A Trip To The Oregon Coast

There’s no better way to spend the weekend for a Seattlite than a road trip down the Oregon Coast with a friend. That’s exactly what my friend and I decided to embark on one warm weekend at the end of March. We have carefully planned out a hefty supply of food and took an ample amount of blankets and pillows along, fully intending to sleep in the car and not spend any money eating out. With an adventurous mindset, and a load of promises from me that it will be the most spectacular scenic drive in ages, we got into my beat up Corolla and drove off into the sunlight.

The sunlight lasted for about an hour and a half. Just enough time for us to get off the freeway and onto one of the smaller roads leading to the coast. The rest of the day was covered by grey clouds with some sort of light beaming through, but nothing that would qualify as sunlight or beautiful. By the time we got to the coast it began to rain. After driving for a couple hours to a lighthouse I’ve wanted to check out for a while, we have finally arrived at the desired viewpoint by Cannon Beach. By then it was windy and hailing. To the point that up on top of the viewpoint both of us leaned on the wind at a 45 degree angle without falling down! The ocean roared as waves crashed against the rocks with freaky magnitude. Cool, yes, but not so much considering we were expecting glorious sunsets and warm beaches accompanied by a gentle splashing of waves on the sand.

After taking a few attempts at photographing the madness, we got cold and went down to Cannon Beach – a small coastal town filled primarily with retired rich people and young families with children and dogs. For a little while we wandered around, trying to figure out if there is a place we could park for the night. Soon feeling like complete bums, we looked at each other and instantly decided that we will end up getting a motel room for the night after all. Settling on a safe-looking , not too pricey place, we unloaded the blankets and the food in our trunk… And went out to eat in a local sea-food restaurant. The dinner was spectacular, as was our walk on the beach afterwards. With the shops closed and the town emptying out completely by 9p.m., there was nothing left to do but go to sleep, which we gladly did.

We were awoken at 3a.m. by tapping on the window. And by tapping I mean something along the lines of a jackhammer breaking into the roof. My friend sat up in horror and asked what the heck I think it is. “Seagulls.” I don’t even know how I knew that while being half asleep and half panicked from the noise myself. The tapping continued throughout the night, accompanied by rain, hail, and the roaring of the ocean. The morning revealed a beautiful painting of seagulls hanging above the bed that neither of us paid much attention to the night before. Either the irony of life was incredible or someone decorating that place had a very good sense of humor.

You’d hope that my story ends by saying that the next day was beautiful and we got to see the sun and the scenic views after all. Prepare to be disappointed! No such thing happened. In fact, at one point we passed what seemed like it should’ve been an incredible viewpoint. There were three large entrances, and it was located on a cliff. “I guess this is supposed to be beautiful,” my friend mumbled. The road was covered in fog from top to bottom. We couldn’t even see the water, much less separate it from the sky! We drove down for another hour and a half, visited another rainy, windy lighthouse, and went home. I highly recommend that everyone visit the Oregon Coast at least once in their lifetime! The scenery is beautiful and the sunsets are unmatched. Just don’t do it in March :)

The "Beautiful Sunset"

"Scenic Views"

Books To Read While You Wait For Me To Write A Novel

I have read plenty of horrible books in the past. But my latest discovery (apparently now a major motion picture) has left me seriously wondering: can I write a better novel?

The plotline of the story is technically good. But the language…. Whether it’s because the author is Irish and the dialect is dissimilar to what we are used to in the United States, or because the writing is truly horrible, but I just can’t get through more than a page without thinking how “corny” a phrase or a scenario is. Why am I still reading the book? Because the plotline is technically good! Which is exactly my problem: if I decided to write a novel, what would it be about?

Granted, my own life provides ample material for a multivolume work. But somehow, I am highly reluctant to offer certain carefully-unpublicized details of it up for the general publics’ leisurely perusal on its daily commute. (Something tells me though that those details would be exactly what brings high-profit royalties to amateur authors).

Whilst I ponder the possibility of truly putting down a pen to paper and whipping out a masterpiece of never-before-seen calibers though, here is a list of ten books that I think are worth your time which are already published and available for your perusal on a daily commute:

1. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. It sounds like a fat uninteresting book. In reality it’s a very easy light read. Although yes, quite chubby for a book.

2. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. The movie is also good.

3. The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. Cliché, but seriously… the depth of his though and psychological analysis is mind-blowing. If you can, read it in Russian. So much gets lost in translation…

4. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. It’s an adventure story. Will keep you hooked for hours! (Also best to read in French though.)

5. Voices from Chechnya by Politkovskaya. She was killed for reporting the truth. Not for emotionally feeble. You might find yourself coming back to it again and again.

6. The Alchemist by Pablo Coelho. You can finish it in an hour (unless you’re trying to read it in Spanish with no previous experience in the language…) and gain profound wisdom from it. Although I’d advise to be well-established in what you believe before you take on the magic volume. Some wisdom should always be taken with a grain of salt…

7. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This book definitely leaves a lasting impression.

8. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. This book will drive the clash between traditional and western medicine home. You will cry.

9. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. I don’t know why I liked this book. It was weird. But I just did. Maybe because I didn’t HAVE TO read it.

10. The Bible in a language you understand but have never read in before. It makes the familiar passages stand out in an entirely different light.

Happy Reading and look out for that novel of mine!