Literary Laugh Track

The other day, when we were at Vroman’s, Matt bought The McSweeney’s Joke Book of Book Jokes, a compilation of book-related humor from the editors of McSweeney’s. It’s been sitting on my living room coffee table amidst piles of newspaper sections and magazines lately and, every so often, I pick it up and turn to a random page to amuse myself. Plenty of it assumes a well-versed knowledge of literature and/or authors and, so, may come off as a bit intellectually elitist at first, but plenty of it is actually pretty accessible. For instance, here’s the piece that made me chuckle today:

“IKEA Product or The Lord of the Rings Character?” by Carley Feldman

1. Faramir
2. Freden
3. Grundtal
4. Boromir
5. Molger
6. Galdor
7. Freda
8. Agerum
9. Babord
10. Frodo
11. Griima
12. Akurum
13. Brunkrissla
14. Sultan Hogbo

(I’ll post the answers in my next blog.)

Pining for Pasadena

It’s hard to believe the time has passed so quickly, but it’s been a little over two years now since Matt and I moved to Ventura County from Pasadena. While we’re pretty happy where we are, there are so many things we miss about our old ‘hood – the Huntington Gardens, Amnesty International chapter 22, swing dancing and old movies outdoors in the alley behind Colorado Boulevard in Old Town, free jazz concerts behind Vroman’s, good Indian food (Moorpark, seriously, what gives?), and hot green tea, apples, and Marni at the Yoga House – so we try to get back every once in a while. This past Saturday, we headed down for a salon visit (for me), some soul-nourishing sushi at Zono Sushi, and lots of indulgence at our favorite indy bookstore, Vroman’s. Ahh, Vroman’s. Right next to the fabulous indy movie theater, Laemmle. Right down the street from Zona Rosa Café and their amazing Mexican hot chocolate. *Sigh* We also mixed in some “driving down memory lane,” swinging by our old apartments and by our dream (make that pipe-dream) homes. (Oh, craftsman on the corner of Hillcrest and Wentworth, you will be mine!). After days and days straight of nothing but rain, we even got a showerless, sunshine-y day despite meteorological predictions to the contrary. All in all, a great day.