Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teasers:

from Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor:

"At the beginning of March there were a few still, sunny days; for the month, as usual, came in like a lamb and would, no doubt, go out like a lion.

There were other signs of spring -- mauve crocuses out in the gardens (the starlings had shredded the yellow ones to pieces), and a faint haze of buds on some trees."  (chapter 8, page 68)

from Villette by Charlotte Bronte:

"Those who live in retirement, whose lives have fallen amid the seclusion of schools or of other walled-in and guarded dwellings, are liable to be suddenly and for a long while dropped out of the memory of their friends, the denizens of a freer world.  Unaccountably, perhaps, and close upon some space of unusually frequent intercourse -- come congeries of rather exciting little circumstances, whose natural sequel would rather seem to be the quickening than the suspension of communication -- there falls a stilly pause, a wordless silence, a long blank of oblivion."  (chapter 24, page 308)

from The Madwoman in the Attic (2nd edition) by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar:

"Villette is in many ways Charlotte Bronte's most overtly and despairingly feminist novel.  The Professor and Shirley, as we have seen, at least pretended to have other intentions, disguising their powerful preoccupations with the anxieties of femaleness behind cool, pseudo-masculine facades; and Jane Eyre, though rebelliously feminist in its implications, used a sort of fairy tale structure to enable the novelist to conceal even from herself her deepening pessimism about woman's place in man's society.  (chapter 12, page 399)

Baking!

I've had two days off and all I've done is cleaning and grocery shopping.  Knowing that I have to go back to work tomorrow fills each day with dread.  I hate it.  Yes, I'm declaring it on such a public place as the internet.  I absolutely hate my job.  Not the actually work, but the tense, negative, stress-filled, understaffed stupid bullshit part.  Hate.  I hate it.

So I'm baking and baking and baking and one day far, far, far in the future when I'm out of debt (okay 10 years from now) I will have my own bookstore and bakery.  Right now I'm able to make it through the day by baking and reading and stitching and trying my best not to think of that wretched place.

Okay, so on to the baking:

This week I have several events/places that call for baked goods.  There is the bake sale (cupcakes), Inman Park (cookies and something else), and a group of book nerds (scones).  Sunday is Hope's birthday party and she has already requested strawberry cupcakes with strawberry icing and sprinkles, but I need help deciding what else to bake.  Hence, a survey! Click here to take survey

Tell me what to bake!  Leave a comment telling me what you voted for and you might win something.  I'm not sure what, but there will be something non-edible and awesome headed your way!


(photo via axelsrose's photostream on Flickr, creative commons license)

First Fig

My candle burns at both ends;
  It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends---
  It gives a lovely light!

(Edna St. Vincent Millay, from A Few Figs From Thistles)

Alas, last week became progressively worse.  After my work melt down and the comfort of stew I was prepared to face the remainder of the week.  All the book-buying and old movie watching in the world could not have improved my mood.  Work was stressful during the week and I actually looked forward to my Saturday shift.  Typically, Saturdays are quiet and I catch-up on work.  This past Saturday my work computer somehow became infected with a nasty virus that riddled my computer with porn and erectile dysfunction ads.  Then we had a creepy guy in the library and security had to be called.  And my dad was in the hospital with bleeding ulcers (he's okay now). 

Stress, stress, and more stress.

I am determined that this week will be better!  Today I spent my time sleeping, reading Edna St. Vincent Millay, mopping, thumbing through the newspaper, drinking caramel macchiatos and day dreaming.  I've done nothing except some cleaning.  Most of my day I spent sitting in a chair, staring at nothing, and pretending I was a turnip or someother vapid vegetable.

Tomorrow?  I plan on whipping myself into a state of industry!  Stitching, reading, blogging, and baking will commence with fervor.  I need to eke out as much joy as I can before I go back to work on Tuesday.

Tonight?  My only goal is to talk Sam into taking us out for dinner and watching T.V. with the family.

