Spotted today after work:

I love seeing the horses walking around downtown.

I also absolutely love hearing the sound of their hooves on the pavement!

I have a confession, I can’t finish these books! I am just not feeling into them. I normally don’t read more than one book at a time, but I couldn’t get into one, so I put it down and started another, and one thing led to another… and I have four novels on the go right now. I think it is easier to throw in the towel and say why I couldn’t finish these, than force myself to finish them just to post a review.

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Today is UNESCO’s International Day of the Book (now called World Book and Copyright Day). It is also Canada Book Day, which means we have tons of literary events going on right now to celebrate Canada Book Week. Canada Book Day is organized by the Writers’ Trust of Canada, a national organization whose mandate is to represent writers and support Canadian English-language literature.

The idea for this celebration originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, Saint George’s Day, it has been tradition since the medieval era for men to give roses to their lovers and since 1925 for the woman to give a book in exchange. Also on April 23, 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. However, there is some debate because the Gregorian calendar was used in Spain and the Julian calendar was still being used in England, so Shakespeare actually died ten days after Cervantes. “It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo,” according to UNESCO’s website Quite the literary history behind this one day!

Some events in my radar include:

• BC Book & Magazine Week: Put together by the BC Association of Magazine Publishers  (BCAMP) and the Association of Book Publishers of BC (ABPBC), April 18-25th is BC Book and Magazine Week. Featuring events all around the Province of BC, we celebrate books, magazines, and the writers and publishers that bring them to us!
• BC Book Prizes: The Soiree was on April 18th, kicking off BC Book and Magazine week, this week and last week we have authors touring Northern and Southern BC, and Saturday is the 25th annual Gala, where we announce the winners and honour Terry Glavin for receiving the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence. (erm… no self-promotion here! hahah can you tell I know my work ’schpeel?)
• North Shore Writers Festival: April 18-25th, 2009. Celebrating BC writers, organized by the North Shore Public Libraries.
• London Book Fair: occured from Monday, April 20 to Wednesday, April 22.
• LA Festival of the Book: This weekend, April 25 and 26th.
• April is National Poetry Month!
• Manitoba Book Awards: the winners will be announced April25th, 2009
• National Magazine Awards announced the finalists yesterday, April 22, 2009
• Canadian Booksellers Association announces the Shortlist for the 2009 Libris Awards

Let me know if you have any others that I missed!

I have a few things I’d like to start doing once I move out, but I need some suggestions/advice:

1. Composting. We have a compost bin in the backyard in my new apartment, and my landlord has said that it would be fine for me to send the other tenants (3 other suites) a one-pager about composting… but I admit, I’m a compost virgin. What do I need to know?
2. I want to eat organic/local/pesticide-free produce. Any or all of those options. Is it more expensive? Is it more difficult to eat organic? I’ve heard of local 100-mile diets, and would love to be able to cut back on the transport costs (and polution) that my food contributes towards the world. Any suggestions?
3. I plan to start a windowsill herb garden. I have had a herb planter box before (outdoors), but as you can see from the photos, my cat loves to eat bamboo and grass. I like having basic, chives, and oregano. Will my cat just learn not to eat it once he discovers it tastes bad? Also, if the planter box is indoors, does that alter what herbs will grow well?

Any other suggestions or advice you have for easy Earth-friendly living would be great. I hope to find something that works with my time (low comittment) and wallet (little-to-no additional cost).

I may or may not have an unhealthy fascination with the Tudor period of English history. I find reading about the life and wifes of Henry VIII quite compelling, and watching Johnathan Rhys Meyers get angry… y-uuummmy! So because I adore it so much, I have been trying to pace myself while reading the Tudor Series by Philippa Gregory, and watching The Tudors by Showtime (thank you Marina!)

I have been trying to read Philippa Gregory’s Tudor Series in chronological order, which is proving to be difficult because she didn’t write them chronologically. I read The Other Boleyn Girl first, so when I finished The Constant Princess in January, I almost wanted to read The Other Boleyn Girl again. Alas, I had lent the book out (still can’t figure out who has it — probably my sister though)… so I started the third book (chronologically), The Boleyn Inheritance.

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About a week ago I finished knitting this:

Keyhole Scarflette based on the Ribbed Mini-Scarf by Celeste Glassel. Here is my Rav project page if you’re curious and on Ravelry. Mom absolutely adores the set.

The only problem with the Ribbed Mini-Scarf is that I didn’t care for the construction of the scarf, so I winged it and basically made it up as I went along. So am I allowed to write out a pattern for you? The ribbed mini-scarf was free in the first place, and mine would be too… but they look the same just the make-up is different.

Together now, with her hat which I finished a couple months ago:

ETA: I forgot to mention that by finishing the Keyhole Scarflette, I officially finished Dewey’s Knit-Along Challenge!

Dis is where she keepz da bamboo

Hurry up Mommy! I can’t reach the good stuffz on my own no more!

That one looks tasty…

nom nom nom nom nom nom nom

kthxbai!

A couple weeks ago I arranged a tea tasting and food pairing at Ooh Cha Teahouse. Karen Duffield, the owner, treated us to a spectacular display.

I am sad to say that within the last week, Karen has shut her doors at this lovely little teahouse due to the economic situation. She will be maintaining Ooh Cha as an online tea store, but I do hope that Karen will be able to have a bricks and morter location again soon!

