Dim Sum Diaries


Could not resist this bit of loveliness today!
2009 has been a pretty eventful year for my family, but I must count my blessings (ironic since I don't even go to church etc etc) for having a healthy family, having a job and not having any major problems at the moment (knock on wood). I also found myself doing a lot of things I probably would've scoffed at in 2008, but it's been pretty interesting so far, so I thought I'd document it, JUST BECAUSE I CAN.

Facebook/Twitter

I seriously never thought I would start FB'ing and Twittering in earnest. I used to scoff at FB, yet like a lemming I signed up anyways, suddenly discovering hundreds (yes hundreds) of people from high school and college that I'd seen neither hide nor hair of in YEARS. High school peeps, didn't really care about so much, but college friends were like ZOMG I can't believe it's you, and ZOMG so and so's ex just became ordained as a priest (actually a deacon in the Catholic church), who would've ever thunk that???? Now I troll FB regularly and Twitter regularly...it does my ego some good to see the number of people who follow me on Twitter grow (oh yes a whole whoppin 32 peeps), but even more cool is the fact that TV Chef Michael Chiarello is now following me on Twitter!!! Woot!

Julie & Julia

Reading Julie Powell's book, Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously had a profound effect on me. Though she writes with Dooce-esque tmi-ness, she is in the same age bracket with me and I could totally identify with her struggles post-college as a temp, and the frustration of not being able to find her niche. So she decides to cook her way through Julia Child's recipe book, which inspired me to buy the book and try a few recipes from it. Which led me to rediscover the simple pleasure of forgetting everything else and concentrating on a complex recipe (this cookbook, if it were really based on what French housewives did back in the day, leads me to believe they had A LOT of spare time to spend on cooking dinner, I usually don't), and the resulting pleasure of watching my loved ones faces when they enjoyed that first buttery bite. Julie Powell's new book is due out in December and I can't wait to read it.

Google Reader

How did I seriously exist before this???? I think I've been using it for a couple of years now but I'm so glad I have it because I follow so many blogs and I used to type all the urls manually...it's definitely a godsend.

Etsy

Etsy, I seriously love you so much because I can spend hours browsing your stuff. Not only is it a great source of getting handmade stuff, you can get stuff personalized for you for not too much (great example is little stickers thanking peeps for attending my cousin's baby shower to stick on the bottom of the little gift you give out). $5 and boom! you can have something personalized...or you can spend quite a bit more on having things custom made to exactly how you want...it does wonders for your ego when you can brag, "Yes I had these dresses CUSTOM DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR ME". Since I am more of a wanna-be craftee then an actual artist, it's very nice to see the wide range of talent in so many areas from all over the world. Oh yeah and it's also great for buying vintage clothing and books and stuff (mid-century being my fave).

BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS

Having expanded my genre repertoire to include mysteries and fantasy/science fiction, and buying used books on amazon.com at a furious rate, my side of the bed looks rather like a bookstore or library exploded...piles and piles of books unkemtply unarranged...but some books I have enjoyed recently...

A Matter of Justice, by Charles Todd, and the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear, I am totally into British post WWI mysteries...not only is it cool to learn about how stuff was back in the day (and drawing some parallels to today's world), these two authors write very well and often the solution to the whole shebang coming out of left field. I'd love to dress in '30s era clothing and cloches and such, but I fear that I am most comfortable in a t-shirt and shorts. My only complaint is that these characters are entirely cerebral and I think that them "getting some" (a romp or even a successful romantic relationship that didn't involve their beau getting killed by the end of the novel jesus) would considerably improve the protagonists' outlook. Of course, this could be because I've been reading romances for so many years.

In terms of the Fantasy era, I remember being quite fond of Rhondi Villott as a teenager, and now utilizing the power of the internets, I am able to purchase her ENTIRE BACKLIST with a few clicks of a button...and quite enjoying them all, yes luckily for wikipedia because she writes under so many bloody psedonyms that how in the heck was I supposed to keep track of them all? Her latest book, quite the doorstopper, was thoroughly enjoyable (and quite long but still quite enjoyable). It's my Calgon take me away in the evenings after too much time at the computer.

That's all I can think of for now.