Boy-Lit

I'm trying to read Catch-22 right now. I've been trying to read it for about a month. I kinda like it. But I get really irritated by it sometimes. And I have developed this theory that it's a guy-book. Have any of you read it? What do you think?

Other guy books in my mind, are Catcher in the Rye, Confederacy of Dunces and anything by Hemingway.

Now it's not that I can't appreciate these books. But there is something about them that strikes me as being really about the "man condition" instead of the "human condition."

It's the flippancy of Catch-22, the cause-less anger and rebellion of Catcher in the Rye, and the stoic, subdued, almost MIA treatment of emotion in Hemingway.

Whaddya think?

The Joy of Small Things

Is that a book? I think perhaps it is. Nancy is right, the small things make all the difference. It is sad when you miss the little things of your old home and have not yet quite found the new little things about your new home. But I believe that the quest for the little things makes life fun and joyous.

One of the greatest weekends I had here in our little western city was when my brother and I went on a mexican food quest - we ate at only hole-in-the-wall taquerias for the entire weekend. And through that I found the most delicious and cheapest mexican food in the whole city. Fun fun!

This spring I just moved into a cute little house with my lovable sidekick. He's a real gem. And our house is just the coziest little thing. However, I do miss some small things about my girly-girl roommate lifestyle -- like HOME IMPROVEMENT TELEVISION. It is quite silly how much I miss the hour or so of HGTV that I used to watch with my roommate - and not just the programming, but the oh-so-witty banter as we discussed Debbie Travis's latest wacky idea. It's not that the boy won't "let" me watch HGTV or that he won't watch it with me sometimes, but honestly, it is just not the same.

But there are nice little things that happen now too. Last weekend the boy picked about 100 tomatoes from our 3 little tomato plants and we ate them til we couldn't stand them. Then I simmered up the mushy ones with some garlic and made a gorgeous braising sauce for some lamb shanks last night, and served that over yummy mashed potatoes. And the boy mashed the potatoes and I must say, they were done so perfectly. I never have the patience to mash them quite like that.

So here is to the little things. The joys of all the little things that we did, we remember, we share, and that we anticipate.

The Mystery of the Little Things

Like the grocery store phenomenon, I'm finding that it's the little things that make moving to a new town hard. Sure, you can pretty easily find an apartment and furniture and whatnot, but it's the details that make the difference. For example...

Where can I find a good tailor? I need to get a bridesmaid dress altered, and my fabulous Russian tailor, Rita, is too far away to take care of me. Who will fix my clothes? And who will offer to fix me up with a "nice Russian boy?"

Where should I get my hair cut? I will admit, I am a little bit vain about my hair. I LOVED my hairdresser in Denver. Phil not only gave me great styles, he also hugged me when I walked in, asked about my love life and made me laugh. I am way past due for a hair cut but I am nervous about going someplace new.

What's a good place for brunch? Brunch is probably my favorite meal. I ate brunch with friends pretty often in my past life. Who has good omelettes here? Blueberrry granola pancakes? Strong coffee?

I know these are just things I have to learn over time - and believe me, I will keep you posted when I do. And I have made some progress already. For example, I can now get home from the Dollar Movie Theatre without going halfway to Bedford because I got on the wrong highway and couldn't find a place to turn around. That's a big bonus.

Perhaps I should write to the local paper and offer to do a weekly column on adjusting to life in Lynchburg. It would be fun, and then other people who move here might not be so lost. Hmmm, I'll let you know if that happens.

The Case of the Missing Potato Chips

One of my least favorite things about living in a new town is not knowing my way around the grocery store. It seems like such a small detail in the big picture of life, but it is so disorienting! The other day I walked up and down the length of the grocery store looking for potato chips. You wouldn't think they would be that hard to find! But they were. I feel like every time I go to the grocery store there's one item that I just can't find.

Why can't they just put all the frozen food together? Why do they have to put the soy milk all the way on the opposite side of the grocery store from the rest of the dairy items. Is it so hard to believe that there are soy milk drinkers out there?! Or do they just assume that people who drink soy milk are all hippies and would obviously want to buy tofu and organic veggie burgers too? Sheesh.

On the other hand, here in VA one can purchase real wine and beer at the grocery store, which is convenient. And believe me, all that searching through the grocery store leaves me both physically thirsty and emotionally in need of a strong beverage. Perhaps they planned it that way.

Nancy Drew and the Case of the Small Town Blues

As Auntie Mame mentioned, I recently moved far far away. My new home town is Lynchburg, VA.

Lynchburg is a small city of about 65,000. Not so bad, you might think. That's big enough that there ought to be enough to do, and small enough that it ought to be quaint and cozy. Well, you'd be wrong on both counts.

The problem with Lynchburg is not so much that it's small - it's more that it is SO conservative. Jerry Falwell lives here, and much of his "theology" permeates the culture here. There isn't much of a downtown area (though in fairness they have been trying to redevelop downtown and they are making slow progress) and instead most of Lynchburg resembles the boring suburbs in which I grew up.

So why, you may ask, did I move here? I've been asking myself the same question. Seriously, I went to college here at a fabulous little school called Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Now I work at the College. I am the American Culture Program coordinator. The Program is an interdisciplinary approach to education - we combine history, literature, art, music, politics, etc. to look at issues in American culture from different angles. Then we take students on the road to visit historic sites, meet interesting people, and do more hands-on learning. You can find out all about it at the fabulous new web site I just made: http://faculty.rmwc.edu/americanculture.

I've been here for almost two months now, and though things are getting better, I'm still pretty homesick. But in an effort to overcome that, I am hosting a housewarming party this weekend. I only know a handful of people in town, but I figure even a small party can be a great party. I'll report on that next week.

Mame all alone!

So Nancy Drew is now far far away, investigating cases in a whole other world. She may have some time on her hands, so maybe she will write more, and then all of us will write more! And our other compadrix is also far away on a long well-deserved vacation. So the girl time is really lacking around here. I miss my sassy girlfriends!!

I made up a new recipe the other day, that I wanted to share bc it was delicious! If I do say so myself.

halve 2 acorn squash, sprinkle with chile power and cinnamon and put a small pat of butter in the hollow portion of each. Bake at 350 for about 30 min-1hr till it gets soft.

meanwhile, make some Spanish rice. Saute 1 cup rice w/ some oil til brown, add 1/2 chopped onion, chopped fresno chili, some cumin and salt. Saute that for another minute or two. Add in 2 Cups of chicken or veggie broth or water and 1/2 Cish of tomato sauce and 1/2 C of cilantro. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

In another pan, saute garlic, onion, chopped hot peppers. Add 1 can corn, 1 can black beans, 1 chopped red or green bell pepper. Take the acorn squash out of the oven, peel and cube it and add it to the pan. Stir in cumin, salt, pepper, chile powder, and 1/2 C cilantro. Saute it for a few minutes.

Serve squash mixture with the rice mixture. YUM!