Quechee Part II

I was talking with my sister Christine today and her birthday is coming up. She had just sent out evites to all her friends to meet at a bar next Sunday so they can watch the Patriots game. She then said "There's no way I'm driving up to Vermont to go antiquing, that would be so boring." She's wrong! Plus, let her try to deal with a late November birthday. It's not easy. Anyway, our conversation reminded me that I needed to write Part II of the birthday trip blog.

When we last left our intrepid birthday travelers, they were about to cross a busy street to get a good look at the Quechee Gorge. Thanks to a cross walk and flashing lights, we made it across safely. (Reminder -it's about 10 degrees outside, windy and there is snow on the ground). The Gorge is beautiful - I could not make myself type gorgeous. We stood out on the bridge and tried to smile while Wendy took pictures of us bundled up and huddled together. My teeth hurt when I opened my mouth to smile. After the photo shoot, we walked down the icy path to get a better look at the gorge. Wendy sent me her photos, but I am having severe computer problems and I can't post them.

We walked back to Quechee center and went to the antique mall. It was huge! Within the first five minutes, I found what I was searching for but didn't know I needed - a real bowling pin that said happy birthday on it. I LOVE it. IT was $7 on sale! I just need nine more and you can all come over and bowl at my house. I also wanted to get a duck decoy but I had no idea they would be so expensive. They start out at $300. Apparently, some really good decoys sell for six figures in fancy auction houses. After about an hour, we moved on to the Cabot Cheese store. Donna and I tried all the free samples. It was just like the Big E! I forgot what our favorite cheese was. Wendy and Anne were off tasting the Vermont fruit wines. Weird. Next went we to the glass blowing studio. I walked in with Anne and told her that I hated blown glass. I thought it was tacky. But then as we walked through, I changed my mind and came to realize that I did like some of the glass. I proceeded to point out every item in the store and tell Anne if I liked it or not. I'm not sure why she didn't tell me to just shut up already.

Next we drove to Woodstock. We were looking in the window of a restaurant and some said "Oh, they have dancing at 10:00!" Then someone (Donna?) did a Liz Lemon impression and said "10 at night?" Woodstock is small, but they have two bookstores. Of course went in both. We stopped in a cafe and I had the best eggnog ever - McNamara's. It has a hint of mint in it. Also, there must be a law that every retail store in Woodstock has to have a cat or a dog in it to add to the charm. We were getting a bit tired because it was 4:00 and almost time nap time so we headed off to Killington to the Vermont Inn. I though it was really nice, (but then again, the last hotel I stayed in was a Motel Six on the edge of Baltimore) Let's just say, the Vermont Inn had enought towels for the four of us and there were no cigarette burns in the bedcovers. Only one other couple was staying at the Inn, so we pretty much had it to ourselves. Our room was really big, it had a fireplace. I lied down nex to it for awhile, but I was worried I was going to fall asleep and burst into flames so I moved. Donna entertained us with the story of the Day She Straightened Her Hair. You should have her tell it to you. And we might have talked about Blue Angel a little bit too. Since it was cold and we were tired, we decided to go easy on the town of Killington and stay at the Inn to eat dinner. At this point I can't really remember what everyone got, but I do know I tasted everyone else's dinner and liked them better than my own. Donna had mussels, Anne had a complicatd chicken entree and Wendy had salmon, I think. I had crab cakes and a salad. Ehh.

After dinner we went to our ginormous room and played Trivia Pursuit - the Silver Screen edition. The questions were hard! One of the cards lead us to Gerald McBoing Boing. You should check out Gerald on youtube if you don't know who he is. I thought Wendy was crazy for bringing her laptop, but I was happy she did. At about 10, everyone got into bed and I continued to read more movie Trivia Questions, but this time from Entertainment Weekly. They were easier because they were multiple choice. I knew Wendy had fallen asleep when she stopped shouting out answers. One minute she was awake, then boom - she was asleep. Pretty soon Donna and Anne turned out their lights but I was not sleepy. I thought about checking out all the other rooms, but I was too scared because I thought the old inn might be haunted by a child ghost. So I just read for awhile and feel asleep. I guess everyone forgot that they promised to play midnight basketball with me. Oh well.

You know, in retrospect, I'm not sure if one bathroom is enough for four women. Anyway, the next morning we had breakfast at the Inn and then headed down south to Boston. Anne had to work later in the day and a winter storm was about to start. Wendy humored me and we stopped at the cafe in Woodstock again so I could get more eggnog. I was just as good the second time. We did make one more stop at the New Hampshire Liquor Store at the border.

