Library Thing

For those of you who've managed to miss the wonders of Library Thing, here is your wakeup call. You know how you love fiddling around with your books and sorting them by genre, by author, etc? Now you can keep a virtual catalog of all your books and sort them any way you please!

But Library Thing is a lot more than just a cataloging utility. Library Thing is a community. It feels, sometimes, a little bit like wandering around naked as you add all the odd things you read because one's bookcases are just a little like one's soul or genitalia: super private.

But at the same time, wonderful forums and groups lead to wonderful exchange and debate. I have long enjoyed the What Are You Reading Now? and Go Review that Book! groups. It's wonderful to peek into what others are reading and share their excitement as they talk about their literature.

For academics, this can be a particularly rich way to discover others in your field. I stumbled onto some wonderful people just by looking at who shared the many texts on Victorianism and readership that I have.

Best of all, there's the Early Reviewer program! Recently released books are offered on a limited basis to those willing to review them within the community. The books are usually matched to you based on request (obviously) and also how well they fit in with your collection. So you're likely to get something you're at least somewhat keen on.

Overall, it's a wonderful tool, community, and opportunity for those of us who take books seriously.

Dish Gardening

Inspired by a recent article in Martha Stewart, I decided to put together a decorative dish garden. My mother helped kickstart the project by digging out a lovely, shallow soup tureen, and then I was off to the garden center to pick up materials. I bought charcoal, orchid bark, orchid food, button fern, some other houseplant, a decorative accent, and three orchids (what extravagance!). The photo below is what my raw materials looked like.

The poor orchid is soaking in a pitcher of water to loosen its roots so I could pull the exhausted potting bark out and put in fresh stuff. I don't think that orchid will want to be watered for a month.

I began my dish with a layer of gravel at the bottom to provide drainage, then some charcoal to keep the pot fresh. Root rot is not on the agenda here.

Because the orchid woman was so vehement about needing to keep the roots tightly bound, I replaced the orchids in their little cups, but trimmed the cups down so that they wouldn't be visible. This will keep the roots tight and the arrangement pretty.

Then I tucked smaller plants like the button fern and the whatchamacallit around to provide stability and also variety of height and texture. (I was going to include myself more in this photo, but I was showing WAY too much cleavage!) While the orchids were well packed in bark, the other plants have little pockets of the soil that they prefer. Finally I covered the whole with some attractive mossy stuff and added my decorative accents.

My decorations, as you can see, are a wee little bridge that I bought at the garden center, along with an old marble frog. I like the "landscapey" effect of this arrangement, and I'm keeping it next to the kitchen sink where it can get sunlight and humidity. Next I'd love to try a terrarium arrangement under glass (I have a lovely cheese dome that would work perfectly), but I think I need to do more research before I prepare a whole ecosystem. I'd also probably have to do some woodland raiding for moss.

2011 Accomplishments

Over at decor8 (one of my favorite design blogs), there was a suggestion recently that rather than taking this time to wistfully plan what we'll do better and sigh over another year gone, we take this time to celebrate our accomplishments. I like this idea a lot, because it reminds me that small things are worth noting and applauding. I may not have finished my dissertation, written a novel, or gotten a dream job in the last year, but it wasn't barren of accomplishment either.

So without further ado, here's what I did in 2011:

Paid off my car
Was a bridesmaid at Amelia's beautiful wedding
Got rid of nearly all my junk
Found work in the midst of an economic crisis
Started my blog
Began painting again
Made my own Christmas cards
Planted bulbs for sping

When I put it like that, 2011 wasn't a bad year at all. What did you do last year?

Christmas Displays, or a Study in the Dynamic

It's time for a return to the horrors of Sophie's photography, for which I'm sure you're all exactly as grateful as you should be! Behold:

This picture represents our main holiday decorating endeavor this year. You will notice, no tree is involved. Now I'm as big a fan of the Christmas tree as anyone, but you have to admit, it can often feel very stagnant as you dutifully place the same silver balls, glass pickle, and so forth, year after year, trying to make it feel fresh.

