This and That: The Fall Version (plus a Give-Away! or three)

Cheerful decoy.

My loves. You are registered to vote, right? If not, please go here and get it done. Because we need you! If you watched the debate last night, you were doubtless struck by Trump's reduction of everything in the world to business, to profit. Every single thing we care about: economic and racial justice, the livelihood of human beings, the earth itself. But his accusation that Hillary had prepared for the debate? In that moment he reminded me of every boy who had ever accused me in elementary school of being smart. That boy, that insecure, misogynist, bullying second-grader--is that someone's president? My god. Not mine. Please vote, and vote for Hillary, even if she's not your dreamboat candidate. She's brilliant, human, and fit for the job, and there is too much at stake to do anything else.

Did we camp in the cold? We did. Did I bring bacon to Ben in the hammock? Guess. #motheroftheyear

Anyhoo. Meanwhile. I have been making some fall favorites. Plum cake and granola and oven-roasted tomato sauce and fried eggs with sizzling vinegar and chewy oatmeal cookies with chocolate. I have a post over at Tastebook about eating sandwiches for dinner (everything I've written over there is here). And I wrote a little more about the Yay, It's Wednesday Cake! cake for Jenny, over at Dinner: A Love Story, where I was honored to be a guest. If you don't have her brilliant new book yet, it's another love story--this one about celebrations large and small, classic and imaginary--and you should get it. How to Celebrate Everything. I mean, interfaith sliders! How much do I love her? Let's do a give-away of her book! Comment here if you're interested, and I'll pick a winner on Friday.

There's a little fall camping photo essay running parallel to the blog, and it has nothing to do with anything! How odd.

Speaking of books: I have the new Ann Patchett, but haven't started it yet because then I'm worried I'll finish it and be sad. But I actually bought it. (I know!) I also read, and couldn't put down, We Love You, Charlie Freeman by the amazing Kaitlyn Greenidge. So, so good. If you want either of those books instead, just say. Let's do a bigger give-away! I'll give away one copy of each of the three books.

For long-time readers: A bonus Ava sighting!

Finally: Santa Cruz and Bay Area Folks, I am coming your way! I'm reading at Bookshop Santa Cruz on October 9th at 7:00, and I'm reading in San Francisco as a guest of the tremendous CPS Lecture Series on October 10th at 7:30. The latter is a free event, but it requires registering, which you can do here.

Have a safe and sane week, my darlings. Treat yourself gently. xo