Talkin' Turkey!

So I have been totally non-committal on how to make the turkey for Thanksgiving (that's right, tomorrow), and I thought it was just a problem I had. I thought that until I remembered how much I love the Washington Post Food person, Kim O'Donnell. I love her because she is totally straightforward and answers every stupid question thrown at her as if it's reasonable that some of us don't know where the thigh of a turkey is (article, picture, provided by KOD, at right) . Praise Jesus.

Also, the first thing I saw when I went to her page was this comment, "Come on everybody, it's Wednesday, it's time to make a call on the turkey." This was shortly followed by, "If you are buying your turkey today, DON'T BUY A FROZEN ONE!" For a lot of people, this would be natural, but for me, I'm thankful that she's here!

(Don't worry, I have my turkey, thanks to the advice of many, many other people (who I am also very thankful for) - I think I'm ready!)

Impartial Narrator

I'm not sure if this is some outdated literary argument or a raging current discussion, or a matter that's already been decided by that community, but I'm having an issue. A colleague of mine wrote a novel (! what a dream come true). Let me say that completing a novel is a major accomplishment. Moreover, allowing it into the hands of near strangers (coworkers) is also very brave. For that, I give the author full kudos.

Also, the book is good. (I admit, I've stopped reading it at this point for the reason below, but this applies to what I've read. I do intend to finish it, probably after I settle this with you all.) The story is exciting, the characters are interesting, and the writing is fine (I don't really know what a pre-edited published novel looks like, so I'm not a good judge of this).

The problem is that the narrator (the story is told in third person) is biased, and it bothers me (so much that I had to stop reading). It got me thinking that maybe I haven't been paying attention and the narrator is always biased. I checked some of the novels I've read recently and it looks like although the narrator definitely has a bias because s/he knows how the story is going to go, they generally let the characters or the story tell the story, and let the reader decide about what's good and bad.

I don't want to make this about my colleagues book, however, because I think it's tremendous that the novel is finished and good in the first place. I'm just wondering what the role of the narrator is.

Is this thing on?

I'm trying to publish remotely. This will make it easier for me to publish more frequently (as you'll get a stream of consciousness).

At the day care!

So Jack is interviewing at a daycare today. I was so nervous taking him there, but it was very cool. Camp Bow-Wow (with many locations accross the US) has a little camera that I can watch jack play on all day. That's a good way to stay focused on work. The people were really nice, too - and it doesn't look like they are beating him at all.

I think the interview is going really well, too - earlier I saw the trainer walk in with a treat for another dog, and although Jackson wasn't the intended recipient, he ran right up to her and sat down next to the intended treat receiver, who was jupting like a crazy dog. A coworker watching behid me gave me a high five for that one. I said, "he is so in."

I know, I wait a month to post and then post about doggie daycare - but this is what passes for excitement in my life - and you have to admit, it's a big thing for Jack.