Notes from Outer Zone 2

I spend a fair amount of time on industrial estates in London hunting down suppliers and manufacturers or just nagging them. It is an odd, but magical world. I took this picture for my sister, because I think she could work at 3, 4a, or 4b and be very happy.

Book Reviews on How to Write a Book Books

Dear Reader, to know me is to know I am hard at work -- in my ever decreasing free time-- on my novel. In addition to actually writing, I do a certain amount of research. Some of this research includes reading all of the books on writing/publishing/etc in the Stoke Newington Library. Some of this research is also me spending a certain amount of time figuring out which Lanvin look would be best for my book launch. But, as the mother of this blogger says,  "you can't count your eggs before they hatch." So, in the meantime, I will give you some reviews of these various how to write books. A brand new Food, Shelter, Clothing feature! The first one is Beginning Writer's Answer Book which was edited by Jane Friedman. In case you are wondering, those eyes belong to the cover of The Mistress's Daughter by A.M.Homes, a far better book than the book resting upon it or my own book.  But Beginning Writer's Answer Book is an vaguely useful read. It is basically a list of questions and answers.

Some are ridiculous:
Q. Are stationary and business cards necessary for a writer?
Q. Should I read the classics or contemporary writing?
Q. An editor rejected me by writing, "Read the magazine!" Isn't this rather insulting?

Some were questions I was wondering myself:
Q. I have a novel in the works, but it is months away from completion. When should I send query letters to publishers?
Q. I would like to adopt the pen name of George Orwell. Will I need permission from his heirs?
Q. How can a full-time freelancer provide for retirement?

Personally and selfishly, I wish this book was geared just to novelists, like moi, instead of including poets, nonfiction, short story, and magazine writers. Some of it seems like the reader may never have taken a literature course, but I'm sure some great writers never have (ie. Chaucer). Also, I'm very interested in UK and US publishing and how those work logistically as an American residing in the UK. Also, I was dismayed to read that this author suggests finishing your first book before getting an agent. Annoying, but probably wise. Oh well, xmas is coming and that is like 10 straight days of writing, aside from the slothing and working at work.

Whoa, an interesting new blog

So Dear Reader, I am trying to expand my horizons. And I'm not talking about eating poultry (for some reason pate doesn't freak me out the way all other poultry preparations do). This new fascinating blog called threadbared discovery on my part (thanks Jezebel!) has some very interesting articles that I plan on reading one day when I'm not swamped with my own worries of samples arriving on time.

Yahoo = Hoo Ha!

Years ago I lived in this idyllic house for 2 years. One of my rooms in this house was the very same room that the founder of Yahoo! used to live in (one of those guys or maybe just netscape). Anyway, I, like most people, have long since stopped using Yahoo about 10 years ago. But my dear Hackney Freecycle insists on using this dinosaur system. Kills me! Ugh!

Every once and awhile, I wish we lived in LA

 
Not only would it take this dear writer back to her native state, but there would be sunshine and we would have gone here.

It is so cold and dark and windy and bone chillingly damp in London. Luckily, I have a German mother in law and a German grandmother in law. These two wise women are knit extraordinare and have made me these exquisite striped wool socks. See how they fit my feet PERFECTLY. So, we are wearing our wool socks, and eating auflaufs to get through the cold, dark winter while dreaming of Deauville.

Here, when I say I'm from "Jersey," they sometimes think I mean the tax haven...

When I was 15 I thought I was pretty cool cause I already knew all of all of this. I was glad that they brought up Adams of suburban NJ, because I have been thinking of my old town's Adams Shopping Center recently. Not for Adams or it's equally sad WASPy sister store Madam's, but for the cupcakes available in the bakery in this shopping center. They were buttercreme concoctions of magicalness unseen in this cupcake boom. They were decorated like cookie monster, like this one.

Gluttony!

 

Usually, I am very smug at the checkout with my whole grains. But today's shopping was blessedly silly. 

Dear Reader, I married him

While googling myself today, I found my old blog. And this charming posting about when I first met The Mister. I think his height is more like 6 foot 3, or whatever 190cm is in inches. You, dear reader, can do the maths.

Haneke vs. Hackney Gazette?

Dear Reader,

Last night we watched Michael Haneke's White Ribbon. A bewildering tour de force, but we expected no less from Mr. Funny Games. Normally, films like that keep the mind reeling for days. But it is hard, when your thinking on the walk from the bus stop to work is interrupted with this headline. This mind is boggled!

