Potatoes in the Mist

Don't you love it when things turn out better than you expect? I went to a wedding shower today. I was secretly dreading something. A relative of D's always comes up to me and says, "It's so hard to get published, without contacts," etc., etc. in a discouraging vein. He's a relative so I feel uncomfortable asking him to stop bringing it up every time I see him. Anyway, he talked to me today, but didn't say anything discouraging. And then I was talking with his son (D's cousin), who said his father really liked my story! It was a story I had shown D's aunt a while back. And his son added, "You know he wouldn't say he liked it just to be nice." I know :) And I told my mother-in-law about it and she said, "That's a real compliment." Anyway, there was an awesome cake (strawberry shortcake on the inside, with frosting roses, the whole deal, soooo good). I love cake. And it didn't go on forever either. At 3:00 (the shower ...

We saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tonight. 2 movies in one day! It was better than I expected, given that some folks fell asleep during it. We both gave it a B+. I always think of The Fantastic Mr. Fox as my favorite Roald Dahl book, but I'd forgotten about the enticing weirdness of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The whole movie was like an acid trip, or what I would assume an acid trip is like...I've never had one. All these bright Technicolor dragon boats and prancing Oompa Loompas. The Oompa Loompas kind of steal the movie. Their first three musical numbers are the best, while the last is a throwaway. They gave the movie a Bollywood feel. We had dinner at La Chinita Linda beforehand. I got fried plantains and broccoli with garlic sauce. Very good. My fortune cookie said, "The star of riches is shining upon you." When I read it to D, he thought I said "tower of bitches." I guess I need to enunciate better.

I must admit I go to Quiet in the Stacks sometimes to look at her dog. Of course, when she updates, I do some reading there too :) I know, I need to get a dog. However, I'm slightly allergic to dogs. I'm most allergic to the ones that shed. So I'd like a Cairn terrier or a Yorkie. Or a Westie. Do we see a theme emerging ;) ? D, on the other hand, likes chow chows and Samoyeds. I like them too, but I grew up with a terrier. And D is more allergic to dogs than I am, though he has expressed a willingness to get allergy shots. Also, our apartment building isn't fond of dogs. If they find out you own a dog, they sue you. The good news is, the dog owners always win. But it must be stressful to be sued. And imagine even facing the prospect of losing your dog. Of course, the powers that be don't always find out that you have a dog. The info has to be leaked. But knowing the Gestapo-like nature of the people in this building, I'm sure it would be. Before D and I got mar...

Well, T and I went to see Must Love Dogs today and we had a great time. We went to Tick Tock Diner beforehand. I was a little late because of an anxious call from my mother-in-law about tomorrow's shower ("Yes, it's all worked out, I'm taking the 12:14 train." New Jersey Transit, in case you were wondering). Anyway, Tick Tock Diner was a pleasant surprise. I had chosen it because it is close to Port Authority, where T was coming from. It's also close to a movie theater. So imagine my surprise when the pancakes were actually good! More than good! Yummy. I had Granny's pancakes (apples, raisins, walnuts) and T had the "banana upside down", which were really just banana pancakes. We got 3 pancakes each and we swapped one of mine for one of hers. T is 27 but got carded buying a lottery ticket! It's because she's so petite (5'2" and 101 lbs). And the movie was really good! I gave it an A, T gave it a B. At first John Cusack and Diane ...

That's the tagline of the book I'm reading, How Not to Spend Your Senior Year by Cameron Dokey. If you like YA, it's very cute. I'm also waiting for the new Melissa Bank book and the new John Irving book from the library. I'm more excited about the Melissa Bank book because it seems to have more positive word-of-mouth so far. The New York Times trashed the John Irving book. Although I just noticed that it got a positive rating at Amazon (4 stars). In my experience, if you read something that gets less than 4 stars at Amazon, you're taking a risk ;) My favorite John Irving book is A Widow for One Year . I actually didn't like The World According to Garp that much, but after reading A Widow for One Year, I've been with John ever since. (In an author-reader type way.) Another note: How Not to Spend Your Senior Year is a Simon Pulse book, which I assume is an imprint of Simon & Schuster. I'm very happy with their Downtown Press chick lit imprint. ...

