Urban Herb Garden

I love cooking with fresh herbs.

Unfortunately, herbs at the grocery store are $1.99 for a handful of leaves that are going to be dead in a couple of days. Since Anna and I don't like paying for food we won't eat, and I don't like basil enough to eat it all week with every meal, we decided that we would try growing some herbs at home to harvest when we want to spice up our meals.

Today, I went to Jean Talon market to pick up the herbs, and then jaunted down to chinatown to buy pretty and cheap containers for them. Now we have chives, basil, and mint planted in lovely china dishes. Not only do they smell fabulous, I am betting that they will taste delicious too.

The potting process itself was pretty painless and occurred in the kitchen sink. As a child of the suburbs, I'm used to gardening on the lawn or deck. In the absence of outdoor space, the kitchen sink works very well. It just feels weird stashing the extra potting soil in the pantry. What do people do without garages and sheds?

Literary Snobbery

There's a huge stereotype surrounding the "indie rocker". You know the type:

- knows loads about music
- dabbles in music creation of their own
- must know a band before they're cool
- once a band sells out, they can't be good.

I think I might be the same way about books. I'm happiest reading something when it isn't *too* cool (exception: Harry Potter). I:

- know a fair amount about science fiction/fantasy literature, I've been an avid reader in the past
- I have dabbled in penning (or typing) my own stories.

Here are the kickers, that make me doubt my interests:

- I like being the person to "discover" an author before their book hits the bestseller list at chapters.
- Once a book is too popular, I feel less good about reading it. I read the Davinci Code on the bus once, and felt like I needed to conceal the cover.

I just bought "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" with a birthday gift certificate (yes, my birthday was more than six months ago), and I felt it was a very cool and science-y thing to be reading. It would give me cred.

Upon examining it more closely, I have noticed that it's a 20th anniversary re-print. It's been on the New York Times Bestseller List. Tragedy! I'll have to look elsewhere for my indie cred.