Weekend Report: Hiking and Chris Visits DC!

I have been having exceptionally awesome weekends recently. On Saturday I hiked Old Rag. This is the third time I’ve done this hike (read about #1 and #2). It's been a slightly different experience each time, but the views and rock scrambles (sidenote: LOVE) stay the same so it was, yet again, a win. This was my most summery Old Rag hike – escaping the heat of DC is always a good thing, though hiking when it’s above 80 degrees presents its own set of challenges (well “challenges” might be a bit of an over-statement. Basically, we were sweaty.) 

We got a late start and didn’t begin hiking until close to 1 pm. It was pretty hot as we made our way up the mountain, but by the time we peaked at 3ish there was a nice breeze, and when we finished at 5 it felt like a pleasant summer afternoon.  

Shenandoah is a bit of a trek, so I didn’t get home until 8pm. Though I was tempted to stay in couching with SpeedyKate (have we discussed couching? It’s a verb – just go with it), I had to quick-shower and hop on a bus because my super-awesome friend from college Chris, whom you may recall from Amy’s wedding, was stopping in DC on his way to a new job in Nashville!!! (Weekend soundtrack.) (I'm sorry.)

After quite the Saturday night in Dupont (Capital Pride!), we had an aggressively relaxing Sunday. We went to brunch at Open City. Their coffee is delicious (same as Tryst), but they don’t do refills which is a bit less than ideal. But ummm hello Bacon and Blue Omelet. I might love you. 

(Yes, this is instagrammed. No, I did not do it.)

After brunch we did some serious pool lounging at our friend’s apartment. It was kind of glorious. 

We had planned to run around the Monuments in the evening, but after Mexican dinner at Cactus that was definitely not happening, so instead we drove down and parked to say hello to Abe and MLK and I shared my extensive Korean War Memorial knowledge. 

I really think that no matter how long I live in DC the Monuments at night will never get old. And now it looks like I'll have to start planning a trip to Nashville...on a scale from one to excited, I'm pretty sure you can guess where I stand!

Best of the Week #62

Can someone please explain to me why the Metro is so empty on Fridays? Normally I’m standing on a crowded train, but this morning I had a whole seat to myself (yes, I am a metro commuter now...ugh.) Do most people just stop coming to work at the end of the week? And if so, how do I become one of those people???

Anyway, I realized after posting last week that I’d forgotten to include half of the links I’d found…which means this is a double Best of the Week post! It’s long. Get psyched.

My most popular post was "Slutty Brownies." Mostly because 143 of you googled "slutty brownies" this week. :)

Best read of the week: “From a Familiar Stranger, a Poem Written on the Stars.”

"Daniel Craig Wears a Dress for Women's Equality."





An interesting interview with Jonathan Franzen:

• I feel like a member of a single, large virtual community in which I have dynamic relationships with other members of the community, most of whom are no longer living. By means of what I write and how I write, I fight for my friends and I fight against my enemies. I want more readers to appreciate the glory of the 19th-century Russians; I'm indifferent to whether readers love James Joyce; and my work represents an active campaign against the values I dislike: sentimentality, weak narrative, overly lyrical prose, solipsism, self-indulgence, misogyny and other parochialisms, sterile game-playing, overt didacticism, moral simplicity, unnecessary difficulty, informational fetishes, and so on. Indeed, much of what might be called actual "influence" is negative: I don't want to be like this writer or that writer.

"Portraits Made Using People."

• What the...? Craig Alan make pop-culture portraits using people as pixels. I can't find any details on his process. I'm picturing him dangling from a helicopter with a megaphone shouting down commands to the streets below. How on earth does he do it, anyone?

Well of course I love a FP slideshow about the UN. “Where Have All the Blue Helmets Gone? A look at the Third World troops who fight the U.N.'s wars.” Something about black and white military pictures gets me…idk why.

• For most Americans, U.N. peacekeeping is something the rest of the world does. Indeed, the U.N. monitoring mission that is currently in Syria to enforce a floundering ceasefire features blue berets from 35 countries -- including Burkina Faso, China, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Russia, and Yemen -- but none from the United States. The absence of American personnel partly reflects Syria's antipathy toward the United States, which has called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down. But it also reflects the fact that U.S. blue helmets have become an increasingly extinct species.
• It wasn't always that way, however.

I find gulags fascinating. Judge me accordingly? "Joseph Stalin's deadly railway to nowhere."

