Between the Bookends

Right off the bat, no, this blog entry is not about the Olympics. All I have to say on the subject is Go Canada Go!

Now, to business.

One of my favourite Christmas gifts this year came from my boyfriend’s mother. She knows just how much I love to cook and bake (and eat, but this isn’t a food blog. Oh, how I wish this was a food blog!), and so part of my Christmas gift was a 300+ recipe cookbook called The Golden Book of Baking. It’s a gilt-edged beauty, really, and I attempted the first recipe a couple weekends ago.

My friend and I attempted the recipe for “Party Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing”. Neither one of us had yet to make cupcakes from scratch, and both had always had an interest in buttercream, so we figured, why not! We bought a dram of raspberry flavouring and some really strong red food colouring to add a lovely pink hue to our buttercream (the recipe added vanilla, without food colouring, so we switched the for the raspberry flavouring and added some colour.)

Why not indeed.

Firstly, cooking in someone else’s kitchen is not something I ever enjoy. Chantelle, however, relishes the challenge. We were both cooking in someone else’s kitchen - I was house sitting for my boyfriend and his family while they were on their week-long Caribbean cruise (sigh, poor me. Although I did get a lovely robin’s-egg-blue box with a white ribbon around it when he came home. Eeeeee!!!!! But that’s another story. Oh heck, never mind. I’ll show you now cos I’m just so darn excited!!!)

Squee!!!!!!!

Please excuse the blurry cellphone picture

Oh, you want to see what’s in the box? Okay!!

The Tiffany Notes square pendant

Isn’t it lovely???? But that’s beside the point, sort of. Back to baking now.

Edit: Please excuse the profusion of exclamation marks; oh, and question marks too. I’m excited, stressed, low on sleep and high on caffeine. Not a combo that produces demure punctuation, unfortunately.

…Can punctuation even be demure? Oh never mind. Back to the story.

Right, baking in someone else’s kitchen. No fun. The mother-in-law’s kitchen is… shall we say, haphazardly organized, at best. She knows where everything is (usually), but it’s an adventure for anyone else. Her brand new KitchenAid stand mixer (a machine that does everything short of actually baking whatever you’re doing) sat on the counter, and stayed there. Neither Chantelle or I had ever played with one before (I usually mix by hand or with a hand mixer) so we rummaged through the cupboards to find an old Mix Master type machine.

Once we had all our measurements figured out, we zapped the butter in the microwave to thaw it out a little before we creamed it with the sugar (for both the cupcake batter and the icing). Oops. We ended up with half a pound of melted - and I mean liquefied - butter. Being winter in Winnipeg, I put the bowl out on the deck and stirred it every few minutes while it hardened to room-temperature consistency.

Two bottles of wine later (well, most of two. We were thirsty!), the cupcakes were golden brown (the oven was lopsided, so we had to keep flipping the pans around), the icing was buttery and creamy, and piped into delightfully pink swirls.

Mmm! How pretty is that!

The cupcakes were a little bit dry, but it’s the first recipe from the book, so I hesitate to pass judgment too quickly. We’ll see what the next attempt brings. Orange-almond madeleines anyone?

Til next time,

Laurie

So the Christmas/winter hiatus has come to an end, and class has started again… 8 weeks left until my degree. EIGHT weeks. Fifty-six days. So much to do between now and then!!

Makes me (almost) wish I didn’t take it quite so easy over the Christmas Break… Almost.

Speaking of, my break was just that - a break. It was wonderful. I spent Christmas and New Year’s with family in Southern Ontario, so it was easy for me to just disconnect. Even my cell service was patchy for some reason or another. It was great.

Anyway, while I was disconnected from the tech world, I had time to sit and read, bake with my grandmother, cook with my uncle, drink wine, drink tea, drink port for the first time (which is lovely, I might add) and sit and read some more. Unfortunately I’ve not had the financial resources as of late to add to my collection of hardcover treasures, so it was nice to get my hands on some lovelies from my grandmother’s bookshelf.

