Jonesin’ for more Jessica Jones

Posted on May 29, 2016 by chatty

Title: Alias Omnibus (i.e. Jessica Jones Volumes 1-4)
Author: Brian Michael Bendis, MIchael Gaydos
Published: Not sure. Early 2000’s
Read in: May 2016

I put this on hold at the library shortly after Netflix released their “Jessica Jones” series and I’m so glad I did. It took several months for me to finally get it and it was such a fun read. I am by no means a Marvel expert, nor a graphic novel aficionado and I’m guessing this isn’t typical Marvel stuff, with the cursing and the “mature content.” It was still an incredible world to imagine, not unlike Fables, which I read a few years back, where fantasy meets reality in the oddest settings.

The anti-hero/outsider view of Jessica Jones is wonderful and seeing her interact with superheroes is also fun. Also, she dates Ant-Man! Did you know that? Are they going to add that into the Netflix series? Is Paul Rudd avaiable?

Graphic Novel vs Netflix (just imagine Krysten Ritter saying those very words as this guy is hanging over her door)

Rather than go in depth with this graphic novel, I’d like to take a few moments to compare it to the Netflix series, which I enjoyed equally as much. I’d already heard that there were a few setups in the series that mirrored the novel (see above), which I thought was clever. I was very fascinated with Kilgrave because, well, hello, Davd Tennant. In the GN he doesn’t show up until Vol. 4 which was cool to me as he was such a key character is the series. There are other cases to cover but none that are as compelling as Purple Man (Does Kilgrave show up in other Marvel series? There is so much I don’t know).

I am also intrigued with what becomes of Luke Cage. I believe in later issues of the novel (titled The Pulse, yes I’m waiting for it from the library) Jessica and Luke get married and have a kid, which is so opposite how the Netflix series ended. I actually ache with how Netflix chose to end season one due to the storyline between the two (spoiler, in Netflix, there is conflict as Jessica finally reveals to Luke that while she was under the influence of Kilgrave she killed Luke’s wife. On the other hand, that was the final act that allowed her to fall out of his spell. Wait, does that also happen in The Pulse and I just haven’t gotten there yet? So much going on!).

So anyway, I can’t review this very well. Just I liked it. The adult nature of the comic book, the non superhero hero, the cracks a jokes about S.H.I.E.L.D., Avengers and others. I’d like to find more types of graphic novels like this. I’ve already asked the one GN nerd I know to recommend something and he has suggested Queen and Country. Anyone have other suggestions?

Slow cooker diaries: Honey crisp applesauce

Posted on May 25, 2016 by chatty

Lately we’ve been buying bagged apples instead of picking bulk. Bags of smaller apples work great for the kid’s school lunch or snack, as well as my work lunch or snack.

The other day the husband bought a bag of bad apples. Like, a few were good and the others, maybe 10 small apples were bruised or worse. So I took them, I peeled them, cored them, quartered them, and slow cooked them.

Added the juice of half a lemon and one cinnamon stick. SC on high for 3 hours. At that point, all I had to do was take a fork and mash up any big chunks. The apples softened great, the cinnamon stick flavored the sauce to a tee. Quite tasty.

I saved it in a Tupperware. A 16 oz container. 10+ apples, what would be an apple a day for me and the kiddo for a full week of work/school, made what appeared to be less than 16 oz container, which wouldn’t sat more than a few days in this house. As much as I loved this, you get much more out of eating the actual apple (and don’t forget, the fiber is in the skin, which I peeled and composted!). You know, when they’re not rotten.

just a serving of homemade applesauce

Just a reminder for you applesauce lovers. Applesauce is good! In moderation.

Read this: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Posted on April 29, 2016 by chatty

Title:The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Author: Sherman Alexie

Published: 2007

Read in: February 2016

Welcome to my first 5-star book of the year. My friend Kate recommended this to me two years ago. And then again last year. Seeing as how Kate also recommended The Hunger Games and Eleanor and Park to me, I should probably listen more closely. But she said it was Sherman Alexie, and I thought, doesn’t he, like write poetry? And like, I don’t really read poetry? But, no, he doesn’t, Chattycha you’re an idiot. He writes books about Native Americans (or Indians as he refers to them). And they’re good. Read this and you’ll like it.

