verbatim

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Love Letter - Bonnie Raitt
2. Shine Your Light - Robbie Robertson
3. Heaven - Los Lonely Boys
4. Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band featuring Willie Nelson
5. What Do You Want the Girl to Do? (live) - Allen Toussaint
6. At The Beach - The Avett Brothers
7. A Heart Needs a Home - Loudon Wainwright III & Shawn Colvin
8. Shady Grove - Crooked Still
9. Black Coffee In Bed - Squeeze
10. The Bottomless Lake (live) -  John Prine

Pete Day

Pete is off from camp this week. This morning he had an appointment with the orthodontist at our dentist's office. He was going to evaluate Pete now that he's lost (in some cases, with assistance) some of those extra baby teeth. I was braced for the worst and was stunned when the orthodontist said that Pete doesn't need braces for any medical reasons (for instance, to stave off gum disease). However, his teeth are not straight, so he might want braces in order to have straight teeth. In any event, nothing would be done until his canines come all the way in, so we can wait until then to decide. He also said that it would likely be only about a year of braces. I really thought the verdict would be much worse.

Afterward we went to see "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." It was just like "National Treasure": exciting and fun, without gratuitous gore and bodily function humor. For whatever reason, I'm all about Nic Cage. Yes, he's ridiculously over-earnest and all that, but I dig him. So shoot me. Or blast me with your dragon ring.

What a Bunch of Losers

I finished reading Tom Rachman's debut novel, The Imperfectionists, on Friday, but I needed a few days to think about it before writing my review. It's the story of the end of an era: The last few days in the lives of the ragtag bunch of employees left at an English-language newspaper based in Rome, before it finally folds. The advent of TV news had taken its toll, but the Internet has done the newspaper in for good.

The format of this novel is one of my favorites: Each chapter introduces us to another character, with characters appearing in each other's chapters as well. We meet the hard-headed editor-in-chief who can't decide how she feels about running into an old flame, the aging Paris correspondent who hasn't filed a story in weeks (and has to lie that his computer is broken because he doesn't have one), the sad-sack copy editor who stays in a hotel every New Year's Eve pretending she's an American businesswoman stranded in Europe overnight, and so on. The problem is, it would be hard to pick the most unlikable character—they are all that bad. They are by turns mean, petty, deceitful, neurotic, and self-involved. There were only three main characters I liked at all, and two of them had bad things happen to them. The third was unique for being half of the book's sole healthy, happy marriage.

However, the writing is terrific, and the sound and feel and rhythm of the newsroom come through loud and clear. I loved all the talk about trying to come up with concise headlines, being chastised for committing egregious typos, and writing drafts of obituaries before the celebrity in question is even dead yet. The fact that the novel was set in Rome didn't seem to matter much—Italian neighborhoods and street names are given, but there's no real feel for the city. 

I ended up thinking about these characters after I'd finished the book (always a good sign), but ultimately was glad I didn't have to spend any more time with most of them. So, on the one hand I recommend this book for the fun of reading it; on the other, it was pretty much a downer. If you've read it, let me know what you thought of it!

Link Roundup: Fun for Readers and Word Lovers

Here's someone's list of the 25 Best Opening Lines in Western Literature. I posted this on Twitter and, not surprisingly, there were some disputes. Raych was dismayed to see Running with Scissors there—me too, because although I do like Augusten Burroughs, this opener is not that great (plus it's not a novel). TwoBusy was shocked that "A screaming comes across the sky" (Gravity's Rainbow) was not included; I heartily concur. What else would you have expected to see on this list?

Nancy told me about this site filled with lots of fun word games. Being a Scrabble lover, I particularly enjoyed this one and this one.

From Vanity Fair comes "A Concise History of 'Fuck'" (the word, that is).

Editorial cheapness or laziness? Either way, this may be the greatest caption ever. (Sorry, can't recall who sent me that one.)

What It's Really Like To Be A Copy Editor

Here are the winners of the Worst Children's Book Title Ever contest.

I posted my first question at Ask MetaFilter! I couldn't figure out the joke behind this cartoon from last week's New Yorker. Here's the answer, along with plenty of delightful pontificating (and a little swearing).

And, finally: If guys were more like girls, and vice versa.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Such a Night (live) - David Bromberg
2, Hand-Me-Down Tune - The Avett Brothers
3. Stranger in the House - George Jones & Elvis Costello
4. Precious Memories - Emmylou Harris
5. Wings of a Dove (live) - John Hiatt & Hal Ketchum
6. Turn Around - Nanci Griffith
7. Easy Hearts (live) - Whiskeytown
8. Hope for Us All - Nick Lowe
9. The Trawlerman's Song - Mark Knopfler
10. Monday, Monday - The Mamas and the Papas   

Free Ice Cream!

