I got my first ever Indiespensable box from Powell’s. When I saw that sign ups were open and that it was for George Saunders’ novel I knew I had to have it. And it came with the very strange and delightful The Persistent Gappers of Fripp in a new cover!

My kindergartener’s substitute teacher has been with the class for four months and it was her last day on Thursday. I was at first disappointed to learn that his teacher would go on maternity leave not long after kindergarten started. A sub! Would she be any good? And for so long? But all our fears were unfounded. She was an excellent teacher. Bubbly and fun, with a great sense of what 5 and 6yos would enjoy learning. And it’s not easy as this is a Mandarin immersion programme and while some of the kids speak Mandarin at home, many, like us, don’t. Somehow she did such a great job.

 

And we tried the cafe version of a Hong Kong-style dim sum restaurant (perhaps the most well-known in the South Bay). We had always assumed it to be the poorer cousin, i.e. a place to go if you can’t find seats in the main restaurant upstairs (always very crowded), but we were pleased to find some fantastic noodle dishes like fishball noodles and wonton mee, and a dish very similar to one found in Singapore, beef horfun (beef with rice noodles and a rich thick gravy).

 

And we also had our neighbours over our first barbeque of the year. It was a lovely 19C/70F weekend. Ribeye steaks, hotdogs, lots of grilled vegetables (mini bell peppers, tomatoes, asparagus, broccolini). They brought over an ice-cream cake as it was their daughter’s 5th birthday.

Currently…

Reading:

Watching:

I just found The Night Manager on Amazon Video. It’s a 2016 BBC series that was later aired here on AMC (but I don’t have TV). I watched the first episode and was hooked. Also it helps tremendously that it’s based on a John Le Carre book and stars both Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie!
Eating:

I just had some toasted raisin bread which I had made earlier last week. Also, I posted about it here. 

Drinking:

Yorkshire Gold with milk

 

Browsing:

Speculative fiction in translation (France) – Bookriot

8 SFF books sexier than Fifty Shades – tor.com

Not bookish at all but here is a great article from Atlas Obscura about how to clear a path through 60 feet of snow, Japanese style. 

5 great novels you might have missed in February – Lit Hub

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week

I read:

 

I posted:

#comicsfebruary: Strong Female Protagonist, Captain Marvel