Guess what? I loved it. It follows the story of a high-school Indian living on a reservation in Eastern Washington who despite the odds chooses to attend a school outside the rez. It is a real look at life on the reservation with tears and laughter and love and humiliation. I was absolutely floored by how real and honest it was how much it seemed to reveal about the author.

On top of that was the illustrations, which were done by Seattle illustrator Ellen Forney (who I totally read in the late 90s and should have recognized the drawings but didn’t until the very end when I saw her name there.) In the book the main character loves to draw, draws his friends and family, himself and so of course the book is filled with comic drawings that make this so much more enjoyable.

We need diverse books. Do you think you could have no reason to read about Indians living on a reservation, that it won’t interest you in the slightest? Think again. The more you know about what you don’t know, the more you want to learn about what you don’t know.

Recommended for: Teens/YA fans

Sidebar! Spectacular Spin-off in Juvie Fiction: Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon

Posted on April 28, 2016 by chatty

This won’t count towards my Goodreads challenge of 60 books in 2016, but I wanted to write a quick ditty about it anyway. About a year ago I read most of the Mercy Watson series to the first-grader. She liked them so-so. I liked them more, probably. But you know what I really like? Kate DiCamillo (a hero in children’s literature, seriously) has written a spin-off to Mercy Watson.

Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon is an incredibly fun book with a great message about being knocked down, meeting adversity and conquering fears. Life lessons disguised in a funny, silly story (What. I’m a Mom. I’m all over that shit). Oh yes, and at the end you meet the pig who loves to eat buttered toast. I found it randomly when the kid and I field-tripped it down to the big library in DT Seattle. I read it quickly while she was reading other stuff. And convinced her we should check it out to take home.

Even though she sometimes says she “hates reading” (and then I gasp and say, “how DARE you!”) it’s lovely that books I had to read to her last year she’s now reading by herself. She finished it finally tonight and we discussed our favorite parts (you already read it?? she asked in amazement) She enjoyed the book very much and told me her favorite part (when Stella gives Francine some candy). I shared with her mine (when Francine gains the confidence to meet the ghost raccoon a second time). Then she begged to play a video game. So it goes.

Recommended to: First-grade girls who like reading about animals, fairies and magic tree houses.

Awwwoooo Werewolves in Tri-Cities (or Review: Fire Touched)

Posted on April 28, 2016 by chatty

Title: Fire Touched (#9 in the Mercy Thompson series)

Author: Patricia Briggs

Published: 2016

Read: March 2016

And this, dear friends, is why I’m so behind on my reading this year. It’s not that I wasn’t reading, it’s that once I finished this book (and it took me about a day), I immediately needed more Mercy Thompson, so I read books 7 and 8. Then I read books 1 – 5. I started 6, but it’s my least favorite and I think I finally filled that hole that comes when your favorite author, who publishes maybe once every 18 months, releases a long-awaited ninth book in an engaging series.

Here’s the long story. Once upon a time I encountered this book called “Twilight.” You might have heard of it. I, in my new mom haze (I’m blaming it on new momery/back to workery) found it totally engrossing and while I acknowledged the subsequent books in the series were not as good as the first, I really fell for the whole vampire/werewolf shenanigans. I lent it to my work spouse (the most avid reader in the urban fantasy realm that I know) for a read and she came back and she was like *shrug*. She said, “if you want to read a real werewolf book, try THIS” and so I picked up Moon Called. And the rest is history. Goodbye Bella & Edward, HELLO Mercy & Adam.

After discovering this genre, I went through a big urban fantasy phase, read anything that looked remotely interesting and said “vampire” or “werewolf” on the cover. I read some good stuff, but mostly mediocre stuff. After sampling a lot of it, I’ve only kept a few authors that I still follow. Mercy Thompson (who gets an honorable mention in this post of mine) is probably my favorite urban fantasy series. Kate Daniels and The Dresden Files are the other two that I read completely, and love. But let me get back to Fire Touched for a sec.

She’s a shapeshifter car mechanic (she can take a coyote form). Married to the alpha werewolf of a pack in the Tri Cities in eastern Washington (so, you know, it’s local. That’s important, too). And she’s friends with this hipster vampire and her mechanic mentor is a powerful fae. AND she gets in trouble. Like in a good way. In this particular series Mercy find herself trying to protect an old fae that is disguised as a 10-year-old from the big important fae that want him for probably nefarious reasons.

