Hello my turtle doves, how’s every little thing? It’s Tuesday, the sky is blue, the Scotch is plentiful and all is right in the world so it’s time to find out What Miss Plumcake is…
Reading – Nabokov’s Butterfly and Other Stories of Great Authors and Rare Books by Rick Gekoski. Legendary rare book dealer, Man Booker Prize judge and semi-scoundrel Rick Gekoski tells the story of how his life has intertwined with several of the world’s most collectible books and literary objects J.R.R. Tolkein’s university gown (the books was published as Tolkein’s Gown and Other Stories of Great Authors and Rare Books in the UK) including Grahame Greene’s first edition of Lolita adorned with Nabokov’s signature hand-drawn butterflies.
Watching – Sherlock. You guys. Seriously now, you NEED to watch this and do it fast because it’s available for free streaming on the PBS website until December 7. In this three-part series for BBC Wales and Masterpiece Mystery, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson are 21st century characters as gripping and real as any contemporary crime procedural. Benedict Cumberbatch (whose name I cannot help but read as Cummerbund Bandersnatch) plays the best detective this Holmes girl has ever seen or heard.
Hearing – Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. The best pop album of all time. That is all. Also, auto tune people people? .
Smelling – Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day cleaning products in Geranium. Cleaning, like monogamy and parenting, is one of those things better left to people who aren’t me. I kind of morally object to having to clean up after myself. I mean, I DO it, because I can’t find a cleaning gal I like and the last one stole all my best prescription drugs, but I’m NOT happy about it. It’s hard enough to find the time to MAKE the mess, and now I’m supposed to fix it too? Why is life so cruel? Still, I find the job a little less offensive with these schmancy organic products that make Chateau Gateau smell particularly lovely.
Loving – All the new Manolo blogs! Our very own Twistie at Crafty Manolo, Glinda at Manolo for the Beauty and frequent commenter La Petite Acadienne at Manolo Jewelry. Does this mean Miss Plumcake might be expanding her Manolo Horizons too? Maaaybe.
Hating – Ice Cream. All of it. No reason, I just hate it. It’s hard milk, but not cheese and thus is of the serpent.
Wanting – Jimmy Choo Crocodile Wellington Boots. There is NOTHING in that title the doesn’t make me happy. Fortunately for my bank account, there’s no way the calves would be big enough because if you think I wouldn’t spend $400 I don’t have on a pair of rain boots I don’t need because they’re CROCODILE WELLIES then you don’t know me very well.
Buying – Macaroons. I love macaroons. Not the mysteriously-trendy macarons, whose pastel allure has historically escaped me, but proper almond and coconut macaroons. I usually make my own or get them from Moonlight Bakery here in town, but if you wanted to send some to a friend, the folks at Scott’s Cakes do a fine job too.
So what about you? What do you have going on this week?
Oh…those boots.
Honestly, they’d be a good investment, depending on your climate. You’d wear them often enough to get your money’s worth, but not so often as to wear them out quickly.
I’m rationalizing, aren’t I?
Comment by La Petite Acadienne — November 9, 2010 @ 1:37 pm
Isn’t Sherlock fantastic? The stories were my favorites growing up, and I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am that someone finally nailed a believable contemporary Holmes and Watson (we all know Hugh Laurie as House does not even begin to count). And with such nice little gestures to the original texts!
Comment by Emily — November 9, 2010 @ 2:07 pm
I love the new Sherlock too. I have a little crush on Martin Freeman anyway, and this is just fanning the flames.
Comment by cedar — November 9, 2010 @ 2:19 pm
I have to confess I am more horrified by your attitude towards ice cream than anything else I have ever read on this blog. I am of the opinion that nobody who dislikes ice cream (lactose intolerant folks get a pass out of sympathy for their devastating condition), is to be trusted.
Comment by SarahDances — November 9, 2010 @ 3:15 pm
http://shoeblogs.com/2010/11/09/5-questions-with-the-maestro/
Well, it is offical…The Maestro himself cannot live without Plumcake! What a wise man!
Comment by Jennie — November 9, 2010 @ 3:59 pm
I’m loving your book recommendation from last week(life of Pi), and the new blogs.
Comment by Klee — November 9, 2010 @ 4:09 pm
Macarons. The mind does not compute. They’re crunchy, but sweet and with that sticky thing in the middle. Why? Macaroons are more “me”, slightly heavy and (coco)nutty.
The boots, the boots! I got a lovely pair of leather riding boots with a very sexy detail at the back of the calf. Very modern and I love them so but those wellies are to die for.
Comment by Frances — November 9, 2010 @ 4:44 pm
Tomorrow I will be helping teach a tango class since la maestra is injured. And I feel compelled to wear a skirt, so that all the students, especially the handsome young men, may admire my shapely legs clearly see the steps.