•  In the Russian Arctic lies buried an unfinished railway built by prisoners of Stalin's gulags. For decades no-one talked about it. But one woman is now telling the story of the thousands who suffered there - and there is talk of bringing back to life the abandoned railway itself.
• The scheme was supposed to link the eastern and western parts of Siberia with a 1,000-mile (1,609km) railway stretching from the city of Inta, in Komi Autonomous Republic, through Salekhard to Igarka, on the Yenisei River.
• Work on the western part started in the early 1940s but in Salekhard construction began after the end of World War II.
• The labour force was almost entirely made up of "enemies of the people" - prisoners convicted of "political" offences.
• Gulags 501 and 503 were created specially for the railway and every 6-8 miles (10-12km) along the track there were camps.

YES. This looks like my jam. “5 Tips for Hosting a Crepe Party.”

I’m pretty sure I’ve ranted about the use of “impact” before. This drives me crazy – it is NOT a word unless you’re talking about two objects hitting each other. Sometimes I’m ok with “have an impact on…” but impact alone used as a verb…UGH.

• "Impact" -- This wannabe verb came to prominence, says Bryan Garner, editor in chief of Black's Law Dictionary, because most people don't understand the difference between the words "affect" and "effect." Rather than risk mixing them up, they say, "We will impact our competitor's sales with this new product." A tip: "Affect" is most commonly a verb, "effect" a noun. For instance: When you affect my thinking, you may have an effect on my actions.

This will get stuck in your head. You’re welcome. Barack Obama covers “Call me Maybe.”

Dum-dum “mystery flavor” revealed.

• The Mystery Flavor pop is a mixture of two flavors that come together when the end of one batch of candy meets the beginning of the next batch. Rather than shutting down to clean out the candy equipment between flavors, Spangler turned lemons into lemonade and made pops out of the combination of flavors - the tail end of the old, and the beginning of the new.

For rock climbers: “How it’s made – Carabiners.”

"Asparagus Opera." How can you not listen?

Hope you’re not having this kind of day.

I AM SO TIRED.

TELL ME ABOUT IT. I AM LITERALLY JUST EXHAUSTED, YOU KNOW?

WORN RIGHT OUT.

POOPED. THAT’S WHAT I AM. JUST PLAIN POOPED.

I MUST HAVE LOOKED AT A HUNDRED THOUSAND AVENGERS GIFS IN THE LAST HOUR.

OH MY GOD, I KNOW. I CAN’T EVEN COUNT THE NUMBER OF GOTYE REMIXES I LISTENED TO TODAY.

THE INTERNET IS HARD.

IT TAKES SOMETHING OUT OF YOU. IT REALLY DOES.

Don’t be offended non-runners, this is fair and balanced and INTERESTING: “All Men Can’t Jump: Why nearly every sport except long-distance running is fundamentally absurd.”

• There's no denying it—our kind started substituting brains for brawn long ago, and it shows: We can't begin to compete with animals when it comes to the raw ingredients of athletic prowess. Yet being the absurdly self-enthralled species we are, we crowd into arenas and stadiums to marvel at our pathetic physical abilities as if they were something special. But there is one exception to our general paltriness: We're the right honorable kings and queens of the planet when it comes to long-distance running.

I like this “Adulting” post: Step 213: Do not comment on things people are, comment on things they do.

Oh McSweeney’s – There is one particular part of this (fictional?) Q&A that appeals to me, it’s about American Girl dolls.

• What do you think of that new show by Lena Dunham, Girls? I don’t know. I think I am over my crush on the subculture of entitled white girls living in New York. Nowadays I need something a little more related to global crises to get me interested. I don’t care about all those little indignities of finding yourself right now, and I wonder how many other people do. Doesn’t it seem alienating? Like, I bet everyone on the show Girls had an American Girl doll when they were growing up.
• What does that have to do with anything? I think American Girl dolls are the real class divide. If you had one: rich. If you didn’t: poor.
• So, obviously you didn’t have one. Right. Although my mom did get the catalogues sent to our house and I would pour over them with my sisters, each of us claiming a doll and her excessive amounts of accessories for our own. They were our imaginary dolls. We never even asked for one, as I recall. They were like 80 dollars or something (without any outfits! Or furniture!), which in mid 1990s Wyoming was the equivalent of buying a sturdy horse. I also think that whatever American Girl doll you chose spoke volumes about your own budding sense of self. I identified with Kirsten, the fragile and determined immigrant girl from Sweden. My sisters alternately chose Samantha (posh, classically beautiful victorian girl) and Molly (artistic, WWII-era scrappy do-gooder). I think this says a lot about us, actually. [Ed. note:  This is literally Sister2, Sister1, and myself, respectively]

I want to go to here soooo bad!!!! Indian food me, STAT! But I feel like I need a good excuse/reason for a fancy dinner…hmmmmmm, what can I celebrate?

