Hank & Willie

Why Bother? Here’s Why

Anna — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:09:34 +0000

Welcome writer and mama Amy, an online pal from way back when our summer 04 babies were newborns and we were in the same attachment parenting email group. Amy was one of the first bloggers I “knew” and has been a great encouragement to me since the beginning of Hank & Willie—I’m delighted to have her posting here today.

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Hi Hank & Willie readers. My name is Amy Gates. I’ve been blogging about attachment parenting, green living, photography and activism over at Crunchy Domestic Goddess for the past three-plus years. Thanks to Anna for allowing me to post here. “Why Bother?” was originally posted on my blog on April 28, 2008.

This evening as my husband Jody and daughter Ava were out running an errand for me, I attempted to cook dinner while balancing a miserable Julian (due to his four canine teeth coming in at the same time) on my hip. After much fussing (on Julian’s part, not mine), I took a break from cooking, sat down on the couch, flipped on the TV and, hoping to make the poor boy feel a bit better, nursed him.

In skipping through the channels it became clear to me why I rarely watch TV (with the exception of The Office, LOST and occasionally Oprah). There was nothing on. I stopped on the local public access channel long enough to hear someone talking about global warming. My interest was piqued so I lingered.

It turns out it was a woman reading Michael Pollan’s recent New York Times article Why Bother? For those of you unfamiliar with Pollan, he is the author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, neither of which I have read yet, but I’ve heard great things about both.

“Why Bother?” is a question I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I’m nowhere near the point of throwing in the towel with regard to the things I do to help the environment, but after reading an article like Enjoy life while you can by climate science maverick James Lovelock, who believes catastrophe is inevitable, carbon offsetting is a joke and ethical living a scam and watching a YouTube video (which has since been taken down) about Monsanto, you might start to get a little jaded and wonder if all of your efforts are in vain. At least that’s where I’ve been at.

Pollan’s article, Why Bother?, was exactly what I needed to hear (and then read in full on the web since I missed the first half of it on TV) to help lift me out of my funk and I highly recommend you read the whole thing. Here’s just a bit of it.

If you do bother, you will set an example for other people. If enough other people bother, each one influencing yet another in a chain reaction of behavioral change, markets for all manner of green products and alternative technologies will prosper and expand. Consciousness will be raised, perhaps even changed: new moral imperatives and new taboos might take root in the culture. Driving an S.U.V. or eating a 24-ounce steak or illuminating your McMansion like an airport runway at night might come to be regarded as outrages to human conscience. Not having things might become cooler than having them. And those who did change the way they live would acquire the moral standing to demand changes in behavior from others from other people, other corporations, even other countries.

Pollan goes on to suggest “find one thing to do in your life that doesn’t involve spending or voting, that may or may not virally rock the world but is real and particular (as well as symbolic) and that, come what may, will offer its own rewards. Maybe you decide to give up meat, an act that would reduce your carbon footprint by as much as a quarter. Or … for one day a week, abstain completely from economic activity: no shopping, no driving, no electronics.”

He also discusses how doing something as basic as planting a garden to grow even a little of your own food could make a big difference.

This is another thing I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. As the price of food goes higher and higher and we worry more and more about where our food comes from, organic vs. conventional (pesticide-laden), genetically-modified organisms, carbon emissions and climate change, it makes sense to me to try to grow some of our own food.

Pollan says, “It’s estimated that the way we feed ourselves (or rather, allow ourselves to be fed) accounts for about a fifth of the greenhouse gas for which each of us is responsible.” Yikes.

I don’t have a lot of experience in gardening, but I did help my mom in our family garden as a child and, three years ago, some friends and I had our own plot in a community garden.

As I embark on growing my own garden for the first time this year, I’m thankful for my friends like Julie of Chez Artz and Green Artz, Melissa at Nature Deva, Heather at A Mama’s Blog, and Woman With A Hatchet, who all have more gardening experience than me (and will hopefully help me out if I need it - hint, hint). I’m planting a small garden not only for the food it will provide to me and my family and to reduce our carbon footprint, but for the experience it will provide us all.

Someday in the hopefully not too distant future (like next few years) once we move into a different house with a larger (and sunnier) yard, I’d love to have a much bigger garden. I’d like to know that if push came to shove and we needed to grow some of our own food, that I could do it.