Bibles like crazy: my great-great grandmothers’ bibles, my grandpa’s first bible, the bible my grandma held when she got married… they ranged from absolutely huge and leather-bound to pocket-sized psalm books…

I think the greatest thing I found though was my great-uncle’s service booklet from WWII. I didn’t have the presence of mind at the time to take any pictures, but I will be sure to do so when I go back in May. It’s a small, brown leather booklet with a snap to hold it shut. It’s small enough to have fit in a shirt pocket. Inside is his picture, physical description, mother’s contact information, fingerprints…

It’s a snapshot of a time (and a person) gone by.

It reminds me of why I’m creating my radio documentary…

As a part of my final year of school, we each have to create something from start to finish, using the skills we’ve learned in school and the strengths we each have. Some of us are creating fashion lines, others are doing charity fashion shows, and yet others are making sweet sweet music.  Our Independent Professional Project (or IPP) could be compared to a university thesis. We use the skills we’ve learned in school and life and then end up with a fantastic portfolio piece and a fantastic sense of achievement.

I decided to create a 15-minute radio documentary for my IPP. The 5-minute long first part examines what WWII veterans thoughts are about Remembrance Day, and the second 10-minute part aims to bridge the generation gap by recording the lessons the veterans learned the hard way - lessons today’s youth will likely never have to learn.

It’s because of stories like my great-uncle’s - stories lost at sea - that I’m creating the documentary I am.

Stay tuned for more - if I can figure out how to post audio, I will.

Til next time,

Laurie

It’s like looking into an infinity mirror…

Infinity Mirror #2 by glueslabs (Flickr)

The Web 2.0 world really is more interconnected than I understood it to be. In class today, Melanie gave us a quick tutorial of what Twitter is capable of, and it appears it does (and can do) much more than I thought it could! I’ve been using it fairly consistently (you can follow me! @bookended!) to pass on links I think are worthwhile, etc. but I didn’t realize quite the distance some of my tweets would (and have!) travelled!

The tweet that really brought it all into focus for me was during a video editing session in which Final Cut Pro was giving me a hard time.

Because I had used the hashtag “#finalcutpro”, anyone who searched that keyword/hashtag/word pattern, etc. would be able to see (and respond to) my tweet. A bloke in Australia picked up on my annoyance and offered assistance. Now, had I known how to work Twitter (properly) at that time, I would’ve seen his reply to my tweet.

I really  could’ve used his help at that point too, but because I wasn’t using Twitter to its fullest capability, I missed out.

Outside of school and industry, only one of my friends has a Twitter account, and her brother is in the industry. Those who don’t have Twitter normally react to it like my friend Dana:

Twitter sucks. End of story.

When I countered with an impassioned explanation of what a valuable tool it is for communicators, how it enabled you to get a single message out to hundreds of people instantaneously, how you could sort Tweets, categorize them with hashtags, etc., he looked at me straight-faced and said:

I build stuff for a living, I don’t give a rat’s @$$ what Twitter can do.

I guess it hasn’t quite reached the masses yet, nor is it for everyone. I know my mechanic/soon-to-be-electrician boyfriend tolerates my ramblings about it (and media kits, strategic plans, news conferences, blog posts, etc. etc. etc), but it’s like when he talks about cars to me…

I hear what he’s saying and I pay attention (as much as I can) because I love him and I know what he’s talking about is important to him, but ultimately it’s nothing I care to remember for the long-term or something I will change my habits to reflect. This is, after all, the man who deleted his Facebook account a month or so into our relationship (talk about a heart attack… Was I suddenly single and didn’t know it? lol!)

So maybe Twitter won’t reach as far as many communicators/marketers/PRs would like, but it seems to work pretty darn well as a great info-sharing tool within the community.

There’s a class moving into my lab now, and I think I’m sitting at someone’s computer. Oops. I’m going, I’m going!

Til next time, dear readers!

-Laurie

*Warning: this blog contains French. Unilinguals beware!

My childhood died slightly today. I was browsing the blogosphere, and one link led to another, when I came upon Herve Renard’s (not the Zambian football team’s manager) blog RvRenard, Le Blog. Herve’s blog postfrom April 21, 2009 features a column of re-titled Martine books.