I thought that might get your attention! The lovely ladies at Mom Central have once again invited me to try something yummy and share my review with you. This time it was a no-brainer: Breyers Smooth and Dreamy ice cream bars and sandwiches. They're new and they come in the following flavors:

Vanilla Caramel Chip Bars
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Bars
Triple Chocolate Chip Bars
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches
Chocolate Caramel Brownie Sandwiches
Vanilla Fudge Brownie Sandwiches

I received a coupon for a free box of my choosing. As it turned out, the only variety available at my market was the one I most wanted to try: the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches. They have only 160 calories each, and some of the other varieties have even less. They also contain no artificial flavors or colors. Oh, and they're delicious! I was lucky to get a couple of bites before the kids polished off the whole box. I will definitely be buying these again.

And here's the fun part: I also received FIVE additional coupons to share with my readers! So, if you'd like to be entered in a contest to win one of these coupons (good for one free box of any variety), just leave a comment on this post telling me which flavor you think you'd like to try if you win. I'll take entries until Monday, July 26, at midnight Boston time, and I'll draw five winners at random on Tuesday morning. If you win, you'll need to email me your snail-mail address so I can get the coupon to you. Good luck!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by
Mom Central on behalf of Breyers and received products necessary
to facilitate my review. In addition, I received a gift certificate
to thank me for taking the time to participate.

My Kind of CSA

I have finally found the perfect CSA! No more crates filled with kale and rutabaga and perhaps one lonesome peach. No more struggling to use everything up before it goes bad and the next crate arrives. Now I choose what I want, when I want it.

Mainstone Farm is a 130-year-old family-owned farm in Wayland. They grow all kinds of produce and also raise grass-fed cattle, lambs, chickens, and more. They even offer honey, maple syrup, and firewood. Everything is grown in a sustainable manner, and as organically as practically possible.

When you join the CSA, you get "Mainstone Money" to spend however you want. For instance, a $300 CSA share gets you $300 in Mainstone Money, plus a 5% bonus, for a total of $315 in Mainstone Money. Then you're free to do as you please. Emails come each week, or more often if necessary, listing the items currently available. "This week we have arugula, zucchini, parsley...." You can choose to get fresh tomatoes every day for a week, skip a week entirely, or pick up just some ground beef and salad greens. It's completely up to each person how and when to spend their Mainstone Money.

Today I picked up a dozen eggs, a bunch of beets, a few pickling cukes, and a tomato. Maybe in a few days I'll get some basil, corn, and strawberries.

If you're wishing you'd joined this CSA and feel disappointed that there are no more shares left, have no fear! The farmstand is open daily from 10 to 6 and accepts greenbacks as well as Mainstone Money. So, aside from that 5% bonus, you have access to everything we CSA members get.

Still Made the Old-Fashioned Way

Last week Andy had an inquiry at work from James, an IT guy by trade but also an aficionado of no-frills utilitarian items that are, by their very simplicity, beautifully designed. Form follows function, yes, but the form is aesthetically pleasing in a rugged kind of way. Andy invited James to come take a tour of our glamorous factory, and James featured the visit on his blog, 10engines. Andy sent him home with one of our "junk bags," which we have all over the house and in our cars. We take them to the beach, on ski trips, to soccer or baseball games—really anywhere that we have to lug a bunch of stuff. James reports that he has already used his so many times he already can't imagine what he did without it.

I like to think about how certain features of our clothing and other items came about. For instance, that extra loop on Andy's bags are there so you can get extra leverage to pick it up when it's heavy—or even have two people lift it. Nowadays you see flimsy tote bags with that extra loop (which would break if you exerted any pressure on it). Think of the sturdy rivets on bluejeans, or the hanging loop on the back of a button-down shirt, or any of a zillion other features that have become fashionable but used to be purely functional.

Lady Who Lunches

I would estimate that I go out to lunch with a friend maybe three times a year. If that. But I went out to lunch with a friend three times in the last week! Imagine that!

First I met Wendy at the Biltmore. It's one of my favorite spots, but Wendy introduced me to a new wonder there: the arugula salad with golden beets, crisp bits of pancetta, and what she calls "crack balls": grape-size balls of goat cheese, breaded and fried. OH. MY. GOD. ("Crack balls" because one bite and you will lose interest in work, family, home, and all other thoughts but getting another bite.)

