When my friend Adam and I mapped out our second year of our virtual Book Club, we strategically incorporated a variety of themes, categories and types of literature into our reading list. For February, we considered it all too appropriate to read a classic love story to recognize Valentine’s Day, ironically a completely over-hyped and commercialized holiday that I fail to care about. Upon cursory research, Wuthering Heights topped several “Best Love Stories of All Time” lists, hence our decision to tackle Emily Bronte’s most esteemed novel this month.

Initially, I will admit that the plot moved deafeningly slow, perhaps a symptom of the mundane lives of the handful of incestuous characters.  Also, virtually the entire tale is told retroactively from the first person point-of-view of a secondary character who turns out to be quite charming and arguably the most likable character in the whole book. If there was an equivalent for “Best Supporting Actress” for the loyal female who narrated the majority of Wuthering Heights, I’d definitely award Ellen Dean for her strong principles, sense of humor and talent for compelling storytelling.

Though the plot crept slowly in the beginning, I caught myself surprisingly engaged amidst several extensive reading sessions – reading for hours on end about the Lintons, Earnshaws and Heathcliffs, ultimately finishing the final half of the novel in one three-hour sitting this evening.

I certainly enjoyed the tale, especially nearing the conclusion when the plot accelerates considerably. The relationships and love triangles in Wuthering Heights were not at all as I imagined, but I definitely extracted an element of romance from the gloomy, isolated moors of the English countryside. I couldn’t escape comparisons to Downton Abbey with the horses, estates, fanciful dialogue and lippy servants. I also kept thinking of Luke Wilson’s infatuation with Gwenyth Paltrow in The Royal Tenenbaums, you know falling in love with family members and all.

The love lines in Wuthering Heights were dysfunctional, unhealthy and tumultuous to say the least – but aren’t all good love stories? Why else do we watch dramas or romantic comedies? Isn’t infidelity, passion and irrationality what attracts us to these fictional couples? I’d say the results for many of the characters are tragic and the characters you’d expect to champion and cheer for don’t necessarily end up following the paths you originally want them to. But I consider that a good thing – Bronte’s plot twists and unexpected conclusion make Wuthering Heights one of the most iconic books in English lit.

In fact, by coincidence I discovered this article about the moors of Yorkshire that originally inspired Charlotte and Emily in the prime of their literary careers. The stark, but beautiful countryside was vividly described and a major component of Wuthering Heights. Apparently, developers wanted to populate the land with garish wind turbines, but ultimately, Bronte enthusiasts campaigned to perserve the land’s beauty because of its literary significance. Don’t get me wrong – I’m a fan of renewable energy, but I consider the decision to preserve the integrity of the land terribly romantic. It’s incredible, really - a place that inspired a novel in the mid-1800′s has decidedly been left unadulterated to sustain the legacy of Emily Bronte and her timeless novel over a century later. I’d love to visit the moors that inspired Wuthering Heights in the same way that I’d love to visit Martha’s Vineyard and Platform 9 3/4. The significance of these literary settings transcends time and culture, and that in itself is so special, historic and dare I say romantic?

Do I agree that Wuthering Heights is the best love story of all time? Probably not. Off the top of my head, I would argue that the relationships in Pride and Prejudice, The Great Gatsby and Their Eyes Were Watching God were more compelling than that of Heathcliff and Catherine. But do I agree that Wuthering Heights is a classic tale worth your time of day? Yeah, I do.

My favorite part about our little gathering was our “White Album White Elephant” gift exchange – a fun, creative spin on the traditional white elephant and I hope we make it an annual holiday tradition. Each guest was asked to bring one of their favorite albums, wrap it in white paper and write a lyric from one of the songs on the back of the package. Each person would choose two blank packages, silently read the lyrics on the back of each album and select the one they wanted to keep based on the lyrics. Then the guest would read the lyrics of their selection out loud so subsequent players could potentially steal their CD, but only based on the lyrics. This was such a unique way to share our favorite music and appreciate beautiful lyrics from our favorite artists.

Once we all settled on our decisions, we each opened our package one by one. The results were shocking – to the surprise of many, some of the most poignant and profound lyrics came from Metallica and Lupe Fiasco. To my personal surprise, I owned four of the resulting CDs, but only recognized lyrics from two of the bands. A lot of guests also shared why they chose the album they did and how they discovered their artist – what a great way to discover new music!

My contribution was Metric’s new album, Synthetica. It’s probably my favorite album of the year and I hope the person who chose it loves it as much as I do. All of the songs are terrific, but my favorite track is “Clone” which is where the poetic lyrics I wrote on my parcel were derived from. Listen to that and their main single “Breathing Underwater” below. What are your favorite albums from this year?

Metric – Breathing Underwater

Metric – Clone

via New York Magazine

The shooting in Connecticut might be the worst national news I’ve read in 2012. The poor victims and their families are in my thoughts, as well as the fortunate young survivors. As Obama so eloquently put it, “For as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children’s innocence has been torn away from them too early and there are no words that will ease their pain.”

This news certainly puts a damper on the holiday season that is centered around joyous, innocent children and spending time with your families and loved ones. I know I’m going to hug my nephews and niece extra tight when I see them next week. I’m so thankful that they’re in my life and I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to cause them any harm or sorrow.

I’m not trying to be political with this post. That’s not at all my intention. But I hope this tragedy causes our country to truly reevaluate its position gun control. I have been on the fence about the issue for a long time, supporting the right to protect and defend yourself, but in this year alone, Trayvon Martin, a theater in Colorado and now at least 20 little kids lost their lives at the expense of the irresponsible use of arms. I don’t have all the answers, and the government doesn’t either. There’s no easy solution to the problem, but I think we can all agree that this is a sad day in America. I think we can agree these children were taken too soon and unfairly, and there’s a pressing need for preventative measures to avoid anything like this happening ever again.

I decided to make an infographic visualizing my year in live music. A screen grab is pasted below, click-through to see the full visual!

Key findings include:

• Genre = Electronic and dance music comprised the majority of concerts I attended. Indie shows were a close second.
• March and October were my busiest live music months, which is to be expected since SXSW and ACL take place during those time periods
• Danny Brown and A-Trak are tied for artist I saw the most – each with 3 separate performances in 3 separate venues