A friend of mine happened to mention a song of which she was fond, and one thing led to another and we soon discovered that we are both big fans of Eurovision but had never realized we shared this interest because we normally only talk about books. My friend said “Eurovision is like finding a twenty in the pocket of your jeans skirt: a welcome springtime surprise.” True story, y’all. For those who don’t know about Eurovision, oh God, educate yourself. I promise it is worth the time. Eurovision is this amazing international song competition that stretches over all of…
55 CommentsCategory: Misc.
Historically — which is to say, before blogging — I have been a huge rereader, devoting a solid fifty percent of my reading time to books I have read before. These days, I reread far less often, and far fewer books, for a variety of reasons. 1. Ease of access, home. I have bitched and moaned about leaving Louisiana more than any girl with the level of job satisfaction I currently experience has a right to bitch and moan about anything. But if I may complain just a tiny bit more without making you hate me, being separated from my…
60 CommentsArgh, catching up after vacation is hard. I keep forgetting to write reviews of the books I read on vacation. They were not that numerous, all things considered. So here is what I want from you. 1. Advice. I likedish Three Men in a Boat but then I remembered that Jerome K. Jerome and I are implacable sworn enemies. Because of this one time that Jerome K. Jerome said that this magazine The Chameleon should be pursued by the cops, and Oscar Wilde had contributed some perfectly reasonable things to The Chameleon, and then the Marquess of Queensberry was all,…
54 CommentsMy darlings, I am off on a vacation this week. I shall see two of my oldest and most awesome friends, go shopping for spring clothes at thrift stores, inspect an apparently very wonderful used bookstore, and watch Angel with my clever friend tim. I will miss you, and I continue to love you, but I won’t be around this next week so I will probably miss some awesome posts by you. Please stop by and tell me what I’m missing, so I can catch up on things when I return. Meanwhile, I am trying to learn about magic and…
23 CommentsC. P. Cavafy: I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM. I have such a crush on Cavafy right now. I want to collect every translation of his poems that has ever been done, and compare them. I want to learn modern Greek, an impulse I have never had before, just so I can read Cavafy in the original. Wikipedia says translations don’t capture Cavafy. In fact it says “the poems also exhibit a skilled and versatile craftsmanship, which is almost completely lost in translation.” Dammit. But even so, check it: As one long since prepared, as one courageous, as befits you…
33 CommentsI don’t know if I mentioned this to you, but one of my 2011 New Year’s Resolutions — which I’m beginning to sense were overwhelmingly food-based — was to modify several existing recipes to create one amalgam recipe, and then use that amalgam recipe to cook an official food of Louisiana and have it come out awesome. Very specific resolution, you say? All the happier she who accomplishes it! If you are not yet sold on retroactive New Year’s Resolutions (but it seems like everyone was, and I appreciate your support), I strongly encourage you to give them a try.…
66 Comments2010 has been a year of change and good fortune. For the first time in my memory, I aced my New Year’s Resolutions instead of abandoning and forgetting about them two months into the year. 1. Eat more vegetables. Check. I started having spinach salad every day for lunch, and now it has become a habit. Sometimes I eat spinach as a snack, straight out of the bag. This is not disgusting. It’s healthy. I am like Popeye in a skirt (see 2). 2. Stop being so weird about my knees. Check. For years I wore almost no skirts, shorts,…
96 Comments