Okay, Mr. Lewis

The bad guys smell of garlic and onions? Is that so horrible? Implied racism aside ("their white eyes flashing dreadfully in their brown faces"), Jack, are you out of your mind? I love you, you know. But really - onions and garlic are good. It is perhaps not good to reek of them, but they are quite tasty and season meals in a lovely fashion. Good meals begin with garlic and onion.

(I am referring to The Last Battle, Chapter 3. Page 25 in the 1970 paperback edition.)

branches

 


See, Babelbabe? You're not the only one who's obsessed. 

self portrait tuesday

 


This is a crappy self portrait. My camera battery ran out right after I took this fuzzy specimen. However, it does beautifully illustrate the November "identity" theme. In case you can't tell, it's a library. Not my library, but one that I walk past occasionally. Sometimes I even check out things if we don't have them in my county. And that red blob, sort of towards the middle of the picture? That's my hat. I could make up some nonsense about how the reflection makes it almost look like I'm in the library, and about how I belong in a library. Just shelve me with the novels, please, and I'll rest easy. 

the refuge, on a sunnier, warmer day

 
 

unthawing

I came back from a walk about half an hour ago, and thanks to a reheated cup of coffee (Holiday Blend is back!) a plate of leftover rosemary & thyme potatoes and a bowl butternut squash soup, my fingers have just about thawed out.

I walked through the Sellwood Park and down into the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge and occupied my mind with thoughts of Lantern Waste and bad puns about the wildlife refuge - things like "she took refuge in the" ...oh never mind.

I thought it was cold last week, but it really hit this week. Last week I went to the park with some toddlers and I don't even think I wore a scarf. Today I went out to check the temperature - and then put on my black wool coat (instead of the lovely red wool coat which now seems impossibly light compared to the black one), a scarf, a hideous fleece cap, and thinsulated gloves.

You know that feeling when you've been walking in the cold, all brisk to keep yourself warm, and you stop to admire a view and can feel each blood cell moving s l o w l y through your fingers? When the movement distracted you before, but now you just feel your body reacting to the cold? I love it. And then I turned around and walked uphill and my legs cried out with joy. Exercise! Cold! Heavy coats!

tagged

Sal tagged me ages ago, and wretch that I am, I just noticed.

7 celebrity crushes: (in my world, "celebrity" means a book character)
Mr. Darcy
Caspian
Gilbert Blythe
Almanzo
Lord Peter
the guy in The Blue Sword - can't remember his name
Calvin O'Keefe


7 Things I'm good at:
Baking
Procrastinating
Proof-reading (although not my own writing)
Recommending books
Organizing
Dancing (as in, learning steps and keeping time - not this crazy modern stuff)
Getting along with all kinds of people

7 things I plan to do before I die:
Go back to a lot of places I've loved - especially the British Isles
Take a road trip
Write a book, even if it's horrible
Parent
Become a librarian
Read a gazillion books
Write a bazillion letters

7 things I cannot do:
grocery shop and actually buy what I need for meals
make a pie crust to my liking
drive a stick shift
get out of bed when my alarm goes off
stop being sarcastic
play any sport
whistle

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:
conversation
shoulders
hands
smile
interests
friendliness
sense of humor

7 things I say often:
I need a cup of tea
I'll be right back (at work)
Would you like to put it on hold? (at other work)
What should I bake?
various exclamations on the weather

I don't know...you tell me? What DO I say often? I haven't had any phrases that I've been aware of using a lot latey.

Show and Tell

 


My sister. Back from New York. 

 
  This is pretty special, too. You can't eat your sister for dessert, but you CAN eat a black bottom coconut cream pie.

 
 

 
 

24

It's like a bad boyfriend. One that you love to hate. You break up, you get back together. You say "enough" and kick him out and then you're begging him to come back. "Please, just stay another hour...I love you, really I do." And he keeps throwing new twists and turns at you - keeps you on your toes. And you go a few days without him and go through withdrawal. And you know it's wrong, but you always want more.

Oh Season Three, where are you?

Outside the blast radius

While Katy is worried about the blast radius this Thanksgiving, I'm more worried about eternal boredom. I'm spending it with the same group of people as last year (or was it two years ago? I don't remember) - an occasion, whenever it was, the highlight of which was a rousing game of Balderdash. Now I enjoy making up definitions as much as the next English major/wannabe librarian/OED-phile, but that doesn't quite meet my standards of witty banter and like-minded company.

