Joie de vivre :: Recent Entries

Title:	Challenge #1: organize it!
Topics:	challenge, organization
Date:	5/20/12 — 4:54 pm
Security:	public

In case you've missed it,

violetvale is hosting some challenges to get us inspired and motivated. The first one was to find something that needed organizing ... and organize it.

Here's where I admit that I'm not always that great at reading directions. Like the bit about "post pictures of your project by midnight on May 19th."

Oops.

My project of choice is further proof that I'm not lying about being food obsessed. Ya'll are organizing offices and bathrooms and pantries and cars: I'm organizing an 8" high stack of recipes.

Eight inches. This is kind of ridiculous. Because I also have a full complement of cookbooks.

Here's what happens: I find recipes in a cookbook that doesn't belong to me, and I make a copy. I print out recipes I find online (oh, Pinterest.) I tear them out of magazines. They get thrown on this pile. Theoretically, they end up in the appropriately labeled folder (pies, cookies, quick breads, breads, breakfast, sides, main dishes, desserts, cakes, drinks/appetizers, and that ever-helpful "misc") but even if that happens, it's still a challenge to find what I'm looking for if I have a specific recipe in mind.

My goal is to get each recipe into the correct folder and then make subdivisions within each folder - so breakfast might contain a section for pancakes, egg dishes, fruits, biscuits, and so on. I know there's no way I can get the whole stack done by the end of this month, but I'd like to at least make enough of a start to keep me motivated to finish it sooner rather than later. :)

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Title:	Untitled
Topics:	random
Date:	5/18/12 — 11:13 am
Security:	public

Nope ... I've got nothin' today. Just heading down to the thrift store during lunch to find some socks to make into adorable sock animals. (Socks Appeal is the best book ever. At least the best book ever for making sock animals.)

Carry on!

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Title:	On the subjects of escapist lit and the age old question, "How do you find time to read so much?!"
Topics:	reading
Date:	5/08/12 — 11:52 am
Security:	public

On "escapist" fiction:

When I hear escapist fiction dismissed with adjectives like "mere," "adolescent" or "mindless," I think: hypocrite. Except for academic texts or yesterday's diary entry, reading is escapism. While I've been writing this column, I've been escaping in a heartbreaking story of a young mother, abandoned by her husband, who loves her consolatory wine so much she's about to lose her children to the county. Is it escapism if where you go is painful? I think it is.
...
Escapism has become a lazy epithet for genre fiction such as fantasy, science fiction, mystery, romance, westerns. It is often used in opposition to "realism," where the serious reader must stare down the contemporary realities of war, disease, family dysfunction, crime, foreclosure and death. To prefer to read about other worlds or other times is seen as a kind of intellectual cowardice.
....
"The Lord of the Rings" is classic escapism, for which J.R.R. Tolkien would make no apologies. "I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which 'Escape' is now so often used," he wrote. "Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?"

Really, there's nothing more that needs to be said about that, except: read. Read what you want to, and don't pay attention to the labels other people may try to slap on it.

Knock it Off About Not Having Time To Read:

Nobody is too busy to read. A lot of people like to say they’re too busy to read. But they are liars. What they actually mean is they choose to spend their time doing something other than reading books, which is fine. We’ve all got twenty-four hours in a day and some of us choose to spend those hours reading and others choose to spend their time watching “Dancing With the Stars.”
...
As readers we’ve all heard it. . . “how do you have time to read books?”

It is, quite possibly, one of the most condescending things a person can say to an avid reader. I’ve said before that when someone asks me how I find time to read, I hear:
“I’m a self-important windbag who is really busy with all the important things that occupy my very precious (and important) time I have so very little of that I must spend it doing important things importantly.”
...
Miller and her kindred time-hoarders need to knock it off with the “not having time to read” argument. Not only does it imply that people who have time to read are lazy slackers who are ignoring the important things they should be spending their time on, but it makes books less than. It implies that books are not worthy of the very little, precious time we have.

