Nocturnes

I finished my first (non-YA, non-graphic novel) book of 2012!  Nocturnes was the perfect way to ease into this process.  Thank you to Cap for this collection of stories.  I loved the beautiful cover art and totally dug how the brand new paperback felt in my hands.  (This kind of tactile love just can't be found with a book borrowed from the library or an e-reader.)

Here's the review I left on Goodreads (you can find me over there as Äiti):

A great first book to ease into my 2012 practice of reading more fiction and non-fiction outside of the YA and graphic novel genres. This collection of stories had interesting structural elements (recurring characters and ties to music theory). And some of the plot lines were unusual and detailed in a way that caught my attention. And some of the narratives paths, both external and internal, resonated with familiar tingles and pangs.

But. (Could you detect the big but coming?) But...there was something of "trifle" which permeated the collection. And imbalance...times when I wanted more, times when I wanted less.Damning bottom line? I don't think this collection would have ever been picked up if it didn't have Ishiguro's pedigree backing it up.

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I have jumped on the Downton Abbey bandwagon.  It was hard not to notice, and then ignore, the groundswell.  Season 1 is streaming on Netflix now.  I've watched the first two episodes and in a word, LOVE.  Yes, it's another English period piece about rich people and the servants who work for them...but it works.  The writing, the acting, the sets, the clothes...

The combination of incisive verbal zingers contrasting against lush visual eye candy is intoxicating and satisfying.  In typical (and admirable) BBC production fashion an hour packs an incredible, dense punch and unlike American telly fare, I have not yet been inclined to watch more than one episode per sitting.

Believe the hype.

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The kids and I are wrapping up our read aloud of Wildwood.  It has been a long journey and we have one chapter left.  These final chapters have been intense and emotional.

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Met Tiina for a cuppa this morning.  Time to hang with friends is so important to me and my sanity.

As I have mentioned before, eating out is becoming more complicated/simple the longer I am sugar- and grain-free.  I ordered poached eggs and toast because the aroma of bread in the café was overpowering and I felt I wanted a taste.

The eggs were not to my liking and the toast was underwhelming.  I had half a piece.  It proved to be a most excellent vehicle for the butter.  (Maybe it was the butter I was craving?)

The complicated is working with the whole look-smell-taste sensory thing when in an eatery and dealing with an at once more varietal and more limited menu than what I make myself at home and desire.

The simple is that I am realizing my home cooking is more and more to my taste.  And what I can get out is increasingly unsatisfying/unsatisfactory.

Which gives rise to another complication...how to adjust my own cultural tendency to view going out to eat as a treat and as a nice break from the mundane.  With each new dissatisfying venture out lately, the cognitive dissonance grows.  Will I find something new to replace the wilting pleasures?  Or will my need for this particular brand of pleasure transform?

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Peace and love.