Book Review: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Summary:
Christopher Boone is a 15-year old autistic savant in Swindon, England. He hates being touched, cannot tell a lie, or understand metaphors or jokes. He is a whiz at math and enjoys puzzles. When the neighbor's dog is killed with a pitchfork, he seizes upon it as a puzzle and math problem in hopes of understanding something that makes no sense to him. This begins a journey for Christopher that takes him places he never imagined, both physically and emotionally.

Review:
When I first started reading this book I didn't quite know what to think of it. However, I had seen this book everywhere so I thought I ought to give it an nonjudgmental chance. I ended up really liking it and the main character who is autistic. He often made me laugh because the author lets us see the world through his eyes, and sometimes people are just plain silly. Chistopher, the main character, saw things as black and white. There were no gray areas. The book takes us through an adventure, often displaying how adults and people can be so silly, complicating things with our emotions creating so many gray areas. It made me think that we should all be a little more autistic.

The book is a simple read with interesting insights and twists. Dry humor is interlaced throughout as the narrator takes a very literal and logical approach on life.

Before and After {Our "New" Dresser}

Before

Pat works right next door to a thrift store that has amazing turn over and merchandise. During his lunch breaks he takes a peak and on this particular visit he found this dresser. We loved it and I could see it in bright yellow...

After

I was going to do more with the paint, but after seeing it with it's hardware I decided to keep it simple.

No water! What is one to do!?

This lady answered that question for me
this morning when we woke up to no water.

As pat left for work he saw this lady washing her hair in the fire hydrant outside our apartment. He called to tell me about it and when I looked outside my window I not only found her washing her hair, but giving herself a full-on bath. And when I say bath, I mean it! She was using shampoo, conditioner and soap! What a resourceful woman!

The great thing about NYC is that you can do anything you want, and no ones thinks twice.

Brooklyn Flea Market

(Shaved ice-He actually shaved it off the block of ice)

Today we set out to the Brooklyn Flea Market on one of the hottest days of the summer. The weatherman said it would feel like 105...and that it did. After having a difficult time getting to Brooklyn, because some someway stations were closed, we were a little pooped once we got there—the heat was sucking all our energy right out of us with amazing speed.

Joanna and Johnny liking each other and the subway system

The flea market was great. Basically it is a combination between a glorified thrift store (which is my favorite) and a "hipster" art fair. For those of you who don't know who or what hipsters are...

"Hipster is a slang term used to describe types of young, recently-settled urban middle class adults and older teenagers with interests in non-mainstream fashion and culture."


The flea market had tons of cool stuff. We didn't buy anything, but I know we will go back when it isn't so hot.

Night Walks

The days are intolerably hot
but the nights are nice.

Pat often takes nightly walks along the east river with our fugitive,
and this time I joined him.

However, after seeing how nice the city is at night
I will definitely be joining him all the time now.

Lindsay Benes

The days are long and hot here. And when I say hot...I mean...melt your bones hot. There is no other way to describe this kind of heat. Sadly enough, I dread going outside of my air conditioned apartment during the day. Today I went on the subway during rush hour. I got on a train with no ac and people pressed up against me. And then if that wasn't bad enough the train was delayed and we were stuck there for 15 minutes. I was trapped in a hot subway train with a lady who was laughing historically at her blackberry, a man who kept falling asleep while standing and 50 other people ignoring everyone around them. I really thought I was going to freak out or pass out, I didnt know which one. Then I started laughing because I felt like elaine in this episode CLICK HERE. Ever since I have been in the city Seinfeld episodes have taken on a whole different meaning.

Escaping the Concrete Jungle...

Central Park is an amazing place, it has everything: lakes, waterfalls, forests, a zoo, baseball fields, castles, theaters, wildlife, fountains. and MUCH more. We love to go there to get away from the hustle and bustle...

and so does Frido...

Frido does get much playing time in the dirt now. So he was loving his time in Central Park.

He is so cute.

NYC Update...

So we are here in our apartment...alive and well. We have "moved" in, although we still have boxes full of stuff and lots of furniture to buy. It will be a while until our apartment feels like a home, but we can see the beginning and that makes us very excited.

For the past year we have been on the move but have made a 360 back to NYC.

Summary of Past Year:
Summer of 2009- We came out to New York for Pat's internship (not knowing we would be back a year later).
Fall of 2009-Went back to Provo for Pat's last semester knowing we were only there for a few months. Upon arrival our apartment flooded and we lived out of hotels and friends houses for a month and some change.
Winter of 2010-Then a few months later in February, we headed to California with New York City as a possible job in June, but I was secretly hoping Pat would find a job in San Francisco.
Spring of 2010-Obviously, San Francisco did not work out so we drove back across the country to New York.

It has been a crazy year, full of uncertainties and faith trying experiences. There are still many uncertainties in our lives, such as me finding a job and us actually being able to "make it" here, but for the time being we are very happy and loving all the idiosyncrasies of New York.

(Picture above:Our favorite thing to do in NYC is to just walk around and see what we stumble upon. Last weekend we stumbled upon the Union Square Flee market and a street fair. They had these amazing chocolate covered strawberry sticks that I just HAD to have)

Final Round up...

Pat has been home for a few weeks now, but I have not been able to post the final pictures of his trip, mainly the D&AD Awards ceremony.


Pat said the awards ceremony was held in a really hip part of London where all the graphic design shops are and what not.

He said the whole day was one of the best of his life. I am sure flying all the way to London and not knowing if you won anything added to the excitement of the evening.



The awards. Pat has one of they babys on his desk at work. A symbol of things to come.



The event was hosted outside. He said they had all kinds of things going on, like artist doing their artwork on large canvas'.

And then of course the win!

University of Cambridge

On Wednesday Pat spent the day exploring Cambridge. I knew very little about this place and was really confused of how Pat could spend an entire day there. I asked him if Cambridge was a just a college or was it a town with a college in it. He didn't know how to answer the question. So I asked "So did you just spend the day on the campus of Cambridge or did you explore the town it was in as well." He also did not know how to answer my question.

I guess I just need to visit to figure out how you could spend an entire day at a University (I am so un-traveled!).

So, since I didn't know very much about this place I decided to find more out. Below are some pictures of his day and some random facts!


The University of Cambridge is the second oldest university in England and the fourth oldest in the world. Academically, Cambridge has been ranked one of the world's top five universities.



University of Cambridge origins can be traced to a crime committed in 1209.

Two Oxford scholars were convicted of the murder or manslaughter of a woman and were hanged by the town authorities with the assent of King John. In protest at the hanging, the University of Oxford went into voluntary suspension, and scholars migrated to a number of other locations, including the pre-existing school at Cambridge. These exile Oxford scholars started Cambridge’s life as a university in 1209.

As an institution with such a long history, the University has developed a large number of myths and legends. A discontinued tradition is that of the wooden spoon, the ‘prize’ awarded to the student with the lowest passing grade in the final examinations of the Mathematical Tripos.

If I went there I would have SO many spoons! On second thought, I would not have any spoons because that is assuming I actually passed the final exam!