I’ll write the reviews tomorrow (or possibly Tuesday) and give you some recipes, but wanted you to see what I’ve been reading this weekend. (Along with Harry Potter 3, yay Harry Potter. Now I can see why everyone has been waiting in lines all these years for him.)

Happy Sunday, babies!

Recommended:

edited to add this:

Ayun’s book is funny. She’s a funny girl. She’s especially funny when she’s describing how her father stole her Betty Crocker’s New Boys and Girls Cook Book from her after her parents divorced. To my own father I would like to say, Peace, Dad. You killed yourself, you killed my dog, you left us alone. You left me longing for something I would never have. Ever. You wrecked my life in a lot of ways, but at least you never stole my favorite cook book so you could have the hamburger recipe like Ayun’s dad. For that small favor, I thank you.

(Also, you will find the delicious recipe for “Ham” Loaf Hawaiian, the first meal I ever cooked for my mom, dad and sis, on page 68, under the “Meats canned meat” section of the Betty Crocker book. I know because I just picked up my copy off the shelf and thumbed through it. I was also fond of making the Mad Hatter Meatballs on the opposite page. And the bunny salad. There is a lot of Internet love out there for this book, by the way. Ayun and I are not alone. Here’s someone who wrote a book about “Ham” Loaf Hawaiian.)

Here’s a good one from her book. I’ve already made these three times. I didn’t have chocolate chips, so I subbed sweetened cocoa. Good… but they’re not chocolate chips. Give it a try, and don’t blame me if you eat the entire pan.

gub-gub brownies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt 2 sticks of butter. Sweet Jesus.

Then add 2 cups of brown sugar, 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla.

Better taste some to make sure nobody poisoned it.

Thank God you’re still alive to add 1 1/2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt.

Discuss boys for 5 to 10 minutes to give the dough a chance to cool off a little.

Add 2 cups of chocolate chips. (But first, as a favor to me, do a little Internet research to see which brand is owned by a conglomerate that gladhands its infant formula to impoverished families in developing countries in order to create “customers” who can ill afford a product they didn’t need in the first place and now mix with dirty water. Then buy another brand.)

Don’t forget to discuss those boys, though. Remember, the Internet didn’t exist back when I was in high school. I wouldn’t have known an instant message if it bit me in the ass.

Pour in a greased 9″ x 13″ pan and bake for 30-40 minutes.

These suckers have a long shelf life, so mail them to all your friends who have already left for college.

(from “Dirty Sugar Cookies”)

“Basically, I don’t like to talk about anything I’ve written or that I’m writing. What you write down, there it is and you’ve done it.”

— Joan Didion on the phone with the New York Times, 11/18/2008

I got nothing. Have hit wall re: cooking. Between the vegetarian thing (husband and kids), the whining (kids. “Mac and cheese. We only like mac and cheese! That’s the wrong kind of yogurt!”), the sheer monotony… I got nothing.

Will search. (more…)

Alternately titled, “Abbie Hoffman Killed Himself Because of Idiots Like Me.”

We just finished watching “Chicago 10” and it was good. Better than good — it was great. (more…)

Panties! Panties are great, aren’t they? Here, just in time for a long-overdue Thursday Thirteen, are my top thirteen pairs, known or admired, over the years. (more…)

My blog’s top 10 search keywords:

to? the? my? For real? Because it seems like if you typed those words in you’d come up with a whole lot more than just my blog.

I can’t tell you anything lately, Internets. It saddens me. Because I would like to regale you with tales of this and that and her and my and to and the, but I just can’t. And I think you can probably figure out why.

I have a job now.

My creativity is going in another direction at the moment and being stifled here at Wacky Mommy Headquarters.

STIFLED.

I have to go now.

love,

wm

Today we had facials. Da-da-daaaaaaaaaaa. We did not go to church. Here are three books for you to read:

Recommended:

That’s all, just three books. Why do I like these? I say they’re good. Du-du-duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun.

(Edited with a note from her mother: I am looking forward to the new Pippi, with illustrations by one of our favorite artists and writers, Lauren Child. But the others? No, they are no good. That’s why I took them off my library shelves and discarded them all.)

I SAY THEY ARE GOOD. Cuz they are really good — the writing is nice and scary in Goosebumps. In Rotten School, it’s like… yeah. It’s really, like, um… I just like them. All kids do, actually. That’s all.

See you later,

Wacky Girl

That does not fully express my pain over here. My pain at finally having a minute to blog for the first time this week and NOT BEING ABLE TO LOG IN because MY BLOG IS TOAST AT THE MOMENT.

I used to just reboot the server and all was well, we’d be up and running. Then a couple weeks ago received word from Hockey God, aka Master of My Domain, that went like this, “Jesus Christ,” (he always calls me that. It’s kinda weird), “I told you, do not reboot. You could take down the entire universe if you do that.” (My power, it astounds me.) “I told you that. I’ve told you that like four times. It will reboot automatically.”

Guess what? It hasn’t. And now all I’m getting is a note that says ERROR ESTABLISHING A DATABASE CONNECTION.

Honestly.

So you’re probably all out there thinking, Girlfriend has quit the blog. Or that I’m trapped under a large stack of books that fell from the shelves and crushed me, and I’ve Fallen And I Can’t Get Up.

Also, I have this song going on in my head, it’s so groovin’ and very ’80s, no? I hear the ’80s are “hip” again so hot damn, let’s break out the Firm!

I mean — look at that hair. Listen to Jimmy Page. Wow. What’s next? Dokken? Quiet Riot? I have no idea, I just like a catchy riff, don’t you?

All for now, until Steve wakes up. I’ve been awake since 5 a.m. It’s my new schedule, and will not adjust itself for the weekend. Whatever. I like the peace and quiet.

But not my inability to access my own frickin’ blog. That I can do without.

Rock on, Internets.

love,

wm

YAY, he fixed it. Thank you, thank you, we’re live.

You know who is an amazing writer? Lois Duncan. And she just has never, ever, ever, gotten her proper respect, as far as this humble reviewer is concerned. More on that in a minute. First off — why am I reviewing in a hodgepodge today? Because it’s my blog, that’s why. No, because I promised books to a reader who is expecting, and before I hand them over, I must review. (more…)

Oh, Chris Cornell. Ouch. Too bad you had to leave your sexy-awesome wife and run off with… a French model? What? (I may be getting the story entirely wrong.) (I don’t think so, though.)

Note: Kim Thayil in background looking remarkably like Young Steve, circa 1989.

(Also, would kill to find copy of interview Ann Magnuson did with Soundgarden, “Sub Zep?” for Spin, February 1992. I believe this is the interview wherein she asked them, “Who would you kill if murder was legal?” and Kim Thayil got all huffy, Well, it’s not. “But what if it was?” Well, it’s NOT. “Sheesh, Ted Nugent wouldn’t have a problem with this one.” hahahahaha Ann Magnuson, you are funny, funny girl.)

(Why am I rambling? Why am I posting all this? Cuz you know I am feeling thoroughly, totally, completely outshined at the moment.)

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND, MY PEEPS!

wm

ps my mom-in-law is in town. We will consume wine, celebrate Kim Thayil’s Hockey God’s birthday early and eat cranberry sauce. TTFN.