101 in 1001- January update

18) Read 10 books from the Bloom Canon.
2) Voltaire Candide
I can't believe I've never read Candide (beyond an excerpted chapter). I'm kind of glad I've waited though, because I think it's a funnier book when you understand the historical jokes and the underpinnings of Voltaire's philosophy. Regardless, it's a fantastic (and quick) read.

19) Read 1 unassigned book per month.
January '11- Neil White In the Sanctuary of Outcasts
Erin gave me this book for Christmas in 2009, after she and I found out there's a Hansen's Disease museum in Carville, LA that was one of 2 leprosarium's in the U.S. We came across this book while reading about the history of the place. We had planned to visit it but never got around to it before she moved to Chicago. Alyson and I are talking about taking a trip now.
This book is about a man who was imprisoned at the Gillis W. Long Hansen's Disease Center when it was briefly turned into a prison in the early 1990s. My gripe about the book is that I wish it had been less about the author's life and transformation into (we are to assume) a better person and more about the leprosy-afflicted patients. The book seems a bit self-serving, but was, nevertheless, an interesting read.

23) See 26 movies I've never seen, starting with each letter of the alphabet.
B- The Blind Side (2009)
Yeah yeah, I know. I was hungover and hanging out in a friend's room when he decided to watch this. Not a terrible movie, but pretty trite.

24) Learn 1 new word a week.
Prolix- (of speech or writing) using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy.
Deontological- The study of the nature of duty and obligation.
Grangerize- To augment the illustrative content of (a book) by inserting additional prints, drawings, engravings, etc., not included in the original volume.
Autarchy- absolute sovereignty; absolute government.

83) Review 20 places on Yelp! and Urbanspoon.
3) GLUE Clothing Exchange (Yelp!)

96) Attend 10 cultural events
1) Macbeth at the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival. Alyson and I went together. I expected it to be a student production, but it was actually local actors. I've never seen Macbeth performed live, but Alyson said it was one of the best she'd seen. They captured the bawdiness of Shakespeare, especially in this part (in which the Porter thrust his hips and made up and down gestures with his hands:
MACDUFF
Was it so late, friend, ere you went to bed,
That you do lie so late?

Porter
'Faith sir, we were carousing till the second cock;
and drink, sir, is a great provoker of three things.

MACDUFF
What three things does drink especially provoke?

Porter
Marry, sir, nose-painting, sleep, and urine.
Lechery, sir, it provokes, and unprovokes; it provokes
the desire, but it takes away the performance. There-
fore, much drink may be said to be an equivocator
with lechery: it makes him, and it mars him; it sets him
on, and it takes him off; it persuades him, and dis-
heartens him; makes him stand to, and not stand to; in
conclusion, equivocates him in a sleep, and, giving him
the lie, leaves him.

At intermission, a teenage girl in front of us turned to her parents and said, "Ew! I didn't know Shakespeare was such a pervert!" hee!

Full list here