Gables and Skyfall

This post is linked with: Booking Through, Thursday 13 

One of those quick, easy questions that I ask periodically because the answer is always changing: What are you reading right now? (And, is it good? Would you recommend it? How did you choose it?)

The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Started it last year and since then I have finished two John Grishams, one Nicholas Sparks, a Philippa Gregory and a few other leisure and work-related distractions. If anyone wants to explore themes of retribution or atonement or know what the consequences of greed were like around 1851, they may want to have a go at this classic. I'm developing curious sympathy for Hepzibah, poor old maid, so I'm going to finish this book before the next full moon invites howls from handsome shape-shifters.

Thursday 13: word associations from Skyfall. I didn't mind not getting around to watching the 23rd JB film until a bloggity friend commented on a post I shared with Judi Dench singing in it, saying she "just watched M die." Oh, blimey I hurried off to buy the DVD, and something caught my attention aside from their latest toys. I provide the 6th, 12th and 13th words as 007 and the psychologist mentioned only 11, and I doubt 'M' counts, as in M = bitch or that skyfall was really done.

I added a literary work that begins with the same word in bold. What are your associations of these words though? Any book, poetry or story you are reminded of with these words?

1. day - wasted -  Day with a courteous mother, A by Helen Hunt-Jackson
2. gun - shot - Gun for hire by Mack Reynolds
3. heart - target - Heart of Arethusa, The by Frances Barton Fox
4. agent - provocateur - Agent at the door, The by Walt Mason
5. woman - provocatrix - Woman who loved Chopin, The  by James Huneker
6. head - quarters - Head of Caesar, The by G.K. Chesterton
7. sunlight - swim - Sunlight on the soul by John S. Adams
8. moonlight - dance - Moonlight favor  by H.G. Wells
9. murder - employment - Murders in the Rue Morgue  by Edgar Allan Poe
10. bird - sky - Birds of spring, The by Wasington Irving
11. country - England - Country lass, The by Robert Burns
12. sky - fall - Sky is falling, The by Lester del Rey
13. lab - rat - Laboratory-Ancien Regime by Robert Browning

Four salad men and a daiquiri poet

Research papers or PhD proposals don't count, right? Yeah, I write those and sometimes a speech to kick off a university business meeting. The rest of the time I play with recreational haiku, and that's that. So I'm no writer, but once in awhile I date some daiquiri. When the calendar showed 1-1-11, I headed off to a beach town, the Thai Royal family's summer home. I did balance the table with something healthy.

Now we don't play with our food but we certainly can have fun:
Guess which writer loved daiquiri: Edward Thomas, Randall Jarrell or Robert Frost 

Clue: "The land was ours before we were the land's..." Read at JFK's inauguration. 

*More on writers and what they love to eat here.*

Someone once said 'it takes four men to dress a salad. One for the salt, one for the pepper, one for the vinegar and one for the oil." 

Can you name which men? Here are your choices:
a. yeoman, barman, monk, gamekeeper
b. wiseman, madman, miser, spendthrift
c. marksman, poet, undertaker, painter

Now have some coffee before finding your answers below

"Robert Frost loved daiquiris. At the Waybury Inn near one of his favorite dining spots - Frost would begin every dinner with a daiquiri. But only one daiquiri." THE AWL

"It takes four men to dress a salad: a wise man for the salt, a madman for the pepper, a miser for the vinegar and a spendthrift for the oil." ~ Anonymous

Leisure research, a memory of celebratory dining and its association with literature are to me sunbeams of joy to a quiet day off work. I hope you had fun guessing. 

Shared with Mellow Yellows * Inspire Me Monday * Color Connection * Food * Food Trip * Share the Joy * Creative HomeAcre * Favorite Things

Libraries and cafes

This post is linked with: Booking Through, Thursday 13 and Favorite Things Thursday

How often do you visit a library? Do you go to borrow books? Do research? Check out the multi-media center? Hang out with the friendly and knowledgeable staff? Are you there out of love or out of need?

When I was a grad student I frequented the library out of both love and need. One biggest distraction to thesis-writing was pleasure reading. You know these things that you can't find in traditional or electronic books - databases and repositories that your university or company is subscribed to, are addicting. It's a world you may not mind spending hours or days in. Practically all collection of knowledge you can imagine is there; not to mention the 'scientific gossip.' And they say academic life is boring ;p

Thursday 13: authors and their food and drink. Let's have fun with who ate or drank what? There's a clue after the names. Answers are on the bottom of the list. And - many T13 participants are authors as well. We'd love to know what you like to eat or drink, if you want to mention that in the comments.

1. Daiquiri - Edward Thomas / Randall Jarrell / Robert Frost 

"The land was ours before we were the land's..." read at a presidential inauguration

2. Apples - Charles Dickens / George Orwell / Henry James

“... It was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light..." 

3. Liver sausage - Oscar Wilde / Frank O' Hara / Boris Pasternak

He had "liver sausages in the Mayflower shoppe." He died of ruptured liver. Larry Rivers, his long-time friend and lover delivered the eulogy at his funeral.

4. Claret - Percy Bysshe Shelley / John Keats / Lord Byron

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever..."

