Idea struck me today as I was recounting the plot of this cool Aphra Behn novella The Fair Jilt: what if I did a podcast retelling this kind of classic literature in under 5 minutes? Perhaps with puppets made out of popsicle sticks or something very low budget and tech. I've been summing up literature for people since high school like Macbeth (there's this dude and his wife really wants to him to be king. So they make this plan...) or Hemingway (dude likes drinking, fishing, bullfights. He goes to do these things...) (yes, that's The Sun Also Rises).
Perhaps I'll try to recreate my epic retelling and post it up for a listen. But would people want to subscribe to such a thing? That's my real question.... Also, what would it be called? Not like I need another project at this time, but it's an idea.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Little Brother 2
Finished Little Brother; great read overall and hard to put down. Give it a try and see what you think too!
Little Brother
It's the first day of classes at SFSU, but my first class isn't until tomorrow. So what better time to read YA fiction?! I'm currently enthralled by Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. Though I'm not finished (about a third left to go), I'm thinking more about civil liberties and what patriotism means for those who want to actually fight for rights and freedoms. Not that the book is totally heavy - a 17 year old vows to take down Homeland Security after a terrible terrorist attack cripples the Bay Area. Thanks to Rebecca for the recommendation!
I must admit a secret love for those who hack, starting with Elsbeth Salander in The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. She does incredible things with weak excuses for security and brings down bad guys (well, most of them) (and totally in her own way). With the interwebs being so full of ideas, openness makes more and more sense. Heck, Doctorow even has his book downloadable for free and a blog post explaining why. I like it.
I must admit a secret love for those who hack, starting with Elsbeth Salander in The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. She does incredible things with weak excuses for security and brings down bad guys (well, most of them) (and totally in her own way). With the interwebs being so full of ideas, openness makes more and more sense. Heck, Doctorow even has his book downloadable for free and a blog post explaining why. I like it.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Home Front News
The summer seems to be a month of change for me. Birthday last month aside, I've got a new class, some new writing clients, and will be starting my grad program next month. I'm also moving at the end of this month into a new apartment. There are things to pack, furniture to debate keeping or selling, and organization to be had. Good thing I've been writing about professional organizers here recently! It's mostly exciting, not overwhelming (though I'll be hiring movers for the first time - back preservation says no lifting for me! Especially not with 1 flight of stairs going out, another going into new place).
I also saw Tales of the City at the A.C.T. last weekend. What a musical musical. I think they tried to jam every 70's reference ever into it, but I found the tales of these different residents on an imaginary San Francisco street engaging and amusing (for the most part). The stories were serialized and come in many volumes, though I've yet to read them. However, I've also become addicted to Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street series. These are also serial stories published first in a newspaper (see the theme?) and hysterically funny to brutally honest by turns. I find them almost impossible to put down, especially since the short chapters mean you can read just one more. And then one more. And then yet another.
See what happens when I join summer reading? SFPL tracks your reading by time, not pages. I just signed up and need to post some backdated reading times, but I'm fairly sure that I read at least 40 hours in two months. As do most of the people I know, though our material is wide-ranging.
There may be photos of apartment transformations in the next month, but look for student and birthday party ones sooner than that.
I also saw Tales of the City at the A.C.T. last weekend. What a musical musical. I think they tried to jam every 70's reference ever into it, but I found the tales of these different residents on an imaginary San Francisco street engaging and amusing (for the most part). The stories were serialized and come in many volumes, though I've yet to read them. However, I've also become addicted to Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street series. These are also serial stories published first in a newspaper (see the theme?) and hysterically funny to brutally honest by turns. I find them almost impossible to put down, especially since the short chapters mean you can read just one more. And then one more. And then yet another.
See what happens when I join summer reading? SFPL tracks your reading by time, not pages. I just signed up and need to post some backdated reading times, but I'm fairly sure that I read at least 40 hours in two months. As do most of the people I know, though our material is wide-ranging.
There may be photos of apartment transformations in the next month, but look for student and birthday party ones sooner than that.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Book humor
I just got a link to this great site that condenses a book down to a concise and often funny title. Perfect for my literary funnybone. Shakespeare's Crossdressing Helps Everyone Find Love, Flaubert's A Hipster Stalks a Woman Old Enough to Be His Mom, and The Danes Outsource the Exterminator (aka Beowulf).
Be amused. I certainly am.
Be amused. I certainly am.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Transitions - round 832
July was a busy month. I entertained the fabulous Michael D, cheered on roommate at finish of San Francisco Marathon (she ran 2nd half) and cooked pancake breakfast for 6 afterwards, went to an oceanside cabin on Bodega Bay, swore I would freeze to death in San Francisco's chill... and lost my job.
