To all children of the 80's

do you remember these? That's right, it is a bubble skirt and indeed they are back on the racks. You couldn't imagine my surprise as I was browsing Kohl's for cuffed capris and gauchos in the young miss section and wondered across a flouncy, bubble skirt for a mere $8.00. No, I didn't buy it and yes, I know I am just deluding myself by even walking in the young miss section at my advanced age:) of almost 32. I did however stare at it for at least three minutes in sheer disbelief that they were actualy selling these skirts again. What's next? Girl's in ankle socks and pumps or jelly shoes. Oh god please not jelly shoes:)! Honestly though, when I gave away my last bubble skirt in 1987 I thought for sure I had seen the last of them. Well, long live the bubble skirt and may it accentuate all those shapely, twenty-something calves.

Book Club and other reads III

Book club was this past Friday. Once again, I thought I would share with you what we read and the other things I have read this past month. This was our first Friday bookclub and although it was a little quiet, because most of our fellow bookclubbers actually have lives and could not attend, I really enjoyed the festive feel. The weather was nice (meaning it wasn't 160 billion degrees) so we spent the evening enjoying quesadillas, quiche and chaampagne on our hostess' new screened in deck. This month we read Terry Pratchett's Night Watch. A fantasy novel about a time-traveling cop who helps a town insurrection and teaches his younger self a few tricks. Despite this being book number 27 in a series it was easy to get into and I didn't find the fantasy aspects distracting (trying to remember if dwarves and hairy and if elves are nice can be tiresome). In fact, I thought the intricate plot was relevant to today's political and social climate. Plus, it was an entertaining, quick read. Giving me time to read other things this month. The draw back of the book was it didn't really lend itself to much discussion. This surprised me because of it's vaguely political subject matter but it must have been the bubbly because all I could really think to say was "boy do I wish I could give my younger self some advice" and "pass the quiche please." Grand words of literary insight indeed.
The other fantasy/children's series I have been reading or I should say listening to this month is the Phillip Pullman trilogy, His Dark Materials. After book one and two (The Golden Compass and the Subtle Knife) I was sure these were the best children's novels I had ever read. A few months ago I told you how I was obsessed over Harry Potter and counting the hours at work until I could get home and read more of that book. Well if you thought that was obsessive that was nothing. With this book I snuck out at lunch to listen to it in the car and would not stop talking about how plucky Lyra and Will were... poor cornyT. Unfortunately, the third book is a bit of a disappointment. There are few things more frustrating in a story than watching the story take a forced turn that makes little sense. Yes, I am way too invested in these stories but I couldn't help yelling at my stereo "why do you have to do that- it makes no sense." I am a goof. Anyway, these books have been characterized as the anti-Chronicles of Narnia, and I think that is accurate. I also wouldn't recommend reading the 2nd and the 3rd books to your kiddoes but with all that being said I am so happy I read this imaginative and ambitious series.
In the category of be thankful for your cushy life, I read One day in the LIfe of Ivan Denisovich and Persepolis. The first a novel depicting a day in 1950's era Russian gulag and the other is a graphic novel about a young girl growing up during the Iranian Revolution. Both were very moving and important books and fulfill one of favorite requirements of reading - expose me to a world I would not know otherwise.
Next month I will tell you about the wacky adventures of an Irish widow and their scrawny kiddoes.
Happy reading.

Cute Addicted

During lunch the other day, as I was absently surfing the web, while slurping ramen, my pulse began to quicken, my palms became clammy, and continuous squeals of glee could be heard from my cube. I had stumbled across the web site of my dreams, and quite possibly found my calling in life...cutetologist! Cuteoverload.com makes me SO happy- it's like animal planet without the cable bill.

