Daybook ... HC style

Cooking: Curried Beef with Potatoes and Peas ... so good I made it twice in the last two weeks. Next up will be Turkey Bone Gumbo that Sara Roahen kindly sent me the recipe for. I'm having to break it up into steps as I never have all the hours in one day that a true gumbo needs.

Talking: Serve the People: a Stir-Fried Journey Through China ... the lagniappe offered over at Forgotten Classics.

Reading:

• Just finished the above-mentioned Serve the People.
• Also finished Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines. It's like someone took the Summa Mamas and got them to knit and talk and write it all down, with simple patterns. Look for a little lagniappe to be posted over at Forgotten Classic in the near future from this book.
  
• Getting ready to dive into Eating India.
  
• Thoroughly enjoying rereading A Jesuit Off Broadway for our Catholic women's book club.
  
• Also getting so much from Mother Teresa's Secret Fire ... honestly I could practically excerpt every page here. Except then they wouldn't be excerpts would they?

Listening: it's a toss-up.

• Christmas music, especially the newly purchased Tony Bennett's "A Swingin' Christmas." iTunes had a song from it as last week's free download and it was pretty good. Tony's no Dino, but good enough and Count Basie's band backing him up sealed the deal. Plus look at that cover. So good in so many ways.
  
  
  
• The January Dancer by Michael Flynn. The guy knows how to tell space opera, y'all ... AND how to examine story telling while telling a story. So far - brilliant.
• The Catholic Foodie ... yes, you read that right. Catholicism and Food. Two of my favorite things ... in a podcast from Jeff Young. He's only on episode two but I'm likin' it so far. Also, he has some good stuff on his blog. The story about the baked potatoes cracked me up! Here's a tip from James Beard that has never sent me wrong ... one hour at 450 degrees, Jeff. Not 350.
  

Watching: finally saw Hellboy. Entertaining but it was no Pan's Labyrinth. I liked the Father and Son stuff though and the fact that Hellboy's free will was tied to the fact that "Son" was his truest identification with the person who truly loved him for who he was (that would be the Father, y'all). I'll watch Hellboy II ... when the library has it!

ALSO watched Craig Ferguson from Monday night. It was his first night back after attending his mother's funeral in Scotland and he spent the show talking about her. As he told the camera, he's always tried to be honest and it didn't feel right to be "on" when he didn't feel it. It was a combination of humor, reminiscence, and a son's love for his mother. Not the usual late night fare and we really appreciated his honesty. Which is why we watch him in the first place ... well, and the fact that his honesty usually is funny.

Congratulating: Chase Bank. Yes, our bank. Either we have the friendliest, most helpful Chase branch in the U.S. or they have radically improved banking customer service above the competition. Stopped in this morning to try to unsnarl a knotted tangle created by a family member (who shall remain unnamed) who is handling household expenses for the first time. Turns out it was not all their fault as the bank hadn't linked checking to the promised overdraft protection. Chase was so helpful and we looked through all our other accounts as well for any problems. And banking lessons will continue in our home when all gather for the holidays. Doesn't that sound like so much fun? (ha!)

Knitting: I never have been one of those people who had lots of projects "on the needles." Until now. Knitting Rose's afghan, I also cast on a simple hoodie for Hannah to provide something simple when my brain couldn't handle complications. Then I found I really missed knitting socks, so cast on one that I am halfway through because then ... talking to my mother, who always has scoffed at the idea of knitting socks, she mentioned that she was waiting for that pair of socks I said that I'd knit to keep her feet warm on winter nights. SCREEEECH to a halt with all else, order yarn ASAP, and start knitting like the wind. Yes. The. Wind. Almost done with the leg of the second sock. Whew! Then I have to work my way back to finishing some of these other projects!

Daybook

What I'm Watching
Sahara. We finished Sahara with Michael Palin. I think other than the sheer foreignness of all those places what fascinated us most was that practically everyone he came across spoke passable French or English or both. We were, of course, keeping in mind that most of these people had been vetted ahead of time to be guides or interviews. However, it was still quite impressive.

Arrested Development. Finishing up the last seaso. Except for the seemingly random use of Tobias whose character the writers seem not to have known what to do with anymore, it is still so funny how they can weave such nonsensical elements into a cohesive whole that packs a hilarious punch in each episode.

