Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Phew

Last night I drank margaritas with my coworkers and then saw Beirut, and it was a very very good show. There were trumpets and something called a flugle horn (that is phonetic spelling right there) and mandolins and ukeleles and violins and a cello and of course Zach Condon like a gypsy lounge singer. He's actually cute and round faced and very ordinary looking, though I'm pretty sure every chick in there thought he was the hottest thing ever. So yes, the show was excellent, with the exception of:
  1. The super drunk teenagers behind us who did not understand personal space and hit my friend in the back of the head every time they did a "Beirut is number one!" fist pump.
  2. It was middle-school-gym-in-June hot, and smelled about as bad.
  3. Standing-room only = ouch my lower back.
  4. My friend had to go barf for a little while.
Still, I enjoyed myself and would like to see them in an air conditioned venue with seats sometime, except they're reconfiguring the band or something.

On the way home I made a left on red onto Gough (like "cough"), which is a one way street so I thought it was fair game, but NO! I got pulled over by a cop with a gray Yosemite Sam moustache, who then told me that my MA license isn't valid because I should have a CA one by now. This made me indignant because even though I kind of knew that (just like I knew I shouldn't really turn left on red), they could have at least mentioned that when I registered my car. I expressed this thought to the cop, who gave me neither a ticket nor too much shit about the license. Score!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Recurring adventures in non-traditional body hair

I passed my diseased lungs onto Mike, so our Memorial Day weekend was significantly less than ambitious. We still got to see lots of people we love, though, including those who have come to have a defining part in how we view the world: Josh, Toby, CJ, President Bartlet, and the rest of the cast of the West Wing. We also watched a lot of Weeds, but Mary Louise-Parker's character is kind of a twat, so I am avoiding learning life lessons there.

We did manage to rally for a rousing game of wiffleball, where I met a guy with an American flag shaved into his chest. I am just that lucky. He really liked my sweatshirt and offered to buy it off me, but since I don't wear it nearly as often as he made it clear that he will, I let him have it. He took down my address, promising to send me a surprise in the mail one day - I am not holding my breath. We memorialized the moment in this photo:One thing I should note about this dude: he showed up with his wife, another topless guy in neon shorts, and a comparatively mild-mannered man who is Meg's friend from their hometown of (no joking) Normal, Illinois. They rolled up in a stretch limo and had the driver wait while we played, a fact that made a little more sense when we found out they were visiting from LA.

Now Mike is on a plane to DC, and I leave later in the week for over a month of almost straight travel. I am pretty sure I will not meet too many more people with alternative body hair styles, though my fingers are crossed.

More book stuff

The US and UK publishing industries, despite some key differences, work very closely together, and I think this article by The Observer's former literary editor is pretty darn good. I wish Zadie Smith wasn't on his top 10 list (Truth and Beauty SUCKED), and that Amazon wasn't on there twice, but I think it's interesting that he writes that the whininess of publishing today represents "the birth pangs of a golden age."

"The market for the printed book is now global; the opportunities for the digital book are almost unimaginable. To be a writer in the English language today is to be one of the luckiest people alive."

Whether publishers or booksellers are as lucky is up for debate, but the reason I took this job is that more and more books are being printed - people just need to find them!

My jobber

Well, sort of - I'm on the partner side of things (i.e. books from publishers) and this is mostly about the library project (books from libraries), but here's a New Yorker cartoon on what we're doing. Better resolution available here.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Ooooh

Who wants to do some trail runs with me? The 9k in Pacific sounds fun (6/21), and so does the Angel Island 8 or 16k (7/5). I'm going to be a goddam runner if it kills me.

Boo hiss farm bill

Sorry for the crappy resolution - think of it as an embodiment of the opacity of the bill (700+ pages, yes!). P.O.S.: we're going to keep subsidizing corn syrup and beef, because obviously Americans need more of both of those.

Seriously?

