I'll be reading Growing Up with Tamales for story time at Blue Willow Bookshop, in Houston, on Thursday morning, May 15. Tell everyone you know with kids in the Houston area. How do you find and support local indie book stores like Blue Willow? By going to Booksense.
On Saturday, May 17, I'll be in Dallas, reading and signing at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, for the 13th Dallas Children’s Book Fair & Literary Festival.
On June 22, here in Houston, I'm going to do a poetry workshop. It's free and open to the public, y'all, and they're having one every Sunday in June, taught by local poets I love and respect. So come on down.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Linkelodeon!Alert reader Tanya C. writes:
Hi Gwen,
I was goofing off and went to the Fritos site, and there is a recipe section you must see:
http://www.ilovechilipie.com/Recipes.aspx
Swear to god, most of them are the same thing with a tiny bit of variation, like add some onions, etc. But my favorite is the Fritos Chili Pie in a Bag*, which is the same as the Walk Around Fritos Chili Pie, except it seems to call for chipped onions.... For some reason it all struck me as hilarious.
*"Perfect when you are in a convenience store and want a mini-meal on the go." Like, say if you're robbing the store or like, kidnapping someone and you're on the go!
Of course I wrote back to Tanya and informed her that Frito Pie in the Frito Bag is popular school-carnival fare here, and that maybe we should consider mailing emptied Frito bags to impoverished countries that are bereft of waterproof materials. Good job, Tanya, on finding snack resources for criminals and lazy single moms alike.
In other "Found While Goofing Off" news...
What are heirloom vegetables? Besides my latest mini-obsession, you mean? They're non-hybrid vegetables - meaning ones that have been planted since forever ago. Meaning not the ones at most grocery stores, which, if you plant their seeds, will degenerate into inferior-DNA-ed species. My newest fantasy is to convince my boyfriend's retired, hobby-less father to start a garden. Then, I will buy him seeds from the heirloom seed catalogue I couldn't resist having mailed to my gardenless apartment. Then, I will reap the harvest. My boyfriend is supposed to talk to his dad about this tonight. I'll keep you updated.
Author and heirloom vegetable enthusiast Amy Goldman creates art from really sexy squashes and melons, which are, incidentally, my favorite sections of the seed catalogue.
Is Monsanto evil? Monsanto is a big ol' corporation that genetically engineers plants and seeds. And bovine growth hormones and Agent Orange, from what I'm reading. I like Old Hippie's Monsanto Site, which tells you who on Bush's cabinet is an ex-Monsanto exec. (Clarence Thomas is one. Who knew he liked gardening, too?) If you want to know more, all you have to do is Google "monsanto evil." Want a personal perspective? Read Queen of the Harpies' take on ex-cops visiting old men to make sure they don't save and plant their Monsanto seeds. There's some scary stuff going on in the world.
But heirloom seeds are not scary. And they're not created by Monsanto. No, they're created by Mother Nature, with help from people who were into plant breeding back in Victorian times. Okay, well... I take that back. Some of the tomatoes are a little scary. But in a cool way, you know?
The Project Runway contestants showed their collections at NYC Fashion Week.
Here is Santino's collection.
Here is Chloe's collection.
Here is Daniel's collection.
Here is Kara's collection.
I was surprised to find that I didn't like Chloe's much at all, given that she's been my steadfast pick for winner. For all the talk of Santino not designing with women's bodies in mind, I have to say that his collection contained the most items that I could imagine my chunk-style body wearing. Lastly: I wish people weren't so lookist. Daniel's designs aren't that good, but people love him because he's handsome, so his clothes benefit from that. Would I sleep with Daniel if he were hetero? Sure. Would I buy his clothes? Probably not.
Labels: culture, domestic, links, pop culture
2:39 PM #Comments:
You probably have already seen this, but every time I look at this cake, it freaks me out:http://www.mikesamazingcakes.com/event/images/e_11_sm.jpg
# posted by
pinky pinkerson : 8:14 AM
God, I love the Frito Chili Pie. They used to serve it in school cafeterias in Albuquerque, and I am PISSED that Sonic driveins no longer carry it.
Best bad food ever.
