brown paper packages tied up with string
these are a few of my favorite things (and pardon me for the recent Hornbyesque lists):
1) Forgive me. The Style Network's "Clean House" show (Wednesdays at nine pm and reruns throughout the week) is one of the best things on TV. Believe it! As good as Arrested Development and TDS (both my godmother and my friend A. insist on calling it "Jon Daily" -- so cute). Here's the plot in a nutshell: four people come to your dirty-ass, cluttered-up house, clear out all your crap, sell it in a yard sale and then use the money from the yard sale to fix up your house. Sounds pedestrian, right? Oh no my friend. The hostess is the amazing Niecy Nash (also of Comedy Central's Reno 911) and the other three folks are fabulous and funny and surprisingly dear for people who live in LA. They really talk about all the strange reasons why people hold on to crap, and they are really good about making deals and just being emotionally present with what's going on. Dude, it's hilarious, but it's not a cheap laugh. Check it out sometime.
2) You may have heard me wax poetic on the merits of the Guardian website. For a long time -- even now, actually -- I'm not overly keen on reading newspapers online, feeling certain that I have missed something dreadfully important in some tiny print somewhere, but c'est la vie. I digress. The Guardian online: what's not to love for an Anglophile snob like me? Nigel Slater's mouthwatering recipes going back years and years. A sports section -- well, let's be honest, a football section -- that strikes that oh-so-English balance of snarky humor and ball-busting direct honesty: Mike and MadDog, but with bigger words. There is something to be said for the European tradition of biased media. You know what you are reading; you know what they want you to think. I read the Times of London, knowing it will convince me to build a shrine to Ronnie and Maggie. I read the Guardian, knowing I will want to slit my wrists because I am a pathetic useless drain on the world's resources: why am I not in Pakistan, constructing tents for the earthquake victims so they won't freeze to death in the Himalayan winter?
Anyway, it's all there, archived, and free. And it's all free, no Guardian "Select" crappity NYT crappity crap crap. I've lost myself for hours. Somehow though, I'd missed this section until today. Effing brilliant! Wee macro flash click-through guides on everything from bird flu to the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of Saigon to Mount Everest to the missing link between chimps and humans. This one is fascinating -- j'adore maps. And Miss L -- this one is just for you!
In short: a must before your next cocktail party/night out on the town -- who knew a little background on the Battle of Trafalgar would come in so handy?
3) The autumn-time. I've been conducting an informal survey about people's favorite season, and our current one is running a pretty serious third. People seem to prefer spring and summer, mostly because of the warm weather I think -- with fall, everyone knows the winter is coming and its hard to enjoy it because you know it's all coming to an end. I think, however, that's why the fall is my fave season. It is so crisp. Turtlenecks, lightweight gloves and jackets, and everything is just that bit more special because you know it's not going to last forever. Bittersweet.
4) This blog. Don't hate -- just read it.
1) Forgive me. The Style Network's "Clean House" show (Wednesdays at nine pm and reruns throughout the week) is one of the best things on TV. Believe it! As good as Arrested Development and TDS (both my godmother and my friend A. insist on calling it "Jon Daily" -- so cute). Here's the plot in a nutshell: four people come to your dirty-ass, cluttered-up house, clear out all your crap, sell it in a yard sale and then use the money from the yard sale to fix up your house. Sounds pedestrian, right? Oh no my friend. The hostess is the amazing Niecy Nash (also of Comedy Central's Reno 911) and the other three folks are fabulous and funny and surprisingly dear for people who live in LA. They really talk about all the strange reasons why people hold on to crap, and they are really good about making deals and just being emotionally present with what's going on. Dude, it's hilarious, but it's not a cheap laugh. Check it out sometime.
2) You may have heard me wax poetic on the merits of the Guardian website. For a long time -- even now, actually -- I'm not overly keen on reading newspapers online, feeling certain that I have missed something dreadfully important in some tiny print somewhere, but c'est la vie. I digress. The Guardian online: what's not to love for an Anglophile snob like me? Nigel Slater's mouthwatering recipes going back years and years. A sports section -- well, let's be honest, a football section -- that strikes that oh-so-English balance of snarky humor and ball-busting direct honesty: Mike and MadDog, but with bigger words. There is something to be said for the European tradition of biased media. You know what you are reading; you know what they want you to think. I read the Times of London, knowing it will convince me to build a shrine to Ronnie and Maggie. I read the Guardian, knowing I will want to slit my wrists because I am a pathetic useless drain on the world's resources: why am I not in Pakistan, constructing tents for the earthquake victims so they won't freeze to death in the Himalayan winter?
Anyway, it's all there, archived, and free. And it's all free, no Guardian "Select" crappity NYT crappity crap crap. I've lost myself for hours. Somehow though, I'd missed this section until today. Effing brilliant! Wee macro flash click-through guides on everything from bird flu to the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of Saigon to Mount Everest to the missing link between chimps and humans. This one is fascinating -- j'adore maps. And Miss L -- this one is just for you!
In short: a must before your next cocktail party/night out on the town -- who knew a little background on the Battle of Trafalgar would come in so handy?
3) The autumn-time. I've been conducting an informal survey about people's favorite season, and our current one is running a pretty serious third. People seem to prefer spring and summer, mostly because of the warm weather I think -- with fall, everyone knows the winter is coming and its hard to enjoy it because you know it's all coming to an end. I think, however, that's why the fall is my fave season. It is so crisp. Turtlenecks, lightweight gloves and jackets, and everything is just that bit more special because you know it's not going to last forever. Bittersweet.
4) This blog. Don't hate -- just read it.
posted by Hannah at 3:17 PM
3 Comments:
and don't forget: California Kitchen!
Buk -- do you mean Colorado Kitchen, my home away from home?
Yes yes, Colorado Kitchen! Specifically donuts. California Kitchen, by contrast is on the list of least favorite things...okay well indifferent things at least. Now when are you going to open your very own DC Kitchen, and what would you serve (besides plenty o' beer?)?
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