i like you
by amy sedaris
oh my goodness, this book is a riot! the subtitle reads 'hospitality under the influence.' mmmmhmmmm, indeed. a quick flip through the pages and you'll find assorted recipes, craft ideas and a plethora of interesting, not to mention highly entertaining, photographs. you will laugh, you will cry from laughing, your jaw might even drop...but i'd be willing to be a quarter that if you're having a bad day, this book could put a smile on your face.
aside from the recipes, which i don't know that i entirely trust all of them, amy offers a variety of scenarios in which one should be prepared to play a proper host. everything from throwing a last minute party, unexpected guests, blind dates and ladies night. you'll find ideas for invitations (handwritten or by phone), party decorations (googly eyes are a must!) and even ways to make money during your party (entertaining for profit...money jars and 25 cent tables). in fact, there are even step-by-step photographs for how to put on pantyhose. four pages of photos, to be exact.
something hilarious lurks on nearly every page. please, if you read it, let me know what your favorite part is!
i'm including another clip of amy, this time from her visit to the martha stewart show. good times.
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presentation is everything. or something like that.
22 August 2009
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no book ever ends when it's full of your friends.
27 June 2009
the giraffe and the pelly and me
by roald dahl
while this tiny tome took me about 7 days to read, i bet most of you could read it in 7 minutes. it's delightful and definitely a joy to read. you will feel good & silly when reading this story. you will! in this tale, young billy befriends, you might be able to guess, a giraffe, a pelican and....a monkey! these animals have some special talents they put to use and the foursome becomes the ladderless window-cleaning company. the company is asked to clean all the windows of a VIP in town and, in doing so, adventure begins!
if you've ever wanted to ride in the beak of a pelican, watch a giraffe extend her neck as high as the sky, discover a monkey's favorite snack or own a sweet shop...this book is a must-read!
i think i will see if my sister wants to take it home with her. she is visiting for a few days and is an avid reader. i finished this book while we were both lounging in the living room, reading! (bliss)
the year is halfway over and i'm 13.3% through this challenge. sad. but i'm not stopping! and, i've only purchased 2 books for myself this year. two!! that is a record, i am certain. of course, i've been given quite a few books. heh. but they are on the shelf, for now, until next year. one book at a time. i started the amy sedaris book i like me right after cesar's way. i love amy sedaris and her book is an absolute hoot. the first, um, experience i ever had with ms. sedaris was catching her on david letterman one night. i was in tears by the end of the bit. through the magic of the internet, allow me to share:
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(not to be confused with maypole)
ok, down to business. here are the results for the may poll:
kindle?
100% of you said NAY!| 0 comments |
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exercise. discipline. affection. asleep.
17 May 2009
i finally finished reading cesar's way! hip hip...hooray! hip hip....hooray!
i've got a log of the books on my list with dates of when i start and finish each book. sadly, maybe sadly, i don't have the start date for cesar's way on the log. however long it's been since i start, it's an embarrassing amount of time. sure work has been crazy, sure i've moved recently, but heavens to betsy...a book should be a source of relaxation! in a way, i suppose mr. milan's book was seeing as how i fell asleep after reading 2 or 3 pages. do not be misled, i adore the dog whisperer. you can find me 'sssssssh-ing' my dog almost everyday. the book, however, wasn't as helpful as i had hoped. cesar stressed that i need to be the pack leader, but not really how to be. i can't say i gained any knowledge that will help me with my feisty terrier/schnauzer mix. (she happens to be passed out on the floor next to me, snoring. angel baby!)
read it if you so desire & let me know if it's as handy a sleep-aid for you as it was for me.
that being said, cesar, i do love you and all that you do for dogs! promise honest.
ok, no idea what i'm going to read next...probably whatever gets unpacked first! i'm hoping to find the margaret atwood novel. i deserve one of my fav authors next.
nighty night.
ps: the tori reference was to the 'glory of the 80's', found on her to venus and back album. thanks for the guesses! speaking of ms. amos...new album on tuesday. whoo hoo!
