Books actually written for girls

We had our friends Erma and Lance over last night for a belated Chinese New Year dinner, and Erma asked how I came up with the name for my blog, since I don't seem to ever write about books written for girls. The name was taken from a Camera Obscura song that I like a lot, but given the blog's name it's not surprising that I get a lot of hits looking for...wait for it...books written for girls. So I've decided to start a regular feature on my favorite books for girls, and we'll start with one of the classics - Louisa May Alcott.

Back in September I wrote about our visit to Boston and Concord, where we toured Orchard House. I won't go into Louisa May's history since there are so many great resources online and elsewhere; let's just get to the good stuff. Keep in mind I'm going off of my memory here, so if I've remembered something incorrectly feel free to politely remind me. (Marmee wouldn't have it any other way!)

Little Women is probably the best-known of all Alcott's works, and was based on her own upbringing in Concord. Set during the Civil War, it tells the story of the four March sisters (Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy) and their many adventures. They often get into scrapes in their daily lives, but usually learn a valuable lesson from them, and also through advice given by their mother Marmee and the guidebooks she gives them(most likely Pilgrim's Progress). There's also a handsome neighbor boy, Laurie that I think every girl who reads the book falls for at some point. A true classic.

Little Men is the follow-up to Little Women. It tells the story of Jo and her husband, Professor Bhaer (who she marries at the end of Little Women), and the school for boys that they open together. Again, the students learn to correct their faults and become productive members of society, after having their fair share of struggles. Not quite as fun as the first book, but still highly satisfying since the characters from Little Women all drop in.

I have to admit that I don't remember reading Jo's Boys, so technically I shouldn't include it in my favorites. It's considered the final book in the Little Women trilogy, though, so if you're looking for a great birthday gift why not get all three?

There are three more Alcott books that I'd like to include, but I think they need their own post - I have a lot to say about Miss Polly Milton.

Notes from a caucus

We went to our district caucus this afternoon to participate in the democratic process and support our candidate. Also, we knew if we didn't go today then our vote wouldn't count; although there are still county/city resolutions to vote on in the primary and the Republican nominees are chosen in the primary, the Democrats choose presidential nominees at the caucus. I don't usually talk politics on my blog, but I suppose I've outed myself as a Democrat by talking about the caucus. Oh well!

The turnout at our caucus (at Hamilton Middle School) was HUGE. I caucused in 2004 and all of the precincts fit into the main auditorium; we then split up by precinct into classrooms. When we arrived today, there wasn't nearly enough room for everyone in the auditorium. Instead, we were sent to the west gym where our precinct and 2 others were meeting; other precincts were spread throughout the school. In 2004 there were maybe 30 people in my precinct at the caucus - today there were over 100. Between our precinct and the 2 others, the west gym was packed. It looked like all of the other rooms were full too; it seems like people are definitely excited about voting this year, which is pretty cool. Living on the west coast, it often seems like the news channels are calling the winner before we've even made it to the voting booth, so it's nice to feel like our votes count this time.

I'm not sure how the rest of our district turned out, but in the west gym there was a total of 19 delegates for Obama and 3 for Clinton. In our precinct there were 106 people present. At the second tally, 12 were for Clinton and 94 were for Obama; the delegates were split 1 for Clinton, 6 for Obama. The other 2 precincts were split Clinton 1, Obama 6 and Clinton 1, Obama 7. The Obama love definitely seemed to be flowing. Granted, our neighborhood is one of the most liberal in the state, so we'll have to wait until tonight to see how the rest of Washington thinks, or even the rest of Seattle for that matter. But it certainly looks like Obama could be the big winner today.

Click here for dispatches from other caucuses around the state (though mostly in the Seattle area).

The healing power of music

Stupid flu. I had to go home early from school today, cancel my lessons and the worst part: Larry had to sell our Decemberists tickets because I'm too sick to go. We had tickets for tonight and tomorrow. I better get well by tomorrow because I am GOING to that show!

