Girl Detective

I started off 2005 with a 50 book challenge, but upped it to 100 when I realized that my inclusion of both graphic novels and young adult novels made for a faster-moving list. At the end of the year, the tallies were spookily exact, though some books could be argued as to which category they belong in, e.g. Persepolis: graphic novel or non-fiction? I chose the former. When in doubt, I also went with where it would be shelved in a bookstore or library. So, the final numbers. Novels: 39. Non-fiction: 13. Young adult: 27. Graphic Novels: 25. That’s 52 novels and non-fiction, and 52 YA and GNs, for a grand total of 104. Apologies for no italics, inconsistent author names, and no links, but all books are linked in the “50 Book Challenge” category.

I’ll start with the bad news. There are only two books I read last year that I feel were a waste of my time: Prep by Sittenfeld and Rent Girl by Tea. Both were highly hyped and featured static, immature main characters. For me, the lack of character development far outweighed any good points of the narratives.

I’ve starred the books I found particularly good. Lying Awake by Salzman was an accidental find, which impressed me all the more because I had no expectations. Ex Machina, Y the Last Man, and Daredevil were my favorite graphic novels and ongoing comic book series of the past year. I am proud to have finally read the entire Don Quixote. Satrapi’s graphic novels were much more engaging and involving than Reading Lolita In Tehran.

I found the young-adult novels by writers who also write for adults more complex and better written than a lot of what’s out there: Godless and Invisible by Hautman, All Rivers Flow to the Sea by McGhee, Sexy and Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Oates.

Several books are starred because I flat-out enjoyed them: Case Histories by Atkinson, The Year of Secret Assignments by Moriarty, Magic or Madness by Larbalestier, and I Capture the Castle by Smith. Additionally, I re-read some old favorites, like Top Ten, Batman Year One, Speak, The Tempest, and Howl’s Moving Castle.

Finally, some of the starred books were not only good reads, but each had a “wow” factor that particularly impressed me: Briar Rose by Yolen, Empire Falls by Russo, Paradise by Kennedy, Bangkok 8 by Burdett, Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro, Housekeeping and Gilead by Robinson, What I Loved by Hustvedt, The Driver’s Seat by Spark, Mothers and Other Monsters by McHugh, In a Lonely Place by Hughes, and Alias Grace by Atwood.

1. Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
*2. Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
3. Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas
*4. Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughn, Tony Harris et al.
*5. Y the Last Man 4 by Brian K. Vaughn, Pia Guerra et al.
6. Best American Nonrequired Reading 2002 ed. Cart & Eggers
*7. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
8. Doing It by Burgess, Melvin
9. Rush Hour 1 Sin ed. Cart, Michael
10. Rush Hour 2 Bad Boys ed. Cart, Michael
11. Girl by Nelson, Blake
12. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Mackler, Carolyn
*13. Empire Falls by Russo, Richard
14 to 17: special-topic research for novel
18. From Romance to Realism by Cart, Michael
19. What You Wear Can Change Your Life by Woodall & Constantine
*20. Lying Awake by Salzman, Mark
21. Carnet de Voyage by Thompson, Craig
22. Tender at the Bone by Reichl, Ruth
23. Saving Francesca by Marchetta, Melina
24. When the Messenger Is Hot by Crane, Elizabeth
25. Stop that Girl by McKenzie, Elizabeth
26. Fast Food Nation by Schlosser, Eric
*27. Don Quixote by Cervantes
28. All This Heavenly Glory by Crane, Elizabeth
29. Beware of God by Auslander, Shalom
*30. Daredevil: Widow by Bendis/Maleev
31. The True & Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Robinson, Elisabeth
32. Embroideries by Satrapi
33. Tomorrowland ed. Cart, M.
*34. Speak by Anderson, Laurie Halse
*35. Case Histories by Atkinson, Kate
36. Where No Gods Came by O’Connor, Sheila
37. Mysterious Skin by Heim, Scott
38. Scott Pilgrim #1 by O’Malley, Bryan Lee
*39. Paradise by Kennedy, A.L.
40. Scott Pilgrim #2 by O’Malley, Bryan Lee
41. The Fall by Mawer, Simon
42. Hulk: Gray by Loeb/Sale
43. WE3 by Morrison/Quitely
44. Daredevil V. 11: Golden Age by Bendis/Maleev
45. Family Matters by Guterson, David
46. The Wonder Spot by Banks, Melissa
*47. Persepolis 2 by Satrapi, Marjane
48. Wasteland by Block, Francesca Lia
49. Necklace of Kisses by Block, Francesca Lia
50. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
51. In the Shadow of the Law by Kermit Roosevelt
*52. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
53. Rush Hour 3: Face ed. Cart, Michael
*54. Y the Last Man v. 5: Ring of Truth by Vaughan
*55. The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty
56. If Chins Could Kill by Bruce Campbell
57. Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner
*58. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
*59. Bangkok 8 by John Burdett
60. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Smith
61. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Rowling
62. Runaways v. 1 by Vaughan
63. The Cute Manifesto by Kochalka
64. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by Rowling
65. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Nafisi
66. A Changed Man by Francine Prose
67. The Clouds Above by Jordan Crane
*68. The Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark
69. Other Electricities by Ander Monson
70. Tricked by Alex Robinson
*71. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
*72. Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier
73. The Queen of Everything by Deb Caletti
*74. Was it Beautiful? by Alison McGhee
75. DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke
*76. Invisible by Pete Hautman
77. Snap by McGhee
78. Sweetblood by Hautman
79. The Kite Runner by Hosseini
*80. Godless by Hautman
*81. What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
82. The Panic-Free Pregnancy by Broder
*83. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
*84. Mothers and Other Monsters by Maureen McHugh
*85. All Rivers Flow to the Sea by McGhee
*86. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
87. The Skin Chairs by Barbara Comyns
*88. The Tempest by Shakespeare
*89. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
90. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
*91. Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
*92. Sexy by Oates
*93. In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes
94. Revision by David Kaplan
95. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
96. No Limit by Hautman
97. Mr. Was by Hautman
*98. Top Ten Book 1 by Moore/Ha/Cannon
*99. Top Ten Book 2
100. Top Ten: The Forty-Niners by Moore/Ha
101. Smax by Moore/Cannon
102. Rent Girl by Tea/McCubbin
*103. Batman: Year One by Miller/Mazzuchelli
104. Batman: The Long Halloween by Loeb/Sale

Whoever stole the sun away from Minnesota these past few weeks finally saw fit to bring it back today, and I for one couldn’t be happier. It’s not enough that the days have been cold, my toddler son Drake is firmly in the “No!” phase, I’m already feeling 7+ months pregnant awkward when I’m not trying to cram both of us into coats and boots to go outside, and I’m tired because I can’t seem to nap (heartburn) or sleep through the night (various pregnancy related discomforts, in addition to a lingering sore throat virus.) So the lack of sun for TWO WEEKS has felt like grievous insult, and has taken its toll. A friend asked how I was feeling the other day. I thought a moment. “Like punching someone.” Fortunately I was able to contain myself. Now that the sun has returned (oh, please, let it stay!) perhaps the other things will feel a bit easier to bear.

*That’s a Simpson’s joke, folks.

My two-year-old son Drake moved out of his crib and into a bed within the past few weeks. Contrary to my fears, his good sleeping habits haven’t changed. He’s climbing into bed at naptime and bedtime, and when we hear him talking we get him up after nap and in the morning. He didn’t seem to be getting out of bed in his room, and he hasn’t yet (knock wood) tried to open his door and exit the bedroom. It was with some surprise, then, that I went to get him up the other morning, opened his door, and didn’t find him in his bed. Instead, he was sitting in the rocking chair, with a book in his lap, flipping pages. He looked up at me and said simply, “I’m reading.”

I burst out laughing and responded, “Yes, yes, you are.”

Late in 2005, almost three years after I wrote the first draft, the members of my writing group told me it was time to send out my novel manuscript, already. Any further fiddling with it should be at the hands of an editor who wanted to publish it. I did a quick final polish, wrote my first query letter (like a cover letter for a resume) and sent out the first ten pages to an editor I met a few years ago at a conference. That was a few weeks ago. It might take as long as six months to get a reply, which I know from listening to experienced, published writers is likely to be a rejection. I already have the next publisher picked out so that the turnaround time should be brief. But the process has begun. I know it’s likely to be long and discouraging, and I think I’m prepared. I’ve unearthed the draft of my second novel, and it sits accusingly in my office, waiting. I’ll try not to let it gather dust.

