Finally--a way to post all the non-writerly things I do. Thanks for the tag, Will
The rules.
* Let others know who tagged you.
* Post 8 random facts about yourself.
* Post these rules.
* Tag 8 others to continue the meme
1. I am 1/4 Italian by blood, but 100% Italian in the kitchen. I will prove to you this. Though I am a full-time Mom, Senior Editor of a small publishing studio, and a writer of children's books, I have made time in the last two months to learn how to make my own mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, pickles, strawberry jam, blackberry jam, crackers, conserva (conserva is to tomato paste what fresh squeezed orange juice is to Sunny Delight), sun dried tomatoes, focaccia, pocket pita, and the absolute best pizza dough I have ever tasted. Just don't ask what the rest of my house looks like. . . .
2. Last month, I was given (given, GIVEN!) a full-size accordion. One misty gray day last month, I stepped out into the minty air and heard strains of an accordion tune lingering in the neighborhood. I have found it difficult to forget that perfect haiku moment, and so, naturally, when Aunt Charlene dropped a casual reference to playing the accordion, I badgered her and badgered her to play us a tune--what better thing could there have been at Grandma's 80th birthday party, with all of the aunts gossiping and the kids laughing and the inventor-cousin in the corner fixing her camera and everywhere, everywhere newspaper clippings and letters from your grandma's long life? You have to admit, accordion music would have been perfect. I insisted too loudly, for soon, all the room was insisting that I be given the "extra" accordion that had "just been sitting around all these years" and passed from one sibling's house to the next. So I played a rather wheezing "Mary had a little lamb" while the inventor-cousin correctly diagnosed the my new Italian accordion's ailments and the baby laughed and grandma looked rosy in the cheeks.
3. These random facts are too long. Here is a short random thing about me: I often I wish I were a svelte African American with afro-able hair
4. And another short thing: I don't use recipes when I cook. But recently I did. It was the best best best egg salad I can ever imagine. The recipe can be found here. If you don't have a mint plant, don't buy the "fresh" packages from the stores (in fact, don't buy ANY spice that way). Usually for half the cost, you can buy the plant itself, with 4 times as many leaves. Transplant to your garden or to a bigger pot if you want to keep the plant growing, or just use up all the leaves as they are, and buy a new plant when the time comes. Spice and herb plants are $2-3 at our local farmers market.
5. Someone asked me in a not-so-nice way, "Are you a tree hugger?" I did not answer. The strange and wonderful truth was seeping into me. I squared my shoulders, lifted my chin, and said, "Yes. Yes, I am." I mean, what else do you call someone who uses cloth diapers because she doesn't want the landfill to pile up with disposables that take (by conservative estimates) EIGHTEEN years to decompose? Who buys most all her food locally grown? Who is slaving away in her 4th garden, even though she has never yet once gotten a really good garden working? (This year, I actually have BIG PLANTS, an essential ingredient for gardens. I'm still working on the produce bit. Five lima beans a day hardly constitutes a harvest.) Who saves every scrap of paper, cardboard, plastic, and aluminum so that she can drive them half-way across town to recycle? Who would rather sweat to nigh-unto-death and arrive at her destination in a cranky, swoony pool than use the gas-guzzling air conditioner in her car? Tree hugger? Oh yeah.
6. In the dark hours of the night, I make up bedtime stories for Benjamin. We've heard the friendship of an elderly Japanese man, the quest of a mythic Asian chipmunk-type rodent, the adventures of many a cricket and spider, and right now we're in the middle of a quiet story of a boy named Rupert Alva Edistow.
7. I sit outside during furious storms. Seeing the trees turned inside out by the rage of the wind gods reminds me: we really are quite small and helpless on this big planet. Terrified, refreshed, and cold, I leave a trail of puddles through the yellow-warm house.
8. My best garage sale find ever: Webster's Third New International Dictionary UNABRIDGED. (You know, the massive tomes they've got in college universities.) Price? $5. I'd take this baby to a desert island. But I'm still holding out for the day I find the Oxford English Dictionary for $5. By the by, if you're looking for a small dictionary that contains more words than just the ones you already know, I found this a few years ago. Perfect for readers, travelers, and visionaries.
**I've been sitting on this post for over a month now, putting off tagging people, so I just decided to go ahead and post and break rule three.