This Is What Happens When You (Actually I) Blog at 5:30 AM

It seems I'm having trouble linking to the NY Times article about Jan Brett and her fabulous life, home in the Berkshires, and show chickens. I'll try again soon. Happy weekend!

Meme Post

The Book Bench has been tagged with a meme. Actually, A Lawyer Mom from A Lawyer Mom's Musings tagged my nine year old daughter Hayden with this one. She has to list seven awesome things about herself and then tag another blogger(s). I think Hayden is chock full of awesomeness but wasn't sure if she would create a list about herself as she isn't exactly a self promoter. After some blushing and head scratching, she came up with this list of "Seven Awesome Things About Hayden":

1. I think I'm awesome at art, especially messy art.
2. For a nine year old, I'm awesome at writing with my feet.

3. I think I'm awesome at reading, especially good books.

4. I'm awesome at finding things, but not always my own.

5. I'm awesome at observing things.

6. I'm awesome at telling Ethan stories.

7. I'm awesome at thinking. I do it all day long.

Well, I love her list! I couldn't agree more, but I would like to add that Hayden is awesome at logic puzzles like Sudoku,

making cootie catchers (aka fortune tellers).

swimming the backstroke, hula hooping, making me smile, and keeping the baby carrot farmers of America in business. She eats them morning, noon, and night the way other people breathe.

So Hayden decided to tag her Tia Ana, my college aged sister who is a fledgling blogger at Shamrocks and Chancletas and her Aunt Jane at Jane's Journey. We think they are both awesome at everything but especially at achieving their goals and looking stylish doing it. Tell us seven more awesome things about yourselves.

Cake Will Be Consumed, I Assure You

My little blog is one year old today, and I have a job interview, my first in years. There won't be much time for reading or writing about books today, but I guarantee you I'll manage to make time for some baked goods. Thank you to anyone who has read or commented over the last year. The Book Bench has been great fun for me.

Foodie Friday

I didn't have any good foodie books to recommend last Foodie Friday and I asked for your culinary inspiration. From the lack of comments, I'm guessing I'm not the only one serving up too much canned soup and/or sandwiches lately. Today's mail (the old fashioned kind that comes out of a metal box) brought me my favorite guilty pleasure, Entertainment Weekly magazine, an early birthday gift from my husband. It lists some fun foodie websites including Smitten Kitchen which I mentioned last Friday and This Is Why You're Fat. I checked it out and it is worth a visit. I'm curious, does it make you hungry or does it make you want to take a very long scaldingly hot shower before throwing together a salad? I'm on the fence myself.

Foodie Friday: Hey, Hey, Good Lookin'...

I'm turning to you for help today as no good Foodie Friday books have come across my desk or appeared on the book bench this week. There are no new cookbooks on my library's new nonfiction shelf. Moreover, I am in a cooking rut lately. It's been a lot of the same old same old for dinner around here in recent weeks. Usually I can go to Rachael Ray or The Pioneer Woman for a little recipe inspiration, but I'm just not feeling it this week. Yes, I'm feeling envious of the pioneer woman's gorgeous kitchen and pots and pans (the pot is always cleaner...), but she hasn't gotten me out of my culinary rut. A recent visit to her website did lead me to the Smitten Kitchen which is a great blog about home cooking from a New York city apartment. Although she's got gorgeous food photos and good ideas, I'm still suffering some cooking ennui. So I ask you, where do you turn for recipe ideas or a culinary kick in the pants when you're in a rut? What's your favorite cookbook, cooking show, or food blog? What's your favorite meal to prepare? What ingredient inspires you? Share with me, please, or my kids might stage a revolt and smother me in the night with the umpteenth grilled cheese sandwich I may be forced to make them for dinner tonight.

Blame it on the Blogging

If you are a reader of this blog. you may have noticed that I appreciate a well written t-shirt. I write about them a lot ( I think I did it best here), and consider the t-shirt my favorite literary genre. I've been reading about them lately on other blogs as well. For example, Mother Reader is a fan of them, and kindly alerts her readers to sales at Threadless, a great online t-shirt source. So is it any wonder I could not resist buying this shirt for the eight year old girl in my life who asks me at least once a week to make homemade baked macaroni and cheese for dinner? Shh.. don't tell. It's headed for her Easter basket.