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ok, here are the results for april:
of the following, which series of books reminds you of being a kid?
50% - choose your own adventure
25% - little golden books
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march poll.
04 April 2009
for the whopping 4 readers that answered last month's poll, here are the results.
do you currently have an active library card?
100% of you said of course!
good for you. i'm going to pretend that more than four people are reading this blog and the rest of you do not have active library cards and were simply too ashamed to answer. ;)
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yes, i am behind. waaaaaay behind. it's the 4th month of the year and i've barely made a dent in my list. but i'm not giving up! oh no. i've got to keep on moving...ain't nothin' gonna break my stride. (heh. that was one of my FAVORITE songs when i was little. i remember, in all the glory of the 80's, going to wherever my mom did aerobics and sitting against the wall, reading, while all the women were doing there grapevines and assorted other workout moves to that song. good times.)
i am still reading, fear not. i've been making my way through cesar's way and, i hate to say, but it's really kind of boring. now, don't get me wrong, i love that feisty dog whisperer as much as the next natgeo watcher. but as i read this book a not-so-little part of me is thinking, 'cesar, stick to tv. it's a much better format for you.' i'm more than halfway through and it's been a lot of his history and a lot of repetition. he keeps saying he'll reference things of interest in future chapters, and i hope so. i'll let you know how it turns out.
i'm also reading the first days of school here and there. flipping to a chapter or section that i might find applicable at the time. the layout of the book is a bit odd. i remember first looking at and thinking, 'these pages look like a menu.' there is some logic to the pictures and unnecessarily large bullet points. more importantly, i've enjoyed the content so far. more on that book when i'm finished.
this month finds me in the throes of moving preparations. (sigh) sorting for yard sales, trash and packing up my things has been occupying my nights and weekends. i admit i've been too pooped to read by the time the day ends. i should really hire someone to read to me while i pack and such. would that still count? i think so. i could pack, the dog could continue to climb all over me & my things and a lovely little story could be following us around. sounds perfect! i've also recently started following neil gaiman on twitter. such the distraction as he tweets regularly throughout his day and almost all make me smile. and, i won't lie, make me blush. he can add me to his lengthy list of adoring fans who have a crush on him. i suppose he can't help it what with being such an amazing storyteller and having that lovely, slightly growly accent to boot. cheers to mrs. gaiman!
as far as book news (and moving on to my next crush), i have learned the mannings are publishing a children's picture book this fall. as peyton has made his way into my heart with those witty mastercard commercials, i will probably buy the darn thing and keep my fingers crossed he come to austin to sign. they're teaming up with scholastic book clubs' classrooms care program as the first ambassadors of reading. oh peyton, as if i didn't already find you so endearing, now you have to go and foster a love of reading for children and make a huge book donation!
hope everyone is doing well...i'm going to try to start blogging more. i make no guarantee it will be interesting or entertaining, but i so enjoy the process!
happy weekend to you all.
ps: first person to comment with the correct tori amos reference made in this blog wins something. i don't know what yet. i did receive several copies of a story sample from sourcebooks, inc. yesterday. according to the fact sheet that came with the copies, these books are the #1 book series in the uk. !! maybe i'll send one of those, maybe i won't. we'll see if anyone answers...
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february poll.
