See you Later Alligator-ade

Some events happen in slow motion; dry Gatorade powder falling from the top of a refrigerator does not.  One appreciates the full thrust of 9.82 meters per second square as the canister slips just out of your reach onto the floor.  At this point, a cloud of dust (orange in this case) will rise like a summer storm enveloping your kitchen space only to fall gingerly, slowly, encompassing regions you never even considered with a grainy powder.  It's worse than glitter.

As a nod to anyone else who has vacuumed themselves as their last departing act for a Monday morning, First in Thirst: How Gatorade Turned the Science of Sweat Into a Cultural Phenomenon by Darren Rovell.

I Didn't Hear a Peep

"For Children: You will need to know the difference between Friday and a fried egg. It's quite a simple difference, but an important one. Friday comes at the end of the week, whereas a fried egg comes out of a chicken. Like most things, of course, it isn't quite that simple. The fried egg isn't properly a fried egg until it's been put in a frying pan and fried. This is something you wouldn't do to a Friday, of course, though you might do it on a Friday. You can also fry eggs on a Thursday, if you like, or on a cooker. It's all rather complicated, but it makes a kind of sense if you think about it for a while." 

- Douglas Adams, Salmon of Doubt

Author's note: I had a fried egg on a Friday.  I think I'll think about it for a little while.

1 in 942,642 will be a winner, baby

It's Pi day so I'm posting cake.  It's round.

King Cake - Seaside, FL
February 2014

Because we like math and are slightly geeky, two of us in the group. tried to calculate the odds of cutting into the King Cake baby on the first cut.  After a nice discussion about surface area, volume and pi, we had cake.

She found the baby with the first cut.

Have My Cake and Eat it Two

The day seems to whiz by in three hour blocks.  Awake and at the gym, mid-morning call, late lunch, the afternoon hurdle when the office is so warm you want to nap, post-exercise laundry, and then the time when I should be sleeping but I'm warming up dessert instead.  (Let's be clear:  the only reason to exercise twice in one day is cake. Some might argue that it's triathlons, but it's really cake.)

Books are creeping by in 10-20 page segments.

Knitting is stalled.

Reading water glass two.

Though only Wednesday, it has been a week of endings, but I've had news today of one special beginning.  The Universe always manages to find its balance.

Here's hoping you do too.

Two Words

It was a big treat to see the GBC grouping this weekend and catch up on life over a bit of reading water.  I was very fortunate to see a number of dear friends, one of which managed to succinctly create a story-telling image with the art of the two-word phrase.  Nod to KR for inspiring this little arrangement.

Pinewood
Business Plans
Cheese Curds
Snowy Lands

Outside painting
Housing sales
Machu Picchu
Haircut tales.

Interstate blanket
Toasts galore
Big hugs
Wine Store.

Honey Coffee
Presents Exchanged.
Big discussions
Life rearrange.

Pizza toss
Dinner party
Running hugs
All hearty.

All about Location

I managed to complete all the items on my Saturday to-do list, including the nap.  One of them I accomplished a little too well, but that's for another day.  As a Sunday bonus, I can now extol the virtues of a freshly juiced drink of apple, kale, and spinach with a shot of wheatgrass*.

A friend also shared a fun book:  The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton.  I flipped through a few pages and was read an except about Villa Savoye.  [Aside:  one of life's little pleasures is having someone read to you.]  Based on these little intros, I've added it to my list.  

Hope your Monday gets off to a fine start.

*Filed under things:  
1) I can't believe I actually ordered; 2) I can't believe I actually liked; 3) I ordered while wearing yoga pants thus fulfilling the Whole Foods Sunday stereotype; 4) cures for Sunday ailments from Saturday birthday parties or 5) all of the above

Wifi High and Lowe's

Sometimes you find yourself in a very small town at the end of a thirteen hour workday.  You're hungry and you'd like a side of wifi with perhaps some eggs on toast or a tomato panini sandwich.

Simple, yet accessible.

Not too demanding. After all, you're still without water and home internet access because of a little utility accident with a very large shovel.

