Tolstoy; Virginia Festival of the Book

ohhh books. I've hardly been reading at all of late, but just yesterday started Anna Karenina - and, well, everything you've heard is true. It's remarkable. I'm now a quarter of the way through it. It's that freaking good.

My friend Megan became absorbed by Anna Karenina last Fall, but before hearing her describe the book and characters I was always pretty intimidated by Tolstoy. No more. Treat yourself and go get a copy.

Or don't and go to the Virginia Festival of the Book instead.



Here are my top author/ event picks:

Tonight! at 8pm - UVA Culbreth Theater: Mentors, Muses and Monsters: Writers on Their Influences

Friday March 19th, 2:00pm - Barnes & Noble: Peter Neofotis, author of Concord, Virginia: A Virginia Town in Eleven Stories at the Virginia Stories event

Friday March 19th, 4:00pm - Central JMRL Library: Heidi W. Durrow, author of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky at the Race Matters: Novels of Extended Families event

Saturday March 20th, 4:00pm - UVA Bookstore: Kim Addonizio and the Best New Poets of 2009

Happy reading!

photo by Jim

Picton Castle

I'm starting to feel some very serious adventure-envy towards my friend Brad who is taking an around the world trip on this lovely - Picton Castle:



That's right. An AROUND THE WORLD trip. Literally. All the away around it.

Here's an abbreviated version of their itinerary:

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia; Panama; Galapagos Islands; Pitcairn Islands; Gambier Islands; Tahiti; Rarotonga, Cook Islands; Fiji; Bali; Cape Town, South Africa; Namibia; St Helena; Fernando de Noronha, Brazil; Lesser Antilles; Brazil; Lunenburg, Nova Scotia



Amazing.

The boat departs in April, and Brad has promised postcards. I have promised not to turn completely green with jealousy when they arrive in my landlocked mailbox.

Wal-Mart vs. Whole Foods

Turns out Wal-Mart has started making an effort to sell local foods. I find this confusing, and I'm not sure what it will mean for small-scale farmers - but it's definitely a conversation I'm interested in being a part of.



Read more here; including a Whole Foods/ Wal-Mart blind produce taste-testing.

Kindle? No, Thanks. Kindle Ad Campaign? Yes, Please.

I came across this gorgeous stop motion film by Amanda Kohler and Ithyle Griffiths last week, and was really happy to find squareriggers, birdcages, and moustaches all in the same dreamy video at once:



And now it turns out that they've created some commercials for for Amazon's Kindle::



I still don't want a Kindle. But I'm happy these videos were made because of them.

rune guneriussen

oh-me-oh-my. This guy is special:







via fortysixthatgrace.

Reminds me of an episode of Northern Exposure where the guy who eventually plays Aiden on Sex and the City decks out Cicely, AK in thousands and thousands of lights. Hmm... this might not sound like high praise, but.. it is. Check it. You tell 'em Aiden.

The Obamas Do It

.. keep bees that is.

Thank you to Ashley for passing on this article about the Queen (and her hive) at the White House.

Spoiler Alert

If I send any of you some version of this for Christmas, please act surprised::



Love,
Paige

Courtesy of this guy.