Made by Hand by Mark Frauenfelder

As you may have noticed, I'm a big fan of handmade gifts and things for myself. As such, I thought that I'd really enjoy Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World by Mark Frauenfelder. I read an excellent review of it on Journey of 1000 Stitches and when I saw it at my library I snatched it up. Sadly, it wasn't what I thought it would be and I found the author to be a little snobby about his version of handmade.

Frauenfelder is the editor of MADE, so he has some background in doing things himself. During the course of the book he tackles several projects that he could have outsourced in order to examine the possibilities of doing things for himself. He starts a beehive and a chicken coop, he kills his lawn in favor of a garden, he builds cigar box guitars and carves wooden spoons.  Frauenfelder is successful in his personal quest to get meaning out of using his hands. He learns to accept mistakes and imperfections and to enjoy what he is able to accomplish.

While I appreciate his efforts, and find the book to mostly be enjoyable. I think he also missed the point a bit, or perhaps his life is just so different from mine that I couldn't completely relate. If you've read my blog for any length of time you know that I'm a huge fan of handmade. I have an Etsy shop! I recently read an entire book about a garden! But something about the author's projects in this one struck me as just a little bit snobby. He clearly doesn't HAVE to make things himself and does it for the enjoyment of it, but I found it a little off-putting. For example, there is an entire chapter devoted to his tweaking of his $500 home espresso maker. It is certainly impressive that he could make the changes he wanted himself, but my version of handmade doesn't start with a $500 machine!

I'm sure everyone's line on what is a meaningful handmade item is different. I expected the book to be more about how to repurpose, reuse and make your own items from a more frugal perspective.  Instead, I found myself annoyed at how easy it was for him to do his thing, with the money to buy whatever he needed. Regardless, it was still very interesting to see him learn to be satisfied, and even happy, making things himself instead of just replacing whatever he needed. The process of building a chicken coop and learning to raise chickens was still interesting, even if it wasn't in my definition of something handmade, ya know?

Overall, recommended, but not highly, and it may not be the handmade book you're expecting.


Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World
Mark Frauenfelder
Portfolio
2010
231 pages

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Happy Haul-idays from Chronicle Books!

Ya'll have seen this, right? Chronicle Books is giving away $500 worth of books to one blogger AND to one of that blogger's commentors! I had decided that I didn't have the time to enter this, but I keep seeing such great lists that I have to make my own. If I won the books, here's what I'd choose:

Southern Pies A Gracious Plenty of Pie Recipes, from Lemon Chess to Chocolate Pecan
By Nancie McDermott
Every Day's a Holiday Year-Round Crafting with Kids

By Heidi Kenney
Creative, Inc. The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business

By Meg Mateo Ilasco and Joy Deangdeelert Cho
Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby 24 Easy Projects for Newborns to Toddlers

By Lotta Jansdotter
Craft Inc. Business Planner The Ultimate Organizer for Turning Your Crafts into Cash

By Meg Mateo Ilasco
Obsessed With Star Wars

By Benjamin Harper
Cooking Up a Storm Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans

Edited by Marcelle Bienvenu and Judy Walker
Amy Butler's In Stitches More Than 25 Simple and Stylish Sewing Projects

By Amy Butler
School Years A Family Keepsake of School Memories

Illustrations by Stephen Britt
Top Chef: The Cookbook

By the creators of Top Chef
Foreword by Tom Colicchio
Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones 20 Keepsake Sewing Projects for Baby and More

By Amy Butler
Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects

Projects and illustrations by Lotta Jansdotter
The Sock Monkey & Friends Kit 9 Different Fun-to-Make Sock Creature Projects

By Samantha Fisher and Cary Lane
1, 2, 3 Sew Build Your Skills with 33 Simple Projects—Bags, Accessories, Home Accents, and More

By Ellen Luckett Baker
Wookiee Cookies A Star Wars Cookbook

By Robin Davis
The Big Book of Casseroles 250 Recipes for Serious Comfort Food

By Maryana Vollstedt
The Big Book of Potluck Good Food - and Lots of It - for Parties, Gatherings, and All Occasions

By Maryana Vollstedt
Highballs High Heels A Girl's Guide to the Art of Cocktails

By Karen Brooks
and Gideon Bosker
and Reed Darmon
Whoopie Pies Dozens of Mix 'em, Match 'em, Eat 'em Up Recipes!

By Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell
Photographs by Antonis Achilleos
D.I.Y. Delicious Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food from Scratch

By Vanessa Barrington
Time for Dinner Strategies, Inspiration, and Recipes for Every Night of the Week

By Pilar Guzmán, Alanna Stang, and Jenny Rosentrach
Savory Baking Warm and Inspiring Recipes for Crisp, Crumbly, Flaky Pastries
By Mary Cech

Whew! So leave a comment and if I win, one of you can win too!  Winners are announced on December 13th.
I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Random Saturday, after Thanksgiving recovery

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving? Lots to give thanks for?  Before I recap our adventures, I want to say that I'm so thankful for all my online friends. You are all so supportive and awesome and some days when I'm here alone with the babies (The Bug and the Princess) I'm just so happy to have you all with me. Thank you.

Now, on to our adventure!

On Tuesday the babies and I drove out to Pierre so that I could go to the Grand Opening Party at Mike's new store. The store is beautiful, Mike is just thrilled by it- and he should be, he worked his butt off to get to here!

Wednesday we went to the store for a few things than I decided to drive past the house we were considering.  Instead, I hit a chunk of ice that a truck threw off and bent the rim of my car. Instant flat tire. I called Mike who came and rescued us, but the tire required a tow truck to fix it. We got the donut on and parked the car until Friday. This meant that my in-laws had to drive us around the rest of the week. I really should have given them gas money! Wednesday afternoon Mike took his work truck out to pick the Pirate up- my other brother-in-law had picked him up from school and met Mike halfway.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and we enjoyed the day at my in-laws house. The food was terrific and the company was lovely, but I sure did wish I had my own car!

Yesterday a terrific little tire shop in Pierre (WW Tire, if you happen to need one) was able to straighten my rim and sell me a temporary used tire and get us back on the road home. The kids and I came home last night, and Mike will make it in today. We'll put the snow tires on this weekend and the car will be all better, I hope. Mike wasn't able to come back yesterday because it was Grand Opening Day at his store, so exciting.

In addition to having all the tire problems, all THREE of our laptops died this week. My brother-in-law managed to get this one (Mike's work laptop) working again. The netbooks are still on the fence as to if they will be fixable. Mine seems to think it no longer has a hard drive. In any case, we'll be sharing this one for a while, sounds fun, no?

And last, we found a house! With any luck, we'll move next Saturday. This means I have a ton to get done this week, in addition to packing. Return library books, talk to the schools, get a copy of The Princesses birth certificate, spend time with local friends, etc. Oh, and I sold a banner, so will be making a banner this week too! Plus, I have a handful of book reviews I'd like to type up so that the blog doesn't go dead while we're moving. I should really wrap this one up and get going, huh?

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!



I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copy write Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Wordless Wednesday, I die.

I understand if you feel the need to comment.

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copy write Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Debbie Harry Sings in French by Meagan Brothers

 There seems to be a surge in young adult fiction aimed at assuring teens that it's ok to question their sexuality, which is what  Debbie Harry Sings in French by Meagan Brothers wants to be. I think the author pulls a few punches though, and it ends up being both scandalous and gentle.


Johnny has had a tough life. His dad died just after his 13th birthday and his mom just checks out for a few years, leaving Johnny to fend for himself. Johnny starts drinking to get through the day (check!) eventually OD'ing (check!) and being sent off (check!)  By chance he hears a clip of Debbie Harry singing in French and falls deeply in love with the rock star. He meets a girl who encourages him, and then realizes that maybe he wants to BE Debbie Harry.  But what does that mean? Does that mean he's gay (check!)? What about his new girlfriend?

This is the type of young adult novel that is terrific while you're reading it, but then afterwards you feel a bit like the author was trying to cram as many issues in as possible. In order not to totally spoil it for you, I won't elaborate on the plot, but there is a veritable check list of issues in one short little book.  I am not completely convinced that Brothers manages to pull it off well, it almost seems like too little- if you're gonna go there, GO there, ya know? I kinda felt like everyone in the book was a stereotype- the girlfriend with the troubled past, the perfectly understanding uncle, the father he never knew, the adorable and smart niece, the football scholarship bullies, etc. Despite all these issues and caricatures, the book manages to touch on everything without really focusing on them with any intensity.