Amish Pie Tote; I need this right now!

An aunty sent me a link to this blog. Yowzers, dear reader, yowzers.

Itchy and Scratchy

Lately, I've been suffering from nights where I can't sleep because my skin is on fire. It is awful.

Santa Hat, Deerstalker Hat, Thinking Hat

So, dear reader, I'm hard at work on my murder mystery. Alas, more of my time goes towards thinking what to wear to my book launch than to writing. But I do quite a lot of research. In addition to exploring my settings, I've read nearly all of the books on how to write a novel, murder mystery, get published, pick what to wear at your book launch at the Stoke Newington Library. But I have not yet read this one, yet.

Hey, if you want to buy the hat above. Some very lovely gents make it.

no poor people!

I think taxidermy is pretty passe these days along with all of that neo victoriana hoo haa. It is just so tedious and odious, and just one more thing you have to dust. But I do like the sign on this door of a taxidermy shop in the 'hood.

Return From the Homeland! (And what I forgot to buy in the homeland)

While you were doing other things in 7th grade, I was perfecting my caramel recipe. But I left my candy thermometer at home.


Cornmeal treated with lime. The paucity of mexican food in the this country has turned us into a family of tortilla makers. However, we forgot to bring the bag of masa we bought in nj. However, I may have found a latin american grocery store on route to one of my manufacturers.


Aveeno. Here in England, everything is nice and cold. So you need a heavy duty moisturizer. Alas duane reade in princeton was all sold out of this stuff, so I bought the regular strength.

Bad, GorBro, Bad.

http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifClick here for bad news bears. Usually, I am a fervent defender GorBro in the face of DavCam, but this is HOO HAA.

Walter Benjamin on Cupcakes...

I took this pic from Vasco's iphone yesterday.

And then we returned to our discussion of which film is scarier: Funny Games (V. 1.0) or Lost Highway.

News Flash: Kittens soon to be turned into throw pillows and placemats!

Good kittens.



Bad kittens.

All soon to be turned into household accessories.

TEEN GETS HAND MANGLED IN MINGER

or maybe just a mincer. That isn't funny.

HOLY SMOKES! EGGSTRODINARY

So, dear reader, I didn't eat eggs that were eggy (exception, cheese or lemon souffle, of course) until about 2 years ago. My mother's cholesterol fears hooo haa of the 80s and 90s or perhaps memories of my one dear pet chicken, Squeaky, stuck with me until one day there were some ramps and asparagus at the Union Square farmer's market. I made an omelet with roasted asparagus, ramps and parmesan. I've slowly increased my egg rep so it now includes frittatas, quiche, koo koo, fried eggs and poached eggs. There is room to grow; boiled eggs have not yet convinced me. Anyway, now we get our eggs from Stocks Farm through Growing Communities, both at our veg box pick up and at their Stoke Newington Farmers Market. Once you've had these eggs, you'll be eating eggs round the clock. These eggs are pure goodness; I'm sure that the only cholesterol they have is the good one. Didn't Michael Pollan write something about happy, healthy eggs being ok? Hungover, these eggs fried with some bacon and ketchup are positively medicinal. Anyway, we get about 12 eggs a week from these guys. So, we were making dinner. The mister cracked one egg. Then he cracked another. This second egg was EGGSTRODINARY!! NOT ONE YOLK, NOT TWO YOLKS, BUT THREE YOLKS. Look at the pick below. Count the yolks! Count the shells!

Fat Cats, Very good books, and Margaret Howell HQ

Our neighborhood cat just can't get enough!

When I filmed this, I had had enough to drink. Perhaps slightly more than enough at the book party in honor of Cally Blackman's 100 Years of Menswear . It was a lovely soiree at Margaret Howell HQ, which is probably the single best place on earth. Or at least in this country. But I digress. The book is so much better than most fashion books. It is a fabulous collection of images and traces changes in visual culture through menswear. Also, on a pragmatic level, you won't bust the spine on it like I did on that Richard Martin and Harold Koda
Jocks and Nerds: Men's Style in the Twentieth Century. Quick note to Santa: I have already ordered it. Please buy me a new computer instead.
I recommend buying yourself this book:



And buying me this lovely 17 inch Mac Book Pro:

Only Chanel can top the ice cream cup cakes

I've nearly run out of ice cream cupcakes. We will share the last one tonight while finishing Edvard Munch. It has taken us 3 nights of viewing. The fashion is sublime.

