I Love Books

For awhile now I have been trying to remember the title of the books I used to love to checkout of the Manoa Elementary School Library. Usually the thought comes in passing, and I always forget to write myself a note to do some online research. In fact, all I have ever been able to remember was that the main character's name was Betsy, and that there was an entire series about her.

Tonight, the mystery has been solved thanks to a blog post on The Twilight Lexicon. Their post, "First Book: What Got You Hooked?" is actually about a non-profit called First Book; an organization that works to provide children with books and encourage literacy.

On the homepage of the First Book website, you see the tag line, "Do you remember the magic of your first book?" This got my mental hamster running, and at first I thought of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her Little House series. But I know I read the Betsy books first, so my mental hamster kept going, as my fingers got to typing.

Thank goodness for the internet! With a little bit of net-sleuthing, you can pretty much figure out the answer to any question, instantaneously. Actually, this didn't take much detective work because apparently the Betsy books have never been out of print (this is according to the product description on the Amazon page). All I had to do was type in "Betsy" on Amazon, and there it was, B is for Betsy by Carolyn Haywood.

Even though the title sounded right, as did the author name, I wasn't 100 percent sure that I had found my first-favorite book series; after all, it has been more than 20 years since I read those books. It was time to Google Carolyn Haywood. She was born in 1898 and in 1939 her first books featuring Betsy and Eddie were published. Amazingly, she went on to continue writing about the two characters for the next 50 years, and she even illustrated her own books until the 70s! Yes, I think I have found my first, favorite books. I may just have to read these again.

In the meantime, I wonder what books first got the rest of you hooked?

Comic-Con 2009

When someone asks “Where are you going on your vacation?” and you say “Oh...to Comic-Con,” be prepared for laughter and “geek,” or “dork,” in response. Really though, Comic-Con isn’t just about comic books and geeks anymore. In recent years it has morphed into a pop-culture phenomena, and this year, it was bigger than ever.

Between July 22 and 26, about 125,000 people invaded the San Diego Convention Center for the Con. Every single day, and every single pass sold out. In fact, if you tried to buy a four-day pass in April, you were out of luck.

Luckily, my sister and I bought our four-day passes in February. I should admit now that our main reason for going was Twilight; and before this year, neither of us had never been to Comic-Con. I should also be thankful now that this is an unpopular blog so I don’t have to worry about veteran attendee ire over the vampire-fan convergence. But, like I said, the Con is also about pop culture, and it truly isn’t for your average geek anymore. Now it includes the general population, and the teenie boppers.

Comic-Con is amazing and crazy. There are an unbelievable amount of people moving through the convention center: pushing their way through to pick-up swag, straining to see the latest toys, getting pictures of costumed attendees, etc. It also smells. There is a lot of body odor and not enough deodorant. You can easily forget that part though, because Comic-Con is multiple sensory overload.

The big name studios (Warner Bros., Fox, Disney to name a few) and major comic book players (DC, Marvel and more) have huge booths filled with displays, merchandise to consider and autograph opportunities. Besides the giant corporate areas for movies and comics, there are sections for gaming, manga, comic distributors, and merchandise opportunities galore. Then you spot a Stormtrooper; oh wait it’s Princess Leia; now it’s Naruto; what is this steampunk thing; look a battle-worn Stormtropper; I think I see Slave Leia; oooh Spiderman; another Stormtrooper…you see? Sensory overload.

Beyond the exhibit hall, requiring hours of patience, are panel sessions. Fans get sneak previews and question/answer sessions with the stars, directors and producers of their favorite sci-fi and/or superhero movies and TV shows. The great thing about the panel sessions? They don’t clear the rooms. The horrible thing about the panel sessions? They don’t clear the rooms.

If you want to see a panel that’s not until 1:45 p.m., plan to camp out in your seat, or hopefully move up if people vacate. But, if you are there for something Twilight related, especially something that includes Rob Pattinson et al, then don’t hold your breath and hope for people to leave.

The New Moon Panel
On day one of Comic-Con, my sister and I arrived at the convention center at 6:00 a.m. Thanks to a parking mistake, we saw the line for the New Moon panel. The sun was barely up, and there were already hundreds of people in line. It turned out that you could sleepover—something we thought you couldn’t do (or maybe we just hoped you couldn’t because we really didn’t want to sleep on concrete). Eventually it was apparent that people were holding places in line and instead of hundreds of people ahead of us, there were thousands. By the time Hall H opened, it was 10:30 a.m., and we were seated in the middle of this 6,500 seat hall. But, we were in.

