links for 2007-09-29

• In Love With Pop, Uneasy With the World
  A.O. Scott reviews Springsteen's new album. Always the Boss.
  (tags: bruce springsteen magic)

Could the weather be more beautiful?

These are the kinds of days that make me declare, "Fall is my favorite season!" Of course, there are days in April that make me say the same about spring, and most of June makes me love summer best.

I can definitively say that a typical January in Nashville marks winter off my nice list. Every January and February, I'm all in favor of global warming. [During August, not so much, but that's a different story.]

We've got a crazy weekend planned here at Fixin' Supper, so I'm not sure how much cooking there will be. Really must find time to get back into the kitchen, especially since all the dishes are currently cleaned and put away. We cannot allow that to stand for long.

Happy fall!

links for 2007-09-28

• iMedia Connection: Facebook dominates with new widgets
  Quick review of what's hot on Facebook
  (tags: facebook widgets)

links for 2007-09-27

• The Facebook commandments. - By Reihan Salam - Slate Magazine
  Great article on how adults should be friends -- and unfriend and ignore -- on Facebook.
  (tags: facebook)

links for 2007-09-26

• Supreme Court to Hear Case on Voter ID Law | New York Times
  I just don't get it. Really, someone explain how showing a photo ID suppresses voter turnout. Every citizen is eligible for a state-issued photo ID, and I've yet to see any documented evidence of those being difficult to obtain.
  (tags: voter ID)

Someone please explain

So I like nuts a lot. I bet I eat some kind of nut every single day. I usually have some in a Tupperware at work but last week I realized I was out. So I stopped at the store yesterday and purchased a bag of roasted pistachios.

I had a few of them this morning, but I started to ponder my strange problem with nuts. It doesn't matter what kind I eat, or in what setting. But when I get to the last of them, suddenly they look disgusting and I have to throw them away. I'm talking anywhere from 5-30 nuts. Does that strike you as a strange issue? I freely admit that I'm weird, but I'd never contemplated this particular item before. I don't think I have the same problem with other similar munchies,  like pretzels or chips. Just nuts.

UPDATE: I am cleaning the house this evening, and I realized I have a similar issue with store-bought bread. When we get near the end of a loaf of bread, or a bag of mini-bagels or English muffins, I usually decide, "This can't be good anymore," and I toss the last 2-3 slices/muffins/whatever in the trash, even with no mold in sight.

No need for you to say how weird that is; I'll do it for you.

links for 2007-09-25

• U.N. Chief Urges Immediate Climate Action - New York Times
  At a meeting of world leaders today, Ban Ki-moon said that the moment to act on climate change was now. ... Is anyone listening? All I want is a car that seats 6 or 7 and gets more than 30 mpg. Seems like a small dream to me.
  (tags: environment global+warming)
• Why the Jena 6 protests have gone awry. - By Richard Thompson Ford - Slate Magazine
  This article sums up more eloquently than I could do everything I think about the incidents last fall in Jena, La.
  (tags: jena)

Today's haiku

Skinny dress beckons
But why must french fries taste good?
And potato chips.

Never mind all that: Visit Cook Eat Fret now!

Wow. You work all day and you miss a lot.

Exhibit 1: Newscoma pointed us [via Music City Bloggers] to Cook Eat Fret. If you came here looking for a great food blog and were disappointed by my randomness [or bless you, if you like my randomness but still also like great food blogs], then visit this site right away. It's in my reader.

Holy cow, I'm just like Elvis

Tonight they're doing another special on Elvis. Y'all, I just love Elvis. Had I been born earlier, I know I woulda been a groupie. And I'm not the groupie type, in case you weren't aware.

Now Norah Jones is singing "Love Me." That's good stuff.

But here's the thing; apparently Elvis and I were separated at birth. They're talking about how Elvis didn't like to accept help from others, but he always was first in line to help others. So me. My biggest one of my biggest strengths and failings. [Feel free to add your listing to "Laura's biggest failings" in the comments.]

I do think one of the most insightful things I've ever written was a column about Elvis, the South and heroes for my college literary magazine. I ran across it a few months ago while cleaning up some long-lost box of memorabilia [back when memorabilia came in a box, not on a CD]. I might not claim a lot of what I wrote back then, but I'll take Elvis any day.

Excuse me, I'm back to Vegas with the King.