I should have packed a sweater...

I flew into Edmonton Saturday afternoon (after spending the first portion of the flight waiting on the runway for an hour until the airport found baggage handlers to come load our luggage and then having a flight-long conversation with my seatmate, an arborist, whese name I never got). I was picked up by my sister, and as all good vacations start we promptly went shopping. Saturday night we went to Taste of Edmonton, which was great, but Normands was out of buffalo kebobs, so I was bummed about that.

Yesterday we went to the Callingwood Farmer's Market, and I overcompensated for the lack of buffalo the night before by buying buffalo sausage and buffalo pepperoni (and chicken satay and teriyaki beef and one of those delicious and painfully sweet peanut butter marshmallow squares) Susan was also there selling her hot sauces so I got a sweet chili sauce and her "somewhat spicy hot sauce"

Have I mentioned how cold it is here yet? And rainy? It's like fall! I don't think I packed enough warm clothes. Good thing I've come prepared to shop! I think it only made it to about 13 degrees celsius yesterday, and it started pouring a little after lunch time. It's supposed to be cool and rainy all week, which makes me kind of happy, as I see that Philly is having disgusting heat and is under a heat advisory now. My folks and I and a family friend went around the city to see all six Front Yards in Bloom finalists. We had to make a couple of stops for people to pull on sweaters and socks. Nature can be very pretty, but by the last few houses Esther and I were staying in the car and experiencing nature from a dry distance. Today I wear my rainboots and carry an umbrella. Good thing I packed my rain gear!

Westward Ho!

I'm about to fly off for my annual pilgrimage to food festival mecca. If you're around Edmonton next week, drop me a line if you haven't already and schedule in some quality Dena time!

Happy birthday to me!

Yup, today is my actual birthday, even though due to scheduling we're not celebrating for a couple of weeks. I do have to go in to work, as I'm using all my vacation time next week to fly back home. But Karin is bringing me a birthday tiara to wear, so it will be a festive day nonetheless.

I love birthdays!

UPDATE: I just got a box in the mail at work. Inside was a set of founding father bobblehead dolls from Hyperion Books for Children. There's nothing else in the box, but I'm guessing I probably won them from ALA. What perfect timing, eh?












UPDATE: I have acheived birthday princess-hood with the addition of a birthday tiara:

Understated, yet fabulous
(and in the background you can just make out the four bobblehead dolls I got today)

Reading Terminal Market, how do I love thee?

I had my very first butcher experience this weekend. I fully believe that meat grows in plastic wrap at the grocery store, but Micaela decided to educate me otherwise and took me to her butcher at Reading Terminal Market. Super cheap ground lamb, custom cut stew meat, and the fun of watching the butcher flirt like crazy with Micaela. As an added bonus, the quality of the meat was superb.

We also went to Iovine's to pick up random vegetables and fruits. It's crazy cheap, and they had amazing mangoes on sale for 2/$1.49. But the best thing was the container of dried apple rings I picked up on a whim. Wow, those things are like crack! I just went back today to get two more containers because they disappear way too fast. I'm taking a chance and trying the dried pears as well. Yes, my life is that exciting.

p.s. Happy Birthday Jen!

Two things learned before breakfast today

One: It is wise to follow the directions on the side of the migraine medication bottle. I took a couple of pills at five this morning on an empty stomach and although the headache is gone, it has been replaced with an awful queasiness. When something tells you to take with food, it's a good idea to follow the instructions.

Two: While wearing a 50's-style skirt, avoid walking over air vents. I had an unexpected Marilyn Monroe incident this morning on the way to work, so my lesson is learned.

Books of the Week

So far this week I've read two very good books. They're both continuations of series (one much more so than the other) and they both kept me up way too late reading them.


First we have Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey. Carey wrote a magnificent trilogy a few years ago about a kind of alternate renaissance Europe, full of political machinations, intrigue, treachery, sex, and grand battles. This is the first of a new trilogy that moves the narration from Phedre (the heroine of the first trilogy) to Imriel (her adopted son). I recommend reading the first trilogy (Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, Kushiel's Avatar) before this one. This is a series you really do have to read in order.


Second is Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes. This book is the fourth to follow the Walsh sisters of Dublin. This time it's Anna who gets her own book. It's hard to explain this one without giving away the plot twists, but Anna has sustained some serious injuries and her husband isn't returning any of her emails or calls. Keyes' books about the Walsh sisters transcend the stereotypical chick-lit genre. Other books about the Walshes include Watermelon, Rachel's Holiday, and Angels. It doesn't much matter which order you read these books, but chronologically (and publication date-wise) Watermelon is first.