So now I'm yet another statistic. Luckily I was already one week into teaching European teens English at a language school (run by Canadians!), a course that lasted 2 weeks total. Being back in the classroom was challenging, but using my gray matter to bend teens to my will was entertaining at times, rewarding (yeah, it's hokey) at others. I learned they ride penguins in Spain. And the koala mafia fights with the butterfly mafia in Italy. When a kid said "2 butterflies came to my grandparents house..." then trailed off and looked at the ground in obvious sadness, reliving the painful memory it was amazingly hilarious. They were a creative class, that's for sure. I've also been teaching more French privately and finding that while French grammar trounces English in terms of complexity, I can still make people understand it. Mostly.
Job hunting isn't my favorite activity. But one gig I'm starting on is working with ConferenceHound.com; I have my first blog post with them up now. Their aim is to be something between kayak and yelp for conferences, a pretty cool idea. I'm working on other writing projects, trying to keep the resume factory productive, and learned the basics of driving stick shift so I could commute to another short-term gig last week. Joblessness finds me with so many things to do I wonder how I spent 40 hours a week working in the shop.
I also got my hands on The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. And read it all in less than a day - fabulous ending to a great, thrill-packed trilogy. I love it when the operations kick in and they outline all the clever steps involved so that justice can be served. He was a huge women's rights guy it seems as well from looking at his characters and plots.
Also discovered Porchlight, a local storytelling group here in SF and am looking forward to going to more of their events, maybe trying to tell a story or two of my own. My sister Cassie comes tomorrow morning for fun and fabulous times before she starts college - glad I have time to spend with her!
So now I'm yet another statistic. Luckily I was already one week into teaching European teens English at a language school (run by Canadians!), a course that lasted 2 weeks total. Being back in the classroom was challenging, but using my gray matter to bend teens to my will was entertaining at times, rewarding (yeah, it's hokey) at others. I learned they ride penguins in Spain. And the koala mafia fights with the butterfly mafia in Italy. When a kid said "2 butterflies came to my grandparents house..." then trailed off and looked at the ground in obvious sadness, reliving the painful memory it was amazingly hilarious. They were a creative class, that's for sure. I've also been teaching more French privately and finding that while French grammar trounces English in terms of complexity, I can still make people understand it. Mostly.
Job hunting isn't my favorite activity. But one gig I'm starting on is working with ConferenceHound.com; I have my first blog post with them up now. Their aim is to be something between kayak and yelp for conferences, a pretty cool idea. I'm working on other writing projects, trying to keep the resume factory productive, and learned the basics of driving stick shift so I could commute to another short-term gig last week. Joblessness finds me with so many things to do I wonder how I spent 40 hours a week working in the shop.
I also got my hands on The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. And read it all in less than a day - fabulous ending to a great, thrill-packed trilogy. I love it when the operations kick in and they outline all the clever steps involved so that justice can be served. He was a huge women's rights guy it seems as well from looking at his characters and plots.
Also discovered Porchlight, a local storytelling group here in SF and am looking forward to going to more of their events, maybe trying to tell a story or two of my own. My sister Cassie comes tomorrow morning for fun and fabulous times before she starts college - glad I have time to spend with her!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Happy holidays... yes, I'm late
This year marked my first real one in food during the holiday season. Coffee last year was busy, but not markedly different than the rest of the year. But macarons - oh my.
I sold a bunch of them. We sold out frequently. I was working seemingly all the time. My Christmas shopping took place mostly at local merchants mostly because I was doing it on my lunch breaks. Lots of cool locally made stuff out there though, so no complaints that I heard. Think I'm proudest of the the find, When French Women Cook, by Madeleine Kamman for my boss. A memoir about growing up in France and cooking, it also has a whole bunch of recipes including both US and metric measures. If you want to progress in a foreign language, find something you're interested in to try and read. It helps.
After a traditional Christmas Eve meal of nachos and watching funny shows, my house retired to sleep with visions of "a day off!" dancing in our heads. Nic headed down to LA for her family gathering a few days before, so Mike, Sarah, and I gathered around the tree in the morning (but not too early - Mike actually did wake up before 9 wanting to open presents but we can't get Sarah out of bed that early unless it's something like a fire. She regularly doesn't get home until after midnight from work, it's logical). Pot of tea at our side, we oohed and ahhed at the others treasure and then read our books some more. Restful.