(This particular skirt is the perfect replacement for one I wore to death several years ago–so happy to have found it at last! I have become a believer: pencil skirts really can work for the full-figured lady!)
So! The answer to this question is, tomorrow I shall be feeling especially sassy!
Comment by The Accidental Tangoiste — November 9, 2010 @ 5:10 pm
Oh, and I’m loving Sherlock! I’m picky about my Holmes interpretations, and this one works very well!
(Also ^and up there. Ugh.)
Comment by The Accidental Tangoiste — November 9, 2010 @ 5:12 pm
Another plug for Sherlock! I’d never read the stories until my dad bought me a nice collection for my birthday a few weeks back (it was a neglected part of my literary education, I admit), and I am thoroughly enjoying them. But when I heard about the series, I was a bit apprehensive that they’d screw it up, modernizing and all — but I think feel of it is exactly right.
And from what I’ve read, Benedict Cumberbatch does have a sense of humor about being named Benedict Cumberbatch. (If one has to have a silly name, it also helps to be kind of adorable.)
Comment by Mifty — November 9, 2010 @ 5:59 pm
I never met a macaroon I didn’t like. I think somebody else might have coined that phrase about something less important than cookies (like, um, humanity).
Comment by Lisa from SoCal — November 9, 2010 @ 6:20 pm
I’m loving my Jimmy Choo motorcycle boots. I’m trying to get through “Crime and Punishment.” I made it through “War & Peace,” I can get through this. I’m eating chocolates from Cocoa Bella in SF (the best!!!! I can live without ice cream, but not chocolates). I’m buying and returning several over-sized black cardigans (purchased on-line with much optimism )—because I can’t find the right one. I’m hating bad sci fi-“Splice” anyone?
Comment by Debs — November 9, 2010 @ 9:42 pm
Slutbum Wallah?
Comment by Kate — November 10, 2010 @ 12:32 am
Count me among the macaroon lovers. Macarons seem stingy: yes, yes, yes, crunchy meringue; yes, yes, chocolate ganache or hazelnut cream–but honestly, haven’t you people ever heard of a dacquoise? It’s a superior execution of the concept, but it’s still all crunch and smash, where macaroons are lusciously rich chewiness.
Comment by ChaChaheels — November 10, 2010 @ 8:49 am
Oh Plumcake, “Sherlock” is lovely. Flawed, but quite good. It also led to a major realization: I don’t want to DATE a product of the British public school system – I want to BE one.
“I’m not a psychopath, Anderson – I’m a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research.”
Can’t wait for the next set!
Comment by Jophiel — November 10, 2010 @ 6:43 pm
Love, love, LOVE “Sherlock”. I was a huge fan of the Holmes stories growing up and I think they’ve done a good job of translating the characters to modern times.
Comment by Geogrrl — November 11, 2010 @ 1:36 am
I’ll have to check out “Sherlock”. I always liked the 1980s Mystery! version with Jeremy Brett as Holmes. A modern-day version could rock!
Comment by dcsurfergirl — November 11, 2010 @ 2:25 pm
I concur on Sherlock AND ice cream. Cheese… ice cream, only tasty.
Comment by AnthroK8 — November 12, 2010 @ 7:04 pm
love seeing all these macaroon lovers on here..! the world needs more of ’em! have any of you ever had a salted caramel macaroon? and no, not a french macaroon, but a delicious salted caramel coconut one…
Comment by danny macaroons — November 14, 2010 @ 8:28 pm
wow. went and watched Sherlock on your advice. please keep dispensing such advice. That there was some entertaining teevee.
Comment by monkeyparts — November 14, 2010 @ 11:18 pm
I can’t get decent internet speed where I live (Bell Canada is responsible for that) so I’ve waited patiently for Sherlock on my local PBS station. Watched it last night and it is very good. However, they cast Benedict not just because he’s brilliant, but because there is something archetypal and haunting about his appearance (and it can’t be an accident). I’ve had a sleep full of nightmares starring old Benedict and his unnaturally blue black hair and pale skin! And now I can’t wait until next week to see him again.
Comment by ChaChaheels — November 15, 2010 @ 8:53 am
I saw Sherlock too and enjoyed it. Everytime I hear the name Benedict Cumberbatch, it sounds like a character in a Dickens novel to me, or out of a Harry Potter film. He reminds me a lot of Tom Baker, with his mannerisms, his curly hair, his blue eyes and that marvelous posh voice. He’d be perfect for the next Doctor on Doctor Who. And Martin Freeman is adorable, I have a thing for short blond men.
But how can you hate ice cream? It has kept me sane during this year of family illnesses, unemployment, and the American takeover by the Tea Party.
Comment by Bree — November 15, 2010 @ 12:21 pm
ChaChaHeels, are you absolutely certain they were nightmares?
Comment by Risi — November 15, 2010 @ 7:21 pm