If I found myself in Rockville, I would totally go to this coffee shop. (source)

• "Look inside: You don't see any electronic devices. You don't see a TV, you don't see computers. I'm not supporting WiFi. The only thing we have is radio. The reason is our generation lost it."
• "It" for Almany is the art of conversation, the predisposition to make time to socialize face to face. "In Israel, in Italy, when you go into a coffee shop, you're going to be social.
• So here, I don't want a computer in my shop. Take a break. When I opened, I wanted to put a sign: "W H Y Fi? Why?" He doesn't want to see couples sitting across from each other separated by an open computer screen. "Where's the eye contact," he asked, "with the person I want to be with?" When people complain about the lack of WiFi, he's bold enough to tell them this isn't the place for it.

"Dogs in Combat: Photos."

• Dogs have been working in combat roles alongside American soldiers for more than 100 years. In fact, they have been alongside soldiers since antiquity. But only in 1942, were dogs officially inducted into the U.S. Army.
• Dogs have played a central part in more recent actions in Iraq and Afghanistan where about 2,700 dogs were serving worldwide, according to the U.S. Defense Department. It was the largest deployment of canines in the world.

If I were into non-fiction I would work my way through this list: "Foreign Policy Summer Reading." Actually, I may read this:

• 10. Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan, Rajiv Chandrasekaran (June 26) To assess the Obama administrations 2009 surge in Afghanistan, longtime Washington Post reporter and editor Rajiv Chandrasekaran looks back six decades: In the 1950s, a team of American engineers constructed a model American town in southern Afghanistan -- complete with tree-lined streets, a co-ed high school, and a community swimming pool -- hoping to turn the surrounding region to turn into rich farm fields. Instead, the land, known as "Little America," was eventually ceded to warlords and used to grow poppies that helped fuel Afghanistan's opium trade. In Little America, Chandrasekaran details how U.S. efforts to rebuild the region during the Obama surge failed too, on account of infighting and incompetence among U.S. politicians, military leaders, and diplomats.

Happy Friday to you all!!!

I’m Biking…And Surprisingly Not Cranky About It

Yup, that post title pretty much sums things up – in the past six weeks I’ve run a grand total of 21 miles, accompanied by lovely training log entries such as “BAD,” “FAIL,” “BAD STOP.” (I’m not even kidding. Me = yelling at myself via the sidebar of my blog?)

BUT I’m not upset or stressed or anxious about not running because I will run eventually when it feels good again, and until then I just can’t bring myself to deal. I’m not saying this is the BEST way to handle the situation…but it’s the one I’m going with.

And biking outside really isn’t bad! It’s actually pretty fun. I go every other day and do anywhere from 20 to 40 miles. I’ve biked to Mt. Vernon, Alexandria, Bethesda, and loops around Haines Point.

My Monday night ride. See it on MapMyRun.

I always bike in large-ish quantities because when I was in junior high and had recently started running, I asked my parents about the biking equivalents of running mileage.  They told me it was “about five to one,” meaning that five miles on a bike equal one mile of running. So a 20-mile bike ride is just a four-mile run. Bikers out there – is this true? What do you think???

Anywho, I think part of the fun is that for me, biking is temporary...if my workout life were an episode of Friends, this would be the one where Rachel and Ross take a break and Ross sleeps with the copy girl.

Yes. Ok. Let me clarify: in this bizarre metaphor that I came up with while biking across George Mason Bridge at 6:20 this morning, I am Ross, running is Rachel, and biking is the copy girl. Long story short – taking a biking break from running is fun for a bit. (But let’s not take this metaphor to the next Friends level where Ross sleeping with the copy girl ruins everything for too long until the last season when they finally get back together.) (Ok too much. I’ll stop now.)

Anyone in DC want to bike with me?

