President of AWESOME
Hi hi hi!!!
I like how last week I was all: "next week I’ll post more India pictures (unless something dramatic happens that I need to write about instead)", completely forgetting THE MOST DRAMATIC THING EVER, scheduled for today, which is to say: AWESOME HISTORY BEING MADE AWESOMELY.
Did you all watch the inauguration? If I were a teacher, I would totally have shown it in class. Your grandchildren are going to want to know where you were when it happened! You should write it down so you’ll remember! For me, it’s easy: on the couch in my pyjamas with my dog. AS usual. Crying like a goofball. SO AWESOME. I LOVE AWESOME HISTORY. (Especially when it is also blazingly smart and preternaturally cool.) 🙂
Of course I loved the speech, but I also really really loved the John Williams classical piece, "Air and Simple Gifts," which was played beforehand by Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero, and Anthony McGill. Want it! Checking iTunes daily until it appears!
And how resplendent was Elizabeth Alexander’s poem, "Praise Song for the Day"? I am not even remotely a poet, so I’m always awestruck by people who are so talented at it.
"We encounter each other in words, words
spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed,
words to consider, reconsider." — "Praise Song for the Day"
Plus, like everyone in the universe, I have to say I loved Michelle’s dress (and Malia’s! and Sasha’s! they are so much more stylish than me!), although my main thought was MAN SHE MUST BE COLD. If we had any doubt that she’s a trooper, there you go. Our first lady is so awesome. Our first lady! OMG, I’m going to cry again.
So, all right, I’m going to save all my photos of Delhi for next week, and instead I’ll leave you with a couple of happy Happy Inauguration Day celebratory treats!
First, if you like excellent recipes and gorgeous pictures of food, or if you want to be INSTANTLY RAVENOUSLY HUNGRY, check out my brilliant chef friend Margaret’s brilliant food blog, so that one day when somebody gives you one of her future best-selling cookbooks, you can be all like, oh yeah, I’ve totally been reading her blog forever, because I’m that cool. 🙂
But be forewarned! Have food standing by ready to eat! Or else, like me, you might have to rush into the kitchen and snarf five almond cookies in rapid succession, which will only leave you feeling mournful about how almond cookies are not nearly as exciting as pretzel dumplings or pork meatballs or broiled chicken thighs (true story). Man, I just looked at the pictures again. Now I need five MORE inadequate almond cookies!
I have noticed, incidentally, that there is a lot of food in my books. Specifically, it seems to be my favorite way to illustrate that a guy is wooing a girl, and that we should all be madly in love with him. Alex in This Must Be Love had jellybeans. Leo in Save the Date comes bearing doughnuts and wedding cake. And in one of my upcoming books, a cute guy named Milo gets even cuter when he buys our heroine ice cream and then shows up with homemade banana/chocolate chip muffins. DREAMY SIGH.
Apparently I find boys bearing food to be very lovable. One day I’m going to run out of sugary ways to a girl’s heart, and then I suppose I’ll be done writing romantic comedy, because how else are you supposed to win a girl over? I ask you.
Not only that, but the incidence of yummy food-sharing in each book seems to have gone up the longer I’ve lived with a tofu-eating vegetarian. Adam, are you listening? WHERE ARE MY BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS? Well, I guess that’s how you can tell he’s REALLY cute, because otherwise tofu instead of doughnuts would clearly be a deal-breaker. 🙂
Second Inauguration Day happy thing: a movie recommendation!
I know — we actually left the house this weekend! Multiple times! And one time was to see the Most Excellent Movie Slumdog Millionaire.
A Most Excellent Trailer!:
HOLY COWS, I LOVED IT! It’s adorable and funny and brilliant and well-written, and incidentally I want the entire soundtrack (some of which you can hear on that website). I mean, quiz shows + India + a love story + a sweet, awkward, quasi-geeky hero + unconventional storytelling = of course I loved it. Go see it! Especially since it could totally win Oscars and stuff!
Thirdly, a book recommendation! One of my favorite authors ever, Rachel Vail, has a new trilogy coming out, starting with Lucky, which is out now, followed by Gorgeous, which is coming soon:
I have read them both (because I am lucky and have inside sources who give me such things for Christmas!), and they are wonderful, much like her Friendship Ring books which made me adore her in the first place. Plus she has fabulous covers and a v. cute blog, so if you haven’t read anything by her, you should!
And finally: goats! Seriously, this made me laugh for like half an hour:
You’re welcome. ;-) (With thanks to the observant geniuses at Best Week Ever.)
Happy Inauguration Day! Happy everything! Yay America! Sunshine and puppies for everyone! :-) I hope the rest of your week is equally splendiferous. I hope the rest of your next eight years is equally splendiferous! :-) Yay for our shiny new president!
Quote of the Day:
"This is the best day the world has ever seen. Tomorrow will be better." — R.A. Campbell