and whatnot with the salary you get from that kind of job. That kind of lifestyle? Impossible. Eating outside is also ちょっとダメ as well.
I feel a bit strange about the author's stance about her weight. I understand that inner beauty is important (But sometimes the nastiest girls get the best boys, solely because of their beauty - and that's life. Being pretty and cute is important, actually. At least, it helps. Anyone who's telling you that only inner beauty is important is either a liar or as naive as you), nobody should feel ashamed about his/ her weight, and nobody should develop bad body image. But, uhm, when well... your size keep increasing and your diet seems delicious but you rarely exercise (as in driving instead of walking a block), I think you need to watch out. Because, although Jen Lancaster maintains that her cholesterol level is fine and blood pressure is awesome and she is pretty and decked in good taste on daily basis (I don't know about the first two, but I certainly agree on the third), having that kind of weight cannot be healthy in the long run, in my opinion. As you get older, you can wave hi to your soon-to-be-仲良し - the dreaded atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes type II.
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| Chances of encounter are high! |
Let's just say that USA is a very different country, judging from this book.
But they have awesome food there. As comparison and example, I have desperately sought an affordable cheese that can melt.
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| This. The only one that is available in whole country. |
To no avail. Either they don't produce it anymore (PLEASE DON'T SAY THIS IS WHY I DIDN'T FIND ANY) or four stores simultaneously run out of this cheese. But I haven't tried the コンビニ, although admittedly I am pessimistic I can find it in コンビニ. If they no longer produce it, I am ちょっと fucked because that means my only options are spreadable (ProChizz, quite OK but still IT'S NOT MELTED CHEESE), no melted cheese for the rest of my life if I am trapped here, or the insanely expensive real mozzarella which retails for Rp 42.500,00 (equals 3.24 USD, 2.92 euro - dirt cheap for you, freakishly out of range for me).
In Chicago, a couple that considers themselves 'saving and broke' can still buy and consume Brie, nice take-outs, and five different kinds of nice cheese. So different. But it maybe because decent cheese is a staple there and a luxury here. I don't know.
Reading Bright Lights is very entertaining, but also makes me feel a bit bitter. Still, ten stars.
And lots of apologies if this post is not too focused.
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