My family is funny. Especially my sis-in-law. When she married Toad I couldn't have been happier. Not only was she friendly and nice, but she pimped a Toyota Supra and she had a huge appetite and she was unabashed when it came to demonstrating the worst french accent known to man. Two nights ago she won my admiration and respect anew when we pulled up to the Iceberg drive-thru.

Crackly Teenage Voice: Welcome to Iceberg, can I take your order?

Super: Yes, I would like a mocha shake with cookie dough and brownies and....uh....heh ( laughter and awe issue from the passenger and back seats) and...shhhh..oh, oreos....(louder laughter throughout the vehicle, as she gestures for quiet)...and, and I want extra oreos.

Crackly Teenage Voice: (bored, disbelief) Yeeeeeahhh. Could you repeat that?

"Food, glorious food! Hot sausage and mustard!"

Today La Dolcezza thinks I am going to blog about her witty gmail chats. But I must refrain because, while they are very entertaining, the humor is at the expense of others and this is a HATE FREE blog 'yo. *Careful not to offend LD as she is my only reader.
Just kidding, actually I am as much a fan of the macabre as the next 'Office' lover but I wanted to say something else tonight. And that something else is this: that I love good produce.

No really, you know you are a foodie when you pass a gorgeous cherry tree on your morning run just laden (almost in the biblical sense, although I don't really know what that means) with luscious red gems and you contemplate stopping to sample the goods.

This happened to me the other day. Plus, I can't seem to get enough of the 'delights of the season'. Cherries, melons, mangoes, limes- I want lime on everything. And fresh corn on the cob. I don't even need butter, just one golden line after another. Also, I could hang a bunch of cilantro from my rear view I like the smell that much.

Lastly, I confess, to having eaten an entire bag of fresh peas on the freeway going to work today.

You don't have to read everyday, only on the days you eat.

I read a lot. I love to read. Too bad reading doesn’t burn more calories.
And in the summer I read twice as much as normal. Sometimes I save especially juicy tomes for the lazy summer twilight.
Often I pontificate on how much I would like a job where my only duty was to read. The problem is that most jobs of this sort require extensive writing as well. I hate writing. If there was a math problem (also something I hate) that could lay out the degree to which I enjoy reading and how much I loathe writing I’d say they would be about proportionate. But I digress.
Show me a job that will pay for me to read something and then give an uneducated, opinionated, short vocal recap and I would send my resume directly. Sadly, nobody wants to pay me for my non-textual brief opinions and so I must live out my career aspirations here on my blog.

Thus, I give you my summer reading list (sans Harry Potter as you’ve been there done that):

Wizard of Earthsea, The Farthest Shore, The Tombs of Atuan – Ursula K. Le Guin
Funny that this was my first taste of Le Guin. She’s been around for ages and I’ve been reading fantasy for ages but we’d yet to meet up. I’m so glad we did. I like fantasy as long as it is not overly romantic and Le Guin is certainly not gratuitous with the romance. She is what I call a Philantasy author. Just the right mix of philosophy added to keep us all on the space shuttle.

Reviving Ophelia – Mary Pipher
Oh seriously, don’t get me started. See below. See above.

Starving Girls, Perfect Daughters – Courtney E. Martin
I dedicated an entire blog post to my feelings (uneducated as they may be) on this book/phenomenon.

The Bookseller of Kabul – Asne Seierstad
This was a summer re-read. I can never get enough of this book. Seierstad is bloody brilliant and her book is honest without being robotic. I strongly recommend this book for anybody wondering where to start with “The Middle East”.

The Jane Austen Book Club – Karen Joy Fowler
On my reading list for two years now, JABC was a little disappointing. I think it was because the book was more serious than I was expecting. Fowler’s characters did parallel Austen’s but Fowler chose to mirror the less amiable traits. And where was Mr. Collins? Or the Bates’?

Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen’s By Proxy Childhood – Julie Gregory
This book is like gawking at a car wreck. The depth of human dementia in parts of it is unbelievably grotesque yet so real that you must keep reading. Plus Gregory is a brilliant and honest writer.

Beneath A Marbled Sky – John Shors
I couldn’t finish. Maybe because it is a male author writing a female heroine. I have ‘views’ about that. It wasn’t just his main character that was lacking, he went overboard with the adjectives he suspected were needed in order to describe the vibrancy of life in India. I wanted to shout, “I get it! The bazaar was colorful and lively, can we move it along?” And this coming from a wholehearted India fanatic. Pass on this one.

The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien
Oh wretched and good. Upon opening the book I could feel the gloom and doom of war. Perhaps this was only because I knew it was about Vietnam and have an especial disgust for that part of American history. Wog was the last to read it, indeed tis her book, and her notes are in the margins. It was a strange experience to read a book and then listen to her inner commentary as if I had a supernatural radio.

Fashion Trends a Gal can Work With:

The Tousled/Bed Head

Admittedly, this look requires a bit more than rolling out of bed and into the office. If you’re a gal with more oil in your skin you could end up looking like Wormtongue on LOTR but if you’re me and have dry skin and hair or live in an arrid climate, you can be cutting edge with minimal work. For once, the fashion world pulls through for me.

The Mammoth Bag

This trend has transformed me from a semi-homeless looking person ( gym bag, lunch bag, book bag, purse) to a Fashionista. Now I can throw all of my bags into one giant brownish-blackish-fringy thing.

Black Fingernail Polish

This trend hails from the Goth/Emo peeps which in turn is subconsciously associated with vampires which I sometimes fantasize about. Stop judging me. At one time you had a vampire attraction too.

Fashion Trends I refuse to Acknowledge:

The Skinny Jean

This pant looks tolerable on less than 2% of the population. Nuff said. Actually I refuse to acknowledge the rest of the fashion world for this reason.

Reference Page

This being my maiden post I feel I should give credit where it is deserved. The title of this blog was nicked from a Diana Krall/Elvis Costello song. If you haven’t checked it you are missing out. If you are reading this Diana, don’t sue me. I love you and your work. I’m shamelessly plugging your album here - cut me some slack eh? Anyway, I chose this title for many reasons, most of which aren’t thoroughly thought through yet and so I’ll save that for another post. Suffice it to say that from here on I shall refer to it as GTOR.
Yes, I realize that merely stands for Girl. The. Other. Room. Take it or leave it. It sounds better.

Speaking of music, my first official post is to find out what people think of Nina Simone. I realize that the fact that she is entirely new to me does say a certain something about my musical repertoire. It is shallow at best. But I’m trying to broaden my collection. Nina was mentioned on a friend’s blog and so I went to Amazon and listened to some samples. I really liked some of the tracks. Nina's voice makes me want to eat something rich. Was a bit apathetic on others. Perhaps that’s what itunes is for.


Note: Diana Krall/Elvis Costello and itunes are in no way backing this blog financially, emotionally or with bribes for free crap and/or hot cookies.