The next outing was to Alta Strada, Michael Schlow's suburban outpost (in the old Figs spot in Wellesley). I had an amazing pasta dish with fresh corn, pancetta (again!), and chanterelles. It was really delicious; I sopped up every last bit with crusty bread.

Then today I had an excellent, authentic burrito at Taqueria Mexico, a little hole-in-the-wall in Waltham. It was delicious, and their guacamole (my litmus test for all Mexican restaurants) was divine.

Now it's back to turkey sandwiches chez moi!

Visiting Day

Today was Visiting Day at Steph's camp! We never got to have a proper Visiting Day last year because of the rabies shots*, so this was our first time. (Her previous two years she stayed just one month; only two-monthers get to have Visiting Day.)

When I was a camper, we were not allowed to leave the camp property on Visiting Day. We all gathered in the tree-studded park, and our parents (and even our grandparents) came with picnic baskets and set out a lovely luncheon of all our favorite (kosher or kosher-ish) foods. Afterward we put on a show for them in the social hall, and then we just wandered around the camp and showed our parents where we swam, where we did arts & crafts, where we learned to play tennis. We met our friends' parents, and they met us.

Not anymore.

Now, we are allowed to—which means that we must—take our kids out of camp for the afternoon. Where do we go? The mall! My favorite destination! (Not!) Steph was very enthusiastic about the prospect of an afternoon spent having food-court pizza, shopping at Target for all her essentials (shampoo, hair clips, writing paper, disposable cameras, etc.), and then stopping at Barnes & Noble for a fresh supply of books and magazines. We also brought along her beloved cell phone, so she could reunite via text message with her friends from home—and with her camp friends, who also had their phones with them for the afternoon. "Talia and Rachel ran into each other at Panera!" Steph announced. She had just seen them both 15 minutes earlier.

Back at camp, I saw plenty of my old camp friends (there to visit their own kids, of course) and visited my signature scrawled on the ceiling of most of the cabins. Those were the days.

*Speaking of rabies shots: I got an email from a Verbatim reader/lurker, who awoke to the horror of a bat in her bedroom! Having learned from my awful experience, she called Animal Control, who came and captured the bat for testing. It was negative, so she didn't need to get the shots! My work here is done.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Swept Away (Sentimental Version) -  The Avett Brothers
2. I'd Be Home If I Had One - Dead Ringer Band
3. Rainy Day - Keller Williams & Martin Sexton
4. Avalon, My Home Town - Bruce Cockburn
5. Possum (live) - Phish
6. CC Rider - Old Crow Medicine Show
7. Blackbirds - Erin McKeown   
8. Tennessee Jed - Levon Helm
9. I Fought The Law - Nanci Griffith
10. South Texas Girl - Lyle Lovett & His Large Band 

You've Got Mail!

I got two packages this week!

 1. New Naot sandals from RueLaLa! Aren't they cute? If you haven't joined in the fun at RueLaLa yet, what are you waiting for? An invitation? Oh. Well, here you go: Click here.

2. I don't quite understand it, but somehow a package arrived from Amazon containing all the books I've been hoping to read this summer! Imagine that! They are:

One Day, by David Nicholls

A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan

Last Night in Twisted River, by John Irving

The Imperfectionists, by Tom Rachman

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

Oh, and I also somehow managed to score the latest Dave Robicheaux novel for Andy: The Glass Rainbow, by James Lee Burke.

Wednesday Trifecta

Forgotten Bookmarks is this week's interesting blog find: "I work at a used and rare book store, and I buy books from people every day. These are the personal, funny, heartbreaking, and weird things I find in those books."

I like to read Ask MetaFilter because the questions and answers are so often really interesting and helpful. My latest favorite thread is the one in which people answer this question: "What in life did it take you a surprisingly long time to realize you've been doing wrong all along?" We hear from people who never learned to tie their shoes properly (instead just tying together two loops), people who pronounce all kinds of words wrong (such as awry and segue), people who've been driving an automatic car with two feet, and so on. Fun, informative reading.

Check out these 10 common phrases that come from our friend Will Shakespeare.

Another Winner for Russo

I somehow thought I had read Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo, but it turns out that I had only seen the wonderful movie (some 15 years ago). What a treat! This book is easily as good as Russo's Pulitzer-winning Empire Falls (thanks again to Mark for turning me on to Russo in the first place!). I had the added pleasure of picturing Paul Newman as Sully in every scene. He absolutely nailed that character. This was a rare case of a movie being almost as good as the book, although Mark reminded me that the endings aren't the same. Stupid Hollywood.