Cake of the Week: Chai Spice Cookies with Chai Cream Cheese Frosting

Let me explain my housing situations. My former house, where I lived for three years and moved out of a couple weeks ago, was not only a home but also a job for me. It was a house owned by a national foundation that provides cheap housing to students and interns in major cities, and I was the House Manager. The HM job description is a weird hybrid of resident assistant and landlord…kind of like a super, who also plans house events, screens applicants, buys supplies, and generally makes sure everyone is playing nicely and getting along.

As the HM, my living space was the basement apartment. I had my own kitchen, living room, and bathroom, but was still connected to the rest of the house. This meant that if I wanted to hang out with the 6 residents above me I could...but if I wanted Mollie-on-the-couch introvert time, that was mine for the taking.
It was the perfect second job for a recent college grad/non-profit worker. Residents came and went, 2-6 per semester (since it's run by a foundation, the house doesn’t HAVE to be full). I became close friends with some of the residents (LOTR-Emily. Photoman, etc.), and some remained simply residents, nice people who came and went through my life.

But now things are totally different. I live in a 2-bedroom apartment with SpeedyKate, who as any Eat Run Read-er knows, isn't just a roommate but my friend! It's definitely different than the big group house. I’m enjoying not being responsible for others when I come home, and contacting our landlord to fix any and all of our problems (before I was the one people called – blerg). I no longer live alone(ish), so there’s a bit less introvert time, but as SpeedyKate and I set up our home and establish our roommate relationship, I like living with a friend more and more.

I know she appreciates my baked goods. Who wouldn't want to wake up to this?

And when I came home from volunteering this weekend, I found a pretty little rose left on the table next to my tea. Nice surprises like that just don’t happen when you live semi-alone.

So in response, I left her one of the cookies I'd made for my friends' bar-b-q. They're Chai Spice Cookies with Chai Cream Cheese Frosting. The buttermilk creates a texture like a super-light, not-dry scone...or maybe like a cookie/cupcake combination…kind of like the fluffy puffy cookies. However you choose to describe them, they’re addicting.

Chai Spice Cookies 

(Slightly adapted from Eat, Live, Run.)
Printable Recipe. 

• 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 5 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
3. Cream together the soft butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat for about three more minutes until well combined. Alternate adding the buttermilk and the flour mixture to the butter, starting and ending with the flour. Add the vanilla and beat on medium until everything is combined and the batter is smooth.
4. Scoop large spoonfulls of batter onto a sprayed or parchment-lined baking sheet. These cookies don’t spread very much while baking, so try to shape them round-ish, and you may need to pat them down a bit (tip: dip your fingers in flour so the dough doesn’t stick to your hands as you pat). 
5. Bake for about twelve minutes. Let cool completely while you make the chai cream cheese frosting.

Chai Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 oz cream cheese (1/2 block)
• 2-4 tablespoons buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon cardamom

1. To make the frosting, beat together the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla. Beat in the powdered sugar, spices, and 2 tablespoons buttermilk. Add more buttermilk as needed to reach a spreadable consistency. 
2. Frost cookies once cookies are completely cool.

Printable Recipe. 

Weekend Report: South Pacific at Wolftrap and Grilling

What a wonderful June weekend. Friday night’s patio plans were slightly stymied by an unexpectedly disruptive storm (Trees down! Tornado warnings! Welcome to summer on the East Coast!), but friends and food and my living room floor sufficed.

Saturday afternoon, SpeedyKate and I basked in the glory of truly beautiful weather at Wolftrap, this super cool national park/6,800-seat indoor/outdoor theater in Virginia. We saw South Pacific from the lawn seats and it was sooo nice (listen along with this blog post). It reminded me of Shakespeare on Lake Tahoe that my family goes to every summer: nice weather, a hill, people with picnic baskets, blankets, and beach chairs on all sides. Wolftrap’s summer lineup looks pretty awesome – we will definitely be returning.

We returned home around 6, and went for our first roommates run! Three miles around the neighborhood were quite nice, though we accidentally stumbled upon an El Salvadorian soccer game letting out of RFK Stadium. Soccer fans are CRAZY. Next time we won’t run through that mess in only sports bras…

Sunday was equally glorious. Per usual, I visited my refugees in the morning. We practiced vocab via Scategories and they loved it! (I teach them English -- my only true qualification being that I speak English -- but so far it seems to be working quite well.)

In the afternoon, Nikki and I made our way out to Alexandria to attend a bar-b-q hosted by some other BUSkiers. As expected, it was delicious: chicken kebabs and corn on the cob and lots of fruit salad. Thanks to these friends, I will forever think of grilling and skiing together - AJ used to bring a grill onto the ski hill with us. Mid-race-day burgers anyone? Yes please. I made a variation on these cookies (recipe tomorrow). 

