I love getting up at 5:00 a.m., 5:30 and 5:50 for a dog who feigns stomach upset but secretly just wants to chase deer.
Oh well, at least I’m up and hard at work and looking as fresh as someone who was awoken multiple times on fraudulent premises. I’m going to let it go this time because Frank agreed to star in the Christmas card again. If we don’t get one to you, here’s what it looks like. If you look very carefully, you may see a dog in this image. He’s very well hidden. Due to his camo. Really, only the whites of his eyes give away his position.
What is that I hear behind me? I believe that’s the peaceful sound of Frank snoring. He did have a very tiring morning…
Now, with no sort of graceful transition into a new subject, do you know who is cool? Lauren Mechling is. Do you know what’s cool? The trailer for her long-awaited new book!
On the less cool front, Susin Nielson (who was the show runner for Alice, I Think, as well a writer on the first DeGrassi Jr. High and a creator of the wonderful Robson Arms)has just been exposed to the downside of writing for younger readers. Her book Word Nerd is sweet, funny and poignant and emotionally astute. I’m fairly sure it’s not learning kids how to swear, though. Yeesh. Bravo to the librarian and Meredith Tutching of the OLA for not caving in to pressure to sanitize the books chosen for the Forest of Reading awards. If books are going to remain relevant to younger readers, they have to reflect the real world, at least a little bit. I think younger readers can handle a few milder than mild swears (and is “boner” a swear? really?) in book about what it means to be an overprotected kid. Susin’s new book, Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom is a terrific charmer and will be out soon. Look for it.
Now I must do a lot of work in a short time so I can return to trying out recipes in the holiday edition of Bon Appetit, including items like this little gem, which was easy and delicious, though because of platter size constrictions, I had to make several little yule stumps. I’m going to give them out to the various developers wreaking havoc around this neighborhood. I also plan to attempt the meringue mushrooms too. I can only guess at what they’ll look like nestled amongst the stumps… Probably not like this:
