i wonder if i’m the only one that was thinking about movies and books that kind of sound similar.  w/o thinking about the comedy factor of ‘Seeking a Friend For the End of the World’ starring Kiera Knightley and Steve Carrell, i thought that maybe the 2 were somehow related.  not quite the case but back when i saw the commercial that talked about how there was a meteor or something slated to crash into the planet and who knew what was going to happen, i thought maybe…..possibly..?

well, low and behold Life as We Knew It kind of had something similar to talk about no?  i love that everyone was so innocently ‘ignorant’ about the meteor hitting the moon, like nothing was going to happen except for maybe a little light show and a poof that you could see through binoculars.  i feel like no one ever stops to think that maybe something BIG might happen that’s irreversible.  oh well, i guess they learned the hard way no?

one thing that i did take from this story which i think i might have to thank the author for is the survival skills.  that’s the biggest thing here – and well, i think that a lot of us rely so heavily on technology that we wouldn’t know where to begin with if it came down to it.  who would think about a few things:

1) DROP EVERYTHING and go to the store and buy whatever you can – as much of everything as you can. not just food but those necessities that you wouldn’t think about (i.e.tampons – who would have thought about that). 

2) buy things that are seasons out of season (winter clothes when it’s 100 degrees or vice versa).  they will come in handy

3) learn to chop wood and do it often.  honestly,i live in NYC so chopping wood’s not an option but i’ll probably see what the folks in NYC did in the 2nd book of the series

4) stick together with your family, family first and try your best not to get on each others nerves

5) come to the realization that someone may not live, and well, maybe there’s someone who has a better chance.  don’t resent them for any sacrifices you may make, because sometimes that’s just what life makes you do

it took me a few days longer than i would have liked to read this story, but i think that it was a great take on the end of the world (maybe?) type story.  what i wonder though which i figure was intentionally left out so you’d want to discuss is

1) what happened to dad and lisa (and baby)

2) what was really wrong with matt?  did he really hurt his heart or lungs more than he even knew?

3) what ever happened to the earth after all this.  did the ash clear up, did miranda and her family survive and help rebuild civilization

4) Did Miranda imagine her skating day with Brendon ? was that a hallucination?

i have endless questions, but i guess those are all to go unanswered and that’s probably a great way to write a story.  that way if Pfeffer is ever interested in writing more – there’s plenty to build off of.