Ninja Poodles Local

« October 2007 | Main | January 2008 »

Friday, November 30, 2007 - 03:07:52

Cheap--I Mean, Inexpensive--Gifts. That Are Awesome.

Also, you don't have to leave the comfort of your home to get them.  You're welcome. I browse a lot of Etsy shops, make a lot of bookmarks, and read a lot of Southern Living. And I don't believe in going broke to celebrate occasions that are about giving. Without further ado, here are some really great finds, all less than $50, and most less than $20. I know I would be tickled to receive any item on this list, and we all know what good taste I have, right? Oh, and as always, I don't have any financial affiliation with any of these sellers; this is just stuff I like.

Food:

-The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, $35. Won the James Beard Cookbook of the Year Award.
-Speaking of the Lee Bros., try their Fresh Boiled Peanuts, $25.50 for 5 lbs.
-Betsy's Cheese Straws, $4-23.00 Oh, so good.
-Jackson Biscuit Company's Southern Style Beaten Biscuits, $2.50 per dozen. A real treat.
-Lava Bar, $1.99 per half-dozen. The closest you can get to mainlining chocolate.
-Straight outta N'awlins, Aunt Sally's Pralines, $11.49 These were my dad's idea of heaven on earth.
-A hometown favorite, Cavender's Greek Seasoning, $15 per 6-pack. Arkansans use this stuff on everything. When I met Alex, this was the main weapon in his cooking arsenal, and it's a good one.
-BaconSalt, $4.49. My favorite is the Peppered variety, and my favorite use so far is with baked potatoes and pasta.
-And finally, if you want to make a displaced Southerner weep with nostalgia and joy, then spend $4 and treat them to an RC Cola and a Moon Pie. I'm a little teary-eyed just typing that.

Jewelry:

-Browse Yelena's whole store, starting with this Butter Jade necklace, $39. She's running a great holiday sale right now.
-Sterling silver bass-clef-inspired earrings, $14, which I love because they're pierced, but have no clasp or backing. Simple.
-Gorgeous, sweet little orange sterling-silver/polymer earrings, $17.90. Darling.
-Dragonfly "Earwings," $29. I love bug jewelry, and bonus points for the clever name.
-Cobalt Corian ring, $20. Yep, that stuff your countertops are made of. Way cute.

Art:

-"Stations," fine art print by Andrea Pratt, $40. I LOVE THIS PAINTING. Heck, I own the original. Andrea has printed some of her other work recently, so shop around her store a little.
-Chunky Landscape Prints by Mandy Budan, $40. This artist has really found a style that works for her, and despite not being a big landscape fan, I can't help but like these extremely interesting paintings she does.
-Photography by Schmutzie, from $15. She's gifted, has soul, and besides, she's a striking writer. And also, a writer who is currently on strike. Photos with depth, texture, and emotion.
-Inspirational items from Jen Lemen, $7-15. A really great way to uplift a sister.
-Retro-flavored prints, from $10, in splashy, delicious colors, many featuring long and lanky black cats or snooty poodles. These would be great for any deco or Eames fans, and they're just fun and funky.

Housewares:

-When I tell you that Heber Springs, Arkansas-based Aromatique is the best home fragrance purveyor in all the world, you need to just believe me. And their Cinnamon Cider line from $9-20, is the favorite of just about everyone I know, especially at this time of year. Just DELICIOUS.
-Japanese Pickle Press, $24.99. You don't even care what it does. You just like saying "Why, it's a Japanese pickle press," authoritatively, when you give it.
-CUTEST EVER roundish cranberry coffee mug, with four precious little round "feet," $15. The "feet" not only make this mug unique and adorable, they also serve to protect surfaces from condensation, so you don't need a coaster. Man, this thing is cute.
-More suitable to cafe au lait, nice wide-mouthed The Perfect Mug, $10, is just begging to be cradled in both hands.
-"Color Sample" Tableware, $4-7. I want just about every piece of this.
-Bella wants to use chopsticks BADLY, but just doesn't have the manual dexterity yet, so I can't wait to give her these Clothespin Chopsticks, $3.99.
-Hand-thrown Galaxy Bowl, $18. Just gorgeous, and I can't believe the price.