So I would like to share the experience of our tea tasting with you, in memory of the lovely little Ooh Cha Teahouse! The tea tasting include the following teas:

• Lapsang Souchong (smokey tea)
• Assam (high grade black tea)
• Balzac Black (black Oolong)
• Matcha (ground powdered tea)
• Mate Chai (Chai tea)
• Ayurvedic Cleansing Tea

These were all paired with a sample of the food that best suited the tea and some information on each tea and the qualities it has.

Here are some photos from the lovely meetup we had:

Karen Duffield, in her shop (formerly located at 63 Kingsway, Vancouver, BC)

Our group of seven. Relax. Laugh.

Goat cheese paired with Lapsang Souchong

Assam tea (standard black tea) – comparing the brewed leaves, to the dry leaves, to the colour of the tea.

Serving each other Oolong tea

Matcha ceremony

Lovely green matcha colouring

Herbal cleansing tea paired with fresh fruit!

Before we began, Carol from ChaChaCha teablog asked permission to film some of the tea tasting for her blog. She posted this great video on YouTube and her blog. Click over to see a video of our Matcha ceremony.

Things to watch for: You can see my turquoise sleeve on the side of the video; You can hear the click of my camera at points; Chelle, Kerry Ann, and I joking about bamboo yarn.

I don’t have photos of the entire attack, but take my word for it, Bandit Bunny hopped across the street in broad daylight, out my front door, across the road, and up the steps of my neighbour’s house. And when he got there, he got nice and comfy to wait to be discovered with his Easter treats…

Suddenly, the door opened and Secret Easter Sneak Attack FAILED! Bandit Bunny was discovered! Again, no photos as it was broad daylight and Bandit Bunny was trying to be sneaky, and how obvious would a camera look!? Fortunately, he soon found the warm, happy hands of his new family:

Happy Easter Sunday & Happy (belated) Passover!

I find a lot of these news articles especially timely in publishing this month because things are so busy at work as I’m becoming immersed in the Industry.

• To kick off, let’s do some personal plugs: the BC Book Prizes will be kicking off the annual province-wide author tour on Monday, April 13th. Eight authors on tour legs throughout Northern BC and the Kootenays & Okanagan. Visit the BC Book Prize website to see full tour schedules, follow the On Tour author blog, and attend free readings. Oh and we’ll be tweeting all about it as they’re on the road!
• Did you know that the BC Book Prizes is part of BC Book and Magazine Week? BCBMW is co-produced by the BC Association of Magazine Publishers (BCAMP) and the Association of Book Publishers of BC (ABPBC) and it is a celebration of all things literary in BC.  The words festival occurs annually and events this year (April 18-25, 2009) include a Literary Tour along Main Street in Vancouver, and Magazine Cabarets in cities all across BC. Visit the BCBMW website/blog for details on events and to keep up-to-date with BCBMW news!
• The Alcuin Society has announced the winners of its 27th annual Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. Of an astounding 233 entries, the judges selected 32 winning titles. Congratulations to all the Canadian authors, illustrators, designers, and publishers recognized by The Alcuin Society’s Awards for Excellence in Book Design. You can view the full list of winners as a PDF on the Alcuin website. They also now have a Flickr photoset of the judging process and a number of the winning designs.
• April is National Poetry Month: a lot of people across the blogosphere are participating in NaPoMo, but I’d like to highlight this page by the League of Canadian Poets. They have a very informative page on National Poetry Month including links to event listings, historical information, and the Poet Blog.
• Speaking of poetry, Vancouver poet Shannon Stewart, author of Penny Dreadful, has been covered in Weekly World News for her tabloid inspired poems.
• More poetry news: The Griffin Poetry Prize shortlist was revealed on April 7th, 2009. The judges each read 485 books of poetry, including 33 translations, received from 32 countries around the globe. From seven finalists — three Canadian and four International — the prize will be awarded to the two best books of poetry on June 3, 2009. View the list of seven finalists here.
• All the blog world is atwitter today regarding a post at Flavorwire regarding Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. First of all, go and read the article “How to Alienate Bloggers and Boost Book Sales” on Flavorwire, including the scanned letter. I would like to offer some insight from the other side of the fence:
  1. In the publishing industry, embargoed information is extremely important. When we were preparing for the release of the finalist list for the BC Book Prizes in March, we had to send embargoed releases to newspapers and magazines so that they had time to prepare. We specifically requested they didn’t release the information in any way, shape, or form prior to the date. While this may not seem important for book review copies, it could be if the publisher wants to create a sweep of information every where you look on exactly the publish date.
  2. The question of excerpts and quotations in regards to copyright is very touchy. It is difficult to get into (but I may go into it further at a later date), but a lot of people think with the quantity of information widely available on the internet, that copyright does not apply. In the USA, there is a “fair use” clause, and in Canada it is called “fair dealing”. It is always better to check (if possible) before reprinting any quotes without requesting permission. From the sounds of the letter, he is worried about people posting multiple paragraphs as an excerpt and it would probably be safe to just email him and as about one-to-two sentence quotes. As for images, chances are the letter-writer was refering to inside illustrations.
  3. Yes the letter was just downright rude. I’m not going to get into the details, but the person could have approached the letter in a much better way and I am surprised no one proofread his letter before it left the publishing house. Letters should end with a call to action, not a threat.
• Onto nicer topics, oh wait… I’m out of links. Okay time to go read.