Thanks to the Con’s practice of not clearing rooms, we saw the Disney 3D panel (A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland and Tron Legacy), another 3D showcase panel (not that great) and a surprise appearance by Johnny Depp (Alice in Wonderland). When Chris Weitz, Rob Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart and Ashley Greene walked onstage for New Moon, it made the hours of waiting and the extremely early morning totally worth it. Interestingly, the screaming was not that bad, and even more surprisingly, everyone kept to their seats. The movie clip they debuted was awesome (Jacob teaches Bella to ride her motorcycle, and she starts having her Edward hallucinations), and at the end of the panel they treated us to another clip (Bella and Alice race to Volterra in the yellow Porsche, and Bella races through the city to stop Edward…clip ends right as Edward takes a step toward the sunlight). It was cool seeing the cast, but honestly, some of them have a hard time with interviews and questions. All in all, it was a fantastic experience. And yes, I would do it again (even if while standing in line, I said never again will I do something like this for Twilight).

The Coraline Panel
The other panel on my list was Coraline. I just wanted to see Neil Gaiman. He is one of my favorite authors, and because of my Forks trip I missed a wonderful opportunity to attend one of his events in San Francisco. This panel was a lot easier to get into, and I had prime seating. For me, the only drawback was that the director, Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach), has a huge following so many of the questions were directed to him. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the making of Coraline, and that night I went out and bought the DVD.

In addition to holding a panel discussion, there was an autograph opportunity for Coraline. However, it was a lottery drawing that took place right around the same time that you had to stand in line to get into the panel. Lucky me, my sister was willing to stand in line for the lottery, and even luckier, she got the ticket. The only problem was that they then put a wristband on her (one that could not be easily removed), so only she could stand in line for the autograph. It all turned out okay in the end. Even though I didn’t get a chance to meet Neil Gaiman, he was graciously willing to sign two items. I let my sister keep the autographed Coraline print (signed by Teri Hatcher, Neil Gaiman, Henry Selick and David) and my copy of Good Omens was also signed by Neil himself.

The Experience
Comic-Con is one of those things that should be experienced by everyone at least once. You just have to get over the crowds and the smell. It really seems like the studios do their best to treat fans to something special, before the viral video hits YouTube and while movies like Alice in Wonderland or New Moon are still in production. The whole thing really is enormous, and while it gets bigger every year, I have heard that the convention center is at capacity. I hope the Con figures out how to handle the Twilight craze, because there are two more movies yet to come, and it is a bit out of control. Plus, the veteran Comic-Con people are not happy with the rabid vampire fans—everywhere we went we heard varying forms of “dumb Twilight”. Regardless of your interest in the different genres of comics, Comic-Con is something you don’t want to miss. If you are in the right place at the right time you might hear people dressed in costume, from different movies, speaking in character to one another. I missed out on this, but hopefully I hear this sort of talk next year. My sister and I already bought our four-day passes for Comic-Con 2010.

Adrienne's Cousin

After years of hearing about Seth's cousin Ty from PA (learned to call it "P-A" from Ty himself), I finally met him last night! Ty and his fiancee are visiting NorCal, and lucky us, he brought his guitar. Seth's mom arranged for us to come over to her place so we could all hear Ty play, and it was a lovely way to spend Friday evening.

Ty is a part of a band called Adrienne's Cousin and you can check them out online at www.myspace.com/adriennescousin. Sample and/or buy some songs, and see pictures of the band. Ty does the lead vocals, writes songs and plays the guitar. Adrienne's Cousin has a chillaxed sort of vibe. The kind that's perfect for lawn concerts in the summer.

Forks, WA

If I was in elementary school and had to tell my class about how I spent my summer, this is what I would say: "On my summer vacation I went to Forks, Washington. Forks is located on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. It is three-hour drive from the Bremerton Ferry; which is about an hour ride from Seattle. It takes about half a day to get out to Forks from Seattle. You can also take the Ferry to Bainbridge Island, or you can just drive around the water."

