New Zealand Book Council

Who are these amazing people?

* Thankful *

I hope everybody has a Happy Thanksgiving and travels safely!!

I was talking to a friend yesterday and she invited Shaun to a Turkey Bowl. Guess what I said? "What's a Turkey Bowl? Is that where you bowl with Turkeys?" ....... (Pause for raucous laughter)

I KNOW that people get together and play football on Thanksgiving I just wasn't thinking. I've been in the YW program too long and I was thinking of Turkey Bowling that we used to do when I was a youth. The Clark kids are NOT sporty. The End.

Here's what I looked out my window to this morning

LOTS of Turkey Bowls

Happy Thanksgiving

P.S. I am thankful for books, turkey, hot chocolate, my home, and my family.

* Good Reads *

My sister called the other day to recommend a great book to me. I proceeded to then tell her I'd already read it and rambled off a list of books I think SHE should read. So I decided I'd post some of my recent favorites.

Does it bother you when you forget everything you've read? I can't tell you the number of times I've started book journals and logs and accounts and younameit! So, I know this is not all of my reads over the last few months, but these are some that stand out in my non-organized sort of life.

1. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak: Not your average WWII novel. When the story is narrated by death you know you're in for a treat. The addition of a book-loving main character never hurts either. What I loved most about the book was the way death viewed the world through colors. It's beautifully written. Tears were shed.

2. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel- Susanna Clarke: Move over Harry Potter, this English wizarding world is just as twisted and dark and less juvenile. I loved this book! Warning, it was a bit slow for me initially, but pieces fall together brilliantly toward the end of the book. It's also quite thick, only because Clarke fills the book with witty footnotes that create an alternate history. If you're a 19th Century English literature fan you'll enjoy this. Please Read. It's definitely got a following, with blogs like

The Friends of English Magic.

Oh...and it doesn't hurt that there will be a MOVIE made from this book. IMDB it.

3. Catching Fire- Suzanne Collins: Book two in the Hunger Games series. I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of or read this book due to recommendation on a certain website from a certain Twilight saga author. I'm a little upset that I picked up the first book when it was new, unaware that it was going to be a series. So now I have to wait each year for the next book to come out. Despite my impatience, they're worth the wait.

4. North and South- Elisabeth Gaskell: Recommended to me by several people, a friend at work let me borrow this one. It was good! If you're an Austen fan you'll probably enjoy this. More 19th Century English literature, minus a lot of Austen's satire, but a good romance.

And I've heard the movie's great too!

* Clients From Hell *

Just found this website. makes me laugh because Shaun's a designer and he deals with this kind of stuff all day.

As a rare book conservator I also deal with clients who don't value the work we do and aren't willing to pay for our time. So this website is good for a few " Yeah, I've been there" laughs.

Clients From Hell

Here's my favorite:

Business as Usual

1. CLIENT: We’d like to go ahead and book you to handle this year’s edition but, of course, we’re in the middle of a tough recession. So we’ll only be able to offer you about 50% of what we paid last year.
2. ME: I gave you a heavily discounted price last year as an introductory deal. I said at the time it was a one-off and included a quote at the full price to illustrate.
3. CLIENT: Yeah… Anyway, we’d like you to get to work immediately, since the deadline is
4. this time next week.
5. ME: You had a three-month lead last time.
6. CLIENT: Uh-huh… Moving forward, we want you to treat this as urgent. Oh, and we’ll be paying you when the project comes into profit, of course.
7. ME: So, you want me to do three months graft in a week, on the promise that when or if you make money out of my work you’ll pay me less than half what my time is worth.
8. CLIENT: To be honest, we thought you’d be more grateful.

It's that time of year!!

Halloween. It's the best. Maybe my favorite holiday of the year. Seriously. How can you not love this stuff?

Here are three things I HAVE to do this month:

1. Go to Odyssey Dance Theatre's Thriller.

I've wanted to do this every year for so long and we've never gone. I love dancing. Don't make fun.

2. Make my mom's famous pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

3. Learn more about the history of this festive holiday

Well, I'm off to run a marathon this weekend! (Why, you ask? I ask why as well) Not as fun as what I did last weekend:

(sigh)

How I wish...

dress from here

Madge Randall, a.k.a. "Magic" Part Two

In Memory

Madge Randall

1922-2009

We love you Grandma

The Many Faces of Design

The American Institute of Graphic Arts has a traveling show on display right now at the University of Utah in conjunction with the Book Arts Program. Shaun is on the board for the Salt Lake chapter of AIGA and I, of course, am a book lover and member of the book arts community.

So we went last night for the opening reception and WOW. Here was my favorite book of the night...steals my heart. I WILL own it someday.

But it's not just the cover that is amazingly designed, it's the inside. Check it out here.

The designer is Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich.

Check out the show if you have a chance. It's called 50 Books/50 covers.

AIGA SLC

U of U Book Arts Program

So, I'm not a good blogger...

It's been forever, but these two past weeks have been insane. I've got several posts in the works. I haven't dropped off the face of the planet...more to come. (clock from here)

Madge Randall, a.k.a. "Magic"

Nate, Mel and I drove 15 hours last weekend to St. Joseph Missouri where my grandmother just recently passed away. Then we turned around and drove 15 hours back! It was bittersweet being able to be with family and remember grandma...that was the sweet part. The bitter part was the 15 hours each way nonstop in a 48 hour period.

