Barb Taub's Blog, page 149
March 18, 2014
Tuesday Updates: You Are What You Breakfast
Moving to a new country where you don’t speak the language is hard, especially when the new country is Scotland, and the language is one I thought I’d been speaking since birth. Take yesterday’s conversation with the dog sitter. She and her husband are incredibly nice people who probably think I’m recovering from some traumatic brain injury because I have to take several moments to mentally translate everything they say to me.
Me: “We’re back.”
Her: “That’s you!Yer’wee dug haes hud her tea enna...
March 16, 2014
About those Irish eyeballs…
I’ve always loved Ireland.
When Irish eyes are smiling… It can be damn scary.
Sure, when I was little, I worried about Irish eyes which could, according to my Irish mother’s favorite song, smile. I pictured shamrock clowns with happy-faced grins tattooed across their pupils. But somehow, despite my obvious need of ongoing coulrophobia therapy for all things Bozo, I was still a sucker for anything Irish.
I entered the University of Chicago as a biology major. My first year required literature cla...
March 13, 2014
Tuesday Updates: Cover Reveal: Cooking with Beena (Curry night at the Village Hall!)
A list of my mother’s gifts, talents, and achievements would probably go on for several pages. Her cooking would not be on that list. It’s no surprise that my siblings and I arrived at our various universities to be completely mystified by our classmates’ complaints ab...
March 4, 2014
Tuesday Updates: You can take the girl out of the castle…
“Does she have more feets?” Jeremy, our vet, and I both looked at my dog.
“No?” I was pretty sure that she still had the usual four that she’d walked in on. Remembering Jeremy’s French accent, I mentally translated. “Oh, fits.” Since moving into the castle, my children have accused us of becoming peculiar. Apparently, that consists of wearing lots of thick jumpers (sweaters), drinking our tea with milk, and having a dog who has fits. “No, she’s been doing fine.” As the dog in question was at...
February 28, 2014
Guess Barb’s lie; win free stuff!
Amazing YA author and cheese lover extraordinaire, Crystal Collier has a regular blog feature called Writerly Wednesdays. This week she’s featuring the Null City books, along with a contest. Pick which one of three statements about me that you think is the lie, and you’ll be entered into a drawing for free copies of both Null City stories, One Way Fare and Don’t Touch. (Should be a piece of cake for readers of this blog.)
In addition, Crystal offers some terrific tips on writing reviews. If yo...
February 25, 2014
Tuesday Updates: Top Ten Tips for Moving to a New Castle
Sorry about missing the last Tuesday update, but I’ve been busy moving to Scotland. The last couple of times I moved, it involved one suitcase. One. Really. (I have a shopping list on Ikea to furnish an entire apartment in flat pack. At last count, I’d bought the Ektorp sofa at least five times.) But that was before I discovered online furniture auctions.
PSA Tip: bidding on fabulous online auction bargains while on serious pain meds could be dangerous. You might end up with a pink living roo...
February 14, 2014
Pastblast: Valentine’s Day BC (Before Children) vs AD (After Delivery)
In the years before children (BC) I considered myself a reasonably cultured person.
Books? I bought them in hardbound so I’d be early enough to disagree with the review in the New York Times .
Movies? I saw them before Siskel & Ebert.
(Barb’s Guide to Films: if the characters kiss a lot, have sex, and then kill each other, it’s American. If the characters smoke a lot, have sex, and then kill themselv...
February 10, 2014
Tuesday Updates: About that Happily Ever After
I’ve had the flu, so this week’s Castle Life update will be a (very) short fairy tale, starring me.
Once Upon a Time
Chapter 1A girl met her prince. He was tall, dark, and handsome. (Actually, he was a Republican. But he was definitely tall.) They fell in love, and got married. *
Chapter 2.
He brought her to his castle and they lived happily ever after.**
The End***
*Okay, so thirty years of life happened between Chapters 1 and 2. They included:
MONTHS
SPENT:
36
Pregnant
96
Changing diapers
192
Getting off...
February 4, 2014
Tuesday Updates: Castles, Eating, and an Elegant Sufficiency
After moving into the Castle, I discovered that I didn’t know how to eat in English, in public. My first attempts were in restaurants. I don’t remember the whole text of the Declaration of Independence, but I’m pretty sure there was something in there about our inalienable GodBlessAmerican right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of iced beverages with free refills. But in England I’ve learned that if you order a drink with ice, it will arrive with a brave little ice chip bobbing forlornly. So...
January 27, 2014
Tuesday Updates: A Woman’s Castle is her Home
What I thought I would get: Rosehill Cottage (from the 2006 movie, The Holiday)
People ask how I ended up living in a castle. Like all my important life decisions, it was an accident. When we decided to move to England, I just knew I would live in a cottage with an Aga, and it would be named something like Rosehill Cottage of Upper Long Chipping on Buttsfield.
What became clear as I went from one estate agent to another was that there is no such thing as a Rosehill Cottage. (True, actually. Ev...
