My gut reaction is that this was the worst Harry Potter movie so far. But it's not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. Of course I had the usual problems of the gaping holes of material not included from the books. I also felt like this film was caught between Harry's adventure and an episode of Gossip Girl. A poor episode of Gossip Girl, but still - all snogs. I missed the magic and the intricate details. Solid B.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
This slim novel tells the tale of two teenage boys sent from the city to a Chinese mountain village to be re-educated by peasants in the time of Chairman Mao. The boys embark on several adventures which lead them to the beautiful tailor's daughter known as the Little Seamstress and to a secret suitcase filled with Western novels.
Dai Sijie examines the dichotomous societies of this period in Chinese history, a village of workers who know nothing of books or music or learning but are revered by the government and the city boys, educated and interested but outcast for their father's deeds. Sijie looks at the love of knowledge and beauty and the insatiable thirst of a parched mind for more of everything.
The story was too short, beautifully simple and very thought-provoking. I haven't read a novel that inspired me to read more in a long time and this one certainly did.
Dai Sijie examines the dichotomous societies of this period in Chinese history, a village of workers who know nothing of books or music or learning but are revered by the government and the city boys, educated and interested but outcast for their father's deeds. Sijie looks at the love of knowledge and beauty and the insatiable thirst of a parched mind for more of everything.
The story was too short, beautifully simple and very thought-provoking. I haven't read a novel that inspired me to read more in a long time and this one certainly did.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
When life gives you lemons...and oranges...
I have been given the gift of more free time these days which makes achieving some of these tasks a whole lot easier (and of course some a lot harder). This week, I made my first solo attempt at jam - a Meyer lemon and Cara Cara orange marmalade for my canning project. It almost feels like cheating because this task fulfills another blog post, a new recipe, the first of 12 canning challenges, jams from scratch (this fueled the fire so much that I'll be making a Raspberry Lime jam soon which will more completely fulfill "jams" and of course more jams to come in the canning project), and now I've blogged about it and am putting the cash in my special fund. That's a whole lot of mileage out of one task, but it actually felt so great to set my mind to it and get it done. So I'm going to just appreciate that I was successful and will go on to try more canning recipes.
Of course, I never really liked marmalade, so the next challenge will be using it up, but I think it'll have a lot of good uses and I'll learn to like it!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Sharp Objects follows a reporter back to her hometown to investigate the disappearance of a young girl and the murder of another. These crimes stir up the small town as well as a tumultuous relationship between the reporter and her mother. The mystery is well-crafted with more twists and turns than you might expect, most in the final third of the book which makes it exciting, but also means that it takes awhile for the rather slim novel to develop and for the mystery to percolate. All in all, though, an interesting, if disturbing, read.
Friday, January 15, 2010
The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz
David Lebovitz has compiled dozens of witty and insightful tales about his life adjusting to life as an American in Paris. He reminds the reader often that his adjustment was eased along by his job as a patissier. His love of food clearly informs his life in Paris and each anecdote is punctuated with lovely recipes that will definitely be incorporated into my new recipe challenge. Some that I will be trying as soon as I can include the Bacon and Blue Cheese Bread, Oven-Roasted Figs, Chicken Mole, Chocolate-Coconut Marshmallows, Dulce de Leche Brownies and a Fromage Blanc Souffle, to name just a small selection. It was a wonderful read and very inspiring and imaginative and fun. I'll be dreaming and eating Paris for awhile after this book.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
1. Write a food blog post once a week.
Another food blog post up. This one is about the Daring Cooks Challenge for January - making satay and peanut sauce. Both are new recipes for me, but I'm going to count it as one since it was sort of a two-part deal. So that's my third new recipe for the month!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
#56 - Watching 3 DVDs per month
This one doesn't warrant a whole detailed review since it was The L Word: Season 6, Disc 2. I will say that it is slightly satisfying to see Jenny's evil behavior being played out since I've always hated her. I think it's a bit disruptive to the other relationships which are now just tools for creating the whole mystery behind Who Killed Jenny and I would rather see those relationships continue. It's very sad that there is only one disc left forever!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Week in Review
One task completed, blogged about and money deposited.
