FiberTribe: Poke Salad Annie...

Feed My Head 2010

Andrea Camilleri: The Wings of the Sphinx (Inspector Montalbano Mysteries)
The wonderful, irascible Inspector Montalbano of Vigata, Sicily is at it again. Did I mention he's wonderful? And there are 10 earlier ones in the series.
Ariana Franklin: The Serpent's Tale
The very wonderful Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar (prepare to die!) continues her work. Who knew that the wretched pit that is present day Salerno once housed an amazing and Europe-reknowned medical school? Where even women were allowed to become doctors...
Ariana Franklin: Mistress of the Art of Death
Wonderful. And amazing as a first novel. There are some inevitably cringe-worthy scenes (if you're going to be true to the middle ages) but Franklin's ability to bring those times to life is spot-on. And she is amazing with the first of the Plantagenets. Makes me want to jump his unsavory little bones.
Nicholas Blake: The Worm of Death
Vintage 1960 British murder mystery. Good if you'd like to learn quayside shipping vocabulary for the docks at Greenwich...
Kent Haruf: Where You Once Belonged
Well written but depressing. Very depressing. His others are better.
Kent Haruf: Eventide
the sequel, sort of, to the wonderful Plainsong. I know that he's the father someone related to a knitblogger I read regularly. She mentioned him one time and the prior book Plainsong. Who? dunno. I'm not sure I would have appreciated Haruf as much had I not moved to a small, rural town. Go find him. He's quietly wonderful.
Ray Kurzweil Ph.D.: Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever
Another state-of-the-research book from Kurzweil and the longevity physician, Terry Grossman. I liked Fantastic Voyage better, but for sheer quality of information relevant to our health today, it's hard to beat. You can get a free (but for the shipping cost) copy at Ray and Terry's, their website that sells the supplements key to the program. As they say, they don't care if you get the supplements from them or not, just get them, take them and make the lifestyle changes. Then we'll be around to benefit from the next geometric progression of the health research paradigm.
Mehmet Oz M.D.: Healing from the Heart: A Leading Heart Surgeon Explores the Power of Complementary Medicine
so far so good. the ego required to succeed in the star-system world of cardio-thoracic surgery is only minimally present at the half way point in this book. In his world this is no doubt radical, radical stuff. Interesting to see the highest towers of traditional western medicine allow alternative therapies in.
Diane Ackerman: The Zookeeper's Wife
Love Diane Ackerman. Just started this, I'll get back to you...
Dana Stabenow: Whisper to the Blood: A Kate Shugak Novel (Kate Shugak Novels)
Another keeper. All is not well in The Park. The Aunties have taken matters into their own hands. Be afraid. another bit of wonderfulness from Dana Stabenow. Once again I'll be tapping my fingers for another year till the next Kate Shugak mystery shows up. Sigh.
Byron Katie: A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are
Loving What Is continued on...tough Work but is there really a choice about it? heh.
Greg Mortenson: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
Alrighty, I'm late to this game but if you haven't read this, go forth and read it NOW. It's a wonderful tale and it's not over yet. As we ramp up the war in Afghanistan why not join the Dept. of Defense and do your required reading? As Rep. Mary Bono (yes, that one) says, you'll learn more about the region from this book than you will from months of Pentagon briefings. Go Dr. Greg!
Andrea Camilleri: August Heat
Camilleri's latest Inspector Montalbano mystery set in Sicilia. Just wonderful. Now I have to wait a year for the next one. Crap.
Janwillem van de Wetering: The Japanese Corpse (Soho crime)
Two Dutch cops sent to Kyoto to solve a murder in Amsterdam involving the Yakusa. Van de Wetering is a 'voice' like no other. He spent several years in a Zen monastery in Kyoto himself. The entire series has been re-issued by Soho Crime and is totally wonderful. And the cover design by Cheryl Cipriani is awesome. Yes, I'm a cover art ho.
Anthony Bourdain: Kitchen Confidential Updated Ed: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.)
Alice Hoffman: Practical Magic
The hardback has an illustration taken from Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Proserpine. Much nicer. Hoffman's a great storyteller. And I always want her characters to go forward to the next book. But they never do. Go read this one anyway. You're welcome.
Tony Hillerman: The Mysterious West
This is a REALLY wonderful short story collection edited by Hillerman. Lord, I'm going to miss that man. All of the stories are set in the west or midwest, small towns and large. They're quirky and somewhat unexpected, especially relative to the usual work of the authors like J.A. Jance, Dana Stabenow (a bit darker), Lia Matera (chilling), etc. The true find for me is Wendy Hornsby. One of the best written stories, independent of genre, I've ever read. I've never read a more skillfully built exposition of the backstory built into the actual story. wow. I'm off to see what else of hers I can find.
Charles de Lint: The Wild Wood
Re-reading this bit of loveliness from de Lint. Among other things, it's about an artist who's lost her mojo. It's apropos given that I've re-started The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.
Elizabeth A. Lynn: Chronicles of Tornor 3: The Northern Girl (Chronicles of Tornor)
Found this as I was repacking ancient boxes of books. It was written in the late 70s and is flat out wonderful. It's the third book of a trilogy (the 2nd one is Dancers of Arun) I highly recommend all of them. It's Fantasy with an incredibly drawn world worth of an Ursula LeGuin, deep and quirky characters, and stay-up-all-night story telling. go. find them.
Julia Cameron: The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity [10th Anniversary Edition]
A birthday gift from the Gomez. Starting this once again after years of hiatus. Wonderful.

