list love

Many people that know me - at least those who know me well - know that I love lists.  They keep me organized and help me remember things when I can hardly keep up with the speed of my own brain.  At the end of one year and beginning of the next, there are lists galore presented - top 10's, best of, memorable this-and-that.  I typically can't resist viewing the lists when I run across the headline. For my own lists, I don't discriminate in my formats - I use my Moleskine® planner/notebook, Post-It® notes, random scraps of paper, envelopes from opened mail and even the List Master app on my phone.  I'm not even all that consistent on what kind of list goes on what kind of medium, i.e. my grocery list doesn't always go on paper, sometimes it's on my phone.  But no matter what kind of list, there's nothing quite like the satisfying feeling of crossing something off a list!  Lists also create a way to record the past.  One list that I've kept for a few years now is the list of books I've read each year.  My goal for 2011 is to read 12 books to average one per month.

2010

The Odyssey - Homer
The Art of Travel - Alain de Botton
Dinner With Persephone - Patricia Storace
The Anglo Files - Sarah Lyall
In Tuscany - Frances Mayes
Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
The 50 Greatest Love Letters of All Time - David H. Lowenherz, editor
Pontoon - Garrison Keillor
Living In a Foreign Language - Michael Tucker
The Aeneid - Virgil

In 2010, I started commuting to Murfreesboro for work.  The drive is long enough for me to listen to books on CD, which ended up being half of the books I read in 2010.  I knocked out some more Greek and Roman from the husband's list.

2009
Paris To the Moon - Adam Gopnik
Au Paris - Rachel Spencer
The Immortal Lovers - Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning - Frances Winwar
McCarthey's Bar - Pete McCarthey
A Year in the World - Frances Mayes
By Jove! Brush Up on Your Mythology - Michale Macrove
The Iliad - Homer
The Geography of Bliss - Eric Weiner

2009 was primarily travel memoirs, which is one of my favorite genres, but I also decided to have my English literature major husband create a chronological list for me to read the literature I had somehow managed to evade during 16 years of education. He started me with Greek, with an introduction to mythology for a foundation, and then straight to the Iliad.

2008
The Four Loves - C.S. Lewis
The Age of Napoleon - J. Christopher Herold
Under the Tuscan Sun - Frances Mayes
Nations of the World - Italy - John S.C. Abbott
French Women for All Seasons - Mireille Guiliano

In 2008, I got really bogged down with Nations of the World - Italy for several months.  It was over 650 pages of the history of Italy from 700 B.C. until just after their unification.

2007
The Design of Everyday Things - Donald Norman
Love Is a Mix Tape - Rob Sheffield
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
84, Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff
French Women Don't Get Fat - Mireille Guiliano

I discovered one of my favorite books in 2007 - 84, Charing Cross Road, a delightful exchange of letters between a New York book lover and an employee at a British bookstore just after World War II and the friendship that developed.

the Nashville/Tennessee list

Sometimes it's hard to be a tourist in your own town, so I've decided to make a list of the places I want to visit in and around Nashville and then start crossing them off!

show at the Grand Old Opry
Jack Daniels
Ryman Tour
movie at the Belcourt
Country Music Hall of Fame
Cheekwood
Love Circle
Wax Museum
Arrington Vineyards
Parthenon Museum
Bluebird Cafe
Loveless Cafe
General Jackson
Hatch Show Print
Belle Meade Plantation
Traveler's Rest
Battle of Franklin
Battle of Smyrna/Murfreesboro
Wildhorse Saloon
Pancake Pantry
The Hermitage 
Rock City/Lookout Mountain/Ruby Falls

Orangina for president!

President of drinks, that is!  I tried Orangina for the first time during our trip to Paris.  I immediately declared it to be delicious - the perfect combination of orange juices, fizz and just the right amount of pulp.  It was especially refreshing after climbing the seven flights of stairs (which we later nicknamed "le morte") of the apartment building where my cousin was living.  Today, Orangina is still a treat - whether we're in Europe or at home, especially since it's difficult to find here in the States.

viva la crepe!

I love crepes.  In fact, I love them so much that one might divide my life into pre-crepe and post-crepe sections.  This is partly due to the fact that I associate crepes with trips to Europe (something else I truly love).  I ate my first crepe almost three years ago in Paris.  My cousin was studying in Paris at the time, and our first night in the city, she took us to A La Bonne Crepe.  We had dinner crepes and dessert crepes, and even though we mistranslated "coco" as cocoa instead of coconut, we savored every bite, accompanied by little bowls of cider to drink.  And so began my love affair with crepes.  For the rest of the trip, we had to stop at nearly every crepe stand we saw - for lunch - a ham and cheese, for an afternoon snack - a simple butter and sugar, and for dessert - Nutella.  I was hooked.  Each subsequent trip to Europe, I have always looked for creperies and have been fortunate to find them in both Rome and Dublin.  After every trip to Europe, I mention how I would like to open a creperie at home, since there weren't any near where I live.  It seemed like it would be pretty easy since it's a limited menu, not a lot of ingredients, relatively small amount of capital to start, little competition, etc.  And then, a couple weeks ago, we discovered a creperie just a few miles from our house.  It's pretty new - less than a year old, but it was delicious!  So other than someone else beating me to the idea, I am so happy to know I will be able to indulge in a crepe more than one week out of the year! 

Observations from a cafe patio

• Most Americans must think they drive a compact car, as evidenced by the number of cars I watched laughed at attempting to park in the compact-only lot. Whatever time they think they saved by parking so close to the cafe was surely lost in the number of times they had to attempt and reattempt backing out to leave. The "winner" executed a 6-point, 90 degree turn.
• Motorcycles are loud. This is especially noticeable when an observer is sitting outside trying to read, since apparently a Harley must be revved in the parking lot for five minutes to reach a state of "warmed up and ready to depart."
• When in public, people should attempt to speak in a low voice, unless they have a foreign accent, in which case, they can be exempt from this common courtesy - I thoroughly enjoy listening to accents!
• Smoking should be banned.