Life on Mars. Is anyone else watching this? I haven't seen the British original, not having cable, but am enjoying this American adaptation. So far with three episodes down it is interesting not only in the mystery of the main character's "time travel" but in the contrast between 1973 and now ... though I do find the emphasis on constant police brutality a trifle wearing.

Daybook

Outside my window
The trees are green and I see maybe a leaf or two that is changing color. It will be Thanksgiving before they really change in force, if they do at all.
~~~
In my thoughts
I miss Hannah and Rose. I wasn't missing them for some time ... but today, I miss them!
~~~
In Thanksgiving
For my good life and family and how rich it is with God in the middle of it.
~~~
Kitchen meanderings
Planning another Khmer stir-fry this week ... a simple pork and green bean dish. We'll see if I actually make it or not.
~~~
Using my creative powers
Not sure if I'm using creative powers on this but I definitely am trying to keep myself on schedule and disciplined enough to ignore distractions. I'm realizing that my day is full of them and most are self-imposed. Bad, bad Julie D!
~~~
Stacked up

• Calico Palace by Gwen Bristow: revisiting an old favorite
• Shapers by Robert R. Chase: dropped into the middle of a situation that is probably the most unique and original view of an alien species I've ever read. Fascinating. Really fascinating.
• My Cousin, the Saint (review copy): loving this book. How the author manages to combine Italian history, the Italian immigrant experience in the U.S., the poor Italian parish priest experience, food writing, and faith ... well, he's good, let's just say that. Very good.
• Pope John Paul II: An Intimate Life (review copy): finished this actually. Excellent. Now I must write the review.
• The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (reading a chapter in the evenings with Tom, when we remember): funny and inspirational. I hope that if I were faced with such dire news I'd react as he did.

~~~
Couch potato
Ignoring those stinkin' Cowboys ... the usual things at home from the VCR: House, Bones, Pushing Daisies, Chuck. We gave Life on Mars a Try and I found it interesting although somewhat claustrophobic when he'd hear from loved ones over the television or radio. I felt trapped along with him. That was not such a good feeling but I believe it is particular to my reaction. I'm going to be continuing with it.

From the library-Michael Palin's Sahara which we're halfway though. I continue to be fascinated by how very differently people live right now at this moment from the way that I do.
~~~
In my ears
The Adventures of Jimmy Dale, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, proofing this week's podcast.

Caught up with Alderpod which is an interesting fantasy with a bit of steampunk folded in. The author surprises me time and again by having the characters react realistically in stressful situations as opposed to the idealistic way that I expect the strong female, the lad coming into his own, the bard on his first mission ... to react.
~~~
Around the house
Very, very slowly I'm cleaning up corners or bookshelves or tabletops. And they still stay cleaned off!
~~~
A favorite thing
Right this second? My husband. (That whole second honeymoon thing, you know.)
~~~
An extra tidbit
I have become the Queen of Canned Dogfood. (Also of canned cat food.) We're catering to our sweet old boxer who is slowly fading away from cancer. We joke that it's the canned Alpo keeping her alive. She's always a chow hound no matter what. The cat has finally become pleased now that I've tried Fancy Feast. She eats every bit, as opposed to the Iams tiny bits of fish (or whatever) where she laps up the liquid and disdains the solids.

Daybook for Labor Day 2008

I am wondering... about a new project that has occurred to me. Just mulling it over at the moment. Letting it marinate. (Because I need more things to do, right? ha!)

I am thankful for... this long weekend in which to recover from all the traveling last week.

From the kitchen... yesterday I made Potato Rolls and a Turkey Stew from Piedmont and today will be trying out a recipe for Creamy Horseradish Potato Salad. Somehow I am a cooking fiend lately.

I am creating... a new podcast for this week.

I am reading... The Duchess Who Wouldn't Sit Down: An Informal History of Hospitality ... a backwards trip through history via different characters who the author uses to illustrate his points about how hospitality illustrates our relationships to each other. Very interesting. For instance, I never thought of how Hitler entertained during the weekend ...

I am hoping... to be very productive next week. Also, to talk to Hannah today. Can you believe they have school today at A&M? Taking Labor Day off is for sissies, evidently. So I'm trying to gauge when she'll be out of class...

I am hearing... the sound of silence. And it's a beautiful thing.

One of my favorite things... is having this long, lazy day off of work.

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