5. Champagne - Oscar Wilde / George Bernard Shaw / Frank Harris

"Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much."

6. Eggs - George Orwell / Victor Hugo / Charles Dickens

One of his masterpieces was recently released as a musical

7. Vanilla pudding - Jean Paul Sartre / Boris Pasternak / Gunther Grass

recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature

8. Soda water - Robert Frost / Lord Byron / George Bernard Shaw

One of his most famous poems was sang at the opening credits of the film Vanity Fair: "...like the night, of cloudless climes and starry skies..."

9. Rabbit stew - Sylvia Plath / Virginia Woolf / Emily Dickenson

She advanced the genre of confessional poetry

10. Plum cake - Elizabeth Browning / Jane Austen / Charlotte Bronte

Her most famous novel is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year

11. Oysters - Vladimir Nabokov / Leo Tolstoy / Anton Chekhov

He once said, "medicine is my lawful wife; and literature is my mistress"

12. Milk - Honore' de Balzac / Frank Kafka / Moliere

 Le Peau de chagrin, Gobseck. "A mother who is really a mother is never free."

13. Espresso - Alexandre Dumas / Marcel Proust / Jules Verne

In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower. "Happiness is beneficial for the body, but it is grief that develops the powers of the mind."

~Idea: theawl.  The rest of the research is mine~

Answers: 1 Robert Frost  2 Charles Dickens  3 Frank O' Hara  4 John Keats  5 Oscar Wilde  6 Victor Hugo  7 Gunther Grass  8 Lord Byron  9 Sylvia Plath  10 Jane Austen  11 Anton Chekhov  12 Honore' de Balzac  13 Marcel Proust 

Pelican brief dessert

Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first. ~Ernestine Ulmer

Butter pan cake with warm chocolate, green tea ice cream and red bean jam

This dessert plate arrived on my table and I had my nose glued to The Pelican Brief. When I remembered to take a photo, the green tea ice cream had began melting. But who cares? This is one of those feel-good moments when you're doing two things you love simultaneously!

Food Friday * Share the Joy * Food Trip Friday

Love story

This post is linked with: Booking Through, Thursday 13 and Favorite Things Thursday

Not the kind of “love” question you’re expecting for Valentine’s Day. No, what I want to know is:  what do you love most about reading?

I could be in Tuscany on Sunday and Athens on Thursday. I get to observe a medieval drunk lord in a nightie or analyze an assassin's motive while sipping coffee. I'm on top of the world when I'm buried in the pages.

***

Thursday 13: pieces of music you hear in films that were made from books. The name(s) after each title is either the *singer/performer, **writer, or ***composer. [Edit]I added the author. Can you name which book or story? 

1. Postcard to Henry Purcell  ***Dario Marianelli on Jane Austen's -
2. For the beauty of the earth  **Folliott S. Pierpoint on Louisa May Alcott's -
3. Weep ye no more sad fountains  *John Dowland (16th c.) on William Thackeray's -
4. On my own  *Lea Salonga on Victor Hugo's -
5. Lavender dream  ***Joshua Bell on William J. Locke's -
6. The banquet  ***Paul Cantelon on Philippa Gregory's -
7. Prelude for piano op. 28 no. 4  ***Chopin on Nicholas Sparks' -
8. Winter light  *Sarah Brightman on Frances Hodgson Burnett's -
9. Wedding march  ***Mendelssohn on William Shakespeare's -
10. Avonlea  ***Hagood Hardy on Lucy Maud Montgomery's -
11. Elinor remembers  ***Javier Navarette on Cornelia Funke's -
12. The conqueror worm  *Wes Bentley, ***Michael Edwards on Edgar Allan Poe's -
13. Your crowning glory  *Julie Andrews and Raven on Meg Cabot's -

Book / Story 
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Little Women
3. Vanity Fair
4. Les Miserables
5. Ladies in Lavender 
6. The Other Boleyn Girl 
7. The Notebook 
8. The Secret Garden
9. Midsummer Night's Dream  
10. Anne Shirley of Green Gables
11. Inkheart
12. Ligeia
13. Princess Diaries II 

Les Miserables brunch

Les Miserables hit big screens in Bangkok on January 31st, weeks behind Europe. At least that's what I remember a friend in Sweden said to me last week of December 2012- that they're all crazy about the musical. I love buying little treats to celebrate films I enjoy watching. This time I tried the warm chocolate cupcake from Coffee Beans by Dao. I also browsed a sprinkling of quotes by LM genius Victor Hugo:

 "To love another person is to see the face of God."

 

“A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is visible labor and there is invisible labor.”

"He never went out without a book under his arm, and he often came back with two.”

“It is nothing to die. It is frightful not to live.”

 Food Friday * Share the Joy * Time Travel * Rednesday * Blues * Mellow Yellows

Influence

In this post: Booking Through Thursday and Thursday Thirteen

Do other people influence what you choose to read? When a family member recommends something, or a friend says they hated a book you were planning to read … does it affect your reading choices?

Sometimes I deliberately read a book because others say they hated it or even because it has bad (mixed?) reviews, especially if the review was by a book industry authority I trust. It's interesting to be intrigued. I enjoy my own curiosity and I can't seem to rest until I find out why the book was reviewed like that.