And on a totally unrelated note, it is stupid hot outside today. High of 38 Celsius (99 Fahrenheit). And humid. I can't wait for autumn!

Great animation

The National Film Board of Canada just made available online 50 classic animated shorts. It's free to view, and they've got some great ones to see, like "The Cat Came Back" which totally creeped me out as a kid, and still does to this day.

I saw Christopher, Please Clean Up Your Room! at the ALA/CLA conference in Toronto a few years ago (I also totally scared my hero, Robert Munsch, at the same conference). I still love it, so check it out and see why. This one is for mom and dad, who spent years trying to get me to clean my room!

Birthday girl!

I have a birthday coming up (July 26th, party on August 11th), and for those of you who feel the need to get me a present (although it's not necessary), I've tried to make the job easier for you by making a registry that has some of the types of things I like on it to give you an idea. Check it out!

Petty Theft...

...or, yet another straw on the back of my faith in the inherent goodness of humanity.

Today I went to the laundromat. I've been following the same routine for over five years now - Wash clothes while reading, then put them in the dryer and go to the grocery store to do some shopping in the 28 minutes before the dry cycle is done. I leave my little old lady laundry cart, laundry bags, and detergent in the laundromat while I do this. I've never had a problem before. Today when I got back from stocking up on summer essentials (2 pints of blueberries, mango nectar, apricot nectar, and blackcurrant nectar) someone had walked off with my laundry detergent! There was only one person in the laudromat when I left, and no-one when I got back. The laundry lady who runs the place didn't notice him take it, but she said no-one else had come in while I was gone for 15 minutes.

So, Mr. Bright yellow shirt and dreadlocks, I hope you enjoy your 2/3 empty bottle of detergent.

Anyone have an empty laundry detergent jug I can have instead of you throwing it out?

Kitten!

Sally and Mark have a new kitten. He doesn't have a name yet, but from the list that they have, I like Tinkertoy the best (what makes that even cuter, Tinker is the kitten's mother). I snapped a few pictures with my crappy-ass cell phone camera today, so here are some pictures of the new cutest kitten in the world (sorry, Widget):

Ick

Our plucky and intrepid library volunteer Julia is going through all our videotapes checking circ stats. This morning she opened "On the Beach" and found a dead squashed cockroach. EW!

And oddly appropriate for it to be that movie, considering that they'll supposedly be the only things left alive after a nuclear war.

Essential safety equipment

For those of you addicted to Blackberries, Sidekicks, and other like them - you might need this:

An Inconvenient Truth

I just got back from seeing the movie "An Inconvenient Truth". Remember the feeling you had in junior high school (and I'm dating myself here) when you were absolutely positive that there would be a nuclear war in our lifetime? That's kind of the feeling I got watching this movie. It's not nuclear war, but it's something big and scary, and ultimately, something we have some control over.

I just switched my electricity from conventional fossil fuel to wind-power, and I'm going to go shopping for energy efficient light bulbs this week. Go see the movie and see what little things you can do to help stop global warming.

Happy Canada Day!

Happy 139th!

And in "how many people can you stuff in a phone booth" news, improbably I can fit 17 people in my living room.

Susan is (getting) famous!

My friend Susan sells hot sauces at farmer's markets around Edmonton. I'm planning on stocking up on some to bring back when I visit this summer because they sound wonderful. Yesterday she was written up in the Edmonton Journal - check it out:
















Sauce it up with tang, zip or heat
Condiment as common as ketchup on some tables

Judy Schultz, Journal Bistro Writer
Published: Wednesday, June 28, 2006

EDMONTON - THE VENDOR: Susan Chin

THE PRODUCT: Molly's Hot Sauce. These are condiments with Southeast Asian flare. In order to accommodate varying tastes for spices, condiment maker Susan Chin divides her products into three handy categories: mild, medium (the original strength) and hot.

She offers a long roster of tasty sauces including Molly's Original Hot Sauce, with a milder version for beginners. "It's a nice balance between sweet, tangy and hot."

Then there's Somewhat Spicy Hot Sauce (Medium) which starts out tangy, followed by some heat. Super Spicy Hot Sauce (Hot) has a tangy top note and lingering heat.

Molly's Sugar-Free Hot Sauce features Hot Sauce for the Brave (XHot), "Very tangy, very spicy," says Susan.