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March 16, 2009

Poke Salad Annie...

Gator got your grannie...yadda, yadda. Don't ask where that came from... it just rose up as I was casting about for a title to this posting. Fer you younguns, in the real world it's a song from the 60s. I think. From the waaaay back machine. Guess I'm feeling my 60s-in-Miami roots, eh?

So today's filled with sunshine and good intentions and tasty cups of coffee. And the Wild Joy saga continues, mmmmK? Synchronicities abound and the world is wild and good, the past few days notwithstanding.

I'm here in Mi-am-uh (as the natives correctly pronounce it, heh) and I get to see Miz Lynne, she of the Girly Shoes. Sometime back in the NeverNever this past winter in Boulder Town, she and I begin commenting on each other's blog and on Ravelry. And lo and behold, she used to live on the same street in Coconut Grove, cattycorner from the house I used to rent before buying my present little casita. She sold and moved just before I moved back to Miami and to Inagua Avenue. And all the years I was in Miami why didn't I find Miz Lynne??? And I find her now that I'm mostly in Utah? Weird. Because I tell you we are twin sisters of different mothers. And not just with the knitting.

We get together one night for dinner after she gets off work and I get to meet the seriously amazing artist that is her DH, and after dinner she says she has this great recipe to tell me about off of the site 101 Recipes. It's Borlotti Bean Mole. And that very same recipe is sitting in a plastic sleeve on my kitchen counter in B-Town. Eerie, I'm telling you. She has a collection of Depression Ware pitchers in brilliant crayon colors. Guess what I have sitting in boxes in my B-Town basement? It goes on from there. And I'm sure we're not yet done with the overlaps. And did I mention that she's a damned amazing artist in her own right? (she'll nail me for that one, hehehee)

In a more knitterly way, we share a magpie love of brilliant color, spinning, and the mooshing and huffing of yarn. She has gifted me with some bits of her amazing handspun which I would show you if my camera would come back to me (brief grrrrrrr). Ahem. When Neesy gets back into town I'll see if I can borrow her camera to show you. To tide you over here's a random photo from the archives...
That's 3/4 of the Boulder, Utah Volunteer Fire Department with our new wildlands fire truck, wahoo!
Corie, Katie, me, Dennis, Kandace, Pete & Cookie, and Tom. And that's Boulder Mountain with the first snow of the season in November of last year, in the deep background. Ain't we cute?
Now I'm off to start replacing items from the bag. I love that I can hear churchbells ringing out the hours from Neesy's house...