Novelty/Miscellaneous:

-The Elf On The Shelf, $29.95. Just check it out.
-Give someone Herpes (or mono, a cold, even mad cow), $7.99
-Catnip Banana, $4. Hilarious cat/banana interaction potential.
-Handmade wooden Gumball/Candy Dispenser, $15. I'm thinking this looks like a good option for Bella's teacher, who keeps big bowls of Skittles and M&Ms on her desk.
-Funky, cute retro-flavored aprons from Boojiboo, $15-22. These make me want to throw a non-alcoholic cocktail party. What? I don't know.
-Tiny Superhero Robot, $10. Just what it sounds like. A tiny, superhero robot.
-Cherry Wood Baby Rattle, $18.95. Perfect fin the current Toxic Toy Aftermath.
-From Lucky Threadz Tees, Grammar Crackers, $14. These is good.
-I want every single one of my dogs to have one of these knitted Holly Dog Collars, $12. This design is brilliant, and incorporates the holly branch, leaves, and berries. SO cute.
-Alex really wants one of these Ninja Remotes from ThinkGeek, $8.99, which allow you to commandeer just about any TV set. No more "Oprah" in the doctor's waiting room!
-If you know someone who's into flickr, then they might have MOO cards. And if they have MOO cards, then they want one of these clip-on MOOPockets, $15. Splatgirl has a stunning variety of fabrics.
-And while you're in Splatgirl's shop, you need to shop for your dog some more, and get him/her/them some of these fabulous, funky, colorful collars, $15. She also makes custom leashes to match.
-Dog Breed Puzzimals, $10, speaking of dogs.
-Finally, to Alex's utter delight, you, too, can give a loved one that gift, in a box, immortalized by Justin Timberlake. You know what I'm talking about. $25 buys you much hilarity, as well as increased cancer awareness and a donation to a cancer charity.

Oh, and stock up on Secret Agent Josephine's Gift Tags to keep your gifts sorted out, $2 per dozen, and super-cute.

Happy Shopping!  Got any gifting tips to share?

Posted by Belinda at 03:07 AM | Permalink | Comments [2]

Wednesday, November 07, 2007 - 01:47:25

Forbidden Reading?

I love looking at the list of the most-banned books in the U.S. It kind of cracks me up, and then it makes me very sad, but I really like looking it over and trying to figure out what the "offense" was in each particular case. Judy Blume seems to be the perpetual champion on quantity and longevity alone, and how many of us got to be grown women without reading Judy Blume? Not me, that's for sure. I do remember that in Clinton, Arkansas, if you were reading "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret," you had to be circumspect about it, despite the fact that it WAS in the library. One girl would check it out, and it would get passed around to several more before being turned back in.

Judy's in good company, though...among the "most challenged" authors in America, according to the American Library Association, are John Steinbeck, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Mark Twain, Alice Walker, Maurice Sendak, Dav Pilkey, J.D. Salinger, Roald Dahl, Madeleine L'Engle, Harper Lee, Shel Silverstein, Aldous Huxley...I could go on and on, but it's really bringing me down.

Interesting to me is the fact that when you stand back and examine the lists of the last 20 years or so, definite patterns emerge. Seemingly deemed particularly threatening to would-be banners are works by authors of color (seriously--I don't think Toni Morrison gets anything published for more than an hour or so before it winds up being challenged somewhere), anything suggesting that homosexuals have a degree of humanity (Most-challenged book of 2oo6? "And Tango Makes Three." About a pair of boy penguins.), or anything with ANY kind of theme that focuses on what it means to be female--girl or woman, especially if that existence is turbulent. Bonus points if you can kill two birds with one stone there, say with something like "The Color Purple," "The Bluest Eye," or "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." When I try to imagine how I'd have grown up as a reader--heck, as a PERSON--without the benefit of great writers, it puts a scare into me.

The only form of book-banning I knew growing up was when my mother would say, "You are not allowed to read that until you are older" (Peter Benchley's "Jaws," age 9), or, "You should probably not try that one until you're a little older" (Stephen King's "Carrie," age 11, William Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury," age 12). In all of the above examples, MY MOTHER WAS RIGHT, although the Faulkner was the only one I actually put away for a few more years, because I really hadn't matured enough to begin to understand the themes. The other two I read anyway, and wound up being moderately traumatized for years afterward because of it. So yes, the "challenging" of books has a place, I feel, and that place is parental. My mother never once went to the school libraries and attempted to REMOVE books that she felt I shouldn't be reading.

That is why, when I stumbled across a discussion on Goodreads.com about the recent Nitro High School (Charleston, WV) bruhaha concerning the attempted banning of two Pat Conroy books, and the author's biting response, I felt a little warm in my heart. I'm just going to reprint it here, because it's spot-on. Pat Conroy might not be on my personal top-ten list of American authors, but he's written some meaningful, impactful material, which now includes this letter to the editor of the Charleston Gazette. It's not so much a condemnation of would-be-book-banners as it is a love-letter to teachers everywhere.