My friend's dad is a defense attorney for capital punishment cases. He almost never wins because he takes on the toughest cases, but he's a great guy. I'm not a fan of, you know, murderers and such, but capital punishment is so ridiculously inefficient at achieving any of its aims (except for maybe satisfying the victim's family, but after 20 years they've gone through the heartache of the capital process as well) that it's difficult to comprehend why it's still around.

Tina's dad was interviewed a couple of years ago on a network news station - so forgive the clumsy transcript - about one of his clients, a 75 year old deaf and blind guy in a wheelchair who has had a stroke and a heart attack in his many decades of incarceration.

A quote from the reporter: "I don't know how to say this, you know, but in September he had a bad heart attack and the state of California spent an awful lot of money and time trying to save his life and now in January they're going to spend money trying to end his life. I mean it's bizarre."

UM YES IT IS asd;klfjas;lfkj!

And a very happy Friday to you, too.

Did you know that Indonesia is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases? Mike's coworker is interviewed in the article.

And speaking of deforestation, Santa Cruz is, um, on fire - and has been since yesterday. Here in Mountain View it smells like BBQ and ash is occasionally drifting down from the sky. Eerie.

On the I'm-not-sure-if-this-is-good-or-bad-news front, Microsoft is shutting down its Books program. It was significantly smaller in scope than ours, but still a competitor - but I'm not sure that a competitor closing shop is a comforting sign. At least they're giving the files back to the publishers.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Glimmer this

I keep meaning to submit stories to Glimmer Train, but then I put it off, even though I think they're doing a great job of filling in the gap the New Yorker has left now that it has cut down on its fiction and only publishes authors that got a six-figure book deal straight out of Iowa. They and a few other magazines are finding talent and even paying them for it, which is novel nowadays.

Anyway, I thought I was procrastinating because I'm lazy, but now I realize it's because their name is just terrible. "Glimmer train" sounds like what happens when everyone forms a conga line at the Richard Simmons Convention opening reception, and I don't really want any part of that. Well, only a little part of it.
(Also, I actually went to the Richard Simmons website to get this photo, and it was glorious.)

Hi, Condi

Today Condoleeza Rice came to speak on campus, and I wound up in an overflow room with a huge HD screen that made her look giant and intimidating. She was with the British Foreign Minister, but no one paid him much attention.

It was a softball interview, and Condi answered every question in a way designed to make Googlers happy. Freedom of the Internet? Well, of course the administration supports it. Renewable Energy? We're on it, my darling nerds! I thought she came across pretty well, considering that she is working with some seriously sad material. Apparently we didn't sign Kyoto because China and India didn't either - riiiiiiiiight. There's $50 billion in US investment in alternative energy - and Bush is taking credit for it. Yikes.

Only once did things get any less than pleasant - someone asked her how she would react if an American citizen were waterboarded, and she gave a super wordy answer about always acting in line with U.S. law and international treaties. Dude re-asked his question, she said she had answered it. He said she hadn't, he said she had, and the British Foreign Minister, embracing his role as Pleasantly Accented Provider of Levity, moved on to a charming question about Madeleine Albright and shoes (everyone knows that Condi's mentor was Madeleine's dad, right?).

In leaving the building I walked into a press scrum, Condi walked right by me, and I stood there and ogled like the True Patriot that I am.

Stuff I Will Eat

Mostly for my reference - my apologies: Easy Ricotta Gnocchi

Stuff I Eat

Despite a hacking cough and more phlegm in my body than was at all fair, I made dinner last night (yum, right?). Steamed snap peas and broccoli with an agave-tamari sauce, paprika and sesame-roasted potatoes & yellow carrots with vegan aioli (don't ask), leftover Burmese naan and samosas, and, of course, some wine.

Check it:I think I'm in a roasting/steaming rut, though - I need to branch out a bit. Suggestions welcome!

Fixer-upper

I'm not ready to own property, let alone renovate anything, but I still have a yen to do what these people did. They have a yard, a garden, a tree-house type thing (look at the photos!), even bees. I want my bungalow, dammit!

