TO END THE NIGHT . . .

First

* First job: mother's helper
* First screen name: I don't recall
* First funeral: Austin N.
* First pet: short-lived goldfish
* First piercing: ears
* First tattoo: n/a (yet)
* First credit card: Visa
* First kiss: Leroy, in elementary school stairwell
* First enemy: Linda D.

Last

* Last car ride: was 7 minutes long
* Last kiss: how gauche to tell
* Last movie watched: "Dreamgirls" on DVD (second time is still enjoyable)
* Last beverage drank: bottle of Poland Spring
* Last food consumed: strawberries
* Last phone call: SS
* Last time showered: this afternoon
* Last CD played: Michael Hedges, "Beyond Boundaries"
* Last website visited: eBay.com

Now

* Single or taken: single?
* Gender: female
* Birthday: in autumn
* Sign: Scorpio
* Siblings: one
* Hair color: dark brown
* Eye color: dark brown
* Shoe size: 5 1/2 - 6
* Height: 5'2"
* Wearing: a pair of shorts I'm trying to break in
* Drinking: water
* Thinking about: the Gospel of John
* Listening to: the sound of me typing

***

GREAT READ . . .

I finished The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. I don't know why I didn't pick this book up earlier; had I known I would be gripped by it and zip through it in one and a half days, I would have done so months ago! I enjoyed it very much, was moved to deep sighs and some unshed but heavily-collected-in-the-corners-of-my-eyes tears, and am already on the waiting list at my local library to read Hosseini's next, A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Strangely, I think one of the qualities of The Kite Runner that really drew me in and kept my attention was the frequent appearance of delicious Afghan or otherwise Middle Eastern food on the pages. The kabobs, koftas, curries, yogurts, rice dishes, fresh pomegranates that the characters ate ... aside from giving me a serious jonesing for some kabobs of my own, these foods -- the descriptions of them, the appreciation of them, the creation of them -- really made me want to be IN the story, IN Afghanistan, IN these characters' lives and homes. (I wonder if Hosseini wrote those food-related words purposefully, or if they were just an elemental detail that did the fortunate work of hooking the reader.)

Imagine my deep disappointment when I came to the last page of the book. Not only was there nothing more to read of this smooth story, but the only decent food I had in the house was omelette makings. Sigh.