01 March 2009
if i could go on an adventure right now, it would be with:
your answers:
50% - pippy longstocking
25% - coraline
25% - peter pan
ps: if you haven't seen coraline yet, stop what you're doing and go right now. i mean it. go! (unless you're crystal and you're at work... ;)
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the wright 3by blue ballietscholastic inc.after reading the author's first book, chasing vermeer, i thought to myself, 'now this is the kind of chapter book i would like to write!' art, mystery, adventure & secret clues hidden in illustrations had me intrigued from page one. needless to say, i was giddy with excitement for this sequel. the wright 3 is the self-given name to three sixth-graders, calder, petra & tommy. when ms. hussey, their dedicated teacher, informs her class that their neighborhood's infamous robie house is going to be torn apart and shipped to various museums, the wright 3 find themselves instantly entangled in the controversy to save the house. strange events occur at the robie house while the children learn to work together in order to preserve this historic treasure.
while this book does rely heavily on coincidence, it's also very thought-provoking. references to art, literature, cinema and math run rampant in this book and give the wright 3...as well as the reader...something to think about. as an artist and art educator, i love how rich the art history element of ms. balliett's books are. her books include images of the artist's work, as well as a few tidbits about their life & career. i can tell you that i will be reading calder's game as soon as time permits!
and so my little endeavor continues. progress is, clearly, s-l-o-w. but i am not giving up! i started reading cesar millan's cesar's way after the wright 3. (and cried several times just getting through the introduction!) i'm several chapters in so far and love relaying any new information to my dog, georgia, after each chapter. she humors me and laughs politely, but i can almost hear her thinking, 'if this means i'm not going to get to use your couch as my playground and climb all over while you're sitting on it...i'm not so sure about this cesar...'
and for anyone out there who may be reading this bloggy blog, let me ask you my favorite question:
so, what are you reading?| 0 comments |
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valentine's treats.
14 February 2009
happy valentine's day! it's overcast & chilly today, so i thought i'd catch up on reading email that has been piling up for weeks. believe it or don't, i get LOTS of book-related email. i let them collect for a couple of weeks and then sort through to figure out any books i need to add to my amazon-embarrassingly-huge-wish list. this time, i found some nifty contests and such that i thought i'd post them here. some are just too fun to pass up!
from powell's books newsletter:
be sure to check out their site...powell's will be my first stop should i ever find myself in portland!
enter to win 24 signed editions
contest to write your six-word memoir & have it published
from chronicle books newsletter:
one of my favorite newsletters! i'm always in a better mood after reading their newsletters.
print out some nifty coloring pages from rosie flo's new coloring book
contest from mommy track'd newsletter:
i'm not a mom and i LOVE this newsletter!
enter to win the COOLEST books for kids
nifty google logo contest for teachers & schools!
for those of you in austin...follett's intellectual property bookstore is going out of business (muffled snicker) and you can benefit! they are having a storewide 30-50% off sale that goes through feb 28, 2009.
wishing you all a very happy day! as one of my bestest friend's always says....'i love love!'
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creative blocks.
09 February 2009
a creative companion: how to free your creative spirit
by sark!
celestial arts publishing
'you are invited to be delighted'
what an irresistible invitation! this is one of those books i've started 2 or 3 times, stopping after just a few pages because this book requires more than reading, it requires action. coloring, writing, cutting, playing...to name a few. i'd start the book and think that i should find a better time to read the book. some magical time when i have 'more time' to give to the activities in the book....some magical time when my creativity is gushing....some magical time when i have the 'perfect' art supplies to complete the creative challenges offered.
'screw it!' is how i started off reading this time. 'i am on a mission now, no excuses!' i sat down at my art table with my basket of markers, a pair of kid scissors and gave my creative spirit room to sigh at the end of several long days. i didn't finish all the activities...but i did MOST of them. i didn't do the meditation, mostly because the dog kept squeaking the squeaky ball in my face. but i had fun reading this book. although, it's really something you read half of and participate in the other half. but i did do something i'd never done with a book before. for the first time i cut (eek!), with said kid scissors, a book. this was hard to do. very hard. but page 8 instructed me to do so, and this time, i complied.
sark's creative companion is a definite recommendation for anyone. can't draw a straight line? this book is for you! prefer to nap than read? this book is for you! looking for an excuse to play? you got it...this book is for YOU! and while it took this busy girl an embarrassing 24 days to read (hey! i had a birthday and family wedding to celebrate!), i think most folks could get through this in an evening. easily. and happily.