That said, Johnny is a likable guy, you understand his confusion over his feelings for Debbie Harry and Maria. I am sure there is a subset of the teen population who will find that this book speaks to them, and I'm happy that they will have it. It does fill a little spot of  opening up a conversation about different forms of sexuality- homosexuality vs transvestite vs transsexual, etc. I just think maybe it didn't quite go far enough.

Debbie Harry Sings in French
by Meagan Brothers
Henry Holt and Co
2008
234 pages



I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copy write Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Thoughts on The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games: Book 1 by Suzanne Collins

You maybe have heard of this one? I must have checked The Hunger Games: Book 1 out of the library 6 times before Trish threatened to disown me if I didn't read it already.  So I read it already.

I'm not planning to completely summarize this one, enough of you have read it or read about it and I'm sure you'd all scan that and move on, right?  The pitfall of being the last person on earth to read a book, you know. Even Mike read it and the sequels before me.

So what we've got are a handful of teenagers who are locked in an artificial environment and forced to kill each other. I am pretty sensitive to books where anyone dies, let alone kids, so I had a really hard time picking it up. So I gave it to Mike, who loved it, and to my friend Shawna, who loved it, and you already know that Trish loved it. With all that love, how could I not read it already?

And I loved it too. Big surprise. If you're putting off reading it because you're worried about all the teenager death, don't. It's handled really well and isn't horrifyingly off-putting. The circumstances are horrible, yes. It's a view into a world that none of us want to live in at all, but the deaths are handled well and shouldn't turn you away. I love that Katniss was both appalled at the game and managed to both play it well and still be believably surprised by some of the turns it took

I did not come away from it just dying to read the sequels (Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) and Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) ) like many people did.  I do have Catching Fire here from the library, and there's a decent chance it'll get read before the move, but I wasn't burning to get my hands on it.  I really think it could have easily stood alone with a slightly different ending.


Did you read The Hunger Games? Before or after everyone on earth read it?  I've heard that it's a commentary on where our country is headed, do you think so? Is something like this even remotely possible? How about without the death, just the reorganization of the country and the extreme poverty? Were you dying to read the next one?

The Hunger Games: Book 1
Suzanne Collins
Scholastic Press
2008
384 pages

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copy write Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Virtual Advent Tour 2010 sign up now!

Have you signed up for a date yet? Can you believe it's close enough to Christmas to be thinking about it? Yikes! It's just over a month away!

In 2008, I wrote about our stockings, which reminds me that The Princess does not have a stocking!
In 2009, my date fell on a Friday, so I did a Christmas themed Random Friday.
I have no idea what I'll do this year, hopefully something interesting will come to mind before December 20th!

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copy write Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

RF: If today is moving day, why aren't we moving?

Because we still don't have a house! Got two decent choices, finally, but no decision yet.

Mike has been gone since Sunday. I am thrilled that he's coming back tonight.

The Princess does not like to be alone. She demands to be held, which is so very tiring. And it makes the Bug jealous.

We went to Goodwill this morning and did really well. A pair of waterproof boots for the Bug,one of these mat things for the Princess, some baby clothes including a vintage top for next summer that is SO cute and some baby Gap snow pants for next year for $1.50!!!. Three kids books at $.50 each (Ramona the Pest (Ramona Quimby), Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, and
A Wrinkle in Time), and a couple little toys for the Bug- a puppy toy, some wooden kitchen utensils (techinically not toys) and a little Santa figurine.

The Pirate is an awesome big brother. 95% of the time.

Finished a book this week, and almost a second!

My computer is trying to die on me, fingers crossed Mike can fix it this weekend!

Looking back to this week:

• I got sick, and it sucked.
• I love Harry Potter.
• I highly recommend a baby book.
• My son fell asleep in the chair, AGAIN.

How was your week?  A lot of you seem to have had the same crud I have, everyone feeling better? I am, thank goodness.

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copy write Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - it's here!!

SO excited about the last Harry Potter movie(s)! Unfortunately, with the timing of our move we won't be seeing the movie tonight. I have high hopes for using it as a bit of stress relief next week, but we'll see how that goes. Meanwhile, I've been contenting myself with watching the trailer over and over.

 
In preparation of the movie, I re-read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) by J K Rowling (along with most of the other crazy HP fans out there!)  I actually bought a copy of the book while we were in Hawaii back in February. I spread out the read over most of the year, finishing it up in October. Mike and I both read Deathly Hallows when it first came out, racing each other to the end. I, of course, cried the first time, but I managed to not cry the second time around. There is a moment near the end that had me leaping from my chair in joy the first time around, but this time it didn't hit me nearly as hard. While I did enjoy it this time, and consider the series to be a favorite and well worth re-reading, it didn't pack nearly the emotional punch for me this time as last time. This is not to say that I was disappointed, I wasn't, I just didn't feel the excitement of the finale quite as strongly.