Is that an offensive name?

I love Weekend Sherpa, even though I'm not sure how I feel about its name, because doesn't "Sherpa" refer to an ethnic group, not the vocation of guiding trips? In any case, this website rocks - every Thursday it emails a list of outside-y things to do over the weekend in the Bay Area.

Its suggestions this week include a hike in wine country, a kayak trip in the largest estuary in the lower 48 states, a bike ride in "Little Tuscany", campgrounds still available in Yosemite (!), and the best place to BBQ on Treasure Island. I heart weekends - and sherpas, apparently.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

I am not George, Gary, Greg, Geoff, or whoever else you think I am

I guess there are a lot of G Brennans out there, because at least once a week I get an email meant for someone else. Today I got George Brennan's coupon for 20% off at Casual Male, which I am sure he will sorely miss.

I have also been getting repeated emails from a woman who thinks that I am a headstone engraver and is eager to provide me with specifications for her daughter's headstone. This would be morbid except that she is a pretty cheery lady - when I wrote back to tell her the email address she has for Gerry is incorrect and that I was sorry for her loss, her reply was downright perky. Aside from having good coping skills, I know that she lives in Dublin, her daughter was 42 and named Denise, and, oddly enough, she has two names, which she alternates signing off with. Not only that, but Denise is buried next to her father, who is named John(sean). I am pretty Irish, and I have never heard of putting your saint's name in parentheses, if that is what is going on here.

In any case, she keeps emailing me, and I'm not really sure what to do - keep correcting her? Maybe her names are her two different personalities that emerged after the tragic loss of her daughter, and they keep getting their wires crossed as to how to get in touch with Gerry. Or maybe she is just busy.

In any case, this is the burden I bear for being an early Gmail adopter.

Magnolia used to be great

But no longer: here's their new menu.

Some selections:
pork cracklings
pickles and pigs feet
a sausage menu
sand dabs & fume with bones (huh?)
shepard's pie with bone marrow butter

Yeeblechhhhh. So sad!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Remember when I said I wanted a bungalow?

Well I don't. I now want a $5 million house in Marin, with has a hillevator. It makes running to the store for groceries a bit of the pain in the ass, but also an adventure!

OMG

I am submitting a document for translation, and I can check boxes for which languages I need. Slipped in among the French, German, Latvian and Farsi: Klingon, Pig Latin, Elmer Fudd, and LOLcat.

I checked them all - will report back later.

Flying Lady

My boss (who owns a plane and is going to take me up in it!) just sent me this video. I want a Flying Suit so I can be a Flying Lady!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Ersters

Saturday, in anticipation of Sunday's debauchery, we headed out of the city for some wholesome time with Scrambly in western Sonoma. [That is a lot of capital S's.] We took a tromp through a a supersecret redwoods grove near his house. Here are the boys, admiring a Really Big Tree:
To kill time while Scrambly got ready for work, we did a little driving and came upon an amazing bakery. We frenziedly pointed at things we wanted, and they fetched us loaves patiently. We got a fresh-out-of-the-oven cinnamon sticky bun, a loaf of garlic-jalapeno bread, and a loaf of something that is covered in seeds and spices and everything nices.

Then
we went to Scrambly's restaurant, drank a fine rosé, and I ate my weight in oysters. The oysters they get are hand's down, no doubt about it, boy howdy the best oysters ever. I feel kind of bad eating something alive, but not bad enough to stop, or even to eat them in moderation. No sirree.

B2B

Bay to Breakers was a lot like Marathon Monday (bestdayofourlives2005!), except with more boys, and costumes. We woke up early, started drinking, watched people run, and then drank some more. The costumes were ridiculous. We saw Ghostbusters and naked old men (for reals, not a costume) and Elvises and animals and superheroes and Waldos and bumblebees and hula dancers and Founding Fathers and Twelve Galaxies Guys and way more than I will ever be able to process. Oh, and this gem: It was a really fantastic day, until I fell asleep on my couch (along with four other people and some pizza carcasses) at 3 p.m. and woke up four hours later with a raging hangover. Worth it though - holy crap I love this city and every single nutbag in it. With the exception of Hair Jersey guy there.