If you haven't read this book, I urge you to get it. In fact, I insist. As with Empire Falls, Russo's giant heart and good humor come shining through, even as he's contemplating the life and death of a run-down town and its inhabitants. Beautiful writing, unforgettable characters and images.

End of Vacation

All good things must come to an end, even vacation. We had a really great week. We made it back to Good Harbor Beach on Friday for another luscious day. Beyond the beach trips and the World Cup games, Andy got to fit in some relaxing, reading, exercising, and cleaning out the basement. Oops! Ah well, there's got to be some yin with the yang.

Today Pete and Julie started day camp. Pete is in "senior camp," which means that he gets to pick electives all day. Which means that he plays sports all day. Street hockey, wiffle ball, basketball, soccer, flag football, gaga ball, you name it, he'll play it. Julie is in "upper camp," which is a mix of electives and scheduled activities. Both kids have some school pals in their groups, so they're Happy Campers.

So with all the kids at camp, that means that I'm free! Oh wait, no, it means I'm back to work. Today I headed into town to Andy's office, and I'm going in again later in the week for a couple more days. (We're currently in between secretaries, so I'm helping out with the phones.) Then I might get a day or two off before my next editorial project starts up. I'm grateful that this rare, brief lull came at the right time—I had absolutely no deadlines hanging over my head last week. Next up are a cookbook and a parenting book, both of which suit me just fine.

World Cup

I am less interested in soccer than I am in baseball, but more interested in soccer than in basketball, hockey, and of course football. If football is a 0 and baseball is a 5, soccer is maybe a 3.5. That is, I like the sport and understand it (for the most part), but like most Americans my age, it wouldn't dawn on me to watch a soccer game from one day to the next. However, I am easily caught up in World Cup excitement every four years, mostly because Andy has always been a very enthusiastic World Cup fan. I remember first watching it with him back in 1990, when I didn't even know what it was. And now that Pete is a soccer player, he's becoming a fan too (and Julie to a lesser extent).

So I can't say I've been actively watching, but the last few weeks chez nous have been governed somewhat by the World Cup schedule. I wander by the TV and take note of what's going on, and I like to know which teams are up or down. I tend to root for teams depending on whether I like what little I know about their country. Thus, Italy = good (pasta and red wine), Germany = bad (Holocaust), Brazil = good (love my Brazilian cleaning lady), France = bad (rude and snobby), etc. And then Andy tells me things that enhance my opinions, like the Netherlands team plays dirty and the Spain team is all about finesse. I don't always know what he means, but I cheer anyhow. So, yay Spain! Octopus all around!

(If you're about to leave a nasty comment about my ethnic stereotyping, you can stop right there. First, say "Humor" to yourself, then laugh nervously for a minute, then press "Delete." Thank you.)

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Say Goodbye (live) - Dave Matthews Band
2. Orphan - Sam Baker
3. Fine and Mellow - Eilen Jewell
4. Girl Downtown - Hayes Carll
5. I Wish (Bundle of Contradictions) - Forro in the Dark  (featuring David Byrne)
6. Wonderwall - Cat Power 
7. I'm Losing You - The Temptations
8. Hold On, Hold On - Neko Case
9. Candy Man - Steve Earle
10. SSS - The Avett Brothers

Sun and Ribs

Today we hit the beach in Gloucester again—this time we got into Good Harbor. Monday we ran into some holiday traffic, so we got shut out and ended up at Long Beach. Long Beach is great, but Good Harbor is just a little nicer in most ways: bigger, prettier, has a snack bar and bathrooms on the beach, and costs $5 less to park. You have to drive right by Good Harbor to get to Long Beach, so we always try there first.

We raced home in order to catch the second half of the Spain-Germany World Cup match. (Yay, Spain!) It was just as well, because Pete and Julie both got a little sunburnt even though we reapplied their sunblock.

While Steph is at camp, we are trying to get our fill of everything she hates, so tonight we headed out to Redbones for some ribs. (Yes, she hates ribs. She is definitely our pickiest eater.) We pigged out (ha ha), and I washed my ribs down with a Porkslap Pale Ale. For dessert, the kids split a White Trash Sundae, which is a bunch of ice cream sandwiches chopped up and topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. What could be bad?

Speaking of Steph, we get a letter or two from her every day, and I can tell you with nearly absolute certainty that camp is AWESOME.

Wax On! Wax Off!