We did take a break to snap some photos of this beautiful old rundown church off the side of 1-80 in Nebraska. Since there weren't any roads to it we parked on the offramp and ran down the grassy shoulder about half a mile to get these shots. I'm sure Nate's are better.

Nate and Mel making a run for it

Thirteen miles is nothin'....

...If you're in good company

Went to Ashton ID a couple weeks ago to run the Mesa Falls half marathon with my superfast sister. Here's the photo spread

Before the Race

Melanie during the race, coming up from a mile long hill.

She's like an olympian, look at those biceps. And then...

...I come along! About a half an hour later, mind you.

Always ready for a drink break, you know me.

But you just can't beat the views on the way into town to the finish line.

The grain elevators...

...the sassy old man at the finish line...

...and the promise of

huckleberry milkshakes at the soda fountain for finishers.

In front of Grandpa's old barbershop with our spoils.

You can't leave Ashton without a raid through grandma's garden...

it's an unwritten rule.

The End!

My Griping Has Paid Off

Ok, well...probably not my griping. But the griping of a nation over the lack of local produce has resulted in an explosion of farmers' markets over the last few years. and the big news is...

Lehi is starting a farmers' market!!!


Visit their website here for more info. I'll see you there!

Hiking with Nie Nie

For anyone one in the world who doesn't know who Nie Nie is, check out her blog here. And be prepared to cry. Go back to August 08 to read about her amazing story. She was in a plane crash with her husband and a pilot a year ago and suffered severe burns. her goal was to hike the Y this weekend on the one year anniversary of the accident. She invited blog readers to join her, so we went! Here are some photos



Katie, Callie, Helen, Annette, Jennica

Stephanie and her husband held hands the whole way up. I don't have any great close-ups because I felt a little intrusive taking pictures of them. But here you can see she and her husband in the blue and white with a bunch of us following behind.

Jennica shared her trail mix with half the mountain. She's always the perfect hostess.

Jennica and Callie

Helen and Katie

It was an amazing experience. I hadn't read all of her blog, but I've been reading and crying every night for a week. She inspires me and reminds me what life is truly about.

Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

I'm not going to force my beliefs on anybody, but I think our food society is horrible. And I'm still a part of that horror at this point in time, hoping to change. In an effort to support the Slow Food movement I've been trying to buy local produce. The problem is, I live at an inconvenient distance from the great downtown SLC Farmer's market and the great Orem and Lindon fruit orchards. However...Thanksgiving Point (literally my backyard) has been doing a Farmer's Market for a couple years. I went last year and was severely disappointed. No Produce. Then a friend told me she went this year and it's much better. So I headed over last night and found out that it's growing! There are definitely some farmers there with locally grown produce. Excellent.

Here's my main complaint: It's on a Friday...from 3-7pm. Why?I work full time and don't get home till 6:30 generally. Thanksgiving Point is notorious for odd hours. So maybe if enough of us go and make a suggestion that it be move to Saturday they'll listen. Maybe not. Worth a shot.

Anyway, I'm not a vegetarian and I'm not into organic foods, to a point. The FDA has some fairly easy guidelines by which one can be labeled organic, and that doesn't mean your food isn't still grown or caged in a large agri-business that only produces one thing... 3,000 miles away. Instead, I believe in eating things that are grown or produced locally, with few ingredients, that I can prepare myself. Especially in my own garden. Amen!

You'll be convinced too: Read The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, both by Michael Pollan

Please forgive me for my rant and my plugs. I'll be looking for easy local options to help me live this lifestyle and I'll post them on the blog for anyone who's interested.

Three Things

So, I'm very excited about several books that have been made into movies recently. Here are three of them:

1. Where the Wild Things Are. Comes out in theaters this Fall. I can't decide if the movie really looks good, or if I'm just excited about the Arcade Fire Song the preview is set to. Check it out

here.

2. Alice in Wonderland. I've always had a strange obsession with this story. When I was younger I would have dreams that I was Alice trying to fit through a tiny door and on the other side was Disneyland... interpret THAT Freud. Anyway, Tim Burton is always good in my book, so let's hope this one goes well. Check it out here.

3. You must read this book. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan changed the way I think about the food I put in my body. It's life changing. Food Inc. is a movie about the industrialization of food in our society, etc. Check out a preview here. I have MUCH more to say about this subject, but that will be at a later date.

Black Mirror

I'm a huge Arcade Fire Fan. Check out this creepy dark music video for their single Black Mirror. You can control elements of the song by pushing certain numbers and change the image to a negative.

http://www.rorrimkcalb.com/

Their wesite is also amazing:

http://www.arcadefire.com/yope.html

I'm in Love

I just started work on this little gem. A book of poetry by L. Frank Baum published a year before the Wizard of Oz series began. He wrote, printed, and supposedly bound the books himself!! He also had several artists in collaboration who did all the illustrations, including Denslow (the fish illustration) who would then become the illustrator for The Wizard of OZ. This book is beautiful!!!