Friday Five

1. Eudaimonia: I came across this word in an article this week. I'm assuming most people are like me and have never heard the word used before.  Apparently it means "contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous" which is just a lovely definition.  The weird part is that for such a fabulous definition, you'd think the word itself would be more elegant.  As it stands, it sounds like some terrible disease one gets from climbing through jungles.  But it's a lovely thought nonetheless.

2. I've just finished my 4th book in the 44 Scotland series by Alexander McCall Smith. In the book Domenica quotes Auden as saying "If equal affection cannot be, let the more loving be me." I just loved the quote.  It's beautiful and so lovey-dovey.  I'm such a sap!

3. "Broadchurch": Technically I shouldn't have seen this since it's airing in Britain first before it comes here but thank goodness for the Internet.  It's basically a British version of "The Killing" which I've never seen but heard was fabulous.  The murder mystery plot  catches you from the first few minutes and the secrets are just aggravating enough to keep you watching.  I'm already dying to know why DI Hardy is so touchy about an old case or why the vicar looked so worried and I'm only one episode in.  Hoping upon hope the next 7 will show up online because  I'm not sure I can stay away from spoilers until it gets here.

4. Changing the clocks.  I know this hasn't technically occurred yet, but it means that spring is right around the corner.  I'm not sure about you, but I'm about done with gray days.  I'm ready for some sun and flowers and color!

5. Republic of Tea's British Breakfast Tea: My current obsession.  Some people crave Starbucks mocha-chino-latte things, I crave this boring old tea.  So far the only place I've been able to find it is at Panera.  But I've been keeping my eye out for it.  It's good stuff!

Blah...

I literally have nothing to talk about this evening.  Because of computer access issues that are still being ironed out, I literally sat at my new desk today and finished the last 60 pages of "44 Scotland Street".  Then I began and ultimately completed "A Winter Dream".  Two books in 3 days - that has been the extent of my week so far.  I have high hopes that this job will be brilliant because the people I've met thus far have been fabulous but at the moment I would settle for any position that granted me computer access because if this keeps up I'm sure to run out of books...

Another Tale, Another City

A few years ago I got the chance to visit one of my other favorite cities, San Francisco.  The city itself was absolutely gorgeous and so full of fun things to do and eat.  While I was there, I did my usual thing when travelling to a new city, I hit the bookstores (shocking, I know).  I love finding bookstores in new places, because they tend to carry books specific to the region.  While browsing in San Fran, I consistently found Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City.  So I figured I'd give it a shot since it revolved around my (at the time) new favorite place.  After starting the first, in about a week and half I had read all 6 in the series and fell in love with the characters. The stories were (this is corny I know) dazzling and I wanted to be them and have the courage to do all the crazy things they did. Since then I've been looking for a series close to Tales to read that would excite me and hook me in as much as it had. 

It's taken about 8 years but I think I may have finally found it.  Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street series, is, while I'm only on the first book, pretty close to perfect.  Seeing that I've since fallen in love with all things Great Britain, it's a version of Tales of the City on in Scotland, sounded right up my alley.  While it's a bit more genteel and a little less bawdy, you still get these 6 degrees of separation relationships that are so compelling.  I'm hoping that the next in the series will be as fabulous as the first as I'm already hooked on the tenants of the house with the red door on Scotland street, and look forward to their adventures.

Both series are set in a building full of colorful characters with a beautiful city as the backdrop. The relationships that form often begin out of pure proximity to each other but they become a second family as the stories wear on. I know that in real life, most people don't barge into each other's apartments/flats like they do in these tales, but in my head it really happens.  It seems a weird wish coming from someone who owns their own home, but one day I want to live this strange little contained way of life.  I think it's why I gravitate toward cities, specifically London.  The chance to finally live in an apartment and see if stuff like this actually happens is too delicious a thought to pass up.  In London I'd have no choice of course...unless I hit the lottery, a tiny little studio flat would be all that I could afford.    And maybe, just maybe, if I'm very, very lucky, my new BFF will nickname be Babycakes and our landlady/den mother will be a former He that drives a custard yellow Mercedes and I'll begin work on my own tale.