I Bite Barack Obama's Head Off

First there was the flap over Sweet Sasha and Marvelous Malia, the new TyGirlz dolls that are "not" modeled after the new first daughters. Then last night at the library, another librarian, who was leading a book discussion on the first dad's The Audacity of Hope, went off to the local chain grocery to get some Barack Obama cookies to serve for refreshments.

You know how they can make sheet cakes now with a computer-generated frosting photo on the top? Well, the cookies are made the same way. Here's the before and after shots after I sampled the one that I took home.



My husband pronounced the taste "awful" and let me have all the rest. It did taste faintly chemical, so I will not be buying or eating any others.

The Beret - 50+ Years Later

On the right is the beret purchased around 1955 at "Sir Real" (get it?), a hip men's boutique in Chicago. My husband, the Francophile, was a student at DePaul University at the time. On the left is another beret purchased last week in Chicago at Hats Plus, a little store out in the neighborhoods of Chicago in a decidedly unfashionable area. Nevertheless, when we looked inside the new beret at the store - voila! - the same exact brand, Hoquy!

We were delighted to find that some good things in life are still available. The old beret is much faded, has lost the binding and never had the lovely lining that the new one has.

Horror Fiction - neh

So I read the Clive Barker book, Cabal, but I now know that I just don't get horror - at least, the Barker kind. Some additional short stories that followed the novel didn't change my mind either. In the end, I guess I don't thrill to devils, gross aliens, grisly sex/violence, etc. Apparently, Cabal was made into a forgettable movie, Nightbreed, in 1990.

I wonder if horror fiction tries to satisfy readers who want extreme levels of fear and loathing. I know teen readers often find horror fiction fascinating. They love risky business? Anyway, on to something else.

Spotted Dick - har har!

Last September, we celebrated my husband's birthday with two days of family events. At brunch on the 2nd day, one of our sons-in-law gave him a gift of a number of interesting food items, among which was a can of Heinz Spotted Dick. This immediately became the source of many bad jokes/puns which, luckily, were not understood by our 3 grandchildren.

This weekend the can was rediscovered in the back of our pantry, and, having nothing particular for dessert - or "pudding," if you're British - I decided we should try it. I had thought that Spotted Dick was some sort of rice pudding with raisins, but no! It turned out to be a sort of cake that you can warm up and douse with a sweet sauce of some type. It was ..... ok. I will assume that homemade Spotted Dick (now there's a source for a rich joke) is best.

Favorite Mystery Author: Donna Leon

Now that I've added the latest Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery to my reading list, I've already heard from another enthusiastic Donna Leon fan! And my sister who regularly spends time in Italy really enjoys the books, too.

Donna Leon is an American ex-pat living in Venice who writes mysteries set in that exotic city. The mysteries usually involve a crime set against a background of grim social ills, but they are always a fascinating mix of travelogue, commentary on contemporary Italian issues, and Venetian family life - complete with luscious descriptions of Brunetti family dinners.

New Year's Resolutions

Someone asked me on New Year's Day if I had any resolutions, and I had to say that I hadn't really thought about it. But now, there are a number of ideas that have made themselves known:

1. Turn my cell phone on every day, so people can reach me. I used to think that it was a blessing that I could be unreachable when I chose, but I'm beginning to rethink that. My son will be happy about this.
2. Stop buying vitamins, and further reduce the number of pills I swallow each morning. I keep hearing that vitamins aren't necessary for people with a fairly healthy diet. Should I skip the fish oil, too?
3. I ought to have a third one, just because two always seems unfinished, but nothing occurs to me yet, so my third resolution is to be satisfied with just two resolutions - ha ha!