I woke up this morning stressed out and angry from a bad dream.
I dreamed that someone had taken documents that I’d designed in Illustrator and “updated” them by printing out new information on slips of paper in Times New Roman and gluing them over the old information, then photocopying them.
Shudder.
Which reminds me of this xkcd comic that made me laugh out loud:
Photo taken 6/29/09
The Stay-At-Home Survival Guide by Melissa Stanton – I’m not sure when your average stay-at-home moms would have time to read this book, but I found that it was really helpful to read it because the author eloquently expressed the angst and issues surrounding defining yourself as a stay-at-home mom: how other people perceive you, how the marriage shifts, how your own self-esteem is affected, etc. While my personal experience as a self-employed professional cum stay-at-home mom doesn’t quite mesh up as nicely with the book’s intended audience, and though I’ve forgotten all of the “helpful tips” regarding socialization, exercise, food, etc., it did help me to process and label some of the things I’ve been struggling with.
Wild Things by Stephen James and David Thomas – This is a book specifically about the “art of nurturing boys.” While James and Thomas are Christian authors, the book is not overtly religious and contains what I think are good principles, including respect for the child and awareness of developmental phases. The authors label different phases of the development of a boy from age two through twenty-two (I think? I’m doing this from memory); although they are quick to point out that phases overlap and do not necessarily mesh up with specific ages, their discussion of the development of a boy from “explorer” to “lover” up to “warrior” made sense to me and will be helpful in the future. The book gives an overall picture of boys at each phase in Part 1, talks about boys’ brain development and learning in Part 2, then goes into the “heart” of the boy and his relationship with mother and father in Part 3. In particular, the last section of the book has “hot topics” marked out which were especially helpful for me to read, since I didn’t grow up with any brothers. I’m actually planning on buying this book with my next gift card!
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart – I was alerted to this book from Kim’s blog and thoroughly enjoyed it. Good, clean fun, rather reminiscent of classic children’s lit authors that I love such as Edward Eager or J.K. Rowling.
The Cheshire Cat’s Eye by Marcia Muller – Another Sharon McHone mystery. These tend to be thin and thus fast reads.
Heaven’s Prisoners by James Lee Burke – A new-to-me mystery author (though the book was published in 1988). Gritty and sad.
The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie – This was an intriguing book because it came in a hardcover case that included a stack of parchments that the reader was encouraged to “solve” on their own. However, I lacked the mental energy to pore over the papers and just read the book, which ended up being sort of Da Vinci Code-ish (as anything which involves long-hidden documents, architectural secrets, and religious mysteries will inevitably be compared to). Apart from the fact that I thought some of the cryptic messages were kind of random and forced, I enjoyed reading through it — mindlessly — and letting the characters decipher the mystery.
Cold Case by Kate Wilhelm – Kate Wilhelm is one of my favorite mystery writers, and this new Barbara Holloway novel did not disappoint.
O’s Big Book of Happiness – This collection of articles and essays from The Oprah Magazine was a nice thing to keep on the dining table and browse through while I ate lunch.
I love Chinese BBQ pork steamed buns (as well as the baked version, which is like bread stuffed with tasty bits of meat with a sticky-sweet glaze on top). Since I know how to make steamed pork buns and I recently found a great recipe for homemade char siu, I thought I’d concoct my own version of a BBQ pork steamed bun.
I’m not sure if it’s entirely ethical to write out the recipe I used from The Best International Recipe which involved a simple marinade (for at least 4 hours or overnight) for pork (I used strips of country-style pork ribs instead of the recommended pork butt), which was roasted in the oven, then broiled while brushing a honey/ketchup/marinade glaze on top. So instead, I’ll link to the Chinese Barbequed Pork recipe on cooksillustrated.com and let you decide if you want to try it for free for a few days to get that recipe or look up the cookbook next time you’re in a library or book store. (Or you can try one of the many recipes out there on the web.)