I am concerned that that day might not be too far off and Pollan agrees. “If the experts are right, if both oil and time are running out, these (growing our own food) are skills and habits of mind we’re all very soon going to need.”

But Pollan doesn’t end his article on a downer. Rather he is hopeful and his message is uplifting.

“The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if
we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world.”

So, why bother? Because the future of humankind depends on it.

Even if by some stroke of luck climate change doesn’t affect us during our lifetime (wishful thinking), I would hate to leave this huge burden and mess for our children to clean up. After all, “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” - Native American Proverb

I think Pollan answers the question of “why bother?” best when he says, “Going personally green is a bet, nothing more or less, though it’s one we probably all should make, even if the odds of it paying off
aren’t great. Sometimes you have to act as if acting will make a difference, even when you can’t prove that it will.”
Here, here.

That is why I will keep on bothering. And I hope you will too.

Greetings from Tripletville!

Anna — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:03:51 +0000

Remember my friend Amily, who guest blogged last fall about expecting triplets? And you all cheered her on when they arrived in February and again when I got to take their photos? So many of you have asked for updates, so here she is again, now as the mama of three beautiful, healthy triplet boys.

Hello from babyland!

Anna asked me to write an update on life with triplets, so I thought I would share a typical day. The three little guys are 4.5 months now and are growing like crazy. Every day they seem to discover something new (hands, tongues, mouths, hands in mouth) and they are becoming very interactive these days. They love to coo and smile (though the smiles seem hard to capture on camera!).

We are still living with my folks (now at the beach for the summer) and our plan is to be in our own home sometime this fall. It has been such a blessing to have my parents help. We are firm believers of the “it takes a village” approach to life with multiple babies. We are very lucky that we all get along so well and that all members of my family willingly help out when they can. I really don’t know how we would have survived this far without my mom’s help in particular — she is amazing!

Here is a typical day (if you can call any day with triplets “typical!”):

Our day begins between 5:00 - 5:30 a.m.for the first feeding. We rotate who gets up for this first feeding — my mom and I are usually the two who take turns, but my husband and dad also pitch in on weekends and get into the rotation. Around 7 a.m., all three go back to sleep and usually sleep until somewhere between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. This is the most productive time of the day for the rest of us: we make up the bottles* (we mix about 100 oz of Earth’s Best organic formula for 12 bottles for the day), throw in the never ending piles of laundry, eat breakfast, shower, check email, and outline any tasks that need to get done (ex. pay bills, write thank you notes, plan my sister’s upcoming September wedding, etc.).

The next feeding is usually between 10 - 11 a.m. Then it is lunch time for the grown-ups! Sometimes, the boys will catch a quick cat nap from 11:00/11:30 until we go for our walk and sometimes they are awake until our walk. Usually, between 12:30 - 1 p.m., we leave for a walk. I love our walks. My mom and I take turns pushing the triple stroller (whoever did the early shift gets to push the babies, and whoever slept in gets to walk the dogs…trust me the preferred choice is the babies since the dogs like to sniff and bark at every leaf and bush we pass).

The next feeding is usually between 2 and 3 p.m. Then the boys go back down for a nap around 4 p.m. This is the shortest nap of the day — ranges from 45 minutes to two hours…but usually is closer to 45 -60 minutes. This is just enough time to get our dinner ready. Yes, 5 p.m. is cocktail time in our home! And dinner starts around 5:15-5:30 p.m. On weekends, sometimes we dine as late as 6:30 p.m…but then we all eat holding a baby (which we still often do no matter what time we eat).

The last feeding of the day starts around 7 or 7:30 p.m. and they are down for the night by 8:30 or 9 p.m. At the last feeding, the boys eat sweet potato and rice or carrots and rice.

So, that is a day in the life. On paper, it sort-of sounds smooth and easy, huh? Just kidding. It’s a lot of work. When all three boys are awake and want to play (or be held), it can get very exhausting, but it is so much fun! I love every minute with them and we’re having a great time.

I am finding that you have to be very organized with multiples and you must be a relatively savvy online shopper because we do not go anywhere with the boys, except the pediatrician’s office. I go days and weeks without getting into a car (I love it and maybe I am offsetting our diaper** footprint by conserving gas…), but it is a huge adjustment

My friends with one baby say that you still can go shopping and run errands and maybe even go out for dinner?! But with three? Why would I ever attempt to take three babies anywhere?! You need multiple adults to keep life running smoothly. I am lucky that we have easy access to farmer’s markets and that my mom, dad and husband shop for groceries (and champagne for cocktail hour!), since my primary focus is the babies.

