married/currently residing in California/moved from Chicago/still between residences/previously lived in SF, LA and Austin/npr junkie/survived life as a partner while fiance earned his MBA at the University of Chicago (BOOTH)/waiting on next big thing
And I think I can check one item off as done. My list is over three pages long, and growing. How ever am I going to get this all done over the next eighteen days?!
The dishes seem to be one of my pitfalls. It feels like I keep washing the same dishes over and over again. Part of my problem is that I am cooking things that while not extremely difficult, do take a bit of effort, and lots of pots, pans, and bowls. Ugh.
Tonight, for example, I made corn pudding. It is a souffle, but it isn't hard. It does take a pot, a bowl, the Cuisinart, and the souffle dish though. I served that with leftover roast pork from Thanksgiving. It leaked all over the bottom of the oven and made a lovely black stain. I knew I had to clean the oven again, but grrr!
Progress today included finding a place to drop off the extra canned goods I need to clean out of the cupboards. I have until this weekend. Then I can head over to Vromans bookstore to drop them off. They are collecting food all weekend at their locations. That's one less thing to worry about.
Why am I cleaning out the cupboards? Well, we are in a recession, and people who were once donors, are not clients of many food banks around the country. But truly it is because B's parents, his father in particular, gets really upset if there is more than one of the same thing in the cupboard. He spent one morning cleaning out the cupboards and got ballistic over two boxes of brown sugar and three kinds of flour. It was insane.
on the night stand :: Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard
Yesterday I attended an event with the buyers at Vroman's Bookstore. Initially I was the only attendee - there were three buyers! Thankfully two more people joined us, so it was at least equal.
The idea was to spend your lunch hour at the bookstore and learn about what the buyer's think are good bets for the holiday season. There were books, gifts, and stationary. All of the buyers were enthisiastic about their picks. And unlike what the chain bookstores offer up in their newsletters, most all of these titles were new to me. There were actually some great ideas for those hard to shop for - namely older men.
Here are the books that were recommended:
Great Military Leaders and Their Campaigns by Jeremy Black: This is a beautiful coffee table book. It contains concise and beautifully illustrated biographies of great military leaders from Cyrus the Great in the sixth century BC to Vo Nguyen Giap in the twentieth century. Perfect for the military buff on your list.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson: The author of this book recently died, but he left behind three mystery novels. This is the first. All three books will be published. Also each book is self-contained, so no cliff hangers to wait for the next book. This would make a great gift for a mystery lover, although the buyer noted that she wasn't a fan of mysteries, yet enjoyed this book greatly - it was hard to put down. You can read an excerpt here.
What Makes a Child Lucky by Gioia Timpanelli: This beautifully told novella is set in rural Sicily is about survival. A boy is kidnapped by the murderers of his best friend. A good gift choice for the women on your list that enjoy reading.
Obsessed with Star Wars by Benjamin Harper: This is a must-have for any Star Wars fan. With over 2000 trivia questions about the movies, books, comics, and games, even the biggest fan is sure to be stumped. There is a gizmo contained in the book that lets you select your answer and alerts you if you are correct (or not). In addition to the trivia questions there are photos and information about everything Star Wars.
Birdscapes: A Pop-Up Celebration of Bird Songs in Stereo Sound by Miyoko Chu and Cornell Lab of Omithology: This was the most impressive book I have seen in a while. The pop-up scenes are amazing. When you open a page, the birds sing. A pull out on the page explains which birds you are hearing. Great gift for bird and nature lovers.
The Lump of Coal by Lemony Snicket: Last year Lemony Snicket told us about latkes (see above). This year it is the story of a lump of coal. This is a very funny story about a lump of coal that escapes from a bag of charcoal who tries to find a brighter future. Great for all ages. This year's format is small enough to fit into a stocking.
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell: This book is sure to make it onto many lists. Gladwell is also the author of Tipping Points and Blink. He was recently interviewed on NPR. His ties Asian math prowess to growing rice and plane crashes to cultural norms.
A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes by David Tanis and Alice Waters (forward): David Tanis spends six months of the year in the kitchens of Chez Panisse, and the remainder of the year in France. This cookbook is filled with beautiful photographs and recipes that are simple to make and encourage the use of seasonal ingredients. This is a book any food lover would appreciate.
Today we went to Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena for the Martha Stewart book signing. Martha was signing her 66th book, Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Recipes and Lessons for the Home Cook. I didn't realize when we bought our books a couple of weeks ago, that our tickets were numbered. Turns out we were 81 and 82, so got to be pretty near the front of the line of what was close to 400.
Parking was our first and really only issue. The lot was crazy, and people were started to get a little huffy. We ended up paying for parking, but worth not fighting over a parking space.
The signing was held upstairs, but we were lined up around the perimeter of the store. Groups of 15 or so were let in as the line moved up the stairs. The event was set to start at 4pm. Martha arrived early and those with small children or handicaps were taken care of first. We were done by 4:40pm, so not bad. The line was still snaking around the front of the bookstore when we left around 5:15pm.
The highlight of the signing was a guy a few people ahead of us, Tony Briant. He told Martha that he loved her daughter's show. Martha was thrilled, picked up her cell phone and tried to get Alexis on the line. She got her answering machine, and Tony left a message. It is in the video above.
I found the video using Twitter Search. It comes from Anotorias also found a couple of other people who were there. Vroman's is on Twitter, but really missed an opportunity to connect with their customers today. They need to read Twitter Revolution.
Tomorrow Martha Stewart will be at B&N in Glendale at 11am. There are no details on their site. I called and it appears they are handing out wristbands when the store opens at 9am. A wristband guarantees that your book will be signed. They did not know how many they will be giving out though. It was recommended to arrived before 9am though. It should be a zoo. Still a part of me wants to go because I have a copy of the book I would love to have signed. Don't ask. And yes, I know I have issues.