This morning Andy had to go into the office for a few hours, and we decided it was too hot and humid for the beach anyhow. In the afternoon we went to see the remake of "The Karate Kid." You won't be too surprised to learn that I am not a big fan of remakes in general, but this one was quite good. Jackie Chan made a wonderful Mr. Miyagi. I still prefer the original, of course, but this was most definitely worth seeing and probably more interesting to kids today. Pete and Julie both liked it a lot. We saw the trailer for "The Last Air Bender," which we are all dying to see. The other trailers we saw were awful, awfuler, and awfulest, from some godforsaken Adam Sandler "comedy" to a sappy-looking Rob Reiner romance to a Jack Black ego vehicle to an animated stupid something-or-other. Oh, but we also saw Diane Lane as the owner of Secretariat, and that looked OK.

Beach Bums

Today was our first beach day of the summer! It was a magnificent day, yet another in a long string of them. I'm always thrilled when Andy's one vacation week of the whole year turns out nice! We headed up to Gloucester as usual. Some things I noted:

1. If you're stuck in traffic, you can easily reduce your kids to puddles of laughter by repeating the name "Englebert Humperdinck."

2. Once at the beach, I somehow always manage to be sitting downwind of the family that has a dad who smokes a cigar and a mom who sprays aerosol sun lotion all over her kids (and the interior of my lungs).

2. Andy and I seem to be the only adults on the beach who are both average weight (that is, neither obese nor scrawny) and do not sport a tattoo. 

3. It's a good thing no one was flailing about in the surf waiting to be rescued, because the lifeguard was busy texting while on duty.

4. Let me remind you that plunking your iPhone into a snack-size zip-lock bag protects it from the sand and water but still allows you to use the touch screen.

5. Julie invented a game called "Spit Take." One person fills their mouth with (ocean) water and forms a "cup" with their hand in front of their mouth. The other person tells a fake punchline to a joke (like, "You call that a swan dive?!"), and the first person spits their water all over the place in mock hysterics. Not so mock once the game gets going, either.

Independence

We were up in New Hampshire for the weekend, and it was glorious. We have had a long, luscious string of gorgeous days here in New England, and they are much appreciated after the horribly wet spring we endured. On the way up Friday night we stopped at the outlet mall in Tilton and did some minor damage—a few T-shirts for me at Eddie Bauer, a few pairs of shorts for Julie at the Gap, and so on. Yesterday featured breakfast at Polly's Pancake Parlor, the usual corny Independence Day parade down Main Street in Franconia, and later a cookout at some friends' house. As nice as it all was, I was happy to get home today. I missed my bed and my cats.

I am an old pro at packing for the weekend, but this time I forgot everything but my head. I forgot my nightgown, the Tylenol (and of course Pete had the second middle-of-the-night headache of his entire life), half the stuff in the fridge (lettuce, cukes, lime, cheese, butter), and I now forget what else. Worst of all, I forgot my Keens, which meant that I had to walk all the way home from Polly's in Very Bad Sandals, and now I have blisters upon blisters. Four miles, my friends! Yowch.

Andy is off all this week, and here's what's on tap:

 

Can you say BEACH?

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Still Crazy After All These Years (live) - Paul Simon
2. Hard Times - Eric Clapton
3. Broken Fingers - Sam Baker
4. Just A Bum - Greg Brown
5. Like Strangers (live) - Emmylou Harris
6. Crazy - Willie Nelson & Susan Tedeschi
7. Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps - Cake
8. Drunken Poet's Dream (live) - Hayes Carll
9. Women and Wine (live) - Martin Sexton
10. Dust Down A Country Road - John Hiatt

Juliesphere

This is my final post about Yoursphere, the online community that's geared for kids. Julie is still really into it and logs on almost every day. She likes to play the games in the Our World section, exchange messages with her "friends" (some of whom are real-life friends and some of whom she "met" on Yoursphere), create and join spheres, answer the question of the day, and more. It is a safe and exciting place for her to explore, and I don't have to worry about creepy outsiders hanging out there.

In case you missed my earlier posts about Yoursphere, check out this one for a full description. If you are like me and are concerned about letting your kids roam about unsupervised on the Internet, and especially if you feel that Facebook is not a safe place for them, then Yoursphere is just the ticket. Membership is free, and there's something for kids of all ages. If you decide to sign up, please put YSMC-0030 in the referral code field to show that you heard about it from me.

I wrote this review while participating in the Yoursphere Test Drive program
by Mom Central on behalf of Yoursphere. I received a free lifetime
Gold membership on Yoursphere.com, Yoursphere t-shirts,
and a $50 American Express gift card to facilitate my review.