2011 Book List

I look forward to this post all year. Last year, with the help of Goodreads, I challenged myself to read 50 books/graphic novels. I also set myself "The Rule" that everything read this year had to be new. Well, new to me. I couldn't re-read anything (with the exception of Salem's Lot. I read that every year and I don't see that changing anytime soon). I'll be honest, there were moments where I did not think I would make it. My spare time on the Road was spent knitting rather than reading. But I did it! So here it is; The 2011 Book List:

1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
2. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
3. The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula by Eric Nazum
4. How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel: and other misadventures traveling with kids by Sarah Franklin (While this wasn't a phenomenal book, it gave a lot of confidence that our Road Trip would be possible with Oz being so young).
5. Room by Emma Donoghue
6. James and the Giant Peach by Ronal Dahl
7. America Unchained by Dave Gorman
8. Batman: Terror by Doug Moench
9. The Walking Dead: Days Gone By by Robert Kirkman - This series is absolutely incredible. It never ceases to shock. Absolutely fantastic.
10. The Walking Dead: Miles Behind Us
11. The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry
12. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
13. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
14. It's Only a Movie by Mark Kermode
15. The Walking Dead: Safety Behind Bars
16. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua - It was the book that every mother loved to hate this year. Despite many bloggers claims, this is far from a how-to manual of Chinese Mothering. Instead I found Chua to be painfully honest about her short comings as a mother and how every child can not be parented the same.
17. The Walking Dead: The Heart's Desire
18. The Walking Dead: The Best Defense
19. Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths and Claiming the Future by Sunita Mehta
20. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
21. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
22. Th Lost Continent by Bill Bryson
23. Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Year Later... by Francine Pascal
24. Hippo Eats Dwarf by Alex Boese
25. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
26. Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
27. A Tale of the Batman: Gotham by Gaslight by Brian Augustyn
28. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - Absolutely phenomenal. Without a doubt, the book/series of the year for me.
29. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich- I think this should be required reading.
30. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
31. Bossypants by Tina Fey
32. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
33. My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands by Chelsea Handler- Yeah, I didn't think this was very funny considering all the hype about how hilarious Handler is.
34. The Walking Dead: This Sorrowful Life
35. House Rules by Jodi Picoult- I thought the ending to this was such a cop out. I don't know if I will be picking up any more Picoult for awhile.
36. Batman: Gotham After Midnight by Steve Niles
37. The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women by Jessica Valenti
38. Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? by Neil Gaiman
39. Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi
40. Batman: Joker's Asylum Vol 2 by Landry Q. Walker
41. Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg
42. The Walking Dead: The Calm Before
43. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
44. Salem's Lot by Stephen King
45. The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore
46. Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman- RAGE
47. Tinsel: A search for America's Christmas Present by Hank Stuever
48. Midwives by Christ Bohjalian
49. The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told by Mike Gold
50. Walking Dead: Made to Suffer

Looking back, I am also really impressed with how much I used the Library this year.

SO now we plan for 2012. This year the goal is 55 books and I am committing myself to series and non-fiction. What what all did you read? Discover any new favorites?

Quick Revisit

So how did my year shape up according to last year's resolution list? Well....

1. I did, in fact, find the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe and it was also the one recommended by Tracy. I found this on Christmas Eve for Santa's cookies and they were amazing. I also made enough to give out to my parent's neighbors. They were soft, chewie, and kept for DAYS. Seriously. The best.

2. O I went WAY over my 12 knitted projects. Unfortunately, I was very lazy about posting them HERE, but posted them on my facebook. I went well over 12, and I really tried to push myself beyond simple projects that I'm comfortable with. At the moment, I'm trying to use DPNs and Circular needs a lot to try and become more comfortable with them. I don't want to shy away from patterns I love because I'm scared of technique. There will definitely be more of this to come in 2012.

3. I don't know if I necessarily baked more, but I found time to do the projects I wanted. I was really proud of how the Rainbow Cake at Oz's birthday came out. It looked good and was delicious.

4. Dude. We're not going there.

5. I did not learn to sew :( BUT I did get a sewing machine for Christmas from my mom and today was spent hanging out at my sister's house playing around with her sewing machine. I've been looking for some starter classes. So *fingers crossed* this will be the year!

6. I do read to Oz, but it's difficult. He doesn't have the patience really to sit through a whole book and he wants to turn all the pages. But he plays with books all the time, and I think that's positive play time. So even though this one didn't turn out how *I* wanted it to, I'm still very happy about the direction we are going in.

