The Hunger Games and A Dance with Dragons

After frantically rushing to finish A Dance with Dragons, so I would have more time to other things, I concluded that book on Tuesday night. Then on Wednesday morning, I immediately began The Hunger Games, which I finished in less than a day and then last night I began reading the second one in the series, Catching Fire.  Generally, when I know Jon will be gone for while, I find myself reading a lot (probably to stop feeling lonely.) I know that it’s definitely a bad thing to escape into a book when you’re unhappy or lonely, but it’s a hell of a lot better than escaping into a bottle of whiskey or wine. If escapist reading is my major vice than I’ll gladly take it.  I thought I’d write a review of each book before I disappear back into Catching Fire.

A Dance with Dragons, was regrettably not as good as the first four of the series. I really looked forward to it and I have to say I was disappointed. The way George R.R. Martin arranged the fourth and fifth books was so they followed the two different sets of characters during the same time period. His messing with the chronological order kinda ruined the books for me. I struggled to remember and place what was happening in reference to the fourth book. I missed the characters from the other book while I read and overall it was less enjoyable. That’s not to say it wasn’t good or even great. It was. It just was less so than it would’ve been. I enjoyed some of the new characters, I loved hating others, and genuinely just didn’t like some. It was good, but I wouldn’t go shouting praise from the rooftops. I may also be slightly bitter that one of my favorite characters got killed off. That shouldn’t be too much a spoiler because I have like 10 favorite characters and a lot of people die in these books.

On a much higher note, The Hunger Games, was amazingly good. It may be considered ”teen fiction,” but I really want to shout my praises for it from the rooftop. It is interesting, fast paced, and sometimes shocking. From the moment I started reading it I could not put it down. If you like anything suspenseful, you’d love this book. The best part, it’s currently being made into a movie! It is written from the point of view of Katniss who ends up in The Hunger Games, a fight-to-the-death competition organized by the twisted government of Panem a dystopian society of the future in what was formerly known as North America.  This book was better than I expected, and I was expecting it to be good. Do yourself a favor, read it! I promise you won’t regret it.

 

Also,if anyone has this EW from months ago, and wouldn’t mind sending it to me, I’d love you forever!

Have you read either of these books or anything else really good lately? Do you use books as a way to escape?

<3 Frank

Favorite Poem

i carry your heart with me (i carry it

in my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

e.e.cummings

Tomato Bounty

Samuel Johnson, an English Author who died on my birthday in 1784 said, “Bounty always receives part of its value from the manner in which it was bestowed.” My tomato bounty is all the more glorious because it was both unexpected and unlikely. It amazes me because I did not plant any of these tomato plants on purpose. They’re the result of composting the plants directly into the soil, as well as, my not being able to keep up with last year’s bounty. While I was busy killing all my purposeful tomato seedlings, Mother Nature saw fit to make sure my garden yielded tomatoes, despite my lack of seedling skills and a rather serious case of blight. Seriously, they taste as good as they look.

The teeny yellow ones are my favorite. Usually, none make it into the house as I pop them into my mouth directly from the plant without washing them. They taste like candy.

Despite all the sadness I felt when my baby tomatoes died, I’ve still been able to eat plenty of garden fresh tomatoes and I’m more thankful for every bite because I know how close I was to not having any.

How about you all? Did you get any tomatoes yet? Have you ever received something that was better because of how it came to you? I’d love to hear!

<3 Frank

P.S. Please excuse the short posts while I get back into the swing of things.

Unedited Photo, Reading, and Eric Northman

Yesterday, Jon left for Pitsburg and then Michigan. I won’t see him for three weeks, and then he’ll only be back for about a week, before he will go to Wisconsin for four months. So I spent all last week soaking up as much of his presence as I could before having to say farewell yesterday. Long distance is hard. If you’ve never done it, I hope you never have to.

Anyway, I really enjoyed our week together. Last Sunday, we spent the afternoon hanging out at my house with Dean and Tex. I made strawberry peach pie, with an oat crumbly top crust. Jon grilled Salmon, sweet potatoes, and balsamic zucchini, summer squash, and onions. Then we all lounged on a blanket in the grass in the backyard.  It was a lovely afternoon.I took this picture with my android phone. I didn’t edit it at all. I kinda like it.

Well I promise some more posts this week, including a yummy recipe or two. But now, I’m off to do some reading. The newest book in the Song of Ice and Fire (Dance with Dragons) is taking me a while to read and I’m behind on my reading pledge. When I finish this I’ll be at 4 books for the summer, and my goal was 10 before September. That’s 6 in August.  This book is nearly one thousand pages and could count for at least  2 books but that would be cheating.