I'm ashamed to admit that I have not had my hair cut since August 2004. So, when I found that the library was closed today and I couldn't return my books (and D's Clear and Present Danger , on CD), I decided to walk a block from the library and get my hair cut. I hate getting my hair cut because a) I worked with a woman who used to be a hairdresser and she told me they all secretly want to cut off your ears (I guess it would make their job easier for them), b) they always cut off more than I want, and c) why pay someone to take something away? I am still wrestling with this piece of illogic. Anyway, I succumbed to the scissors. I told her only an inch. Then she said, "It has been so long since you got your hair cut...the ends are so dry...I leave it as long as possible." In the middle of the cut, she had a cell phone conversation in another language (I think Portuguese). I got annoyed, which I tried to convey through body language, and she said, "Oh, I am sor...

I noticed a lot of folks have a list of 100 things about them on their blogs. Jurgen Nation , Jules , and Grown*Up Girlie , to be exact. So, without further ado: 1. I'm a lefty. 2. I'm the youngest of 4, and I was born 10 years after the next oldest. 3. I have twin sisters (identical twins). 4. I wrote a novel called Patricia Strom when I was 7. In it, the mother decided she wanted to have a baby. She gave birth that day. (I didn't know the facts of life yet.) 5. I was raised Catholic, but I married Jewish and I like Buddhism (or aspects of it; it can be depressing). 6. I had a Def Leppard song on my iPod for a while, but I deleted it. The song was "Photograph." 7. I own 200+ CDs and periodically "spring clean" my collection. The CDs that are out of favor are tucked in my closet. 8. For some reason, I feel very close to Tori Amos. I feel like she might be my third sister or something. 9. When I see pregnant women, I get envious. I think they look so curv...

Warning: this post contains 2 mini-rants. One is about blondes. Lobo mentioned at lunch that he felt blondes get higher ratings than they deserve on hotornot.com. He said brunettes and redheads get high ratings too, but it's because "they're really good looking." What's so freakin' special about blondes? D has this friend who always raves about them. I'm tired of it. Also, I have to ride by a strip club to get to the bike path. There are currently pictures of 3 sleazy blonde women on the outside of the strip club. Could we have some equality in the sex industry, please? Rant #2. One of our friends just sent an email inviting us to the beach this weekend. One option is Saturday afternoon, when I'll be seeing a movie with T. The second option is Sunday afternoon. That day I have to go to a shower for D's cousin's fiancee. He's exempt because he's male. If he gets to go to the beach while I have to go to this shower...well, life is NOT FAI...

This is one of my favorite movies. "I caught you a delicious sea bass." And I love the song they play at the end: "The Promise" by When in Rome. Though I have been unsuccessful at putting it on my iPod. I would have to buy the entire Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack. I also checked When in Rome's album on iTunes...they cut off the only song I want. *sigh* Anyway, here are my results! You can take the quiz here . Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you? " - Results: You are Napoleon Dynamite and a buttload of gangs are trying to recruit you.

I just finished reading parts of D's New Yorker and have some entertaining news to share with you. 1) Apparently for $19.95 you can join a service where you get a recorded message from Britney Spears each month. Sadly, many of the subscribers are grown men. Typical messages include "If I had a party, I'd totally invite you!" and astrological predictions. 2) I started reading an article about W's new Supreme Court nominee, but I didn't make it to the end. Apparently W wants a new justice in the mold of Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. *sinking feeling* Although I remember in law school, I didn't agree with Scalia's politics, but I found his opinions the easiest to read. He's a very clear, concise writer. Reading this article (at least in part) marked a milestone for me. My distaste for law (after working in the field) is pretty much complete, so I haven't read anything pertaining to law in a long, long time. 3) I read David Sedaris' ...

I just came back from a bike ride, in a much better mood than when I left. My tummy was hurting before (inexplicably, after a peanut sauce-veggie-tofu-rice dinner). I was also dreading an obligation I have this weekend. Now I realize it's probably not a big deal. I'll go, deal with it and come home. And Saturday I can have some fun. D and I saw the preview for "Must Love Dogs" (starring John Cusack and Diane Lane). He refused to see it after a scene in the preview that shows some middle-aged women kicking up their heels to an oldies song. It didn't bother me. Anyway, my friend T from New Jersey agreed to see it. She may bring her friend A along. A is getting his Ph.D. at Brown, which is where I met T, back when I was 21 and she was 19. She lived on my floor senior year. We used to eat cereal in the hallway. We'll go to brunch beforehand. A weighty question: should we go to Tick Tock Diner or Bright Food Shop? Tick Tock Diner is cheap and easy (like your mother...

Not too much to report today. There was a violent thunderstorm during yoga and we could hear it thumping outside. The teacher was great. She had us do a headstand against the wall. Before class, I ran into C, and she did get my email and will do my recommendation soon. So I guess I'll end up with 3 recommendations ;) I read a thought-provoking post from Poppy Cede today. She was talking about a friend, a girl she used to help out at work. Now the girl has "purged" her from her life, and Poppy Cede is understandably hurt. What struck me, though, is when Poppy Cede said this was the first time a friend had "dumped" her. I found this interesting because I don't know how old Poppy Cede is, but I'm 30 and most of my friends are in the 28-32 range. Most of them have been let down by friends. And then you have really great friends who never let you down. I don't know why this is, but I think work-related friendships are especially tenuous. You can't re...

See how earth-friendly you are. I got a total footprint of 11 (they said if everyone lived like me, we'd need 2.6 planets). Not bad, I guess. Let me know what you get. http://www.earthday.net/footprint/index.asp#

...says Lobo. You can check out the following: http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g3/tea.htm It's kind of like a video game set in a Victorian parlor, with reassuring music. And mice.

From an MSN article: Most people have heard about Moon Unit, Dweezil, and Ahmet Rodan, but did you know Frank Zappa has a daughter named Diva Muffin? I love it.

Great class with J tonight, though it continues to be so sticky and hot that you can't even walk around and stay dry. San Fran should be a relief in this regard. Anyway, J had us do "layers," by which she means moving from one pose to the other: toe-finger (where you have your leg straight out in front of you, and a yogic toe-lock with the first two fingers of your hand around your toe), then tree pose, then interlocking your hands behind you and leaning forward, still in tree, and aiming your hands at the ceiling; then moving back into a lunge. We also did half-moon (left foot on floor, left fingertips on floor, right leg perpendicular to floor, right arm straight up). We did a variation where you catch hold of the right ankle, bend it back, and open your chest. J came by and opened me up even further by pulling my right shoulder back. I got my recommendation from her. It seems good. She has certifications from two places, one in Santa Barbara, one in NYC, and is working...

D and I went to Big Booty Bread Co. after lunch today. We split one of their peanut butter cup cookies. These are peanut butter cup cookies with chunks of peanut butter cups in them! They may also have chunks of peanut and chocolate, I'm not sure. Anyway, here's the cookie...and a picture of me posing with it (D's idea). He also asked me to pose while eating the cookie and "looking blissful", but it's too silly to post :)

My friend Carpe sent me this link, and I had to put it up. I am one of the girls mentioned in the article who saw Say Anything and yes, I'll admit it, I was in love with JC from approx. 1989 to 2003. There is a gross-out rumor in the article...I wonder if it's true? I certainly hope not. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8645142

Here is a picture of our dinner, courtesy of poco-cocoa : This is one of those "what's not to like?" dinners. It would never have occurred to me to mix cottage cheese into marinara sauce, but I was very pleased with the results :) I used Light 'n' Lively cottage cheese, which is D's favorite kind. I'm so tired, I'm almost delirious. But I don't know when I'll be able to fall asleep. Any other insomniacs out there? I'd try sleeping pills, but I'm afraid I'd be like, "Whoops, I forgot I took 5 of these earlier." Plus I would definitely get addicted. Interestingly, Benadryl (allergy medicine) is the same chemically as most sleeping pills, according to my sister-in-law's father (he's a doctor). I'm reading The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella, and enjoying it a lot. It has a cheerful yellow cover. For those of you who don't know Sophie, she wrote the Shopaholic series. Every book she writes is a bestselle...

When we went to Danvers this weekend, I dug up my copy of Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl so D could read it. I have a really yummy edition. I think I read it when I was 7. It has super line drawings of foxes and a really nice cover with a fox wearing a red jacket and green breeches. (They look fancier than regular pants.) So D wanted me to post this paragraph to my blog: Then Mrs. Fox got shyly to her feet and said, "I don't want to make a speech. I just want to say one thing, and it is this: MY HUSBAND IS A FANTASTIC FOX." Everyone clapped and cheered. -- Fantastic Mr. Fox, p. 76 Yay!