The fun continued as we loaded ourselves and a bag of treats into a taxi and headed to Jaylan's house, our adopted aunt. I'd help her plan a bang up holiday party for Dec 12 (a roaring success on all counts - catered by Sally & Sarah, bartending by new friend Anthony, music by pianist Michael. Chocolate fountain, duck terrines, meatballs, cheeseballs, crab dip, the whole nine yards) and we had some leftovers carefully frozen for celebrating Christmas (though none of us are practicing Christians: I'd make some clever comment about Turks and Baha'is here but none spring to mind). So it was party dedux on a smaller scale of 4 - crab, cheeseballs, other snacks with bubbles (or not, as one liked). Sarah showed us how to make a bunch of lamb chops out of cooking a rack altogether; rich and delicious. The ladies took Jaylan's dog Ziggy (a hilarious Scottie with a prancing walk) out for a Christmas constitutional down to the waterfront and looked at all the tourists out looking themselves.
After our delicious candlelit dinner, we set up the projector and watched The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, one of the better movies I've seen in a long time. Bogart gives a realistic and gripping portrayal of man slowly going mad, a friend told me it's like a crime noir set in the mountains. That's it exactly. Perhaps a tad slow in the middle, but then the pace takes right back off again. I was pleasantly surprised at the ending - not cliché in the least and quite fitting wrap up. Watch it. The new Wallace and Gromit short wasn't near so good - I was disappointed.
It was a lovely day spent with lovely folks; seemed fitting to pause in the middle of the crazy season. In the next installment: New Year, New Travel Destination. Stay tuned!
I sold a bunch of them. We sold out frequently. I was working seemingly all the time. My Christmas shopping took place mostly at local merchants mostly because I was doing it on my lunch breaks. Lots of cool locally made stuff out there though, so no complaints that I heard. Think I'm proudest of the the find, When French Women Cook, by Madeleine Kamman for my boss. A memoir about growing up in France and cooking, it also has a whole bunch of recipes including both US and metric measures. If you want to progress in a foreign language, find something you're interested in to try and read. It helps.
After a traditional Christmas Eve meal of nachos and watching funny shows, my house retired to sleep with visions of "a day off!" dancing in our heads. Nic headed down to LA for her family gathering a few days before, so Mike, Sarah, and I gathered around the tree in the morning (but not too early - Mike actually did wake up before 9 wanting to open presents but we can't get Sarah out of bed that early unless it's something like a fire. She regularly doesn't get home until after midnight from work, it's logical). Pot of tea at our side, we oohed and ahhed at the others treasure and then read our books some more. Restful.
The fun continued as we loaded ourselves and a bag of treats into a taxi and headed to Jaylan's house, our adopted aunt. I'd help her plan a bang up holiday party for Dec 12 (a roaring success on all counts - catered by Sally & Sarah, bartending by new friend Anthony, music by pianist Michael. Chocolate fountain, duck terrines, meatballs, cheeseballs, crab dip, the whole nine yards) and we had some leftovers carefully frozen for celebrating Christmas (though none of us are practicing Christians: I'd make some clever comment about Turks and Baha'is here but none spring to mind). So it was party dedux on a smaller scale of 4 - crab, cheeseballs, other snacks with bubbles (or not, as one liked). Sarah showed us how to make a bunch of lamb chops out of cooking a rack altogether; rich and delicious. The ladies took Jaylan's dog Ziggy (a hilarious Scottie with a prancing walk) out for a Christmas constitutional down to the waterfront and looked at all the tourists out looking themselves.
After our delicious candlelit dinner, we set up the projector and watched The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, one of the better movies I've seen in a long time. Bogart gives a realistic and gripping portrayal of man slowly going mad, a friend told me it's like a crime noir set in the mountains. That's it exactly. Perhaps a tad slow in the middle, but then the pace takes right back off again. I was pleasantly surprised at the ending - not cliché in the least and quite fitting wrap up. Watch it. The new Wallace and Gromit short wasn't near so good - I was disappointed.
It was a lovely day spent with lovely folks; seemed fitting to pause in the middle of the crazy season. In the next installment: New Year, New Travel Destination. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
you sunk my... battleship?
Looking at my spam hoping that a job offer went in there by mistake, I'm amazed at how many, cough cough, euphemisms there are for, let's call them, virility drugs. And why everyone seems to assume that I'm in need of either greater length, girth, or staying power. Add to that all the messages in languages I don't speak and you have an amazing amount of... spam.
Been exploring some more; old friend Mart was in town so good excuse for Nopalito, one of my favorite Mexican places. Meditating on how sometimes you don't know why you're in part of your journey until later... and hoping that my patience and perseverance will see me through. Here's to good thoughts. And reading in the park!
Been exploring some more; old friend Mart was in town so good excuse for Nopalito, one of my favorite Mexican places. Meditating on how sometimes you don't know why you're in part of your journey until later... and hoping that my patience and perseverance will see me through. Here's to good thoughts. And reading in the park!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
March??!??!
How does time go so quickly? It all blurs together when you wake up repeatedly at early o'clock I suppose...