That's where the holiday display comes in. This picture was inspired by a Martha Stewart spread of a Scandanavian-themed mantle. Hence we used light woods, antlers and fresh greenery--all very organic. The silver accents then stood out and brightened everything up. And the presents in the background make it clear that this is more than a winter themed table, it's our holiday focal point.

Lights, greenery, silver...why this has a lot of elements of our old friend the Christmas tree, but it feels a lot fresher and more dynamic. Best of all, we didn't have to buy a thing for it--everything in this photo was stashed here and there around the house.

How are you making holiday decorating fresh this year?

Mother's Turkey Soup

Every year, for the holiday season, my mother makes this wonderful soup of leftovers, and every year, I like it far better than the meal that preceded it. It is the most forgiving soup imaginable. Everything in the ingredients list below, saving the turkey, is a suggestion rather than an imperative. Whatever vegetables or sides you have cooked for your meal will go wonderfully into the pot, although I will admit that the cranberries are perhaps my favorite part as they add a lovely tart sweetness. Please note that the ingredients below such as yams are pre-cooked.

Mother's Turkey Soup

2 cups turkey drippings
4-5 cups water
Turkey carcass split in half and its meat (assuming you have not cleanly picked the bones), turkey wings and meat, etc
2 cups stuffing
1/2-3/4 cup cranberry sauce
1-2 cups yams
1 cup green bean casserole
1 cup mashed potatoes

Boil drippings, water, and carcass 2-3 hours. Remove carcass and strip of its meat. Return meat to the stock. Add remaining ingredients for 30-45 minutes. Allow to sit perhaps a quarter of an hour to blend flavors. You may wish to skim fat from the top of the soup.

On the Pleasures of Bathing

This morning, I took a bath. I consider this notable not because I am habitually dirty, but because most Americans don't bathe for cleanliness, they shower instead. I once had a friend refer to bathing as "stewing in your own juices."

This concept is completely foreign to me. While, yes, a good shower is refreshing, a bath feels like a deep clean--like soaking a pot before you scrub it. My main retort to those who consider bathing "dirty" would be to point out that that dirt was on your body five minutes ago. If you can't stand to bathe, how can you stand to be in your own skin?

I suspect this weird fear of bathing is uniquely American and has something to do with being entirely habituated to flush toilets. We get this idea that everything "dirty," whether it's shit or dead skin cells, has to go down the drain directly or else it will contaminate us. Now, I'm as fond of a flush toilet as anyone else, but I do make distinctions here.

Besides, while showers are lovely, a bath is simply perfect. For most of us, it's as close as we will ever get to returning to the womb, huddling there in a confined space surrounded by warm liquid. Why shouldn't we have that comfort on a daily basis instead of reserving it for that once a year when we feel like breaking out the scented candles and bath salts? Bathing is a cheap luxury that nearly anyone can enjoy.

Travel Chic

I had a marvelous visit to Houston this last weekend--full of brunches and really good cocktails and dear, dear friends.

But in the airport, I found myself thinking less about my destinations and more about the appearance of the travelers around me. I believe there are two pitfalls to be avoided when traveling: the schlubby look and the "business trip" look. Both are equally awful, though if I had to pick one, I'd probably pick the former.

So here is my list of must-haves to give your fellow travelers something nice to look at:

Colorful and well-made luggage (NOT dripping with logos, please)
Neat and comfortable clothes--a slightly conservative chic is best here
Shoes that are easy to get off and on!
No more than ONE electronic device glued to your face
A big smile--whether you're enjoying your trip or not, you WILL stand out in the misery.

For example, for my trip from Houston back home, I wore a white, lace-trimmed tank top; a black pencil skirt; a brown ruched short-sleeve shrug; and a string of pearls. Neat, chic, comfortable.

The best male attire I saw in the airport was a gentleman distinguished by his unrestrained curly hair, a well-cut jacket, jeans, a button-down shirt, and a pair of very stylish ankle boots.

So why not? It's not hard to stand out with a unique style amid a bunch of people in jeans, sweatshirts, and chinos. And you just might cheer up a fellow traveler.