For a day or two, I was conflicted about mentioning cuteoverload here because by revealing the source of all this cuteness to everyone on my email list all the fun derived by mailing out little gems, such as these two little guys (look at those faces)
may be diminished. But I just couldn't keep all this adorable, scrumptious cuteness to myself. Although the cute critters are key to this site, the clever writing and professional web design make the site even more appealing (if that is even possible). I don't know about you, but I just like my baby penguins in sweaters to have a little dignity. (Yes there is such a picture on this website.) The organizer of this well organized, nicely presented, website has turned the presentation of fuzzy, adorable faces into a quantifiable science. In fact, she has established the rules of cute and even has a glossary of cute terms. So, when you see me again and I say "that made me barf rainbows" or "that dress is SO prosh" you will know what I am talking about. Of course, you will also now know what I am doing with every spare minute I have on the internet, especially when I am down.

One more funny thing about this website; Last night at bookclub I told everybody, "I have found this website that I am a little ashamed to admit I love" and before I could even finish one of my fellow bookclubbers said "Cuteoverload? I love that site." CornyT was just a little ashamed of us when I told him that story. But let me ask you, who, WHO could resist these faces.

Easter Brunch

I hope everyone had a nice Easter. I wish I could have spent it with every one of you. We had a quiet but lovely Easter. We invited another couple over and had a low-key brunch together. In the past, I have made a enormous production out of Easter dinner but this year I didn't feel up to a big affair but I wanted to do something. It just doesn't feel right if you don't make a ham on Easter. So, I made a ham, a pasta salad and a carrot cake and our friends brought over grilled asparagus wrapped in bacon, the most amazing roasted potatoes and bread. Oh it was so yummy. The pasta salad and the carrot cake were new recipes. A risky thing for a dinner-party I know, but luckily they turned out ok. I was especially happy with the pasta salad, a really easy and elegant spring pasta salad with some of my favorite things; kalamata olives, tomatoes, and capers. Now I know what to bring to the next pot luck I am invited to. The carrot cake I thought was a little dry but CornyT said it was good- just like a good boyfriend should.

Have a great Easter 

The wonders of Blogs

After finishing both Freakonomics and the Tipping Point earlier this year, I was fascinated about how the authors of both books might respond to their obviously contradictory arguments. What was even more perplexing to me was Malcolm Gladwell gave the book a glowing review when Levitt and Dubner argued against one of Gladwell's key arguments, specifically the broken window theory. Was Gladwell given a different book to read and review, did they edit his real comment and just print the flattering section, like sometimes occurs in movie reviews? Five, ten years ago, I am sure I would not so easily have the answers to these questions. I would have had to wait for Gladwell to publish his next book or happen to catch his response in the New Yorker, but today if I have questions about something I go to Google. And that is just what I did. Actually, I was simply curious about Gladwell and googled his name, found his blog and the current posting was "Thoughts on Freakonomics." From there I was directed to their response and voila...dialog. Now I am obsessed with both blogs, especially the Freakonmomics blog because they update it more often. So, these blogs are opening up a dynamic dialog that makes writers more accessible to readers and vice versa. But it is getting late and I am blabbering.

Friday Walks

CornyT and I are creating a regular Friday night tradition of walking. Last Friday it was Town Lake this week we found a new hiking spot. The Austin Park's websites claims Austin is a town within a Park and as we hiked through Blunn Creek Reserve off South Congress, one of the main arteries of Austin and could barely hear the traffic,I agreed with their claim. The only drawback to the hike was the nagging reminder of the comming Texas summer. Here it is only April but it definitely felt like the low 90s. Ugh I guess Austin would be too perfect if the weather was nice all year long too.

Posting

Earlier today I noticed something on the Comments setting. I think that if you want to post a comment without registering through Blogger.com you can do so by just selecting the Anonymous option on the Posting window. Because I am already registerd so it is difficult for me to test if this accurate. I was wondering if someone I know could check this for me and tell me if they can post to the blog without registering by selecting Anonymous.

Walks

I have decided this weekend that talking while taking walks is probably my favorite way to communicate. Friday night we took a long walk around Town Lake (which is surprisingly not busy on Friday, like people have lives or something) and then last night we took our routine walk to the post office and I just love the rhthym of walking and talking- nothing is more relaxing. Some of my fondest memories of college are of morning walks with one of my close friends; we probably woke up neighborhoods with our giggling but it was the best!

