Migraines, Vampires, and a Recipe

I've been wanting to follow-up on a couple things for a while now, but there always seems to be something else fighting it's way out of my head!

First: Migraine treatment follow-up
I posted a little while ago about a suggestion made by a neurologist that I try a combination of vitamins (and occasional Aleve) to try to keep my headaches under control. I can say unequivocally that this has been a great success for me. My daily headaches are all but gone, and I haven't had a single migraine. On 3 occasions I have gotten what I'll call “weird” headaches — not quite migraines, but feeling pretty intense. All 3 times I took Butterburr and was fine within an hour! If you decide to try this, please let me know how it works for you.

Second: the Twilight series
At the time that I wrote, I was reading book 1 of 4. I have now read all 4 and, obviously, I loved it. My favorite book was the first, followed by the 3rd. I may have caught some flak in the comments (I believe a certain friend called me a “moron” — sound familiar, Dana?!) but I'm ok with that. The books aren't great literature, but the writing is decent and the characters are really, truly likable. And sometimes that's enough.

Lastly: the promised recipe
Yet another sign of Spring is that we fired up the grill the other night. I'm not a red-meat eater, and I really don't care for chicken. However, this simple rub was soo good that I ate every last bite. Together with some griilled onions and asparagus, and a French white burgundy… yum!


Barbeque Rub (from Real Simple, June 2008)
3 T paprika
1T brown sugar
1T dried oregano
1T ground coffee
1.5 t salt
.5 t pepper

We used boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, but I think this would be great on shrimp, too. Coat with a little olive oil, cover with the rub, and grill!

Twilight

I love to read, but what I primarily read is what I’ll loosely call high-quality fiction. Usually contemporary, but not necessarily. What matters to me is the writing. When I’m shopping for a book, I’ll turn to the first page and start reading. If it grabs me in the first paragraph, I’m in. If not, not.

So it was with not a little doubt that I approached the recent phenomenon, Twilight. On the one hand, it was a New York Times bestseller. I couldn’t help but suspect that it was too “fluffy” though, and when I spoke to bookshop staff about my reticence, they backed me up. A woman who shall go unnamed, however (to protect the innocent, of course!), found herself reading the series, and offered me the first two books. I was hooked from minute one.

If, somehow, you’ve just crawled out from under a rock and have no idea what I’m talking about, Twilight is book 1 in a series of 4 about a young woman (Isabella, or Bella for short) who falls for a very seductive, and essentially good, vampire named Edward.

I’m not going to address the controversy surrounding the books, you can read about the fact that the characters don’t have sex and that the author is Mormon, here. I will say that the sexual tension between these characters is obviously a big part of the seduction (if you will) of the book. The writing is good enough, but it’s the tension that keeps you hooked. There’s nothing like the appeal of a fundamentally good, bad boy who happens to be so beautiful that he glitters when in direct sunlight!

I’m sure I’ll read the next in the series (I mean, I’ve got it, so it’d be pretty hard to resist) and I’ll post a review when I’m done. This is actually timely, as I’ve been intending to start doing book reviews, although I had no intention of this book being my first! It just kind of crept up on me (kind of like Edward has!).

As always, I recommend borrowing books from friends (as I did) or from the library if possible. It’s not only helpful on your wallet, it’s good for the environment. If, however, you’re going to purchase it anyway, please consider linking to Amazon here (click on the image of the book). I’ll make a few cents on your purchase, thus enabling me to continue trying to feed my child and my habit (blogging) at the same time!