Two blog posts over at Brooklyn Forager. I posted about Spaghetti with Caramelized Cauliflower and the Southwestern Beef Brisket.
Three new recipes tried. One is for the Daring Cooks, so I can't mention it until the posting date, but that is completed.
One Daring Cooks challenge completed.
One DVD watched.
Three no-spend days.
All in all, a pretty productive week!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
First task completed
I should hardly get credit for completing the task, but I did put getting an external hard drive for the mac on the list, mainly because I thought I'd have to do it myself to get it done. But I was pleasantly surprised with a late Christmas gift (since anything within two or three weeks on either side of Christmas is a gift, right?). I'll back everything up tonight which will be great. Now I've blogged about it and put $5 in the special fund to celebrate, so that's moving forward on two additional tasks as well. One down, 1000 to go!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Julie & Julia
The film just finished. I had been hesitant to even watch it because I'd heard a tiny handful of mixed reviews that stuck in my head. Now that I've seen the film, I realize my hesitation was not because I thought the film would not be good, but that it would (or those nay-saying voices would) ruin the experience that I had with the book. With both books.
I read Julie & Julia first. I was 28 and just finished with law school. I completed the bar exam and after a serious decompression and an emotional tear through the last Harry Potter book, I found Julie. And Julia. Or rather Julie's experience with Julia.
I've always loved Julia Child, but from afar and as a pop culture and food icon far removed from my actual cooking life. I didn't even attempt such recipes, even though I had a dog-eared and well-loved version of From Julia Child's Kitchen in my collection (nabbed lovingly from my grandmother's collection after she passed away a couple of years before). I have to admit, though, that I connected with the book on the level of the navel-gazing almost thirty year old who was a bit overwhelmed with life and wanting to find some purpose. And of course loved food.
My Life in France engendered a similar reaction, if that is even imaginable. The brightness of Julia's discovery of food and France and herself was fabulously inspiring to me. I read it about a year later, and it was at this point that I really discovered Julia. I heard her voice as she discovered the person that she would become after living an entire successful and happy life. She found her passion because it was still waiting for her (of course, in both food and Paul).
I cried my way through both books. With love, and hope, and interest, and commiseration. I cried my way through the film as well. Maybe I identified with all of the narcissistic self-absorbed aspects of Julie that I'd read about in the papers. Maybe that's what made her human. Maybe, at the bottom of it all, the stories really are parallel - they are all about discovery and love of food and a little bit of adventure. They are both beautiful. And satisfying. And inspiring.
Most of the things I wish to achieve over the next few years have to do with food and adventure and really making a life. If one really wants to sit down and make a life, it takes a little bit of self-absorption a la Julie and a lot of determination a la Julia. This film brought out the best of both and really touched me. It has become, thanks to Julie's book and the film, a bit of a cliche to re-invent yourself by cooking and discussing it online, but so it goes. And at the end of the day, cliche or not, it's all about Bon Appetit!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Cooking up a storm
To start out the 101 things challenge, I got a number of things started today.
Tried 2 new recipes: southwestern beef brisket from smitten kitchen (will post soon) and Chinese marbled tea eggs from Steamy kitchen (another post to come). I haven't eaten them yet, but will be tasting them later tonight.
Use the crockpot: the beef brisket is a crockpot recipe. Two birds, meet my one stone!
Took a yoga class at Yoga People in Brooklyn - gentle restorative yoga which was a great way to ease into the new year. I'm finding a bit of back discomfort when I am done, so I have to figure out what exactly is going on. In general, it's a great class though, so it will be repeated in the future.
101 Things in 1001 Days.
Time Period: January 3, 2010 - September 30, 2012
The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).
Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.