The guest list was a mix of rock climbers and foreign policy people. I got into a deep discussion about the LRA and US policy with people who were informed and interested! Aaahhh how I love DC.

And that, my friends, was that. Hope you had a good weekend too!

Best of the Week #61

Get up at 6 am? Check.
Bike 24.22 miles before work? Check.
Mentally prepare for an awesome Friday morning? Check.
Get psyched for the LLC/6x6/myself dinner party planned for tonight (it involves my patio, rhubarb bars, and cinnamon whipped cream). CHECK!

(View route details on MapMyRun.) 

As you may have deduced, I’m feeling pretty awesome on this lovely morning.

My most popular post this week was, no surprise, the Sluttier Brownies. One of my co-workers is making them this weekend, I imagine at least a few of you are too?  Enjoy! And if you like the picture, click here to Pinterest it!

And to ironically follow-up on my intense baking creations, this post about an “anti-diet” is very thorough. I particularly like the “cravings” section. Here's a breakdown of what your cravings really mean: (read more)

Nicholas Kristof's “Markets and Morals.” What is it ok to sell?

• Is it right that prisoners in Santa Ana, Calif., can pay $90 per night for an upgrade to a cleaner, nicer jail cell?
• Should the United States really sell immigration visas? A $500,000 investment will buy foreigners the right to immigrate.
• Should Massachusetts have gone ahead with a proposal to sell naming rights to its state parks? The Boston Globe wondered in 2003 whether Walden Pond might become Wal-Mart Pond.
• Should strapped towns accept virtually free police cars that come laden with advertisingon the sides? Such a deal was negotiated and then ultimately collapsed, but at least one town does sell advertising on its police cars.

Wow. I never knew that “gorp” was an acronym! I always just thought it was a silly name for my all-time favorite food (i.e. trail mix). But apparently it stands for "Good ol' Raisins and Peanuts." So now you know.

I am sorry to report about your workday Olympic viewing:

• If you want to watch NBC’s streaming coverage of the Olympics this summer, for example, you’ll have to log in to the NBC Olympics website with your cable or satellite account. Having paid $4.4 billion for the exclusive broadcast rights, the peacock wants to make sure it isn’t giving away the goods for free. It can afford to shun the cord-cutters because live Olympics coverage isn’t much threatened by piracy. (source)

Go JCPenny! Featuring two dads Father’s Day ad campaign:

• Back in February, the department store chain faced criticism from the American Family Association's One Million Moms project for its hiring of Ellen DeGeneres to be the company's new spokesperson. JCPenney refused to submit to the group's bullying, and stuck by DeGeneres.

“Inescapably, You’re Judged By Your Language” from the New Yorker.

• In short, different audience, different dialect. The key to linguistic acceptance is recognition and adaptation. Know thy audience, know thy friends. It’s not a matter of which sentence is “correct”—“for whom are we rooting” versus “who are we rooting for”—so much as which sentence is correct for the given situation. 
• Repugnant as it may be, the simple answer is that we need to learn prescriptive English because that’s the way the people in power communicate. As far as daily survival is concerned, it doesn’t matter whether the origins of this linguistic power structure are racist, classist, or élitist, or whether they’re based on the whims of dead white males. This is how the system works right now, today, and in order to best get the attention of those in power, to begin to effect change, we must be able to use their dialect. We must know their rules. 
• People who say otherwise, who say that in all situations we should speak and write however we’d like, are ignoring the current reality. This group, known as descriptivists, may be fighting for noble ideas, for things like the levelling of élitism and the smoothing of social class, but they are neglecting the real-world costs of those ideas, neglecting the flesh-and-blood humans who are denied a job or education because, as wrong as it is, they are being harshly judged for how they speak and write today. 

Somehow I don’t think I’ve ever had cacao nibs before…and now I want them for breakfast.

A new 2.5-hour epic about Hemmingway and his third wife. This is an interview with the director, Philip Kaufman.