next in the reading adventure is blue balliett's 'the wright 3'. i loved her first book, 'chasing vermeer', and am looking forward to the art adventure & mystery surrounding chicago's robie house. however, as i am freshly back from my uncle's wedding extravaganza as of late last night, there will be no reading tonight. it seems i attract delayed flights and getting back to texas wore me out. i'm off to hit the hay. nighty night. read a lil for me tonight :)
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the question:
where is your favorite place to read?
your answers:
15% - couch
23% - bed
23% - bathtub
38% - outside
hold on to your hats for a new survey available in mere moments!
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surprise surprise.
25 January 2009
oooooooh....i started & finished a book and didn't tell any of you i was doing it!! sneaky me!
seedfolks
by paul fleischman
published by scholastic inc.
this little chapter book accompanied me to the dmv last week to renew my driver's license. surprisingly, i only made it halfway through the 69 pages before my number was called. i finished the rest of the book that same night, snuggled up in bed. clearly, it's a quick read...a collection of very short stories about a diverse group of neighbors who turn a littered lot into a community garden. the garden is started by a young vietnamese-american girl to honor her father who passed away before she was born. from there, her seedlings inspire others in the community to add to the garden for their own reasons, creating a space of beauty and renewing hope for their struggling cleveland, ohio neighborhood.
we're now 25 days into the new year and i've got 2 1/2 books under my belt. i'm about halfway through the sark book and hope to finish that up this week. i let my markers come out to play while making my through sark's creative companion. good times!
i must give a shout out to a friend from my barnes & noble days, miss kirsten. she is also a sneaky pete and surprised me with a special birthday bundle of books this week. what a lovely way to end a long day at work...coming home to an unexpected treat from a dear friend! i am thankful & very much look forward to exploring the world of penelope fitzgerald. merci!
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miscalculations.
16 January 2009
today, it seems, is a day for miscalculations from top to bottom. aside from the monumentally annoying mistakes i made i at work today (go me!), it appears i miscounted how many books i needed to read this year. the total is 44, not 46 as i previously had posted. so, the good thing about that miscalculation is that i'm suddenly and effortlessly 2 books closer to being finished. well, kind of.
also, i feel i should disclose that, in spite of this endeavor i've created for myself, i lasted exactly 10 days, 13 hours and 10 minutes into the new year before purchasing a new book. i found 'him her him again and the end of him' on the bargain shelves for $6. i couldn't resist as i've heard mostly good things about this book from my book-y email newsletters. (not to mention, the cover has an image of knife going into the last 'him' of the title...that made me giggle.)
that book, howver, will sit on the shelf until i finish my 44 or i get to feeling rebellious and sneak it in somewhere this year. (gasp!)
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queen substance.
15 January 2009
the secret life of bees
-sue monk kidd
penguin books
you know that feeling you get when someone you care about is hurting...where you've been almost exactly where they are and you actually, truly know how they feel and want nothing more than to be able to take their hurt away? that's how i felt with almost every page of this book. the story of 14-year-old lily owens is, above all, loving & tender. lily is growing up in south carolina in the year of the civil rights act. other than her early childhood memories, she has very few facts surrounding the death of her mother. she's grown up enduring her volatile father, t. ray, a hard-working peach farmer who offers more affection to his dog than his daughter. but the family housekeeper, rosaleen, offers lily a soft place to land when the trials of t. ray and adolescence weigh too heavily on her shoulders.
when rosaleen's attempt to register to vote goes awry, lily & the housekeeper find themselves fleeing the police and t. ray. lily decides to lead them to tiburon, south carolina, a town she is drawn to on account of one of her mother's belongings. the two find themselves living and working with the calendar sisters--three black women who live in pepto bismol pink house. lily explores the world of beekeeping, honey and an unbreakable sisterhood and ends up with more answers to the mystery of her mother than she could have imagined.
