I think we’re all in agreement (aren’t we?) that Mother’s Day as it is currently practiced is by far the most commercial, needlessly costly, guilt-induding holiday of all time. For years, I’ve insisted it was begun by a consortium of greedy florists and greeting card manufacturers, and I’ve told my children. . . .please. . […]
Take to the Streets
May 7, 2008 by
I’m of two minds about street food. Personally, I find it unsatisfying. I don’t like to walk and eat (too messy!), and I hate the taste of wooden sticks and skewers. Yet, there’s something about a bustling city street dotted with steaming food stands and vendors that makes me happy. I’ll take a stroll the […]
Cabaret: Tits, Ass, and Monopoly Money
May 4, 2008 by
In the 1972 Bob Fosse film Cabaret, an American Sally Bowles, played by Liza Minnelli, falls in love with a rambunctious Englishman who is — as she is — having an affair with her bisexual boss. Whereas in the 1966 stage play Cabaret, it was Sally who was English, her boyfriend who was American, and […]
Starting Out in the Evening
May 3, 2008 by
Remember those days when you would wait for your parents to leave the house so you could invite your girl- or boyfriend over for an evening of videos and cheap wine and illicit sex? Well, here’s a funny thing. Those days return, when you’re 42 or so. . . .You discover there’s a Friday evening […]
Himalayan. . . .Just Go Already!
May 1, 2008 by
Over the weekend, John and I went to a new restaurant on Franklin and 24th called simply Himalayan. To be honest, we didn’t have great expectations going in. Our experience with Tibetan and Nepali food in town has been lukewarm at best. There’s Everest on Grand, which is. . . .fine. And there used to […]
Fill Your Tank With Pinot Gris
April 29, 2008 by
Back in late 2007, I wrote a blog post called The Seventh Sign: $30 Chianti about a predicted rise in the price of European wines. According to the New York Times, the hike was supposed to hit in three to five months. Right about. . . .now. The exchange rate, oil prices, global economic turmoil: […]
A Midsummer Night's Wine
April 27, 2008 by
So it seems the kids from Fame (who, by the way, are now eligible for AARP) have gotten together with Cyndi Lauper and a couple writers from the early days of Saturday Night Live to adapt Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Guthrie. That, and I suppose Joe Dowling had a hand in it, […]
More Fesenjoon. No Sex.
April 25, 2008 by
Back in January, I submitted a blog called Sex and the Fat Man that was about my forthcoming novel in which a large hero has a lot of quality sex and fesenjoon — the dish over which he and the lady with whom he has all that great sex fall in love. For the past […]
A Dry Spell and Then a Premier Cru
April 22, 2008 by
It is true that I drink wine nearly every day. But recently, I went three days without. . . .very purposefully. It was less a personal decision than a public parenting demonstration. Alcohol is not a necessity. I only hope it worked. I was in Madison, Wisconsin, with my middle child, Max — 18 years […]
Whole Foods Has One Word for You: Paper
April 16, 2008 by
Starting this Earth Day — April 20 — you will no longer have the choice of paper or plastic at Whole Foods. It’ll be paper, unless you’re one of those too-good-to-be-true types who can remember to bring your own reusable string bag. Yes, the world’s largest natural foods retailer, which operates nearly 300 stores in […]