There’s fighting. There’s travelling in the strange fae world where time and space are merely suggestions. There’s internal squawking amongst the werewolves. There’s magical objects that appear out of nowhere and protect you from the big bads. It’s a fun quick read, but seriously if you want to try this you need to start from the bottom, and that would be Moon Called.

My only complaint is this: As part of the Mercy-verse, as the fans say, there is a spin-off series about a couple of werewolves who also seem to find or discover trouble as they solve cases and save people’s hides and what not. And in that series there was one book (see Fair Game) that ended with this epic scene that seemed to set up both series for some incredible …. SOMETHING. And since then I’ve been waiting for that something and I haven’t seen it yet. There seems to be filler. And it’s been about three books I’ve read since then and it finally dawned on me that I was so anticipating this SOMETHING that I wasn’t able to just enjoy the series for what it was. This is one of the reasons why I immediately re-read the previous 2 books after finishing this one. I wanted to re-read without the expectaaions. And it was all still just really good.

Recommended for: Urban fantasy, vampire, werewolf fans. There’s a little bit of romance. Little bit. Forget Twilight. This is the real stuff.

It’s handled. And so is this review of Year of Yes

Posted on April 27, 2016 by chatty

Title: Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person

Author: Shonda Rhimes

Published in: 2015

Read in: March 2016

I regret not keeping up with this plan of writing something about every book I read when I actually read it. We’re getting back into the books I read in March and now I have to dig into my brain a little deeper.

Let’s start with this … I took over the as editor of MSN TV in the fall of 2013. During that time a few things happened. I started watching more TV. I started reading a lot more about showrunners, producers and television actors. I got hooked on “Scandal.” And I noticed Shonda Rhimes was in the news a lot. Actually, no, I didn’t notice. She just was, and because I started focusing on TV in 2014, it didn’t occur to me that there was a time when she wasn’t in the news a lot.

Well, I stand corrected. I know now how much she had to overcome to begin showing up for interviews. Speaking at panels. Accepting invitations to things. Saying Yes.

3 other things I learned about Shonda:

All of the words she couldn’t say herself because of these fears and insecurities, she gave to the character Cristina Yang on Grey’s Anatomy, which makes Sandra Oh leaving the series all that much more bittersweet.
She acts like me at PTA meetings, if I went to PTA meetings, which I don’t. Who the heck has time to make brownies from scratch? Shonda doesn’t, and neither do I (unless I want to, which I do, for my family). That’s why I always volunteer to bring bottled water.
She can write a commencement speech in like 15 minutes.
Bonus, she does a Wonder Woman stance to make her feel more confident. I tried this. It kinda works.

Recommended for: TGIT Fans

A surprise find (Review of Too Good To Be True)

Posted on April 26, 2016 by chatty

Title: Too Good To Be True

Author: Kristan Higgins

Published: 2009

Read in: April 2016

I discovered Kristan Higgins a few years ago, I was lucky enough to have that time, when you first discover a writer, to read a backlog of their previous work in a short time span. Of course, once you’ve caught up you’ve got to wait like everyone else for their next book. Lucky for me Higgins is a pretty prolific writer, publishing twice a year (Thanks, Kristan! You’re also fun to follow on Facebook).

I recently recommended “If You Only Knew,” (released last year) to a friend, who enjoyed it. She asked if there were other KH books I’d recommend and so I went though the list and gave her a couple of titles, with the caveat that the others are not quite like IYOK, but still fun distractions. In my scrolling through all of her previous titles, imagine my surprise when I discovered i had MISSED one of her old books. The book I missed, “Too Good To Be True” was published in 2009 so about a year or so before I discovered her. Like several of her early titles, it takes place in small-town Connecticut. But unlike others, fictional Peterson, Connecticut is smack dab in the middle of all of the towns that surround MY hometown of West Hartford! On more than one occasion do the main characters travel to the very town I grew up. How did I miss this book?!?

Oh, and the protagonist, Grace, is a teacher. At a prep school. A private boarding school. Much like the one I went to! How did I miss this book?!?