For those of you wondering about sending straight to an editor and not using an agent, my novel is for the young adult market. Most agents are wary of taking on unpublished writers of YA novels, since the money is much less than for “adult” books. Many children’s book publishers accept unsolicited manuscripts or query letters with ten-page samples directly from authors, so that is the method I’m using for now.

I hope to do a recap of the 2005 book and movie challenges. I think they were a resounding success–I read 104 books and watched 59 movies. This year will bring new challenges; I’m not sure how I’ll be able to read and watch once I’m caring for both a two year old and a newborn. Instead of number goals this year, I want the great majority of whatever I read or watch to be something I already own. I worked in a used bookstore a few years ago, and still have a huge number of books I bought there that I haven’t read. Additionally, our Tivo is packed with films, and our cabinets with DVDs purchased back in the days of dual incomes, all unwatched. Last year I became expert at my library’s online hold system for books, movies, and music. This year, I’d like to restrain myself from throwing any book or movie I read about that catches my fancy on my request list. Especially with movies, I won’t eschew the library completely, but I would like to limit it to a small percentage (10%, perhaps?) of what I could be reading or watching that is currently lying fallow at home.

I made a decision soon after I had my son Drake that I didn’t want us rushing hither and yon on a daily basis to this class or another, no matter how edifying or enjoyable. As I learned quickly, much of the difficulty is getting out the door. Transitions are hard, as is getting dressed, shod, and provisioned. A class or playdate might be fun, but getting ready and getting there rarely is. However, I did make it a priority to get outside and get some fresh air and exercise for both of us except in the most miserable weather. Lately, with winter and advancing pregnancy, I have done this less and less. To my surprise, though, Drake isn’t bored and he isn’t getting cabin fever. Some of the days he’s been happiest have been days we’ve done the least. My husband and I had the flu a few weeks ago, and could do little more than lay about moaning and twitching like zombies. We took turns when Drake demanded attention, but for the most part he played happily on his own and near us. The number of potential activities is growing all the time as Drake gets older–music class, swim class, gymnastics, library storytime, art class, playdates, outings, and more. I try to quell the voice inside that worries that I’m depriving him by not exposing him to things he would enjoy. But I think it works out pretty well to do a little at a time–at most one class-type thing with me a week and one with my husband. This may be even more important for some one-on-one time with Drake once his little brother arrives.

When my two-year-old son Drake woke from his nap this afternoon, I heard him whimpering, with distress in his voice, “Where’s ’something unintelligible that might have been Mom’?” I rushed up to get him out of bed, and found what he was crying for was his new favorite item, the remote control.

We began to let Drake have the remote for the CD changer, and we may have created a monster. When he wakes in the morning or from his nap, he either demands the remote control or to hear his favorite song, which he calls “Hop-Hop”, more accurately The Hoppity Song by John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting, off Drake’s favorite CD For the Kids. Drake has memorized the number of each track of this CD, and has learned how to locate this CD in the changer, as long as we leave it in slot #3. If we ask him to put in a certain song, he can program it. If song number X comes up on another CD, he’ll remark sadly, “Not the X song,” meaning not that song number from For the Kids. When we read Hippos Go Berserk by Sandra Boynton the other day, not only was he naming the numbers, but he recited the name of the corresponding For the Kids song. Also, he’s picking up the names of the other artists we have in our changer, so he’ll announce excitedly with a lisp, “It’s DJ Shadow!”, “It’s Bob Mould!”, “It’s Christmas!”, or “It’s Dog Train!”, which is the new book/CD by Sandra Boynton and friends.

While this is adorable, there is one major problem. Drake does not feel compelled to listen to the entire song, and will often play a song’s first few seconds over and over. I found this particularly distressing on a Christmas mix CD from a friend. I wanted to hear Low’s Just Like Christmas. Drake, however, would only listen to the first 15 seconds before re-starting the song or switching to another one. Over and again I’d hear, “On our way from Stockholm….” and then no more. So we’re encouraging Drake to listen to the entire song, with only sporadic luck thus far.

The holiday season is winding down, and our last guests left yesterday, so it’s time to return to a regularly scheduled life. Having guests on and off, plus holidays, plus days with the grocery store closed meant a lot of food planning–what we’d eat, where we’d get it, plus any cooking and cleaning involved. Things turned out pretty well for us, though, and I will definitely do some of the things again next year.