The only bright spot in this cloud of illness is my new harmonica. I'm teaching the kidlets about free-reed aerophones and it turns out the harmonica is a prime example (along with the accordion, which is too cost-prohibitive for casual experimentation), so I thought I'd give it a try. So far I've only succeeding in scaring the cats, but it's pretty awesome. Last night I figured out how to play "When The Saints Go Marching In," "Happy Birthday," and "Hey Jude," although Larry pretended he couldn't understand what I was playing on that last one. For 4 bucks it's a pretty good little instrument, and an excellent way to annoy your family/housemates/pets. Then again, at that price you can just buy one for everyone in the house and play together. I just had a vision of Zach and Nigel wearing conductor's caps, overalls and little steel-toed boots, playing the harmonica down by the train tracks. Maybe it's the cold medicine...but until that actually happens, here's a different musical cat to entertain you.




And one more classic, because I'm sick and Bugs Bunny always makes me feel better!

The Cops on NPR

Seattle band The Cops (with fellow Nebraskan Mike Jaworski on lead vocals) are in today's NPR "Song of the Day" feature! See the story here.

Fleet Foxes signed to Sub Pop!

Oh happy day! Fleet Foxes announced today that they've officially signed with Sub Pop. I can't think of another group that deserves it more - they work hard and sound amazing, and really, what more can you ask for in a band? Take my advice and visit their MySpace page for their upcoming tour schedule...you'll want to catch them this time around. Then when they become hugely popular you'll be able to reminisce about how you saw them back when, and how it was so much better than before they started playing the Paramount (or whatever large theater with terrible sound your city has), et cetera et cetera. Plus you will LOVE them as much as I do. Trust me!

Top Ten (plus a few more) Songs of 2007

Because some of the year's best songs didn't make it onto the year's best albums. (Then again, some did.) In no particular order:

"White Winter Hymnal," Fleet Foxes
TIE: "My Favorite Book" & "Take Me To The Riot," Stars
"A Sunday Smile," Beirut
"45," The Saturday Knights
"I Feel It All," Feist
"Here Comes One," Lavender Diamond
"Pull Shapes," The Pipettes
"Energy," The Apples In Stereo
"Black Wave/Bad Vibrations," The Arcade Fire
"Station Grey," Jesse Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter
"Scythian Empires," Andrew Bird
"Be Easy," Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings
"Only Lovers Left Alive," The Long Blondes
"All The Old Showstoppers," The New Pornographers

Top Ten Albums of 2007

Drumroll, please...

1. In Our Bedroom After The War, Stars
2. The Reminder, Feist
3. The Flying Club Cup, Beirut
4. 100 Days, 100 Nights, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
5. Neon Bible, Arcade Fire
6. New Magnetic Wonder, The Apples In Stereo
7. Music From The Motion Picture Once
8. Armchair Apocrypha, Andrew Bird
9. Imagine Our Love, Lavender Diamond
10. Challengers, The New Pornographers

Favorite song that's not on an album yet: "White Winter Hymnal" by Fleet Foxes (I love these guys!). Visit their MySpace page to hear it, or watch the video below for a live version (it's the second song). Hmm...I may have to include a top ten songs of 2007 just to give them their due.

Live through this...

I know it's been ages since I posted...life kind of exploded in October when two new teaching gigs and opera rehearsals began all at the same time. Most days I work from 8:30 - 5 and then rehearse from 7-10, which doesn't leave much time for anything else! Things will be slowing down next week after the opera ends and school concerts are done, so hopefully I'll get back to posting more regularly. In the meantime, I thought I'd share this video of one of my favorite groups singing one of my favorite songs. Stars has a new album out, In Our Bedroom After The War, and it just might be my favorite album of 2007. In any case it's certainly as brilliant as their other releases. This song, "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" from Set Yourself On Fire, still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. Enjoy.