The only part of this I'd change is the unnecessarily snarky line about DWTS, which seems to imply that reality tv is inherently less than books (and maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but claiming it is interferes with the 'we all choose what to do with our time' argument the rest of the post makes, and besides lots of readers watch tv IN ADDITION to reading, you know, AND many others don't have time to read for very good reasons indeed, which does not include any reality tv at all, but may include things like babies, jobs, and, yanno, being married and stuff.)

But I do like the main point, because I firmly believe that you make time for what's important to you. And I'm not saying reading ought to be terribly high up on the importance list - certainly many things should come before your books. Raising your children, loving your neighbor, serving your God ... if you do all the important things and there's no time left for reading, so be it. Your priorities are good. You shouldn't be judged, and neither should I for finding the time to read.

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Title:	April's booklist
Topics:	booklist
Date:	4/30/12 — 10:15 pm
Security:	public

1. The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznik

I was skeptical of the format at first - I tend to find graphic novels harder to read than text, much less stories told only in picture form. If you're not familiar with this book, it's about half text, half pictures. And it totally works - and it's very cinematic (there's a reason the movie Hugo worked so well).

The story itself is charming and wonderful - combining a bustling French railway station with an orphaned boy, the history of the first movies, a sad toy-maker, and a slightly creepy automaton.

2. Beaten, Seared, and Sauced, Jonathan Dixon

An older man (he never stops reminding us of this fact) goes to the Culinary Institute of America to learn to cook and muses about food, age, and making it in the very young and very hard world of the professional kitchen.

This was okay but not great, and cemented my desire to pursue food only in an amateur manner. I admire people who can do it professionally, but it would take all the fun out of it for me.

3. The Plain Princess, Phyllis McGinley

A wonderfully quaint and moralistic tale of a bad-tempered princess who learns that beauty comes from the inside.

4. Imagine, Jonah Lehrer

I REALLY enjoyed this while I read it, but I honestly can't tell you much about it now. When I unearth the notes I took, I'll share. But it is an interesting look at some of the more surprisingly things about creativity - what makes some people more creative than others, and how to encourage and even train yourself to be one of those people.

5. The Scottish Prisoner, Diana Gabaldon

I think I love Jamie and Clare too much to ever be content with the Lord John novels, but this one pleasantly surprised me. For one thing, it has a healthy dose of Jamie, and fills in some of the 'lost years' between Clare's first and second appearances in the 1700s.

However, I liked it for the characters, not the plot. Which was ... kind of boring.

6. Talking with my Mouth Full, Gail Simmons

I haven't watched enough of Top Chef to recognize Gail from the show, but her entertaining food-based memoir is a treat, and I imagine it would appeal even more to fans of the show.

7. Divergent, Veronica Roth

Not the best YA dystopian by a long shot, but nothing to sneeze at and notable for the use of AWESOME CHICAGO LANDMARKS. (The bean makes an appearance!)

(Fyi, I rate this above Matched and below The Hunger Games.)

8. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Alan Bradley

Confession: I've seen this book around since 2009 and dismissed it because it looked "boring."

Don't make the same mistake I did. 11-year-old precocious-but-not-annoying budding poisoner solves mysteries and generally outsmarts everyone. SUPER well written. The main character's voice is amazing. This was definitely my favorite book for the month.

9. Thee, Hannah! Marguerite de Angeli

Although the emphasis on the vanity of wanting to wear pretty clothes rubbed me a bit the wrong way (I guess we know one of my besetting faults now, eh?) I always admire the sensitive way de Angeli portrays plain religious groups. This one is about a young Quaker girl (a Quakeress?) and has an added dash of adventure involving the underground railway.

10. Wonderstruck, Brian Selznik

See #1 regarding the format, and as for content: it tackles deafness, Deaf Culture, lost parents, and ... a bunch of other things. Yeah. The only quarrel I have with Selznik is this: his drawings are generally so beautiful, but all his closeups of little girls look ugly!

