this little life of mine

Labour Day BBQ

I don't think I've grilled anything for five or six years. I used to grill a lot when we first moved into our house, but then it seemed like it was suddenly windier than usual, and fire and wind scare the crap out of me, so I stopped. Recently, however, I've really wanted to cook food outside over an open flame. My old BBQ is a rusted out mess, and all our supplies are old and useless, so I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want to spend money I no longer have to buy all new gear and getup, so I thought all was lost until I saw this:

 
An all-in-one disposable grill! It comes complete with the grill pan and grill, charcoal and lighter sheets so all I had to do was buy food and light a match. So. Dang. Easy! And perfect timing since two of the bell pepper I've been waiting on finally turned red, and I've been dying to roast them, so I roasted them first, then did the corn.

 
 
 

Then I did the steaks: a bone-in New York for me and a nice, thick sirloin for my mom.

 

OMG, everything was delicious! The corn was so sweet and tender, and the steaks were a perfect medium rare. My roasted red peppers came out fabulous as well:

 

It was really great to be outdoors grilling food again. Yes, it was windy, which made me a little nervous, but it was still fun. Especially since the clean up was a snap! We just waited for the coals to die down, then threw the whole thing out. Probably not very eco-friendly, but for as often as I grill, I think it was worth it. 

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Banned Books I've Read

In honour of Banned Books Week, here's a list of thirteen books I've read over my lifetime which have, at some point, been challenged or banned from classrooms and/or school libraries:

1.  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
2.  Animal Farm by George Orwell
3.  1984 by George Orwell
4.  Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
5.  Lord of the Flies by William Golding
6.  Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
7.  Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
8.  A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
9.  The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
10.  Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
11.  Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
12.  The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
13.  Speakby Laurie Halse Anderson

Lists of Frequently Challenged Books can be found here. Check it out! You may be surprised by some of the books on those lists - I know I was!

 

Banned Books Bracelets

In celebration of Banned Books Week, I purchased two bracelets made by Carolyn Forsman. The stretchy-banded bracelets feature sevearal children's and adult books that have been challened or banned. The kid's bracelet has:

1. Blubber by Judy Blume (read it way back when ... no idea why it's banned.)
2. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (also on adult bracelet; read it, loved it!)
3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee  (also on adult bracelet; read it before I'm sure, but reading it again now.)
4. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden  (also on adult bracelet; I've never heard of it, but it's on both bracelets, so it must be good.)
5. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak (read it, own it, LOVE it!)
6. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher (another one I've never heard of)
7. King and King by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland (again, one I've never heard of
8. Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey (c'mon, at least the kid's got underpants on unlike Mickey in In the Night Kitchen!)
9. and two tiles that read: “i read banned books”

And the adult bracelet has:

1. The Colour Purple by Alice Walker (read it years and years ago)
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (read it eons ago in high school)
3. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (see above)
4. Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg (have not read, but will look into)
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (see above)
6. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden  (see above)
7. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (I read this back in high school, I believe and would read it again now except I loaned it to someone who's apparently not finished with it yet. :-))
8. and one tile that reads: “I Read Banned Books”

I kinda wish the kid's braclet had only one "i read banned books" tile and included one more banned/challenged book cover. Along the same lines, I wish BOTH braceletes had one or two additional tiles just to make them a little less tight. Still, I love them both and I'm thrilled I got them in time for Banned Books Week!

 

 

Teaser Tuesday: Banned Books Week Edition

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This Tuesday, in honor of Banned Books Week, I'm reading two books that have been banned and/or challenged: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.

First, my teaser from page 231 To Kill a Mockingbird:

"Gentlemen," he was saying, "I shall be brief, but I would like to use my remaining time with you to remind you that this case is not a difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white."

And second, my teaser from page 45-46 of Speak:

NIGHTMARE

I see IT in the hallway. IT goes to Merryweather. IT is walking with Aubrey Cheerleader. IT is my nightmare and I can't wake up. IT sees me. IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together or I'd throw up.

 

 

In Preparation for Banned Books Week ...

... I picked up two books to read next week: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (which I'm sure I've read before, but would like to read again, plus Kathleen Duey said it had one of the best middle-grade-aged main character voices, and I'm interested in that) and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, a heavily challenged book that everyone is in quite a tizzy about currently. Since I've never read Speak, I'm curious as to what all the fuss is about.

You can read more about Banned Books Week here, and check out a list of the Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books in 2009. Then go pick out a banned or challenged book (or two or three!) and celebrate your freedom to read whatever you like! Thank you, First Amendment!!

 

Mooncake

A mooncake presented in celebration of Autumn.

Teaser Tuesday: Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week I've started reading Skin Hungerby Kathleen Duey. I met Kathleen at the Central Coast Writers Conference which was held this past weekend at Cuesta College in SLO County. The Con as a whole was awesome, and I will write more about it soon. Promise. I took two sessions lead by Kathleen - one on writing YA books and another on writing MG books; the first one was just okay, but the second one was better - and later bought Skin Hungerand got it autographed by her at the closing table talks session. She's a lovely woman - perhaps a bit flighty I thought, but I can't really judge her because my brain is pretty scattered lately, too! So far I am really enjoying this book and am wishing I'd picked up the second one, Sacred Scars, which was also for sale at the Con. Anyway, here's my teasers from page 14:

The linens were stained with an ugly, deep red. No. Not red. Red-brown. The blood had dried.

Tiny Wooden Chair

I forgot how TINY these college classroom chair/desks are!

Teaser Tuesday: Redwall by Brian Jacques

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. 0pen to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week I'm reading Redwall by Brian Jacques. I don't know why I've never read this book before - it's really good! Very charming and sometimes I forget the characters are actually animals!

Cluny lashed out with his long tail, sending the Vole family flat upon the floor. Mr. Abram Vole struggled to shield his wife and son with his body as the tail flailed out a second time.

 

Photo Friday: Daybreak