Eva Cassidy - autumn leaves

The annual autumn windstorms arrived today, and over the next few days will be taking the leaves off the trees; with the leaves go the beautiful fall colors. We lucked out this year, having much more sun than usual in September and October and much less wind (or at least it has seemed that way). Normally the leaves start to change and then 2 weeks in there's a big storm that knocks them all down before you really get to enjoy them. This year, however, I've been able to see trees turn from green to yellow to orange to red to burgundy, and in some cases (my favorite) bright fuchsia. Walking around Green Lake between 4:30 and 6:00 has become an almost daily ritual, because it's then that the setting sun shines amber on the water and the trees start to look like a painting. On Tuesday my friend Jenny pointed out a graceful tree with bright red leaves, its branches sloping gently toward the ground. "It makes me think of a little girl saying, 'Look at my pretty new dress!'" she said, and she was right. Halfway around the lake, one group of tall trees with slender branches are all yellow, save one small swath of green at the very top of each. Looking across from that point you can see the rows of trees leading up to the stadium; their colors gradate from gold to red and back again. Another set of trees by the community center has red, orange and burgundy leaves that appear to be floating on the air rather than their branches. Just past the Bathhouse Theater are my favorite trees that change each season. As they lose their green leaves they start displaying bright red berries; these berries will be virtually the only spot of bright color around the lake come December. Right now they look perfectly in flux, just like the rest of the trees. Did I mention that I love this time of year?

I'll be out for a walk around the lake tomorrow, trying to catch the colors one last time before the gray of winter sets in. Then there will be other excitements: Halloween, steamed cider, lots and lots of braised meats, holiday specials on TV, not to mention the buckets of Swiss Miss hot cocoa to be consumed. (Yes, most of my winter joys are food-related. Aren't yours?) But for this weekend, I'll be keeping my eyes toward the sky, looking for the sun and saying goodbye to all those beautiful fall colors.

Have I got a deal for you!

In my last post a few months ago I promised to give the scoop on affordable cards printed by small manufacturers. I'm finally making good on that promise, so without further ado here are some of my favorites:

Great Arrow Graphics is based in Buffalo, New York and produces a huge variety of hand silkscreened cards, created in their own studio. Okay, maybe they're not such a small company now, but they were when they started and they've stayed true to their vision. Plus they have such a large selection that you can usually find a good card for everyone on your list. Cards typically cost $2.25 - $3.95.

Saturn Press is another of my favorite card lines, but they don't have an official website or even an email. They print on Swans Island, Maine using antique letterpresses, and their images tend toward the vintage/nostalgic/whimsical end of the spectrum. You can visit If The Birds Knew to see some images from past and present cards, but if you want to find them you'll have to do a little digging around your town; the various Paper Source chains also occasionally keep them in stock. Cards range from $2.50 - $3.50.

B Designs is another New England letterpress line; they sell individual cards and boxed sets both online and in stores across the country. Their tiny size cards are perfect for thank you notes or holiday cards, and their collection of images ranges from classic (cherry blossom) to wonderfully weird (a frog conductor). Individual cards range from $2.00-$3.00 depending on the retail markup.

Seltzer is a newish line created and printed in Queens, using recycled paper and vegetable-based inks. Their cards are sometimes quirky, sometimes sweet, and they also have hilarious wrapping paper. Cards typically run $3.25 or so.

My newest favorite card line is fomato, because the cards are simultaneously so bizarre and adorable. The only downside is that I can't figure out where they're printed, because every card has a different location ("Riscani, Moldova." "Ermeton-sur-Biert, Belgium"). I need to email them and ask, but in the meantime I just can't stop myself from buying them. Just look at this card to see why - they're awesome! We have a hard time finding fomato cards in Seattle, but Black Ink in Boston carries them so every time we visit we stock up. Cards are usually around $3.00.

Now I know the downside of sharing your favorite line is that it might not feel so special anymore, but on the other hand if it's too special they might not sell enough to keep printing! So I'm sharing these (particularly the lesser known lines) in the hopes that sustained business will keep them producing wonderful cards. What's your favorite small card line? Leave a comment and let me (and everyone else) know.

Slahw me dahhhhn...

Okay, I don't usually use my blog to make fun of young and mostly innocent ingenues, but Lainey really hits the nail on the head with her critique of Emmy Rossum's new video. I just don't get it--IMDB says that Emmy was born in New York, yet in this video she totally sounds like she's trying to be the younger crowd's Enya. Watch for yourself, but be warned: you probably won't get through it with a straight face.

Here's the link.


Now get it out of your head by following up with this totally awesome video from Flight of the Conchords...you'll be so glad you did!

Good times never seemed so good...

We got back from Boston last night and I'm still recovering, but I have to write while I remember the trip.

We got in Saturday morning at 6:30, after a flight with a screaming child. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep, so after a stop at Dunkin' Donuts (for Larry) and Diesel Cafe (for me) we went back to his sister Linda's place and crashed for a while. The rest of the day was perfectly lazy; we bummed around Harvard Square and stopped in at some of our favorite shops from the last visit. We also got hot chocolate from Burdick's, which is really the most insanely chocolatey hot chocolate you will ever drink. Love it! That night we went to S & S Deli for dinner and rented Stranger than Fiction, which if you haven't seen it yet I highly recommend.

Sunday morning we had brunch in the South End and took a stroll through the Public Garden, where Make Way for Ducklings was set. On the way there we walked along Newbury Street where all the fancy shops are, and Larry saw A-Rod pushing a stroller. We wanted to ask him why he wasn't getting ready for the game but refrained. I guess he wanted to do some pre-game shopping.

Sunday night was the reason for our visit: after 3 years, Larry finally got into the lottery and was able to get tickets to a Red Sox/Yankees game. We chose the last Red Sox/Yankees match-up of the season, and were really excited when we found out that Curt Schilling would be pitching against Roger Clemens. It was an authentic Red Sox experience - we lost in the bottom of the ninth, with the bases loaded, by one run. Heartbreaking. But it was still a very exciting game, and definitely worth the whirlwind trip. I loved being in the ballpark, eating a Fenway frank, hearing all the Boston accents and cheering along with the crowd. I even got the chance to properly boo that traitor Johnny Damon.

We got some extra entertainment in the bottom of the seventh inning, when some crazy fan ran onto the field! He ran to second base and tried to high-five Eric Hinske (who had just hit a double), then he stole and put on Robinson Cano's cap! He was doing a pretty good job outrunning security and I know I wasn't the only one cheering him on, because it was hilarious. Finally someone tackled him and they started to cart him off the field, when he tried to escape AGAIN. He didn't succeed, but it was awesome to watch. Soxy Lady has some video of the guy, and a much better recap of the game than I could hope to provide, so I suggest you visit her site. I totally agree with her complaint about people who don't deserve to go to a game at Fenway. The people in our row got up so many times that we wondered why they bothered paying for seats!

Although it was tough to watch the Sox lose after flying 3,000 miles to see them, it was completely worth it and now I'm hoping we'll get picked in the lottery for playoff tickets...

As we were leaving Fenway, vendors were selling funny t-shirts that mostly made fun of the Yankees. My two favorites were "A-Rod: Mr. April, Miss October" and "Derek Jeter Drinks Wine Coolers." I love Boston!

Yesterday we drove to Concord to visit Orchard House, where Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women. Yes, I'm a total dork and I don't care who knows it. The tour was really fun, but the introductory video was a little weird - they had an actress who played Louisa, which was bizarre in itself, but then she kept talking about herself in both past and present tense. Creepy! One cool thing I didn't know was that Louisa's sister May was an accomplished artist who had several paintings shown at the Paris Salon. Their parents let May draw all over the house, and in her bedroom there are drawings all over the walls and windowsills. She probably would have been just as famous as Louisa, but she died 6 weeks after having her daugher Lulu. Of course now I have the urge to read Little Women again and try to find the similarities between the Marches and the Alcotts. Outside the house, a local club maintains a garden just like the one described in the book (chapter 10):

