I read “Life in a Northern Town,” [January] and sat and thought about the many good times I’ve had in Duluth. The town is so filled with memories. And the beauty of the old houses. If they could only get a museum together for all the history of that old place, and the people who … Read more
As a former Twin Citizen now working for Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, I was delighted to see some of our recommendations in January’s Gastronomer (“Go Fish,” by Dan Gilchrist). Sushi is no longer a coastal phenomenon. Gilchrist got it right with our “bad news” about the bluefin tuna and farmed salmon: we suggest … Read more
Every rogue state on the planet would love to get its hands on my grandmother’s recipe. I would not like to think what would happen if Saddam got the chocolate sauce. If I have anything to say about it, he’s not getting squat. If that makes me seem arrogant, or like the chocolate-sauce-police of the … Read more
There were five people at my wedding: Me, my husband, two witnesses, and the minister—our roommate Eugene. Eugene is a minister of the Universal Life Church, a group that supports freedom of religion and says they will ordain anyone. It takes three minutes and can be done over the Internet. But the website warns, “This … Read more
If you weren’t at Sylvie Nides and Sampson Burke’s golden anniversary party this past September, you missed the event of the year, maybe even of the decade. After all, how often do you get the chance to see two dogs renewing wedding vows under a chuppah? Jane Nides, Sylvie’s mom and a medical marketing representative, … Read more
Benjamin has been looking for Erin for about four months. He met her at a party in August, and she hit his car two weeks later. But it wasn’t like that. There were no damages. Rather, Ben had a crush on Erin. The number he put into his cell phone never saved. He searched the … Read more
The Rake goes inside the criminally overshadowed AV Club. If The Onion is the nation’s class clown, the AV Club—the newspaper’s unheralded entertainment section—is its thoughtful little wallflower of a brother. Originally a wacky complement to the newspaper’s celebrated satire, the section grew into its current format under editor Stephen Thompson, who fought for a … Read more
It always seems to happen on a Friday. The phone rings and someone says, “Do you speak Latin?” and I reply “Well, I teach it,” or something equally noncommittal. Then comes the question. “What is the Latin word for ‘color’?” Phew, that’s easy. “Color, spelt the way Americans spell it.” “Well what’s the Latin for … Read more
My inner Mothra would be so proud. I had no fears that the gorgeous Icelandic woman sitting next to my husband at a dinner party was any competition for me, but that didn’t stop me from engaging the table with jokes told in rapid-fire English that I was sure she couldn’t get. It’s not bad … Read more
How did I get so slovenly? Can I blame it on my upbringing, fraught with stringent housekeeping rules and rigorous cleaning chores from an early age? Is it the necessary byproduct of a creative temperament? Or am I just lazy? I leave my dishes in the sink, on the table, or worse yet, in the … Read more