A Hybrid Post by a Hybrid Blogger

I don't know about you, but I think of The Book Bench as a hybrid blog. I don't just say that in hopes that Leonardo DiCaprio will accidentally land here via Google. No, I see this hobby of mine as a cross between a mommy blog and a book blog. If you are looking for other (better?) mommy blogs, you certainly don't need my help. You can't take a step on the Internet without tripping over a few. Although, I'd be happy to tell you some of my favorites if you ask. However, if you are looking for some good book blogs, more specifically blogs about books for children and young adults, may I recommend you visit KidLitosphere Central, the brand new and nicely organized site for The Society of Bloggers in Children's and Young Adult Literature. It's a great resource. If, on the other hand (wait, maybe we're up to a third hand), you just come to The Book Bench to enjoy my dry wit, keen observations, and the stained carpet in my profile picture, well, um, sorry.

The title of this post touts it as a hybrid post, so let me switch gears here and talk about shopping. I had to go to the mall yesterday in my role as third grade class mom. My assignment was to purchase some items at The Limited Too for a PTA fundraiser. Are you familiar with The Limited Too? They sell thirty dollar less than beautiful tshirts to preteen girls. My grandmother would have looked at the price tags and said, "Jesse James used a gun." Because it's highway robbery or at least mall way robbery! Anyway, after I completed that errand, I wandered over to Old Navy where I belong. And, oh my gosh, they had Charley Harper board books on sale for 25%off!

I love Charley Harper's quirky, midcentury feel illustrations. Don't you just love that cardinal above? I once read that Harper compared his bird artistry to Audobon's by saying Audobon counted every feather on every wing of a bird whereas he just counted the wings. Last year Old Navy began selling some baby and toddler clothing with Harper's illustrations on them as well as an ABC board book and a 1,2,3 board book. While Christmas shopping back in December, my youngest son and I sat down on the store floor and read them both. We easily agreed that the minnows in the number book were our favorite. Lo and behold, they are marked down, and since I have several friends expecting babies, I stocked up on a few.

What I Just Finished Reading While Wearing an Outdoor Performance Fleece and Sipping a Latte

What do indie music, New Balance shoes, Mos Def, and expensive strollers have in common? They're all things white people like, according to Christian Lander, author of the very funny book Stuff White People Like. Speaking of books, they're also in this "definitive guide to the unique taste of millions." According to Lander, "The role of books in white culture is perhaps as important as organic food- essential for survival. However, understand that this is not about literacy or reading, but about the physical object of the book....Just as hunters will mount the heads of their kill, white people need to let people know that they have made their way through hundreds or even thousands of books. After all, what's the point of reading a book if people don't know you've read it?" So, combine that with the fact that I used to work as a high school English teacher (highly revered by white people), I love hardwood floors and Arrested Development, enjoy eating outside and appreciate the idea of soccer, and it's clear that I am a stereotype. All I need is a Toyota Prius and my face could be on the cover.

Stuff White People Like grew out of Lander's immensely popular blog, http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/ . I understand that the title might ruffle some feathers, but the satire is more about class and generation, poking fun at affluent, well educated left wingers, than it is about race. And it's pretty hilarious. Who can resist a sentence like this about #49 Vintage, "The love affair between white people and old stuff goes back literally hundreds of years." Moreover, the complex hierarchy of t-shirts is not to be missed.

Aught Nine Resolutions

I haven't looked at other blogs yet this morning, but I'm assuming New Year's resolutions are the order of the day. So I will share a few of mine but only as they pertain to blogging about reading. (No need to bore you with stuff like good carbs vs. bad carbs, nagging my family less, and dressing like my inner cougar more.) Here goes.

1. Read and blog more frequently about young adult books. I do plan to go back to teaching middle or high school someday.

2. Read and share more poetry.

3. Try to mention all the important information- title, author, illustrator, and appropriate age or reading level.

4. Become more technologically savvy with images, links, and embedded videos. Trying jazzy new fonts is not enough!

5. Read and comment on more blogs in the "kidlitosphere."

6. Drink less Diet Pepsi as I type.

7. Post fewer pictures of myself in ridiculous holiday eyewear.

Happy New Year!

May 2009 bring you health, happiness, peace, love, and plenty of good reading!