I sometimes wonder how our library wound up with so many random books. I'm sure no one ever bought cookbooks with library money. I think they were probably donated by one of our families, perhaps when they moved back to the States. We are pretty discriminating about donations now, but I think in the old days the librarians used to add stuff to the catalog much more freely.
Anyway, I also finished "This Is How It Always Is," about the family with a young son who, over time, realizes she is actually a daughter. I enjoyed it, although I found it a bit cutesy. The parents were both dramatically accepting, and I'm not sure the book fully explored the depth of conflict that is likely to occur in that kind of situation. But the author apparently has a trans child herself, so she has first-hand experience with the issue and I do not. Maybe I'm just a cynical critic. We had a fair amount of drama in my family when I came out as gay, and my family was more liberal than most -- but that was 35 years ago.
I also spent time unsubscribing from e-mail listservs yesterday. I get e-mails from a ridiculous quantity of places, many of which I haven't dealt with in years. For example, the place that digitized my family's home movies, and places where I bought old postcards back when I actively collected them (like 20 years ago), and the Tribeca Film Festival (I left New York City in 2009). I finally decided to put a stop to it. We'll see if it works.
I've long believed that it's better not to unsubscribe from spam because then the spammers have confirmation that your e-mail address is active, and they double down. Who knows. I just got sick of deleting it all.
A few days ago Dave and I were looking at the patio, where we moved the potted avocado tree, and he said flat-out, "I don't want the avocado inside again." So he's thrown down the gauntlet on that issue. This may be its last summer!
(Photo: Tile on the outer wall of the York Pub in Islington.)
I like old cookbooks with notes and jottings inside - all the cookbooks I use have those - the one's left unmarked may as well be binned.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree -- the notes personalize the recipes. I have a couple of cookbooks that belonged to my step-grandmother and they're pretty cool.
DeleteThe lovely old pub tiles remind me of a visit we made several years ago to the Jackfield Tile Museum in Shropshire. It provided visible evidence of England's great tile making tradition - especially through the nineteenth century. You would love it.
ReplyDeleteI would love that! I am a sucker for ceramics. One of my favorite departments in the V&A!
DeleteHi Steve,
ReplyDeleteI really like the pub tile. It is just my style and I can think of 101 uses for it. I know that it isn't something that all people like but I do.
I am so glad that that you just weeded thru all of those cookbooks and got rid of them and your correct in that people just go online to get a recipe but they are great if a person is looking for a original recipe, especially from Julia Child. There are so many copy cat recipes out there. Still I am glad that you decided to toss them out.
How many books do you have left to weed thru? I sure do not envy your work at the moment and since I love being surrounded by paper, glue and just looking at the books on shelves I don't say that lightly lol.
I am sure that your right about years ago that the previous employees did not discriminate when it came to books, even cookbooks. Don't forget that years and years and years ago... (Damn I'm Old)... the schools use to have Home Economics so students had to Find a recipe and shop, prepare, serve and clean up.. Or at least in my class we did so they maybe hold overs from that long ago era.
I am sad that this might be the last year for the Avocado. I really hope not. Surely there is another place in the house for it. If it survives and you and Dave really decide not to take it back in, perhaps you can donate it to a place that would enjoy it. A elderly nursing home, a garden center, some place, any place where it might have a fighting chance if it survives that is.
It is almost 3 in the morning here so I am going to bed now so take care, don't work too hard and stay safe. Hugs... xxx
Weeding is a never-ending process, honestly, but I think most of this recent round is finished. Now we're getting ready to move all the books for our reorganization.
DeleteWe no longer have Home Ec (if we ever did) and I also found some books related to making furniture -- and we no longer have a shop class. So those were weeded, too.
I'm pushing back on the avocado. It may survive yet, but it any case it will need to be pruned before it can come indoors again.
I recently spent some time unsubscribing from emails coming from various sites. Quite right. Never do it from spam and it is unlikely you signed up to whatever the spam is.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the TRUE spam I always ignore. In fact my spam filters are pretty good at catching it before it even reaches my in-box.
DeleteWe read that book in Book Club and most of us liked it...OK. There was something missing from it--perhaps it was too cutesy and not thoughtful enough. My BC thought that the secret keeping was ridiculous, especially in Seattle which is one of the most liberal places around.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I cringed at the secret-keeping too. I just didn't see how that could end well!
DeleteI use my old cookbooks to find recipes I know I love. But you're right- online is where I find most of my recipes now.
ReplyDeletePoor avocado tree. You better start another!