Pickletini

And now there's a third savory mixed drink for me! I can bring it into rotation along with the bloody mary and the dirty martini. Occasionally I'll go for a gimlet because it's at least not syrupy, but sweet mixed drinks gross me out. Not as much as a pickletini might, but I'm going to give it a go.

Friday, May 16, 2008

I need to go shopping.

We have dinner reservations at the Chateau Marmont during Book Expo!

Gor-jus

Yesterday was notable for two reasons aside from my two-wheeled trek to work:
1. Gay marriage was ok'd in CA
2. It was still 75 degrees in the city at 11 p.m.

The power of these things combined led to a seriously festive atmosphere last night. We had a picnic in Dolores Park, and when we showed up around 8:30 it was packed. Friends who had come from the Castro said it was a full-on dance party there, with men in short shorts writhing around onstage, and we surmised that there is probably always a dance troupe on a stage under Castro St., ready to be lifted to the surface (a la the Roman Coliseum [as opposed to the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, which is a way lamer reference]) at the slightest hint of a celebration. These friends also brought their little dog Squid, along with Squid's Xanax, which I feel like might not have been necessary had they not strapped her with a collar with flashing raver lights. But hey, it was a party.

San Francisco is a fine place to be when progress is made for liberal causes, and gay marriage is, of course, a big fat emotional one. Not only that, but the average age here is like 29, so people are looking for any excuse to party. If only it was like this all the time...

I can't help it, see

It's official: the NYT says San Francisco is pretty much the best place for food ever.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Stuff I Eat

Last night: rice noodles with bok choy, yellow carrots, garlic and broccoli in a leftover-udon-soup sauce, topped with leftover veggie tempura and crushed tamari almonds. Sauteed shiitakes on the side for me, because Mike is picky-picky.The scene, post-dinner: veggie carnage!

I am so very glad we have a composter.

Yay gay!

First MA, now CA! Next I am going to move to Mississippi and see how far my gay marriage mojo goes.

Most of the comments are pretty great too - surprisingly few homophobic nutjobs. I'm not ready to think about any adverse political ramifications yet...

Gail Collins for President

A Victory Plan for Hillary:

1) A big, big win in Kentucky next Tuesday. Ideally, Obama should be limited to no more than 100 votes.

2) Oregon, scheduled for the same day, inexplicably breaks off and sinks into the Pacific Ocean.

3) Puerto Rico, clocking in on June 1, not only gives Clinton a huge majority, but also manages to become a state in advance of the vote.

4) Finally, on June 3 as the South Dakota polls open, Thomas Jefferson’s head on Mount Rushmore comes to life and starts shouting, “You go, girl.”

This weather don't quit.

It's still gorgeous! It was hot as balls on the bike ride down here, but 90 degrees in MTV means perfect weather in the city. On top of that, here was the sunset last night:Ain't that something?

Are you sure?

From Ideal Bite, a cutesy daily eco-email: "Google employees get free, freshly made kombucha daily at the company's HQ in Mountain View, CA."

There are 18 cafes here, brah, and mine most certainly does not have kombucha. But that is ok, because whatever its health benefits may be, kombucha is a fungus that makes beverages taste like fermented sour rotting. Cheers!

Happy Bike to Work Day!

This morning I got up at the butt crack of dawn to ride my bike 45 miles to work, and it was totally worth it. I met a group of about 50 people in the Mission at 6:30 - here's the group assembling:We pedaled through the city, under highways, and down along the Bay. I have a sunburn and a sore ass, but am otherwise fantastic. It was a no one left behind group, so all in all it took almost 4 hours - not great, but we were met on campus with horns, whistles, massages, and packs of fancy shampoo. Not a bad way to start the day.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Ahhhhh

The loogie hocker is on my bus! Goddammit. He appears a few rides a week, with his throat-clearing twitch. It comes every minute or so - a loogie-hocking noise, but dry, and impossible to drown out. I have seriously thought about telling him he is disgusting, and that nobody likes him. Except that nobody else seems to notice, which makes me contemplate my neuroses and thereby hate him even more.