i bought this book for $3 last summer after reading another novel by the author. halfway through the story i found myself thinking, 'meh, i think i liked the mermaid chair better.' tonight i finished the book and all i can say now is that i loved them both. i thought i could make it through the secret life of bees without crying. and i nearly did! but i am not kidding you it was the last paragraph (the LAST paragraph!) that got me misty. for those of you jump-aheaders, don't bother reading just the last paragraph, i promise you it won't mean much without the full story.
as to be expected, the movie version of this story was released last year. i have not yet seen the film. and while i think the chosen cast will be good, i am a bit apprehensive that paul bettany is playing t. ray. i have no doubt he'll be fantastic, but i have a soft spot in my heart for bettany's performance as geoffrey chaucer in 'a knight's tale'....to see him angry & violent might break my heart!
so, one book down, forty five to go! next on the list is.....
.....sark's creative companion!
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cheers.
07 January 2009
good evening! just a quick-ish post tonight. still makin' my way through the first book. i'm about 100 pages in and nearly caught up to where i left off when, uh, edward cullen distracted me.
(sigh)
tonight i've got a cherry vodka (because it was a long day at work) and caffeine free diet coke (because i am an old lady who must get up and do it all over again tomorrow) by my side. to say this drink is the highlight of my day might give the wrong impression. but it is. i've worked hard, worked out hard, played hard with the old dog beast and now it's just time to relax. and i'd like to toast the gentleman biker i encountered yesterday morning on my way to work. trapped at the red light, halfway into the crosswalk on account of a *failed attempt at a left turn, he pedaled across the street hollering 'you a*@hole!!' at me. me. i wanted to hop out of my car, hug him wildly and tell him, 'sir, do you know you are the first person, to my knowledge, to ever call me a curse word and mean it?!' i was so thrilled i was giggling in the car. so cheers to you, mr. bundled-up bicycle man! i hope you made it safely to where you were going. maybe next time i'm at that intersection i'll just pull all the way through the crosswalk in hopes of eliciting a 'b*#%@' out of someone!!
*failed only because someone in oncoming traffic had their turn signal on, but decided to go straight therefore causing me to be stuck in the crosswalk.
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and then there were 3.
02 January 2009
today is day 2 of the new year and i have not yet decided what the first book is. i have not decided what the first book is!!! so here i type, searching for a decision. it occurred to me on new year's day that i only read about 12 books last year. a sorry sum for a so-called book lover! needlesstosay, i better get to reading. i have the first book narrowed down to three titles:
the secret life of bees
i like me
island of the blue dolphins
(staring at a blinking cursor trying to decide...)
alright. decided. i'm going with the secret life of bees. i feel like i kind of owe it that much. i was about half-way through the book and loving it when, i confess, i succumbed to the twilight saga. i resisted the saga for soooooo long, but a handful of friends kept recommending the books. and these are friends whose literary interests i deeply respect. what's a girl to do? i don't regret getting caught up in the teenage vampire love story. not one bit....those books had my heart racing night after night!
but, as i said, the secret life of bees got pushed aside, sitting on my nightstand, collecting dust, waiting patiently, giving me a hopeful smile every now and again. well, wait no more, pretty yellow book...here i come!
ready...set...READ!
postscript: i saw the trailer for 'the boy in the striped pajamas' this week. if you haven't read the book, i highly recommend it. the author is john boyne. if you don't know anything about it, don't google it, don't watch the trailer...just find the book. i haven't seen the movie tie-in yet. i sincerely hope the cover doesn't reveal too much about the story. your heart will race when reading this book!
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details.
