Quote searching

I've decided on a concept for my business cards for a business I am working on creating, called Stories from the Hearth. Through the business, I will be helping people write down their life stories.

With business cards, you want to make them informative, memorable and professional, right? So my idea is to have all my contact information on one side and a quote about life and/or stories on the other.

This post is going to be a list of quotes I'm considering, partially so I can stare at them more and partially so if you have any input, you can give it!

In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. -Abraham Lincoln

My life is my message. -Mahatma Gandhi

Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale. -Hans Christian Andersen

Life itself is the proper binge. -Julia Child

Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future. -Corrie Ten Boom

The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared. -Lois Lowry, The Giver

It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story. -Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here. - Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten. -Rudyard Kipling

I will tell you something about stories. . . . They aren't just entertainment. Don't be fooled. They are all we have ... -Leslie Marmon Silko

Do you have a favorite quote about life or stories? Post it as a comment! I'd love input!

What's Elizabeth Reading? ...Andreas Eschbach

My husband and I took The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach with us on vacation recently. It was both one of the most ridiculous and one of the most atrocious books I have ever read.

The Carpet Makers is a science fiction book that was originally written in German. It has been translated into English by request of American author Orson Scott Card, and frankly, that was the reason I checked it out of the library.

The premise is that for millenia, men have been tying carpets using the hair of their wives and daughters. The creation of one carpet (more of a rug) takes an entire lifetime, and some men die the minute they sell it (an honorable death). Each carpet is sold when completed, and the money from that purchase is given to the carpet maker's son, who then uses that money to live on as he raises his own family (one son allowed, but many daughters encouraged) and creates a hair carpet for the next generation's benefit.

The book is interesting in that it lacks a linear storyline but instead uses short stories, some involving the same characters, to slowly answer the question: What are the hair carpets? Where do they go after they are sold?

The carpet makers believe they go to cover the floor of the deified Emperor's palace. There are rumors, however, that the Emperor (always capitalized) is dead. Of course, that's heresy and impossible, besides. Everyone knows the Emperor is immortal.

The answer to the question of where the hair carpets go is the reason this is one of the most ridiculous books I have ever read. It comes out of left field. I'm pretty sure no one expected this.

As for the atrocity bit, the Emperor is terrible, as were his predecessors, and that's all I'll say about that.

The book is well written, though my husband complained about the lack of a main character or main story thread. I found it intriguing that the story thread was the investigation of a question. We go from a hair carpet maker's home to others in the village, to a merchant who buys a hair carpet, to another who's been buying several, and on from there. I don't think I've ever seen a book that is organized this way.

Warning for those who like happy endings: There are enough atrocities (there really is no better word for it) in this book that it doesn't leave you with a happy feeling at the end. Also, there is no distinct resolution.

One aspect of science fiction is that it is an avenue for critiquing one's society. It says, "Here is a problem in society today; let's make it bigger than it really is and see how things go." For example, 1984 by George Orwell was written in response to the leader worship Orwell was seeing in the world (see this letter for more on that).

The Carpet Makers reflects on tradition and how it can blind people to reality. It could also be considered a reflection on religion as a whole, and it doesn't put it in a positive light.

It makes me wonder whether there are any traditions I follow out of ignorance. I can see how others may be in this situation, but it's harder to see it in myself. Maybe that is part of what Eschbach is saying, and it's a sort of Plato's Cave. I can't see that reality is different from being as I see it because nobody has shown me anything different -- and even if they do tell me I'm wrong, I may not believe them.

Things to think about, which means that even with the atrocities and absurdity, this book is worth a read.

What's Elizabeth Reading? ...Blake Lingle

The last book I reviewed for my job at the Idaho Press-Tribune: "Fries! An Illustrated Guide to the World's Favorite Food."

Sounds prestigious, no?

Well what if I told you it was written by Blake Lingle, co-owner of the Boise Fry Company, which U.S. News placed at the top of a list of the ten top fry makers in America?

You can read what I wrote for the newspaper here. It gives a pretty good idea of what sort of book it is (humorous, informational, conversational) and the information it contains (did you know that Thomas Jefferson might have been the person who first brought fries to America?).

I read this book in two sittings. It is an easy read, not a work of great literature, but enlightening just the same. Not every book needs to be a literary marvel, after all.


I will say this for the book: A couple days later, I used Lingle's algorithm for fry making in my own kitchen. I fudged on a bunch of it, because I didn't want the process to take an entire day (literally; pre-fry freezing time is 12-24 hours), but mostly stuck to what he said. The resulting fries tasted like fries.

If you think about how many things people try to copy off restaurants and get wrong, you may realize this is a small miracle. My husband was less impressed; he said my fries tasted just like the ones he grew up making by just slicing up a potato and throwing it straight in the deep fryer.

Either way, my faith has been marginally restored in the fast food industry. I had always figured fries were mostly chemicals and not much potato, but it turns out that even if that is true, the taste is spot-on.

The Boise Fry Company does gourmet fries, from what I gather. The website urges people to pick their potato (Russet? Purple? Yam? Brussels sprout?) and cut (Shoestring? Regular? Curly?). They have many different sauces, and the cuts and types of fry vegetable change daily.