Now, my entire education up to post-sec has been in French Immersion. As such, I learned to read primarily in French, with books like Dinomir le géant (about a tall purple, bicycle-riding dinosaur), Napoleon le chaton (about a little black and white kitten who would get in all sorts of trouble), and Martine, a Belgian series cataloguing the adventures of the title character.

Monsieur Renard’s blog shows original Martine covers, but with (ahem) updated titles…

For example, the original 1964 publication of Martine fait ses courses (Martine runs her errands)

Martine fait ses courses

Now, the image as seen on M. Renard’s blog; Martine n’a pas de culottes (Martine doesn’t wear underwear)

Martine n'a pas de culotte

My poor childhood just suffered another injury; a Google search reveals that this phenomena is not limited to M. Renard’s blog. Apparently this abomination has become widespread! Oh well, all good things must come to an end, or to PhotoShop.

Til next time, dear readers.

Laurie

P.S. - Attn Ad students - Check out the Nov. 13 post on M. Renard’s blog. Pretty cool new ads!!

I just chased my “Wild Cherry” Dimetapp with Honey Nut Cheerios. Not only do I feel like I’m 7 again, but I definitely should’ve gone with a spoonful of sugar. (Please feel free to sing along. I did, in my head!)

//L

So I’m laying on my couch watching Charmed. I’m coughing up a lung every three minutes, my nose is running faster than I can catch it, and my voice is alternating between Mickey Mouse and James Earl Jones, when I have a voice.  I sat in a walk-in clinic’s waiting room this morning for an hour (I was there when it opened at 9, but the Dr. didn’t actually walk through the doors ’til about 9:30. Ugh.) only to find out I have a cold.

Just a cold.

I feel like I’m dying and all I have is a cold. Doc said my chest is clear, but that doesn’t explain why it feels like I’m breathing through a blanket with a dwarf sitting on my chest. Apparently I have to rest otherwise it will turn into what I thought I already had - bronchitis. Eh bien, c’est la vie.

Moving on to more blog-worthy topics (and less whining and moping), my dear friend inksplAt bookworm and I were discussing our forthcoming 21st birthdays this weekend. As a sidenote, I turn 21 in exactly a month (please see Miss inksplAt’s blog post from yesterday for her thoughts on the matter. I like what she has to say, especially re: the “good head start on the gift buying.” *wink wink nudge nudge*) We had also discussed putting our heads together to create our birthday/Christmas gift lists, which made me think of what books I would love to get my hands on…

I’ll think about it while I put a mustard plaster on my chest.

Til next time, dear (healthy) readers…

Laurie

So I had lunch at Aqua Books the other day, and I couldn’t very well leave without browsing the beautiful collection of antique books the store has.

A book calls to me even more when there is a signature or inscription inside it, and the newest edition to my collection (get it? Edition? Addition? Books?… Yeah, okay not so funny. Punny, maybe.) is no different. The book belonged to a Maria Ratzlaff, and was published in 1907.

That much I know. The rest (like the title, author, subject matter, etc.), I’m a little clueless about. You see, it’s printed in German, and in a very Gothic typeface too, which make the individual characters very very difficult to read.

I used an online translation tool on some of the phrases I managed to identify. The title had the word ‘Lieder’ (meaning song) in it, which lead me to believe it was a songbook of some sort, which was corroborated by the first few pages. But, turning a little further into the book, it looks almost like a bible or prayerbook or something. Another keyword, ‘geistlichen’, translates to ’spiritual’, and ‘Gott’ is mentioned frequently.

'Gesangbuch'

Title Page

Page View

Published in 1907

This is the first non-English purchase I’ve made, and as much as I wish I could actually read it and appreciate it, I kind of enjoyed the research involved in finding out the most basic of information about the book.

Maybe I’ll buy another non-English book soon!

Til next time,

Laurie

Addendum: The title on the spine looked like it read ‘Gefangbuch’. ‘Buch’ I was good with, but ‘Gefang’ didn’t come up with anything. But - Google suggested ‘Gesang’ - meaning ’singing’, or ’song’, ‘hymn’, ‘chant’, ‘canto’, ‘note’, ‘chanting’… Something along those lines. So my original guess of songbook was pretty close. The only thing giving me problems is the book’s format. The song verses are printed like bible verses would be; in numbered paragraphs as opposed to stanzas

So, I realized I’ve yet to really give a good sense of my collection or a background into this little hobby (obsession?) of mine.

