Overdue Ode to the Libarary, Part I

Looking back at the resolutions I set for myself at the beginning of 2012, I actually accomplished a lot of them. Shocking.

The one that I have to say I had the most fun with was the goal to visit the library as often as possible. And let's just say I didn't confine my visits to my local branch, the gorgeous Kathleen Clay Edwards Library.
I made it a point to go to the nirvana of libraries (New York Public Library, of course), and to my very first presidential library.
So I'm going to give you a three-part Ode to the Library. Because even my "best friend" and idol The Bloggess has declared 2013 the Year of the Library – but for slightly different reasons than mine.
Here in part one of my Ode, we'll travel to New York and visit Library Row. On that trip last December, I resided at the Library Hotel, one of the coolest places I've ever stayed. The hotel is full of books and reading nooks, making it the perfect escape.
New goal: When I'm rich and famous, I am going to live in the Library Hotel, like Coco Chanel in the Ritz.
A clever twist in the hotel's theme is that the rooms are numbered according to the Dewey Decimal System, and each room contains the books that would correspond to that DDS number in an actual library. For example, I had room 700.004, which of course would be Photography. Therefore, my room had shelves and shelves of fabulous books about photography.
The hotel's location couldn't be better – it's right on Library Row, about a half-block from the main branch of the New York Public Library, a building stuffed so full of words that it made my head spin. I even had that little panic attack I always have in great bookstores and libraries – the one where I realize it will be impossible to read everything around me, but I have a compulsion to frantically give it a go.
Anyway, on the way out I gave Fortitude the lion a little pat, and avoided Patience, the other lion on the front steps of the NYPL. Well you had to know that one wouldn't be my favorite, right?
Enjoy the photos of my trip. In the next installment, I'll take you along to Little Rock, Ark.

Fortitude watches over Madison Avenue.

 

The stunning carved ceiling in one of the porticoes of the NYPL.

The lobby of the NYPL, complete with Lego models of the lions, Patience and Fortitude.

One of the NYPL Reading Rooms.

Now that's a catalog!

The Library Hotel, a.k.a. my retirement home.

The book-filled lobby of the Library Hotel

My Dewey Decimal numbered room.

Book shelves in my room.

Too true.

One of the many sidewalk markers on Library Row, featuring quotes from books and authors.

Review + Recipe: A Fun Trip to Crazy Town

Review: Let's Pretend This Never Happened

by Jenny Lawson

First, let me apologize. I'll tell you why later.

Okay, now on to the review.

If you like to snort your drink through your nose, this book is for you. If you ever wondered if your family is nuts, this book will provide the answer. And if you are looking for a new best friend, you're about to meet her. 

Oh yeah, Let's Pretend can do all of that and more. It's like the ginsu knife of the book world. So now how much would you pay? 

I entered Jenny Lawson World about a year ago, mainly through a chance Google search for "giant metal chicken" (don't ask, I don't remember why). The first five search results all pointed me to The Bloggess, where I spent about 10 hours straight reading every blog post from Jenny Lawson, including the one about Beyonce, a giant metal chicken. Beyonce is now so popular that she has her own Facebook page. Click here for proof.

Jenny herself is quite an online sensation, with 3 million or more visitors to The Bloggess every month and god knows how many thousands of Twitter followers.

In the last year, I have decided that Jenny and I are best friends ... she just doesn't know it yet. I've laughed when she told me about her latest purchases, I've rolled my eyes when her long-suffering husband Victor just didn't understand, and I've shed tears of sadness and laughter (sometimes at the same time) over her struggles with real life. If that isn't a best friend, what is?

In Let's Pretend This Never Happened, Jenny touches on some of her famous blog topics, but then out-ginsus herself (what? it's a word) with tales of her childhood, a taxidermy-obsessed dad, meeting her saint of a husband, and how she deals with depression. Caught you with that last one, right? Yes, Jenny is totally upfront with every aspect of who she is, and that's what makes her so damn likable.

I promise that at some point during this book you really will either spit something out of your mouth laughing or you will read bits to someone so many times that they will ask you to stop. The book is that funny.

And, handily, it will provide you with a big yardstick by which to measure your own family's nuttiness factor.

Once you've finished the book (and it won't take long), don't despair. You have years and years of Bloggess posts to catch up on, and many many characters to meet. Like Juanita, or Ermione Granger, or Copernicus-the-Homicidal Monkey, or the adorable Hunter S. Tomcat, or Hamlet Von Schnitzel (see cover of book).

You can also see how Jenny's stalking of Nathan Fillion and Wil Wheaton went. Or you can buy some of her products, like notebooks that say "People To Kill." Who wouldn't want that?

Now back to the apology - I am sorry that you are about to spend WAAAAY too much time on the computer. It's all my fault ... or Jenny's.

See? Real friends share the blame.

Recipe: Tomato Jam

So you know how I like to give you a recipe inspired by the reviewed book? For a macabre joke, I could have gone with schnitzel, but no. This one is perfect. Mainly because when I first served this to a friend she said "Tomatoes and jam? That's crazy talk." Exactly. Tomato jam is spicy and sweet, just like Jenny. Serve it with goat cheese and crackers (cause that's how we roll in the South), on hamburgers, or on a grilled cheese. Can it or refrigerate it, depending on your time. Oh, in the photo the tomato jam is center row on the right.

3 pounds of tomatoes

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup lemon or lime juice

1 tablespoon grated ginger

2-3 teaspoons red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons pectin

Chop up the tomatoes (other than the core and stem, of course). Combine them with all ingredients except pectin in a big pot. Put the heat on medium-high and let it all come to a slow boil, stirring it every few minutes. Then turn the heat down to simmer and let it cook for about 2.5 hours. It will start to thicken as it cooks. Be sure to stir it occasionally so it won't stick. You can read Jenny's blog during this part.

After 2.5 hours, check the consistency and add pectin if you need to thicken it. Can the jam in jars (find instructions online), put it in Tupperware in the fridge, or serve it as soon as it cools. Makes a good gift, too. Want to preserve more food? Buy this book.