I don’t really understand how people have time to read and watch tv and blog and craft and exercise and cook and bake and do laundry. I stopped watching all t.v. except for True Blood and I feel like can’t keep up. Time management is hard. Also Eric Northman with (spoiler) no memory is incredibly sexy, adorable, and swoon worthy. Do you agree?

<3 Frank

Harry Potter

I fondly recall my introduction to Harry Potter. It was a few days before I was going to sleep away camp for the first (and only) time. I was at the pool club which at that time was the place to be. I was hanging out with my best friend (who remains such) Laura. Her mom, my mom, and some other kids moms were sitting at a table under an umbrella, chatting about whatever it is they chatted about. Laura’s younger sister, Alex, was reading one of the first 3 Harry Potters (I believe all three were released at once in the US right before they exploded). It was the summer after 6th grade. I asked Alex what she was reading, and thus my love affair with Harry began. After Alex’s recommendation, and before I left for camp, my mom took me to Borders and bought me the first Harry Potter book; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. She wouldn’t buy me all three at once, because she didn’t want to buy them unless I liked them, after all they were expensive hardcovers and I was a fickle eleven year old.

Now, anyone whose been to sleep away camp, knows that there’s not much time for reading. You’re entirely too busy hiking, horseback riding , swimming in murky lakes, crafting up ugly beautiful creations, and barely eating nasty camp kitchen food. Also, your counselors forbid you from carrying around your 5 pound Harry Potter book. These same counselors also forced you to put your junk food stash into the plastic bag in the cabin, to avoid critter visits, but really just force you to share your Oreo’s with the group and get something lame like sun chips in return. Bug Juice this was NOT.

Anyway, despite these obstacles, I snuck in enough reading time to fall head-over-heals in love with Harry. I’d crawl into my sleeping bag with the book and my flashlight, until my head was covered, so everyone would think I was asleep, and I’d read until my eyes would begin to shut on their own. Some parts were pretty scary to 11 year-old-me, and hearing owls hooting in the distance was eerily appropriate. It was also incredibly difficult to wake up at 7 every morning having read long into the night. It’s a good thing, the majority of my time was spent on a horse’s back instead doing something athletic like play soccer. Upon my return from camp, I immediately coerced my mom into taking me to Borders and buying me the subsequent two books. My relationship with Harry deepened.

I was always hungry for more Harry. I went to every midnight book release party after those first three books. I formed friendships with people based on our mutual love of Harry. My best friend in high school and I went to those midnight parties together and we’d return to a sleepover during which I read as much as I could, again until I couldn’t hold my eyes open. These were magical experiences (no pun intended). I always enjoyed seeing what other people dressed up as but I never dressed up myself, at least not wholeheartedly. I might of worn my hair crazily frizzy curly to a midnight movie to honor Hermione. At another midnight movie, I expertly sported gold and maroon Gryffindor colors to see who’d notice. And then again, I recall an owl necklace I chose to wear to a book release as an ode to Hedwig.

In college, the majority of my friends were also Harry Potter fans. It was during the summer after my sophomore year, that I went to the midnight release of the final installation, with some good friends. The three of us returned to the common area of some one’s dorm room, and sat in a circle and read. We split up shortly after my one friend gasped (presumably at Hedwig and then Mad Eye Moody’s deaths) because my other friend couldn’t take the tension. I read and read and read that book. I went to work the next day, and read on the T (and at work when no one was looking). I read every chance I could the next day (Saturday) during a visit from my parents. That night, less than 48 hours after the release of the last book, I knew how the Harry Potter series ended. It was bittersweet. I know at what point most people wanted to give up but didn’t. I know which chapters I read through blurry, tearful, eyes. I know which paragraphs rendered me unable to breath for fear, suspense, pain, or happiness. And I know how significant Harry has been throughout my life.

Harry Potter became a communal experience at the midnight book releases and movie premieres. I might not have had the courage to dress in full costume (It definitely takes a major amount of self-confidence and courage to wear full Harry Potter garb in public) but I understood, related to, and even admired people who did it. Sometimes, I wished I was that cool or had that much confidence. But despite their willingness to dress up and my refusal to do so, we were part of the same great leagues of HP fanatics. We all read the same pages, sometimes dozens of times,we all adored Harry and despised Voldemort, and we all knew Ron and Hermione would end up together. The beauty of Harry Potter was in the fact that people from all different walks of life, related to some part of Harry’s story, and therefore related to each other. In a small, but definitely significant way Harry Potter has brought millions of people together, and that is wonderful.

On Friday, or Thursday at midnight, the final installment of the Harry Potter movies will be released. Millions of fans will flock to theaters anxious to see this epic story play out on the big screen. For whatever reason, probably some subliminal need to lengthen the remainder of time I had with Harry, I waited until yesterday to buy tickets for the midnight show despite having the date marked on my calendar months in advance. Not surprisingly, every theater within a 1/2 hour ride of my house, is sold out of tickets. What is a fan to do? I’ve decided that I can wait the extra 18- 30 hours to see it. I didn’t see the last one at midnight because my dad backed out of seeing it with me at the last minute (he had some silly reason like not being able to stay awake passed 10).

I’ve come to quiet terms with my not seeing this the last midnight show. It still makes me quite sad, but it’s okay because by not seeing it as soon as it’s released, I’m able to lengthen what will be a bitter-sweet moment. I grew up with Harry Potter and with the impending last time I’ll see a new Harry Potter movie, I can’t help but feel like I’m about lose part of my childhood. I know the voice of this entire post will be interpreted as melodramatic to some people reading it and perhaps I am letting this affect me more than I should but I can’t help it.

Harry Potter deepened my appreciation for books and reading. He helped me make friends when I was awkward and shy. He was there to comfort me when a lot of non-Harry fan-former-friends decided they didn’t want to be friends with me. I would escape into his world whenever I needed to cheer up. For a lot people, Harry, like he did in his wizarding world, became a light in dark times. I am a member of the only generation who got to be with Harry from the beginning to the end. While I do think that many of us will one day read these books to and share the movies with our children, I don’t think it could ever be the same for them as it was for us. We’ve been here for all the hoopla and media attention, all the midnight showings and book releases, and all the wonderful craziness of being a fan. No other generation will have that.

Harry started the journey in a Broom Closet under the stairs, and I joined him from my sleeping bag at summer camp; I am so thankful I did. It’s been wonderful and I’m not ready for it to end. I’ll wait a little extra time to say good-bye, and see the movie on Friday or even Saturday because one thing I also learned from Harry is patience.

<3 Frank

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Review and Plea

All my life, without knowing it, I’ve quietly existed on a somewhat local diet, at least for the summer months. Some of my fondest childhood memories, include skipping to the garden at the back of our yard, basket in hand, to pick whatever was available. I was an artist watching and waiting for the tomatoes to turn the perfect shade of red. I was a scavenger searching under leaves to find as many string beans as I could.  I was a zoologist identifying good bugs versus bad bugs and eradicating the bad ones. (What child doesn’t love to squish a bug under her fingers?) I was a mother, nurturing the plants by talking to them and helping my dad water them. I was a consumer, eating anything and everything I helped grow.  I was and I remain a gardener at heart. I’ve never done it for any other reason than I enjoy watching and helping things grow.

This weekend, between tying up the tomato plants (they’re so big!) and working the soil where the lettuce was to make room for some new plants, I read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Vegetable Miracle. Just in case you haven’t heard of it, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is about Kingsolver and her family’s one year mission to eat nothing but local food. It inspired me to really think about where my food comes from and the impact it’s journey has on mother earth. 

A few years ago, I became a pescatarian because I learned of the adverse effect of mass-produced meat on the environment. After reading, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I am wholeheartedly committed to never eating mass-produced meat of any kind again. However, this book has me considering eating locally, organically, kindly produced meat. While I still don’t think I could ever kill a cow and therefore probably won’t ever eat beef or steak again, after reading her thoughts about raising and killing poultry (chickens and turkeys), it’s not something I’m totally against. This book isn’t necessarily what you’d expect. It’s all about the importance of knowing where your food comes from and knowing how you’re affecting the environment with your food choices.

When I was younger, I remember looking at a sticker on some food store produce, thinking “Wow this vegetable was grown in Ecuador! That’s so cool,  I wish I had been to Ecuador.”  Years later, I’d become so accustomed to going to the grocery store to pick up produce in the winter that I’d stopped thinking about it. Having just read this book, it’s at the forefront of my thoughts. While, I try to shop at farm stands, I look forward to my weekly CSA share, and I adore a farmer’s market, I never really did any of those things to be a locavore. I did them, because I knew the produce was better.

While, I understand that eating only local food is an immense challenge, and not one that everyone can meet as wholeheartedly as Kingsolver, this book (as well as Tomatoland which I read last week) have both made me consistently question where my food comes from, which is possibly the best thing I could have taken away from reading them. So I’m not going to make an outrageous promise to only eat food produced within 100 miles of my location, this just isn’t something I can do, at least now while I still live at home (with parents who provided emotionally based, pretty stupid arguments against some key points I announced while reading – Sorry Mom, but potatoes keep for six months in a dark area, so claiming that the US ships out 1.1 million pounds while receiving 1.4 million because of when they’re in season is shapoopy.) What I am promising, is that I’m going to always consider where my food comes from in purchasing decisions. I will try to eat seasonally as much as possible. And lastly, I will attempt to make my diet about 90% American produced. I figure at least that’s better than getting stuff from South America or Europe right?

I know these “promises” are pretty tiny and insignificant compared to what I should do, but what I should do, just doesn’t seem plausible yet. And every journey begins with a single step so I have to start somewhere!  I have a challenge for you, while I slowly step away from my banana-a-day habit, why don’t you read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and/or start really considering where you get your food from.

I won’t preach about how important it is to eat locally. It is important to me, but my opinions and feelings about it might never match yours. Instead, I ask you to educate yourself about the subject. Read the book, please. I’m begging!

<3 Frank

Garden Growth

Lately a lot has been going on in the garden. The plants are really starting to take off and I’ve already enjoyed some great yields from both the purple Marconi beans (I can barely pick them fast enough!) and the zucchini. On everything else, you can see the veggies starting to form. It’s so exciting to watch the veggies grow and wait for them to mature for picking and soon eating. Here are some pictures of the garden goings for your viewing pleasure.

Despite some early tomato heartache, this growing season is going fabulously. I’m super excited about the baby pumpkins. There have to be about 8 already in garden, and my dad and I keep cutting the leaves of the plant back because they’re attempting garden domination. I don’t really mind the plants are pretty and the little guys they produce are so cool!

<3 Frank

P.S.: I finished reading Tomatoland on thursday. Last night I started reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and I haven’t really been able to put it down. Already, I recommend it to everyone. I’m off to do some work in the garden, and probably a bit of baking some more zucchini bread (between the CSA and my three plants, I’m not keeping up!) but expect a post about it sometime soon.

Beets with Feta

This is not as recipe as much as it is an insane amount of photos. I was taking so many pictures of these beets while I was making this, because the beets are so pretty. I thought I would share the photos, and I’ll quickly write down was I did as well, in case you like beets.

My mom bought these beets at the farm stand. There are gold beets and regular beets. I think they make a stunning combination, and they taste pretty good too. If you don’t really enjoy the earthy taste of regular beets, the golden beets have a milder flavor.

What I did: Peel and boil beets until you can stick a fork through them easily. Blanch them with cold water so they stop cooking. Cut the beets into chunks. Put them in a cooking dish. Add oil, salt, and pepper and toss to coat. Broil for a few minutes until tops are starting to crisp. Add Feta, broil again for a few minutes until feta browns. Then Enjoy.

Beets just might be my favorite vegetable (I guess that they’re second to heirloom tomatoes).

What is your favorite veggie? Do you like the taste or just the visual appeal, or both?

<3 Frankie

 

Why I don’t give Tex Stuffed Animals

Grounds for Sculpture

Last Friday night, Jon asked if he could take me to the Grounds for Sculpture on Saturday. Of course I said yes! We made sure to take a ton of pictures.

Panther statues. Jon in a vine-covered pathway. Me looking out at the water. Hand blown giant old school Coke bottle ( VERY IMPRESSIVE)

Monet’s Lily Garden Willow tree. My favorite sculpture. Daisies. Woman with a parasol surrounded by fake poppies.

Giant Lily from a Pond. Jon taking a picture of me taking a picture. Jon looking at a wood hanging sculpture. Peacock.

Monet painting. Statue I enjoy. View of what Monet is painting. Woman in a tub statue.

Hydrangea. Crazy wire and glass sculpture. Mini Sculpture with giraffes. Me making a face at this guy’s inappropriate actions.

Two pictures of my love. The first one was taken right after he ate all the cookie dough pieces out of my ice cream. The second at Teresa’s in Princeton, where we had lunch.

This sequence should be titled Frankie’s typical eating habits. I asked Jon to take a picture of me and my ice-cream. He told me mid photo I had some on my nose. I wiped it off. Then I was half sad to smile again because my ice cream was melting. This ice cream is from Halo Pub (also in Princeton), and let me tell you IT IS DELICIOUS. I had Tahiti Vanilla on top and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough on the Bottom. Both were amazing but if you only get one, get the Tahiti Vanilla (it’s the best vanilla ice cream ever.)

Overall it was a GREAT day, minus some overly hot weather!

<3 Frank