"The garden had to be put in order, and each sister had a quarter of the little plot to do what she liked with. Hannah used to say, "I'd know which each of them gardings belonged to, ef I see 'em in Chiny," and so she might, for the girls' tastes differed as much as their characters. Meg's had roses and heliotrope, myrtle, and a little orange tree in it. Jo's bed was never alike two seasons, for she was always trying experiments. This year it was to be a plantation of sun flowers, the seeds of which cheerful land aspiring plant were to feed Aunt Cockle-top and her family of chicks. Beth had old-fashioned fragrant flowers in her garden, sweet peas and mignonette, larkspur, pinks, pansies, and southernwood, with chickweed for the birds and catnip for the pussies. Amy had a bower in hers, rather small and earwiggy, but very pretty to look at, with honeysuckle and morning-glories hanging their colored horns and bells in graceful wreaths all over it, tall white lilies, delicate ferns, and as many brilliant, picturesque plants as would consent to blossom there."

We also visited the Old North Bridge, one of the first battle sites in the Revolutionary War. One thing I really love about New England is how much of our nation's history is still there in the architecture and landscape. Also, it's just plain beautiful. I do have to say that Concord appears to win the prize for most commemorative plaques per square mile. Besides Louisa May Alcott, Concord was home to Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville and others that I'm forgetting. Add to that the Colonial and Revolutionary historical events, and you have yourself a lot of plaques.

Emerson's house was closed the day we visited Concord, but we'll save it for the next visit. I hope there will be many more visits, because Boston (and New England in general) is just a fun place to be. And I have photographic evidence to prove it.


Yawkey Way, outside Fenway Park



In our seats, section 18 of the grandstand



Curt Schilling warming up



The Old North Bridge in Concord



View from the bridge



Concord School of Philosophy
(founded by Bronson Alcott, on the grounds of Orchard House)

Weekends away

I finally turned 30 last weekend! I say "finally" because once you're 29, really, you're so close that what's the point? Better to just be 30 and be done with the twenties. Happily my birthday fell on a Saturday this year so I got to celebrate all weekend long, first with a dinner at The Pink Door with our good friends Kristine and Bob, and then on Sunday night with a surprise birthday dinner at Cremant, organized by a very sneaky Larry. It was my first ever surprise party, and a great way to kick off my next year.

We spent Labor Day weekend at Bumbershoot, seeing so many bands I can't remember them all. Fortunately Larry made an Excel spreadsheet to use as our personal schedule - his nerdiness comes in really handy sometimes. So here's who we saw:

Saturday:
Carrie Akre
Crowded House
The Shins
The Saturday Knights
Menomena
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Gogol Bordello

Sunday:
The Watson Twins
Art Brut
Stars of Track and Field
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Kings of Leon
The Apples in Stereo
Zap Mama
Devendra Banhart

Monday:
Smoosh
Fleet Foxes
Andrew Bird
The Damnwells
The Frames
Steve Earle

Larry got us tickets to the KEXP Lounge, so we got to see several of the bands there. It was nice because it was a smaller room, the bands often played acoustic sets, and it was cool inside. I can tell I'm getting older because the first thing I wanted to do whenever we got to a different stage was find a place to sit! But come on, it's 3 days of non-stop shows - I had to pace myself, right? (at least that's the story I'm sticking to...)

My two favorite acts of the weekend would have to be Rodrigo y Gabriela and Fleet Foxes. Rodrigo y Gabriela are an acoustic guitar duo, but the way they use their instruments would make you think they have an entire band up there. Gabriela uses her guitar like a percussion instrument while Rodrigo's amazing fingerwork goes up and down the frets faster than you could imagine. I've never heard two musicians play tighter in rhythm! It was mesmerizing to watch. Fleet Foxes are a Seattle band that's been around for a while, but I hadn't heard them till Bumbershoot. They play 70's inspired/influenced rock with lush 3-part harmonies, and I just love their songs. In fact, I think they might be my new favorite band. Not that anyone could ever supplant the Decemberists, but there's always room for more great music...