30 December 2008
welcome! welcome! welcome! and thank you for reading my first blog entry!
after weeks of tossing around ideas, i think i've come up with how i want this little endeavor to go down. i'm posting a few guidelines i've come up with to help me focus. i'll also be posting the list of books that i'll be reading. this isn't an attempt to read the classics or all the great books that weren't covered in my college lit classes or books that someone, somewhere thinks are a must-read and will change my life. it's just what's on my shelf. little bit of this, little bit of that. i went back & forth on whether or not to post the list for quite a while. reason being, well, some of the books were given to me as gifts. i confess i was a bit afraid, perhaps even embarassed, to admit that i have not read something that a very thoughtful friend or family carefully chose for me. and, more terrifying (as well as selfish :), that people would stop giving me books for gifts! i can assure you that the amount of books gifted-read far outweighs the list of books gifted-unread.
ok, enough jibber-jabber for now. here's the skinny:
1. books included in this project are only unread books on my shelf as of december 31, 2008, 11:59pm CST.
2. reference books and textbooks have been excluded. fascinating as it is, i'm certain it would take all year just to get through gardner's art through the ages from my art history survey courses. additionally, while i'm sure it would improve my vocabulary, i just have no interest in reading my dictionary and thesaurus from cover to cover this year.
3. for each cookbook on my shelf, i will cook a minimum of one recipe from the book in 2009.
that's all i've got for now. we'll see if i need to make any additions as this progresses.
the reading list:
Title Author Tori Amos: Piece by Piece Amos, Tori and Powers, Ann Primary Colors Anonymous Oryx and Crake Atwood, Margaret The Wright 3 Balliett, Blue How to Talk to Children About Art Barbe-Gall, Francoise The Excellent 11 Clark, Ron Dear Mr. Henshaw Cleary, Beverly Frindle Clements, Andrew The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar Dahl, Roald The BFG Dahl, Roald The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me Dahl, Roald Wacky Chicks Doonan, Simon 100 Easy Ways to Get Your Kids Reading Duey, Kathleen Inspiration Dyer, Dr. Wayne W. Captivating Eldredge, John & Stasi Welcome to Lizard Motel Feinberg, Barbara Color: A Natural History of the Palette Finlay, Victoria The Bookshop Fitzgerald, Penelope Seedfolks Fleischman, Paul Lucky Man Fox, Michael J. Stone Fox Gardiner, John Reynolds The Kids' Book Club Book Gelman, Judy and Krupp, Vicki Levy The E Myth Revisited Gerber, Michael Tunnels Gordon, Roderick The First Americans Hakim, Joy You Can Heal Your Life Hay, Louise L. Ten Poems to Set You Free Housden, Roger When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit Kerr, Judith The Secret Life of Bees Kidd, Sue Monk Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Kingsolver, Barbara How Good Do We Have to Be? Kushner, Harold S. Alias Olympia Lipton, Eunice The Art Therapy Sourcebook Malchiodi, Cathy Cesar's Way Millan, Cesar Starting From Scratch Moss, Wes Making Kind Choices Newkirk, Ingrid Island of the Blue Dolphins O'Dell, Scott Bridge to Terebithia Paterson, Katherine A Creative Companion Sark Fast Food Nation Schlosser, Eric I Like Me Sedaris, Amy Good-Bye Chunky Rice Thompson, Craig A Lifetime of Secrets Warren, Frank The First Days of School Wong, Harry K.
what-oh-what will i ever decide to read first?!
the cookbook list:
Cookbook Author The Little Black Book of Chocolate Benjamin, Barbara Block Food Network Favorites Food Network Crepes Hamlyn Publishing Picasso, Bon Vivant Herscher, Ermine Daisy Cooks! Martinez, Daisy Biscotti Pappas, Lou Seibert Happy Cooking Pepin, Jacques Veggie Meals Ray, Rachael Almost Vegetarian Shaw, Diana Simply Scones Weiner, Leslie and Albright, Barbara
as the infamous text message i received several years ago said, here goes nothing.
ps: if anyone has any helpful html tips on how i can get my picture to scooch over to the right a little bit, i'd be forever thankful. i've looked at the code for this blog template for hours and just can't see how to make that last adjustment!| 8 comments |
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