Little Old Ladies and a Good Book

Yesterday I went with my grandma, Spike, to go visit her friends at the bowling alley who are all on a bowling team. She used to be on a team, but she had arthritis and had to get hand surgery so she had to quit bowling for awhile but is thinking about going back. Anyways, so I’m meeting all of these ladies, some are in their 90’s and some are much younger, but they were all very friendly, and repeatedly complimented me, I’m not sure why. They must not see very many young people any more these days, or they’re just being too nice.

            I proceeded to go to lunch with five of them, including my grandma and as I was sitting there listening to them talk it hit me: girls never change. Ever. Girls will always be gossipers. They all mentioned a lady that they weren’t very fond of that they bowl with and how they all told her that they weren’t going to lunch so that she wouldn’t follow them. Does the drama never end! Really?! It just astonishes me how all girls are so into gossip, so into drama, love to be mean to other girls, and that apparently it goes all the way into your old age! To me it feels like my generation are just all bitches to each other and that other generations seem nicer to one another but in fact that is not true! I just don’t hang around older people enough to realize it. I just think the whole idea of it is funny. I sat there just laughing on the inside listening to all of them.

           

            Last night I started this book called The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. When I went to Hastings looking for books I wasn’t really sure what I wanted, I just knew I wanted a variety of different things. So I asked the “librarian” or whatever you would call her, where the section on animals was. I wanted something like Marley and Me to read, and that’s what I told her. She took me to the section but also took me to this book and said it was highly praised. So I looked at it, honestly I didn’t know if I’d like it very much, but it was about a dog so I had to find it somewhat interesting. The description of the book merely says, “A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope—a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life…as only a dog could tell it”. Eh. Sounds alright. Even after reading it, I still probably wouldn’t have picked it up on my own after reading that. EXCEPT that one of the praises on the back says “Fans of Marley & Me, rejoice.” And that had me.

            I’m not going to give a book summary or anything like that. But this book was really moving. There are so many emotions in it that is perplexing how an author could get all of that in a book and still have it make sense. I was laughing at points, I cried…twice, and I got so angry at one point that I just put the book down. And ten pages after I picked it up I got even more pissed and put it back down. If you like reading…read it. It was definitely different, but very good. Plus it takes place in Seattle, where the author lives, so you gotta love that.