Golden Ale, Summer-y Psychedelic Pop, and One Big Whale

Three things rocking my world right now:

1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville- Yes I am finally starting my March project, reading this rather large, rather famous book. It's worth the wait and I am sure I will have much more to say on the topic as I continue reading.

2. Oro de Calabaza Golden Ale by Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales- This is my go-to weekend beer ever since I discovered I could buy it locally (and on sale!) It is really a complicated-tasting beer with a nice sour taste. Jolly Pumpkin uses open fermentation and bottle conditioning to make some really great beers. They had them temporarily at our Whole Foods before they ran out and claimed that they couldn't get it anymore. It's great that a few local places carry it now, because it truly is a great beer to be experienced.

3. Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective- What can I say. I know this was a 2009 album, but I think it's going to carry me right through summer 2010. This album is absolutely infectious and it makes me unbelievably happy. I highly recommend it, if you need something a little different to carry you down the road with a smile on your face.

I've also become a slightly obsessed yoga-holic...but more on that later...

Vindication

dead tree - close up abstract
Originally uploaded by karma1221

Today I met someone who lives in Las Vegas and likes Cormac McCarthy. I thought this might not ever happen and that I truly was in an intellectual wasteland.

Yesterday, a Facebook friend; truly a friend of a friend of real friend, wrote me about her love for McCarthy's writing despite reading a certain depressing book that is quite popular right now.

Now, I still need to work on a few misguided people that will eventually realize the error of their ways.

And, in an unintentional vindication of other sorts...a friend shared a random newspaper clipping about the film version of The Road with me recently where I learned a fascinating fact. Can anyone guess which Appalachian Trail-notorious state is featured in the film's post-apocalyptic scenes of dystopian despair? If you guessed Pennsylvania, you are correct. How hilariously awesome is that?? Read the trail shelter registers just out of Palmerton, Port Clinton, and Boiling Springs circa 1999...my own personal triumph of the human will.

Mysterious, intellectually challenging, and sweet

Atmospheric Disturbances

by Rivka Galchen


When is talking about literature not an evasion of the real question at hand?

An amazing smart, funny, cerebral, touching book. I had to go buy my own copy because I was dog-earing so many pages with great lines.

I mean come on! Any book incorporating:

dogs
Doppler effect
Patagonia (Argentina)
cultish meteorologists
and a heartbreaking love story

Yeah. I loved it.

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National Novel Writing Month starts soon!

The month-long challenge for would-be novelists begins again! November 1 marks the start of the 2008 National Novel Writing Month. The goal? To write 50,000 words in a month. Amateurs and authors are encouraged to, "write like the wind and edit later" with the main idea being to output the word count and hope that an idea emerges. So get your typing fingers ready and sign-up! Sounds like a fun experiment!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

Not since Fast Food Nation has a book affected me as much as this one. I know, I must be a glutton for punishment reading a book about local food and farming when I live in the Mojave Desert which is barely fit for human habituation. But, a girl can dream. If you care about big issues, the way food relates to politics, homeland security, global warming, the environment, corporate greed, and living simply.....just read this. It is powerful.

There are tons of resources out there that say it better than I can, but here are 10 Reasons to Eat Local and the “Locovore Pledge”, which I like because it allows for options:
If not LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Organic.
If not ORGANIC, then Family farm.
If not FAMILY FARM, then Local business.
If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Fair Trade.
If all else fails, at least don’t eat at McDonald’s!

Local can also be defined differently based on regions, so here in the desert 250 miles from home is “local” compared to say 100 in the Bay Area or 20 miles in parts of the American South. The Eat Local Movement is also closely aligned with the Slow Food Movement, which seeks to encourage and nurture diverse food cultures (think Tuscany, the Mediterranean, and parts of Vermont).

I have a tendency to get a little obsessed with things, and I’ve moved on to reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Coming Home to Eat. But, I like food, I like cooking, and I like the simple pleasures of spending time with people over a meal (as opposed to going out and spending lots of money) so this stuff hits home with me. Enjoy!

Review of: The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind-and Almost Found Myself-on the Pacific Crest Trail

The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind-and Almost Found Myself-on the Pacific Crest Trail (P.S.)

by Dan White

I know I will be a harsh judge of any long-distance hiking memoir because I have done two of the long trails and have a whole slew of my own memoir-deserving stories (including my honeymoon hike of the PCT in 2002 with our dog).

I think this was a generally amusing tale of a guy’s journey on the PCT. My major complaint about the book was that the author ended up focusing a lot on his relationship and less on the trail. The relationship story ends up being sort of lame and doesn’t really show him in the best light, so I’m unsure why. Also a minor complaint, he never tells us what year he hiked in. Obviously it was many years before 2002, since I had the absolute hardest hitch of my hiking career in Castella and sure could have used a trail angel! All in all a funny and well-written book. I commend ANYONE that makes a good effort to hike a long trail and soak up the amazing trail culture! But as is the danger in memoir, the Cactus Eater’s story just doesn’t seem quite as interesting as my own!!

