It's time for another Sip & Shop at Grand this Saturday, June 27th! This time they are featuring Plymouth gin, my favorite gin, which was NOT at Kappy's tonight. Hrmph. But, I digress...
In addition to trying out a cocktail made with an excellent gin, you can buy cocktail gear, cool clothes, and hip furnishings for 10% off.
And, no, I am not employed by Grand... or The Boston Shaker, the cool cocktail store within a store. I just shop there.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
No need for an extension cord here
Apartment Therapy had a post showing a rather interesting design idea: a wall full of electrical outlets. I think it looks fab, but it would be a child-proofing nightmare. Plus, that would be some interesting wiring behind the drywall...
The world needs more punk ice cream shops
Herrell's in Allston as about to go independent and break away from the Man, or The Woman in this case. You can read about it here. All I know is that the few times I've been there I got some damn tasty ice cream. Mmmmm... ice cream... *drool*
Monday, June 8, 2009
A few good reads
In summers past I had fantasies of relaxing and reading outside. Sadly, this never really happens. For whatever reason I get caught up puttering around my place, or outside it's too hot, too humid, or too many mosquitoes for me to venture out to my deck. Even sadder is that I'll get sucked into watching some TV show or websurfing. However, I have managed to read a few good books in the past few years, mostly because I belong to a book group.
So, for those of you who are much, much better and finding time to read, here's a small list of books I liked. None of these are beach books. In fact, you would probably find them to be varying degrees of depressing, but that's because they're not fluffy chick lit, which is probably why they had enough of an impact on me that I remember them years after reading them.
Anyway, in no particular order:
The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant
Set in the early 1800's the novel follows the lives of an informal community of castoffs - almost all women - who live in a part of Cape Ann, MA known as Dogtown.
Breaking the Tongue by Vyvyane Loh
Loh depicts Singapore during World War II and its fall to the Japanese. The hero of the story, Claude Lim, is a schoolboy of Chinese descent who was raised to be British by his Anglophilic father. As Claude is brutally interrogated by the Japanese, he recalls his life and we see his struggle to determine whether he is British or Chinese, and the effects of colonialism on him and those around him.
Leaving Tabasco by Carmen Boullosa
Using magic realism, Boullosa spins a tale of Ulloa's life in a small Mexican village during the 1960's. As Ulloa grows older, the magic begins to disappear and the reader witnesses the events that lead to Ulloa's permanent departure from her birthplace.
Waylaid by Ed Lin
Countering the image of Asian Americans as the Model Minority, Lin tells the story of a 12 year-old boy who's family runs a seedy hotel on the Jersey shore. It's bleak, but I liked it.
Yellow: Stories by Don Lee
A collection of short stories about Asian Americans living on the coast near San Francisco. For some reason, I think the town in the book is based on Half Moon Bay, but I could be wrong.
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
A novel about fate, religion, and relationships set in small town New England. It is also one of the few books that made me laugh out loud while reading it - there's a scene involving a headmaster that had me in tears I was laughing so hard.
The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies
Like Breaking the Tongue, The Welsh Girl examines colonialism and identity against the backdrop of World Ward II, but without brutal torture. Set in Wales, Davies tells the stories of a German POW and the daughter of a Welsh farmer.
So, for those of you who are much, much better and finding time to read, here's a small list of books I liked. None of these are beach books. In fact, you would probably find them to be varying degrees of depressing, but that's because they're not fluffy chick lit, which is probably why they had enough of an impact on me that I remember them years after reading them.
Anyway, in no particular order:
The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant
Set in the early 1800's the novel follows the lives of an informal community of castoffs - almost all women - who live in a part of Cape Ann, MA known as Dogtown.
Breaking the Tongue by Vyvyane Loh
Loh depicts Singapore during World War II and its fall to the Japanese. The hero of the story, Claude Lim, is a schoolboy of Chinese descent who was raised to be British by his Anglophilic father. As Claude is brutally interrogated by the Japanese, he recalls his life and we see his struggle to determine whether he is British or Chinese, and the effects of colonialism on him and those around him.
Leaving Tabasco by Carmen Boullosa
Using magic realism, Boullosa spins a tale of Ulloa's life in a small Mexican village during the 1960's. As Ulloa grows older, the magic begins to disappear and the reader witnesses the events that lead to Ulloa's permanent departure from her birthplace.
Waylaid by Ed Lin
Countering the image of Asian Americans as the Model Minority, Lin tells the story of a 12 year-old boy who's family runs a seedy hotel on the Jersey shore. It's bleak, but I liked it.
Yellow: Stories by Don Lee
A collection of short stories about Asian Americans living on the coast near San Francisco. For some reason, I think the town in the book is based on Half Moon Bay, but I could be wrong.
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
A novel about fate, religion, and relationships set in small town New England. It is also one of the few books that made me laugh out loud while reading it - there's a scene involving a headmaster that had me in tears I was laughing so hard.
The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies
Like Breaking the Tongue, The Welsh Girl examines colonialism and identity against the backdrop of World Ward II, but without brutal torture. Set in Wales, Davies tells the stories of a German POW and the daughter of a Welsh farmer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)