the magicians of yorkshire

for february's bookclub, we will be reading susanna clarke's first novel: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell which comes with the praise of one of two faithful bookclubbers, christian and neil gaiman also said it is"Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years." which is saying something since this is the man who wrote both American Gods and Anansi Boys.

we will be meeting at my house on february 25th at 7:30 to discuss the first half of this book (it is long enough that we've decided to spread it out over february and march... please bring something to share and let me know ahead of time if you'll be able to make it.

Requiem [John Updike]

It came to me the other day:
Were I to die, no one would say,
“Oh, what a shame! So young, so full
Of promise — depths unplumbable!”

Instead, a shrug and tearless eyes
Will greet my overdue demise;
The wide response will be, I know,
“I thought he died a while ago.”

For life’s a shabby subterfuge,
And death is real, and dark, and huge.
The shock of it will register
Nowhere but where it will occur.

by the by,

the above could prove very, very dangerous if i am not properly supervised...

if only this jacket would go on sale for about 75% off, i'd be so set for spring.

friday, i think that christian and i are going to tackle a new dish off the tried and true foodblog that made me wonder if there is such a thing as too many szechuan peppercorns in a dish (i'm pretty sure the answer is no). i may even bake that satsuma mandarin/vanilla upside-down pound cake that i've been drooling over for ages... now would be the time to try and finagle a seat for dinner friday.

last night,

last night was girls that i'm just getting to know and chocolate chip cookies with red wine and knitting projects i've been meaning to start. it was walking home in the dark with the snow crunching under my feet and my father's birthday present under my arm. it was sitting on the belgian velvet couch and listening to the beginnings of a remix until it was firmly engraved in my head.

what i'm trying to say is last night was really good, the kind of quiet good that leaves one content for days in its wake.

so proud...

could someone please borrow obama's suitcoat? i need to sew this inside...

i think the last time that i felt like this about politics i was still in high school and was headed to a rally with my spanish teacher whose father inspired hope in us all.

also, new bloglove? yes, please.

never a truer graph has been made

can we never talk about the nicknames i've given my cats?

if the fridge is full,

i recommend the balcony.

j'adore ça

some of my favorite movies end with the american missing their plane and staying in paris.

eyelashes:frozen

chase's iphone said it better than i could.

The Quiet World [Jeffrey McDaniel]

In an effort to get people to look
into each other's eyes more,
and also to appease the mutes,
the government has decided
to allot each person exactly a hundred
and sixty-seven words, per day.

When the phone rings, I put it to my ear
without saying hello. In the restaurant
I point at chicken noodle soup.
I am adjusting well to the new way.

Late at night, I call my long distance lover,
proudly say I only used fifty-nine today.
I saved the rest for you.

When she doesn't respond,
I know she's used up all her words,
so I slowly whisper I love you
thirty-two and a third times.
After that, we just sit on the line
and listen to each other breathe.

entre tú y yo,

this past week, a pretty amazing little boy named jackson introduced me to this movie. while i had once doubted i'd like neil gaiman, christian completely erased this doubt with american gods and anansi boys. who wants to go see it with me?

i've recently realized that my taste in jewelry is pretty predictable. i like: secrets, bones/hearts, trees/leaves, owls, and featherssss. these themes are also evident in most art that i enjoy - i need to work on my element of surprise...

if you're interested in january's bookclub, i recommend picking up a copy of the book immediately, if not sooner.

also, i may have met my match?

speechless

darling 2009, i'm glad you've begun.