A Letter to the Editor of the Charleston Gazette:

I received an urgent e-mail from a high school student named Makenzie
Hatfield of Charleston, West Virginia. She informed me of a group of
parents who were attempting to suppress the teaching of two of my novels,
"The Prince of Tides" and "Beach Music." I heard rumors of this controversy
as I was completing my latest filthy, vomit-inducing work. These
controversies are so commonplace in my life that I no longer get involved.
But my knowledge of mountain lore is strong enough to know the dangers of
refusing to help a Hatfield of West Virginia. I also do not mess with
McCoys.

I've enjoyed a lifetime love affair with English teachers, just like the
ones who are being abused in Charleston, West Virginia, today. My English
teachers pushed me to be smart and inquisitive, and they taught me the
great books of the world with passion and cunning and love. Like your
English teachers, they didn't have any money, either, but they lived in the
bright fires of their imaginations, and they taught because they were born
to teach the prettiest language in the world. I have yet to meet an English
teacher who assigned a book to damage a kid. They take an unutterable joy
in opening up the known world to their students, but they are dishonored
and unpraised because of the scandalous paychecks they receive. In my
travels around this country, I have discovered that America hates its
teachers, and I could not tell you why. Charleston, West Virginia, is
showing clear signs of really hurting theirs, and I would be cautious about
the word getting out.

In 1961, I entered the classroom of the great Eugene Norris, who set about
in a thousand ways to change my life. It was the year I read "Catcher in
the Rye," under Gene's careful tutelage, and I adore that book to this very
day. Later, a parent complained to the school board, and Gene Norris was
called before the board to defend his teaching of this book. He asked me to
write an essay describing the book's galvanic effect on me, which I did.
But Gene's defense of "Catcher in the Rye" was so brilliant and convincing
in its sheer power that it carried the day. I stayed close to Gene Norris
till the day he died. I delivered a eulogy at his memorial service and was
one of the executors of his will. Few in the world have ever loved English
teachers as I have, and I loathe it when they are bullied by know-nothing
parents or cowardly school boards.

About the novels your county just censored: "The Prince of Tides" and
"Beach Music" are two of my darlings, which I would place before the altar
of God and say, "Lord, this is how I found the world you made." They
contain scenes of violence, but I was the son of a Marine Corps fighter
pilot who killed hundreds of men in Korea, beat my mother and his seven
kids whenever he felt like it, and fought in three wars. My youngest
brother, Tom, committed suicide by jumping off a fourteen-story building;
my French teacher ended her life with a pistol; my aunt was brutally raped
in Atlanta; eight of my classmates at The Citadel were killed in Vietnam;
and my best friend was killed in a car wreck in Mississippi last summer.
Violence has always been a part of my world. I write about it in my books
and make no apology to anyone. In "Beach Music," I wrote about the
Holocaust and lack the literary powers to make that historical event
anything other than grotesque.

People cuss in my books. People cuss in my real life. I cuss, especially at
Citadel basketball games. I'm perfectly sure that Steve Shamblin and other
teachers prepared their students well for any encounters with violence or
profanity in my books just as Gene Norris prepared me for the profane
language in "Catcher in the Rye" forty-eight years ago.

The world of literature has everything in it, and it refuses to leave
anything out. I have read like a man on fire my whole life because the
genius of English teachers touched me with the dazzling beauty of language.
Because of them I rode with Don Quixote and danced with Anna Karenina at a
ball in St. Petersburg and lassoed a steer in "Lonesome Dove" and had
nightmares about slavery in "Beloved" and walked the streets of Dublin in
"Ulysses" and made up a hundred stories in the Arabian nights and saw my
mother killed by a baseball in "A Prayer for Owen Meany." I've been in ten
thousand cities and have introduced myself to a hundred thousand strangers
in my exuberant reading career, all because I listened to my fabulous
English teachers and soaked up every single thing those magnificent men and
women had to give. I cherish and praise them and thank them for finding me
when I was a boy and presenting me with the precious gift of the English
language.

The school board of Charleston, West Virginia, has sullied that gift and
shamed themselves and their community. You've now entered the ranks of
censors, book-banners, and teacher-haters, and the word will spread. Good teachers will avoid you as though you had cholera. But here is my favorite thing: Because you banned my books, every kid in that county will read them, every single one of them. Because book banners are invariably idiots, they don't know how the world works � but writers and English teachers do. I salute the English teachers of Charleston, West Virginia, and send my affection to their students. West Virginians, you've just done what history warned you against:� you've riled a Hatfield.

Sincerely,
Pat Conroy

Posted by Belinda at 01:47 AM | Permalink | Comments [1]