More sublime and magical and ridiculous is the SS10 Chanel collection. I've been trying to steal pics to post. But alas it isn't working. So click through here, details as well:
Here!

Back to Munch and the last cupcake.

Oh yes. ICE CREAM CUPCAKES! MINT CHIP ICE CREAM CUPCAKES!

One only turns the age I turned recently once. And this is how I wanted to celebrate:
Rarely does my mental image of my cooking match the actual results. This how they ended up:

Delicious. I use the chocolate cake and cream cheese frosting recipes from this CUPCAKE BLOG. I froze 'pellets' of ice cream in my idli tray, assembled and returned to the freezer.

Din, Din, Dins

The veg box yielded eggplant (aubergines) and cavolo nero. The mister and I made rice while at the gym, and started a daal beforehand.

1/2 -1 red onion, cut lengthwise in strips
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 eggplant, diced to inch size pieces
couple cavolo nero leaves, shredded
veg oil to coat bottom of wok
cayenne pepper
ketchup
salt

Steam the eggplant/aubergine until knife tender, then drain.
Heat veg oil in wok over medium high heat, add onions once oil is hot. Stir fry. Once translucent, add cavolo nero leaves and garlic, and a few spoons of water. Continue stir frying until leaves are nice and wilted. Add eggplant, stir fry. Add cayenne pepper and salt to taste and a good dollop of ketchup. Stir fry and serve with rice, daal, and homemade mango lassis.Delicious. We turned the leftovers into a soup.

Lahmacun vs. Jil Sander

There was only one queue to wait on today. And alas, at lunchtime, even Jil Sander at Uniqlo doesn't trump my hunger. Does that make me a bad person?

Amen!

Excellent! I have always hated Passing Clouds in Dalston. We nearly went to a night there but they wanted to charge 5 quid 'for the experience' as patchouli wafted towards me. I hate patchouli. I don't know about you, but 'the experience' doesn't cut it. So stupid. We ended up going to The Haggerston, an excellent pub, and spent our 5 quid there. I spend 5 quid there pretty often. Anyway, Passing Clouds seems to have made some more enemies! Excellent!

The only thing worse than fashion week is Stansted.

Fashion week is like the traveling. Too much hurrying up to wait, queuing, getting tickets checked, etc. The only thing worse that it is Stansted. Last time we flew from there, a family (mother and daughter in a cheap pink, father and son in cheap blue) were ahead of us in the queue. They seemed innocuous enough, despite the 45 minute queue to check baggage at 5am, until 3 minutes from the front of the line. The awful adolescent daughter started whimpering how she didnt feel well. Her mum was all 'we're nearly at the front of the queue.' THEN, this dreadful girl puked all over herself and her pink tracksuit. We nearly died. It was even worse when the mother took all of her used tissues and PUT THEM BACK IN HER LUGGAGE.

The Lion, The Witch and Their Wardrobe!

Our shoes, our wardrobe.

More Meat...

As you know, dear reader, I love polka dots. So I'm sure you understand I have opinions on the new Thom Brown collection. But I'm not sure what they are yet. In the mean time, a pic from my walk home from work.

Meat I'd like to meet and then eat.

This was in Bath. Alas, I didn't get to try any.

Shelter

Dear Reader,

We have found a new flat. We are moving on Monday. We will be decorating it with this:


Did I mention it is hooked or needlepoint? The Mister doesn't yet know.

Storms = Hot Chocolate

Dear Reader,

The pressure is dropping (or rising?) and the regular wind has turned gusty and the clouds are extraordinarily ominous. Which means I am thinking about one thing and one thing only... hot chocolate.

We had this cup with churros in Madrid several months ago. I can't remember where the restaurant/churro house/cafeteria was located. It had a gorgeous metal interior like a submarine. We had to catch our plane soon after eating these.

Nice Colored Heavy Industrial Stuff Nearly Matching Shoes

Yowzers!

Guess I'll go eat worms

From Whitstable.

postal

More

Nice BBQ at Anchor and Hope

We are very fond of this pub, The Anchor and Hope, by our canal. Today after the blackberry harvest (more on that soon) we stopped by to have a pint and sit canal side. We were pleasantly surprised to see that they have a bbq operation up and running on sunny weekends. Christoph had a lovely stilton and leek sausage in a roll and I had the cumberland in a roll. Then some lady jumped into the canal and went for a swim. Personally, I don't think swimming in the dirty canal is very appealing, but to each their own.

Whitstable