After enjoying your delicious hunks of meat over rice with some steamed or stir-fried veggies on the side, reserve some of the meat for your steamed pork buns. I ended up using two and a half country-style pork ribs for the filling; unfortunately, I have no idea how much that translates to weight, but it resulted in probably 3-4 cups of filling after I ran it through the food processor.
Which leads me to the “cheater’s” portion of this recipe. More authentic recipes have you stir fry the cubed or chopped pork with mushrooms, green onions, bamboo shoots, and extra seasonings. I wanted a meatier bun, so I cut the pork into food-processor-sized chunks and pulsed it until the pork was minced up, then mixed some of the yummy leftover meat juice/marinade with the minced pork to make it more “pasty.”
I made the dough according to my basic steamed pork bun recipe, filled up the pieces of dough with spoonfuls of filling, steamed the buns, and ate. Yum
Photo taken 6/2/2009
The Apostates Tale by Margaret Frazer – Another Dame Frevisse mystery. Sadly, our library system doesn’t have all of the books from this series, so this might be the last one that I read for a while.
The Anatomy of Wings by Karen Foxlee – Ten year old Jenny has lost her singing voice. How she lost it is tied up in the story of her sister’s lost innocence and eventual death (that’s not a spoiler – you find out about her sister in the first few pages) and her family’s disintegration. The novel was beautifully written but rather depressing. Not exactly a “feel good” novel.
Rebel Angels by Libby Bray – I gave an unfavorable review in my last reading post for the prequel of this novel, and I didn’t enjoy this one any more (although I still like the cover art). The author made ample room for another sequel, but I probably won’t be reading it.
Graceling by Kristin Cashore – Katsa is a Graceling – someone who has an exceptional talent – except that her Grace is that of killing. Her uncle, the king of one of seven kingdoms, uses her as a deadly tool to do his will, and she goes along with it until she comes across Prince Po, whose fighting Grace is nearly equal her own. Their friendship results in her discovery that her Grace is not all that she thinks it is – and soon she must turn her skills to untangle a plot that has the whole of the seven kingdoms in danger. This was a beautiful and enjoyable novel – I loved it!
A Spoonful of Poison by M.C. Beaton – Agatha Raisin, the self-centered, middle-aged, easily-obsessed sleuth in M.C. Beaton’s mysteries, is back with a vengeance, investigating a poisoning that happens during a village fete that she’s in charge of while trying to impress a good-looking widower. As with the other Agatha Raisin novels, I alternated between wanting to strangle Agatha in frustration and laughing at her escapades.
Heir to Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier – A long-awaited novel following the Sevenwaters trilogy, this one follows Clodagh, the daughter of Sean and Aisling (and thus the granddaughter of Sorcha from the first Sevenwaters book). The Fair Folk steal her baby brother and replace him with an odd child of leaves and sticks that seems alive only to her — and to the man who must share her quest to find her baby brother and bring him back. The dangerous journey that they make has the usual twists and turns in Juliet’s novels and was thoroughly enjoyable.
Foxmask by Juliet Marillier – A sequel to Wolfskin. Nessa and Eyvind’s daughter, Creidhe, is in love with Somerled’s son Thorvald. Thorvald goes on a quest to find his father and Creidhe sneaks along for the ride, only to find herself in a dangerous situation that could claim her life and those of her friends. Again, another rich novel by Juliet Marillier that I could barely put down to make dinner, take care of a baby, and work.
Trace by Patricia Cornwell – Another Kay Scarpetta novel.
Tales from the Dad Side by Steve Doocy – I’m finding that the “humor” genre just isn’t what I’m into. I enjoyed reading the jacket blurb and the first few pages but soon got tired of the wisecracks and ended up not finishing this book. I enjoy a dry wit and situational humor, but 224 pages of over-obvious comedy was more than I could handle.
Photo taken 6/10/2009
Edwin of the Iron Shoes by Marcia Muller – A new mystery series that I’m trying out and so far, have enjoyed. Sharon McHone is an investigator for a law firm, but turns to investigating a murder when one of their clients is killed.
