Rhubarb Pie

But not Twilight. I won't read Twilight.

I am lucky that I set myself no standards for how to read, except maybe to keep at least three books in the Unread pile.  I also don't keep track of what I read, but fortuitously, I get virtually everything I read from the library.  They keep track, so I can go back through the list if I'm curious.  I only go back for two reasons: to remember which books were good enough that I want to buy them, and to make recommendations for other people.  I'm in charge of my sister and my roommates' reading lists, which means they read about hardworking princesses or natural disasters a lot.  I don't really strive to read rigorously, although recently I was slightly appalled at the number of trashy books on the list that I don't remember reading at all.  I think people get impressed that I read instead of watch TV, but most of that reading is pretty lightweight.

The terrible tragedy of my recent reading has been coming across very good unfinished series.  I HATE that.  I am not patient in the least, so it makes me very unhappy.  Still, I've come across good stuff.  Here, all of these are good Young Adult reads, lots of story.

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins.  I cannot WAIT for the second book to get to me, and the third book isn't even out yet.  A story about teens being forced into a fatal reality show in a dystopia. 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan.  Familiar supernatural characters that aren't elves or wizards, and a contemporary boy hero.  A completed seven book series, so you don't have to wait and suffer.

Lament, and Ballad, by Maggie Stiefvater.  Teen musicians are plagued by the scary type of Faeries, and there's romance and stuff. 

Did I already recommend Charlie Fletcher's Stoneheart Trilogy?  I really liked it.  A kid gets involved in a war between statues in London.

I highly recommend all of those, or I wouldn't mention them.  Good stories, not cliched.  Hope you like 'em.

All meta and shit.

Sherry, I've been a terrible blogger here, despite having Thoughts that I want to tell you and everyone.  I want to write posts on asking girls out, and books, and resolutions, and then on other things.  But since I'm being all meta about blogging, I'll add on a couple other things.  Then I'll write those other posts and queue them up.

Thoughts on blogging:
Man, I love my loosely pseudonymous water policy blog.  It is such a selfish blog to write.  I say exactly what I think about some arcane issue, and I don't explain the context or give background.  I expect informed readers to keep up, and don't help them if they don't.  I don't expect an audience, either, because there aren't that many people who are interested at that level.  But it feels great to write that blog. I love it, writing that fast and selfishly. 

It is also pretty fun being pseudonymous.  I'm not pseudonymous enough, because of all you people who can go from "Megan" to that blog.  But water people who never read blogs don't seem to go the other direction (perhaps they have and are politely not telling me).  But I see people whom I know read that blog at the cafe, and get a silly little thrill that they see me but don't connect me to that work.  It is a little unfair, but it is also fun.

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I read this piece, on a former journalist who was hired as a blogger and immediately started flaming people.  I'm speculating based on nearly nothing, but I wonder if he didn't think that flaming people is required of the form.  Like, that's what bloggers DO, and not only is he freed to do those things, but he'll be acting in accordance with the form if he starts in with name-calling. I wonder if that's a clue to how journalists think of us.  Man.  He is going to get real tired in the not-very-far future if he tries to keep that up.  That hyped up energy level is draining, to write, to read, to follow.  I don't think the bloggers who trade in that form can keep it up.

More and more I think that blogging only lasts if it satisfies something in the blogger's personality.  Exhibitionism, pedantry, a yearn for connection through text, something.  But it has to nourish the blogger; spats drain the blogger, not nourish.  I've also been thinking about how long-term bloggers become chill.  There are still comments or flames that could get under my skin, but the most of them are just noise.  Being provoked by mere snark or something obviously originating in pure ideology?  I'm not in the original round of bloggers, but with a couple years under my belt, those don't even touch me any more.  Spend attention on those?  I'd rather try to stop the tide.  At least then I'd be digging around in sand or pouring concrete.

Well, good luck, journalists-forced-into-blogging.  If you're working from a big platform, you started with an enormous boost, which may or may not do you any favors.  I hope you find the best in blogging, because the best of it is great.  But in blogging like anything, you'll get what you put out.  If you don't like or respect the form (because it isn't what you wanted to do when you became a journalist, or because your early exposure was critiques of your work that you never had to put up with before), you'll get irritated, disrespectful readers back.  You're in charge of that, but you're going to have like blogging, from the inside, to get a commentariat that likes your blog.

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Speaking of the best of blogging, reader Scott sent me jam recently.  That's so amazing.  The magic of the internet turned thoughts and pixels into something tangible and yummy.  I am very grateful that people like you guys read here.  Y'all impress me so much.

Thoughts About Books

I declared 2009 the Year of Planned Reading, but that was a failure too.  I didn't plan my reading, and what I did instead (set wildly ambitious goals, binge on armloads of books from the college library) just kind of set me up to feel like a failure.  I had a good reading year in 2009, but I completely failed at even the most basic thing: I didn't keep track of the books I read.  To tell you what I read I would have to rely on my memory, which we know to be lousy, and my interest in going back to recreate a list, which sounds really boring to me.  I read a lot of books, good and bad. I probably read more books last year than I have in previous years, but it would be impossible to confirm that, since I haven't been keeping track.   