See more about The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind-and Almost Found Myself-on the Pacific Crest Trail (P.S.)

Add This One to Your Outdoor Classics Bookshelf

The Last Season (P.S.)

by Eric Blehm

Looking for a great nonfiction book? You will definitely enjoy this if you liked Into the Wild, Grizzly Man, Between a Rock and A Hard Place or any of the other popular adventure/outdoor nonfiction accounts. This book examines the events surrounding the disappearance of an expert Kings-Canyon/Sequoia backcountry ranger. Was he suicidal? Was he a victim of a homicide? Weather and nature? Or did he just want to escape to Mexico? The book is part mystery, part investigative journalism, part love letter to the Sierras with plenty of fascinating tidbits about working as a backcountry ranger and doing search and rescue work thrown in for good measure. I’d highly recommend this title for any of us that venture out into the wilderness; as this story reminds us, you can never be too careful…and as Ranger Randy would have said, “Slow down out there and enjoy it!”

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Tis the Season

Tropical Cocktails

Maybe, the final straw was at Best Buy when they sold out of my carefully chosen, methodically compared, and finally decided-upon holiday gift. Or maybe it was the six hours spent shopping online to purchase a unique special gift, and then finding out that the very same item was available two blocks away. Anyway...I think it's time to consider another holiday tradition- drinking. I have been half-heartedly following the trendy cocktail culture resurgence (Trader Tiki's Booze Blog, Explore the Pour, and Rejiggered are some examples) because I like the aesthetic, I enjoy mixing it up from the usual beer or glass of wine, and I think its kind of fun to concoct things.

A while back I started reading the magazine, Imbibe: The Ultimate Drinks Magazine. This is a great place to start if you plan on doing any holiday entertaining because there are amazing recipes and lots of cool ideas for all manner of beverages; including coffee, tea, beer, wine, spirits, and more. There are often regional articles on coffee shops and bars and there are always very complicated, but delicious-sounding cocktail recipes from leading mixologists. While not everyone really sees the necessity of a driinks magazine, I think it is fabulous and would make a great gift for that special someone who likes to throw a few back.

Last week, I re-vamped my Yahoo page and added a bunch of new content, including the New York Time magazine and the NYT Dining and Wine section. Recently there have been two really cool articles, one focusing on bourbon and the other on the detective work one tiki bar fan went through to discover the original recipe for the Zombie cocktail. Once again, maybe it is the stress of the season, but I seem to really be able to relate to these lighthearted stories that also come with encouragement to try a frosty beverage.

Interestingly, as I sat down to write this blog entry my husband asked me why the heck I was writing about cocktails in my blog. I mean what do I actually know about cocktails? Well not much, but after hearing my better half talk about the origins of the cocktail during Prohibition (and after verifying it in Wikipedia), I got intrigued. You may be wondering where the word "cocktail" comes from, as I was. It may have come from the tailings from the stop cock of the cask in Colonial taverns, or from the fact that cocktails were traditionally drunk in the morning (when the cock crows)! Apparently, one of the earliest cocktails is the Sazerac, consisting of Cognac and bitters and coming from New Orleans.

Which leads to a side mention of absinthe...yes, you have probably heard all about the romantic notion of artists and writers drinking the greenish anise-flavored concoction, "The Green Fairy". Because of the hallucinogenic properties of wormwood (another ingredient), it is banned for import into the U.S., but it's often sought out in Europe and overseas as a popular gift to bring home. But, I have heard the stories and I'd be careful when experimenting.

There are tons of really cool retro cocktail books out there, check your local rummage sales and thrift stores for some cool graphic design and tons of recipes to experiment with. There are also lots of resources online. If you are more into the history of the cocktail there are a couple good books I have seen: And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails and Imbibe: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash.

Well, before I head out the door to do some more shopping, I did attempt to look up a little bit of info on the soon to open (or is it already there?) Trader Vics at Planet Hollywood on the Strip. Unfortunately, real estate is so chaotic and establishments change names and locations so fast in Las Vegas that I can't actually determine if Trader Vics exists. Is it not yet open? Open and just not mentioned on the Planet Hollywood web site? Or opened and closed already?

Well, if nothing else, I can hit one of the world's best places to sink into a booth for a long night of drinking, making goo-goo eyes at a crush, or reminiscing about 50's lamps. Located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the south side in Bay View is the wonderful, amazing, impossible to describe... At Random. It's the kind of place guys used to go to cheat on their wives in big dark booths, and where a ancient, white-haired cocktail waitress finishes off your Irish Coffee with a flourish of whipped cream and a cigarette hanging out the side of her mouth. Truly open at random, they serve every kind of cocktail found in their encyclopedic menu. You can have a flaming tiki love bowl, a dry martini, or a yummy Peanut Butter Cup (what could be better than ice cream, chocolate syrup, and vodka?).

