What do I love most:

Lyon, France ((arguably) the best city)?
the French teens in the foreground, smiling at the camera like any normal thing?
the French teens in the background?
the idea that pushing over cars and setting fires will promote legislative change?

[photo via]

Dinnertime!

I just saw these over at Food in Real Life and couldn't believe my eyes. Look at the hilarious little wisps of photoshop steam! The disgusting marble of meat and cheese! The name Sideshots!

Would you eat these if they were free?
If they were $3.99?
If somebody gave you $3.99 and Sideshots on the house?

Summer Reading Roundup: Far North

This is the cover of Wolf Whistle by Lewis Nordan, one of my favorite books, and what I tried to draw your attention to via highlighting or some kind of very simple text-boxing (but couldn't, because apparently this computer doesn't have a thing that will do that) is the review in the middle: "Six words of advice: Read him. Read him. Read him."

I always laughed at that review, but it's the best I can come up with right now for Marcel Theroux's Far North. I blew through this one in like two days, and I wish it would go on f

orever or that the author would write 100 sequels. Read it, read it, read it!

Again without going too much into detail, Far North's protagonist is the sheriff of an abandoned town in Siberia settled by Quaker Americans during what seems like our lifetime. Then, later in our lifetimes, the earth heats up until there's famine and disease everywhere except the Arctic Circle, so the peaceful Quaker towns they'd settled are overrun with basically everyone in the world who can make it north to look for food. Nuts!

Don't read the NYT review of this book, by the way: it's favorable enough but the reviewer gives away some exciting twists in the plot and gets a few details wrong. Which is a bad combo! I had the luxury of reading this without having heard or read anything about it before--so everything was a surprise, and I liked it that way. I should also say that this was impressive because/despite I'd never read the other big apocalyptic-dystopia books (The Road, The Stand, etc.) and this was all fresh.

Sooooooo, Far North gets an A and might be the best book I've read all summer??????????

Summer Reading Roundup: Eating Animals

I'd never read anything by Jonathan Safran Foer before, but I was always drawn to his cover art. Eating Animals was no different, plus it was on a topic that matters to me, and I may have bought it for Robert this Christmas because I wanted to read it. Well folks, I finally got around to reading it, a mere 7 months later!

I get preachy enough on JOP that I'll spare you a point-by-point summary of this book, but you should know that it is really good, really thoroughly researched, really well written, and I am vividly sicked-out by the bacon that just a few weeks ago I (a "vegetarian") ate.

The premise is that we all know animal slaughter is disgusting; we all know factory farming is wrong. The information is there for all of us and nobody doubts how awful factory farms are for us, for the environment, for communities, and finally for the animals. So why do we ignore that and keep eating meat? "Because it tastes good." Weak! Don't start with the "protein" junk, either. Americans get way too much protein and it has a lot to do with our cancer incidence.

But don't take my word for it! Eating Animals, which is a quick, page-turning read, gets the solidest A.

Sunny Thoughts on a Sunny Friday Morning

If you're like me, reading this will ruin your morning...but also if you're like me, it helps to have an idea of the worst possible thing that could ever happen to all of us (obviously related to the BP spill). Usually what actually happens is less severe, so I like to brace myself for the worst and enjoy a pleasant surprise when it turns out less bad.

First read this short story, which appeared in the New Yorker right before Christmas last year. It's short, and sort of funny!

Then read this Gawker post, which is just a Gawker post and based on a commenter on a message board blah blah blah. But even if (especially if?) the information is twice-removed from official sources, it was scary. Another comment:

"The loss of that much marine bio-mass would be absolutely disastrous. The social implications alone would strain every governmental and social institution. People from the coasts who rely on seafood as the staple of their diet would begin to migrate in search of food. These people number into the tens to hundreds of millions. National borders would become non-existent. Governmental structures would fall due to the social unrest of such an huge influx of people in such a short period of time. Famine, plague, ethnic border wars, and the collapse of authority would be just the tip of the iceberg. If that oil were able to do as much damage as is suggested (and there is no proof that it can; I'm not sold, but I'm considering the implications as an intellectual exercise), then we could very well see another dark age for mankind."

Is there any reason this won't happen? If you know some stuff about science, I want to know!

And sorry for the bum out, but I hope you all have a great weekend!

Bad on bad on bad

Bad news, that is! Three of my favorite places in Raleigh are going to be gone within 2 months (max). I'm sad and mad about this.

1. Rockford. Closed suddenly yesterday! Rob and I had dinner there just on Saturday and it was great. I was so thankful for the cozy little second-story space and unpretentious servers and cheap sandwiches and drinks. So thankful, but I guess not thankful enough! CLOSED.

2. Jackpot. I had mixed feelings about this place and occasionally would hem and haw about going there; but like many fun things, I quit my complaining when I got there and would usually stay until closing time. Especially after the smoking ban! Lots of complaints about "hipsters," blah blah, but it was cheap there and you'd always run into someone you knew. And the music was good most of the time. And IHOP is right across the gravel parking lot! Closing "imminently."

3. Get Dressed! If you know Greensboro, it was a little like Design Archives but not as pricey and right across the street from the bead store, Ornamentea...aka perfect! I bought a lot of things there that I now wear weekly or even daily, like my favorite little silver-feathers ring. I hate that this place is closing. It's happening next month though, so there's still time to go. I bet the final sales will be amazing.

This is all sad partly because I enjoyed these places and partly because they gave Raleigh some needed character and community. Community is a "buzzword" these days but I don't know what else to call walking into a bar and knowing everyone in it.

One commenter on the blog where I read all my bad news lately, New Raleigh, wrote this and I have to agree. Well said, "Synaesthesiac":

It is ironic that many of the qualities that make a city a popular new area for growth get bulldozed to support that growth. It occurs because of a major disconnect between developers and the street level of culture. Rarely a developer like Empire bridges the gap. It is the cultural elements that help make the headlines, attracting both good growth as well as soulless capitalists. I always wondered what is the fundamental difference between the Glenwood South scene, Jackpot, and Fayetteville St. scenes. Some casual interviews revealed that the Glenwood South crowd is dominated by very recent relocees, often northerners, whereas the other spots are mostly North Carolinians. The out of towners move here because of the headlines, but aren’t properly sensitized to understand the culture once they arrive. They have no sentimentality about a place like Jackpot, and will pay to move in to some new condo without a wince. It is a sad but inevitable process.

Safety first!

Here is a public service announcement (PSA for short) from me to you: look out for bikes and scooters on the road!!

This morning, I was scootin' along, obeying all the safety rules, when a stoplight turned green--nobody had a left turn arrow--and I scooted across the intersection and 2 separate cars tried to turn left onto me. The first one was an over-hasty minivan (I thought), and after I yelled at her I continued on my path...but the car behind her was already turning left, too! And he slammed on his brakes, stopping short about 3 feet from my left thigh. I yelled at him a little bit and he kept looking up at the light behind me, hoping for a green arrow to magically appear. I'd actually hoped I was in the wrong, so that this situation would be easily avoided next time (that I was in control and could fix it), but no. I was right. Which is scary.

WHAT THE HECK PEOPLE. Look ahead for smaller vehicles. Don't accidentally kill someone just because it's too much trouble to look around!