http://alioliva.com/musings A thought or two, whenever I feel like posting Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:43:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en School started this week. Neither day was particularly intense; they were mostly how-do-you-do's. But I did submit 34 pages of a new (eek!) book I'm working on, so I'm looking forward to having that workshopped.  It's exciting to be bringing something entirely new to class instead of the fantasy novel ... http://alioliva.com/musings/back-to-school/ We've been in the new place for a few weeks now, so I thought it was time to put up a quick post along the lines of "Brooklyn is awesome.  Especially compared to Jersey City." Though I suppose "The area of Brooklyn in which we have settled is better suited ... http://alioliva.com/musings/first-post-from-brooklyn/ A friend of mine (Hi, Lynn!) recommended America's Test Kitchen cookbooks to me a couple of months ago. She explained that the authors experiment with recipes trying to come up with the best variations possible, and that there's an introduction discussing this process prior to each recipe. It ... http://alioliva.com/musings/buy-this-cookbook/ We're leaving New Jersey! Forever! Well, we'll probably drive through and visit people in the state, but chances are we'll never live in it again, and that's good enough for me. This isn't to say that I'm on board with all the Jersey-bashing out there.  The state has its merits, ... http://alioliva.com/musings/smell-ya-later/ There's a tricky intersection near our apartment. One major street crosses another, which leads to the Holland Tunnel. The area tends to be heavily trafficked by people in a rush, many of whom must turn through incoming traffic to head towards the tunnel. They have a turning lane, ... http://alioliva.com/musings/how-rude/ The deed is done--I'm a missus! Consequently, I renounce my shoes and my decision-making capacity (which was pretty limited to begin with, so no big loss there). The wedding itself was fantastic.  There were dozens of snafus, but since I was expecting hundreds, I felt relatively little day-of stress (at least ... http://alioliva.com/musings/married/ I don't go to work everyday, but everyday I go to work, I cross the intersection at Fifth Ave and 14th Street, usually from the southwest corner to the northwest. Yesterday, I stopped at this familiar corner, turned left and waited for the light to change. I felt it immediately--something ... http://alioliva.com/musings/whats-wrong-with-this-picture/ Less than two months to go! The major stuff is taken care of, but we're getting close enough to the big day that I'm starting to worry about all the little things. Suddenly they seem like a lot--a matter of perspective, I suppose. We're going to start ... http://alioliva.com/musings/wedding-fitness-update/ The best part about getting up at 5:45am?  Lunch at 10:45am! Yum, turkey sandwich. http://alioliva.com/musings/a-thought-on-early-rising/ I'm working on a new piece right now--just a short story, I imagine it'll end up being ten or so pages long--and it's very different from what I typically write.  It's heavily influenced/inspired by what I've been reading in my literature seminar (Beckett, Kafka, Nabokov...) and completely new ground for ... http://alioliva.com/musings/new-piece/