Memento Mori

Well, so far the only thing I've completed is the gingerbread. For the first time in my life I understand the need for a Floured BOARD. It saves the counter beautifully when one has needs to cut out her cookies from brown paper patterns with knives due to lack of Proper Cookie Cutters.

I finally got the laundry in the dryer. Doing this I discovered that my old trick of Not Checking Pockets is still in full vigour. There is, thanks to my jacket, a passel of bobby pins and hair bands in there along with one penny and my Hollywood card. I also forgot to remove my pins from my collar. They seem to have survived, however. :-/ At least... at least there was no napkin/paper towel/other such thing in either pocket.

The barbari is proofing on the kitchen counter. I used some (shock!horror) all-purpose flour in. It was less than half. But still. I maintain that bread turns out so much better with at least a little all-purpose flour in. The dough rose beautifully. I am anticipating good results. I've made this recipe before, which helps. I just wish I had a pastry brush. I was positive that we had found one but Dan says no we didn't. So.

I still have to do a bit of cleaning and pack stuff. Hmm.

Dan brought Molly downstairs this morning and he had put her in her cherry dress. It's precious. I hadn't even thought to try it on her yet... but it fits nicely and should fit for a little longer. Couple weeks at least. :-P She was hungry and took her sweet old time about eating, so I decided if she would be poky I could read to her and at least *I* would be entertained. So we read Old Bear, Danny and the Dinosaur, Goodnight Moon, and a couple chapters of The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow. I think she probably was completely oblivious and/or unimpressed at this point, but oh well. :-)

1. I just made myself kidney bean mush for dinner. I smushed them with a fork and stirred them into a little mayonnaise with taco seasoning and a clove of garlic, spread it on warmed-up flatbread and piled rice on top of it all. It was delish.

Then I polished off the last of the fakey mac and cheese and my glass of moo juice.

2. I had a lovely time at Powell's today. I can't get over the sheer massiveness of the place. It was rather disorienting and so much fun. I had to go to the bathroom like three times while I was there though, and by the end my back was hurting so for the last half hour I gave up and just sat to wait for Mr Baldwin to turn up.

I found a fine copy of "The Yearling" with NC Wyeth illustrations, a copy of "Vinzi" given to someone by their Aunt Maud for Christmas in 1929, the last Molly (American Girl) book I needed to complete my set of her books, and perhaps best of all a copy of "The Magician's Nephew" that was only $6 and so beautiful I couldn't pass it up. It is a large-format version with slightly larger print and tinted illustrations. Even has a ribbon bookmark in it. Of course, I was sad they had none of the others in that same format, but I'm going to look around online and see if they have the rest of the series to match. (With my luck, probably not. But you never know.) After I paid for my books I also bought myself an Italian soda in the cafe, cherry, because I was in a celebratory mood.

While I was drinking it I just sat and looked out the window and thought about the city and how busy it is and watched cars and cars just going by. The cafe was crammed with people. The girl next to me was busy typing away on a MacBook, and there were a lot of other Mac users there, which naturally made me happy. :-p Right out the window was a shopping cart, full of miscellaneous items and covered with a large clear bag, propped against a tree to keep it from rolling away. The place was pretty quiet, really - there was the clinking of a few plates and a hum of life and typing fingers, but not really very much talking. Fascinating.

I could have spent longer there, probably, but in a way I was glad I didn't have to, because it was just a bit overwhelming, honestly. However, now that I have been able to wander freely and get a better idea of the layout and what's what, I think next time my visit can be planned ahead a bit and a hair more structured.

Oh, and I got to go into their Rare Books Room. It was so beautiful and wooden and lamplighty, although I can't say there was much in there that really appealed to me and I was pretty much afraid to touch anything in there anyway. Allegedly they have a book from 1482 somewhere in that room that's worth over $14,000.