Regardless of this, I can't wait to get settled into the new house and find a babysitter so we can go see the movie!

Are you a Harry Potter fan? Did you buy Deathly Hallows the day it came out? Did you re-read the book, or all the books, in preparation of the movie? Will you see the movie on opening day? Will you come watch my kids so I can go see it? Please?


I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copy write Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Wordless Wednesday, might as well stick to theme

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copy write Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Mommies Say Shhh! by Patricia Polacco- highly recommended!

Mommies Say Shh! by Patricia Polacco

I don't usually review little kid books on my blog, even though I certainly read enough of them, but this one is just so charming and sweet that I have to recommend it. The Bug found it in the board book section of the library and we've read it 458 times since then, roughly. I would have expected it to be just a little too young for him (he knows all the Star Wars characters, after all), but he is just as enchanted as I am.

On the surface, it's just a book of animal sounds, but the pictures are charming and the text has a little rhythm and humor to it that make it just that much better. The kids are clearly from another era, with bonnets and wagons and knitting needles. The pictures aren't perfect, almost sketches in parts, but it's just, well, charming. (Turns out it's hard to say a lot about a board book.)

This is the book that I want to tuck into every baby gift I give. I highly recommend that you add it to your library as well.

Mommies Say Shhh 
by Patricia Polacco
Philomel
2007
Board Book
Source: Library

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copy write Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Not surprisingly, it all caught up with me.

I am sick. I want nothing more than to curl up in my bed and sleep. Unfortunately for me, life goes on and I'm the full time parent in charge of three active healthy kids. Please, don't tell me to ask for help, I would if I thought I had options.

In what seemed like bad news at the time, the house we were planning to rent fell through. For those of you keeping score, this is the third one. This means we are not moving on Friday, so I can get better without packing.

Housing is so limited out there, particularly if you have pets. We seem to have three choices right now:

• The house with the hoarder landlady who likes to use your garage and basement for her hoard.
• The house next door to the 24 hour gas station/liquor store.
• The 2 bedroom house with no bathtub and no yard. At all.

With the timing of the grand opening of Mike's store, this puts the move off another two weeks. Of course one of those weeks are Thanksgiving week and it looks like we'll (that is, the kids and I) be driving to Pierre and back twice that week. I really REALLY need a DVD player for my car, anyone got some spare cash to buy us one?

And that's about where we are.  I'll be over here with the blankets if you need me.

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copy write Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Gratitude Update: Scout

I'm a few days behind in posting my gratitude pictures. I have some shots in the camera, but haven't had time to sit and sort and refine them. However, on Monday morning I had a moment of real gratitude and wanted to find time to post about it.

This is Scout.

She's possibly the best dog on earth. She's terrifyingly smart. She lets the boys climb on her and pull her ears. She watches them carefully when they are outside. She sits and lies (lays?) and goes into her box on command. (Sadly, she doesn't stay on command.) Unfortunately for Scout, she has really crappy owners. We love her and we feed her. She has a nice big fenced yard and little kids to chase and sometimes we throw a ball for her. We don't take her on a ton of walks (have you ever walked a 70lb dog with a stroller and little kids? It's too much for me.)

And somehow we miss it when our solid black, long haired dog gets a tumor on her leg.  Over the weekend we discovered a swollen lump the size of both my fists on her leg, on what would be her thigh, were she human. It doesn't seem to distress her in any way. She doesn't mind when the kids climb on her, she still acts like her normal self. It's almost easy to see how we missed it.

On Monday I took her in to the vet. The Bug, the Princess and I took her to the vet. That in itself was crazy. Scout, of course, was perfectly behaved (once she'd greeted the vet's cat.) She sat as requested. She let the Bug "walk" her up and down the room on the leash.   They aspirated the lump, and came back with a diagnoses of a lipoma- a fatty tumor. It is benign. So long as it does not bother her, it can stay. We'll probably have it removed in the spring, when things calm down for us, but for now, it can stay.

I did not realize how much I loved that dog until right then.

PS It's really hard to get a good picture of her.

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copy write Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.