The Midas Box by G.P. Taylor – I guess this is what you’d call a young adult thriller — sort of spooky, riveting page-turner, mixed with fantasy and myth. I had to quickly skim through it in an evening and morning because it was on hold and I couldn’t renew it – I’m glad I made the time for it.
Cruel and Unusual, From Potter’s Field, and The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell – I’m finding that this is an unusual mystery series from what I’m used to reading in that characters can dramatically change from one book to the next as several years may pass from the events of one book to another. These earlier samples of Patricia’s books have been pretty intense – and the “bad guy” is not always apprehended by the end of the book. Now that I’m reading these in order, I’m enjoying them more
I’ve joined the Book Review Blogger program at Thomas Nelson, and as my first book, downloaded an ebook version of The Noticer by Andy Andrews. This short, fast read compresses common wisdom and live-your-best-life principles in a fictional tale of a man named Jones who mysteriously appears at critical moments of peoples’ lives to provide “a little perspective.” Jones’ advice enables the residents of the small town depicted in the novel — whether struggling with a broken marriage, loneliness, financial problems, or what-have-you– to understand why their lives are the way they are and what they can do to change them.
I suppose if you’ve never read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman or kept a gratitude journal, this book might be life-changing for the simplistic way it distills principles from many of the other self-help books out there. Overall, I found it a nice review of good-to-remember principles when it comes to living life and loving people, but the sermon-disguised-as-story and stereotyped, one-dimensional characters made this less than impressive fiction. All the same, the book was such a quick read — and a free review copy! — that I didn’t mind taking the extra time to compose a review.
I finally transplanted all of the pepper and basil seedlings into our planter boxes this past weekend and sowed a row of spring onions as well. The tomato cage is over the spring onions to discourage certain cats from using our planter box as a litter box.
The Golden Jubilee and Roma tomato plants are getting big, and there are several green tomatoes forming!
The Sweet 100 is getting ginormous!
Yesterday I spotted our first ripening cherry tomatoes:
And the rogue butternut squash are thriving as well. There are at least two tiny squash that have formed:
Finally, I planted one of our rogue Sweet 100 seedlings in the front yard planter box. We’ll see how it goes.
Expenditures from the past few weeks:
Expenditures summary:
As beginning gardeners, our one-time expenses this season are getting pretty high. I’m interested to see how our expenses will compare next season.
Now, I need to figure out how I’m going to keep track of our production!
Photo taken 5/20/2009.
Dead of Night, Immortal in Death, and Promises in Death by J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts – I think this might be the last of my “in Death” reading binge, as I’ve checked out everything available in our library system. (”Dead of Night” was a collection of four short stories by various authors, one of which was an “in Death” story by J.D. Robb.)
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray – I liked the cover and thought the title had potential but was disappointed by this young adult book, with protagonist Gemma, sent to a London boarding school after her mother commits suicide in strange circumstances. A mix of boarding school drama, magical realms, evil people and creatures, and the mystery of how her mother was involved all of this plays out in the rest of the book. I thought the characters were shallow and not very compelling — or likable — and while I finished the book, overall found it a bit boring.
Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear – Another “Maisie Dobbs” mystery novel; this time, Maisie is hired by Scotland Yard to investigate some serious terrorist-type threats. Her investigations will bring her to the plight of the ignored remnant of soldiers suffering from post-war mental trauma; meanwhile, she tries to figure out how to help her assistant’s wife who has been slipping deeper into depression after the death of one of her children. This book continues the series with grace and sensitivity.
Predator, Postmortem, and All That Remains by Patricia Cornwell – Postmortem and All That Remains are the first two books in the Kay Scarpetta series, but I had picked up Predator first and found it much harder to jump into than the “In Death” books, so checked out the earlier books to get some background. Oddly to me, the earlier books were written in first-person from the viewpoint of Kay Scarpetta, the Chief Medical Examiner in Virginia, but the much later book was written in third-person. As an avid watcher of CSI, I liked reading these novels for the heavy involvement of forensics in the plots.
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8 Lee – That’s not a typo; the author’s middle name really is the number “8,” a lucky number for Chinese. A journalist for the N.Y. Times, her “adventures in Chinese food” started when she was intrigued by the multiple lottery winners who used fortune cookie numbers to win the jackpot. Jennifer uses her journalistic acumen to find out things like how authentic General Tso’s chicken really is (it’s not), who first came up with fortune cookies (the Japanese), and other things that I didn’t even know I wanted to know but felt hungrier after knowing them. Must read this book with plenty of Chinese take-out on hand.
Oh boy, I’ve been dropping the ball on updates. Here are a few highlights from the past few months.
April
The seedlings grew nicely in my makeshift greenhouse.
We finally finished weeding out the planter boxes, tilled the soil, and mixed in compost from our compost bin. I picked up three organic tomato seedlings from the Farmer’s Market. The Sweet 100 went in the corner box and the other two went in the rectangular box.
In mid-April, I added potting soil around the seedlings and put them outside to start to try to acclimatize them. Unfortunately I forgot about them… and by the time I remembered and brought them back in, a third of our seedlings had wilted and died. Quite sad, I started up more seedlings in another plastic tray. I think this one used to be an Oreo cookie tray.
May
Fast-forward a month. The seedlings are still inside, although I just started putting them back outside to get them used to the growing summer heat before I put them in the ground.
The two tomato plants in the rectangular box are doing great. We even have some mini roma tomatoes starting to develop.
To our surprise, some things have started sprouting from our compost that was mixed into the corner box. We think we have some rogue butternut squash coming up and have left a few to develop to see what happens. We also got some tomato seedlings that came from from last year’s Sweet 100’s, and I dug up some of them to give to our neighbors.
The Sweet 100 is flourishing – no surprise – and the start of cherry tomatoes can be seen on the bottom branches:
There is also a mystery plant behind the Sweet 100. Anyone have any ideas?
The only other expenditures this month was for the three “Ultomato staking systems,” at $19.36 for all three. We have two wire cages from last year that were too small for the massive Sweet 100, and I liked the customizable stakes and supports of the Ultomato. I’ve already snapped off the side rungs and replaced them a few times to give some of the branches more support as the tomato grows.
Completely unintentionally, I read books by authors whose first names all start with the letter “J”.
Photo taken 5/1/09
Daughter of the Forest, Son of the Shadows, and Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier (The Sevenwaters Trilogy) – Juliet Marillier’s debut trilogy is fantastic. Each book is told from the point of view of a different character, starting with Sorcha in Daughter of the Forest, which is a retelling of the wild swans fairy tale. The other two books follow Sorcha’s daughter and granddaughter. Highly recommended.
The Spell Book of Listen Taylor by Jaclyn Moriarty – I’m often surprised by the dark themes in young adult books these days (I guess “young adult” books from my time are now considered “junior” books). This intriguing and slightly confusing books makes sense at the end and would be a good “discussion” book about infidelity, as that theme pops up often. Listen Taylor lives with her dad and his girlfriend, Marbie Zing. The Zings are an intriguing family with a “Family Secret” that causes them to meet every Friday night in their garden shed. Listen starts high school and inexplicably finds herself ditched by her friends. How her loneliness intersects with the life of an elementary school teacher, and what the teacher has to do with the Zing family secret, are things that will be revealed by the end of the book. I wouldn’t say that I “enjoyed” reading this book, although I finished it to find out what happened. The female characters used too many exclamation points for me to relate with them.
Salvation in Death and Origin in Death by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) – Still going through the “in Death” series.
The Abyssinian Proof by Jenny White – A sequel to The Sultan’s Seal, which I’d come across in the new books area as well, this one has a more “resolved” ending (in that Kamil Pasha actually finds out “who done it”) and a Da Vinci Code flavor with a small minority sect and religious artifacts that could “change the world.” Beautifully written again, but I’m not enjoying this series enough to continue to seek out new ones as they come, although I’ll probably pick them out if they appear in my line of vision on the new book shelf.
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