Community Voice: A Special Part of My Day That I Look Forward To

caywood--

Those of you who have spent much time around Caywood know that the Pennysaver is the only major newspaper offering home delivery to our hamlet. At first--and okay, still-- we bemoaned the absence of the New York Times (this being New York for god's sake), but for local news and entertainment, the Pennysaver has no equal. I'm not sure how intentional the "entertainment" is, but once you've spent a few days or weeks during which your biggest outing is a visit is to the compost pile,


you look forward to reading the weekly menu at The Golden Buck, clipping out the Dairy Princess's recipe for Cheddar Cheese Sour Cream Smoothies, and bearing witness to your community's cycle of life (Births, Obituaries) in between perusing the classifieds for a qualified deer butcher.

We've mentioned "Community Voice" before in this space but perhaps our citified readership would benefit from a bit more detail. The Community Voice feature invites the reader to "have your voice heard" by emailing comments to the Pennysaver, which then compiles them into a column. The Pennysaver reserves the right to revise or reject any comment, but it's evident that it never does. Part Opinions page, part telephone party line, part never ending bitch session, there is no issue too small to find its soapbox in Community Voice:

I have noticed that ever since the economic times have gotten tougher, that area stores are becoming stingier with the icing they are putting on baked goods. For me, I buy bakery items because they are delicious and the icing is my favorite part. It is not the only thing I eat, but rather it is a special part of my day that I look forward to. Please return to full portions of icing on baked goods, even if you have to charge a little more. (Dec. 5, 2008)

So if you are wondering why the holiday treats you receive from us are a bit top heavy with frosting, now you know. We have an irate neighbor to appease.

New Favorite

caywood--

Parlour Game

caywood--

It's fun, when you're lolling around already feeling silly, to think up a Spice Girl name for the people and pets you may know.

Bella: "Timid Spice", "Garbage Spice"

Ruby: "Skittish Spice"

Phoebe: "Bossy Spice"

Let us know if you need a Spice Girl name of your own.

P.S. For reference (or can you name them yourself?). the original Spice Girls were Scary. Posh, Sporty, Ginger, and Baby Spice

Furthermore, Wikipedia says they are the most successful gal band of all time and the biggest cultural icons of the 1990's, according to a poll by Trivial Pursuit.

I have to sign off to mull this over. Just call me Life Review Spice.

You Know What's Nice?

dewitt cafe--

When a person reading the New York Times in a public place leaves it behind for someone like you.

Now You

caywood library--

I don't know if you are like me and sometimes cast about for way too long looking for a good book. If you are experiencing this, look no further! We have some recommendations for you, especially if you don't need anything uplifting. Send us yours!


My Abandonment
Peter Rock
About a father and daughter living in Portland's Forest Park, until someone finds out, and then what happens. Beautifully written, poetic, heart-aching, and a different angle from which to consider homelessness. Loosely based on real events. Rock teaches at Reed College.

Castle
J. Robert Lennon
Mysterious, very precise, and pretty unfriendly guy returns to his hometown in Upstate NY. Why? It says a lot that I didn't even like the protagonist for the first 100 pages or so but kept reading. Read it so we can talk about it! Thanks, Amy for the recommendation. Lennon teaches at Cornell.

Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure
Peter Stark
Ever wonder what it would be like to die by drowning, heat stroke, mountain sickness, hypothermia and the like? Now you can (kind of) know! Stark intercuts these fictive tales with details about the physiological processes that accompany each event. Also, remind me not to go mountain climbing with 5 of my best friends.

Carnival Wolves
Peter Rock
A novel in short stories, with some overlapping characters and themes. Starts out right here in Ithaca, NY at Cornell's Johnson Museum. Who could resist? Warning: I found the first story especially upsetting. Come to think of it, so is the second. They all have that quality to them.

Do Not Deny Me
Jean Thompson
Thompson is said to be the American answer to Alice Munro. I read that on the flyleaf; I'd never heard of Thompson, but I love Alice, so the marketing worked. As you might have gathered from a previous post, I was really taken with the first story, about an aging academic treading through a familiar and riskless rut while surrounded by post-modern know-it-alls. Totally nailed the ridiculousness, irritations, and minor joys of academia. The other stories varied in their ability to make me believe, but not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

The Light of Falling Stars
J. Robert Lennon
Just started. Stay tuned.

Bonus:
Marcello and the Real World
Francisco X. Stork
Okay, this one is for "young adults" (that includes us, right?). I was captivated by the cover art, which I found absolutely beautiful and now I very young adultish-ly want a poster of it. It's about a boy with an unspecified condition on the Autism spectrum, and the summer he spends working at his hyper-successful father's law firm. I thought Stork got Marcello's voice just right. Very touching in many ways. I also like that the author works at an affordable housing nonprofit in real life.

Kindness

caywood--

A gift of the Reading-Farmer Chapter of the Caywood Alumni Association. We miss our friends and love it they can find time for the overland journey, which is also why one of us was totally bummed out to have missed their long-anticipated visit.

Brussels Sprouts, Pork Belly, and Thee

ithaca--

Carpentry 101 class today. Skills built? Not really, though I know more reasons and have more vivid images to accompany my fear of power tools. We slipped out at lunch to pick up provisions at the Farmer's Market.

We spent some time basking in the deliciousness of the day and planning future meals.









The trees now mostly look like this, which is an awesomely appropriate sillouette for framing the full moon and the whispering clouds on dark, standard-time nights.


But for today, nothing but blue skies...



... autumnal sunset, and minty flashbacks.