When all you need is a pair of mittens

Posted on January 6, 2011 by madelynruth@yahoo.com

So the holidays are over. I’m being plagued by catalogs reminding me of the things my kids didn’t get (this means you Lego Diagon Alley). But they got plenty. And then some. They’re lucky kids and I think they know it. Still, it doesn’t hurt to remind them, with the aid of a few of our favorite characters, that you can be lucky and blessed by simple things, too — things that come in less than 1,000 pieces. Before I turn into a Bobby McFerrin song, here are two of my go-to chapters:

“Christmas,” from Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

In each stocking there was a pair of bright red mittens, and there was a long, flat stick of red-and-white striped peppermint candy, all beautifully notched along each side. They were all so happy they could hardly speak at first. … But Laura was happiest of all. Laura had a rag doll.

They get to make candy out of molasses, sugar and snow in this chapter, too. We do that, though the kids prefer the milk-vanilla-sugar version. Also, our snow probably isn’t as clean as the snow in 1860’s Wisconsin. Of course by the time the Ingalls move to the prairie they’re spoiled rotten: Think of having a penny for your very own. Think of having a cup and a cake and a stick of candy and a penny.

My other go-to chapter is “Rainy Day Surprise” from All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor. The girls go into Papa’s junk shop, where a peddler has just dropped off a load of books. They spend a happy afternoon in the paper section of the shop, searching for children’s books. And they find some, including a whole set of Dickens.

“May we keep them all?” Ella asked. When [Papa] said “Yes,” they could hardly believe their ears. They never thought to own even one book and now they had twelve. It was too wonderful!

My kids will probably hear me read these chapters every year until they’re 18, just like they’ll continue to get The Snowy Day at the start of winter, and The Little Fur Family at the start of fall.
I say it’s for them. To let them visit a different, simpler world. To help them remember what’s important. I say that. But I know that it’s for me, most of all.

Posted in holidaze, kidlit, reading with kids | 5 Comments

A Musical Welcome for Lucy Wu

Posted on January 1, 2011 by madelynruth@yahoo.com

Happy New Year!
I’d list my resolutions, but there are far too many for this space. (I know this is the Internet and that technically I could prattle on, but somehow I don’t think you would stick with me up to resolution no. 348.) Instead, let’s bring in the new by giving a warm, musical welcome to a new book. Today is the official release date for Wendy Shang’s debut novel, The Great Wall of Lucy Wu. This book has lots of references to basketball and Chinese food, but the musical world is decidedly short on songs about bao zi and foul shots. Werewolves of London mentions a Chinese restaurant, but since we’re trying not to invoke werewolves (this is a realistic middle grade) I’m going with the (slightly obvious) Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

Here’s The Beatles version:

And you can follow this link to hear John Lennon and Elton John singing together.

For the hat trick, I’m throwing in the less obvious William Shatner Version. We have this on LP, but someone out there made this lovely video:

Welcome, Lucy Wu! May a newspaper taxi take you right to the top of the bestseller list!

Watch this space for my interview with Wendy on Jan. 13th.

Posted in kidlit, music, musical welcome | 3 Comments

Holiday Mash-Up

Posted on December 21, 2010 by madelynruth@yahoo.com

They do mash-ups on Glee rather successfully so I figured I’d do one here, especially since I’ve started three posts in the last week and haven’t finished one.

I pulled out my big black coat this week. When I wore it our first year in Boston, my friend Howard dubbed me: Puff Maddie.
I haven’t worn said coat since last winter so figured I’d document what was in the pockets:

A dollar, plus a bit. I'd been hoping for more.

A dollar, plus a bit. I'd been hoping for more.


Gloves. Naturally they don't match.

Gloves. Naturally they don't match.


Metrocard

Metrocard


Gumdrop molecule (a little worse for wear).

Gumdrop molecule (a little worse for wear).


Change! Plus two seashells and some St. Patty's day buttons.

Change! Plus two seashells and some St. Patty's day buttons.

What’s in your pockets??
***
Holiday Guilt: I hate feeling strapped this time of year and wishing I had more $ to give to the people who help us all year long. I always send cash to the guy who delivers the paper, but most everyone else is getting baked goods. Even though my molasses cookies are pretty tasty, I always feel like the recipients are looking at me thinking: “$20 would have been a lot nicer. Or at least a Starbucks card.” So the extra change I found in my coat pocket was a good thing. I always keep a bunch of quarters in my pocket in December. At least that way I won’t feel guilty when I pass the Salvation Army Bell Ringers.
***
IMG_3171Along with molasses cookies, I made some chocolate pepper cookies that my friend Sarah told me about, and forgotten cookies, which we usually have for Passover because they’re flour-free. My kids liked those best of all. I always forget that they actually LIKE them, because so much of what we eat on Passover we eat because we’re not allowed to have anything else.