• Hemingway & Gellhorn, which premiered on HBO on Monday and will be showing on the network throughout the coming month...
• She never gave interviews about her marriage with Hemingway and famously said "I do not see myself as a footnote in someone else's life." How did you find a way to show the story from her point of view? 
• Were you a Hemingway aficionado?
  When you're growing up, you have to read him, especially my generation. He had the thing with the perfect sentence, and you can smell the outdoors. He had a way you always felt. Sort of like an acupuncturist, he could hit exactly the spot that freed some of your senses. He was great, there's no question. He changed things, virtually every writer after him was influenced by him. Mailer, Nelson Algren, John O'Hara. J.D. Salinger had a whole fascination, a whole correspondence with him.

On NPR's Morning Edition about Ben and Jerry's: "The Graveyard Of Shelved Ice Cream Flavors."

• In what may be a nod to the current zombie fad, Ben and Jerry's also offers customers a chance to make the case for resurrecting a favorite flavor.
• "With aching heart and heavy sigh, we bid Rainforest Crunch goodbye; that nutty brittle from exotic places got sticky in between our braces. 1989-1996. It was a really, really good flavor."

Love this. (source)

• On Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012, I told my girlfriend to meet me at my parent's house for dinner. When she arrived I had stationed my brother to sit her in the back of an open Honda CRV and give her some headphones. He "wanted to play her a song"...What she got instead was the world's first Live Lip-Dub Proposal.

Have a good weekend!

Literary Bite: Night Circus

It took a while for me to get into Night Circus, but then I accidentally Metro'ed all the way to Silver Spring last weekend because I was so into the story I missed my stop! Which means a) the book is good, b) I am a space cadet, or c) both a and b.

The story is about magic, but it’s not fantasy, and it’s realistic(ish), but it’s not magical realism. Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is exactly the kind of book that I usually like. It’s centered around The Cirque des Rêves (literally “Dream Circus”) that takes place at night and is famous for wild magical acts and laws-of-nature-defying tents. I think Morgenstern did a great job of grounding her fantasy in fact. The book was just magical enough to be fun and fascinating with a minor suspension of disbelief, but not soooo much that it lost me (as happens when I read magical realism - Rushdie I'm looking at you).

The main characters are Marco and Celia, two young magicians who have been groomed to participate in some grand challenge of magic that neither of them or anyone around them really understands.

This is Morgensern’s first book and it is impressively complicated. The narrative jumps around in time (each chapter starts by noting the date) and perspective, but all comes together very well at the end. I found the non-linear format mildly annoying, in that for a lot of the book I wasn’t really sure when the action was happening and had to flip back to understand the order of events.

But the book got better and better as I read – for the last 200 pages (it’s 400 total) I couldn’t put it down!
Read a good review here.

My book club is discussing it tonight, so here are some things for us to think about:

Night Circus Discussion Questions

• The novel opens with a quote from Oscar Wilde: A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. How is this sentiment explored in The Night Circus? Who in the novel is a dreamer? And what is their punishment for being so?

• Why are Frederick Thiessen and the reveurs important to the story? Why do you think some people were so entranced by the circus that they devoted themselves to following it around?

• The novel frequently changes narrative perspective. How does this transition shape your reading of the novel and your connection to the characters and the circus? Why do you think the author chose to tell the story from varied perspectives?

• Did you feel sorry for those who were being used in the game -- Isobel, the Burgess sisters, even Celia and Marco? Why do you think some people, like Mr. Barris, don't mind being trapped by the circus while it drives others, like Tara Burgess, mad?

• What role does time play in the novel? From Friedrick Thiessen’s clock, to the delayed aging of the circus developers, to the birth of the twins—is time manipulated or fated at the circus?

• What did you think of Bailey? Why do you think Bailey was willing to give his life to the circus?

• How does the following statement apply to both Le Cirque des Rêves and the competition? Which audience is more valuable: one that is complicit or one that is unknowing?

• Chandresh relishes reactions. Genuine reactions, not mere polite applause. He often values the reactions over the show itself. A show without an audience is nothing, after all. In the response of the audience, that is where the power of performance lives.

• Mr. Barris, Friedrick Thiessen, Mme. Padva, and even Bailey are aware that the circus has made a profound, inexplicable, change in their lives, but they each choose not to explore the depth of these changes. Friedrick Thiessen confirms that, “I prefer to remain unenlightened, to better appreciate the dark.” Do you agree with this standpoint? What inherent dangers accompany a purposeful ignorance? What dangers present themselves when ignorance is not chosen? Is one choice better/safer than the other or are they equally fraught?

• Why does the man in the grey suit feel so passionate about stories? What sort of commentary do you think the chapter "Stories" is on the novel? On life?