I know what you mean about the "cutesiness" of that book but there was plenty of angst in it as it was. There was so much to love about it for me. As Lily said, "So sweet and so true." Hank's transition was pretty easy for the family but if he'd been a little boy, it would have been harder, I think. For us. Not necessarily for him. No matter when it happens, it requires a whole lot of bravery.
Well, your reaction counts for a lot because obviously you've had experience in this area. I don't know -- I just feel like parents would struggle and even resist more than the parents did in this book. I'm not saying that's the right thing to do, just that it seems likely, although I guess there are (fortunately) some liberal parents who would be more viscerally accepting.
DeleteI feel like I'm constantly unsubscribing from this or that email but I am careful not to do it with true spam. I find that if you gave a bit of money to a candidate running for office, they all seem to come looking for money.
ReplyDeleteLove those tiles!
I've never given a candidate money and yet I am constantly peppered by requests for donations from candidates in my political party.
DeleteTrans is hard to describe or define. If you're assigned male at birth how do you explain that you aren't male as you grow up? We're on the road to understanding and acceptance but it's a long trip.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. I love the fact that we're at least having the conversation now, and that people are better at recognizing that gender and sexual orientation are on a spectrum rather than binary.
DeleteI have unsubscribed from many email lists, and it has always worked. About spam emails I just mark them as spam, and I never see them again. Or if I do they are in my junk/spam mail folder, which I then delete. It works! Now I just have to figure out how to get spam callers to stop calling my phone. It's crazy how often they call.
ReplyDeleteLove those tiles!
That's one thing I fortunately have NOT dealt with -- spam phone calls or texts. Dave gets them, though.
DeleteWe have the Joy of Cooking and it's never used. Maybe I should give it to the library! It's in very good condition!
ReplyDeleteI think there was a time when almost every household had that book! I bet the library already has a copy. :)
DeleteI unsubscribe from spam with steely dedication, though it offends me when they make me fill out a whole form to unsubscribe from a site I never subscribed to in the first place. As for cookbooks, in our family we still use them, and even collect new ones. I just ordered one for my husband in fact.
ReplyDeleteYeah, those forms annoy me too! I do NOT owe an explanation to these sites! I just want them gone!
DeleteI love that tile!
ReplyDeleteGood idea to never try and unsubscribe from spam email. That's exactly what those bots are waiting for.
The avocado would do well year-round on out terrace and I understand Dave not wanting it in the house anymore. Just let me know when it's shipped and I'll watch for it.
One of the few cookbooks we shipped to Spain (and we had dozens) was The Joy of Cooking... obviously not for my use. I just read the instructions on the backs of the boxes when I "cook."
Microwave three and a half minutes on high!
DeleteI would send you the avocado if I could. I might still try to get it to our library. It would be perfect there and the ceilings are much higher.
"Microwave three and a half minutes on high" is my kind of recipe. I loathe the complicated ones, like: ""Microwave two and a half minutes on high. Remove film covering over fruit and microwave another minute."
DeleteI really like those tiles. the library here is very selective about which books they will take through donations. my neighbor had two avocado 'trees' planted in her front garden. both froze to the ground during the deep freeze and we all assumed they were dead. surprisingly enough, both have come back from the roots.
ReplyDeleteAvocados ARE durable, that's for sure. I think book donations were more desired years ago when books were fewer and more expensive. Now there are just so many of them!
DeleteI still use my old cookbooks but you're right - for anything new I just hop online. So much to choose from! Ratings of each recipe! Much quicker and I don't get ninety-nine unused recipes along with the single one I want. I do enjoy reading cookbooks, though. They are interesting, not unlike fiction, I find, except they usually make me hungry and inspire me to cook, which fiction definitely doesn't do.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever really read a cookbook! I think of them more as instruction manuals. But I guess a good cookbook WOULD be inspirational as well.
DeleteI really should have an unsubscribe party. So much random crap! I just hit "select all" & then delete, but sometimes when I do that I delete stuff I really do want. Ugh. OK, you've inspired me :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, I usually do that too and I honestly don't mind it -- it's pretty effortless. But I just got sick of seeing the same old names pop up day after day after day!
DeleteAfter we had given away most of the cookbooks because like you, we check online (if at all, cooking after 40 years of married life isn't that complicated), I got a present of Ottolenghi's "Simple" and I like some of it but, the book comes with a token that opens a free app that gives you access to the book on your phone incl. all sorts of extras, pictures, hints and search functions etc. Seriously, I do not need that book at all now!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think the cookbook genre is one that benefits from being online more than many other types of books (like fiction, for example). Being able to watch a video of a dish being made makes a huge difference.
Delete