Over Under

So long 2012, Hello 2013!
(Where, oh where, did the aughts go?)
Thoughts on the past year--

Overrated:
Swank bars with artisanal cocktails ($12 plus a pop)
Underrated:
Happy hours!

Overrated:
Academia. Race to the Mountaintop. Teach for America.
Underrated:
The arts. The arts. The arts.


Overrated:
Cutting edge social media
Underrated:
Face time.

Overrated:
Annual New Year's resolutions
Underrated:
Daily to-do lists

And you, gentle reader?  What would you quibble with, or add?
In any case, happy new year!


PS: Here's a shameless Google plug.  But beautiful to behold.

My Christmas Countdown

 


















I'm taking the slow boat to the holiday season--

However, here are seven personal favorites:

Lemon bars
Pecan bars
Pumpkin bread pudding
Shortbread
Biscotti
Ginger snaps
Brownies


Accompanied by Donna and Blitzen.

Rereading Great Expectations

Surely, I am rereading it?
If so, why does every line spring so fresh; and why do certain passages seem so apposite
to today? (Check out an early section on the particular terror contained by small children).

I must have confused the watching with the reading, and the other night, turning off the set after viewing David Lean's happy ending, I had to wonder what had Dickens described, and so I began.
Did you know, it opens on Christmas Eve?  I had no recollection of that, either.

It is fascinating to me that the past of England is so gloriously romanticized-(excuse me, present too.
Who bloody CARES which royal is preggers?) while Dickens did a wonderful job of documenting
England's meanness and misery.  

Yes, I agree, you have to be in the mood for slightly archaic language, vivid description and incisive characterization.  Dickens shows and tells, something many modern writers seem to have forgotten.
No recipe today, I must get back to my book.