Christmas Eve we had dinner with our neighbors, and were included in their annual food tradition of chili. Neither my husband nor I would have ever considered kalamata olives as a chili garnish, but it worked and was good. We brought salad and cupcakes, and adults and kids ate well and enjoyed.

Christmas morning I departed decisively from the tradition of my family, who always have strawberries and biscuits. It was long in coming, but I realized a few months ago that I don’t like strawberries that much. I find them sweet and insipid; give me a darker, more complex berry on anything other than a summer strawberry shortcake. So instead I went for savory rather than sweet, and we had my bacon/egg/hashbrown/cheddar scramble.

Christmas night we got take-out Chinese, though it took a bit longer than I’d anticipated to find a place that was open. Luckily Great Wall on France was there for us, and the leftovers served us for days.

In a belated Christmas dinner with family, I spent an assload* on a beef tenderloin from the Wedge, striking anxiety into my husband G. Grod, who then was responsible for grilling (and, we hoped, not ruining) the expensive cut of meat. Like last year, it turned out great–flavorful on the outside and a very tender medium rare on the inside, thanks to the detailed directions from Cook’s Illustrated. We also had salad and twice-baked potatoes with cheddar and broccoli, with leftover cupcakes for dessert.

For New Year’s Eve, we had friends over. I’m not sure how many hours (three? four?) it took to make the lasagna Bolognese, but six of us demolished it in about twenty minutes, and I still remember it fondly. We had salad, a New French Bakery baguette, and pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream for dessert.

For New Year’s Day, we had bratwurst and sauerkraut from Ukrainian deli and the sausage masters at Kramarczuk. This was a great, easy way to have the traditional pork and cabbage. My mother-in-law also made black-eyed peas with bacon, a southern tradition.

There was lots of cooking and lots of dishes, but also lots of good food as we experimented with what will become the family holiday food traditions for our family. We set some good precedents this year.

*That’s an homage to poor, dead, Phil Hartman from News Radio.

I put off my two-year-old son Drake’s haircut as long as I could. Playground mothers warned me, when they admired his curls, that they often disappeared at that first cut. Additionally, they added sadly about their own sons’ haircuts, “He stopped looking like my baby; he looked like a little boy.” So I ignored all pointed remarks, but eventually had to admit that Drake’s hair looked unkempt and uncute, and was in his eyes. I made an appointment at a kids’ haircuttery that a friend recommended. Mostly, he was very good, though multiple lollipops helped more than did the TV at the station. He was frightened by the razor even though the woman was very slow to introduce it, and tried to accustom him to it before she began. She cut off quite a bit of hair–almost an inch all around–and sent us home with an envelop filled with red-brown-gold curls. His hair still has some curl to it, and he still looks like my little boy to me, so I think it was all to the good.

With his sibling due in less than two months, it was also time for him to move out of his crib. We have been extraordinarily fortunate both that Drake has become a good sleeper and that he slept well in his crib. As far as I know, he never tried to climb out of it. I checked out children’s beds at Ikea, but chose a simple futon for a very good price at a local store, instead. It’s a twin bed that folds up to a chair, so it can be useful for years even if we end up getting him a different bed later, plus it’s low enough to the ground, even on the frame, that should he fall, it will be startling, but not painful. We assembled the frame first and left it in his room, then added the futon and the sheets. For a few naps and nights, we asked if he wanted to sleep in the crib or his big-boy bed. The first few times he chose the crib, but ever after he chose the bed decisively and would hop off my husband’s or my lap and charge straight for the bed and get in. We left the crib in the room for a while, then began to ask him if it was OK if we took it apart and put it away. He said yes, then no, then yes several times in a row, so we took the crib down yesterday. As with most milestones, he hardly seemed to notice. His sleeping patterns haven’t changed; he is still sleeping well. Some of this I credit to our routine and the set up of his room. In the afternoon, we have lunch, short playtime, books, then nap. At night we have dinner, short playtime, bath, books, and bed. The times vary, and sometimes we skip some of the steps like playtime or bath, but the general order remains the same so he knows what to expect. The toys he has in his room are mostly his bedtime friends, and the books are all ones that we read prior to sleep, so he associates his room with sleep, not with play.

My “baby” now has a haircut and his own bed. I suppose he’ll be asking for the car keys next.

