2019 by the books

I met my goal of reading 35 books this year! Want to see?

 

Beastie Boys Book was one of my favorite things this year. PHENOMENAL. Everything a Beastie fan could want in this latter-day age when our heroes are middle-aged dads and MCA has been gone for 7 years already.

 

Austerity Britain is a 600+ page monster that took me WEEKS to read, but it was worth it. My year in books is divided in BAB (Before Austerity Britain) and AAB (After Austerity Britain). AAB went much faster since I'd spent most of the summer wading through the nationalisation of various industries and agencies in the late 40s. And post-war rationing. And a government that mind-bogglingly contained both Foreign Secretary Bevin and Minister of Health Bevan. And did you know that the British government "observed" its own citizens, including eavesdropping on and recording conversations in pubs and elsewhere? Kynaston uses the Mass Observation Archives as one of his many diverse sources in this fascinating, dense volume.

I must say The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman, a graphic bio by Box Brown, was pretty amazing. Did you know that Andy Kaufman was an avid pro-wrestling fan, and that he used some of its precepts and characters in his work and in his personal life? Box Brown teaches most especially about the idea of kayfabe (or as some might mis-spell it, "covfefe"). Kayfabe is the once-closely-guarded secret that professional wrestling is an act--staged with heroes and villians and downfalls and triumphs that keep fans involved and occupied without knowing that it's being faked. (Does that sound familiar at all?)

 

Being Mortal, by the doctor Atul Gawande, is a must-read for anyone with aging loved ones. It has a lot of interesting thinking about the grey area between being a healthy older person and being an end-of-life older person. Our society is generally unprepared to support people during this time period when they need some additional help, often medical, but are not yet dying. Doctors tend to want to fix all problems, when the truth is that sometimes this fixing does more harm than good. But when do you stop, and is that "giving up"? Do we farm everybody out to depressing "homes," or try to take care of them ourselves even though it's too much, or is there something different and better we can do for this growing population of needy, yet very much alive, people who are in their last years of life? Atul Gawande goes into all of this, and there is a little progress being made.

Other stats about my 2019 books:

25 by women

3 books about being sober

7 biography/memoirs

4 books about music & musicians

7 novels

1 truly awful book that I read anyway

6 books in graphic form

PS After writing this I realized I'd read a 36th book over the summer, Bad Blood by John Carreyrou. I think Austerity Britain wiped it from my mind for a while.

2019: The Kayak Diaries

One of my favorite things from 2019 is my kayak. I bought an inexpensive molded plastic kayak rather late in the season (mid-August). It has helped me have rare moments of peace and tranquility as I float and paddle on quiet waters here in Southern Vermont. I miss it so much now that it's winter, and can't wait to get back on the water in the spring.

October

Utter calm

Windy day with rushing water--
this was my last outing of the season

I am grateful for every moment I get to be out on the water in my own boat on my own time. I know that I am lucky to have this.

A loved one suggested I compose haiku on my quiet paddles, so I did. I call them kayaiku.


Goose sound lifts with geese
Duck tribe breakfasts upside down
Night frogs call the dawn


Then I'm in the mist.
Clouds lie in the mountain's lap.
Grateful I wore wool.


Shallow shallow deep
Paddle paddle glide toward
That bridge then the next


Smack! Says beaver tail
I was marked an intruder
In the river mist


When it's warm morning
On your small tributary
Who cares for the sea

Anxiety Baking and Pie Tools

Have you see the Stephen Colbert bit about "Anxiety Baking"? It's a thing, and in the past few years, I've found that baking really is an excellent antidote for feelings of anxiety.

During the holidays in particular, I get anxious about all kinds of things that are part and parcel of the season... finding gifts, for example, or the inevitability of holiday celebrations actually happening on a certain day that cannot be delayed or avoided. For me, anxiety is not "whirling thoughts" or worrying with my mind. My anxiety is a physical feeling of doom that starts in the chest area. It feels like an unpleasant alarm going off deep inside, indicating something vague yet inexorably awful. It often comes out of nowhere--gah! Does that ever happen to you?

So I collect coping mechanisms. A quiet moment and a cup of tea can be nice. I do guided meditations sometimes. A long vigorous run on a Sunday afternoon can rebalance my chemistries. I make lists or write in my journal. And making pie can also be quite soothing. There's something very present about baking a pie that confuses the anxiety--plus there's the promise of a treat at the end.

Do you like to bake pies? And what kind of pie equipment do you have? I've started a small collection of pie tools, myself. Here's a tour:



This red thing is a pie crust shield. It can be adjusted to fit over any size pie.

For instance, here is a defenseless apple pie about to go into the oven. WILL THE CRUST COOK TOO SOON AND BURN?

 

No! Simply apply the pie shield around the crust and, as the shield says, "Tan Don't Burn." I like to put it on a few minutes into baking so the perky crust does not get squished down by the pie shield.

Look, it works!

This is my silicone rolling mat, which I like much better than rolling out pie dough on the counter (my previous method). It has concentric circles for measuring the diameter of your crust, though it's hard to see the measurements when they're covered with flour. I do enjoy this mat though. It's larger than a Silpat (the silicone mat that can go on the bottom of a baking sheet in lieu of parchment paper).

This handy device, the Apple Machine, lets you peel a pies-worth of apples in about 5 minutes (I borrowed it from a family member). Simply clamp to a table or countertop, impale an apple on the center arm, and turn the crank to peel the apple with a curved blade.

The blade creates an interesting corduroy texture on the apples. Then core and cut up for your pie.

Two recent pies: apple pie and pumpkin pie.




This is a mock apple pie filled with Ritz crackers and containing NO APPLES. I entered it in this year's pie contest at work (it did not win, but came close). People did not believe it had no apples because it really does taste like apple pie. PS it is 100% not gluten free.

Share about your pies and pie equipment below! And if this is an anxious time for you, I'm sending you a big Internet hug right now.