The man that I love and live with recently told me of his fondness for linguistics and learning about different language trends and traditions. He said that a person’s locale determines not only how they talk, but what they talk about it.
He’s absolutely right. The same can also be said for food.
A lot of times during the summer months, I don’t feel like cooking. My appetite changes and instead of chicken stews and mashed potatoes, all I want is fresh seafood and green salads. So I graze and drink a lot of liquids and then as soon as September comes, I can be found standing at the stove creating thick soup, ratatouille and succotash, roast chicken, lamb and hearty beef chili.
But it is not just the heat that has me a bit bummed about food. It’s my grocery store. Don’t get me wrong – I am blessed to have a store that is not only reasonable but offers fresh ingredients from Korea, Japan and Sri Lanka. It’s just that I am tired of it.
See, when you cook and eat a lot of meals at home – and now that we are both writing full-time at home, we do – you tend to go through a lot of food and well, shopping at the same store might not mean the same recipe over and over, but it does mean most of the ingredients remain the same.
So this week I am venturing out. I don’t know where yet – I still have a little research to do – but I’m going to find us a new home, I mean grocery store. To use at least for a little while. Come September, I will be at my usual haunt picking up black-eyed peas, lettuce, diced tomatoes, chicken, squash, pita, hot sauce and the like. But in the meantime, I’m going to try on a new store for size and see how it fits.
Something tells me it is just what I need.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
The Encyclopedia I Just Can't Get Enough Of (Books)
I am in the midst of completing my last lesson of an intensive non-fiction writing course that I want to do every week for the rest of my life - it is that good.
This last lesson focuses on structure and really emphasizes giving great thought to the structure and format of your work.
With my book, I planned on one thing and it became something else. Something better. And I couldn’t have planned on that, no matter what materials and grid paper were available to me.
My first one was very research-based so it came in huge waves at various points and so, I jumped from crest to crest, letting it take me away. It was a joy, but by book’s end, I knew the next one would be a much more structured affair – something with a beginning, middle and end.
And so far it is. So far.
So, with this lesson, I have been investigating different ways to present your work – chronological, alphabetical, themed chapters, etc.
But never before have I been so impressed by both a book’s structure and content than Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life.
This is one of those books that you hold even when you aren’t reading it, because it just brings you so much joy. I can’t stop telling people about it, reading entries from it, begging friends to read it and promising that they will love it as much as I do.
I am what you might call an Amy Krouse Rosenthal evangelist.
Because she has done something so incredibly bright – I can’t stop thinking about it:
She went out and wrote a biography about herself in encyclopedia format, A-Z, and while it is all about this woman whom I never heard of before and whom you learn the most intimate details about, she manages to make it a non-egotistical venture AND her name is not a part of her book’s title.
She is smart AND funny, a simultaneous feat that is near to impossible for mere mortals, and I could read 22 volumes full of her life’s details. Make that 220.
I think about her all the time and now, when I am considering what to make for dinner, I actually say in my head – “Would Amy like Chinese broccoli?.” Throughout the day I might wonder “Would she enjoy the movie Three Kings? Does she use an electric toothbrush? Does she have a childhood toy atop her desk?
She is a woman I would love to have as a friend in my life, one of those fun people who you are constantly telling friends and family about. She loves books and buys them for friends when they invite her over – who DOES this? She is many things, but she is neurotic in a completely logical (and hysterical) fashion. This is just one example (yes, I am trying to get you hooked):
ESCALATOR
One would think that by this point in my life, I would have outgrown the feat of getting my shoe caught in the escalator.
See also: Anxious, Things That Make Me: Fears
And this brings me back to structure. A.K.R. has taught me to go for what is fun for me, not what I think people would like.
And that’s why my next book will appear in a series of bubblegum wrappers, complete with the pink dusty stick of chewy goodness, whose flavour lasts just as long as you can walk to the garbage and throw out the wrapper. No, wait! Don’t throw it out! See, I wrote something on it! It’s funny. No, really.
Maybe I’ll just sign up for an extra lesson or two.
p.s. - When I was trying to convince my friend Chris to get the book, he asked me if I was reading it in book fashion (front to back) or flipping around all over the place. I was stunned. What do you mean? It’s a book, a story of her life. It is not chronological, yes, but it is alphabetical. Who would bound around like that? I was astonished he could think about flitting around the pages.
A day later I came to see how someone could. But not me. I stand in front of the subway door that will open in front of the exit I need to get me where I want to go. I don’t want to waste time walking down the platform, stopping and looking up for the sign of where to exit, holding up people like me who have planned out their route.
Chris and I are still best friends. And I applaud his ability to think of reading the book out of sequence. He makes perfect poached eggs, is running a 10K in a couple of weeks and is much more adventurous than me. He can teach me a lot. A.K.R. too.
This last lesson focuses on structure and really emphasizes giving great thought to the structure and format of your work.
With my book, I planned on one thing and it became something else. Something better. And I couldn’t have planned on that, no matter what materials and grid paper were available to me.
My first one was very research-based so it came in huge waves at various points and so, I jumped from crest to crest, letting it take me away. It was a joy, but by book’s end, I knew the next one would be a much more structured affair – something with a beginning, middle and end.
And so far it is. So far.
So, with this lesson, I have been investigating different ways to present your work – chronological, alphabetical, themed chapters, etc.
But never before have I been so impressed by both a book’s structure and content than Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life.
This is one of those books that you hold even when you aren’t reading it, because it just brings you so much joy. I can’t stop telling people about it, reading entries from it, begging friends to read it and promising that they will love it as much as I do.
I am what you might call an Amy Krouse Rosenthal evangelist.