I heard about a $25 energy audit from a friend, then read it recommended in the Star Tribune. $25 is for a standard audit, and the energy company in Minneapolis will send an auditor to your home to go through your house and evaluate your heating use and potential ways to save money. They will also tell you how efficient or not certain fixes are. For example, replacing our boiler (original to our 1917 house) would take 15 to 20 years to pay for itself, thus it’s not a priority. Yet turning down the thermostat even one degree at night is an easy way to save money. The audit takes about an hour and a half, and the auditor (an independent contractor, not a direct employee of the energy company) leaves a detailed report and a goody bag of energy saving devices such as weather strip, clear caulk, plastic window covering, foam sealant and a low-flow shower head. (The latter item is all well and good for people who have an average amount of hair. I have rather a lot when I’m not pregnant and for the next few months even more; I’d never get out of the shower if I didn’t have decent water pressure for rinsing.) There’s about an eight-week wait for an audit because it’s a good deal and there’s high demand, but if you live in the Twin Cities, I found it very worthwhile, even though it made my already lengthy to-do list has grown even longer.

You start by shopping for new appliances. You end up calling an electrician to re-wire your house.

We shopped yesterday for a new washer/dryer. Simple, right? Look at Consumer Reports, visit recommended stores, choose, buy, wait for delivery.

BUT we have a gas dryer. And a gas dryer costs $50 more than an electric one. Plus, the city of Minneapolis is very strict about who can fiddle with gas lines, so stores will deliver but not connect in the city. Instead, we’d have to pay to have the current dryer disconnected, then have the new dryer delivered and the old one taken away, then pay again for someone to come and connect the dryer to code.

What a pain, we thought. Let’s just get electric. Until we looked at our electric box and realized a few things. We are at maximum capacity, and a ridiculous number of things seems to be on one breaker. So I’ve called an electrician about getting an upgrade.

That still leaves the question of gas versus electric dryer. As the energy guy noted today during the audit of our house, it doesn’t make financial or common sense to use fossil fuel to generate electricity to run an appliance that can be run on straight fossil fuel without the conversion. So–get electric and avoid the $50 cost plus the costs of de- and re-install? Or go with the “practical” choice? Also, can we get this done by the time Drake’s little brother arrives? Stay tuned. It’s an adventure.

#59 in my movie challenge for 2005 was Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, directed by John Hughes and starring Steve Martin and John Candy. Martin is a stuck-up ad guy trying to get home for Thanksgiving, and Candy is the hapless buddy he ends up with for the journey. The movie has a good heart, but felt stale and slow over its running time. I’d heard this recommended as one of the best holiday comedies, but I was disappointed.

#104 in my book challenge for 2005 was Batman: The Long Halloween, written by Loeb and illustrated by Sale. This was Loeb and Sale’s first multi-issue collaboration, and it has much to recommend it. It is rooted in the characters from Frank Miller’s Year One, but expands on them in this noir tale of mafia and corruption in Gotham City. A killer is loose and taking out members of the Falcone family business. Batman, police commissioner Jim Gordon and DA Harvey Dent are trying to catch the killer and collect enough evidence on Falcone to put him in jail. Each member of Batman’s rogues’ gallery is introduced over the course of thirteen chapters, interpreted through Sale’s distinctive and striking artistic style. There is excellent characterization here, and great chemistry between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, and their alter-egos Batman and Catwoman. The story falls flat at the end, though. When the killer is purportedly revealed in one of the penultimate chapters, it is satisfying and makes sense. Yet the book goes on to finger not just one but two other characters. It’s a surprise ending that was set up in advance, so I have no quibbles there. But it’s murky–it’s not clear who murdered whom, and this feels cheap after the earlier, more satisfying reveal.

#103 in my 2005 book challenge was Batman: Year One, two steps back from where I started, which was to read the Loeb/Sale collaboration Catwoman: When in Rome. The Catwoman story takes place after Batman: The Long Halloween, which in turn is rooted in some of the ancillary characters from Miller’s seminal Year One. So re-reading Year One was where I began, and was reminded of why it’s not only one of my favorite Batman stories, but one of my favorite graphic novels. It’s not really about Batman; this is Jim Gordon’s story. Both the art by David Mazuchelli and story by Miller are spare and impressionistic, yet so evocative that the book feels rich and complete. Batman is one of the most intriguing, complex superheroes because he is “merely” human. Year One shows the messy humanity of Batman, Catwoman, and the very fallible Gordon. It doesn’t involve a single supervillain, only corrupt civilians. The mood of this book was evident in last year’s successful film, Batman Begins, which many assumed, incorrectly, was adapted from Year One.