Other extra fun shows, in no particular order: The Saturday Knights, Crowded House, The Shins, The Watson Twins, The Apples in Stereo, Art Brut, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Smoosh, Steve Earle, Andrew Bird. All in all, a fabulous weekend.

This coming weekend promises to be equally exciting. We're headed to Boston to watch a Red Sox/Yankees game at Fenway Park!!! Look for me on the highlight reel - I'll be the one getting arrested for rushing the field to hug David Ortiz. We might also go to Concord to visit Walden Pond and Louisa May Alcott's house (Larry's not the only nerd in this relationship), and of course there will be some good eating involved, because when is there not?

A few of my favorite things, sturgeon moon* edition

Ben & Jerry's new Creme Brulee ice cream
morning walks around Green Lake
purple nail polish
Flight of the Conchords (still)
lunar eclipses

*Aug. 28, 6:35 a.m. EDT - The Full Sturgeon Moon, when this large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because the moon rises looking reddish through sultry haze, or the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

Maybe he should have sung "Clocks" instead...

Thanks to Kendra for pointing out this awesome local story! I used to live in Wallingford, just 2 blocks from Changes, but back then I preferred to sing karaoke up the street at Goldies. Who knew "Yellow" could trigger such blind rage? Or should I say it made her see red...hee!

Link to Seattle Post-Intelligencer article and related content here.



Karaoke singer attacked after starting song
Woman punches man on stage

By HECTOR CASTRO
P-I REPORTER

It could have been the Coldplay song "Yellow" that upset the patron of a Wallingford neighborhood bar. Or perhaps it was the karaoke singer who belted it out.

Employees at Changes, on North 45th Street, said they don't know, but the ensuing melee just past 1 a.m. Thursday was one unlike anything seen at the bar before.

As soon as the man on stage started singing about the stars in his best Chris Martin impersonation, the woman reportedly said: "Oh, no, not that song. I can't stand that song!"

Witnesses said her distaste for Coldplay quickly took a violent turn, and she leaped at the would-be crooner, shouting expletives and telling him that his singing "sucked," while expressing the same opinion of the song, according to a Seattle police report.
She pushed the man and punched him, all in an effort to stop his singing.

Other patrons went to the singer's aid and hauled the 21-year-old woman outside.

"It took three or four of us to hold her down," said Robert Willmette, one of the bartenders at Changes.

The woman, Willmette said, "went crazy" when she got outside, punching him twice in the face, and throwing blows at the others gathered around her.

But the person who drew most of the music critic's ire was an off-duty Seattle police officer. The off-duty officer identified herself as a cop, gave her badge number and had another patron call 911 to request help for an officer.

The response was fast and overwhelming, with both patrol officers and Gang Unit detectives converging on the normally tame neighborhood bar.

"They blocked the whole street off," Willmette said.

According to the police report, the woman's rage only grew when the uniformed officers arrived.

The officers took the woman, whom Willmette described as "a little hippie girl," to the ground, but she was still able to head butt the off-duty officer several times before she was handcuffed.

After treatment for injuries she suffered in the scuffle, the woman was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of assault. She was also held on a warrant issued for a previous theft charge.

The off-duty officer also went to the hospital, for treatment of several cuts, scrapes and bruises.

Later Thursday morning, bar employees were shaking their heads over the woman's bizarre behavior.

According to the night bartender's notes, she had just one drink -- a single shot of Jägermeister.

She didn't appear to be one of the regulars who flock to the bar for its karaoke nights on Sundays and Wednesdays.

Most are regulars who come for the pleasure of the singing, and the police are rarely needed.
"She was just crazy," Willmette said.

Thank you for coming to the St. Croix County Fair

We just got back from my family reunion in Baldwin, Wisconsin. It was a lot of fun to see all my aunts, uncles and cousins, and Larry got to meet them for the first time. This is probably a good time to mention that we got engaged about a month ago, so everyone was asking him lots of questions, congratulating us, etc. And of course they all loved him, because really, who doesn't like Larry?

