LOVE:

– teatime

At some point in my life, I will surely end up living in England. I haven’t decided  when or where, but I know it will happen. I love London and would love a flat in Bloomsbury or in Kensington. I’d go to the British Museum EVERY DAY! If London didn’t work out, I’d love a place in Cornwall, preferably in St. Ives. My father’s family goes back hundreds of years to a village very near there, which finally explains my absolute adoration of the sea. It’s genetic. Have you ever seen St. Ives? Take a look and gasp.

Can you imagine living somewhere so incredibly beautiful? I can and it’s a shame that I don’t. Anyway, teatime is a British institution and I’m a big fan. I went to Afternoon Tea at a resort in Florida last year and it was wonderful. I’d go to tea every day. Probably at the Ritz. I’d become a staple.

– Australia

I’ve never been to Australia, but it’s only a matter of time. I think I need to buy a cottage down there. Can’t decide between Melbourne and Sydney. Probably Sydney. I’ve heard great things about it. They have summer when we have winter and they have spring when we have autumn, so I’ll just constantly be chasing the warmth. It’ll be marvelous. I love Australian comedy, so I’ll fit in fine. Plus, anywhere with a beach is home to me and most of the cities in Australia are on the coast. Marvelous.

– Earth/Crust Displacement Theory

I just discovered this the other day and it literally made my brain explode. I had to go to a surgeon to have them put it back together again. It was the most stunning thing I’ve ever heard. I’ve done more research since and science is saying it’s unlikely, but Einstein himself supported the theory, so I have hopes that it’s real. Basically, what the theory says, is that the Earth’s crust is sitting on top of the asthenosphere, and at times, the entire crust can shift over this layer. But, what got me interested in this was a book I was reading called Fingerprints of the Gods that was talking about the ice ages. There is really no reason for an ice age. The Earth is, though constantly in motion, always relatively stable. Why should Europe and North America have been covered in miles of ice, then? This is where the theory comes into play. It is theorized that the crust has slipped occasionally in the past, pushing North America and Europe into the Arctic. At the same time, this would push Antarctica north into a more hospitable climate. Perhaps this is why there is evidence of rivers on Antarctica? Could Antarctica be Atlantis? This is going a bit far, but there’s no way to know until an archaeological expedition is mounted. Until we have a reasonable way of digging through miles of ice and keeping the scientists alive, this is an unreasonable hope currently. I’m fascinated by this.

– Lisa Frank cats

I don’t need words for this. Let me show you my love:

SQUEAL!

– Au Poivre sauce

There is an excellent restaurant in downtown Des Moines called Django’s which I wholeheartedly recommend you visit. Every single thing I’ve had there is delicious. They also have this massive and gorgeous poster of Paris that shows all the buildings and little streets. I’m obsessed with it, but they haven’t been printed since the 50s and the few that are left are quite pricy. Someday, I’ll get one. I ordered a vegetarian dish called mushroom faux poivre, which is a take on steak au poivre and is, honestly, the most delicious thing I’ve ever had in my entire life. I was desperate to recreate it at home, and I did, and it was very good. Not the same, but good. Here’s the recipe:

In one tablespoon of butter, soften and lightly brown a tablespoon of finely chopped onion or shallot with 1/2 tablespoon of flour. Add in 1/2 cup of vegetable stock and reduce by half. Add 1/3 cup of brandy and reduce by half. Off heat, swirl in a tablespoon of butter and serve immediately atop a grilled portobello mushroom.

You’re welcome.

– brother in La Maison de Claudine

I am in love with http://www.dailylit.com, you can get segments of books sent to you via email each day, I get about five stories each day and I find it an easy way to read classic literature. I don’t really read the classics for pleasure, aside from obscure texts, so I like that I can read it in bits and pieces. I recently started reading La Maison de Claudine, a novel by Colette. Remember when I mourned her at her grave? You should. I really enjoyed the brother in the story, he was a macabre fellow who makes cardboard tombstones with better epitaphs than the ones he finds in the community cemetery. It’s morbid and absolutely wonderful.

HATE:

– mornings

I’m basically Garfield. I hate Mondays, mornings, and I love vegetable lasagna. I am not a morning person and I do not like getting up. It’s so demode to wake up before nine o’clock. My body is not adapted to waking up before the sun. I just can’t. But I must, and that sucks.

– frozen butter

My mother loves to buy butter in bulk and since I bake so much we go through it very quickly. But, she also has an annoying habit of freezing the butter she buys. Of all the things she does, this is the most annoying. When there’s no butter left in the fridge, I have to go all the way to the basement to find frozen pounds of butter and sit around looking pretty while it comes to a workable temperature.

– carpet

Carpet is nothing more than a trap for dirt, dust, grime, and all sorts of nasty. I’m in the process of removing it all from my home. I just hate it. I like rugs.

– Boxelder bugs

I f***ing hate boxelder bugs. They don’t bite and they don’t cause any damage, but I go livid when I see them climbing all over my house and inside. Why can’t they stay outside? Why must they walk all over my beautifully painted wainscotting and why must they litter the checkerboard tile floor with their sickening carcasses? I just loathe them.

– pens with wet ink

I’m a great fan of the past, but when it comes to writing tools, we’ve moved on. I hate pens that write with wet ink, all they do is smudge. I much prefer writing in pencil or a pen with a dryer ink that won’t smudge.

– modern longing for more

The modern era is full of wonders, but also full of constant woe. We can achieve anything we want, but it seems nearly impossible to get. In the past, all you had to do was make a bit of money and have a nice suit for dinner parties. You could also get drunk all the time and call it a work expense. Nowadays, though, all I want is something else. It’s exhausting. I want to have a beautiful house in Sarasota, a chic apartment in Paris, international fame, a best-selling book, I want rumors to be spread about me in gossip magazines, I want my wedding to be better attended than last year’s Royal Wedding, I want Lady Gaga to be my friend, I want to go out for tea with Olivia de Havilland, I want Karl Lagerfeld to invite me to dinner and take my picture with Choupette. But, I have none of this. Le sigh…

– debate

The Presidential debate sucked. I hope this week’s with Joe Biden is more fun. Everything is more fun with Joe, he cracks me up.