Thursday, July 8, 2010

It is an honour

I was lucky enough to be given this token of recognition from the inimitable, stylish, eclectic, and always-has-such-good-taste blogger Jane on the Nearness of Distance. I am touch, honored, and thrilled.

I am supposed to - and will - tell you seven things about myself. I am never sure whether to go toward the big and important or toward the small, irrelevant, but in fact utterly essential. But of course this indecision is very much part of the award ritual since I always eventually decide on the latter. So here we go:

  1. I am prone to food obsessions. I once ate ravioli with butter and sage four nights a week for about six months. It was delicious. Why eat anything else? Like many people (?), my breakfast is unvarying for 5-year stretches or longer.
  2. I believe fervently in a concept known as the "fun breakfast". During the week, my breakfast is always the same: yogurt and tea. But on the weekends, I get to have the fun breakfast. The fun breakfast varies by local conditions. I think this goes back to my childhood: on weekdays we ate healthy breakfast cereals but on weekends we were allowed to eat the sweet ones. And this is important: travel breakfast=fun breakfast.
  3. I am currently obsessed with Ricola. Not just any old Ricola. The the ones that come in a box and that are lozenge shaped (not the chewy ones that come in a small box, or the individually wrapped ones, or the small cube shaped ones).

    It of course happens that this is exactly the shape that is not sold in the United States (though I've heard a rumor - urban legend? - that there is kosher deli in Williamsburg that sells them). And notice all the flavors that we don't get in the US: elderflower and sage. Notice in the picture that the pink box says salbei on it? Proof that they don't export this flavor. It's a conspiracy.
  4. To wit, I believe in conspiracy theories. No, not the second-shooter, Elvis-lives variety. The conspiracies I see come in two types. Some fantastic product that I find abroad is not sold in the country where I live, and I must (must!) have this product, but there is just no way to get it. The second conspiracy is even more insidious. Have you ever encountered the perfect product in some category? Just to fix ideas, the perfect pair of shoes: comfortable enough to wear every day, stylish enough to wear with fancy outfits. If such a product were invented, they would have to stop selling it, because it would destroy the industry. Well, such conspiracies are real. Believe me.
  5. I'm convinced that I've discovered the cure for jet leg. Two glasses of Champagne before every trans-oceanic flight, one glass before a shorter flight. Always follow with a glass of water. Works like a charm.
  6. I seem to have an affinity for countries that begin with the letter I.
  7. I am a recent but enthusiastic convert to the Kindle. I don't own the reader, but use the app on my iPod touch (which was a recent hand-me-down acquisition). I know people of my vintage (and older) always fret: it's not the same as reading a book. I agree, and in so many ways (touch, smell, heft). I love my relationship with books (indeed, relationship: first you flirt, then you're all over each other, and then there's the long affectionate after glow), but when traveling the Kindle reader is great. You flick through pages with no effort, and you don't end up carrying around two volumes of Proust with you (which is what I in fact have been doing for the last two months)...
I'm not going to tag anyone yet. But I know you're out there, and I'll tag you soon!

xo

bb

6 comments:

Unknown said...

oh clap clap clap!!!!!! (gosh & you made me feel like i won an award!!) XXX
as always...love love love your writing!
and yes i am sure you can find the ricola in a kosher store...
everything save eating the same thing and kindle..i am there! (i saw three people reading these..."electric books" books as i call...recently...) books will never die and i am just happy that you are reading! ;)) (er you and everyone)

RD said...

quite ambivalent about the e-reading... but after lugging my proust around with me - and being caught in an unexpected 5 hour delay at an airport - i was sold -- but it will never replace the physical book for me.... bb

Claire said...

I remember when you told me you'd eaten the same thing every night for months and I thought it was a little strange. But now that I know it was ravioli with butter and sage, it makes perfect sense! I could eat this every night for years and be satisfied.

I've never seen a Kindle and I know this sounds silly but do the books you read on them have covers? Even electronically reproduced ones? (I sound about 85) I suppose they must, like iTunes...a good cover is essential.

RD said...

Indeed, makes perfect sense!

The actual kindle devices render all text in black and white, so the cover doesn't look great. You can get carrying cases that give it a leather cover. I use the version on the iPod touch, where you actually get the cover in color. Wouldn't suggest it for reading on the terrace, but in an airport, it's a marvel...

xo

bb

Anonymous said...

I remember you mentioning the product-related conspiracy theory, I totally agree.
Food obsessions: did you also go through a phase of fusilli with tomato sauce?
Ricola: never seen the one with the pink box here either...
xxx
Mia

RD said...

Mia - yes, you remember well. That was a previous food phase. Yes, those pink boxes of Ricola -- elusive, undoubtedly it's a conspiracy! bb

Related Posts with Thumbnails