11. Princess Academy, Shannon Hale

And then I rediscovered Shannon Hale. <3 <3 <3 Strong female protagonists, a very satisfying but not cookie-cutter ending, and a way with words that yes, made me weep.

12. Unorthodox: the scandelous rejection of my Hasidic roots, Deborah Feldman

I agree with some others who've said that this title is misleading - very little of the book is actually about how she rejected her upbringing and her life afterwards. And I also think it's worth noting that as far as I understand, the Satmar sect are considered radical and extreme even by other Orthodox Jews. So don't take Deborah's experiences (which are quite horrible) to be representative of all conservative Jews.

That said, what strength she had to leave! I hope she finds much happiness.

13. The Goose Girl, Shannon Hale

Shannon Hale, I love you FOREVER.

14. The House at Tyneford, Natasha Solomons

I seem to be alone in disliking this, but I found it to be littered with discarded plot lines, one of the main love interests to be distinctly unlikeable, and what ended up as the actual main relationship to be completely flat. And I dunno, it just felt like it couldn't make up its mind if it was a gritty, realistic WWII story, a coming-of-age story, or a romance. Not that something can't be all three, but it just felt fragmented and off.

audiobooks: 1
ebooks: 2
from the stack: 3

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Title:	Books for March
Topics:	booklist
Date:	4/03/12 — 11:55 am
Security:	public

1. First Among Sequels, Jasper Fforde

Jasper Fforde has an absolutely amazing mind. In my head I picture it as being stuffed to the brim with clockwork, gears constantly whirring and clicking into place. Seriously, the scenarios he comes up with, the inventive wordplay, the world-building … he is amazing.

However, if you’re new to Fforde, don’t start with this book!Begin at the beginning, which is a logical place to, you know, begin.

2. The Flight of Gemma Hardy, Margot Livensey

Jane Eyre reimagined as something set in the 1960s and involving Iceland. And it is actually not as bad as it sounds. Not terribly surprisingly, it lacks the emotional punch of Jane Eyre, not the least of which because this Jane – here named Gemma - doesn't tear herself away from her Mr. R for moral reasons,but because she's disappointed that he's not perfect. And it’s really a rather small indiscretion, in the grand scheme of things. He even says it himself: "Please. Gemma ... it's not as if I have another wife!"

That said, the writing is really quite lovely, and it was loads of fun noticing the similarities and differences to the original. I suppose this is more of a homage than a retelling, and if it’s approached as such it can be quite charming.

3. Life, on the Line, Grant Achatz (and that other dude.)

I’m not into Achetz’s food style – experimental cuisine isn’t really my thing, and while I certainly marvel at his skill (not the least of which the is the feat of timing 18 bite-sized courses for a restaurant full of people) the book didn’t make me want to rush out and eat in his restaurant. Which is a good thing, because I don’t think I could in good conscious spend that much on one meal anyway. BUT. He’s passionate about food, and passionately interested in all things food. Also he used to work for Thomas Keller (!!!). And of course the story of his fight with cancer is stunning and inspiring.

The only quarrel I had with this is that it goes along as written by Achatz for at least half the book and then suddenly there are parts written by his business partner, and it keeps switching randomly back and forth with no clear delineation between the two voices. This may have just been a formatting issue with the e-book - I hope so.

4. 11/22/63, Stephen King

My second ever Stephen King! The writing remains as well-crafted as ever, and he does what he seems to do best: create a current of unease that begins subtly and builds to an almost agonizing end. I was curious to see how he would handle the time travel thing, and honestly I think it’s one of the better and most realistic looks at the ramifications of time travel in general and changing history in particular.

ALSO, the end made me cry.

“Goodbye, Sadie. You never knew me, but I love you, honey.”

5. Below Stairs, Margaret Powell

With the popularity of Downton Abbey, this is getting some well-deserved hype. It was originally published in the 1960s and it does show its age a bit, but overall it’s a spunky and straightforward look at Margaret’s life as a kitchen maid and then cook.

