(Also see the posts Children’s Classics and All Ages Manga.) Jane Simmons Quack, Daisy, QUACK! is a colorful picture book with two big bonuses: ducks quacking and the Monet-ish pond and garden backdrops. (With the exception of the first and last pages, the book consists of two-page oil paintings.) The ducks themselves (featuring yellow duckling…
Author: Penelope Gordon
Food Media
Books Also see the Food in Fiction post and posts in the Nutriate Related category under Books, Nonfiction. Cuisine Exploration Food Lover’s Guide to the World published by Lonely Planet. With introductions by Mark Bittman and James Oseland. Dirt Candy: A Cookbook: Flavor-Forward Food from the Upstart New York City Vegetarian Restaurant by Amanda Cohen,…
Food Vocabulary
Grains, Nuts, Seeds, Fats buckwheat flour whole-wheat vs. whole-grain native pea starch – Socode, a Belgian animal feed ingredient company, produces a native pea starch made from yellow peas. Per the Socode Web site, they separate and decant the protein (25%), fiber (15%), ash and sugars (8%), and fat (2%) from the starch (50%). (First…
Writing Notes
(Refer to the Text Fragments post for interesting words and phrases.) Words hyphenated words: Generally words migrate from open (two words) through hyphenation to closed (one word). ‘life cycle’ appear to be skipping the hyphenation phase and though the open form still predominates, the closed form (‘lifecycle’) is gaining. Before versions are generally considered correct….
Teen Manga
School Gunnerkrigg Court Thomas Siddell’s rendering of unusual students at a British boarding school is reminiscent (in an excellent fashion) in both art and characters to San Francisco resident Ted Naifeh’s Courtney Crumrin series. It’s interesting that both series though written by men are centered on extremely bright young women unfazed by the beasties around…
Adult Manga
Western Scalped Scalped The Gnawing Vol 6 by Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera, published by Vertigo. Graphic novel series. More violent than 100 Bullets. Spy, Military, Ninja Greg Rucka Queen & Country series: criticized by some because while the main protagonist (Tara Chase) is a female Brit, the writer is a male native of San…
All Ages Manga
(Also see the post Children’s Fiction.) Paranormal Courtney Crumrin; Polly and the Pirates Ted Naifeh brings great characterization and detail to all of his art (including Gloom Cookie and Kin) but it is the stories that he also writes that we get to truly appreciate his storytelling. It may seem odd that the best stories…
Photo ID
Fewer teens want to drive yet automakers court them. – while this article is focused on the next generation of US automobile buyers, the data points provided are very pertinent to the current debate regarding requiring citizens to show US government-issued photo IDs before voting. The percentage of 19-year-olds without a driver’s license has doubled…
Laundry
Wash Use a liquid, phosphate-free, concentrated detergent. Measure per the instructions. Sort laundry first by weight. For example, jeans, towels, and sweats go in the heavy load; button up shirts, underwear, and dress socks go in the light load. T-shirts, collared, knit shirts, and sports socks can go either way. If you have enough…
Works by Neil Gaiman
Penelope’s Pinterest Board related to Neil Gaiman’s works. 2013 April Poem A Gaiman poem with which to kickoff National Poetry Month. 2012 May Commencement Speech Twenty minute video of Neil Gaiman’s inspiring commencement speech at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts in May 2012. This speech will be published in book form under the title ‘Neil…