#102 in my book challenge for 2005 was Rent Girl by Michelle Tea, a recommendation on Blog of a Bookslut. It’s an autobiographical account of Tea’s time as a prostitute. Just because a book is about prostitution doesn’t make it edgy or interesting. I found it irritating. Tea became a prostitute after she found out her girlfriend was one, and because she had nothing better to do and the money was good. There are some occasional insights about the relations between clients and prostitutes, and Tea’s honesty about her feelings about the clients are sometimes impressively complicated and dark. Ultimately, though, this is the story of a foolish, immature girl surrounded by others like herself. She does not grow or change over the course of the narrative, and I found it hard to care much about her. The book was further diminished by numerous misspellings. Additionally, the illustrations by McCubbin, a darling of comic-book bad-boy Warren Ellis, were not only stiff and too photo-model based, but they often contradicted the text. I found this disconnection particularly annoying. Did McCubbin not read the text carefully? Was the text altered after the art was done? Whatever the reason, the text describes one woman wearing a floral dress, but a solid-color sheath is pictured. Another woman is written as wearing a conservative dress, but one with a thigh-high slit is pictured. Later, a guy in a polo shirt is drawn wearing a button down. This book’s sales and reviews likely benefit from its salacious subject, but I found the story and art merely adequate.

When I read about red velvet cupcakes with peppermint white chocolate frosting on the food blog Je Mange La Ville (sorry no link; the site is down), I determined to make them for Christmas. I don’t know why, but something about red velvet was compelling, even though I know it’s all food coloring.

The original recipe for cupcakes and frosting was from the cake doctor, and involved a mix for the cupcakes. I don’t do mixes. (OK, OK, I do use those Annie’s microwave mac & cheese mixes for my son Drake, and have been oddly addicted to them myself during the pregnancy, but other than that, no mixes.) The author of Je Mange pointed out a red velvet recipe at Epicurious, so I decided to check that out, search for others, and compare. What I found was that red velvet recipes weren’t all that consistent. Some called for 2 ounces of red food coloring, others for just one, some called for cake flour, others didn’t, the amount of cocoa varied widely, etc. Also, most of them said to mix the red food coloring with the cocoa to form a paste. That’s silly, I thought. Why not add the food coloring with the liquid ingredients and the cocoa with the dry? When my cupcakes came out strangely variegated, bright red with brownish streaks, I thought, OK, maybe not so silly.

This lack of consistency is why I’m such a fan of the recipes of Cook’s Illustrated, where they test the daylights out of a recipe, then come up with a master. When I cook from their recipes, I get outstanding results. Alas, they have never seen fit to do a red-velvet cake recipe, and I think I now know why.

I used the Epicurious recipe mostly, leaving out the extra water and increasing the cocoa by a tablespoon. The recipe made 23 cupcakes, and they took far longer to bake than the indicated time. What resulted were fine, but by no means outstanding, cupcakes. They were a disturbing bright red, so if I made them again I would only use 1 oz food coloring. The texture was good though the outsides were a bit tough, and they had a faint, pleasant cocoa flavor.

The frosting turned out better, but the white chocolate tasted over the top. After sampling several of them, I am convinced that a better holiday dessert would be a dark chocolate cupcake with a simpler peppermint frosting, either cream cheese or buttercream. Additionally, baking 2 dozen cupcakes at once didn’t work. While I’m all for more cupcakes, I think it would be better to use a smaller recipe that yielded just a dozen cupcakes, or bake a larger batch one dozen at a time.

Top Ten Books 1 and 2 were #s 98 and 99 on my book challenge for the year, the graphic novel collections by Alan Moore, illustrated by Gene Ha with layouts by Zander Cannon. I re-read this series before reading the new Top Ten graphic novel, The Forty-Niners, by Moore and Ha, which was #100. Then I enjoyed all of them so much that I pulled out the Smax mini-series by Moore and Cannon and re-read that to get to #101. These are some fine graphic novels.