In a time of constant flux, there is something very comforting to me about the long history of drinks as a social phenomenon and minor culinary art. Even if some of those traditions have funny names, involve three kinds or rum, six kinds of fruit, and arrive in wooden hula girl glasses with a paper umbrella.

If Christmas isn't your thing, and (hey, I don't blame you if it's not) you could consider adopting a new drinking holiday and nostalgically express your Constitutional right to tip a few back. Celebrate Repeal Day on December 5th (the anniversary of repealing the Eighteenth Amendment)! This monumental day ensures that we all have legal permission to seek out new cocktails, self-medicate after trips to the mall and generally drink ourselves silly if the occasion dictates! Cheers!

Finally an E-Book Breakthrough?

Amazon has recently revealed its new wireless reading device. It is called Kindle and it sounds very cool. it's light and portable, it works wirelessly like a cell phone, so there is no need to find a hot spot or to do that annoying syncing with cords and software (like my least favorite technology combo- the iPod + iTunes), and it has this crystal clear "electronic paper" screen. In addition to never needing an actual computer, there is no service plan! Access is good- to 100 out of 112 of the New York Times Bestsellers and it provides newspapers, international news, access to Wikipedia, and popular blogs. So what does it cost? Well, $399. Not cheap, but perhaps this is the e-book breakthrough that has been talked about for so long. Could Kindle do for books what Apple did for music as mentioned in this review? I know I will never truly give up my paper books and the comfort factor, but for a portable and highly accessible device, the Kindle looks pretty sweet.

A review of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (Vintage)

by Dave Eggers

This is fabulous, hilarious, sad and totally original writing.

No, it isn’t for everyone- it certainly isn’t Jane Austen’s mannered family drama; but Eggers’ family tale and his commentary on the tragic deaths of his parents seems to sear right through all of our preconceptions and just as he mocks and satirizes aspects of life, he also possesses a hyper-sensitivity to human nature that makes all the clever tricks work somehow. In this book the tricks include: Rules for Enjoyment, a really long preface, obscure acknowlegments, and even some funky work on the cataloging-in-process page (Hi, catalogers, didn’t this just brighten your day!). But he makes it work and that is what matters. I also enjoyed You Shall Know Our Velocity-so if you have already read the memoir check it out instead. A quote from Heartbreaking

“Just as some police-particularly those they dramatize on television-might be familiar with death, and might expect it at any instant-not necessarily their own, but death generally-so does the author, possessing a naturally paranoid disposition, compounded by environmental factors that make it seem not only possible, but probable that whatever there might be out there that snuffs our life is probably sniffing around for him, that his number is perennially, eternally, up, that his draft number is low, that his bingo card is hot, that he has a bull’s-eye on his chest and a target on his back. It’s fun. You’ll see.”

See more about A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (Vintage)

A review of Little Children

Little Children

by Tom Perrotta

I have been waiting for a novel like this. I just wanted a fun-to-read book that wasn’t mindless entertainment and this book exceeded all expectations. It is about a collection of characters and their families, who are challenged by their relationships, their love for their families and the tensions that develop between people with opposing viewpoints. The story centers around the fear that seizes the community after a convicted sex offender moves into the neighborhood. The book is ver clever and smart and the author writes both male and female points of view equally well. I got totally sucked into the story and couldn’t stop reading until the conclusion. No, this book doesn’t have a traditionally “happy ending”, but it is a book that contains truth and empathy and offers a narrative that is a joy to sink into.

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A review of Triomf

Triomf

by Marlene Van Niekerk

This was honestly one of the most replusive and disturbing books I have ever read. But, having said that it was worth consuming in my mind because it was such a challenging piece of fiction. Plus, I read it over a year ago and not only has it stuck with me, it has provoked me to read many other novels set in South Africa and has started a mini-obesession with the history of the country. Not bad for a book I almost gave up on. It isn’t for the weak of heart, but yes-I recommend it.

On another note,this is why it is nice to have a blog…I just spent about an hour trying to remember the title and author and locate the NYT book review all to no avail.

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Strange Piece of Paradise

Strange Piece of Paradise

by Terri Jentz

This book really exhausts you both emotionally and mentally. Violence is at the core and Jentz circles the event, plunges the reader into the event, deconstructs the event and then reinterprets the event. It isn’t an easy read. But, it is a profound look at a woman facing truth in the bravest way possible and then sharing that. I recommend it for those readers that like true crime and mystery but also for those who like history and documentary. I was drawn to the book because of a review on NPR that stopped me in my tracks. I had to hear more about the woman that had set out to bike across the USA and ended up the victim of an unimaginable attack.

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