Since Vermont was a success, I've decided for my 40th birthday we are all going to London for three weeks. I need to start saving now.

Beth

Blue Angel

Blue Angel, by Francine Prose
January 8, 2008
Zaftig's in Brookline, Mass.
6:30 pm

In attendance: Anne, Cynthia, Paula, Donna, Manda, Beth, and Rachel (note taker)
Absent: Wendy

Beth took the wrong train and ending up in Brookline Village instead of Coolidge Corner. She must have walked pretty fast because she arrived before we even ordered food. Good thing it wasn't snowing!

Anne commented on the prevalence of the norovirus and then got up to wash her hands.

Cynthia asked us what blue cheese tastes like and we tried to come up with our best analogies. It is not easy to describe a taste. Anne compared the strength of blue cheese to the strength of horseradish. This caused some consternation. Cynthia, always thinking, asked the waiter if she could try some blue cheese before ordering her dish. He obliged and her response was "it tastes woodsy."

Everyone finished the book except Paula who is excused because, you know, she is a little bit busy these days. Wendy presented her opinion of the book through Beth. She "HATED IT." In contrast, Anne "REALLY LIKED IT." Our opinion of the book seemed to be split and in a scientific manner we rated it on a scale of 1-10.

Anne=8
Rachel=8
Manda=6
Donna=6
Cynthia=5
Beth=3
Wendy=1 (I assume)

Donna thought that she had read the book before but once she started reading she realized she hadn't. She thought that it was a stereotypical college book and she has read similar books before (hence the reason she thought she had read this one). She was interested in reading the book but felt that she knew what was going to happen. She also hated the characters in the book and since that was the case she needed more to carry her through.

Anne like the scenes of the writing classes the best. She also enjoyed the irony of the professor explaining what entails good writing in class and then the main story of the book following these examples. She found this very "meta" (go Anne with the fancy deconstruction!). She pointed out that the professor stressed that good satire does not require a political point.

Beth responded that she thought that the point of the book is that colleges are to politically correct. She also thought that Angela's writing in the book was better than the writing in the actual book. She also did not like the clean ending. She thought it was unbelievable that a manuscript left on a chair would end up getting published.

Anne did not think that the professor would sleep with Angela and was surprised when this happened. This caused Donna to exclaim, "She is a bitch." (I don't think those words have ever been uttered at book group before). Donna did not think that Angela was a victim at all. Anne felt sorry for Angela and did not hate her. Neither did Manda.

Donna pointed out that this book has the most sex we have ever read so far in book group. The Last Picture Show had a lot of sex, but it was not as explicit as this book. Always glad to pick a winner!

-Rachel

The Next Book, and Paula's Top 7

Hi all,

As discussed on Tuesday, the next book is The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home, by George Howe Colt.

And my top reads for the year:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
2. Caring for Your Baby and Young Child, American Academy of Pediatrics
3. The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy, Vicki Iovine
4. Baby 411, Denise Fields and Ari Brown
5. Baby Bargains, Denise Fields
6. Diaper Diaries: The Real Poop on a Mom's First Year, Cynthia Copeland
7. The Baby Knits Book, Debbie Bliss

Yup, the only fiction I managed to read and finish was Harry Potter. Although some might consider some of these baby books to be fiction!

Donna's 2007 Top Reads

I didn't do as well as intended this year either, although I did stick to my resolution (inspired by Rachel) to keep track of the books I did manage to read. After whipping through Harry Potter in 3 days though, I sort of lost track for a month or so. Here is my Top 6 list, kind of in order:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
On Chesil Beach, Ian McEwan
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman
The Tender Bar, JR Moehringer
The Ruins, Scott Smith
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz

2007 Top 10 sort of

Congratulations Jen and Sandy!

Well, 2007 was not a stellar reading year for me. For example, the only book I read during my week long vacation at the beach was Harry Potter Six. I’m having trouble remembering 10 books I read this year outside of book club so this list is a little random and contains many books I read in November and December. For 2008, I resolve to keep track of the books I read.

1. Another Bullsh*t Night in Suck City
2. Omnivore’s Dilemma
3. The Corner (Drugs and life in Baltimore) David Simon
4. Maximum City (Modern Bombay)
5. The Magician’s Assistant Ann Patchett
6. Best American Comics 2006
7. Rejection Collection Vol. 1 (Rejected New Yorker Cartoons)
8. Mealtime Magic (Cookbook)
9. Heartburn (Nora Ephron)
10. Harry Potter Six and Seven