Potatoes in the Mist

Just finished another Lucy Knisley comic book/graphic novel, called Radiator Days , about her life at art school in Chicago. When she graduated, she didn't know what kind of job to get, and had a hard time getting one (sounds familiar), so she worked at a cheese shop for a bit. Of course this made me want to work at a cheese shop. She had to remember 500 types of cheese, and did this by giving them personalities (a smelly Spanish lord, a laid-back California surfer). We got back from Miami recently, it looked like this: Sometimes I don't know why I live in the Northeast.

Today Z had a playdate with a girl from school. The girl has a nanny who picks her up from school. So we walked from school to the girl's apartment, then upstairs to this playroom where we met some other kids, and another girl from school came over. I was talking with the girl's nanny, and I found out that the girl's mother doesn't work outside the home. Obviously I have nothing against stay-at-home moms (I am one), but if you don't have a job, why do you need a nanny? I talked a bit more with the nanny and found out that her duties consist of serving lunch to the girl, taking her to the playroom upstairs, and picking her up at school (a few blocks away). I didn't say anything, but I really don't get it. Z's school is in a different neighborhood, and I have noticed they all have nannies whether the mothers work or not.

Just finished Displacement: A Travelogue  by Lucy Knisley. So good! It's about going on a cruise with her elderly grandparents. They are both in their 90s (the author is 27). The story also includes fragments from her grandfather's memoirs. He was a pilot in World War II. Very interesting. I also like the book's format. Knisley writes graphic novels (comic books for grown-ups). I also liked her previous book, French Milk. 

I just finished A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler. What a good book. And unfortunately, it is supposed to be her last, according to a friend. (She's still alive, but supposedly retiring from writing.) I can only hope she will be like Cher, who has one farewell concert after another.

I just made some cupcakes from a dark chocolate cake mix that was on sale at Gristedes. For the frosting, I softened some butter and added salt, confectioner's sugar, and a few drops of milk. It came out better than when I have followed icing "recipes." And everyone looks down on cake mix, but these cupcakes may have converted me, a former vanilla fan. It's starting to snow outside, big fluffy flakes falling lazily down.

Can't seem to stop making these. Working my way through some bulky yarn.

I got an early reviewers' copy from LibraryThing. It's called The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce. It's the sequel to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I liked that one, but the sequel is even better. One of those rare, magical books. It's worth the reading glasses I have to put on to read a non-Kindle book :-) I also conducted a consumer experiment, ordering the same shoes from L.L. Bean and Land's End. Who does it better? L.L. Bean. By a landslide.