The first issue: dessert. Rumor has it that only store-bought pies will be provided. Although I have not been officially charged with this task, I take it upon myself in the spirit of service to the greater good: I must bake. But what must I bake, internets?

The second, and perhaps (you might never hear me put anything above dessert ever again) more important issue: company. My family is going over the river, through the woods, past some farms, over the highway, past a stripmall, across another river and through the city of Boring (about a 40 minute drive) to spend the blessed day with my mom's friend and her family. And another family from church. I love my mom's friend. Everyone else is nice enough. But there is no one to talk to. There are some teenage girls. Some teenage boys. My mom will be busy keeping my dad from spewing inappropriate stories. My sister - oh sorrow of sorrows - has to work. WHY?

If I were ten, or even fifteen, and saw this situation approaching, I would bring a book. And read at the table.

Self Portrait Tuesday

 


Okay, cast your minds back a few hours...imagine that it is Tuesday and I posted my self portrait in time. Because I really wanted to, and I would've if my camera had cooperated and allowed the pictures to download. But no, it had a hissy fit. Onward!

In the spirit of actually trying to follow November's theme - exploration of identity. So there I am, writing. Perhaps appropriately, the page is blank. Infer what you will. But there is the pen, and the page, and my hand.

And do you have any idea how difficult it is to try and take a picture with your non-dominant hand while also trying to write? 

Red

Show and Tell Friday, what else?

Clockwise from top left: Stop; the whale weather-vane on my favorite verandah-ed red house; a thank you card from Bronwen; red clothes that live on hangers; the kitchen tomato, by a local artist; a neighborhood tree. There would also have been a photo of a shiny red tricycle, except I don't think the owner's grandfather would've appreciated me snapping a picture.

But my favorite picture of red? The picture that says "red" and "childhood" and "fall" all at once?

book report

My laptop no longer wishes to be wireless in the dining room. Only in my room, and on occasion, the living room. This has led to two batches of oatmeal - in a row - sticking to the bottom of the pan as I attempt to juggle email, blogs, The Chronicles of Narnia, coffee without cream, and oatmeal simultaneously.

I think my favorite thing about CS Lewis is the little asides. Things like, "If you ever have the luck to go to Narnia yourself, do not forget to have a look at those caves." (I mean, really, who could read that as an eight year old and not expect to find herself in Narnia someday?)

Or, "Walks after the first halt - like school mornings after break or railway journeys after changing trains - never go on as they were before."

And yes, I've been reading more than just Mr. Lewis. I just finished, and would like you pass on to you (not in a literal sense, sadly, since the item in question is (gasp) overdue at my place of employment) The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman. It's worth having out overdue, even if you're one of those unfortunate souls that must pay late fees. I must've seen a million and two copies of it in the campus bookstore for anthropology classes, but it took a personal recommendation to get me reading. I'm not much of a non-fiction reader but this kept me hooked.

What a weekend. Eep. I'm drained. I was talking to Katy* about how I hadn't been alone, except in the car, from Friday to Sunday. That is killer to any introvert worth her salt. Not like I wasn't enjoying all my socializing - first I had Laurel who I hadn't seen since September, and then there was my sister returned from points east. Three months she'd been gone!

To recap (boring, please skip) I attended 2 brunch/lunch dates, a dinner & drinks, 10 1/2 hours of work, a spa party, an engagement party, Sunday School, church, and a family dinner.

So I'm telling her all this and she says, "Remember the slumber party we had at G's?"

"Was that when she was obsessed with Brad Pitt? That was the first time I'd ever heard of him."

"Probably. And G went with her mom to the store or something, and you said, 'I just want to be back in my own bed on R-- St.'** I've always thought of that as being one of those things that really sums you up."

It probably does sum me up pretty well. A lot of Katy's memories of me do. This weekend wasn't so much about getting back to my own bed, but there is that introvert need to recharge.

*The Mrs. - although drat, they'll both be Mrs. soon. See, the whole problem is that they've both always been Katy Lastname in our social circles, as though the whole thing is their first name. No one needs to use my last name when referring to me, but the Katys are different. And Katy - it just doesn't come naturally to refer to her by her new last name. I still use her maiden name when referring to her. And roommate Katy, I'm sure the same thing will happen.

**Do you like how I did an initial and a dash? Very 19th century, isn't it?

Epilogue

And! Today is the last day. The last day for milky eggy apple pancakes and cream in my coffee and lovely slices of bacon. For some reason I always dread the Advent fast a bit. Lent I usually embrace (more or less - I at least feel prepared) but during Advent and the cold weather, those comfort foods are just that much more tempting. The urge to eat up for the winter ahead. And is it just me or are there a freakish number of fish days on the calendar this year? I'm thinking sushi, lots of sushi.