Holy crap, am I a misanthrope yet?

Fugvieve

I am going to photoshop my face onto this and turn it into invites to my birthday party.

My birthday is two months away, but I like to plan ahead.

Derrida wha?

It's pretty awesome to be a person who likes to read in a culture where people are constantly decrying the death of the written word (what are people doing on the intertubes, though, huh? reading!), since my whole life I've been getting pats on the back for reading shit that someone made up to entertain me. And, inevitably, people who like to read also like to break that shit down.

This is a super interesting article about the current and future state of literary criticism. He loses points for talking about "the human condition", but he does reference "shibboleth", which was the subject of a West Wing episode and thereby sits on my mental mantle like bronzed baby shoes.

The writer's thesis is that literary criticism should model itself more on the sciences. As a book person in the tech industry, that's pretty appealing - I'd much rather leave the moony-eyed obsession with fictional characters to the wolf shirt girls.

It seems, though, like "literary science" will wind up as just another form of criticism, like Deconstruction or New Historicism. He's talking about a different mode of thinking about and interpreting the text, not a different mode of thinking altogether. He's not revolutionizing the way scholarship is done; he's not proposing that literary scholars change their research methods so that they are more like scientists'. I mean, how could they? They already propose a hypothesis (Shakespeare liked dudes), research it (letters from Shakespeare to dudes), and come up with a conclusion that is limited by the data that is available (the evidence points to the fact that Shakespeare didn't like dudes in that way). Adapt to your preferred form of literary criticism, of course (Mike, that's your cue to see how Shakespeare felt about American Indian dudes), but scholarship is scholarship, and it doesn't seem like this guy is proferring anything new.

He and and some colleagues did do a cool thing where they interviewed readers "to determine how different their reading experiences truly were. Did reactions to characters vary profoundly from reader to reader?" He finds that "there were variations in what our readers thought and felt about literary characters, but it was expertly contained by the authors within narrow ranges."

Duh, dude. That means the author did a good job - he or she corralled language in such a way that the readers, no matter what they brought into the reading, had the kind of reaction the author was aiming for.

All that said, it's a great idea to use modern technology for lit crit (stylometric studies?), and to have a number of people working on a thesis, rather than a French guy alone in a room, smoking cigarettes and plotting how to make my life difficult.

Stuff I Eat

I know I said I wouldn't brag about my access to free gourmet food, but holy crap, coconut papaya rice pudding is goooood.

Last night we continued our crepe streak (that sounds gross) with smoked gouda-broccoli-bok choy crepes for dinner and strawberry & nutella ones for dessert. Our soon-to-be-neighbor Meg dropped by, and also enjoyed the fruits of my obsession.

I made her admire our plants too, of course. I bet you all just can't wait until I have spawn to show off.

Cause and Effect

Mike's article: polar bears are endangered.

The government's decision: polar bears sure are threatened, all right.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Fully domesticated

I love that it's doesn't get dark until later! It's the only real sign that it's Spring elsewhere. It's been a bit warmer lately, but when the coldest it gets in February is the low 50's, you don't really have the huge oh my god let's be outside and wear short sleeves and get all the vitamin d we can soak in relief that is May on the East Coast.

That said, being in my apartment in the late evening is totally awesome. I love it at any time, but yesterday evening I took this very lazy picture from the couch:Isn't it lovely? Ok, maybe you can't really see it very well, but I swear it is. I've been meaning to take some photos of the whole place - a flash might help, I guess. Chalk another one up for the to-do list...

The hills are alive

Mike's new Bay Area radio show is up on the tubes.

