And then I pulled out a goose!

During yesterday's shift at the hospital, I cleaned a pink Ford Mustang the size of my forearm. There were things rattling under the hood that didn't sound like they should be, so I fished around its innards for a while. Eventually, I pulled out two Lego pieces and a goose.

It's just fun to say, "And then I pulled out a goose!"



Cleaning seems to be the theme of the week so far. Miss Abby is actively molting (the wastebasket was empty this morning, but small mammals could comfortably nest in it now), I'm back to cooking (which means more dishwashing), and several projects are in the thick of the neaten-things-up phase.

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Word to Nashville folks: Midtown Cafe's running a $12.12 two-course lunch special this week.

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Speaking of fun phrases, the recent interview of Ian Falconer in the NYT Book Review delighted me. I especially liked this bit:

Interviewer: If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you want to know?

Falconer: An answer to that could be its own book. Socrates, I'm sure, could really hold a dinner table. I'll bet Suetonius could keep your attention too. (“Oh my dear! Next to Galba, Caligula was an absolute nun!”)

Melissa Clark, on how her family tells stories

It's not that we ever change the plotline, exactly. It's just that the specifics are negotiable; we pick and choose (and, okay, sometimes make up) the details depending upon our moods, our audience, or how loud the person talking over us is. The one about the Passover when my sister and I spiked Elijah’s Manischewitz with hot sauce--just to see which adult played the prophet and gulped down the wine while we children answered the door--can be poignant, cynical, or hilarious depending on the telling. And the fact that my uncle Danny turned even redder in the face than usual and downed three glasses of water afterward answered the question.

- Clark, Melissa (2010-09-07). In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite: 150 Recipes and Stories About the Food You Love (Kindle Locations 5647-5652). Hyperion. Kindle Edition.