Don't mess with geography

At long last I sit down to start season two of 24, and 2 minutes and 23 seconds into the first episode, I lose my faith in 24. Why oh why must they do this to me, for it is so distracting. I like exaggeration and tricks and "that would never happen" moments, but don't mess with geography. Please?

The scene: a fishing trip with David & Keith. Location: Lake Oswego, Oregon. My points:

1. We do not have mountains like that. The only mountains you can see from the Portland metro area (where Lake O is) are Hood and St Helens. Period.

2. Lake Oswego is not a remote fishing lake. It's the kind of lake where wealthy people have lawns sloping down to their boat docks, and maybe they go out and pretend to fish on the lake, but really they're too busy eating up the lake front with developments. It is not rural.

Yes, I have deeper (ha) things to say and I'll come back with them later.

Well, I suppose I've been busy lately, although I'm not sure exactly what I've been doing. There was the trip to the zoo on Tuesday, with the small girl who demands elephants and hippos alternately and looks very serious with her hands in her pockets. Who am I kidding, she almost always looks serious. I wanted to laugh so badly when another small girl, maybe a year older, spotted her and rushed over with arms outstretched to hug her. Q was all "personal space?" and curly haired Sal was all "I am friendly! Hug me!" I admired Sal's striped tights, but my sympathies lay with Q.

I also took a nice long walk through my neighborhood on Sunday, and I think I should start hanging out in this neighborhood more.

$10,000 reward, in case you can't see it! The neighborhood is crazy pretentious, with all the streets named after schools (I'll put more photos in later, but I'm off to the airport to pick up Laurel in a minute...) and all faux English and stuff. No front porches to speak of, disgustingly manicured lawns. Oh yes, and it borders the country club. I breathed a sigh of relief when I crossed the tracks (literally) back into Sellwood. But I don't htink I have much of a chance of getting that reward - I think the neighborhood is on to me. I was caught taking pictures by a neighborhood busybody staring out her window. Oh well. I was never meant to be wealthy.

self portrait, continued...otherwise known as two dollar zoo tuesday 

Self Portrait

A bit late for Self Portrait Tuesday, but here we go anyway.

Survey

First fictional character who made you swoon?

First fictional character you were SURE you'd meet someday and become friends with?

First book you cried over?

First book you stayed up all night to read?

Book you give most often as a gift?

(See post below; the Pevensies; The Last Battle; The Giver; The Maggie B. And no, the Narnia theme was not intentional.)

The End of the World

"But look here," said Eustace... "The world's wrong - I mean, round like a ball, not like a table."

"Our world is," said Edmund. "But is this?"

"Do you mean to say," asked Caspian, "that you three come from a round world (round like a ball) and you've never told me! It's really too bad for you. Because we have fairy-tales in which there are round worlds and I always loved them. I never believed there were any real ones. But I've always wished there were and I've always longed to live in one. Oh, I'd give anything...If only I had the chance! It must be exciting to live on a thing like a ball. Have you ever been to the parts where people walk about upside-down?"

Edmund shook his head. "And it isn't like that," he added. "There's nothing particularly exciting about a round world when you're there."

-The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I've always loved this bit. And, I must admit, I also have a long-standing crush on Prince Caspian. Swoon!

At the moment, my own addictions don't seem so bad. My addictions don't lead to wine stains on the floor, or squeezing a cheesecloth full of grapes, or being forced to press wine inside due to pouring rain... 

Addictions*

My addiction looks more like this. Clean, if a little dusty. Organized in its own way. Well-loved.









In the same category, there's this addiction.










*Besides my addiction to Show & Tell Fridays.

It's November, and you know what that means

Oh sweet Lord. The winemaking is taking over the house. A, um, wine press? Was just unloaded from a truck. There is a vat of boiling water on the stove, who knows what that's for. They're setting up shop in the yard.

The last book before the last book

A moth just gave up the ghost in my freshly made cup of vanilla nut creme tea. Have I mentioned how much I hate the moths? I don't even know if I have the energy to make another cup. I'm just disgusted.

In other news, The Penultimate Peril! Is in on hold! And can I just say that my heart belongs to any children's book that uses the word flaneur? A word that, I might add, I didn't hear until the fall of my senior year of college?