• The book takes place at the turn of the 20th century. Why does Bailey’s business card provide an email address?

Have you read Night Circus? What did you think? 

Cake of the Week: Sluttier Brownies

The Eat Run Read scandalousness continues. Judging by the bloggy success of Sister1’s Slutty Brownies, this next creation might just blow the internet’s mind.  It’s her same recipe, but with one incredibly important addition to take these brownies to the next slutty level: peanut butter. Because on a scale from one to insanely intense, these score HIGH on the intensity side. 

This is not a dessert for the faint of heart. I made them as a goodbye present for my friend who is driving cross-country. Forget the late-night coffee, I bet just one of these bars would equal a few shots of espresso and maybe a Red Bull or two. (Just as Sister1 said, these are dangerous to have around in any quantity.) 

I went the lazy route and used brownie mix instead of making the brownies from scratch. And I am a-OK with that! Let’s be real, mostly I’m re-posting this recipe because the pictures are so fabulous. So without further ado:

Sluttier Brownies

Printable recipe. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Brownie Ingredients: 

• See printable recipe for from-scratch brownie instructions. I used a family-sized box mix this time. 

And:

• 1 pkg Double Stuffed Oreos
• About 1/2 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth, whatever you like). 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 baking dish with wax paper and spray it with non-stick cooking spray.
• For the Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer: Cream the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well to thoroughly combine. 
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt, then slowly incorporate into the mixer until the flour is just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. 

• For the Brownie Layer: prepare box mix according to instructions.
• Assembly: Spread the cookie dough in the bottom of your prepared pan.
• Spread peanut butter on top of the Oreos.

• Top the cookie dough with a layer of Oreos. 

• Pour the brownie batter over the cookie dough and Oreos. 

• Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for an additional 15-25 minutes. 
• Let cool completely before cutting — brownies may still be gooey in the middle when still warm, but will set up perfectly once cooled. 

• Note: To half this recipe for an 8×8 brownie mix, simply half the chocolate chip cookie dough ingredients.

Printable recipe. 

Enjoy!

Weekend Report: Floating and Biking

Memorial Day traditionally marks the beginning of summer and apparently DC listened, bringing us the kinds of temperatures that say It is summer and you will rue the day you thought living in a mid-Atlantic swamp was a good idea.

Oh well. Sweatiness aside, I still love my city. And on Sunday of this most glorious 3 day weekend, a group of my friends and I went “floating” at Harper’s Ferry to take full advantage of the summeriness. (In my family we call this activity “tubing,” but apparently to southerners it’s all about the float.)

(This isn't us - I didn't bring my camera on the river.)

We drove out to Harper’s Ferry, where a very bossy and militant “trip leader” herded us onto a bus and drove us to the Shenandoah River. (So much stress to go relax!) But once we were butts-in-tubes on the water it was pure floating bliss.

I am an experienced tuber – my family has been floating down the Truckee River and bobbing in tubes in Tahoe for years. There is nothing better than laying back and enjoying the sunshine on my stomach, gunshots in the background and tree branches falling into the river. (That just took a turn for the unexpected there, huh? I’m not even kidding – gunshots in the distance - we were in West Virginia - and a huge tree branch almost took out LOTR-Emily and her boyfriend!!!) But despite those mild hiccoughs at the beginning, it was a glorious couple of hours in the sunshine.

After tubing we headed into the town of Harper’s Ferry (I’ve been hiking around there before). We sat outside for lunch, then explored the historic town, complete with reenactors and ruins and everything.

(It took all of my will-power NOT to climb to the top...)

We concluded that next time we'll be a bit more prepared and pick a place with a longer float.

In other weekend news, I needed exercise like woah, so the other outsidey thing I did was take SpeedyKate’s bike for a couple rides. Saturday morning I had a limited amount of time, so I biked to Alexandria and back (about 23 miles). That was just a warm-up for my Sunday ride, which I couldn’t start until 3pm at the height of the heat.

The nice thing about biking though, is that you can do it when it’s hot. Running yesterday afternoon would have been absolutely impossible and I would have melted into a puddle of misery. But biking has an inherent breeze-in-your-face factor that keeps me normal-temperatured. I peddled my way to Mt. Vernon, listening to music in one ear and singing along when appropriate/able. Every park I passed through was full of Memorial Day celebrants out enjoying the day, odors of charcoal and bar-b-q wafting along the bikepath and kids all over the place.

