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The Scraping
Whenever the wind really gets to blowin’ — which isn’t, like, totally unheard-of on this exposed little island — something in our newly landscaped yard makes a loud banging and scraping noise as if the fence were once again falling over. I dash to the window every time and frantically look the place over, but … Continue reading
Yard photos
I am still startled by how much I love our newly landscaped backyard. I spend so much time out there: if it’s not absolutely freezing, I’m out there pretty much whenever the sun is shining, even if I’m wrapped up in four layers. Here’s the yard about a year before the remodel. This isn’t an … Continue reading
Waiting for my pedicure to dry
People asked a bunch of the sexiest male celebrities to describe their perfect day. Almost all of them said some version of “I want to be at my house with my family.” Come on! You’re hot, rich and famous. There are plenty of great things you can do with your family outside the house. How … Continue reading
Prettiness
One of the great children’s authors of our time, Diana Wynne Jones, passed away last year. She was one of those astonishingly prolific writers whose nevertheless manages to create fresh plots and compelling characters with each new book. I just found these editions of some of her books designed by Nina Tara and now I’m … Continue reading
The Great Re-Reading: Austen
I’ll give you something to cry about, Fanny Price.
One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.
Kris: I have a Nicki Minaj song stuck in my head. Gene: Ugh. Kris: I know. I really don’t like the way she talks about other women. Gene: [blinks] Wait, that’s your problem? The lyrics? Kris: Yeah. The songs are quite catchy otherwise. Gene: I…what…how are we married right now?
Source material
While having dinner at Jacob’s on Sunday we somehow got into a riff about Gene’s interest in Ridley Scott, which ended in a joke about how all his sex ed came from Ridley Scott movies. I went right along with this. Later on I got home and looked this guy up and apparently the sex … Continue reading
The Great Re-Reading: Julie Andrews (Edwards)
Yes, that Julie Andrews, the one who starred in the two most important movies of my childhood: Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. She also writes children’s books. Surprising, I know. (But close your mouth, please, Michael. We are not a codfish.) I own The Julie Andrews Edwards Treasury, which combines two of her … Continue reading
The Great Re-Reading: Aiken and Alcott
Joan Aiken The woman has written something like seventy books. I read The Wolves of Willoughby Chase so often growing up that my copy is loved to bits. So why do I only own one other book by her? (It’s The Shadow Guests, also pretty great.) And why do I never see her stuff at … Continue reading
Spice it up
This has been a week of showing people around the house for the first time. It’s not until you give a tour that you start to look at your everyday items with a critical eye. You begin to wonder what people think about — to take an example completely at random — the container of … Continue reading