Sunday, July 20, 2014
Just a Picture
...Nothing much here for you today. Just a some pictures of my little Yorkshire Terrier. I was reading through my blog archives just for fun (does anybody else do that?) and I realized that I have cat pictures up the wazoo, but no Andy pictures. So here are some for you (just to clarify, these were taken in the winter, which explains sleeping on the hearth and the sweater)
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Library Loot- 7/19/2014
From the Captive Reader, "Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library."
I finally have a Library Loot post together! After missing one and then writing a post for one and forgetting about it, here is my post. I haven't been doing a ton of library reading, just because of a busy summer, but I still manage to have a nice little pile at all times. So here's my list:
Code Name Verity-Yes, this is on my list again. But it's first in line, once I finish just one more book.
The Elusive Pimpernel- You know the book The Scarlet Pimpernel that everybody reads? I read it a couple years back and really enjoyed it. I just recently discovered that there is a whole series of books about the Scarlet Pimpernel. I was pleased that my library has some of the books!
Evelina by Fanny Burney- This is one of those books that has floated in and out of my request list and in and out of the house, but I have a firm grip on it this time and it's not leaving until I finish it!
Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson- Shirley Jackson, the well known dark-bordering-on-horror short story writer, also wrote this very funny memoir about raising her children. The reviews on Good Reads all said that this book was fantastic. I am really looking forward to reading this!
Wretched Writing by Ross Petras and Kathryn Petras- Just a funny book, filled with examples of horrible writing. Is started it last night and sat on the couch, laughing my head off.
So that's my smallish Library Loot for the week!
I finally have a Library Loot post together! After missing one and then writing a post for one and forgetting about it, here is my post. I haven't been doing a ton of library reading, just because of a busy summer, but I still manage to have a nice little pile at all times. So here's my list:
Code Name Verity-Yes, this is on my list again. But it's first in line, once I finish just one more book.
The Elusive Pimpernel- You know the book The Scarlet Pimpernel that everybody reads? I read it a couple years back and really enjoyed it. I just recently discovered that there is a whole series of books about the Scarlet Pimpernel. I was pleased that my library has some of the books!
Evelina by Fanny Burney- This is one of those books that has floated in and out of my request list and in and out of the house, but I have a firm grip on it this time and it's not leaving until I finish it!
Life Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson- Shirley Jackson, the well known dark-bordering-on-horror short story writer, also wrote this very funny memoir about raising her children. The reviews on Good Reads all said that this book was fantastic. I am really looking forward to reading this!
Wretched Writing by Ross Petras and Kathryn Petras- Just a funny book, filled with examples of horrible writing. Is started it last night and sat on the couch, laughing my head off.
So that's my smallish Library Loot for the week!
Friday, July 18, 2014
She Got Up Off the Couch
I loved this book just as much as I did the first. You know those books that you try to savor by reading each and every word, gently caressing each page as you turn it and seeing how long you can possibly read it? This was one of those rare gems.
This memoir by Haven Kimmel is told with particular attention to Zippy's mother, a formerly deeply depressed woman who spent her life on the couch with pork rinds and science fiction. Her mother, Delonda, finally gets off the couch and gets a degree in English, before becoming an English professor herself. There are still the occasional mentions of Zippy's father, who was a star character in the first book, but Zippy's mother is the main focus of the book.
She Got Up Off the Couch is written with the same child's voice that Kimmel used in the first book. I think that brilliant style of writing is even more apparent as you can hear Zippy's voice change as she grows up. The tone is still that unmistakable child interpreting events voice, but the tone is different from the first books. There is a new awareness. Kimmel mentions realizing that, oh yeah, she only ever got a bath when she was at her friends' houses and the dawning realization that not everybody lives in a tenement house and has a gambling father.
The book's tone has a slightly more serious, growing-up tone to it, but it is still laugh-out-loud funny in many parts. The same uproarious games with friends, colorful characters in the small town, and strange-but-true events are present here that were in the first one.
When you pick up a sequel to an adored book, there's always this fear that the second one won't quite match up to the first, that nothing can even try to compete. But Haven Kimmel has created a second book as memorable as her first. Please, please, please go and buy this book and read it and then come back and tell me I was right.
(I'm adding the amazon associates link this week because this is a book that I really, really think everybody should read this.)
This memoir by Haven Kimmel is told with particular attention to Zippy's mother, a formerly deeply depressed woman who spent her life on the couch with pork rinds and science fiction. Her mother, Delonda, finally gets off the couch and gets a degree in English, before becoming an English professor herself. There are still the occasional mentions of Zippy's father, who was a star character in the first book, but Zippy's mother is the main focus of the book.
She Got Up Off the Couch is written with the same child's voice that Kimmel used in the first book. I think that brilliant style of writing is even more apparent as you can hear Zippy's voice change as she grows up. The tone is still that unmistakable child interpreting events voice, but the tone is different from the first books. There is a new awareness. Kimmel mentions realizing that, oh yeah, she only ever got a bath when she was at her friends' houses and the dawning realization that not everybody lives in a tenement house and has a gambling father.
The book's tone has a slightly more serious, growing-up tone to it, but it is still laugh-out-loud funny in many parts. The same uproarious games with friends, colorful characters in the small town, and strange-but-true events are present here that were in the first one.
When you pick up a sequel to an adored book, there's always this fear that the second one won't quite match up to the first, that nothing can even try to compete. But Haven Kimmel has created a second book as memorable as her first. Please, please, please go and buy this book and read it and then come back and tell me I was right.
(I'm adding the amazon associates link this week because this is a book that I really, really think everybody should read this.)
Thursday, July 17, 2014
The Katniss Dress, Pt. 2
(Here's Part 1 of this series of posts)
Well, after much deliberation and backing and forthing, I chose my rough draft fabric: a pretty 1940s reproduction print on some cheap quilting cotton. I happily reached for the pattern that I had mentioned I was planning to use, but then I stopped. The dress just wasn't quite right. It wasn't supposed to blouse at the waist, the shoulders would be dropping off my shoulders, and I didn't want that collar. I realized that the only design element that I wanted was the gathered shoulders. I realized that the reaping dress that Katniss wears is a 1940s inspired dress, not late 70s, and that was why the dress pattern looked so wrong. So I went back to google and searched '1940s dresses, ruched shoulders" and came up with tons of dress patterns that looked just like the Katniss reaping dress. I ran up to the sewing room and did a lot of digging through patterns and came up with two patterns that I decided to combine to make one very Katniss-ey looking dress.
And here are the results! The fabric I did my practice run in is a floral print, so the shoulder gathers and the way the waist is fitted don't show up very well, but they will in the real fabric, which is solid blue. It's also quilting cotton, which tends to be stiffer, so it isn't quite as swishy as it will be in the final dress.
And here are the pictures of this lovely dress. Yippee!
*Thanks to Aden for the pictures of the dress!*
Well, after much deliberation and backing and forthing, I chose my rough draft fabric: a pretty 1940s reproduction print on some cheap quilting cotton. I happily reached for the pattern that I had mentioned I was planning to use, but then I stopped. The dress just wasn't quite right. It wasn't supposed to blouse at the waist, the shoulders would be dropping off my shoulders, and I didn't want that collar. I realized that the only design element that I wanted was the gathered shoulders. I realized that the reaping dress that Katniss wears is a 1940s inspired dress, not late 70s, and that was why the dress pattern looked so wrong. So I went back to google and searched '1940s dresses, ruched shoulders" and came up with tons of dress patterns that looked just like the Katniss reaping dress. I ran up to the sewing room and did a lot of digging through patterns and came up with two patterns that I decided to combine to make one very Katniss-ey looking dress.
And here are the results! The fabric I did my practice run in is a floral print, so the shoulder gathers and the way the waist is fitted don't show up very well, but they will in the real fabric, which is solid blue. It's also quilting cotton, which tends to be stiffer, so it isn't quite as swishy as it will be in the final dress.
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| I used this bodice and front tie, minus the scalloped edge. I just drew a curved line around the scallops on the pattern. |
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| I used this skirt and sleeves. |
*Thanks to Aden for the pictures of the dress!*
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Pictures of Today
Instead of being a good blogger and review two finished books, or writing about my first draft of the Katniss dress that is finished (!), I'm doing this:
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| Just one of the containers that held apples. |
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| Here's the drama that was unfolding in this picture: I was cutting up apples for applesauce, when who should drop by, but Tom. He proceeded to get most infernally in the way. A while later, I took the cut up apples inside, leaving that box that had held the apples and now had two knives at the bottom of it. A gust of wind blew up, blowing the box and Tom went chasing after it. At some point, Shadow came and joined in the fun. |
That is, I'm making applesauce today. Yes, folks, canning season is in full swing, which means that writing about interesting things takes the back burner.
Ps. These pictures were taken with the camera on the laptop. Desperate times call for desperate measures. My camera has croaked, leaving me sadly picture-less. I was extremely surprised by how good these ended up turning out.
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Top Ten Tuesday- Top Ten TV Shows/Movies
(This week, The Broke and Bookish is having us mention our top ten favorite non-book stories, meaning tv shows, movies, etc.)
It felt weird writing this post because a.) I write about books, not movies/shows and b.) I've never really reviewed or discussed movies/shows before and I couldn't think of what to write. However, I decided that this would be an excellent exercise in writing something I'm not used to, so here goes:
1. Little Women-This movie definitely comes in first place. Dear, dear, Little Women. I loved the book so much and of course, I couldn't turn the movie down. I've seen this movie about 8 times and it never gets old.
2. Sherlock-This fabulous TV show is one of the few shows that I actually watched all the way through without finding it ridiculously dumb by season 2. It's smart, funny, dark, and edge-of your-seat-watching.
3. Pride and Prejudice-The Colin Firth one, of course. He's the only actor I've ever seen who could pull off Darcy. There was a version that starred Keira Knightley, but the guy who starred as Darcy (can't remember his name) was kind of sad-sack.
4. Oh Brother Where Art Thou- Another movie I've seen multiple times. I laugh and laugh whenever I see it. It's very loosely based on The Odyssey and is setting in the south in the 30s. Everybody absolutely has to see this.
5. Jeeves and Wooster- A British TV series based on the wonderful books by P.G. Wodehouse that, sadly, didn't last long, but was wonderful while it did. Hugh Laurie was brilliant as Wooster. Then, later, I heard he was starring as the curmudgeonly doctor in House and I was further convinced that Laurie is a brilliant actor. Going from a bumbling aristocrat in the 20s to a smart, bitter doctor nowadays is amazing. And he sings and plays the piano. Need I say more?
6. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day- A funny, sweet comedy set in the 30s based on a book that I could never find (gah). I loved this movie. In fact, maybe I need to see this again...
7. Little Dorrit- The Dickens series that nobody sees. I loved, loved, loved this series. It's interesting, exciting, romantic, and even funny at parts.
8. Food, Inc.- The documentary that everybody has to see. I don't usually make sweeping statements like this, but the food culture in America in particular, and the western world in general, is beautifully addressed in this documentary. It manages to be honest and serious, yet not so depressing that you want to jump off a cliff after hearing the news.
9. North by Northwest- I love Hitchcock and this is probably my favorite. I sat on the edge of my seat the whole movie.
10. Rebecca- Do you know, I have never seen the iconic Hitchcock version of Rebecca? I've only seen an obscure Masterpiece Theater version that was made some time in the 2000s. It was fantastic and I can wholeheartedly recommend it.
It felt weird writing this post because a.) I write about books, not movies/shows and b.) I've never really reviewed or discussed movies/shows before and I couldn't think of what to write. However, I decided that this would be an excellent exercise in writing something I'm not used to, so here goes:
1. Little Women-This movie definitely comes in first place. Dear, dear, Little Women. I loved the book so much and of course, I couldn't turn the movie down. I've seen this movie about 8 times and it never gets old.
2. Sherlock-This fabulous TV show is one of the few shows that I actually watched all the way through without finding it ridiculously dumb by season 2. It's smart, funny, dark, and edge-of your-seat-watching.