So no, this book does not just cover conventional fries. Nor, sadly, is it a cook book, though there is a recipe here or there. It is an informational book set into easy sections of history, where fries come from, and others, and interrupts itself often with lists, instructions or that algorithm I mentioned earlier, which is a graphic that takes up two pages.

Read it if you want to know more about fries than you have ever thought of asking about. Also read it if you have an interest in contemporary book formatting, because it is not regular in that sense (by that, I refer to all those interruptions. They are full-page interruptions, set apart from the main text).

And keep fries handy while you read, because you'll find yourself craving some sooner or later.

My column won an award!

I write a column for the Idaho Press-Tribune called the Front Porch. It has a chatty tone and contains the little news you would expect of a hometown newspaper, such as scholarship winners, class reunion notifications, and volunteer requests. It also includes the fun news that has no news value besides being interesting -- for instance, a man brought by some packets of seeds he'd found among his mothers things. They dated back to the 1970s, and he is going to plant them to see if they'll grow. He plans to check back in to give us an update.

I have also covered some small events, of the same sort, like when a local gym had a photo shoot with a few of its female members to show what "real women" look like, the sort who try to stay in shape but also enjoy cookies and milk with their kids now and then.

Even though I'm moving, I'm going to continue writing the Front Porch as a freelancer. The other news having to do with my column is it won an award! Third place at the Idaho Press Club awards for General Column. In the journalism contests I've been privy to, it's a custom that people only get awards if they deserve it. There may be a category with submissions, but if none of the submissions are any good, no one will get an award at all. There were several categories at the awards night with only a first place winner, or a first and second. That said, it actually means something that I got third place and it's pretty cool -- it means that at age 24, I'm an award-winning columnist!

Most of my columns are collections of "tidbits," short summaries, with commentary, about what happened. They are rarely over 300 words each, and a handful make up one column. For the contest, I submitted three columns that were just one massive tidbit. One such column (not one from the contest) is below so you can enjoy it and I can celebrate. It was headlined "Girl shines on 8th grade football team."

(This is the header to my column when it appears in print)

Emalie Wood wanted to play football.

She already played soccer, golf and basketball, but something about football appealed to her enough that even though her father, a soccer coach, tried to dissuade her, she joined the Middleton Middle School eighth grade boys football team at the start of the season.
And unlike the two other girls coach Bob Santi has had in his years coaching football, Emalie stuck with it to the end of the season, becoming a strong asset to the team and leading Bob to call her one of the best athletes — boy or girl — in the school.

She’s played kicker, defensive back, cornerback, defensive end and receiver; she wanted to try out the quarterback position, too, but there just wasn’t time in the season, Bob said.
It’s too bad our newspaper doesn’t cover eighth grade sports, because it would have been fun watching her trademark pink socks and long ponytail (it’s a penalty if you pull it, by the way) pop up in newsprint throughout the season alongside her No. 1 jersey.

I just had to ask Bob why she made it and those other two girls didn’t. He said part of it was because the other girls were talked into it, whereas Emalie had to talk others into letting her do it.

He also talked about his football team and the impressive boys who fill it, saying it is the best group of boys he has ever had the privilege to coach in regards to their grades, athleticism, morals and maturity.

From what he said, these boys respected her and had her back at all times.
In fact, Emalie was just like one of the guys, being smacked on the shoulder pads and helmet whenever she made an impressive play, sitting in the back of the bus and joking with her teammates on trips and greeting them in the hallway whenever they crossed paths during school.

Thanks to that last bit, of course, some of her girl friends asked her to introduce them to members of the team.

Speaking of her girl friends, she had a great group of friends that would support her at her games — even some that were away games — by cheering and waving a sign they had made especially for her.

The home crowd also got behind her; Bob said “she started out as an anomaly … and then she was still out for football, and then she was still out for football, and then people got used to it and kind of just climbed on her bandwagon.”

Her dad, Rorque Wood, recalled her first tackle, saying she was playing defensive end and the opposing team was on the 4-yard line. She tackled the ball carrier and her team got possession of the ball. He said that was her “I’m in the club” moment.

Perhaps that amount of support was another reason for her successful season. The team made it to the playoffs, by the way, and Bob said she was an integral part of that. Actually, in the playoff game itself, they were playing South Middle School and she executed a kickoff near the end of the first half that set the other team to starting on the 6-yard line. They won 14-0.

But maybe Emalie’s successful football season had more to do with herself.
“She’s pretty persistent, and she has a pretty strong will, and she has a good heart,” her coach said. He also praised her good attitude.

As for her father, when I talked with him over the phone, I could just hear his smile the entire time. Rorque recalled the moments in the stands where people would wonder who the girl was on the team, and he would get to say, “That’s my daughter!” He is, for good reason, proud of her.

He also said, and I quote: “Maybe I should have let her play (earlier).”

So what’s next? Will she be playing on the freshman football team? By all reports, she hasn’t quite made up her mind yet, but if you are watching next season and see a pair of pink socks, you’ll know who is wearing them and know to give her a loud cheer.

* Elizabeth’s Note: I didn’t get to interview Emalie for this, mainly because it was a surprise for her from her dad. Sorry about that, but I think it was a good reason. Surprise, Emalie! Good luck with basketball!