Weekly Wanderings #42

by Elizabeth on April 13, 2012 · 9 comments

in blogs, links ahoy, weekly wanderings

I haven’t published one of these in a while, so some of these articles are a bit older.  Just FYI.

How to Write a Lovely Thank-You Note: Cate is definitely a letter writing champ, so you should trust her advice on writing thank you notes.  I was raised to write a note to everyone who gave/sent you a gift, unless you unwrapped it and thanked them in person.  I think thank you notes (for more than just weddings and showers) are a Southern thing, but nothing is nicer than getting a genuinely nice note in the mail.

How To Handle Criticism: A Practical Guide – I don’t get a whole lot of criticism on this here blog (which according to the article I’m not making y’all think), but I know a lot of bloggers who do.  And as thin-skinned as I am, I found this really pertinent.

A Slow Books Addendum – I hate being told that what I’m reading is “trash” because it isn’t “good literature”.  Well, what is “good literature”?  Because what you consider “good” is definitely not what I consider “good”.  Just take a look at my book reviews.  I’ll stop before I get all ranty, but this was a terrific response to an article that kind of pissed me off.

If you’ve been following the agency pricing hoopla and the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against 5 of the Big 6 Publishers, you’re probably confused like me.  Luckily Jane from Dear Author, who happens to be a lawyer, took the time to explain it all.  Now my question is, what, if anything, will this mean for libraries?

But let’s get to the important part…the food:

Banana Bread Scones

Baked Shells with Tomato and Mozzarella

Mushroom-Cheddar Quiche 

Salted Butterscotch Blondies

Orange Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

This post is linked to Friday Favorite Finds

{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

1 reese April 13, 2012 at 11:15 am

You know..I have never made stuffed shells. I don’t think I’ve ever bought the big shells before. I have a ton of cheese in my fridge…maybe I’ll pick up a box this weekend! I may have mini shells… but who goes through each individual mini one to stuff them? Yeesh. Maybe I could think up something that would combine all the best things with big shells into a mini shell dish so that I don’t have to buy more pasta,.. hrmmm..

Also… My last attempt at scones weren’t good. Will have to try again!

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2 Elizabeth April 13, 2012 at 3:16 pm

I would just mix it all together and not worry about stuffing them. Of course, then it’s just a baked pasta dish. It’s been a while since I’ve made stuff shells, but yummy!

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3 Cate April 13, 2012 at 5:06 pm

Thanks for linking me, Lizy! Those cupcakes…yum. I’m drooling.

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4 Jason Linden April 13, 2012 at 5:31 pm

While trying to skirt a larger argument, I feel the need to point out that lots of conventionally great literature validates love. Love in the Time of Cholera, Wonder Boys, Possession, and pretty much all of Shakespeare’s comedies jump immediately to mind. If I combed my shelves, I could find plenty more. Whenever someone claims that all “literature” ends sadly as in the article you link, I am forced to conclude that they haven’t read much literature.

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5 Elizabeth April 14, 2012 at 9:47 am

I think the author was trying to make the point that overwhelmingly books that are considered great romances tend to be tragic rather than happy. Of course, Jane Austen’s works defy that as well as others including Shakespeare’s comedies as you mentioned.

But I think the larger point was that different people have different opinions on what makes great literature and that we shouldn’t judge one another based on those differences of opinions.

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6 Megg April 13, 2012 at 10:26 pm

About the books thing. My co-teacher loves to complain about the books the kids read. Apparently she’s used to lovely children’s books with “beautiful pictures”. While I understand what she’s saying, I’m of the mind that if they’re reading, that’s great! It really frustrates me because even the squirmiest of kids we have will sit down for a good 5 minutes (which is excellent, for him) just to read a stupid lego book with pirates. Plus, half of them can’t read, or don’t read well enough to read a decent book. They just like the pictures, and who cares if they like looking at the Barbie book?? (I know this isn’t literature, exactly, but it kinda relates.)

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7 Elizabeth April 14, 2012 at 9:51 am

I used to hear that from parents when I worked at the children’s bookstore. They wanted to buy (and didn’t understand why we didn’t sell more) these lovely books with beautiful pictures – that were full of boring prose. A child wants to look at the pictures if he or she can’t read yet, or have a book with words he or she can read if they’re of that age. It’s rare for a child to want to sit and listen to a long story, no matter the picture quality.

And yes, when it comes to children or adults, reading is reading and we should just all shut up and be happy about the fact that people are reading and wasting away in front of the computer/tv/video games/etc. Not that I know anything about that…

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8 SnoWhite @ Finding Joy in My Kitchen April 14, 2012 at 9:19 pm

Love the baked shells… I’m a sucker for pasta 🙂

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9 Sarah E. April 20, 2012 at 11:52 am

Yummm those butterscotch blondies are calling my name!

Stopping by from FFF

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