My cousin Jennah was showing her horse at the county fair, so we went over on Saturday and Sunday to watch her and check out the fair. Larry had never been to a county fair, and I hadn't been to one in several years, so we had to go through ALL of the buildings (even the smelly ones), see the exhibits and eat lots of fair food. We took my cousins Brooke and Luke along on Sunday and checked out the rides and games. Word of advice--never ride the Tilt-a-Whirl directly after eating a corndog and deep-fried cheese curds. Trust me on this!

Here are some of my favorite photos from the fair:


Deep fried cheese curds, a Wisconsin specialty


Jennah and Izzy


SO cute!


Brooke and Luke on the Tilt-a-Whirl


Aww, so dainty.


The best slogan ever

It's a slow news day

This summer is the speediest yet--how did it get to be the end of July? This is how I know I'm getting older...not only does EVERY month seem to go by with lightning quick speed, but I think I've written "how did it get to be (insert time of year here) already" in at least 4 other blog posts. Those of you who know me won't be surprised that I'm repeating myself, but this is excessive even by my standards. Oh well--another pleasure of getting older is that I just don't care enough to stop doing it.

I don't really have anything else interesting to say until next week, so I'll end here with a few fun photos that I've been wanting to put up for a while.



My very first lattice crust pie (pre-oven)--strawberry rhubarb with homemade crust, thank you very much. Although the real thanks must go to Christine for her foolproof pie crust recipe.




Larry is always finding new ways to amuse himself on the long (carpool) commute home.




Unbelievably, Zach likes to sleep this way...




...and Nigel just wants to be left alone.

Goodbye, Bubbles

Beverly Sills passed away this week at the age of 78. Not only was she an amazing singer who introduced opera to much of mainstream America, she also directed the New York City Opera for several years and later became chairwoman of the Metropolitan Opera. She will most definitely be missed. You can read her New York Times obituary here.

Another opera singer, the French soprano Regine Crespin, passed away today at the age of 80. You can read her obituary here. My favorite story about her is this tidit (from the NYT obit):

"Recalling her performances at the Met with the powerhouse tenor Franco Corelli in 'Tosca' and Massenet’s 'Werther,' she said he was convinced that eating raw garlic before a performance was good for the voice. But when they sang duets, Corelli would regularly burp. She learned to adjust, Ms. Crespin said."

Further proof that opera singers are a crazy bunch... (and I say this as a member of that bunch, though I don't think I could stomach raw garlic!)

Blah blah blah.

It's been ages since my last post and may be a bit before I have time to write another "real" post, meaning one where I don't just whine about how I'm too busy to post. But seriously, between choir rehearsals 3 days a week, teaching my harmony class once a week, out-of-town guests and the summer barrage of sporting events, I have had almost no spare time. And the spare time I have had was devoted to reading my book club book, which by the way I heartily recommend--it's Timothy Egan's The Worst Hard Time, about the Great American Dust Bowl. Don't be fooled by the 300 page length, which I thought would be an easy summer read. It's incredibly dense but fascinating and you won't want to skip a paragraph, so don't be like me and only give yourself a week to read it, or you will find yourself staying up late and getting up early to ensure that you finish it before everyone comes over because how embarassing would it be to not finish the book when you're the host?!?

Ahem.

Anyways, I have some fun things I really want to write about, like our AMAZING culinary experience at The Herbfarm or the fabulous Feist show we went to a week and a half ago. Plus I have a couple of delicious summer recipes to share. So stay tuned...hopefully next week I'll find some time to sit down and write something worth reading!

My new favorite show

HBO has a new series, Flight of the Conchords and it is AWESOME. If you missed the premiere, they'll be playing it throughout the week, or you can see clips from the show at their website. To get the feel of the episode, watch the clips in this order:

Hot Women
Most Beautiful Girl
Band Meeting with Murray
Robots Video
I'm not Crying

You won't get to see the whole episode online, but most of it is there and it's AWESOME. (Did I say that already?) Here's one of my favorite clips to get you started: