The Salty Spoon

From this recipe to this tumblr I came upon this food blog.

Not too many of the recipes jump out at me right away (lots of meat), but I like the vibe and will probably attempt this very soon. It does appear to have a lot of gluten-free recipes, if that is what your colon is into.

No change in traffic safety as a result of cellphone laws

The findings in this article do not surprise me. The accompanying picture does.

One man’s woo-woo, of course, is another’s deeply held belief system.

According to one yogi in this unintentionaly hilarious NYT piece, “A pure yogic diet is one that is only calming: no garlic, onions or chili peppers, nothing heavy or oily.”

Unbeknownst to everyone in my family, my mom has been on the forefront of yogic eating trends for more than half a century!

Crying at the gym

I do it too! My tears are rarely the result of an emotional song on the playlist; most likely, they are a direct consequence of reading inspirational/tragic stories on the StairMaster. Most recent culprit is here.

Doughboys

Earlier this week I went to the reopened Doughboys on 3rd. The menu appears to be the same as it was pre-closure. Soup au pistou and red velevt cake are on my list!

Also unchanged: the bathroom sharing arrangement with El Carmen.

Butt Model Search

I was unsurprised to learn that American Apparel has launched the "Search for the Best Bottom in the World."

I like butts but the whole AA culture creeps me out.

iPad?????

Is there no one up in Cupertino (or down in the Marina) who had the guts to stand up and say that iPad is a terrible name, surpassed in stupidity only by iNowPronounceYouChuckAndLarry?

Great news for proud racists!

In the right Los Angeles suburb, your community will rally behind you and defend you as a proud American.

Some others might be upset, but they are probably Communists anyway.

Compound Love

I find it so hard to believe that this attractive man

Wants to dive into a world of sin with THIS GUY



Now this song is stuck in my head

My boyf

By Request

Internet Soulmate

Is my true online soulmate Carles of Hipster Runoff because he wrote this screed about how difficult it is to find a job that you care about (even if he was not being serious)?

Or is it the owner of MyIronicMustache.com!!?!?!?!?!?

Carles loses points because he uses awful abbreviations, his font gives me a headache, and he doesn't read print media.

MyIronicMustache doesn't know how to spell mustache and lives in Grand Rapids, MI.

Both make the writers of the MLA want to jump off a cliff and die.

In conclusion, I am still searching for my true internet soulmate. Someone who likes cats and protective gear.

BINGE DRINKING

My Dad's only real piece of advice to me when I went away to college was that if I have more than 3 drinks in one sitting, an alarm should sound in my head, accompanied by a flashing neon sign that reads "BINGE DRINKING."

He was right, and all that binging has probably (or, certainly) made me less intelligent.

If reality tv weren't a cesspool of human dreck and forced plotlines

I might consider trying out for this tv show.

Over the Taupe

My nails have a sheer nude on them 90% of the time. Last weekend, I went wild and got Over the Taupe, a new OPI color. I have never before received so many compliments. Thank you, weird mushroomy brown purple concoction.

Who knew there were so many blogs about nail polish? That picture came from Vietnam.

Meg Whitman for Governor

Until I heard this interview, I didn't have strong feelings on Meg Whitman's run for California Governor. I feel that anyone who wants to tackle the horrific mess that is CA's budget and school system deserves admiration.

Her top 3 priorities make sense:

• Create and keep jobs in California
• Get government spending under control
• Fix our K-12 education system

However, if Whitman believes that suspending California's climate change bill AB32 is going to bring down unemployment in a meaningful way, she is clearly delusional.

Her new book is here.

Quit your job, enjoy Earth while it lasts

According to a new study, developed nations need to halt economic growth to even try to stay within a liveable temperature range.

That's fine with me; I am dying to quit my job anyway! I will play my iPod via a bicycle-powered generator while snacking on some home-grown tree bark. See you there!

Sunday Dinner

Thank you to Bon Appetit for a delicious mac and cheese, and roasted red pepper soup (I didn't add the orange juice in that recipe).

For dessert I made this chocolate cake; I wasn't as pleased with it as I have been in the past. Maybe because it paled in comparison to the macarons that Lucy brought?

During our meal Lisa and I recounted our shared Saturday night, where I cleared every room with a joke about Mike and Lewis surfing together. Hang 30!

Another highlight was Lucy's use of the phrase "dodgy peeper" as a synonym for lazy eye.

A Single Man

Last night I saw A Single Man (after a very strong martini and very garlicky hummus at Westside Tavern). I liked it much more than I thought I would. Unsurprisingly, it is very stylish and nice to look at; surprisingly (to me), it moved right along and wasn't too opaque or allegorical or boring. At 99 minutes long, it is my ideal movie length (a key reason why I rarely go to the movies).

One particularly enjoyable aspect of this film is that everyone is so attractive. In particular, there are many handsome young men in this film. The most off-the-charts smoldering is Jon Kortajarena (he is 24 years old, dear Lord).



And the sad sack from About a Boy is all grows up (his name is Nicholas Hoult)!

I think a few scenes were shot at Chez Jay (my dad parked cars there in the 60s, and will gladly tell you about it).

Then I watched the last episode of Conan and cried.

Other people unimpressed by Girls

I feel vindicated.

I am still glad I went to the show, because I saw this.

Unrelated: It is so hard to find Girls on the internet.

Zucker v. O'Brien: Battling since the Eighties!

"... Jeff Zucker and Conan O’Brien really were college rivals during their Harvard years. In the mid nineteen-eighties, Zucker was president of the Harvard Crimson and O’Brien was president of the Lampoon ..."

This makes me laugh.

Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life

Wonder how this will play next to some nice beer ads (more here).

January Jones

There is a backlash!

I think she is beautiful. My roommate has worked with her, and says she is nice but trashy.

Born Under Punches

Remain in Light is 30 years old this year?

Coachella 2010 Lineup

Friday is the only day that is really compelling for me, and Them Crooked Vultures are on at the same time as LCD Soundsystem!

Don't go to Della Terra

I had dinner with some girlfriends at the new Italian restaurant Della Terra a couple weeks ago.

Don't go. Food and service were mediocre, teetering on the edge of poor. It's a good location; I would like to see something decent there. If you want mid-priced Italian, wait at Terroni or go to Angeli Caffe on Melrose.

I am curious about The Mercantile. And Melgard.

Local Natives at the Echo - Dec. 22

Saw these guys here a few weeks ago. They went on shortly after 11 (I didn't see either of the opening acts because I was eating at Pho next to Mena Suvari then drinking at El Prado).

Was a fun, sold-out show; Local Natives played their entire album. I was most surprised to see that the three vocalists change instruments for almost every song. Also intriguing was the amount of facial hair in that place. The moustache is still alive and well east of La Brea.

As promised, they invited the opening acts on stage to join them in their closer, Sun Hands.

To get paid and to get laid

Best part of the online chat with Ariel Levy regarding marriage and Elizabeth Gilbert's Committed:

QUESTION FROM CARL: I have six children, with 4 different mothers, women tell me i have commitment issues, i tend to think they’re wrong. what women don’t understand is guys want two things in life: to get paid, and to get laid. marriage is not a requisite part of either of those two goals.

Glamour Shot

Food in season

Here is a useful guide (via) to the seasonality of various fruits and vegetables. And though some people I know disagree with me on this, food does taste much better when it is in season! No matter where you buy it from.

Will someone explain why oranges are winter fruits?

Trains

I forget they are still used, and used to be (still are in some places) at the forefront of tranportation technology. They are getting longer.

Google versus China

Who will win? Or, do we all lose?

The French word for model is mannequin

I probably knew that a few years ago and have since forgotten. Creeps me out to see it in print.



I really like Catherine McNeil.

Garance Dore and Scott Schuman are together?

If I had done my research (or more blatantly here) I would have known already. That is a fashion blog monopoly in the making!

Lewis!

New Yorker fiction is depressing

This analysis of New Yorker fiction has at least one glaring omission: no discussion of the topic or tone of the fiction. Namely, that in the past year the fiction has become increasingly depressing, to the point that I often can't fall asleep afterwards until I sing the alphabet 20 times to myself.

I don't see this addressed in the FAQ either.

For example (in reverse chronological order):

• This story set in a post-apocalyptic (due to global warming, only 30 years in the future)world involves multiple homicides and one forced miscarriage!
• I didn't even read this one by DFW, because just thinking about his suicide was awful enough.
• Ambiguously lonesome narrator stuck in Indianapolis during a snowstorm has a chance encounter with former girlfriend distraught over abduction of her two daughters? Sure!
• Oh, this girl was part of a suicide pact when she was young, survived to tell the story but spends the rest of her life trying to cut herself off from the world.
• A fat lady and her dog die prematurely in this one, and it is relatively light in tone. A humor piece compared to the others (I do like Stephen King).
• In a misguided attempt to recapture the pleasure of his youth, he returns to a part of Malawi where he did community work, only to get malaria, get robbed, and die slowly in a strange land surrounded by people who don't like him.
• After attempting to renovate his old family home, he loses all of his money and friends and the house burns down.
• This story was, for me, the most shocking. It wins points for brevity and precision. I was furious after I read it.

These are just a few examples; I could have summarized each story from the past year and included it on the list of stories that make me sick to my stomach.

The recurring theme, if there is one, is that you are alone in this world. And even when you try to connect with people, or think you have connected, you remain alone, and those bonds are fragile and transient.

THANKS A LOT.

Barry's Boot Camp

Yeah, I went* there** before the LAT got involved.

*3 times
**Warning: their website is like an Ed Hardy catalogue.

The Knife coming back from hibernation?

In typical weirdo fashion.



I wonder how it compares to Karin's solo effort.

Pinot Days

Interesting.