Molly's Ginger-Free Hot Sauce offers both the Somewhat Spicy Hot and the Super Spicy Hot versions. The Sambal Hot Sauce also comes in three heat levels -- chili pepper paste, which people love on green onion cake; chili pepper and garlic; and the deluxe, a combination of chili pepper paste and all the ingredients that are in Molly's Hot Sauce.

Finally there's Susan's newest creation, a spring roll sauce.

"The ginger-free, sugarfree and spring-roll sauces were added to the product line based on feedback from customers," says Chin. "Some people are not fond of the taste of ginger. For those who are diabetic or enjoy their hot sauces without any sugar, these are perfect."

THE MARKET: The sauces are available in five farmers markets: Festival Place Market, Sherwood Park, Wednesday, 5 p.m.; Millwoods, at 7207 -- 28th Ave., Thursday at 5 p.m.; City Center, 102nd Ave. and 104th St., Saturdays, 9 a.m.; St. Albert, corner of St. Anne's and St. Thomas, Saturdays, 10 a.m.; Callingwood market, 6655 178th St., Sunday.

THE BACKSTORY: "In my family, we've always used the sauce as a regular condiment at the supper table," she says, pointing out that hot sauce -- and we do mean HOT -- is as ubituitous on Southeast Asian tables as ketchup is on Canadian tables.

"We lived in Brunei, and the sauces were my mom's (Molly Chin's) creation," says Susan Chin. "I started eating them at the age of three. Mom is a professional cook, so she just made them up," says Susan, whose mother now cooks at Julie's in the Edmonton Inn. She's been there for several years, but is looking forward to retirement, says Susan.

Meanwhile, the dark, deep, spicy tones of the Chin family hot sauces continue to evolve.

"Our customers have come up with amazing uses for the sauce," she says. The sugar-free sauce has been used as a salad dressing (just mix with a little olive oil), and added to a multi-layered dip for nachos.

"One customer used the original hot sauce as a baste for chicken and shrimp skewers for the barbecue. Others have used the sambal sauces mixed with a sweet sauce (hoisin or maple syrup ...) as a rub for baked salmon."

Book of the Week

Well, the ALA conference in New Orleans is over, and I and my 67 pounds of books (not including the ones I mailed back to myself) have finally made it home. Due to really bad weather all along the east coast yesterday, our flight from Chcago to Philadelphia was delayed from 4:20 to 6:30 and then we sat on the runway for an hour and a half. Good thing I had a bag full of nifty advanced reading copies of upcoming books!

My new favourite upcoming book is by Ken Jennings, he of the record-breaking Jeopardy run a couple of years back. This is part memoir, part trivia history, all very entertaining. Jennings has a natural way with words and can occasionally be quite hilarious. I kept giggling to myself while reading it, earning strange looks from Jen and Liz.



This is the second year in a row that I've lucked out on a great book for the plane ride home (last year was Julie and Julia). It has already been passed along to Jen, who is enjoying it as much as I did.

And once I unpack, organize who is getting what books, and catch up on sleep, I'll let you know the highs and lows of New Orleans 2006.

New Orleans

I've been in New Orleans since Friday for the American Library Association conference. This is the first time I've gotten to a computer since then, and I only have a minute or two.

Amazingly intimidating swanky hotel: check!
Beignets: check!
Blistering heat: check!
Bourbon Street: tomorrow night
Boatloads of free stuff from the exhibits: check!

Right, and back to the exhibits I go, before I go into a full day of programs and a cocktail party tonight (with maybe a harbor cruise somewhere in there).

I am a 12 year old girl...

...and I have a teenage girl crush on Jason Dohring:



Sigh. He's so dreamy.

(2 episodes left in my own personal Veronica Mars-athon - 2 seasons in 1 week)

New TV Obsession

As some of you know, I have a tendency to get obsessed with TV shows. Previously it's been Buffy and Angel, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Lost (not the one you're thinking of), Amazing Race, Coupling (the good British version), Hex, The IT Crowd, and others too numerous to mention. Well, as I spent hours lying on my couch last week, I decided to start watching Veronica Mars. Liz is obsessed with it, and has been for two years. I never even got started watching it, but decided to give it a shot because a) it is available on DVD and b) the Save Veronica Mars campaign sent many copies to my library in an effort to get new viewers hooked. It worked.

I watched the entire first season in three days, and have started on the second (9 eps in, 13 to go!)

Note to self

When recovering from surgery, it is unwise to go berry picking just a few days later. While the berries are delicious, I think I pushed myself a wee bit too hard. Ouch.


But I have raspberries, straweberries, and cherries to last the week.