Reading

I just finished Ship of Fools by Katherine Ann Porter, and I wasn't impressed. There wasn't a single likeable or sympathetic character and the (plotless) narrative dragged on and on. The themes of nationalism were heavily drawn and overdone. I'm not sure why I finished it, except that I feel bad criticizing a book unless I have. Am I missing something? Has anyone else read this book? Liked it? I vaguely remember it being on a list of books I could choose to do a book report on in 10th grade, but I'm not sure. Somehow, I can't imagine a teenager ploughing all the way through that much nonsense.

Not so good

You Are 32% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

How Evil Are You?

Rain

I love the rain.

Overlap

Not to trespass on the Apartment Food Hobos' territory, but I baked last night! Cooking is a very occasional thing for me since B and I generally live off the Whole Foods 'oven-ready' section, so it always feels like an event. I tend to call my Mom and tell her about it and say things like "and I used real live flour!"

Anyway, I made an Upside-Down Butterscotch Apple Sour Cream Cake. Say that five times fast. It's made in a cast-iron pan, so you know it has to be good. And it was. We ate it warm, with vanilla ice cream, while watching an episode of the original Star Trek (Yes, we really are that nerdy).


The only thing wrong with it was the cake part. When I took it out of the oven, it was nice and fluffy, but by the time it had cooled for ten minutes, the whole thing was only about an inch thick. Still tasty, but not puffy. What did I do wrong? The same thing happened with my attempt at chocolate chip cookies a few weeks ago. Any suggestions?

Somewhere out East, I think?

So the unofficial Austin city motto these days is "Keep Austin Weird," a phrase which is printed on t-shirts, bumper stickers, signs, store windows, and any other place it might be useful in generating a dollar.


In what I guess is supposed to be Texas A&M's response, I saw this bumper sticker a few days ago:


I think it's supposed to be sassy and funny, but instead, I think it's just a sad commentary on College Station.

*Disclaimer* In no way do I mean to denigrate Texas A&M, Aggies, etc., even though I do think College Station is probably a very boring town (although I haven't been there and I'm not even sure exactly where it is). I would even go so far as to say that some of my near acquaintances are Aggies.

Me and Pemberley

• So those of you who have known me for awhile are probably aware of my Jane Austen fanaticism. I have read all the continuations, seen all the movies, and hated most of them. I finally saw the new Pride and Prejudice last night, and I was fully expecting to be disappointed. However. I thought it was the best adaptation I've ever seen, even better than the BBC miniseries. Obviously, a lot had to be cut out, but all of the plots and subplots remain mostly intact. Also, for once, the script writers realized that maybe Jane Austen could write better dialogue than they could. Bingly was exactly the Bingley in my head. And the photography was stunning. The only thing that wasn't good was the lack of emotional restraint. You would think they were remaking one of the Bronte books or something
• The first time I ever read a Jane Austen book was during my senior year of high school. Pride and Prejudice was assigned for the home-schooling English course I had to take to make up for the year I missed. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I skimmed. And wrote a BS paper. And then I forgot all about it. I don't remember why I picked up Emma right after I moved to Austin, but I did. And I was in love. So I went and tried Pride and Prejudice again. To my amazement, it had transformed into something great. Now I read all of Jane Austen's books at least once a year. They are all my favorite.
• About two hours ago, I took a bite of blueberry bagel with mustard and the first thing I thought was "this tastes exactly like Jane Austen reads." Make of that what you will.
• I don't think B enjoyed the movie quite as much as I did.
  

A bag of plenty

5 things I'm not sure why are in my purse:

1. A plastic fork, unused (at least, I hope)
2. A TV-B-Gone - btw, remind me to tell the story of how B and I were going to convince his mom that one of her Shitzus had mysterious powers...
3. 9 pens (of which only three are black, red, or blue), and 19 mechanical pencils
4. Proof of my SCUBA certification (just in case I need to make an emergency dive, you know)
5. A small, plastic, cowboy-singer figurine that kind of looks like Stevie Ray Vaughan from the back

Conversation

Bella discusses the innate cruelty of playful dogs with her fellow sufferer, Squeaky Banana.

Oh god, another one of those

Because everyone needs a 1920's name.

Your 1920's Name is:

Sammie Bobbie

What's Your 1920's Name?

Best. Shoes. Ever.

B was horrified when I came home with these, but then again, he mostly wears a pair of 10 year old Birkenstocks.