by kathilipp | Jul 12, 2010 | Uncategorized |
I hate waiting so much.
I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.
And I’m waiting a lot right now.
I’m waiting to hear back on a lot of projects, a lot of queries and a lot of programs.
I’m waiting to hear back from editors and publishers and event planners and teachers and a whole host of other people.
And I hate it.
I swore I would never pray for patience, (I’ve seen what happens when friends pray for patience – I don’t want none of that.)
But here’s the thing – when you start refreshing your incoming e-mail every 60 seconds to see if anyone – anywhere – has sent you an e-mail, t’s time to take a different approach.
So, I’ve actually started to pray for patience. I’m praying boldly for what I think is in God’s will in each of these areas, but I’m also trying to leave it at His feet and not sneak back and snatch it up.
I’m working on remembering this:
Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
My job is to keep joyful, be patient and faithfully pray. That’s all I’ve got.
by kathilipp | Jul 5, 2010 | Uncategorized |
I’m in the middle of writing a food book and am loving reading about other food adventures. Here are my top five foodie books. Nothing better in the summer than reading about other people cooking – except eating other people’s cooking.
1. Animal Vegetable Miracle – A Year of Food Live by Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver is one of the most well-respected fiction writers in the US. (Being a writer I’m suppose to swoon at her books but after reading The Poisonwood Bible, I decided I like my fiction a little more peppy…) However, it is this, her non-fiction turn, sharing her year of eating locally, that has really changed my life.
From turkey husbandry to her disgruntled children begging for fresh fruit, I love their commitment to supporting local farmers and creating a life they want to live. If it weren’t for this book, our back patio would not look like a miniature version of green acres.
One of my favorite parts of this book is the recipes that family members have contributed using their local foods. You can check out the recipes here.
2. Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet by Alisa Smith
OK – so I may be slightly addicted to books about local eating. This time, it’s a pair of Canadian writers who, let’s just say, are a little bit more on the fringe of the local eating movement.
It’s been about a year and a half since I read the book, but I loved the aspect of having to to work with your partner in changing the way you eat – inevitably, one person is going to be more reluctant about the changes than the other – and that’s where the drama begins.
3. The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden by William Alexander
The best way to describe this book is how The New Your Times Book Reviewed summed it up : “Gardening as extreme sport. . . . ”
Since Roger and I have become almost full-time gardeners this year I can identify with the authors trials and tribulations when it comes to having a crop of tomatoes that gets completely out of hand.
4. Tender at the Bone : Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl
I am a sucker for anything by Ruth Reichl. She has held every possible position in the book industry. (Line cook to food reviewer for The New York Time, to editor of Gourmet.) Here is the memoir of her growing up and her food adventures with a mom who had a more that liberal use of the term “good” when it came to iffy looking/smelling food.
5. Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl
Ruth is all grown up and is now the food reviewer for The New York Times. Because Ruth wants to review the way that a resturaunt would treat you or me going in (not the most famous reviewer in the world) she works with a New York costumer to disguise herself. Her cast of characters – and her handling of the sometimes overworked NY food scene, make for some hilarious reading.
Now it’s your turn – tell me the food memoirs you love – I need to refresh my summer book bag!
by kathilipp | Jun 28, 2010 | Uncategorized |
I never realized how often I said this particular phrase until after I had taught at a weekend retreat.
Everything that could have gone wrong, did.
There was infighting in the group, the facility was overrun with spiders, and the woman who was suppose to assist me with one of the worship exercises decided she knew how to do it better than I did and created an entirely new session. (Without bothering to inform me.)
When I got back the evaluation forms from the committee, one of the questions that was asked was, “What did you take away from the weekend?” Lot’s of women wrote down spiritual insights that they gathered from the event, but the number one answer was “It’s All Good”.
I guess I say it a lot.
So when I saw this mug on vacation in Oregon, I knew I must posses it.
It has been a hard month. Roger’s step-father passed away, his step-mother ended up in hospital in Utah (they live in Georgia) and I have to say, this oil spill thing has had a remarkably saddening effect on me.
However, there is a lot of good stuff going on.