This show, from what I overheard Mike saying into the mic over and over again when he was recording it, has a selection of songs from a music collective that we've never heard of. That's notable only in that I was pretty sure Mike knew every band in this city that was making anything worthwhile, and most of those that are not, too.

Por ejemplo: Thursday I caught up with Mike at Hemlock. (I had been at a friend's website launch party, which featured Boots Riley of The Coup - rad!) We ran into pretty much everyone I know in this city that did not go to Wellesley, of which about 89% are in bands. It was the most San Francisco scene ever - the whiskey, the tattoos, the dishevelment. One dude was wearing what I am pretty sure was the collar of one of my grandma's acrylic sweaters around his head; he had wisely chosen not to sport his customary iridiscent motley bingo-lady jacket. There was also a bunch of other band people, and a dude who lives near us and takes good pictures, a friend of his who we keep running into at parties and it's awkward because I can't help scoping his combover, and some other people. And Ace.

Um, point of story = listen to the show, it's good, and I'm only sort of just saying that because my boyfriend made it.

Monday, May 12, 2008

My bebbes

Our garden is growing! Our garden is growing! We've gotten a little out of control with our urban farming experiment, but so far everything is growing beautifully. As of Saturday the seedlings were still in their initial planters, but yesterday we transferred them to larger containers.

Before:
Beans in the foreground, kale behind them, basil behind that. On the right, sage and catnip.To the left, Texas bluebonnets (guess whose idea that was); to the right, tomatoes.
During:
Replanting tomatoes, the jalapeno plant, and one of Mike's succulents.
After:
Our bedroom, taken over. From left: butternut squash, lavender, jalapeno, bluebonnets, tomatoes, kale, beans. Below: more tomatoes, bell pepper, basil, cilantro, sage and catnip.
Beans, kale, tomatoes, bluebonnets, jalapeno, lavender. Tomato-lets in tomato cans!
Despite the three sets of bay windows in our apartment, we don't get much direct sunlight, so who knows if these things will actually produce vegetables. We've maximized what light there is, though, and are hoping that in a few months we'll be eating food we grew ourselves!

Yoga

Mike & I kicked off this past weekend with a rousing yoga class, my fourth ever. I fell over a lot, and I couldn't straighten parts that were supposed to be straight or bend parts that were supposed to bend, but on the whole I was pretty proud of myself. Until I realized there was a hole in the ass of my yoga pants, and because it was laundry day, I was not wearing unders.

Sucks for everyone who had to watch me stretch.

Stuff I Eat

Friday night I whipped up a post-yoga dins of our last bits of veggielivery: romaine lettuce with roasted beets, mozzarella cheese, and lots of balsamic vinegar. I roasted some carrots, too, and tossed them with ume plum vinegar, soy sauce and maple syrup, and used white trash garlic bread (butter & garlic salt) to sop it all up. It looked like this:Does that look gross? Maybe it does, but it was delicious. Anyway, the next morning I made some crepes and repurposed our leftovers - behold, beet-carrot-cheese crepes a la me:
It was a crepe-tastic weekend: we also ate them with just cheese, or just maple syrup, or smothered in Nutella. Nutella makes foods that it cannot be smeared on entirely irrelevant.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Veggielivery is my girlfriend.

Order confirmed: Ataulfo mango, bananas, beets, bok choy, Braeburn apples, broccoli, yellow carrots, cucumber, red potato, shiitake mushrooms, strawberries, sugar snap peas, ahhhhhhh. On my doorstep Tuesday.

Tee hee

The BBC: "Great tits cope well with warming"

I love love.

Campus gets streetviewed like everyplace else, so they sent out an email for employees to line up on the main drag at 10 a.m. Several hundred did, with giant umbrellas and bouncy balls and beanbag chairs and Mentos to make bottles of Diet Coke explode. As soon as the two camera cars drove by, everyone made a break for the other side of the lawn, where the cars were going to loop around. The cars did come back, followed by people on bikes, scooters, and a 6-person conference bike. It was very Wellesley-esque: pale people having awkward dorky fun.