There's not been too much to report though, shameful at that sounds. Enjoying the library and reading through the Termeraire books since there are 2 new ones since I first read them (Sarah and Mike are also devouring them). Dragons with moral dilemmas. Excellent.
Tutoring is proving to be an adventure as I remember how recessive genes work and how to simplify equations - I have decided that I can do anything a high school freshman do, though I need to review at times. It shocks me that students often don't have textbooks but only can use them in class - makes looking things up difficult. Coffee has given me health insurance (woo!); I'm looking to get new glasses soon too...
Lots of minutiae. But decent, especially since Mike and I did a 20 mile bike ride yesterday along the water - gorgeous though lots of wind. My legs were protesting this morning about going up hills again. But it felt so darn good.
And now Cassie is coming for a week! I'll post adventures soon!
There's not been too much to report though, shameful at that sounds. Enjoying the library and reading through the Termeraire books since there are 2 new ones since I first read them (Sarah and Mike are also devouring them). Dragons with moral dilemmas. Excellent.
Tutoring is proving to be an adventure as I remember how recessive genes work and how to simplify equations - I have decided that I can do anything a high school freshman do, though I need to review at times. It shocks me that students often don't have textbooks but only can use them in class - makes looking things up difficult. Coffee has given me health insurance (woo!); I'm looking to get new glasses soon too...
Lots of minutiae. But decent, especially since Mike and I did a 20 mile bike ride yesterday along the water - gorgeous though lots of wind. My legs were protesting this morning about going up hills again. But it felt so darn good.
And now Cassie is coming for a week! I'll post adventures soon!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Internet! Roommate! Chicken Feet!
Ummm, we moved. You knew that, right? Basically successfully though there are still boxes lingering. Need to figure out more heating a place where the heater is in a silly place, doesn't move air, and the power surges if you use space heaters. Though we now have a key to get into the fuse box, that's yet another thrill.
Also exciting was that we finally found a roommate - Nic (for Nicole) is hilarious, lived in London and loves tea, bakes yummy things and works at a design firm with an incredible job title I can't remember off the top of my head. We like her; she came over to meet the landlady and everyone ended up hanging out, eating nachos and telling stories. Definitely a good start.
Barb told me to post this last bit - we've been experimenting with soups and slow cooked food since Mike got a crock pot. At the market yesterday found free-range organic stew chickens for $5, thought we'd make stock. Picked one up and some other yummy things, went to look at incredible Asian art, and then came home. Mike took a nap and I started onions, opened the plastic bag with the chicken (can you feel the tension build?) so I could chop it up for the stew pot.
And there, naked and floppy, were chicken feet! YIKES! I just couldn't deal with their paleness, so I closed up the bag, put it in the fridge and made a cup of tea. Mike had no interest in dealing with it so I sent Sarah a text saying we'd, ummm, need her help majorly. When she came home, tired and worn from work, she laughed at us and then proceeded to pull out the bird only to discover it still had its head attached too! It was a mini horror movie as she deconstructed the bird, and now we have stock.
I did read a lot in the River Cottage Meat Book and learned why buying industrial chicken is pretty gross. As well as how to make stock, his take on pot-au-feu, and some delicious sounding lamb dishes.... Good things to do as the rain begins to actually fall (finally). And it keeps us warm, yes? Huzzah for gas stoves!
Also exciting was that we finally found a roommate - Nic (for Nicole) is hilarious, lived in London and loves tea, bakes yummy things and works at a design firm with an incredible job title I can't remember off the top of my head. We like her; she came over to meet the landlady and everyone ended up hanging out, eating nachos and telling stories. Definitely a good start.
Barb told me to post this last bit - we've been experimenting with soups and slow cooked food since Mike got a crock pot. At the market yesterday found free-range organic stew chickens for $5, thought we'd make stock. Picked one up and some other yummy things, went to look at incredible Asian art, and then came home. Mike took a nap and I started onions, opened the plastic bag with the chicken (can you feel the tension build?) so I could chop it up for the stew pot.
And there, naked and floppy, were chicken feet! YIKES! I just couldn't deal with their paleness, so I closed up the bag, put it in the fridge and made a cup of tea. Mike had no interest in dealing with it so I sent Sarah a text saying we'd, ummm, need her help majorly. When she came home, tired and worn from work, she laughed at us and then proceeded to pull out the bird only to discover it still had its head attached too! It was a mini horror movie as she deconstructed the bird, and now we have stock.
I did read a lot in the River Cottage Meat Book and learned why buying industrial chicken is pretty gross. As well as how to make stock, his take on pot-au-feu, and some delicious sounding lamb dishes.... Good things to do as the rain begins to actually fall (finally). And it keeps us warm, yes? Huzzah for gas stoves!
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