# posted by
White Trasherati : 11:47 AM
I think a big part of Daniel's allure is also that he really is an incredibly good tailor. All of his clothes are draped and sewn really well, so while the design isn't necessarily the best it falls the best on the model's body and I think that has given him the upper hand a couple of times, like the lingere challenge and the inspiration challenge (which Andre really should have won, by the way.)But I totally agree with you, I really wouldn't buy Daniel's clothes, though I would love to have him make me a jacket I specified. I don't think he's very cute, though. Boy needs a comb.
# posted by
lumenatrix : 5:52 PM
Yeah, I just don't understand why Daniel keeps winning...which leads me to conclude that they just like him...
I agree about Chloe's collection on the website...not her usual which I would normally buy...on the show so far, I've liked most of her designs...
Daniel's didn't appeal to me...
I thought some of Kara's and Santino's looked pretty good...probably bc they used colors I liked also....
By the way, you have not been replaced...the girl who took pic with us was a friend of mine from my old job....
# posted by
MissCathee : 10:43 PM
Pinky: Oh man. I don't even understand that. Is the bag the cake? Because underneath it looks like a foil-covered square. Thanks for the link to the bad-ass site. I looked at all the cakes for a while. I don't know how you find so many cool sites. If I were to look up "Awesome cakes" or "Awesome socks" to find the links you do, I would totally just get pr0n.
White Trasherati: I love that your handle is what it is, and then you love Frito pie. But it is sad that Sonic discontinued it. Frito pie, we hardly knew ye.
Lumenatrix: Good point. He does draft and sew very well. You know, I would actually love a lot of his stuff if he just used different colors. I wanted to love the Barbie outfit, but the dark dark mulberry wouldn't let me.
Miss C: No, I agree. And Kara's was a little Benetton 1989 to me. (And that's not a bad thing.) I could see some of the layered pieces looking good on you, but not on anyone bigger than you. If I were size 12, I would totally wear Santino's babydoll over pedal pushers ensemble. I loved, loved his blue/brown crossdyed dress. Really, all his colors rocked.
Daniel will probably win because his collection IS straight up Banana, really. I liked his double-breasted white coat, but the rest was too boring.
I had to say that about that chick because of the way she's standing next to y'all all tall, like I normally would.
# posted by
Gwen : 8:33 AM
I don't know if it's my monitor or what, but Santino's collection seemed sort of...sepia-toned. Or something. He totally reversed my usual opinion of his work --- I *finally* really liked his silhouettes, but his color and fabric choices just didn't grab me (except that red dress, which just floored me. Santino, where have you been, man?) I do like that most of his current stuff looks like it would flatter a woman with ample assets.
Kara, on the other hand --- I never thought she was anything special, and she totally deserved the boot for the evening dress challenge...and then she pulls this awesome collection out of her butt for Fashion Week! I so want her champagne/fuchsia/red tiered tunic with red cigarette pants combo, and her kimono dress makes me drool.
Daniel and Chloe were utterly unremarkable to me, but they seemed the most professionally-behaved and less drama-queeny than the others, so that probably goes a long way with the judges. There's been an awful lot of crying, wailing, and gnashing of teeth this season, and they seem to provide a welcome respite from that crap on the runway.
# posted by
Charlotte Mittnacht : 10:39 AM
I'm actually suprised at how much I like Santino's collection, because I really didn't like much of what he did on the show (which I'm glad I finally got hooked on). Daniel mystifies me. He's competent, but I also find him really, really boring. And some of the challenges he one shocked me. What he did was *nice*, but often not the best, at least to me. Many of his designs remind me of things I could find in a Vogue Patterns catalog at Hancock's. So again, not bad, just not terribly creative.
# posted by
Claudia : 10:48 AM
Hey Gwen,
There's an heirloom vegetable garden that's open to the public in Pasadena! I've considered learning to garden and the heirloom vegetables look cool. I could start with corn and my parents could help me.
Anyway. Dear people not from Texas, Frito Pie is very popular in Houston. It's a single serving deal and it is sold at carnivals or afterschool PTA fundraisers or on the ever popular "loncheras". But we cut the package along the side and put melted nacho cheese instead of american cheese and serve it with a fork. Jalapenos are optional.
# posted by
Letty : 6:45 PM
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