Forks is just about the smallest town I have ever been to on the continental United States; the 101 cuts right through the town, and you need some vampire driving skills if you want to make the 60-mile drive from Port Angeles to Forks in under an hour. This was a difficult trip to plan—I had no idea what to expect, and since the Forks/Twilight craze is relatively new, there aren’t a whole lot of online tips to planning a trip if you don’t have time to comb through Google. I thought I would share my experience in the unlikely event that my blog shows up in someone’s search for trips to Fork.

Driving
You will need a car to get to Forks from SeaTac. Get a car with GPS and a CD player, or a jack in which you can plug in your iPod. Our car had both of these features, as well as Sirius, but satellite radio becomes spotty once you start heading away from Port Angeles to Forks. The drive from the Bremerton Ferry to Forks is about 98 miles, and it’s a good two and a half to three hours. The 60 miles from Port Angeles to Forks is mostly a two lane highway, with no divider, and no lights. In addition, the road leads you around Lake Crescent, so it winds. A lot.

I made my trip in July, so the sun does not set until after 9:00 p.m. that far North, but I would not want to make this drive in the dark. You can also take the Bainbridge Ferry, but a friend of mine, who also happens to be from Seattle, suggested Bremerton. If you are in a car, you can drive your car directly onto the Ferry, and get out and walk around for the one-hour ride. There is a fee for the car and driver, and passengers pay a lesser amount (on the way back to Seattle, passengers do not have to pay). There is also the option of driving South on the 5 through Tacoma and then heading back North around Olympia. Either way, plan on spending at least half the day to get out to Forks from Seattle.

Accommodations
Finding a place to stay in Forks was difficult. There aren’t very many reviews of the different inns and motels in the area when you search Travelocity or Orbitz. I went to the Forks Chamber of Commerce website for some options, but I believe they only list Chamber members, and beyond this list, there are a few other options. You can go the B&B route, but this didn’t seem like a good option for us since you have to share bathrooms with other guests in some of these places. Our trip, also had some uncertainty about how many of us would embark on this adventure. After a relatively extensive search, I decided upon the Olympic Suites Inn. From the photos and description, this seemed like the best option, but I did worry about cleanliness, as well as the non-ghetto factor.

Luckily, the Olympic Suites Inn was great! We had a King suite, so it had a full kitchen, full bath, living room area and a bedroom with a king bed. I believe the couch might have been a fold-out. You can rent cookware for $10 from the Inn if you want to cook. It was clean, and the bathroom was remodeled. The older gentleman who checked us in was a really sweet guy. He’s a bit religious, but he seems to embrace Twilight and the craze it has brought to his small town. I recommend the Olympic Suites Inn—if you are going to visit Forks in the summer, make your reservations in the early Spring. Forks is a destination for the hunting-fishing-camping folk during the summer, so the town does have periods of no vacancy. The Olympic Suites Inn has now hosted guests from 30 different countries.

Forks Food
Warning: Most restaurants in Forks close at 9:00 p.m., even on Saturday night. Of course, if you stay at the Olympic Suites Inn you can cook your own food. If you are used to some really great eats, then maybe you should cook. We actually only ate at one restaurant in Forks, so I don’t have anything to recommend. On the first night we arrived, we ate at Golden Gate Restaurant—yes, a Chinese restaurant. It was not the best, but I am used to Chinese food from Hawaii, Southern California and the Bay Area, and all three places have large Chinese populations.

Of course, there is always Bella Italia in Port Angeles, a.k.a. where Bella and Edward had their first dinner date. Rumor has it that Bella Italia never had mushroom ravioli on its menu until the Twilight phenomena erupted, and has since sold more than 250,000 dishes. For breakfast, we ate at First Street Haven in Port Angeles. This is a small place, but the food is good! I had the eggs benedict.

We also ate at the River’s Edge Restaurant in La Push. This came at the recommendation of the nice old man at the Inn. My sisters thought the food was good, but the place was a little dirty for my liking. The restaurant really is at the edge of the river, and you can sit in a window seat to get a view of the water. They have homemade pie, and my sister gave it the thumbs up.

What to Do
Forks is a great destination for anyone who enjoys camping, hunting, fishing or hiking. If you dare, there is also surfing; but you will need a 5/4 wetsuit, booties and a hood. Here is a list of things to do and see for Twilight fans:

• Forks Chamber of Commerce—make stopping here a priority because they have a list of Twilight related sites to see in the town, and this is where you will find “Bella’s truck,” but check their website for hours; we missed them on a Sunday because they closed at 4:00 p.m.
  