3. Pride and Prejudice-The Colin Firth one, of course. He's the only actor I've ever seen who could pull off Darcy. There was a version that starred Keira Knightley, but the guy who starred as Darcy (can't remember his name) was kind of sad-sack.
4. Oh Brother Where Art Thou- Another movie I've seen multiple times. I laugh and laugh whenever I see it. It's very loosely based on The Odyssey and is setting in the south in the 30s. Everybody absolutely has to see this.
5. Jeeves and Wooster- A British TV series based on the wonderful books by P.G. Wodehouse that, sadly, didn't last long, but was wonderful while it did. Hugh Laurie was brilliant as Wooster. Then, later, I heard he was starring as the curmudgeonly doctor in House and I was further convinced that Laurie is a brilliant actor. Going from a bumbling aristocrat in the 20s to a smart, bitter doctor nowadays is amazing. And he sings and plays the piano. Need I say more?
6. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day- A funny, sweet comedy set in the 30s based on a book that I could never find (gah). I loved this movie. In fact, maybe I need to see this again...
7. Little Dorrit- The Dickens series that nobody sees. I loved, loved, loved this series. It's interesting, exciting, romantic, and even funny at parts.
8. Food, Inc.- The documentary that everybody has to see. I don't usually make sweeping statements like this, but the food culture in America in particular, and the western world in general, is beautifully addressed in this documentary. It manages to be honest and serious, yet not so depressing that you want to jump off a cliff after hearing the news.
9. North by Northwest- I love Hitchcock and this is probably my favorite. I sat on the edge of my seat the whole movie.
10. Rebecca- Do you know, I have never seen the iconic Hitchcock version of Rebecca? I've only seen an obscure Masterpiece Theater version that was made some time in the 2000s. It was fantastic and I can wholeheartedly recommend it.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Saving the Season
It's canning season and I'm having fun looking through canning cookbooks for ideas and inspiration. There's something so exciting and anticipatory about looking through a really beautiful canning cookbook. One of my favorites this season is Saving the Season by Kevin West. It's a big, fat canning cookbook, full of recipes for canned everything, from marmalades to pickles to syrups. It also has the added advantage of being full of all kinds of eccentric fruits and vegetables, not just your basic strawberry freezer jam.
I love this cookbook for a number of reasons. The pictures are all gorgeous and perfectly portray the tone of the book. The recipes are written with enough instructions to be clear, but not so much that the reader becomes bogged down by unnecessary details-a fine line to balance for cookbook writers. The book has that lovely, crisp, new-book smell that I so adore. And finally, the food all looks delicious.
As a little picture of the recipes that this cookbook holds, let me tell you what from this book is on my to-can list this summer:
-Watermelon Rind Pickles
-Elderberry Syrup
-Yellow Peach Slices in Tea Syrup
-Spicy Sweet Squash Pickle
-Apple Jelly with Mint
-Pine Cone Syrup
Actually, I would happily make anything from this cookbook, if given the time and ingredients, but these are the main things that I am itching to try. I don't think I would regret trying any of these delicious recipes. So for those of you who can, what is your favorite canning cookbook? Do you have one, or do you stick to the basics?
I love this cookbook for a number of reasons. The pictures are all gorgeous and perfectly portray the tone of the book. The recipes are written with enough instructions to be clear, but not so much that the reader becomes bogged down by unnecessary details-a fine line to balance for cookbook writers. The book has that lovely, crisp, new-book smell that I so adore. And finally, the food all looks delicious.
As a little picture of the recipes that this cookbook holds, let me tell you what from this book is on my to-can list this summer:
-Watermelon Rind Pickles
-Elderberry Syrup
-Yellow Peach Slices in Tea Syrup
-Spicy Sweet Squash Pickle
-Apple Jelly with Mint
-Pine Cone Syrup
Actually, I would happily make anything from this cookbook, if given the time and ingredients, but these are the main things that I am itching to try. I don't think I would regret trying any of these delicious recipes. So for those of you who can, what is your favorite canning cookbook? Do you have one, or do you stick to the basics?
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