First, about the original Top Ten series. This is a police/mystery procedural, set in Neopolis, a city where everyone has super powers. Top Ten are the police force who try, and mostly succeed, in maintaining order. Moore’s story is marvelous. The multiple plots threads are complex and intriguing. The characters are many and yet still fleshed out. Ha’s scratchy, detailed art perfectly conveys the chaotic nature of the story, while Cannon’s behind-the-scenes layout makes the complex story flow clearly. Top Ten begins with Robyn Slinger’s first day on the job. Partnered with a big, surly blue guy named Smax, Robyn is immediately part of the multiple cases the force is handling. The twelve-issue series had multiple arcs, and maintained them all throughout as Robyn and her fellow police officers figure things out.

Top Ten: The Forty-Niners is a graphic novel original that tells the story of the early days of Neopolis, and centers on of one of the characters from the earlier series, Steve Traynor, aka Jetlad. It’s set in a mythical post-WWII time. Ha’s art is different–softer, with more pastel to reflect the nostalgia and the promise of the new era. While it can’t compete with the complexity of the longer series, this is still an outstanding story with lovely art and great characterization.

Smax has an entirely different tone. It is set in the immediate aftermath of the original series, and follows Robyn as she accompanies her work partner Jeff Smax to his homeworld to attend the funeral of the “uncle” who raised him. Smax comes from a pre-industrial world where magic still figures prominently, with fairies, elves and more. Cannon’s whimsical art style is suited both to the magical milieu of the story as well as its humorous tone. While there are dark parts to the story, the ending, as is true of the Forty-Niners, is not for the conservative. Smax is a fun, funny romp of a story, filled with visual in-jokes.

Both Smax and The Forty-Niners are good companions to the original Top Ten, fleshing out some of the background. After having read all four, though, I am reminded that the original series is probably one of my favorite comic series. Ever. It was certainly my favorite book from Moore’s line of America’s Best Comics. (Yes, I did like it even more than League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The storylines were more complex, the characters more engaging, and the endings more satisfying.)

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing more than once and expecting different results, than I’m not sure why my husband G. Grod and I keep taking our son Drake out to restaurants. Amnesia? Hope? Insanity? The Convention Grill is one of the most kid-friendly restaurants on earth both in menu and atmosphere. It is an old-style grill that primarily serves burgers, fries, shakes/malts, and sundaes. Prices are reasonable, service is matter of fact, and quality is good. Yet even in such a place, our two-year-old Drake will not eat, will not sit still, and does not have the patience to last a few minutes, much less the time it takes for a meal to be ordered and consumed. Other parents assure me that this is normal and will pass, but it saddens me that Drake is so immune to the charms of eating out. I, however, am such a sucker that the temptation of a cheeseburger (american cheese, pickles, lettuce, mayo, mustard and ketchup), those fries (as long as they’re not underdone; I loathe a soggy fry), and a hot fudge sundae with bananas and whipped cream will every time cloud my judgment and make me believe that maybe, just maybe, this time Drake will be OK. He refused his burger and fries, though he mysteriously was able to hang out long enough to partake of the sundae.

#97 in my book challenge for the year was Mr. Was by Pete Hautman. This was an involved and involving mystery, family history, and time-travel saga. Time travel tales are hard to pull off, but Hautman weaves his story in and out of time skillfully. There are interesting, complex characters who come in and out of the interesting and complex plot. I had a few questions about names, two that were remarkably similar, and one that someone should have recognized, but these were minor plot issues in an otherwise impressive, economically told tale.

#96 in my book challenge for the year was No Limit by Pete Hautman, a young-adult novel. It was previously published and out of print under the title “Stone Cold”. It was retitled because most teens assumed that the book had to do with the wrestler with the same nickname, Steve Austin. It was republished because of the recent increase in poker popularity and awareness, particularly for no-limit Texas Hold-em. It was a quick, entertaining read about a sixteen year old boy who gets hooked quickly into poker. As he learns and wins, it’s easy to see why he continues to gamble. He is able to succeed mainly by learning to read other players’ “tells,” or their mannerisms at the poker table. While this is interesting, it is likely to be dated now that poker has gained a wider awareness. He has a goofy, hapless friend who does less well. The ending is a surprise, but is not unearned, and perhaps the best part of the book. Hautman neatly avoided both easy moralizing and the obvious ending. The dynamic of the main character and his friend, though, is nearly identical to that in Godless, one of Hautman’s more recent, and I think better, novels.