Funny things often happen while you are walking too. Last night, we heard a little tinkle, tinkle come our way and then a medium size animal barreled in front of us. At first, we assumed it was a small dog by the way it came running towards us but then we realized it was a large cat with a little jingle bell on his collar. He was the sweetest thing, stopped and let us pet him and purred. After we had gotten our fill of kitty sweetness, we continued along on our way but the kitty did not have enough and sure enough he was following us. At first we thought it was cute; we would stop, he would stop, we would pet, he would purr, but then we worried he would get lost if he followed us all the way so we didn't want to egg him on. We didn't look back but that wasn't too much of a deterrant because, jingle, jingle he was behind us almost the whole way. He certainly was the cutest cat I have run across in a while and the most dog-like. I don't have to tell you that I wish Livia was like that. And as if to confirm what a stinker cat she is or to punish me for giving another cat attention she took an unprovoked swat at my face shortly after we got home. Ugh, anybody want a cat:).

Couple Blogging

So CornyT (code name for my special someone) and I decided we would try this blogging thing together. As much as we hate to admit it, our favorite, favorite thing to do together is watching tv on DVD. So, we thought it might be fun to record our reactions to various tv shows we have not already seen and give some justification to all those hours perched on the sofa. The link to that blog is here if you are at all interested in our takes on the US version of the Office. As you will see Corny T is a good writer and I just blabber about what makes me laugh.

Yard Woes

Ugh, I feel like I have the brownest thumb in the world today. The beautiful, lush, green grass that I purchased last August is now brown and patchy in just 6 months of my care. Some furry, little wormy thing is munching down on my bush out front and something else has plucked clean the daffodils I was so proud of. Also, I feel like we will never get all the leaves cleaned up out of the yard and apparently the mosquitoes love to live under all those leaves. So, the yard will probably be miserable as the summer progresses. To save the grass that I not only butchered during my initial lawn mowing debacle (who knew the little wheels had to be adjusted) last Sept. and now apparently burned with fertilizer, we planted new sod in places yesterday. However, today that sod looks all wilty and sad. I even watered this morning. I have a feeling the sod is not going to solve my yard patches. Oh well at least it was only $1.70 a piece. Now, I have to figure out how to get rid of those caterpillars that are getting fat off my poor little bushes.

Spring is Springing

I never pay attention to whether or not the 21st of March has passed there are lots of other things that tell me spring is here: Asparagus and Strawberries in the grocery stores, wildflowers dotting the texas road sides, losing that hour of sleep, and of course bulbs blooming. This is the first year ever that a bulb I planted as popped up in my own yard! In November, a few nights before our first freeze, I hurriedly planted some daffodil bulbs in the dark, on the phone with my sister, before running off to a BBBS meeting. With the impending bad weather I wanted to make sure they got into the ground but I thought with the hasty way I planted them they would certainly not grow. Surely, planting such bulbs would require a lot of preparation and care that I just didn't put into the process. Well the other morning I was happily surpised; the first little daffodil popped into flower bed. Of course, if I fancy myself a gardener I just have to look over at my lawn with it's patchy brown spots and I shocked back into the reality of less than green thumb.

Spring Ahead

Daylight savings time equals another hour of sleep ripped mercilessly away from me. I can't believe it is already almost 2 o'clock and I just showered and ate lunch. We need to get our act together, pry our bones from this comfy couch and get our day going but it is so hard. I just love curling up on this couch. Money well spent indeed. Speaking of money well spent, I found some great throw pillows at Linen's and Things on sale for 75% off. That makes the $20 pillow 5 something. I was so excited. What is even better is that I thnk they look nice with the furniture. Last night, I only bought two because I wasn't sure how they were going to look but now I think I am going to run down there and load up on a whole bunch of cheap throw pillows. I love sales.