- I really like the guy I’m married to
- I’m going to see Wicked tomorrow in San Fransisco
- I get to write for a living
- God keeps loving me despite a lot of reasons He could choose otherwise
- Northern California strawberries
And because I want you to spend a little time thinking about what’s all good in your life, post something by Wednesday night at 9:00 CA time that’s good in your world and I’ll enter you to win a $5 gift card to Starbucks (because Starbucks? That’s all good…)
by kathilipp | Jun 27, 2010 | Uncategorized |
It must seem like the only thing I am doing this summer is reading books (and come to think of it, that wouldn’t be such a bad way to spend a summer…) We have had two family emergencies and a business trip in the past three weeks bringing us to seven different states. Blogging has had to take a back seat to life.
However, with long car/plane trips, I have had plenty of opportunities to read, so here is this week’s recommended reading:
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is the memoir of a woman who, at 43, discovers that her husband is leaving her for a man he found on a gay dating website days before a car crash that sends her back to her childhood home to be cared for. The problem – Rhonda hasn’t been part of her Mennonite community for a while and suffers the inevitable culture clash that comes with any of us going to our parent’s homes.
Why I loved it: She comes from a German background, not too different that some of the foods and customs of my mom’s family. I could identify with some of the culture (and food) that my mom grew up with. My all-time favorite cookbook is 
the More-with-Less Cookbook compiled by the Mennonite church- it was a great peek into the people who are behind the cooking.
Even if you have no connection with the Mennonite church, you will be able to identify with her list of “Shame Based” lunch items and the universal embarrassment of patents when you are an adult.
It’s a beautiful, funny and wry book that I highly recommend. (Oh, and if you can find a copy – the cookbook rocks, too.)
by kathilipp | Jun 20, 2010 | Uncategorized |
Summertime is the chance for me to get some reading done – reading that isn’t about topics I’m writing about, but just things I am interested in all for selfish me. Each Monday I will be sharing what I’m reading this summer.
Plus, I would love to hear your recommendations this summer – we may not have the same taste in books, but other of my reader may just love what you love!
Book Recommendation – Orange is the New Black
It may seem a little weird that I’m recommending a book about a women doing a year in jail for a 10 year-old drug charge.
But I have to tell you – this is a very compelling, can’t-put-it-down read.
Here is the books description from Booklist:
Just graduated from Smith College, Kerman made the mistake of getting involved with the wrong woman and agreeing to deliver a large cash payment for an international drug ring. Years later, the consequences catch up with her in the form of an indictment on conspiracy drug-smuggling and money-laundering charges. Kerman pleads guilty and is sentenced to 15 months in a federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut. Entering prison in 2004—more than 10 years after her crime—Kerman finds herself submerged in the unique and sometimes overwhelming culture of prison, where kindness can come in the form of sharing toiletries, and an insult in the cafeteria can lead to an enduring enmity. Kerman quickly learns the rules—asking about the length of one’s prison stay is expected, but never ask about the crime that led to it—and carves a niche for herself even as she witnesses the way the prison system fails those who are condemned to it, many of them nonviolent drug offenders. An absorbing, meditative look at life behind bars. –Kristine Huntley
Prison is something I have only had a brief brush with – I had a male friend from college who was in prison and I had the opportunity to visit him once – so this was a topic I had no familiarity with. but once I started reading this book, I was presented with a world I never knew about – and it challenged some of my thoughts about our prisoners in the US and our prison system.
by kathilipp | Jun 9, 2010 | Uncategorized |
As I mentioned before, it has been a crazy couple of weeks.
Three MAJOR writing deadlines, Roger’s all-day birthday celebration, Kimber’s graduation and graduation party (which meant MAJOR housecleaning before her dad’s side of the family came over…) and then a death in the family (he was 97 and had a great life, so while sad, it’s also a celebration of a great life) which required a quick trip to Atlanta for a week.
Like I said, a busy week.
So in years past, if this week had happened, all my plants in the back garden would have died a long, withering death.
But, instead, because my husband installed a drip system, we are downright…
LUSH
I hate waiting so much.