6. Gift of the Sea, Anne Morrow Lindbergh

So yeah, I was half way through this before I realized Anne was Charles Lindbergh’s wife! I have a special interest in that couple and have since I discovered a scrapbook in our archives full of newspaper articles detailing their courtship, marriage and tragic loss of their son. Anne was SO beautiful as a young woman, and their early life seems so glamorous … at least in the society pages of the New York papers.

I realize none of that has to do with the book in question, which is thoughtful and beautiful and well worth reading. I may share snippets from it later, when I find where I copied those snippets down ...

7. At Home In France, Ann Barry

Ho hum. Not very great, but not very bad. Single New Yorker buys house in rural France, escapes her city life periodically to play at country living. This makes it sound worse than it is, but I think I’ve just read to many “I just bought an old house in Italy/France, now what do I do?!” memoirs.

8. Branded Beauty, Mark Tungate

This sounded better in theory than in the execution thereof. I was expecting a bit more about actual marketing techniques used by cosmetic companies to convince us we NEED the latest lash-enhancing mascara to be beautiful. Instead I got a lot of the history of cosmetic companies. Interesting in its own right, but not what I expected.

9. The Reading Promise, Alice Ozma

I’ve seen some criticisms of this book because “the dad clearly has issues! Dysfunctional family drama! Etc!” but really, everyone’s got some issues and at least this dad did a wonderful thing for his daughter by sharing his love of books with her. He read aloud to her every night for ten years. Every night. Every single night. Yes.

Also, I was Alice Ozma to be my friend. She is adorable.

10. I've Got Your Number, Sophie Kinsella

For people who like Bridget Jones’ Diary, Hester Browne’s Little Lady books, or Sarah Strohmeyer. British (our heroine’s name is Poppy), hilarious situations (oh noes! How do I keep my fiance’s family from finding out I lost the heirloom engagement ring?) and a kind of precious love story with a Darcy-like character. I loved this!

Ebooks: 3

From the stack: 1

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Title:	Untitled
Topics:	renfaire
Date:	4/02/12 — 4:57 pm
Security:	public

I have much to say and plenty of pictures to share, but that must wait for a bit. In the meantime, I leave you with what was probably my favorite scene from the faire (is it just me that thinks this is hilarious?):

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Title:	A few notes on FOOD
Topics:	food
Date:	3/19/12 — 9:10 am
Security:	public

Some of what I ate this weekend:

Lemon Cornmeal Pancakes - I love the heft and crunch of cornmeal (coarse-ground is best, if you can get it), but these pancakes still seem light and refreshing. Lemon and eggs will do that. :)

Potato Knish - I figured it was about time I learned to make some Eastern European foods.

I made the classic filling this time (potato and caramelized onions) and while it was definitely hearty and satisfying, that sucker needed some sausage or bacon or something to make it extra tasty. Next time I'll try a variation on the potato-kale-cream cheese filling also mentioned in the recipe.

But the star of the show was certainly The Only Chocolate Chip Cookie I'll Ever Need To Know How To Make For The Rest Of My Life:

And I know I like to speak in hyperbole, but this is not hyperbolic: these cookies are amazing.

You make the dough. Follow the directions - yeah, it's a lot of butter, yeah, it matters if the ingredients are room temperature, yeah, you really need to use sea salt or kosher salt.

Put it in the fridge. Don't touch it for at least 24 hours. 36 is better. Longer doesn't hurt, either.

Yes, you really need to make them that large (1/3 c. scoops.)

What you get is a huge cookie that is a little crispy/caramely on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside. All that time in the fridge melds the flavors and creates an amazing toffee taste, and then topped with the salt? Wowzers.

The only point in which I disagree with the recipe is this: I think they should be eaten straight out of the oven, as soon as they're cool enough to handle. I made half this recipe and only baked them as needed. I've tried them a day later, and while nobody's going to argue they aren't still amazing, to me there's nothing like eating them warm, with the chocolate a little melty and the center still gooey.

