the preface

I am spending my Saturday evening writing an entry for our new blog whilst 3 of our members sip cocktails all the while watching their beautiful, golden children frolic by the lake (or at least that's how Im envisioning it).  


But its okay- who wouldn't rather be at home blogging on our first real spring evening!? If this entry gets even remotely clever its because I've started to drink-alone.


The truth is I am the youngest memberof the group and the most enthusiastic about technology, social mediums etc.  I mean, they really are neophytes- there was a discussion at our last meeting about how shocked they were to learn recently that Wikipedia was user written content. I know... 


This blog was, of course, my idea and I desire to shame them into active participation (congratulations to Liz for creating the 2nd entry!) I am perhaps the least witty and/or clever member of the group so I recognize that if we're going to secure any followers we'll need them to weigh in- or I'll have to take my friend KE up on her offer to ghost write for me (we'll see how the binge drinking works for my creativity first)


Our format is rather simple and we like it that way. Also it seems to be working as we've been meeting for 18 months.  And we actually talk about the books- every time.


Each member takes a turn selecting a book and that member is also responsible for making a reservation and moderating the evening.  We meet on the 2nd Thursday of every month.


When we originally conceived of this book club we determined that we'd keep it to 6 members, we'd only have participants in the neighbourhood (current writer excepted- I got in on 2 technicalities-1) I am actually building in the 'hood and will be back there and 2) I was a founding member... just sayin'...) and that we'd take the opportunity to meet in a local each month. We liked the idea of staying close to home, supporting our neighbourhood restaurants but since the gouging incident (see: Bitches Blogs and Bites: "we were not aMUSEd), a rather noisy evening at the Yardhouse, a waitress at Maurya that basically pushed us out the door so she could end her shift and an evening at Pulcinella (see noisy) we've decided to bust out of the Kensington area.


Sidebar: We all have young kids.  In fact between us we've given birth to an impressive 9 so far. There is only one girl. Two others will be born in early September and they are also boys. Did i mention they are all under 5 years old and 91% are boys?! WTF)  We also all have jobs outside of parenting and for me personally any "legitimate excuse" for extricating myself and eating a good meal with my friends is, well.... quite awesome.


Often the members are highly presentable with great outfits (special shout out to LA for being outlandishly stylish-even 7 months preggers) and even though we fancy ourselves a VERY SERIOUS book club  you will likely find my entries will refer to shoes or accessories- I cant help it. 


The others can help bolster the IQ of this blog...that's just not my department. 

Bitches, Books and Bites

We're not bitches, but if we don't like a book, a meal or service at a restaurant we will let it be known on this site. This is about the truth, at least as we see it.

All we want is something good to read that gives us: variety, a yearning to get back to our book and something interesting to discuss. And when it comes to a restaurant, we want decent, polite service, good food and reasonable charges on a bill -- not 18% gratuities thrown in without warning -- we were not aMUSEd by that.

What's in a Name?

Clara del Valle Trueba

I've selected this Blog name as an homage to one of my favourite fictional characters from my all-time favourie book, The House of the Spirits (Isabele Allende). I like her for many reasons but this pretty much sums it up:

Clara (one of its translations is the equivalent of English "clear", although it is also a common female name, the equivalent of "Claire") is the key female figure in the novel. She is a clairvoyant and telekinetic who is rarely attentive to domestic tasks, but she holds her family together with her love for them and her uncanny predictions

Also she has a great line in one of the very first chapters that endeared me to her in my most formative years as a heathen:

Suddenly Clara breaks the silence in the church by saying: "Psst! Father Restrepo! If that story about hell is a lie, we're all fucked, aren't we..." Father Restrepo pronounces Clara possessed by the devil. Grin Grin...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_House_of_the_Spirits#Clara_del_Valle_Trueba

My First Blog

This is a test. Is anybody out there?