I had a headwind on the way there, so I was pretty tired by the time I arrived at Mt. Vernon. And then the sad fact of out-and-backs hit me – I’m tired and thirsty and now I need to get home! 

On the way back I cut across the George Mason Bridge in the interest of avoiding tourist-covered traffic-y Mall. Clearly I made it and was fine (40 miles!!!!), though I definitely drank about a gallon of water and had to lay on my floor for a bit the moment I walked in the door.

I ended the day as all summer days should end – eating (well-deserved?) Fro Zen Yo with LOTR-Emily. Ummm hello new non-fat butter pecan flavor!

And that, my friends, was that. Happy Memorial Day to you all!

Best of the Week #60

The Friday before a long weekend is always relaxing – half the office is already out of town and it’s pretty much universally recognized that nothing major really needs to be started, since no one will look at it until Tuesday! (I'm not saying that I’m not working – it’s just that the office vibe is different). And I’m looking forward to staycating this weekend – chores, biking, lounging by the pool, and spending more than 3 consecutive waking hours at my new apartment (which I haven’t done since moving in two weeks ago – I am the ghost roommate). 


But before that, let’s get on with Best of the Week! (Sidenote: Can you believe that I have curated 60 of these posts of ridiculousness??? Crazy.)


My most popular post this week was Sister1’s Slutty Brownies. Oooohhh I can’t wait to show you the variation on this recipe I made last night…beyond. 

This might me my new favorite blog: "List Addicts." I’m pretty sure that 80% of the time I think in lists.


For those in the District, "Your Guide to the Coolest Washington Summer Ever." I’ve already done 12 out of the 40 suggestions…looks like I have my work cut out for me!

Why Nigerians have at least 2 cell phones: "African viewpoint: Nigeria's dialing dilemmas."

• In the first place, it takes luck for the call to get through, and when both parties are connected, there is no guarantee that you will hear each other or that the line will not drop after a few seconds. A conversation which normally should not last two minutes may after several calls take 10 minutes and, believe me, both of you will pay for every second….
• So everyone who can afford it has a minimum of two mobile phones from different operators. Some have as many as four. They use whichever is operational at any given time.

This is the for-serious magazine cover and I love it.

This entire article is fascinating – “What Do Fact-Checkers and Anesthesiologists Have in Common?”

• What's most interesting about fact checkers is the circumstances they work under and the traits they must possess to perform their job. Generally speaking, fact checking is a largely thankless job where the person is invisible if he does his job perfectly and is only noticed for his work when things go wrong.
• It turns out, the lonely, lowly fact checker, is in actuality not so lonely. There is a commonality of his circumstance and traits among a select group of other professionals, a collective I call The Invisibles, and we as a culture can learn from this unique group.
• Though I've only focused on a few members of this club, in my research I found again and again these same unique traits in other Invisibles, and I've been humbled by them. Meticulousness, savoring great responsibility, and seeking only internal satisfaction are a trifecta of traits—a near antithesis of our societal ethos of insouciant attention-cravers—as a culture we'd all do well to follow.

I know this meme is old news…but still – "Hey Runner Girl."

Make fun of me all you want, I am a book club person. This Jezebel article is pretty funny: “Provoking Discussion Questions Every Book Club Should Ask.”

• 4. This book has sold several million copies and has been translated into 26 languages. A lot of us are kind of resentful about this. Do you think you could have written this book or something? Do you think writing a book is easy?
• 10. What foods or beverages did you spill on the book during the course of reading it? Anything good?

An interesting concept – “Free bicycles help keep Indian girls in school.”

• Free bicycles help keep Indian girls in school under a new state government program designed to help girls in Bihar, one of India's poorest states, where the female literacy rate of 53 percent is more than 20 points below that of its men.
• "We found that the high school dropout rate soared when girls reached the ninth grade. This was primarily because there are fewer high schools and girls had to travel longer distances to get to school," said Anjani Kumar Singh, Bihar's principal secretary overseeing education.
• Poor families could not spare the money for transport, or were reluctant to let girls travel so far away, fearing for their safety.

I haven’t actually read this NYT article/profile yet, but it looks promising (Caballo Blanco should be familiar to anyone who has read Born to Run). “Caballo Blanco’s Last Run: The Micah True Story.”
Ooh and you can listen to it being read to you! Cool! (MP3)


Cute Roulette. Enough said. 


And speaking of cute, I want Shauna's puppy.

Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!