I Made This

Well, sort of. My first copy of my first book, due out officially September 1st from Northern Illinois University Press. It's even on Amazon, but don't buy it there, see if your local book seller will order it.

Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty

Pretty excited about this. I've been wanting a go-to vegetarian cookbook for main courses and side dishes, and this fits the bill exactly. Mostly Middle Eastern and Mediterranean-inspired, but not heavy-handed about it. Made the sweet potato cakes (think crab cakes -- fritters, you might say), with a Greek yogurt-based sauce for dinner last night. Simple ingredients, easy to make, extremely delicious. I didn't think to take a photo of the meal since we had people over, but I'll try to document more of my cooking from this book in the future.

Instead of providing an Amazon linker, I'm going to recommend checking with your nearest independent bookstore and asking them to order the book if they don't have it in stock. It's a bargain at $35 US.

Just Finished: William Faulkner, Light in August

I've Been Right Here All Along

This is one of those "sorry I haven't written for a while" posts. It has been a busy late winter and early spring 'round here.

Mostly, I've been working to launch the San Diego Bike Union. We've got some exciting projects in the works to help promote the idea of bicycling for transportation and creating a more bike-friendly culture in San Diego.

Francis Moore in later life.
Courtesy National City Public Library

I've also been working on my ongoing writing projects and getting ready for my lecture next Wednesday, April 20 at San Diego State University on the creation of Civil War memory.

The lecture is entitled "Neither Historian Nor Novelist: Captain Francis Moore and the Making of Civil War Memory" and previews my forthcoming edited version of Moore's Civil War memoir (Northern Illinois University Press, Fall 2011). The lecture will be at SDSU on April 20 @ 7:30pm in LL430 (Malcolm Love Library).

I've also been adding bits and pieces to the Peugeot, which I'll write about later. Some time back we added a mid-1980s Univega mixte to the group, which replaces my wife's late 1970s Schwinn Suburban; more on that later.

I'll try to get back to blogging all of this busy-ness more often. 

Now Read This

I'm currently reading the second volume of the set, American Fantastic Tales, ed. Peter Straub (Library of America, 2009) after my wife's hearty recommendation. I'm not far enough in to give a review or to list my favorites, but I already like everything I've read. The first volume goes from "Poe to the Pulps", and the volume I'm reading picks up in 1940 and ends with the present. I don't know if the first volume is as good, but it looks like people on the Interwebs like it. Especially good reading for chilly October nights as Halloween approaches. If you have a functioning fireplace, build yourself a fire, make a stiff drink, and settle in for some good readin' (if you don't have a fireplace, it's probably not a good idea to build a fire).

Bicycle Jim, A Smart Boy Detective, ca. 1894

Can't be too smart if he thinks he can outride a bullet on that bicycle.

David Foster Wallace Doodled on Cormac McCarthy

The Harry Ransom Center at UT-Austin has recently acquired the papers of the late David Foster Wallace. Included among the archive are books annotated by Wallace, like this copy of Suttree by my all-time favorite author Cormac McCarthy. It seems Wallace also made a few "notes" regarding the composition of McCarthy's author portrait. I also like the note on the inside of the cover: "set-up is slow -- does not set stage," which is a fair criticism, I suppose.