The past year has been an unbelievably amazing journey from learning that we were expecting three, delivering three healthy and good sized babies at 35 weeks (6lbs, 5lbs, 4oz, and 5lbs), having all three come home with me from the hospital after four days (no extra hospital stay for any of the babies!), and to adjusting to life with three bouncing baby boys. It has been incredible and we thank our lucky stars for our three little ones. Each day brings more and more smiles to our faces and I just love being a mom!

Footnotes:

*We use Dr. Brown’s bottles for two of the boys and the third drinks out of Playtex drop-ins. I (naively) assumed that all bottles work the same (no, they do not — we started with Avent and Born Free and Dr. Brown’s really DO make a difference) and then I (naively) assumed that all babies would like the same bottle system (no, again…which is why one of our guys drinks out of Playtex drop-ins). [Note, we use glass and the "good" plastic Dr. Brown's bottles, and the plastic of the drop-ins are also the "good plastic."]

**I could tell you how many diapers we go through…but it is very depressing! We tried cloth diapers and earth-friendly diapers and we have discovered Huggies work the best!

P.S. I realized I did not mention ALL THE GEAR we own!! If anyone is interested, we are firm believers in buying used or using friend’s stuff (there is such a short shelf life for much of the gear, that it seems so wasteful NOT to use hand me down items!). Between my folks house, the beach house and our new house — we have more swings, bouncy seats, strollers, johnny jump ups, jumperoos and playmats than we can count. Let’s just say that both my younger sisters will be fully outfitted whenever they decide to have kids of their own!

Beachy Keen

Anna — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:01:17 +0000

Meet my friend Nicole. As a marine scientist , a swimmer and native Californian, she knows a thing or two about beaches.

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Hello readers. I hope you’ll pardon my intrusion into the world that is Hank and Willie, but our friend Anna is taking a blog break, and I have been given this opportunity to try my hand at blogging. I’m generally a lurker on this blog, but occasionally I rise to provide comments or request some help from “Anna the Wise.” You may remember a particular apple pie recipe last fall that was described for a friend in California. Yep, that’s me. And the pie… it was delicious, but I need to work on my presentation.

As for what I can to contribute to a post at Hank and Willie…Well, I have no children. I am not a chef. And photography, in my world, consists of pointing the camera in the right direction and hoping for a miracle. So, I’ve decided that for this entry I’ll focus on something that I know a lot about - beaches. No, not the Bette Midler movie that you hate to admit makes you cry, but it does. I was thinking instead of discussing beautiful, sandy beaches. It’s summer, after all.

Everyone should have one place they can go to, or some activity, that allows for relaxation and contemplation. Some people take up yoga. Others enjoy a glass of wine on the porch in the evening. I go to the beach. Being fair skinned, I’m not much of a sunbather, but I reach my moment of zen when I walk on the sand, listen to the sounds of the rolling surf, and pick up bits and pieces of marine organisms and debris. Thus, I am always in search of the next best piece of sand to stroll upon.

I have lived or traveled along all of this country’s coasts (yes, I’ll include the Great Lakes as the fourth coast). I have visited long, narrow beaches; short, fat beaches; beaches made of sand; beaches made of pebbles; beaches made of barnacle shells; and all combinations in between. I’m not too particular about what I look for in a beach, but the best ones for strolling have soft sand and plenty of room to explore.

Marin County’s Stinson Beach

I’ll give you two of my favorites. On the West Coast, you can’t beat Stinson Beach. Located just north of San Francisco, this long stretch of sand is the beach of my childhood. For me, Stinson is linked with happy days playing in the surf (the ice cold Pacific surf), BBQs, vanilla and chocolate swirled ice cream cones, endless walks with friends and family, and you can even bring the dog.

Napatree Beach in Watch Hill, Rhode Island

On the East Coast, I’m drawn to Napatree Beach in Rhode Island. A long barrier beach, once the home of fabulous beach houses—until the Hurricane of 1938—this beach has soft sand, gentle waves (at least in summer) and some beautiful dunes.