The List:
Food/Wine
1. Write food blog post at least once per week (21/173)
2. Finish all daring baker challenges (3/34)
3. Finish all daring cook challenges (2/34)
4. Try 4 new recipes per month (10/692)
5. Host 3 cocktail parties (0/3)
6. Host 3 barbecues(0/3)
7. Take a wine tasting class.
8. Make a good chicken tikka masala
9. Make dumplings from scratch, including wrappers.
10. Make holiday cookies.
11. Make gingerbread house.
12. Make sushi.
13. Bake cake from scratch.
14. Organize recipe binder.
15. Make homemade ice cream five times (0/5)
16. Make entries in my wine tasting journal.
17. Complete canning project (3/12)
18. Make jams from scratch.
19. Eat at Red Hook ball fields.
20. Dine al fresco 101 times (1/101)
21. Make homemade pizza dough.
22. Try 10 new restaurants (4/10)
23. Make and go on a picnic.
24. Use crockpot 60 times (3/60)
Fitness
25. Exercise 4 times a week for at least 45 minutes.
26. Do yoga at least once per week (8/173)
27. Complete couch-to-5K program. (Status: Starting Week 7 - three full weeks of workouts left!)
28 Complete 5K race.
29. Do sun salutations every day for a week.
30. Join swim team at YMCA.
31. Try capoiera.
Travel/Adventure
32. Go on 5 hikes (0/5)
33. Go kayaking.
34. Go horseback riding.
35. Take a trapeze class.
36. Go to Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
37. Go on wine country trip.
38. Go on cooking class trip.
39. Go ice skating.
40. Go whitewater rafting.
41. Go to Queens County Farm Museum.
42. Visit 3 new states (0/3)
43. Take dance classes.
44. Go to the top of the Empire State Building.
45. Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
46. Go to a concert.
Creativity/Learning
47. Read 202 new books (6/202)
48. Read one non-fiction book per month (3/34)
49. Complete snowflake ornament project.
50. Make travel scrapbook.
51. Make wedding scrapbook.
52. Make wedding photo albums.
53. Complete two embroidery projects (0/2)
54. Work on languages.
55. Learn new language.
56. Watch 3 DVDs per month (5/92)
57. Make 3 jewelry projects (0/3)
58. Go to a museum 10 times (0/10)
59. Take 3 educational or creative classes (0/3)
60. Complete a 1000+ piece puzzle.
61. Complete morning pages writing every day for a month.
62. Make 3 fishes mosaic project.
63. Make tree topper.
64. Complete NaNoWriMo at least one time.
Home
65. Paint all rooms in apartment (0/5)
66. Donate all giveaways at least once each year (0/3)
67. Design outdoor garden before spring.
68. Get an actual bed.
69. Decorate bedroom.
70. De-clutter the office.
71. Get external hard drive for the mac.
72. Get dog trainer.
73. Organize clothes closet.
74. Organize guest bedroom closet.
75. Have a stoop sale.
76. Keep herbs alive indoors all winter (0/3)
77. Organize refrigerator.
78. Organize pantry.
79. Try 5 new green products (0/5)
80. Do a deep clean of the apartment every month (1/34)
Finances
81. Complete 3 month emergency fund.
82. Set up an actual written down household budget.
83. Pay off smaller debts (0/4)
84. Have 303 no-spend days (10/303)
Family/Friends
85. Scan family pictures.
86. Set up genealogy chart and research system.
87. Compile Austin's family information into chart/system.
88. Have a date night with Austin every month (1/34)
89. Find and do a couple hobby.
90. Organize a friends' thanksgiving.
91. Organize a potluck meal.
92. Use Skype 101 times (0/101)
93. Send 10 birthday cards (0/10)
94. Take weekend getaway with Austin 3 times (0/3)
95. Host family get together in Brooklyn.
96. Expand our family.
Volunteering
97. Complete volunteer orientation.
98. Volunteer at Red Hook Community Farm.
99. Complete 4 volunteer projects (0/4)
Challenge-Related
100. Blog about each completed goal (2/101)
101. Put $5 in special fund for each item completed (2/101)
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