my mailbag brings all the boys!

A few of you have wasted no time in asking your most pressing questions about Pinky. I will do my best to answer them.

Q: Why didn't they ask you what you are currently knitting?

A: I thought for sure that would be the final question, so they threw me for a loop when they asked about my bumper stickers. BORING! I'm not even part of the unofficial sticker war, wherein people select absurd stickers to place on other people's cars while they are parked at work. I suppose I could have blamed all my stickers on someone else then. Maybe they didn't ask about my knitting because they are all reading this blog. Hi, guys!

Q: What was your favorite coffee place in Amherst/Northampton?

A: The Haymarket! I think that was the name of it. I should know, I spent a ton of time there. I must confess, I ended up at Harrell's ice cream shop much more frequently. They are hands-down the best ice cream on the planet. I didn't venture much into Amherst, since there were these "men" types who were allowed to enroll in the schools there, and didn't I go to Smith to avoid them anyway? Which leads to my next "question."

Q: I have rude questions about Smithies but I won't ask them on this here family blog.

A: OMG! They are probably all true. I could tell you stories. Unless your question is about us all being mass-murderers, which is completely UNTRUE. The quad-bunnies are NOT mass-murderers.

Q: Do you heat the coffee cup first? And what kind of travel mug do you prefer?

A: I heat my brewing receptacle first, which is sometimes a shot glass on an espresso machine, or sometimes a glass carafe of a french press. I do this for tea as well. I don't always heat my cup first but if there is a hot-water spigot handy (like in a shop setting) then I will. At home I am remarkably lax, and have only recently invested in the all-important digital timer, but only because I would put tea on and forget about it, and then find it again hours later (or the next day). I do time my french-presses, and if I ever get a home espresso machine again, I can use it to time my shots. My favorite travel mug is a stainless-steel-lined Timolino mug that is available in all kinds of stores and retails for about $15. I have two! They fit perfectly into my car's teensy cup-holders but are a full 16 ounce capacity.

Q: What is in a Japanese Sundae, and can I have one?

A: That will be a separate post. Can you believe that NONE of the wankers at work (hi, guys!) have even asked what that is? They all claimed to have read the profile, but obviously they were only looking for ways to make fun of me, so they didn't get any further than the picture.

Q: Whatcha reading?

A: I just finished A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. Yes, that book. It was definitely worth my time, and was very compelling reading even though things seemed to end ever-so-tidily and I was partially relieved to know that the book wasn't entirely true. I have since started Straight Man by Richard Russo. I am coming to this book from an odd angle: I was prompted to read it after having loved Jennifer Finney Boylan's memoir She's Not There last winter. Boylan is an academic colleague of Russo, and the events depicted in her memoir run concurrently with Russo's writing and publishing of Straight Man. Or so I remember. Anyway, I'm looking for hints of Boylan's life in Russo's novel. I'm a dork. Also, it was what that cute new guy at work was reading when I came up to him at work and asked "What are you reading I have to know because I can hear you laughing clear across the office all week????" and two nights later we went on The Most Perfect Date Ever. It was probably so perfect because he moved away the next week and I never had to have my pretty evening spoiled by a subsequent, gruesome relationship. This was years ago, people, he's probably fat and married by now. *sigh*