So, Hank & Willie fans, where would you recommend that I take my next walk? What beach has been in the back of your mind while you’ve been reading this entry? And, more importantly, are you willing to share its location with others…?

Not one pirate treasure cake, but two

Anna — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:01:37 +0000

Please welcome my college friend Sarah, mother of about-to-be-four twin boys. She’s here with her gorgeous photos for Best Shot Monday and for a little party-planning therapy.

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Hi, my name is Sarah and I’m a kids’ birthday party planning addict. Honestly, I don’t plan to throw a crazy complicated and over-the-top party each year. In fact, I usually announce in the wake of my twin boys’ birthday party that I am DONE. That, next year, the kids are going to have to be happy with cake and a pizza at home with family and that’s IT. But I always give in and I always get in way over my head.

Case in point: this year, I’m wanting to try to make their birthday cake myself. Worse still, it’s a pirate-themed party and I keep lingering over photos of a treasure chest birthday cake, thinking “it really would be so fabulous to make that” even while the remaining sane part of my brain is shrieking, “what is WRONG with you? Just call the bakery like you always do!”

Let’s look back for a moment.

First birthday party: we had a shrimp boil. The boys both got a little scared when we sang happy birthday to them, and just as they got their cake, it started pouring down rain, making it even more unbearably humid (we live in Mississippi, so really, we know unbearable humidity here).

Second birthday party: Meant to be “just family” but it, um, got out of hand. Plus one of the boys had a massive allergic reaction to a bugbite on or near an eyelid, causing him to look just like Rocky and I do not exaggerate one single bit about this. So those are some charming photos.
Third birthday party: actually quite fun, we had a luau at a candy shop, but we overlooked the sugar high thing and as a result, I am pretty sure we are the reason the candy shop instituted new rules for having birthday parties on-site.

So now we’re gearing up for their fourth birthday party. And, like a fool, I’m back in the saddle. I’ve mailed out the invitations, ordered up a mess of stuff from Oriental Trading Company, and spent an entire weekend downloading Pirate-ish fonts just for the thank you notes. Oh, plus the aforementioned treasure chest birthday cake thing (seriously, y’all, I have been test baking layer cakes for a few weeks to see if I might could actually manage it.).

In my defense, I would like to point out that a book I recently read about the emotional development and well-being of twins strongly recommends giving twins individual birthday parties, and I literally put the book down and laughed for an hour straight. I’m SO not falling for that. Though, perhaps I will make each of the boys a birthday cake. Which, if you’re keeping count, would mean now I may be making two treasure chest birthday cakes.

When Sarah isn’t busy chasing twin boys and planning parties, she is busy dreaming up creative new designs for her Etsy.com shop, Miniblisscakes.

For more Best Shot Monday, head over to Slurping Life, where Melody is guest hosting Best Shot Monday while Tracey is on vacation. I know, so complicated, all this guest stuff. Work with me here.

Food Friday: Strawberries

Anna — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:46:28 +0000

I could give a recipe for shortcake, or strawberry pie. I could talk about strawberry-spinach salad with poppy see dressing, the dish that is so weird that it just somehow works. I could even show you a picture of the strawberry-rhubarb crisp I made last week. But really, this week is all about summer and eating in season, and that’s what I plan to do.

Red, ripe strawberries, warm from the field, and if I can wait long enough to whip it, some fresh whipped cream as well.

Mmmm.

I am taking a little bloggy break over the next week or so, but you are in fine company here, with a host of interesting guest bloggers to enjoy. Please be kind to them and shower them with the same lovely, thoughtful comments you give me. Enjoy this week of summer, and I hope you have a fresh, local strawberry this week, too.

What NOT to read

Anna — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:06:45 +0000

Well, last week I was all full of public service, giving you tips on what to read while eating bonbons in the hammock this summer, all while smiling contentedly at the distant peals of laughter while your children play merrily in the summer sunshine encourage ants to crawl on them “because it tickles me.”

Guess which part of that sentence is true at my house?

You can’t make this stuff up. Henry chases them saying, “tickle, tickle!”

Anyway.

Unless you LIKE weird, fantastical accounts of matricide by a middle-aged, nude life model and mother of two, including a description of the deceased’s genitals, and scenes of sex with young men in cars immediately afterwards (I cannot WAIT to see what my Google searches are going to bring me tomorrow.), I’d give The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold a pass.