Also, next week is Bike to Work Week here, and on Thursday or Friday I am going to ride the 44 miles to work. Woohoo!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Satire gets me fired up real good.

I occasionally get excited about earnest call-to-action political pieces, but it's really satire that gets me. Case in point: Wall Street execs make money even when they do a shitty job, yada yada yada, I really don't care as long as I get to look at photo of their penthouses in the real estate section of the Times.

Then along comes McSweeney's with "Word Problems for Future Hedge Fund Managers":
Advanced (Ages 16-18): If an American hedge-fund manager makes $900 million and is taxed at a rate of 15 percent, how many American factory workers making $32,500 and being taxed at a rate of 25 percent does that make a sucker of? (Show your work.)

Also, last night I dreamed I was camping in a desert with a bunch of people from high school that I keep tabs on via Facebook, and a gully near our campsite flooded and I had to jump in and save our stuff as it was washed away. Then I dreamed about dolphins that were cute and playful and let you pet their squeaky smooth heads, but then got a little too rough and frisky and bitey. I gave one a good talking to, it apologized, and they quieted down again.

Jesus christ.

It must be in the water.

The featured reader's comment that is currently highlighted alongside this NYT article is from the editor of my hometown newspaper. To quote the magnificent Mr. Moore, how cool is that?

Also, my employer bought 11,000 tickets to the new Indiana Jones movie so that employees can go for free, and bring a guest. Yee haw!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

:)

I just used an emoticon for the first time in my life (shame), and it was in the context of explaining to several hundred people why I didn't pay $400 for a composter:

"The NatureMill was outside my price range, so I really didn't look at it too closely :) It seems a bit involved, and requires a power source and an air filter, whereas mine is supposedly odorless because of the "beneficial microbial inoculant" you mix in with the compost."

Did I even do it right? Whatever, I also got to work in "beneficial microbial inoculant", so I guess I'll call it even.

Butterflies blech

Maureen Dowd has an interesting piece on Hillary and Obama today, but it is unfortunately titled "Butterflies Aren't Free."

It also has what may be today's Worst Last Line Ever:
"As [Hillary] makes a last frenzied and likely futile attempt to crush the butterfly, it’s as though she’s crushing the remnants of her own girlish innocence."

Barf.

I need yoga or therapy or something.

We are doing a painful but necessary project at work that involves lots of spreadsheets and codes, and last night, all night, I dreamed of columns and rows and lines of letters and numbers. Even more messed up, the codes were assigned to all of our sprouting plants, so I had to organize cells and cells of codes associated with tomatoes and blue bonnets and beans and basil. There were codes for smooth leaves and codes for lobed leaves, for just-sprouted seedlings and for bigger plants. And, of course, I had no idea how exactly I was supposed to be ordering it all.

I also dreamed that I was trying to show someone how to spell my name on my iPhone but I kept typing it in wrong, and that I went surfing on a baking pan.

Monday, May 5, 2008

"Publishing is a business, a sport, and an art."

The head of Random House is stepping down, and this is a really interesting (though old) article on him, and on publishing in general. It does a great job of profiling the pathology of publishing - commerce vs art: a fight to the death. It gets weird toward the end, but if you have any interest in a powerful man's stuffed animal collection, it's worth a read.

Friday, May 2, 2008

I love my (French Canadian) publishers.

Hello,
Sorry for the delay, we are running a few to many hares at a time. I will give you news on monday.
Best,
ANR

Stuff I Eat

This has been a gloriously quiet week. Aside from Leslie coming over, the only people Mike and I have seen after work are those who go to our gym, and the cast of The West Wing. Here is a picture of the deliciousness I made last night:Mashed potatoes with kale, beet greens, garlic and parmesan; sauteed snow peas and shiitake mushrooms with a bit of soy sauce. Veggielivery rules.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Handicapper

My grandpa was a handicapper for the races. When I was a kid, I thought this meant that he did for speed skating what Tonya Harding did for figure skating.