Comfort Food

I should have known yesterday was going to be terrible when I woke with a nightmare at 3:45 in the morning.  I dreamed that my cat, Beauregard, and I went to the restroom early in the morning.  I walked into the bathroom and shut the door.   Then I noticed a huge writhing mass of vipers in the bathtub.  On top of the snakes, was some of Beau's cat food.  Beau start towards the tub to get the food and then I tried waving the snakes away.  The snakes started hissing and crawling up the walls, darting at me as if to attack.  Then brave Beauregard tried to shield me from the serpents by fighting off the snakes.  The snakes grabbed Beau and began to drag him down the drain.  I couldn't save him and I was helpless watching.

I woke up sobbing and made Sam wake up to listen to my dream.  Then Sam assured me that there were no snakes and Beau was quite safe with me.  Sam went back to sleep while I cuddled with Beau and tried my best to fall back asleep.  No luck.

So by 4:15 a.m. I was up.  I padded downstairs to the kitchen and decided to bake some chocolate cupcakes for a student-worker.  I knew I had to do it some time, so I figured I'd bake while I was miserable and awake.  They turned out lovely (and delicious).  

Then I had a completely abysmal day at work.  I won't go into details, but I've never felt so overwhelmed, overworked, and unappreciated in my life.  I was so close to quitting on the spot (which I would actually never do because there are NO JOBS IN GEORGIA).  Instead, I wept in the middle of the office by the fax machine.  Some coworkers bundled me off to an empty office and I cried and cried.  Today a different coworker is crying and earlier in the week yet another coworker was crying.

When I came home I cried and blubbered some more and then I decided I needed some comfort food.  I started making a HUGE pot of soup.  I started with butter in the pan and added onions, garlic, and celery.  Then I added in smoked sausage and potatoes.  After 20 minutes of simmering, I threw in a bag of frozen veggies, broth, water, and Parmesan cheese rind.  About 30 minutes later the soup was ready.  With a dollop of sour cream on top and a huge mug of Irish tea (with plenty of sugar and milk) by my side I was ready to eat.  It was 8:30 at night.  Hope was in bed and Sam was at work.  I ate my soup, sipped my tea, read Villette and felt restored. 

Of course, a nerd cannot live on soup and tea alone.  I also engaged in some book therapy.  I updated my Amazon Wishlist and bought some books. I only bought 3 -- an American Girl book for Hope, the new updated version of Madwoman in the Attic, and a journal for list-making called Curious Lists.  The books, tea, soup, and thought of list making calmed me considerably. 

Today will be rough.  We have a monster 2 + hour meeting (most likely it will be 3 hours).  I brought my embroidery for the meeting to keep me focused and calm.  After work, Sam has offered to hang with Hope so I can go discuss Villette with some friends over coffee.  And the best part -- tonight at 8 p.m.Turner Classic Movies is playing my favorite movie of all time, The Uninvited. 

Balancing the horrid parts of my life with simple indulgences will be the thing that keeps me sane. 

Reading Review: January Reads and February Goals

January Books Read:

The Queen's Secret by Jean Plaidy (416 pages)
The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym (208 pages)
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (306 pages)
A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (131 pages)
The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton (303 pages)

That's 5 books and 1,364 pages.  I have a yearly goal of 75 books and/or 20,000 pages.  This means I have 70 books and/or 18,636 pages left.  Holy Cheez-it, I better get to reading!

I did pretty well keeping up with the myriad of group reads and challenges I signed up for this year.  I worked on the Marple/Poirot/Holmes, Our Mutual Read, Short Story, Support Your Local Library, Tudor Book, and Year of the Historical Challenges.  I also participated in a Classics Circuit read and the LOTR readalong.

February Goals:

I have an ambitious February stack of books.  I made a stack of 10 titles and my goal is to read at least 7 of the books by the end of February.  The books I have on docket for February are:

1. Frost in May by Antonia White (in progress)
2. Villette by Charlotte Bronte (in progress for a face-to-face book club)
3. Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (library book)
4. The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova (Early Reviewer read)
5. The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt (Victorian group read)
6. Trilby by George du Maurier (this one has been lurking for 3 months on my TBR)
7. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (Between the Wars group read)
8. Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (LOTR group read)
9. Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold (library book)
10. The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson Burnett (library book)

Whew!  I'm in full Hobbit mode now:  stack of books, quilt, pot of tea, and a penchant for staying at home!

The Sunday Salon: Reading for Renewal and Childhood Obsessions Revisited

For the past few weeks I've been waking up early. By early I mean between 4 and 5 in the morning. I've actually been enjoying my early days. It gives me a chance to prepare for work with no harried rush and I have a chance to start my day doing things I love.  I've baked, written, stitched and blogged, but my favorite activity, reading, is by far the most wonderful way to start the day.

I've had a really tough time at work lately.  The tension in the air is palpable and we are dealing with impossible deadlines.  For some reason waking up at 4 in the morning, creeping downstairs, brewing some coffee, and reading Villette has been my salvation.  When my reading time is up, I feel cleansed, renewed. 

Early on in Villette we find the heroine, Lucy Snowe, completely alone.  She has no family, has lost touch with her godmother, and her employer -- the wealthy Miss Marchmont -- dies a day before leaving Lucy a vast amount of fortune. Lucy, bravely, sets off for London to find employment.  Fully aware that she is quite alone in the world, Lucy, nonetheless, feels a sense of freedom.  On her first day in London she wakes up in an inn and looks out of the window at the vastness and grandeur of London:  "While I looked, my inner self moved; my spirit shook its always-fettered wings half loose; I had a sudden feeling as if I, who had never yet truly lived, were at last about to taste life..." (Chapter 6, page 52).  Frankly, that is precisely how I feel when I read.  I'm able to be myself, throw off any constraints, and live.  Some wiser persons may feel that living through books is not healthy, I say that living through books helps me to survive the nasty parts of life and relish the good things.

This is my second time reading Villette, I read the novel in college when I was supposed to be reading post-modern theory (bleh).  I did that quite a bit in college, I read what I wanted and ignored assignments!  I remembered that I loved Villette, but I didn't recall much of the plot.  This reading is far more rich and engaging.

The other book I'm reading at the moment is Frost in May by Antonia White.  Frost in May is about Nanda Grey, a convert to Catholicism experiencing Catholic boarding school for the first time.  She is at the Convent of the Five Wounds, the nuns range from the sympathetic to harsh, and Nanda is both comically and pitifully pious.  This book recalls one of my childhood obsessions with Catholicism.  I grew up in Northeast Georgia as a Southern Baptist and Catholics always seems so exotic!  I spent a portion of my girlhood wishing I could be Catholic, partly because it would give me a chance to learn Latin and partly because I was equally obsessed with Mary Queen of Scots.  Now that I'm all grown up and solidly against organized religion, I find that I still have a soft spot for Catholic novels.  These same memories occurred when I read Brideshead Revisited.  In fact, I would consider Frost in May a young girl's Brideshead Revisited.

My goal for this week is to finish Frost in May and at least get through half of Villette.  I need to start and finish a library book with a fast approaching due date -- Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont -- and start on A.S. Byatt's The Children's Book.

Happy Reading!

Photo Friday: Cupcakes and Honeymoon

 Finally, the much anticipated cupcake recipes and a some honeymoon pictures. 

So I had this wonderful idea to bake cupcakes for the wedding.  Luckily, with less than 40 people, this proved to be manageable.  I forgot to photograph the cupcakes before the wedding, so the pictures were hastily snapped in the library break room a few days after the wedding.  I had about a dozen assorted cupcakes left and brought them to work with my on Tuesday.  Decorations and cupcake papers are from Bake it Pretty. I used store bought icing because I knew I could rely on the consistency and it was easier for me to transport to my grandmother's home. 

First off, a cupcake I didn't make.  One of my best friends in the world, Erin, made some delicious White Chocolate Raspberry cupcakes: 

Next up, Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes: 

Lemon Irish Tea Cupcakes; modified from this recipe:

And finally, Cinnamon Coffee cupcake: 

Our fancy, but Green, hotel room:  

 

Lots of delicious coffee from Red Eye: 

 

Delicious food at the Grit: