top ten.

it's no secret that i'm in love with gossip girl.

so i was pretty excited when a friend of mine sent me

these top ten lists. 

my favorite, 

surprisingly,

isn't chuck's top ten nyc restaurants

but 

dan's top ten books of 2009. 

coincidently,

a lot of these are on amazon's best books of the month lists. 

the list & my comments:

this is where i leave you by jonathan topper

heartfelt family drama/belated coming-of-age story; sounds like dan's life in a book. 

too much happiness: stories by alice munro

short stories; with a theme - who are we? do we change in relationships?

eating animals by jonathan safran foer

i loved foer's everything is illuminated -

this book sounds like a mix of foer & michael pollan (my favorite food writer). 

i've put this one on my list,

although i've never heard any of the gossip girl characters say anything about food.

the believers by zoe heller

you may remember heller from the screenplay notes on a scandal... 

the believers is set in nyc in 2002, 

a comic novel about hypocrisy of all kinds - fitting for the nyc socialites.

the blonde of the joke by bennett madison

"val, friendless and adrift, finds francie and adopts her religious devotion to slutty ensembles and shoplifting." sounds like georgina to me! 

sag harbor by colson whitehead

autobiographical novel about a black student in an elite manhattan private school - 

i can see dan's character relating to feeling out of place... 

nocturnes by kazuo ishiguro

i loved ishiguro's never let me go - 

this a collection of 5 short stories that seems somewhat similar to her other novel. 

await your reply by dan chaon

a thriller - about the "lives of three strangers interconnected in unforeseen ways." 

the help by kathryn stockett

i have heard great things about this book from my stepmom, 

but i find it hard to believe dan's character from gossip girl would read it - 

it's about a black woman and social activist in the age of 

country clubs and the civil rights movement.

changing my mind: occasional essays by zadie smith

short stories on topics including "literature, movies, going to the oscars,

british comedy, family, feminism, obama, katharine hepburn, and anna magnani" 

sounds interesting.

they were fun to research! 

i'm not sure i'll add any to my bookshelf

except maybe eating animals. 

for now

but i am counting down the days

until the next new gossip girl

and my celeb crush

(chuck bass)

and listening to eric's #10 best album of 2009:

bon iver's blood bank ep 

 ( ;

wish i was a beatnik.

it's tuesday. on tuesdays, expenses are due for work. this requires me to clean out my purse at least once a month (i have to pay the bill somehow...) today i found a piece of paper i ripped out of skirt magazine in aiken, south carolina. i thought i'd share because i found it a particularly moving small shred of paper. 

Muse: Jack Kerouac's "Rules of Spontaneous Prose" cut out of Utne Magazine years ago and carried with me every time I've moved. Still hanging on my mood board. Find it, print it, post it where your mind's eye will catch it daily." 


jack keroauc's rules of spontaneous prose:


1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy
2. Submissive to everything, open, listening
3. Try never get drunk outside yr own house
4. Be in love with yr life
5. Something that you feel will find its own form
6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind
7. Blow as deep as you want to blow
8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind
9. The unspeakable visions of the individual
10. No time for poetry but exactly what is
11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest
12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you
13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition
14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time
15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog
16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye
17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself
18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea
19. Accept loss forever
20. Believe in the holy contour of life
21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind
22. Dont think of words when you stop but to see picture better
23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning
24. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge
25. Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it
26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form
27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness
28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better
29. You're a Genius all the time
30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven

i love letterpress.

i saw these books at barnes & noble and i am in love. i know this sounds ridiculous, but they would perfectly match the colors of my bathroom. h would call materialist. i would call me perfectionist. they are $10/each.

book-smart.

as a tight-knit extended family of 12, we try to consolidate the inter-family gift giving by having a thanksgiving "secret santa." last year, we tried (i organized) a white elephant gift exchange, which went rather well, but did not bode well for future events.

this year, i tried to get out of organizing anything. in the past when we did the traditional secret santa, you sent in the list of things you wanted. might as well just spend $50 on yourself and call it a day. i mean, what fun is that?

so, i decided to try something new. my first suggestion was voted down by the "aunts," the ruling party in the family p: everyone donate $15 and we decide on a charity, much like a giving circle. oops. people want gifts and we already feed the homeless after thanksgiving dinner. ugh.

next idea: book exchange. in a family of doctors (and to-be doctors), accountants, architects, scientists, humanitarians, and artsy-folks, this will work. hopefully. everyone brings 1 wrapped, new (sigh, i wish it didn't have to be, but if you did so well they already own the book, what's a person to do?) book ($10-$15 limit since the economy is a hurtin') for a selected (by me) person. i am praying to the god of secret santas that this works out flawlessly. considering the only responses i've gotten have been "oy!" (thanks, dad), and "make sure i get so-and-so, they are the ONLY one that will get me something i want," (coughauntcough), praying is all we got right now! 

don't let anyone know that i'm really quite excited about this. ( ;

new things.

i got this cookbook last year for my birthday from my wonderful auntie who knows how much i love to go to the farmers market & attempt to cook my purchases. although it's divided into seasons (which i like) and a has a few great photos (which i love), i hadn't found anything to cook in it. until last night. i made chicken drumsticks stuffed with lavender chevre (farmer's market pick) and served with cous cous (the food so nice they named it twice) and swiss chard (another farmer's market purchase).

 

i also made a little cucumber and mint (from corey's garden -thx!) salad with feta from eat well, my most recent favorite cookbook.

and while we're talking about cookbooks, let's talk about how much i can't wait for my pre-ordered cookbook from the pioneer woman!

caphill lunches.

i absolutely love capitol hill. the best part about working on the job sites near the nationals stadium is frequenting eastern market & barracks row eateries & shops (where matchbox is; first mentioned here). captiol hill books (7th & c streeets, southeast) is one of my favorite used bookstores, loaded floor to ceiling with the best-smelling used books around. i pass by it nearly everyday as i grab lunch at marvelous market next door.

today i rushed out, salad & empanadas in tow, to get back to the office and realize that my salad was expired (shriveled up lettuce & cucumbers and a horrible, horrible smell). i went back and they quickly exchanged it & felt really, really bad!

i love the houses here! i noticed an extraordinary amount of them were for sale.

and then i found this... doggie beer. no lies. $2.50. there were 2 flavors, beefy brown ale & something chow. we'll see how v likes it... ( :

little shopping spree?

the mexican joint next door is PUMPING loud, annoying music and i think i might jump out my (first floor) window and cry. i had to get out of here. luckily, my hotel is right next to target. i bought a cute pair of cheap flats, and stumbled upon some super cute plastic dinnerware by orla kiely--exactly what i've been looking for!

i got 8 plates, 8 salad bowls, and 2 placemats and i think i may have to go back for more because i just looked it up on target.com and it's all sold out! people on websites everywhere are peeing in their pants over these (true blink philosophy of trends&fads, right?), including dooce!

i can smell the spring.

[heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market in evanston, illinois; august 2008]

it was a slightly warmer morning (50 degrees) and it only made me think of spring, which inevitably makes me think of summer. sd brought in his new cookbook, a platter of figs, which i found amusing, albeit pretentious. my favorite (and probably the least pretentious) recipe: sliced tomatoes with sea salt: you want 4 pounds ripe summer tomatoes, different colors if possible. choose heirlooms such as green zebra, brandywine, yellow taxi, mortgage lifter, cherokee purple, and lemon boy...

mmmm... warm weather, i am ready. ( :

resolutions.

i am really good at making lists. and sticking to them. just something about completing a task and checking it off feels really good. so last year i had a lot of new years resolutions. i think i stuck to most of them (or i just forgot the ones i didn't like). h motivated me to make a list of my own.

2008 resolutions:

• learn how to blog: check - i started out on mac.com because it was so easy to post pictures, but difficult to update and change the layout. back when i had time to do such things (!) and then moved here, hence volume ii. unfortunately, it's the first thing to go when time gets busy.
• stop drinking soda: check - i drank 5 sodas in 2008. pretty proud of myself. i didn't count ginger beer (my weakness).
• volunteer more: check - i met five wonderful girls at comfort zone camp this year: c, a 12-year old with better musical taste than me; t, who've i've watched grow up and am so proud of her at 14; o, a crazy 7-year old who nicknamed h "harrypotomus;" e, an 18-year old who i nearly thought would never leave her car but ended up smiling at the end of the weekend; and k, a 17-year old more mature and more inspiring than an other little buddy i've had yet. these girls rocked my world.
• start dating again, nothing serious: check - oops. ( ;
• buy local: check - i started getting a bi-weekly community supported agriculture box from washington's green grocer and went to the courthouse farmers market. i can't wait to buy heirloom tomatoes again!
• try new wine: check, i guess - i think i kinda forgot about this one. i did start drinking (& loving) white wine in june, and h & i went to a vineyard over christmas.
• stop biting my nails: ehhhh - i am getting better i swear!
• be more flexible at work: double check - i traveled nearly all summer, although i did have a great time!
• VOTE! (i voted for the first time!)
• donate money to a worthy cause: check - my local npr station: wamu 88.5
• take more pictures: an ever aspiring goal... it's easier when you have a fancy d80 to play with!
• read more: check - i read a couple of the best books this year: the confessions by jonathan franken and the yiddish policeman's union by michael chabon and the glass castle by jeanette walls were 3 of my favorite.
  

so time for some new 2009 resolutions:

• make a budget.
• stick to budget.
• REALLY stick to budget!
• go to the gym/exercise at least once a week (i know, ambitious, but i have to be realistic).
• write more snail mail.
• get The Washington Post Sundays. read it. & clip coupons. lord knows you need them.
• donate blood. i've gotten enough blood taken in the last 6 months, i think i can handle it now.
• continue paying attention to politics even though the election is over. at least read the political cartoons in newsweek.
• take daily vitamins.
• stop eating products made with high fructose corn syrup. i don't care what the new commericals say.
• get back into running and back into yoga. run at least 2 races this year.
• continue volunteering at comfort zone camp and feeding the homeless. consider participating or supporting a new organization; maybe girls on the run or dc design house?
• spend lots of time with friends and go to weddings and parties and have lots of fun. ( :

ha.