***
Even though I don’t actually celebrate Christmas, I continue to be a sucker for holiday movies, the good ones (The Bishop’s Wife, 1947) and the bad ones, in particular, bad ones starring former cast members of 90210.
I was devastated that I can’t find Smoky Mountain Christmas with Dolly Parton and Lee Majors this year.
But I did find: A Carol Christmas, with Tori Spelling, William Shatner and Gary Coleman.
Secret Santa, with Jennie Garth.
Growing the Big One with Shannen Doherty (note, this is actually a Halloween movie, brought to my attention by my friend Heidi, and is nearly EXACTLY THE SAME as Secret Santa with Jennie Garth.)
I am skipping The Christmas Hope with Ian Ziering (sorry Ian) because it sounded too depressing.

***
Some writing and editing setbacks lately that are completely out of my control. My friend Annie, who is very much like that Annie, in that she always sees the positive side of things (though she doesn’t sing about them), says: You can only do what you can do. So I am going to make a running start into the new year doing what I can do. I hope you are, too!

Posted in holidaze, recipes | 1 Comment

Blood and tears

Posted on December 2, 2010 by madelynruth@yahoo.com

I started trying to learn how to play guitar in the late 1990s. It hurt. Not my ears so much (that was more of a problem when I tried to learn the banjo). It was my fingers. The calluses weren’t hard yet and my fingertips were killing me.

The late Iva Stilwell, who played stand-up bass for The Original Orchard Grass, tried to give me a break. Sometimes to give calluses a head start, she said, you can paint your fingertips with clear nail polish.

“No,” cut in Rhoda Kemp, Iva’s banjo-playing sister. “No, don’t tell her that. She’s gotta bleed.”

latkesI feel the same way when it comes to making latkes. I’m not talking about blood, per se, though I do tend to bleed when I cook (frigging grater). I’m talking about onions. There are people — just recently my mother became one of them — who use food processors for onion chopping. But I need to be bent over the knife, the fumes from the onions wafting up, the tears streaming down.

When you make latkes, you gotta cry a little. You just gotta.

Happy Hanukkah!

Posted in cooking, holidaze, music | 4 Comments

Home Décor

Posted on December 1, 2010 by madelynruth@yahoo.com

If you know me at all, you know I’m a little challenged when it comes to aesthetics — so much so that I called my friend Frank from the futon store and made him choose the color of wood for the frame. My husband and I purchased said futon because we couldn’t commit to a couch. We figured with a futon we could just change the cover when I inadvertently picked one that would drive us crazy four weeks out.

When we had our house painted before we moved in, the painter refused to use the colors I’d picked for the dining room.
“I have a nice yellow,” he said.
“But what about this? Don’t you think this one would be nice?” I flapped the gray color swatch like a wing.
“I have a nice blue,” he said.
I finally just let him pick whichever colors he wanted, and now I am saved from eating dinner every night in a room that looks like it’s awaiting a thunderstorm. (Note: This is just one reason that I’m not illustrating my own picture books. The other reason is that I can’t draw.)

So this gives me all the more reason to celebrate the two decorating breakthroughs I had in November.

Breakthrough No. 1: This kitchen island thingie we got at IKEA to keep my husband and I from warring over our nonexistent counter space. Cost: $100. It’s called the FORHOJA, and when I was putting it together I thought IKEA should name it (and possibly the rest of its products) FUBAR instead. I’m happy with the final result, though.
IMG_3027
And No. 2: I finally found curtains for my kitchen. Technically, these are dish towels from Crate and Barrel. I cut and sewed and resewed. I’m not sure they’re 100 percent the way I want them, but naturally when I went back to Crate and Barrel to get more, they’d sold out. Final cost: $20, because I did have enough sense to buy four. If I’d been a better seamstress, I could have made these curtains for 10 bucks.
IMG_3068
I suppose this doesn’t have a whole lot to do with writing, unless you count the fact that those of us who write are often pretty thrifty, not by choice.

Posted in crafts | 9 Comments