Because she has done something so incredibly bright – I can’t stop thinking about it:
She went out and wrote a biography about herself in encyclopedia format, A-Z, and while it is all about this woman whom I never heard of before and whom you learn the most intimate details about, she manages to make it a non-egotistical venture AND her name is not a part of her book’s title.
She is smart AND funny, a simultaneous feat that is near to impossible for mere mortals, and I could read 22 volumes full of her life’s details. Make that 220.
I think about her all the time and now, when I am considering what to make for dinner, I actually say in my head – “Would Amy like Chinese broccoli?.” Throughout the day I might wonder “Would she enjoy the movie Three Kings? Does she use an electric toothbrush? Does she have a childhood toy atop her desk?
She is a woman I would love to have as a friend in my life, one of those fun people who you are constantly telling friends and family about. She loves books and buys them for friends when they invite her over – who DOES this? She is many things, but she is neurotic in a completely logical (and hysterical) fashion. This is just one example (yes, I am trying to get you hooked):
ESCALATOR
One would think that by this point in my life, I would have outgrown the feat of getting my shoe caught in the escalator.
See also: Anxious, Things That Make Me: Fears
And this brings me back to structure. A.K.R. has taught me to go for what is fun for me, not what I think people would like.
And that’s why my next book will appear in a series of bubblegum wrappers, complete with the pink dusty stick of chewy goodness, whose flavour lasts just as long as you can walk to the garbage and throw out the wrapper. No, wait! Don’t throw it out! See, I wrote something on it! It’s funny. No, really.
Maybe I’ll just sign up for an extra lesson or two.
p.s. - When I was trying to convince my friend Chris to get the book, he asked me if I was reading it in book fashion (front to back) or flipping around all over the place. I was stunned. What do you mean? It’s a book, a story of her life. It is not chronological, yes, but it is alphabetical. Who would bound around like that? I was astonished he could think about flitting around the pages.
A day later I came to see how someone could. But not me. I stand in front of the subway door that will open in front of the exit I need to get me where I want to go. I don’t want to waste time walking down the platform, stopping and looking up for the sign of where to exit, holding up people like me who have planned out their route.
Chris and I are still best friends. And I applaud his ability to think of reading the book out of sequence. He makes perfect poached eggs, is running a 10K in a couple of weeks and is much more adventurous than me. He can teach me a lot. A.K.R. too.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Stranded (Observation)
Today we were without internet – for the whole day. It has happened before and though it only happens intermittently, I find that it causes within me, a kind of adrift helplessness that worries the cat and leaves the man whom I live with and love staring at me for long periods and then asking, “Are you okay?”
I should be all right. After all, I wrote longhand for years. I can read and do research without the net. Well, at least I thought I could. But then I tried. Sure, I could read my books for review, but any research I wanted to do would've taken forever without the net. Ten years ago I could have managed, but not now. I've been spoiled.
And stared.
And wondered what the hell to do.
Getting up, just wanting to do anything at all, I found I had a sudden surge of energy that I didn't have 10 minutes ago. It was the lightbulb going off - I suddenly had all of this time where I didn't have to do work, couldn't do work, so now what was I going to do with my time. Just sit there?
No way.
I made a pot of spicy chili. I cleaned the bathtub. Then I went at my desk, clearing out all of the mounds of paper that had been piling up. See, I’ve been spending this last while working my ass off, writing to deadlines each day. So the pile of paper I knew was only temporary. And I would rather be writing to deadline everyday than have a clear desktop. However, my usually tidy desk was quite a sight. It was nice to attack it fully and feel like I had the time to really go through everything.
And in going through the pile, I saw how many ideas I have come up with the last month or two – I could seriously write for the rest of my days and not run out of ideas. That’s awfully comforting.
So, while I panicked internally about not being able to email and do my research that can only be done on the internet, I accomplished a lot.
Huh. It’s too bad that it took the net not being available for me to realize that.
And I’d like to say that this will happen on a more regular basis, that I will take stock each day, do the things that matter most, not get tied down by my laptop. But let’s be honest. We’re conditioned. We’re addicted.
And I don’t mind all that much.
Because I can email and make chili at the same time.
I should be all right. After all, I wrote longhand for years. I can read and do research without the net. Well, at least I thought I could. But then I tried. Sure, I could read my books for review, but any research I wanted to do would've taken forever without the net. Ten years ago I could have managed, but not now. I've been spoiled.
So I started to make notes, but really, I just wanted to get my work done - on the computer. So I sat.
And I stared at the cat.And stared.
And wondered what the hell to do.
Getting up, just wanting to do anything at all, I found I had a sudden surge of energy that I didn't have 10 minutes ago. It was the lightbulb going off - I suddenly had all of this time where I didn't have to do work, couldn't do work, so now what was I going to do with my time. Just sit there?
No way.
I made a pot of spicy chili. I cleaned the bathtub. Then I went at my desk, clearing out all of the mounds of paper that had been piling up. See, I’ve been spending this last while working my ass off, writing to deadlines each day. So the pile of paper I knew was only temporary. And I would rather be writing to deadline everyday than have a clear desktop. However, my usually tidy desk was quite a sight. It was nice to attack it fully and feel like I had the time to really go through everything.
And in going through the pile, I saw how many ideas I have come up with the last month or two – I could seriously write for the rest of my days and not run out of ideas. That’s awfully comforting.
So, while I panicked internally about not being able to email and do my research that can only be done on the internet, I accomplished a lot.
Huh. It’s too bad that it took the net not being available for me to realize that.
And I’d like to say that this will happen on a more regular basis, that I will take stock each day, do the things that matter most, not get tied down by my laptop. But let’s be honest. We’re conditioned. We’re addicted.
And I don’t mind all that much.
Because I can email and make chili at the same time.
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