Posts for category ‘food & drink’

I like to keep bite-sized chocolate things on hand for when I want a morsel of something, well, chocolate. Lately, I’ve kept stocked up on Dove dark chocolate, which for some reason in the tiny size is called Dove Promises. And inside every wrapper? An inspirational thought or instruction. Such as, “Take time to laugh, it’s the music of the soul.” Or, “Listen to your heartbeat, and dance.” I know. It should probably be eaten while watching the Lifetime Channel. Dove: Chocolate for Women.

In my ongoing efforts (okay, they’re not that “ongoing,” they’re more like barely starting) to challenge myself more in my reading, and inspired by Ann Dee Ellis, I picked up Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but then that looked kind of long so I also got the shorter Agnes Grey, rationalizing that Anne wrote that first, anyway, so it would be a better place to start. I started it this morning and am enjoying. I find that an important key to enjoying Victorian novels is getting them in editions with plenty of white space and a nice big font. A tiny paperback from the olden days with itty bitty print all smooshed together will encourage no one to read, least of all the reluctant among us. Or maybe that’s just me.

I’m unreasonably tired today and have a wee tickle in my throat. I better not be getting sick. Hear that, body? By god, you get sick and you’ll be sorry!

Today on the blog tour, Charlotte’s Library asks me about how I can put my characters through such hell, if I really have free will as a writer, and some stuff about Jenna’s compulsive eating habits and how they relate to my own. (Just in time for National Eating Disorders Awareness week/month…) Thanks for having me, Charlotte!

Other tour stuff: In my vast, vast experience of being on the road (what…two cities and a couple of conferences is not vast?), I have developed certain rituals. There are three things I do upon checking into the hotel:

1. Take a picture of my room. This is a little weird because I don’t post them to my blog, or show them to anyone (sometimes G. if there is something interesting), and chances are good I won’t ever look at them again. But I do it anyway. I’m still not over the whole “someone else is paying for me to stay at a nice hotel” thing and I hope I never am. It’s just a little reminder to myself of how cool this all is.

2. Ascertain the Internet situation and get hooked up. As great as hotels are, they can also be lonely. Sometimes being alone and quiet is good, but there is also this creeping sadness that can get you when you don’t expect it and all of a sudden you realize how far away and detached you are from everything familiar. So being able to email the hub and read friends’ blog is important. Also, there are often work-related communications to deal with and I’d rather not have them building up for days on end.

3. Secure the Peanut M&Ms. I don’t abuse the mini-bar situation. I don’t rack up a huge room bill ordering movies and room service and massages and having my entire wardrobe drycleaned at $10/sock. But if there are Peanut M&Ms in the room (and so far there always have been), they are mine. It’s my one little indulgence. And no, I don’t take them every day as they are magically restocked. Just the one upon arrival!

You know you have won the in-law lottery when they give you four pounds of Peet’s coffee for Christmas. Okay, technically it was for us, but G. doesn’t do caffeine that much any more so it is MINEALLMINE! Stay away! Because I have this weird thing about denying myself good things I’ve been waiting to open it and, like, brew it and drink it until I worked through my Costco beans like a good girl. (What is with that, by the way? Wouldn’t a normal Peet’s lover just rip into it while it was superfresh? The Costco beans can be thrown in the freezer. Why can’t I just enjoy all good gifts rained on me from above without feeling like I have to earn or deserve them? I might be getting a tad overdramatic. I have only had the Peet’s for a little over a week. But still! That is only one example!) Anyway, I’m drinking it now, and it make me happy.

Someone turned off the lasers. Thank you.

I just saw this headline: “Bush predicts Mideast peace treaty before he leaves White House.” Um, good luck with that. If you are getting tired of politics or fed up or cynical, you might want to read LK Madigan’s post about Kenya to remind yourself how minor the annoyances really are. Not to say that they are unimportant or not worth trying to change, but it’s easy to get caught up in it and forget the worldwide context of our political process.

On that note, I’ve got miles to go before I sleep. Have a great day!

Awhile ago I was flipping through the TV channels here at the hotel and came across the C-SPAN/Book TV broadcast of the National Book Awards. Terry Gross was giving her acceptance speech and I knew the Young People’s Lit award was the next big thing. Did I want to watch it? Did I want to relive the whole thing, including the “Sara Zane” moment that was a not insignificant contributor to my teariness that night? I decided I did want to watch, because I’m sure I missed at least half of the introduction and of Sherman’s wonderful speech. But then the C-SPAN announcer was all, “During the break, the awards for Young People’s Literature and poetry were given.” And they started with the nonfiction award. I mean, I guess we all knew kidlit and poetry are undervalued in the greater publishing world, but damn. It’s C-SPAN. They’ll generally show anything with little regard to whether or not it’s interesting or important. Apparently you can see the whole ceremony on the Book TV web site, but boo on them for cutting the broadcast that way.

Last night I had far too much fun of the sort that involves a full day’s recovery, small sips of ginger ale, and a darkened room. My wonderful, talented, handsome, well-dressed agent (who I’d so wanted to thank in front of 650 people) took me out to Blue Hill, a restaurant that has its own farm and only serves seasonal cuisine. The food was simple and delicious and actually tasted like what it was without all the sauces, foams, confeeeeeets, and other stuff you hear about on Top Chef. Then we went to a bar. For a long time.

And now, since I’ve been sleeping most of the day and have lots of energy and a nice big container of wonton soup, I’m going to go write my epic blow-by-blow report of the two days of National Book Awards events! I’ll be back with a link.

You know what I’m talking about: Tootsie Rolls. I don’t bother with them. However, I do rather enjoy the Tootsie Fruit Rolls which are basically cylindrical Starburst, except they also come in vanilla, which is yummy. There were many post-Halloween discussions about candy to be had today. I like those strange, hard pineapple candies with the chewy centers. Apparently I’m the only one.

I just spent two too many hours watching The Jane Austen Book Club. I wanted to see something tonight, and my companion was not a Wes Anderson fan, so I popped online to glance at some JABC reviews and read stuff like: “A lot better than I thought it would be!” “Not just a chick flick!” and a 7.2 user rating on IMDB. So I had a certain amount of confidence. But… 7.2? Whatever. I didn’t buy one second of it. It was all very ya-ya sisterhood and if you know me at all, you know I will never be ya-ya-ing it up in any way, shape, or form. It’s a shame that the movie was a waste of some wonderful actors like Maria Bello and Kathy Baker. (By the way, the sidebar sponsor on the IMDB page for the movie currently reads: Why Men Withdraw: Learn the secret to creating ATTRACTION so intense he never leaves you.)

When I was catching on blogs earlier, I saw that LJ buddies Varian Johnson and Paula Chase-Hyman and three other authors have started a project called The Brown Bookshelf to bring attention to African American kid-lit authors and their books. It look they’ve really got it together and are partnering with NCTE’s Black Caucus and the National African-American Read-in Chain. And they are taking nominations through December 1st for books and authors to profile – this press release explains the whole thing. It’s not just about YA, but picture books on up. So if you are a teacher or librarian or reader or writer and you’ve got a book for young readers by an African American author that you think needs to get out from under the radar and onto the radar, nominate!