• The “Welcome to Forks” sign—photo op and it is amazing to see that their population is just over 3,000 people!
  
• Forks High School—photo op!
  
• Forks Community Hospital—we missed this, but heard that there is a reserved spot for one Dr. Carlisle Cullen
  
• Bella’s House—we missed this one too
  
• J&P Produce—one stop shopping for groceries and Twilight tchotckes
  
• 98331 Gear—a small, retail store where you can find Twilight gear
  
• Dazzled by Twilight—another retail store to sate your thirst for Twilight gear and they offer tours; this has more selection than 98331 Gear, but a lot of stuff here can also be found at Hot Topic
  
• First Beach, Second Beach and Third Beach—located in La Push, these three beaches are cool photo ops, but be warned, it is cold
  
• The “Treaty Line”—just a banner of sorts, but honestly it’s cute and it’s funny
  
• Bella Italia—you must drive 60 miles to Port Angeles for this one, but it’s the restaurant where Bella ate her mushroom ravioli after Edward roared in with his shiny Volvo to save the day
  

If you want to mix in some non-Twilight activities, there is a visitor center in Port Angeles for the Olympic National Forest. From Forks you can also make a drive out to the Hoh Rainforest; this drive is about 24 miles away, along the two-lane 101. We did not make it out there, but it’s a place I would definitely want to see next time (yes, I said next time). Finally, please stop at the West End Surf Shop! The owners lived in Hawaii before returning to the Pacific Northwest, and I always like to support people from the rock. Plus, the shop is cool, and you can find great gifts to take home for your own surfer (Seth got a t-shirt), and the guy working in there was a nice young dude.

Other Random Tidbits
Forks is a small town. Did I mention that already? The 101 cuts through it, and not in the way that the 101 cuts through the Valley. The 101 in Forks is a two-lane highway.

In addition, cell phone service is spotty, and there is no Starbucks. On the flipside, it’s kind of nice to not be totally available for communication, and if you crave coffee, Forks has two drive-thru coffee stands. And honestly, the Olympic Peninsula is absolutely gorgeous. Normally Mother Nature and I sidestep each other, but there is just something about the Pacific Northwest that makes me almost want to hug her. It is a very calming place, and I love the water and the green, green scenery. I would go back again, and for more than just Twilight.

The Seven-Day, or Rather Four-Month Quilt

This is a wedding gift for friends who were married in March, and the pattern came from the 7-Day Quilts book by Leisure Arts. It would have been completed on time had I not decided to quilt this freehand, by hand. It's now July, and I have FINALLY finished. As much as I love CB and AT, I am thinking that next time it would be better to pay someone the $75 to do the quilting by machine.

As for the material selection, well, they are both USC alumni, and Seth has enjoyed several great tailgate parties with them. Perhaps this will make an appearance at the Coliseum this season.

Neil Gaiman is Coming to the Bay Area But I'll Be in Forks

Woe is me. One of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, will be in San Francisco on Sunday, July 19 at Comix Experience. The opportunity is open only to the first 100 people who purchase Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader from Comix Experience. I will definitely not be one of hundred as I will be traipsing around Forks on my own little Twilight adventure. And while I do love Twilight, I absolutely love Neil Gaiman's books, and this is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: From 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. you can experience a reading/Q&A/signing session with Neil Gaiman! Visit the Robot 6 transmission for more details on how you can be one of the hundred. I will only be forever jealous.

Apricot Sorbet

The apricots are quickly reaching the point of nearly-too-ripe, so I have spent almost everyday this week making some sort of food item involving them. This sorbet is my most recent apricot adventure in the kitchen. Thanks to kk of the myfoodaffair blog for directing me to this recipe. The recipe is actually from another blog, Annie's Eats. As you can see, Annie's sorbet came out significantly lighter in color, and much more frozen in its consistency than mine. If you have ever had Trader Joe's sorbet, that is the consistency of my sorbet.

All in all, it's a refreshing treat and I wish I had made it over the weekend during the 103 degree weather we had in Walnut Creek. Also, it was well worth it to buy the ice cream maker. I see homemade ice cream and sorbet in my future.