It all started when I was about 8 or 9… My parents used to load my sister and I into the car on Saturday mornings and just drive through small town Manitoba, where my first stop was always the local bookstore. I had my first hit in some small town in southwest Manitoba, where I found a tattered, worn, dog-eared, ancient copy of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Stories; Christmas Carol, Cricket on the Hearth and all. The cover is falling off, you can barely read the writing on the spine, and pages are coming off the binding in chunks.

Worn, worn spine

Christmas Stories - Charles Dickens

Broken Spine

Christmas Stories

Despite its hang-dog appearance, this ancient copy of Dickens (there’s no publication or printing date inside, unfortunately) started my addiction. The smell of the book, the feel of the textured title on the cover, the scribbles on the inside that hint of lives past… I love it all.

It’s those past lives in particular that hold my attention fast. I always wonder whose book it was, what it meant to them, where it sat in their home; was the book a favourite or was it relegated to the dark and dusty corner of the den bookcase ? Better yet, who was the owner? What was their life like? How did the come upon the book? Did they find it, borrow it, buy it, or was it a gift?

I try my best to collect books and works by well known authors; names in my own personal literary canon. Shakespeare, Conan Doyle, Wordsworth, Milton, Hugo, Defoe, Conrad, Dante, Tolstoy, Dickens… I cherish each and every one.

That’s just a tiny snapshot of my entire collection (yes I have two copies of David Copperfield!), but it gives you an idea of what my shelves look like. Happiness is colourful hardcovers.

Til next time,

Laurie

I just got my hands on a first-edition (read FIRST EDITION) Ernest Hemingway!!!!!!!!!!! It’s the first edition (I just love saying that… First… Edition. *giggles* Love it.) of For Whom the Bell Tolls, from 1940!

Ernest Hemingway!!

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Front Page

That 'A' at the bottom means FIRST EDITION!!!!!!

Plot summary from Wikipedia:

“This novel is told primarily through the thoughts and experiences of Robert Jordan, a character inspired by Hemingway’s own experiences in the Spanish Civil War. Robert Jordan is an American who travels to Spain to oppose the fascist forces of Francisco Franco.

A superior has ordered him to travel behind enemy lines and destroy a bridge, using the aid of a group of guerrillas who have been living in the mountains nearby. Robert Jordan encounters one of those in their camp, María, a young Spanish native whose life has been shattered by the outbreak of the war. His strong sense of duty clashes with both Republican partisan leader Pablo’s fear and unwillingness to commit to a covert operation which would have repercussions and his own joie de vivre that is kindled by his newfound love for María.

The novel graphically describes the brutality of civil war.”

This is the first time I’ve ever owned a first edition!!! YEAH!!!! I got it from the man that feeds my addiction; John Thompson, also known as the Bookman. He used to set up at the University of Winnipeg, which is where I spent the first two years of my postsecondary education. He helped me empty my wallet quite a few times. I happened to check his website one day (see link above) and I saw he had this Hemingway for sale. I emailed him, and met him at the UofW a couple weeks later to pick it up. He was laughing my excitement, but really, as a budding collector I had yet to lay my hands on a first edition. Did I mention it was a first edition? It’s a first edition. Yay!

As an aside, Metallica has a song by the same title!

Til next time (First Edition!!!),

Laurie

Ohhh Sarah Palin. Since this is a blog about books, I feel that I can address this. (As an aside, what’s with the weird ’something wonderful is just off in the distance’  look??)

Alaska’s Public Offices Commission listed a $1.25 million “book retainer” on Palin’s final financial disclosure, filed in July when she left office. The money, however, was received while she was still Alaska’s governor.

Palin’s book is already topping Amazon’s bestseller list, but it’s not slated for publication until November 17.

As much of a newsmaker as she is, is anyone planning to actually buy her book or just wait til there’s a tonne of copies in the library?

Makes me wonder…