I, like so many of you wonderful bloggers and readers, am joining in on a day of silence in remembrance of the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary. I will be spending time tomorrow with some of my closest friends and dear ones, to appreciate and cherish them. I hope you will do the same.
My most recent posts will resume tomorrow.
Until then, and yours in solidarity,
I love the holiday season for many, many reasons. I’m sure you do, too.
Holding a very special place at the top of this list is the fact that, as soon as Thanksgiving ends, I get to cram my Santa elf-ear hat on my head, flip on the Christmas song station, and belt out the following line without the slightest trace of irony whatsoever:
“Your soul is an appalling dump heap, overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable, mangled up in tangled up knots.”
Except “knots” sounds more like “naaaaAAAAAaaaahhhwtzzz,” and Thurl Ravenscroft sounds about a bajillion … Read more
It was the best of climes, it was the worst of climes,
it was the age of scrubs, it was the age of dishwashers,
it was the epoch of eyeballing, it was the epoch of measuring-out-to-the-grain,
it was the season of nuts, it was the season of chocolate,
it was the spring of ovens, it was the winter of stovetops,
we had the whole tray of brownies and nuts before us, we had no trace of brownies and nuts before us,
we were all going to put on our brand spanking new stretchy pants, we were all going to fit … Read more
I attended my very first Harry Potter party last night. Ever.
The following edition of Lit, Wit, and an Oven Mitt is brought to you by Pumpkin Pasties, paragon pastry of the Hogwarts Express.
“For heaven’s sake, Harry, what are you doing?”
Harry ignored her and reached around her for a greenish-blue bottle on the counter, keeping his wand fixed steadily on the cauldron simmering beside him.
“Give it a rest already, Hermione,” Ron said, unwrapping a Chocoball that had appeared from some deep recesses of his robe pocket. “You’ve been at him ever since we came down here. … Read more
It’s 6:42 PM and you’re running late for a potluck. You’ve just spent the past three hours completely absorbed in who-knows-what at your computer (well, you know, but it’s certainly not work-related and you certainly aren’t saying), when you look up with that sinking feeling in your stomach, and realize…
You forgot to make something to bring.
If you’re like me, however, and you get that weird feeling in your tummy, it’s probably because you’re so excited that you get to prepare, bake, and eat these bars within 20 minutes of start time.
Seriously.
These are known within my extended … Read more
It’s moments like these that I’m so glad I don’t really tend to share this blog with people who actually, you know, know me.
Ten minutes ago, I had literally nothing to write about.
Okay, not literally–I hate it when people use that word in contexts where it adds absolutely nothing to what you’re trying to say.
For example: “It is literally raining really hard out there.”
As opposed to what–it metaphorically raining really hard?
Or, when using the word “literally” is actually counterproductive, as in:
“Oh, he was literally drop-dead gorgeous.”
Wait…so you dropped dead on the floor? Or … Read more
Dear readers,
Thank you all first off for all of your wonderful comments about the new “Lit, Wit, and an Oven Mitt” series I’ve been experimenting with during the past week. As all of you are probably only too keenly aware, writing and creating something even marginally distinct in the blog-o-sphere requires you to throw so much of yourself into your work. For those of you who had a chance to read the last two posts, I hope you found them nostalgic and satisfying, and that you’ll share the next installments of this series with your friends; for those of … Read more
I’m not Sam–but take a look!
Sam-I-am is in this book.
I’m sure you all know how Sam-I-am…
Loves a good dish of green eggs and ham.
But the question to ask,
We must take to task!
It’s not such a crime…
We’ll ask, “Do pancakes buzz?”
(But that doesn’t rhyme!)
(Well now it does.)
Would they
buzz over coffee?
(Try feeding them toffee!)
Or would they
buzz o’er papers?
(If you paired them with capers.)
Do they sound a bit tacky?
(Just like okonomiyaki.)
But what could that mean?
(We hope it’s nothing obscene.)
Are you sure … Read more
I’d like to do something a bit different today. Today is a Friday, which is different from a Thursday or a Saturday or a birthday or an unbirthday, so of course things would be different to begin with. But today will be a different-in-a-meeting-new-friends-kind-of-way day, which is our favorite kind of day. And I’d like you to meet a friend of mine. You may have heard of him before.
Why don’t you say hello to our friends, Pooh?
“Hello to our friends,” said Pooh.
“Thank you Pooh,” I said.
So this is Pooh. Also known in the 100 Acre Woods … Read more
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell…
Just as sweet.
Call me wallflower girl. Does that sound sweet to you?
It’s always been a source of minor discomfort to me how fast I can turn from the happy locus of attention among a group of friends to a complete, total wallflower in other social situations. Even when I’m ostensibly happily immersed in a large-group conversation, I can just as easily be that awkward person standing between two people who are having a really great discussion.The only things that make it … Read more