7. Slacktivism. This was a hard one and it did fall through the cracks, if I'm totally honest. We moved country this year and then traveled across America. Yeah, it was about *me*. It was about US. This is something that will be making a move onto the list for next year.

8. No, I was still on the internet a lot. :/ Well, not for those months on the road actually. My internet was pretty much cut short and it was hard and painful and I wasn't crazy about it. But since I am being honest, I think it was good for me. Here's hoping we find ways to cut more internet and tv time out of our lives for 2012.

9. I think I definitely blogged more. I am still so behind on our Road Trip blogs tho, it's sad. I will carry on tho!

10. Sherlock Holmes did not get finished! WHAT THE HELL!?!?!? Why is it so hard to finish!?!?! UG.

So there you go. It's not really an "end cap" to the year by any means. That is it's own blog. And I will hopefully post my Goals of 2012 tomorrow. I'm still working them out....

It's time to meet the Muppets

I would be lying if I didn't say I have had anxiety over picking what would be the first movie Oz would see at the cinema. I would see previews and think maybe this or maybe that, but it would fall through. I would decide he wasn't ready. I wasn't ready. For some time I was sure that it would be the new Winnie the Pooh that was released at completely different times in the UK and US. Not by weeks, but months. So when I missed it go round in the UK, I had plenty of time to try again when it was in the US. But there was always an excuse.

Then the Muppets came back. I love the Muppets. I have loads of memories or watching The Muppets with my sister and Dad. I remember my Dad singing "The Rainbow Connection", and to this day, the song makes me want to cry (as you all know, I do not cry, but sometimes I feel that inkling and the moment passes. I'm not completely a robot).

We went to see the Muppets early in December along with my sister, Mimi and her husband, Brent.

Ever the film geek/mom, I had to take pictures of The Process. "Us with Movie Poster", "The Theater", "With Tickets"...sadly, none in the theater itself. I didn't want to be hassled for getting my camera out.

I was worried of it being too loud, too overwhelming. Oz loved it. He took turns sitting on everyone's lap, eating popcorn and watching the movie. He made it over halfway through before finally becoming cranky. I nursed him and he fell asleep. It was an excellent evening and I couldn't be happier with the final choice as his first trip.

Now, for a note on the movie itself. I loved it. I laughed and wanted to cry the entire time. There were so many nods to what the Muppets were, how their time had passed and why they are such a treasure to the hearts of anyone who grew up watching them. They are magical. Period.

I do read the credits tho, and in the opening I noticed that MUSIC was done by Bret McKenzie, of Flight of the Conchords and NOT Paul Williams, the musician who worked on so many other Muppet movies and wrote "Rainbow Connection". I was disappointed and for the rest of the film I couldn't help but notice how obviously "McKenzie"-ian the score and songs were. But disappointment aside I was still able to enjoy the movie because it really does just make you feel incredibly happy.

...and I have teeny tiny crush on Jason Segal now. The end.

Knitting: Griff's Hat

I don't know why I was in a big rush to make Griff's hat. He's so hot natured he doesn't really need it yet.

GRIFF---

I love the hat, thank you so much. Also, if you had waited until I needed it, it means I would go at least one night without it and be freezing.

Travel Rewind: The Ben & Jerry's Factory and Other musings about Vermont.

Vermont is fucking gorgeous. But for the most part, we found the people to be assholes. I guess we're partly to blame but I don't really care. It all started with getting to our campground later than we planned. Most campgrounds have a 10pm quiet time, sometimes 11, but for the most part 10. We were got there just around quiet time and Griff had to set to finding us a campground and setting up the tent with on a head lamp for light. It fucking sucks, but sometimes this happens. We both hate it, but it's the only option we have. I sat in the car with Oz, getting him dressed for sleep and nursing him.

We finally get into the tent and Oz is a bit fussy, and all I can do is offer the boob. Eventually he settles and falls into sleep. We all do. It was maybe 6 am when Oz wakes up and is upset and crying. While trying to soothe him, some asshole the site over yells out "SHUTUP!!!!". Fucking dick. No doubt he heard it was a baby, and who the fuck yells out for a baby to shut up. That is one classless motherfucker. It took me not even 5 minutes to get Oz settled back to sleep.

