09.30.08
Posted in Recipe at 6:54 pm by Bridget Zinn
This is a great recipe when you are really really busy and/or really really lazy. Or you’re a writer and spent most of your day in la la land and are having a difficult time coming down to earth. It’s modified from the fabulous Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.
Preheat oven to 400. Rub a 9×12 baking dish with olive oil. Dump jar of salsa in pan (roasted is nice). Spread. Spoon one drained jar of black beans and one drained jar of pinto beans into the pan. Cut one inch cubes of monterey jack (or cheddar cheese). Sprinkle in pan. Cut up half an onion, sprinkle in pan (optional). Salt and pepper. Crush corn tortilla chips and sprinkle on top. A little shredded cheese is nice too. Drizzle some olive oil on top. Cook for twenty to thirty minutes until golden. Scoop on mounds of fresh cleaned spinach. Dollops of sour cream and those cheap black olives are nice garnishes.
Why is this so great for lazy people? You don’t have to roll tortillas and you don’t have to chop anything especially if skip the onion and buy pre-cubed cheese. The most challenging thing is opening the salsa jar. Oh, and crushing the chips. But that’s just plain fun.
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09.29.08
Posted in Portland, Writing at 6:15 pm by Bridget Zinn
Wow. The Kidlit Bloggers Conference on Saturday was awesome! A lot of super fun bloggers and writers, a lot of great information, and plenty of new blogs to read. The food wasn’t even too bad. Hurray for conference planners who like vegetarians and don’t feel like it’s okay if we starve, knock off, and quit bothering them (not that I’m insinuating anything about other conference planners out there, but I have been known to bribe nuns to sneak me a pizza at a conference. To keep my strength up).
I didn’t realize how many kidlit bloggers there were out there or how strong of a community it was. Great discovery. I also had no idea there were so many Portland Kidlit people — I knew a few Portlanders there, but it was great to see there were more than I’d ever imagined.
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09.24.08
Posted in Book Reviews at 5:03 pm by Bridget Zinn
I read Emma last weekend and it had been a good ten years since my last reading. I couldn’t believe how much it was like Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging. Yes, that one! The Confessions of Georgia Nicolson. It is like practically the same book, except for the time period.
Reasons:
#1 They are both super disrespectful of the older people in their lives. Georgia calls her parents “the olds” and makes fun of their clown car. Emma is more subtle, but the way she describes her father’s speeches about not believing someone would do something so crazy as to open a window while dancing shows us what she thinks of his ideas.
#2 Both meddle in their friends lives. Georgia convinces her best friend that she is too good for the grocer boy, Emma convinces her friend she is too good for the farmer.
#3 They are both extremely self-centered. They both let their friends go on about their boring lives without really listening.
#4 They think themselves far superior than their friends. Those are Emma’s words — I think Georgia says something more along the lines of “the dimness of her little palsies”. Of course, Emma’s friends don’t wear fake fur on their hands for fun, but the similarity is there.
#5 Arch-enemies. Lindsay with her small forehead and thongs, Mrs. Elton with her affected laugh. Actually, they might both have affected laughs. I’m not sure about Mrs. Elton’s forehead or undergarments.
#6 Sex Gods. Georgia comes right out and calls him that while Emma dithers about it. Both think these individuals are far superior to any other male around.
#7 Funny young people. We don’t get to see much of Emma’s nieces and nephews but they’re probably hiding things in her bed just as Georgia’s sister is.
#8 They both make me laugh. A lot.
See, they’re the same! Try reading both in one go and see what you think.
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09.22.08
Posted in Portland at 5:19 pm by Bridget Zinn
Super Fun Things we could not afford to do this weekend due to one member of the household (okay, me) not having an income of any kind:
Flying to our friend Amanda’s wedding = $800 plane fare
Going to the Portland Pirate Festival = $25 entry fee + $ for food and activities once inside
Actually going inside Pittock Mansion = $11
Buying real dental floss = $4
But do not despair for our loss of joy, instead of doing those Super Fun Things, we:
Went on Walk #2 in Portland Hill Walks = FREE.
Walked Outside Pittock Mansion = FREE.
Made a spectacle of myself in Macleay Park when my leg cramped up from too much hill walking = FREE
Read Emma from the library = FREE
Watched Smallville from the library = FREE
Had nighmares about being chased by Lionel Luther after watching too much Smallville = FREE
Bought generic dental floss = $1
The last was the priciest and by far the worst. Using generic dental floss is like flossing your teeth with rope. Fat waxy rope. I think my teeth must be further apart than they were before this purchase, giving me that jack o’ lantern look so popular with the pumpkin crowd.
Hike #2 in Hill Hikes of Portland was super fun. It has lots of secret staircases and brought us right up to Pittock Mansion which has FREE views and a FREE water fountain. It was even worth the extreme leg cramps that came the next day in Macleay Park. We had to stop at a bridge so I could do some leaning while my muscles worked themselves out. There was much, “Ouch, oh, ouch, I didn’t even know I had those muscles!” I tried to pretend I was just leaning for fun when people passed by, “Oh don’t mind me, just looking at these trout here,” but I’m sure they heard the shouting of pain before they got close and noticed that I was standing in an unnatural way.
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09.17.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:01 am by Bridget Zinn
It doesn’t seem possible that summer is over. It’s warmer and sunnier than ever, we went to the beach last weekend, AND I haven’t seen a single student around. We definitely aren’t in Madison any more.
Yet I just read Lois Lowry’s blog from over two weeks ago and she claims summer is over and I can’t argue with a Newbery winner/author of my favorite childhood books (Anastasia Krupnik 4 EVR!)
When does it start to feel like fall here? Will there be some crunchy leaves soon?
I am still in love with the beach. The ocean is so fabbity fab fab — all sparkly and lovely with lots of waves smashing etc.
I did learn something on my trip to the beach at the co-op in Manzanita which I’m sharing so that you will not make the same mistake that I did. The magazine Bark? Yeah, it’s actually written FOR dogs, not so much for the OWNER of dogs. 
I mean, sure, they have a headline or two that appears to be written for the owner, but the big headline that looked so interesting to me: “What Kind of Dog Are You?” is not at all what I thought it was. I was all excited to take some kind of quiz to find out what kind of dog I’d be if I were a dog, BUT NO, the article was for mutt DOGS to find out what kind of dog they are. So so disappointing. Maybe I need to make my own quiz! What kind of dog would you be?
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