Quick summary. Grace’s younger sister has started dating Grace’s ex-fiance. To make everyone feel more comfortable about this uncomfortable situation, Grace fakes having a boyfriend. Also, she meets her new neighbor, a nice guy who happens to be an ex-con. Yikes. I loved reading this much later on in years because I’ve seen how Higgins’ style and stories have evolved over the years, and this story definitely feels like her older stuff, with a great best friend, quirky family, quirky pet, lots of laughs and a not-so-surprising love interest. I guess her newer stuff have the same qualities, but with a little more naughty bits (not really necessary but I have this theory that writers have been told that’s what people want, so that’s what people get.)

All this time I wondered if KH would ever set a story based on my Connecticut. Little did I know that she did. Fun.

Recommended for: Romantic comedy fans.

Treat Yo’ Self! or Review: Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

Posted on April 25, 2016 by chatty

Title: Modern Romance

Author Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg

Published: 2015

Read in :February 2016

What better book to read during the Valentine’s Day deluge than a book about what it’s like being single in today’s iPhone/online world? Aziz Ansari, with the help a lot of help of data scientists a book right up my alley … funny Aziz quips and anecdotes mixed with a lot of data, like legit studies and focus groups and stuff.

If you don’t know much about Aziz defiitely check out his Netflix series “Master of None” where you’ll even see some of the trials and tribulations he writes about in the book come to life. I enjoyed reading through this, the pain and suffering of finding a suitable partner in this day and age, mainly because it is sort of like an archaeological study to me. I somehow managed to bypass all of the match.com/online dating stuff that happened in the late 90s/early 2000s because I met the husband probably right on the cusp of that. Lucky me, eh. Because I’m pretty sure I would have been terrible at it.

I also like that the duo interviewed grandmas and grandpas and they talked about how they met, and then when abroad to different countries. The Tokyo singles scene was most fascinating to me (the government actually subsidizes some singles events in an effort to increase the marriage rate in japan), and makes me wonder if some of the attitudes of young (or even not so young) people there are similar Taiwan, where my relatives live.

So, quick review. Good book if you like data and numbers. Don’t expect a funny book about love and sex by a comedian because this isn’t really it. It’s more textbooky with the added benefit of Aziz’s comedic tendencies within the writing. And food. Not gonna lie, made ramen noodles twice this month, after not having that stuff more than once in the last year. Mmmmm ramen.

Recommended for: data nerds and non-romantics. Or singles who want to read something and be like “Yes! That’s so true! That totally happened to me!”

Notes to self for the post-apocalyptic lifestyle (or Review: Station Eleven)

Posted on April 24, 2016 by chatty

Title: Station Eleven

Author: Emily St. John Mandel

Published: 2014

Read: April 2016

It’s been a very slow spring for reading. My usual reading time, aka, the commute, has been cut short because I find myself doing more laptop typing than Kindle reading. My nighttime reading time has been replaced with TV watching and other such sundries (like recipe searching!). Also, quite simply I haven’t found many good books that I’m dying to start. Even though the ones I’ve been reading this year have been pretty great. I’m still gonna try to do this review every book I read thing, though, starting with this one I couldn’t put down by Emily St. John Mandel.

Let’s get one thing straight. Should some apocalyptic event occur during my lifetime, based on the novels I’ve read over the years, I’ve pretty much accepted that I’m going to be one of the first to go. I just don’t have the survival skills needed to be good at tough-living. I don’t know how to shoot a gun. My knife skills are sub-par. I can’t drive stick. Crossfit has gotten me a little bit stronger, but I’m not sure that the ability to do a lot of burpees is going to help save my hide when the poop hits the fan. Sorry, dear family, you are on your own.

So why am I fascinated by post-apocalyptic stories? I wish I knew. Station Eleven starts slow with a variety of separate storylines. The book starts prior to a sudden flu pandemic that wipes out the majority of the human race. A famous actor, Arthur Leander, suffers a heart attack while on stage just hours before Toronto is hit with a flu pandemic that wipes out the majority of the human race. Years later you also meet Kristen, who once worked with Arthur (on the same production, his last production). You meet the man who tried to save Arthur’s life, Arthur’s ex-wives, all the while wondering how these storylines relate to one another. Continue reading, connect the dots and be rewarded with a suspenseful confrontation and aftermath that makes you wish you had one more chapter to read.