So the Year of Planned Reading was mostly a bust.  But I did get a few things out of it, which are below.  I'm most excited about my new tracking system for 2010.    

How To Get Girls

Well, hmmmm.  We have another reader looking for some specific advice.  This one is a 25 year old fellow named S., who has never had a girlfriend, and has only mustered up the courage to ask women out a very few times, always with disappointing results.  What's the trick, he wonders. 

I used to write quite a lot about dating and my own theories about it. I wrote about how to decide whether to confess a crush, and how to tell whether you're undateable (in 3 parts!).  I wrote about chemistry, and how much that matters.  Since I've been with NBT these last three and a half years, I've stopped paying attention to all the signals you have to decode to figure out whether a romantic relationship is possible with someone, so I expect Megan will have better advice than me.  But ignorance has never stopped me before, so I'll charge in. 

There are three things that I used to ask myself when evaluating a guy. We'll take each of them in turn. 

1) Do I like, enjoy, and admire him as a human being?

2) Do I want to smooch him? Is he attractive/exciting?

3) Does he make me feel good about myself? 

Barely enough.

 

Snow Removal 101

You enjoy lifting heavy things, so you probably spend a lot of time wishing you could shovel snow.  I know you're interested in water, too, and all of the various engineering strategies for its containment and movement.  So you probably daydream about snow, and think about methods for moving it and storing it.  

Moving to our new place has changed our shoveling challenges a little bit.  We no longer have a garage, nor a big yard, and our house is tightly wedged in a small lot, on a steep slope.  This means there are few places to put the snow -- you really have to pick it up and walk it to the backyard, because if you just scoop and toss it'll go into the neighbor's walkway, or it will quickly create a wall of snow so high that your next shovelfull will just slide back down the face.  It means snowmelt from our neighbor's roof turns to a treacherous flow of ice along the steepest part of our driveway, just where you need the little extra bit of traction to get the car up and over on to safety.  There's a fire hydrant immediately flanking our driveway entrance, and you can't pile up your snow on top of that, plus the firemen come around after every big storm and dig out the hydrants, dumping their snow willy nilly into our driveway after we've cleared it.   

The good news is that the city comes by with a little minitruck and plows and sands our sidewalk.  Eventually.  Also the direction of the plow usually means that we don't get the brunt of the neighborhood's snow at the end of our driveway, which was the case at our old house.  

While shoveling today, I was thinking about some of the questions you might have about the whole process.  I'm happy to share what I've learned.  First, you want a bent-handle shovel.  It's easier on your back over time.  I don't think there's much of an advantage to the metal-tipped blade, though.  Theoretically it helps you scrape the ice off the pavement, but if you have a bumpy brick surface to shovel, chances are the metal blade will either get damaged or just won't work at all.  It's not a bad idea to have a special shovel just for scraping ice -- that one, of course, will have a narrow metal blade and a straight handle.  And then you'll need a way to sprinkle the salt-sand mixture over the pavement where it ices up the worst.  We use a spade for that, but you may find another way.  

Second, we all wonder about the efficacy of the mid-storm shovel.  You know, when you're expecting twelve inches, and it's going to snow all day, and you look out the window and see six inches out there, should you go out and shovel so that you'll have half as much work at the end of the storm?  I'm coming to believe that that's a waste of time.  Go get the plow's pile at the end of the driveway, and clear a path for the mailman, but save your shoveling efforts for when the storm is over.  Otherwise the wind will just blow everything around and when you go back out you won't be able to tell that you spent any time shoveling at all. 

Third, you probably know this, but of course it is important to treat January snow differently than February and March snow.  For the January storms, you must shovel a wide, thorough, deep path.  You must patiently carry the snow all the way to the backyard, because you know that the snow is going to be where you put it for months, and it will thaw and freeze and thaw and freeze until it is as hard as concrete.  If you do not do a good job now, you can never repair your error and your driveway and paths will just get narrower and narrower all winter.  In February you can start to cut corners, and by March you may be so bitter and weary that you will do only what is minimally necessary to get to your car.  But in January, you must take pride in a wide and clean path.   

Anand found them first.

Now, see, I want this blog to be a force for good.  I hope it improves your lives.  But it is a very diffuse medium and there's not much it can actually do.  Perhaps it can reassure you that other people have felt something you feel.  Perhaps Sherry's posts can waft some crisp Maine scents and colors your way.  On a very good day, maybe I can crack you up.  I have heard on two occasions that my advice got someone laid, so I am quite proud. On rare and treasured occasions, we can save someone from going to law school.

This is little enough and tenuous.  But there is a much more direct way this blog can make your life better.  You should MAKE THESE PANCAKES.  They are that good.  They are a sure thing.  If you make them, your life will be better than if you do not make them.  Three people have tried them since I first mentioned them, and reported fantastic results.  I want you to have fantastic pancakes.  But I can't force you.  I can only invite you over to eat them, and plead with you on this blog.  Please.  Invite a couple people over.  Make the batter the night before.   Eat oatmeal pancakes together, for extra goodness in 2010.