In that moment after a long drive around the city, desperately hoping for something that stayed open past nine, you realize you're in a town of introverts, and that instead of making wifi available in late night coffee shops around the city, each individual would rather be at home, alone or in small groups...programming, saving the world, creating the next best efficiency, or just playing a game on their super-secure, non-broadcasting networks.  Because after all, this town is smart.

So when you find yourself in a Lowe's parking lot typing away in your lap with a bag beside you that will be forever unnamed, you will try to forget that you ever read Fast Food Nation and hope that this isn't the first book you start to unpack.  When you go home, you will need a glass of reading water.

And when you go to sleep thinking about this very odd day, you will know that despite nights like this, you are still pretty darn lucky.

Whip It Real Good

Tonight I'm extremely grateful to GBC T1m and K1m for having given me a whipped cream dispenser.  This will be paired with strawberry pie planned as reward for finishing today's half marathon.  [Side note:  one person's "flat" is another's "rolling hills".]

Tomorrow will be spent in part in a comfortable chair, reading and drinking coffee.  I might even make hot chocolate as an excuse to have more whipped cream.

I am a lucky girl.  Hope you each have had a lovely weekend.

Ants are Marching

It's a night of a full moon and a week of ups and downs.  I've sent well wishes for milestones and struggled to find the right words when a friend says "it's over" when referencing their relationship.

I've also apparently shared a life-changing sandwich so we'll see where that goes.

March is headed out like a lion.

Eat Drink and be Merry for Tomorrow...

The Pope is resigning.

It's Fat Tuesday.

My 30 days of Reading-Water-Free-January has been deferred a couple times now with a trip to Germany and girls' weekend adventures.  I need to find a time to do this but I'm looking for convenience (which I think misses the point).

This inner quandary called for "A Lenten quiz on hunger in Literature" courtesy of The Guardian's Alison Flood. I was "fair to middling" as they say.  I'm sure you could "fare" better.

The (m)unique approach

Hope you are reading this weekend.

Hope you get to taste new cuisines (that may or may not involve beer and sausage for a late breakfast).

Hope you can make your TV into a fireplace. (It makes the living box a bit bigger.)

Cheers and happy Sunday!

Satay Sashay

From the book description at the Oxford University Press:

Seasoned generously with literary wit, The Diner's Dictionary is a veritable feast, tracing the origins and history of over 2,300 gastronomical words and phrases. John Ayto spreads across our table a veritable cornucopia, from common fruits and vegetables (apples, cherries, apricots, and broccoli, to name a few), to exotic foreign dishes such as gado-gado, nasi goreng, satay, and dashi, and even junk foods such as doughnuts, brownies, and candy. Thoroughly revised, the second edition boasts 1,000 new entries, including the word origins of affogato, bento, cava, goji berry, jalfrezi, mocktail, rugelach, vache qui rit, and zigni. In addition, Ayto has expanded the coverage of vocabulary from foreign cuisines, such as Thai, Korean, Vietnamese, and parts of South America.

How's that for an intro to The Diner's Dictionary:  Word Origins of Food and Drink by John Ayto?  Ayto's other contributions to literature include The Dictionary of Slang and the Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms.

Quirky word references, food, wit?  How could this be bad?

Table for Sixteen

“I like large parties, they're so intimate. 

At small parties, there isn't any privacy"

F. Scott Fitzgerald

This is one of the few Friday photos which isn't my own but it's a great nod to the recent GBC meeting for The Great Gatsby and quite delightful for a Friday.  I wish I could have been able to join.  Hope your weekend is stellar and full of good reads.

Photo Credit:  Michael Emrick
The Mad Platter Restaurant, Nashville, TN
October 2012

Table the Motion

How did you spend your post-holiday Saturday?  Mine was divided into little segments of activities;  some were dedicated to chores and others to pleasure.  My run was a bit of both.  Some moments were stolen away for reading little articles.  I even took a test.  The Guardian's Thanksgiving thinking: feasts in fiction quiz was quite fun, despite the fact that my score was akin to my dressing, a tad underwhelming.  I'm sure you could fare better.