Her writing, like in Lucky and The Lovely Bones, is as meticulous and spare as ever. It was the quality of her writing that got me as far as page 63.

But then I thought to myself, time for reading is a luxury, and there is NOTHING luxurious about witnessing the machinations of protagonist Helen’s mind as she…wait for it….decides to put her dead mom in the freezer.

What else should I NOT read this summer? Because I want those minutes back!

Summer is…

Anna — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:01:56 +0000

…birthday parties in the yard, complete with cake and kiddie pool. This was the birthday party of one of Will’s pals, who is clearly excited that he is turning five! His friends are, too.

Happy Birthday, Ian!

Henry came along, and thought he was just one of the gang. I even overheard him telling one of the nursery school crew that he was four. I’m completely serious.

It all went fine until his cake capsized and landed on someone else’s toe. And that someone else ate it off his own toe. Henry was distressed, mostly that someone else ate his cake.

And Will was thrilled to be reunited with his nursery school buddy. Seems they had a lot to catch up on! This is my Best Shot Monday.

Wishing you a summer filled with backyards, cake and kiddie pools. Bring on the sunshine!

For more Best Shot Monday, click on over to Tracey’s.

Food Friday: Splashy Summer Cocktails (and Real Simple photo)

Anna — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:17:53 +0000

When you start seeing photos like this of yourself in national magazines and people start writing about you like this—”Anna’s wardrobe isn’t drab, she loves color!”—it’s time to get out Martha Stewart’s Hors D’oeuvres Handbook and serve something appropriate for the outfit.

However, I can’t POSSIBLY cook dressed like this, so I will have to simply mix up a few of these cocktails and start sipping. Join me? I’ll be on the patio by 5:30 p.m.

Limon (Lemon Drop)

1 cup crushed ice, plus ice cubes for chilling

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, strained

2 Tablespoons superfine sugar

4 ounces vodka

3 sprigs min

Fill glasses with crushed ice and place them in the freezer. Pour the lemon juice, sugar and vodka into a shaker with ice and shake hard for 30 seconds or until the sugar is melted. Pour the liquid over the crushed ice in the glasses. Rub the lip of each glass hard with a mint leaf just before serving, and garnish with a mint sprig.

Fresh Lime Daquiri

Martha says: Tinted sugars of various crystal sizes are an ideal decoration, not only for baking, but also around the rim of a cocktail glass. Select shades that contrast nicely with the drink you are making. To make your own, add just the smallest toothpickful of paste or gel color to superfine sugar, then blend until the color is combined with the sugar and the desired shade has been reached. Anna says: But, of course.

I WILL BE SKIPPING THAT STEP. I DON’T WANT ANY FOOD COLORING, EITHER A PASTE OR A GEL, ON MY WHITE JEANS.

2 Tablespoons light green sanding sugar for the rims of glasses

3/4 cup fresh lime juice (save halves)

1/4 teaspoon grated lime zest

6 ounces good-quality light rum (no Bacardi’s Rum PLEASE. My tenth-grade self thanks you.)

1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon superfine sugar

Pour the sanding sugar into a saucer big enough to encompass the rim of the glass you are using. One at a time, rub the rim of each glass with reserved half of a lime, so that the lip is wet about 1/8 inch into the glass. Immediately dip the rim of the glass into the sugar. Gently tap the glass to remove excess sugar. Set aside.

Add the lime juice, zest, rum and sugar to a blender. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add ice to fil half the blender. Blend on high until all the ice is pureed and the mixture is slushy, about 1 minute. Pour immediately into the prepared glasses and serve.

Mango Cocktail

Martha says: Look for mangoes that have unblemished, yellow skin blushed with red. This cocktail is more delicious with fresh mango juice made in the blender than canned or bottled mango nectar. Anna says: But of course.

4 1/2 ounces light rum

1 Tablespoon superfine sugar

1 1/2 cups mango puree (about 2 mangos)

3/4 teaspoon Cointreau

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

6 ounces seltzer or sparkling water

In a large pitcher, whisk together the rum and sugar until sugar has dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients. Whisk to combine.

Fill four tumblers with ice. Divide the liquid evenly among the tumblers.

Pomegranate Martinis

Martha says: Pomegranate juice is often sold in the produce section of your grocery store. Of course, you can also juice your own, scooping out the seeds and pushing them through a fine-mesh sieve. Anna says: OF COURSE.