3. Dan had a good meeting and it sounds like he will indeed be getting this job for the city of Portland. Yay, moving up in the world. :-D

4. Also stopped at the Adventist Book Centre on the way home. Andrew needed some stuff from there and we both had a couple things to pick up there too.

Battery on the laptop is about to die, but everyone needs to know my husband just bought me a barrister bookcase. Photosquee to ensue.

Well, I would have utterly forgotten about it being St Patrick's Day if it were not for my 5.30a data entry.

We are both wearing green (sort of) and we'll have potatoes for dinner. That's about as celebratory as we'll get since I hardly planned ahead.

***

Now, on to more techy things. While I really dislike the Kindle (it is tactile-y displeasing to me, both because of my small hands and because, well, it just is clunky), I am really, really excited that there is an iPhone app where Amazon will let you sync with your Kindle, if you have one, or use the iPhone instead of the Kindle. WOOHOO.

I'm not sure how much cheaper it is to buy books that way. And I'm not hugely into reading on a mobile device, honestly, but for travelling it sure would be nice to have it all on the iPod rather than carting twenty books around that I usually don't end up reading anyway because they're buried somewhere. I love having the Bible on the iPod. I almost never use my real Bible now.

Something to think about, anyway.

From eattheolives comes the following meme. I should add that although reading was My Primary Activity at one point in my life (like from ages four through nineteen), reading has kind of been put on the back burner since I started getting busy with jobs and school. I still love to read. I just don't seem to make the time for it anymore. I see the monthly book lists of eattheolives or ruthette and I'm amazed at how much they read. And I miss that in my life.

Anyway, on to the meme...

1. Do you remember how you developed a love for reading? My mommy read to me much. I learned to read when I was 3-4 and I read stacks and stacks of books.

2. What are some books you read as a child? Does fangirling over Reading Rainbow count?* I was very much into Frog and Toad, Oh, Were They Ever Happy, the original Boxcar Children books, the Childhood of Famous Americans series... Later, Louisa May Alcott owned me.

3. What is your favorite genre? I like biographies of people I'm interested in. I like fiction if it's well-written and (preferably) from the sixties or earlier. I like spiritual books and the Bible. I never cared much for stuff that was too fantastical or sci-fi-ish, with creatures that were made up, say. I like reading the books movies were based on, especially old movies.

4. Do you have a favorite novel? Little Women has had the most reads, no competition, although I haven't read it in ages. To Kill a Mockingbird is up there as well.

5. Where do you usually read? Usually in bed.

6. When do you usually read? When I have a moment. Before bed is often a good time.

7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time? Not usually. I like to devote my attention to one at a time.

8. Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction? Uh... no?

9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library? I've gotten most of my books from the library. But I've borrowed many from friends. And I own many.

10. Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them? I keep them if I like them and think I will read them again. If they're something I bought like used and I don't like them, I just give them to Goodwill or something. Usually though, if I buy a book, it is because I want to keep it.

11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Dude. I have a whole list formulating in my head. I can just see my future baby registry... it's going to be 95% books. William and His Kitten. Plenty of Lois Lenski. Old Golden books. Richard Scarry. The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup. Melisande. Catkin. Trumpet of the Swan. The Little House books. Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories. The American Girl books. (I'm missing one Molly. I want the old artwork. I don't know if that's possible. I think I have a couple with the new artwork, though... so I guess that gripe is irrelevant.)

There is always "Hi, Pizza Man!" as well.

12. What are you reading now? I'm re-reading Patriarchs and Prophets.

13. Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list? Nope.

14. What's next? Whatever strikes my fancy.

15. What books would you like to reread? Little Women. Jane Eyre.

16. Who are your favorite authors? Daphne du Maurier, Johanna Spyri, Louisa May Alcott, AJ Cronin

*I find it ironic that I loved Geordi LaForge only on the basis of the fact that he was Levar Burton and brought me one of my Four Favourite Childhood TV shows... and now I'm married to a guy who favours Geordi on the basis of his sheer nerdiness.