IBT 62: The KGB Bar nonfiction reader, Ed. Mark Jacobson

I like to go to poetry readings at KGB bar, so I figured I’d try this out.

It was varied, informative and enjoyable.

Particularly memorable: the essay on hip-hop in the Brazilian ghettos, the essay on hobos who ride the trains (and one who would like all civilization to fade away except the trains), the essay on the death of Robert Kennedy.

Merry Christmas from Several Bronwens of Christmases Past!

IBT 61: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

I’m behind on these because of blogger mess. But I’ll get caught up.

I insisted on taking a bit of a break before starting this one. I mean, who knows when the next fix will arrive?

This book is darker than previous, but no less delightful. What better book to curl up with when you’re sick and in need of comfort?

And We're . . . Back!

So sorry, dear readers (Mom. . . Sophie. . . Ruth. . . um, anyone else?) It is not that I have been neglecting you, but that evil blogger locked me out with their whole changing to being a google affair and the beta and all that. Only now am I able to post. Whew. I will do my best to get caught up. I know you're all (both?) dying to know what I've been reading and eating. :)

I was digging through some old files. . .

and I found a couple of my favorite photos from Italy.

Exhibit A: THE ASSHOTEL

Asshotel . . . for your stay in Pesaro

Knowledgeable readers (Mattia) could probably point out that "Asso" is Italian for "Ace." So an "Acehotel" is a top quality Ace Number 1 Hotel. But it says "Asshotel," and it has a picture of bare-assed little Italian boys (I'd better not get google searches for that phrase) running joyfully into the surf. This billboard was in the Pesaro train station, and I laughed at it every single time I took the train.



Exhibit B: THE TRATTORIA BELLE ARTI RECEIPT




This was one of my favorite restaurants in Bologna. I often took friends there and I once went there with some German friends who were visiting. They loved our reciept and even took a photo ot it and emailed it to me. How does the addition of 1 coffee reduce our bill from 103 euros to 100 euros? It just does. What did we order? No clue. But I seem to remember eating appetizers and pasta and drinking wine and I'm pretty sure there were five of us.

IBT 60 : What Einstein Told His Cook by Robert Wolke

Bronwen reading something that isn’t fiction or poetry? Est-ce possible? I have been trying to add more non-fiction to my diet, and food writing is a good place to start.

I love how seriously he takes experiments like “does microwaving limes or rolling them on the counter make them render more juice?” (Answer: “Only if you do both.”)

Informative fun.

IBT 59: Half Life by Shelley Jackson

Fabulous!

We begin in slightly distopic contemporary San Francisco. Out of guilt for dropping the A-Bomb on Japan, the USA has bombed itself, specifically Nevada, in an act of penitence. The resulting radioactive material has lead to a boom in conjoined twin births. Nora's conjoined twin Blanche has been asleep for 15 years.

Linguistically gleeful, ironic, imaginative, alarming.

Recommended.