Alt Life of Pie

There's a small little coffee shop near the house which serves "Biscuits & Gravy" on Fridays and homemade beignets on Saturdays.  It has live music on occasion, a half a dozen tables and is connected to a used book store.  Coffees run the gamut and I've a fair bet that there are a numbers of teas.  The menu is on chalkboard so the items can be changed on a whim or as ingredients allow.  As I'm sitting on the floor, having a coffee and tapping away on my little laptop, I am pondering what it would be like to spend the day sifting through books and infusing myself with caffeine rather than the full day of meetings that begin in one hour.

It's Not a Tuna

...or maybe it was.  I spent the day at the aquarium with two young girls who reminded me that life is more fun when you laugh, sing off-key with heart, ask for entry for the show you don't have tickets for, be fearless, and take lots of pictures.  

So long girls, and thanks for all the fish.

Hope your weekend went swimmingly.  

Roamin' Empires

"And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it."

- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

My neighbor lent me this book; he said he read it at just the right time, and I feel as though I did too.  A shepherd boy has a simple plan to meet a girl.  While he waits, he meets a man who changes his path seemingly forever.  The man, a king, speaks of the boy's pursuit of his Personal Legend.  A later character, the alchemist, is very instrumental in his journey, and one of my favorite exchanges in the novel occurs around what happens if one gives up pursuit of Personal Legend for something that we are certain will bring us complete happiness.  I agree with the alchemist's point of view.  (I will let you discover the sentiments if this book becomes a part of your personal journey.)  My other takeaway:  life is a circle, not a straight line.  

Speaking of circles, which brings us to pi and then cake, one of our youngest GBC members is officially a few years into his life's journey.  I'm so happy that it includes books, laughter and loving parents who like to read.  Happy Birthday E!  I am wishing that you always follow your heart in pursuit of your own legend.

Turning the Paiges

For over a year I have re-lived GBC book club meetings through GBC P@1ge.  This month's vivid imagery, combined with my knowledge of the host and his abode, made me a little more than homesick for my fellow readers (and various reading water selections).  With her permission, I share P@1ge's words and her photo:

The palace guards were awaiting our arrival, the tables were set with the utmost care, and we had a meal fit for a queen...literally. Inspired by items taken directly from menus for various royal meals, our regal host Sir William prepared an delectable assortment of vegetables (including Brussels sprouts, green beans, green peas, zucchini & yellow squash, carrots and a green salad...oh my!) with an incredible chicken breast and salmon. Dessert included a strawberry cake of sorts (I'll let Mr. H fill you in, my dessert details are fuzzy as I was trying to avoid the dessert table after stuffing myself on meat and veggies!...and no, I did not avoid it entirely...is it possible I had a bite of rhubarb pie? Whatever it was, it was delicious). We even had special menus to commemorate our evening, thanks to Sir Michael. (photo included).

And, yes, we talked about the book. We all agreed that it was a delightful tale of "what if". It was a book about reading and, well, we love to read. Our charming little read was a big hit and it sparked a great discussion of not only the book at issue but other books and other tidbits about the monarchy (guess who had most of the knowledge there?).

It was a very special night, we were treated royally, and I went home and slept like a princess (though there may have been a leftover pea under my mattress!).

And here's what we have waiting in the wings:
March 20: Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold
April 17: Choose your own Mark Twain and pick some lines to share
May: The Family Fang

Happy reading! See you in Spring!

All I Have to do is Dream

A dear friend brought a book to brunch.  I was excited to see the title and then even more thrilled to learn that it was intended for me to borrow.  [I may have clapped.] 

After a night of dreaming about work, the timing just might be right for this to be my next read:  The Alchemist: A Fable About Following your Dream by Paulo Coelho.  

Hope your weekend found you chasing your dream.  

Farm it Out

I cannot imagine the impact it would have had for me as a child if I received a book with a Happy Meal instead of a plastic toy.  Trips to McDonald's were few and far between as it were.

In the UK from now until February 7, a child will receive one of Michael Morpurgo's books with the meal.  Murpurgo is most recently the notable author of War Horse (currently out in theatres).  So what do you think? I'm mixed.  We can't stop the Happy Meal Machine so why not promote literacy.  On the other hand, encouraging those avid readers to those fries...

One thing on which we all can agree is Morpurgo's Farms for City Children program.  Understand your food chain.