Go forth and eat!

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Title:	February Booklist
Topics:	booklist
Date:	3/05/12 — 5:03 pm
Security:	public

I thought January was a fluke, but ... maybe not. (Maybe I'm more goal oriented than I even realized?)

Without further comment, February's books:

1. Anthem, Ayn Rand

Very didactic, of course, and very ... well, the writing style is to Atlas Shrugged as the Silmarillion is to the Hobbit. But I liked it.

2. Jazz Notes, Don Miller

So good he had to write it twice? I liked Blue Like Jazz, and so I liked Jazz Notes, but it did seem odd that he wrote a second book riffing (his word, not mine) on his own earlier work.

3. Clockwork Prince, Cassandra Clare

I seem to have a habit of REALLY liking the first book in a Cassandra Clare series and then being less impressed with following titles. (Mortal Instruments: was all over the first book, but by the forth I was ready to pluck my eyes out). I was really into Clockwork Angels - Victorian England! Steampunk! Hilariously acerbic men! - but a bit less enthralled with Clockwork Prince. This may be partially the blame on the amount of time between my reading of the two books, though.

4. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares, Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

Deep-thinking and slightly fey teens, plenty of witty dialog, and a cover that made me happy: I loved this book. (But see # 11.)

5. Common Ground: An Introduction to Eastern Christianity for the American Christian, Jordan Bajis

Exactly what the title says. Nicely organized and written to explain Orthodoxy to those coming from a Protestant viewpoint.

6. Building the Great Cathedrals, Francois Icher

Continuing the architecture theme from last month. This left me with a feeling of amazement that any of these magnificent structures ever got built... and an even stronger desire to see some of them for myself.

7. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? Mindy Kaling

I've never been a big Office-watcher, so I had no clue who Mindy Kaling was and picked this up, let's be honest, just because I liked the cover. It didn't disappoint - light and funny and honest, just what a comedic memoir should be.

8. Elizabeth the Queen, Sally Bedell Smith

I've a long-standing interest in British royalty, and a great deal of respect for the Queen herself, so I've been looking forward to this new biography. It's written well, avoids sinking into gossip-magizine territory, and seems to grasp better than most what actually makes the royal family tick.

9. Country Driving, Peter Hessler

Peter Hessler is the Bill Bryson of China. No, wait, that's not quite right - but anyway, there were actually times I forgot who I was reading and thought it WAS Bill Bryson. Mr Hessler, you should consider this a complement.

10. Here Lies Arthur, Philip Reeve

Further adventures in my quest to read Every Book Ever Written About King Arthur. This one's from the point of view of a young girl befriended by Myrddin. It's not very sympathetic towards any of the usual heroes, but it's terribly well written, and the half the joy of reading a million and half versions of the same story is to marvel at the limitless imaginative power of the human mind.

11. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

I love Dash & Lily so much I started hunting up other books by this pair of authors. I picked this one (over Naomi & Eli's No Kiss List) because I'd heard so many librarians on YALSA rave about it.

Well.

I'm no prude - I understand the power of a well-turned colorful metaphor as well as the next person. But this was every.other.word. There's been some arguments on YALSA about the language, and I fall in the minority camp: I DO think it's gratuitous. I DON'T think it adds anything to the story. It was excessive and off-putting and made it so that I didn't enjoy a story that might have very well been quite good otherwise.

12. To Say Nothing of the Dog, Connie Willis

A reread, because it had been far too long. Victorian/scifi/time travel comedy, what would be better?

13. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green

I avoided this one for a good month before I plucked up my courage and read it in (almost) one sitting. I don't like sad books, I don't like cancer, I don't like sad books where people have cancer.

This book is all that. But it's a lot more, too. And it neatly avoids most kids-with-cancer cliches. It is, above all else, very real. And it reinforced my belief that John Green has a special talent.

And just when you think you know where the book's going, it all changes. (I actually found out the ending before I read, and in this case I'm glad I did. Your mileage may vary.)