Thursday 13: Banned books that I *have never read, #already read or studied, and @fancy reading: (Edit 2/8/13: banned by governments)

1. @The Bible. I make no promise I can read this entirely though.

2. *Lolita (1955) by Vladimir Nabokov. Why in 1964 France, United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Argentina thought it was obscene - I'm curious to know.

3. #@The Canterbury Tales (late 14th century) by Geoffrey Chaucer. When we studied this collection in English Literature class, and later when I required it on Marine academy seniors as supplemental reading, I didn't know this was banned. Therefore now that I know it once was, I want to get my hands on it again.

4. #The Da Vinci Code (2003) by You Know Who err... Dan Brown. Lord help! It would be exciting if they tried to hide all the Harry Potter books too. My mother banned my son from watching the films. Wicked :)

5. *The Diary of Anne Frank (1947) by Anne Frank. A copy has been sitting on my shelf for ages I'm no longer sure if I still have it or it's been borrowed. Now I want to know what's wrong with "portraying Zionism favorably."

6. *Doctor Zhivago (1957) by Boris Pasternak. I may watch the film first and then find out why Jake in Must Love Dogs liked it.

7. *Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley. We read some of Percy Bysshe Shelley's work in class. I didn't know then that his wife was talented too, and I want to know what does Frankenstein have to do with apartheid in South Africa.

8. @Lysistra (411 B.C.) by Aristophanes. Just because in the script "Lysistrata persuades the women of Greece to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands and lovers as a means of forcing the men to negotiate peace" Greece, in 1967 banned it for its anti-war message? Does being sex-deprived make humans anti-war? Aren't we admonished to 'make love, not war'? Now I'm confused.

9. @Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) by George Orwell. Stalin probably couldn't take the suggestion that it's a satire on his leadership. I read the book during bus rides to the border between Cambodia and Thailand where I go bargain-hunting. I wonder where did Orwell get his ideas. He seemed possessed.

10. #Noli Mi Tangere (1887) by Jose Rizal. This was a whole year of study in 4th year high school. If the teacher had her personal opinions on the corruption and abuse of the Spanish government on Filipinos, she handled it subtly. But I did harbor some dislike against Spain or Spanish people that time. 

11. *Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe influenced Jose Rizal to write Noli Mi Tangere, which eventually got him killed. 

12. *Areopagitica (1644) by John Milton. I want to read it just because it's hundreds of years old, and old intrigues me.

13. *Freemason Or Dajjal (2007) by Kamran Rad. Recently I was on friendly talking terms with a Freemason. It will be nice to not sound too out of this world if we ever talked again.   

Dasa book cafe

When Dasa Book Cafe claims that they are the 'best secondhand bookshop in Bangkok,' I believe them. Not only am I a frequent customer here; I have also visited other secondhand bookshops in the city but I like Dasa best of all.

Their site has a page that explains the name Dasa, and I quote:

"dāsa" came from the name of the late venerable Thai Buddhist Monk called "Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu".

The word "dāsa" itself means "slave" or "servant". It's the word from an ancient language called "Pali" which is the language that Buddhist monks use in chanting and in their regular rituals or ceremonies. We chose this name because it conveys the meaning that all book lovers are "slave" in the sense that they can't live without books or reading. The name also has a nice Asian touch to it and is also quite catchy.

Even though the place may not look attractive on the outside, I'd still say it's one of my favorite haunts. 

 

Inside it's cozy

and conducive to browsing.

Sometimes I would climb up the second and third floors and browse some more

Often I just stay in this area where the English-speaking assistants are. A white guy (I'm guessing the owner) works quietly near the coffee corner cataloguing books in his computer.

Inspire Me * ABC * Our World

Cherry chocolate cake

 

Check out the spoon: beside the color which is my fave, it's obviously disposable. But this is something sweet with a double meaning. Latdawan, a Management major gave this little treat to me. When I smiled at her, "what's this for?" she shrugged, "nothing" then browsed her book. I'm a bit chary about accepting gifts from students; don't want to be compromised come evaluation time. Fortunately, I didn't have to with Latdawan. She's one brainy student.

When it comes to cakes, I always love it moist. Here's a recipe from Linda Larsen that you may want to try.

Ingredients:

1 (18- oz) package chocolate cake mix                        1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract                            1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar                                                               1 (21-oz) can cherry pie filling
6 tablespoons butter                                                     1/3 cup whole milk
1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips         2 eggs

 

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13x9" pan with nonstick baking spray containing flour and set aside. In large bowl, combine cake mix, cherry pie filling, 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, then beat 1 minute at medium speed. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until cake is set.

While cake is in the oven, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, butter, and milk in large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir with a wire whisk until the chips are melted and frosting is smooth. Pour over warm cake and spread to cover. Let cool on wire rack before serving.

Note: You don't need to refrigerate this cake because of the milk in the frosting. There's so much sugar and fat in the frosting that the milk doesn't present a safety hazard even when left at room temperature.

Rednesday * Color Connection

 Foodie Friday * Food Trip Friday * Food Friday