5 ounces tequila

1 1/2 ounces Triple Sec liqueur

5 ounces fresh lime juice

2 ounces pomegranate juice

1 Tablespoon super fine sugar

Sugared Rose Petals, for garnish

Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Place all of the ingredients except the rose petals in the shaker and shake hard for 30 seconds. Fill 2 glasses with ice and strain the liquid into them. Garnish each glass with the rose petals.

Sugar Rose Petals

Martha says: The sugared rose petals give these pretty drinks a very special look. Anna says: As if I’m spending my time putting egg white on roses while wearing my awesome outfit.

1 small bunch pale pink edible (unsprayed) one-inch roses

1 large egg white

1 cup of our old friend superfine sugar

Place the roses in a vase filled with cool water while you work. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg white with four or five drops water to thin the consistency. Place the sugar in a second small bowl, and place a pair of tweezers and a teaspoon nearby.

Choose petals that are smooth and unblemished (OF COURSE) and, working one petal at a time, dip the petal into the egg mixture and use your fingers to coat it. Cover the entire petal, and wipe off the excess. It will appear as though the petal is lightly veiled in the egg-white mixture.

Using the tweezers, hold the petal, and lightly sprinkle sugar on the petal, sugaring the front and back and tapping off the excess. Allow petals to dry for at least four hours or until crisp and brittle.

Now that I’ve got you good and liquored up and laughing yourselves silly over sugared rose petals, I’ve got a favor to ask of you. I need some guest bloggers to fill in here while I recover from tasting all the cocktails above go on vacation. You don’t have to be a blogger to be a guest blogger, you know. I just can’t be held responsible if you become so addicted to it that you start your own.

Interested? Leave me a note in the comments or send me an email and I will be in touch! Oh, and this would be like in a week, since I am nothing if not Last-minute Lucy.

Cheers!

P.S What the hey is superfine sugar and where do I get it?

Read anything good lately?

Anna — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:43:46 +0000

Lists of great summer reads are popping up everywhere, but of course I forget to write down where they were and what was on them. So tell me, what’s on your summer reading list? What have you read recently that you couldn’t put down? As my friend Melissa said this weekend, if it doesn’t grab her from the start, she’s not going to read it.

I just finished Jennifer Weiner’s new novel, Certain Girls, and loved it. The boring, ambiguous title doesn’t do it justice, this was a fabulous, funny, heartbreaking, joyous story. Earlier this spring I read the very real narrative of four dramatically different new mothers, Little Earthquakes, and I’m hard pressed to say which one I liked best.

I read, with a heavy heart, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Powerful, sad and ultimately triumphant. Just read it.

I took a long break from Jodi Picoult this year (all that emotion! those ethical decisions! courtroom cliffhangers! personal angst!) but happily came back because her books are just SO good.

I just finished Keeping Faith, and recently read Second Glance, both among her best, I would say.

And in the less highbrow arena, I read Michael Palmer’s The First Patient, which I loved because I am a sucker for presidential fiction and medical fiction, so the two together worked perfectly for me. I end up reading every Stuart Woods pot-boiler that comes along, because they take about one late night (mostly because I can’t put them down) and are always a great read. This spring I read Shoot Him If He Runs.

Michael Connelly’s The Lincoln Lawyer was another fast-paced clever read. Like I said, it’s in the less highbrow arena, but it keeps me off the streets.

And since it is garden season, I have to recommend The $64 Tomato by William Alexander or, How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden.

And finally, I just picked up my husband’s copy of Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce and Culture by Taylor Clark. So far, pretty interesting, and best enjoyed with a cup of coffee, of course.

What have you got for me? Tell what you’re reading right now!

P.S. Thanks for all the calls and emails and Twitters about the Real Simple sighting, I finally got to see it last night, pretty fun. Can’t you just see me in those white jeans at the playground? I’ll post a scan of the page when I get a second, because I think it isn’t on news stands for another week or so.

Bunnycakes

Anna — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:43:34 +0000

BEHOLD.

A tree of bunny cupcakes, plus ones that were dubbed rabbit droppings.

NOT WHAT I WAS THINKING WHEN I MADE THEM.

For me?

Mmmm…

I think he liked it!

For more Best Shot Monday, hop on over to Tracey’s site.