14. The Haves & the Have-nots, Branko Milanovic

I picked this up because I saw it described as "entertaining economics", with chapters about just how rich Mr. Darcy was and all that. Unfortunately, not so much. Bits of it were interesting, but the rest was more suited to an economics student and not the casually interested bystander. The best thing I can say about this is that it was short.

15. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, JK Rowling

Unlike the rest of the series, I had only read this once (the day it came out; most of it read while sipping margaritas with

laraemily, as I recall!) It was amazing how much I'd forgotten, and I was impressed by Rowling's storytelling abilities all over again.

16. The Linen Queen, Patricia Falvey

One of the many things I love about reading: how something can suddenly make you realize there's a whole aspect to the world that you never bothered to think about before.

WWII is one of my pet eras of history - I can't give you dates for the battles or name all the generals or anything, but as far as history goes, it's the period I've done the most reading on, and I've got a pretty good handle on what it was like to live through the war - in America, in France, in England, Poland, Germany ...

But until I read The Linen Queen, I never thought about how the war affected Ireland. If anything, I probably thought something along the lines of Ireland...I mean, isn't that basically England?

No, it wasn't basically just England. For one thing, there was still enough antipathy towards England that a lot of men weren't that keen on fighting what they considered England's war.

Not to say that this is a World War Two Book - it's just the setting, a backdrop for the quietly moving transformation of Sheila, winner of the Linen Queen competition. When we meet her she's selfish and thoughtless, and she can't wait to rid herself of her burdensome mother and depressing town and move on to bigger and better things. She doesn't care about the bigger picture, just her own selfish desires.

This is quite possibly the best historical fiction I've read in ages.

17. The Pregnancy Project, Gaby Rodriguez

Gaby's mother and most of her many siblings were unwed mothers. Most of them dropped out of school, never finished their education, and never got out of the cycle of poverty. Gaby was the family's hope: the responsible one, the good girl, the one expected to be the first of the siblings to make it to college.

And then, in her senior year, she got pregnant.

Only she didn't - the whole thing was an elaborate hoax, a senior project examining stereotypes and the hardships faced by teen mothers. Despite the premise, Gaby doesn't make excuses for teen moms, and she remains staunchly pro-life - but she does approach the subject with a lot of love and compassion.

18. Paris, My Sweet, Amy Thomas

Yet another blogger-turned-author travel+food mashup, with predictable results. Nothing amazing, but worth a read if you 1) particularly like Paris, or 2) have a passion for chocolate.

19. Quiet: the power of introverts in a world that won't stop talking, Susan Cain

Just like the "optimists are not always stupid, pessimists are not always deep" thing, there are a lot of stereotypes made on both sides, and it's good to be reminded that stereotypes often don't reflect reality. Introverts are not always shy; extroverts don't always make the best leaders (much less have the best ideas.) I REALLY enjoyed this book, though I didn't realize I was supposed to feel as if I was being made to feel like a second-class citizen because of my introvertedness until this book told me that actually, being introverted is a great thing and comes with a lot of strengths. lol. I took pages and pages of notes that may possibly be turned into posts in the near future.

ebooks: 8
audiobooks: 1
books that I own and needed to read: big whopping zero. Oops.

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Title:	Why Jasper Fforde is a supremely enjoyable writer to read
Topics:	quotes
Date:	2/22/12 — 7:24 pm
Security:	public

People of Earth, I give you Exhibit A:

For thousands of years, OralTrad was the only Story Operating System and indeed is still in use today. The recordable Story Operating System began with ClayTablet V2.1 and went through several competing systems (WaxTablet, Papyrus, VellumPro) before merging into the award-winning SCROLL, which was upgrading eight times before being swept aside by the all new and clearly superior BOOK V1. Stable, easy to store and transport, compact and with a workable index, BOOK has led the way for nearly eighteen hundred years.

Jasper Fforde, First Among Sequels

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