Another hour or so later, our peeved off neighbors start making a big stupendous noise of packing their gear up. Lots of pots and pans clanging around. I'm' sure this was piss us off, but we're hardcore sleepers. If we want to sleep, we sleep. Their planned failed! Middle fingers to them!

Well, in the morning when we're all awake, Griff makes his way to the office to let them know where we are on the campground and to pay for our site. The woman informs us that our site is actually reserved for that day and we'll have to move. He checks that the site next to us is empty and we use the tarp to drag our tent over. It's a pretty big park and plenty of spaces. We're annoyed but we move on with the day.

Once the tent is moved we start the normal day routine. Or we thought about it. I was pretty pissed off and decided FUCK BREAKFAST, let's go to the Ben & Jerry's factory. O, and on the way out, let's stop and ask if we can stay 2 nights instead of another 1. Well, sure you can! But the spot you're in (you know, the one you just moved to) is actually reserved for the next night. What. The. Fuck.

I honestly do not understand why, if we are there and set up and PAID, we can't stay there. Why can't the people coming be moved to another site, since they aren't currently occupying a site. They are all pretty much the same! I said screw it, we won't stay the extra night...ON TO THE FACTORY.

And the Ben & Jerry's Factory smells like heaven. You walk in and you just feel good and want to roll around in ice cream. I had forgotten about their S'Mores flavored ice cream (vanilla with swirls of chocolate and marshmallow and chunks of graham cracker. SO GOOD.).

The tour was pretty short, but we had a great time. I think I will enjoy Ben & Jerry's more in the future simply because I think the actual people (you know, Ben & Jerry themselves) are pretty decent human beings that are trying to run a good business.

I don't remember *exactly* which ice cream I had afterwards. I know it was peanut butter ice cream and had marshmallow swirls. I know I had hot fudge and whipped cream on it. Griff had a banana split with three different types of chocolate ice cream and hot fudge and caramel sauce on it. Ice cream for breakfast is never a good idea, but now we know this for any future great ideas of ice cream for breakfast. It was awesome, but damn did we feel sick!

Afterwards we found a Sear's to get the car an oil change and tires rotated. We then went a Barnes & Noble to use the wi-fi. Pulling in a woman thought my car was taking too much space while she was pulling out and she flipped me the bird. Fucking Vermonters.

I was excited that I was able to meet another Imaginary Friend, Suzi, for dinner and then we sat outside downtown and talked till 11 pm.

The rest of Vermont was cool too. We went to a tiny town called Montpelier and enjoyed wandering around and had breakfast at a cute little diner. We bought maple syrup (SO GOOD). So while we enjoyed the state itself, but the people kind of suck. O well, no biggie.

(I need to take it easy with the parenthesis).

GRIFF--- I have to add a comment about the Ben and Jerry's factory:

You enter through the gift shop while you wait for a tour to start and they have a cowbell to let people know when the tour will start. I saw Ashley eyeing the cowbell jealously, so when the tour guide came round I asked if Ashley could ring it. He agreed and I so wish I had a picture of how excited she was, she really gave it her all on that cowbell.

Also, as sick as we felt all day for having had a huge ice cream for breakfast, I totally don't regret it and would do it again if we ever go to another ice cream factory.

Travel Rewind: Ferry Ride Part II

After getting through the Adirondacks (which were fucking beautiful, by

the way) we decided to cross on the ferry from New York to Vermont.

Further evidence that my kid loves boat rides.

Fuck off Skinny Bitch

Skinny Bitch: A No-Nonsense, Tough-Love Guide for Savvy Girls Who Want to Stop Eating Crap and Start Looking Fabulous! by Rory Freedman

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I picked this up off the library shelf because I had heard that it was a pretty funny, informative read. I found it to be wrong on both counts. If I had known about it's "Vegan or Bust" attitude towards nutrition (and fear-mongering) I probably wouldn't have bothered.

This book isn't funny. If anything it only perpetuates woman-on-woman hate and self loathing for one's body. If you want to be skinny, you have to really hate yourself and be willing to no longer enjoy eating food at all, ever again.

They actually suggest holding off eating until you are absolutely ravenous. Don't eat breakfast until you can no longer stand it, and don't eat lunch until you are insane with hunger. How is that healthy?

O that's right. THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN BY MODELS.

When a book suggests "Donate Blood. You can save a life and lose weight at the same time" (pg. 182) something is wrong. Very, very wrong.



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