Also, memo to self: Make sure the kid knows how to drive a manual transmission. Maybe give her some cross-bow training. You never know.

The evolution of workout journals. Or, an Ode to #OneNote

Posted on February 13, 2016 by chatty

What can I say, I’m a notetaker. I don’t mean notes from school or even work (maybe that’s for another time). I’m talking about workout journals. I’ve kept them for ages. On this blog you see recent iterations. But before that there were little notebooks I took with me to the gym.

Exhibit A: This was 2008. Trying out for the San Diego Crew Classic boat, and as prep I trained for the “The Big Climb”. Left page is climb training (that’s 10 sets of the Howe St Stairs) and the right side is training for rowing tryouts (4 x 1000m). Crikey that’s SOOOO badass! HAHAHAHA

Exhibit B: Kettlebells Woot! I was about midway through my pregnancy at this point, and stopped by the boathouse for a workout with my friends, I’m guessing. No way I would have come up with this on my own. This has Kate written all over it.

Exhibit C: This is the template for “The New Rules of Lifting for Women,” a program that I followed for a long time before and after I had the baby. (See, even documented here)

At some point, I transferred a lot of my thoughts from a notebook to this blog (such as when I was training for the half-marathon). The books were also useful in planning out what I was going to do. Take a few minutes in the locker room to figure out a workout, write it down, follow it. Then you’re not wandering the weight room wondering what to do next.

When I started Crossfit I found it was easier to just take pictures rather than write things down. Of course, the problem with that was then moving everything from my phone to the blog, where I didn’t write as many notes about the workout, and just as important, how I felt. The picture process, while efficient at that moment, lacked the extra thought I used to put into the notebooks. Also, if I did other stuff, like go for a run, I didn’t necessarily record it anywhere. Blogging the pics was fun, but it became a chore and eventually I stopped doing it. I also stopped taking pictures.

So, I’m trying OneNote instead. Yes, I work for Microsoft, and maybe there’s a little bit of incentive to see if this works. Because I want use these products. But actually, I kind of love OneNote, which surprised me, because I also love stationery. But you don’t need a paper notebook at work. You really don’t. I have so much of my daily work life in OneNote and I can access it from nearly anywhere with an Internet connection or else via my phone. I also love not sifting through email to find that one mail that contains some documentation. Just throw it into a page in OneNote and you’re good. I also love, when I’m struck with a great idea at 10PM at night and I’m in my pajamas in my bed, that I can grab my phone, open the app and tap out a few sentences. And, the next morning i can log into my laptop and there are my ideas. Sure, you could email yourself your notes, or use GoogleDocs or whatever other Cloud-based documentation system, but you know what, I also LOVE the app version of this. On my PC and on my devices the apps are much preferred over the online version.

Okay, end raving of OneNote.

The new system works sorta like this:

Step 1: Wear my nifty Microsoft Band and record data around my workouts (I LOVE DATA).

Step 2: Go to my Microsoft Health app on my iPhone (sorry, not sorry) and look up the exercise activity I just logged, and “share it” to OneNote. It takes a little screengrab of my heartrate as well as some other notes and plugs it into the Notebook and Section of my choosing.

Step 3: Find the workout I did (if it’s from Crossfit Not Crossfit, it’s on the web site and I just cut and paste it into the page), then jot down any additional notes, including the date, and either times or weights or feelings, etc.

Exhibit D: The OneNote way of life

Voila. I like where this is going. On OneNote I have this history on my phone, my iPad, my work laptop and my home PC. I have additional info from my Microsoft Band (was wondering what I should do with all of that info I was recording), and it only takes a few minutes to do from anywhere (usually on the shuttle to work). Goodbye, lengthy blog entries. So long archive of WOD pics (though I may still do some of those on occasion, because who doesn’t love a blog post about Blue Friday workouts, right).

The workouts weren’t really meant to be shared. All along I’ve only wanted a record of what I’ve done and when I’ve done it. I think OneNote/Microsoft Health combo lets me track workouts, including runs and yoga, and on top of that I can jot the notes down that I haven’t done in a while, all very quickly and on the go.

So, for now they’ll appear less here unless something spectacular comes up, and more on my devices. Sure eveyrone else is taking selfies. I’m taking screengrabs of my heartrate charts.

I can dig it.