~~FaLL DeCoRaTiNg TiPs~~!

So many other blogs are posting about home decorating for fall, and you can probably see the "fall decorating" we've done here at JoP (thanks Susan?), so I felt called to share my own plans for fall decorating.

Number one is fragrance. Right now is prime time for pumpkin flavors and scents, but just between you and me, I can only handle so much pumpkin! Candles that smell like vanilla, cookies, any gingerbread product, or toffee all make me wanna barf. I only want my food to smell like food, you know? My go-to scents for cooler weather fall more into the spice-and-herb category. Right now I'm into patchouli, which is a really nice compliment to a citrus scent too. Evergreen is also nice; cedar and eucalyptus will never let you down. So.

HOT: citrus and spice

NOT: cookie scents


Number two: windows. Everybody's changing out their valence-shade colors and hanging garlands of faux leaves, but I'll be covering my windows with shrink-wrap plastic for insulation. My windows may not be "festive," but my energy bill will be beautiful!

HOT: saving energy!
NOT: buying the same curtains in a different color just because the seasons change

Number three: It's what everyone is talking about! CENTERPIECES. Also mantlepieces. A popular idea these days is to cover some fall items (pumpkins, faux or real; leaves; gourds; brown and orange things) in a cake dish and toss leaves around. Voila! But that looks like crap. Another one is to arrange some things in a bowl. Replace your stupid boring old everyday fruit bowl with a...gourd bowl! Toss some multicolored authentic corn husks in for fun.
Just kidding everybody! Unless you run a country club, I wouldn't worry about making new centerpieces for fall. Nobody will notice or care anyway!

HOT: no centerpiece/whatever you already have!
NOT: spending hundred$ on decorative pumpkins and special leaf garlands

Good luck out there, everybody. We all know the next big decorating challenge is right around the corner...stay tuned for Christmas!

Other Food Finds

How could this date escape me? Today is the day of the KFC Double Down! I think we've all been salivating over the ads for a few weeks, and the Awl has a great review! Let us know if you try one! The best observation:

Food Finds

The best Crouton ever

Third and Delaware

Somebody in my life (named Rob) has been on sort of a Roseanne kick lately, and I gotta be honest: it takes a lot to get me psyched up for that show. I was only allowed to watch it sporadically when I was a kid (roll call of shows I was allowed to watch: The Wonder Years, The Cosby Show, Sesame Street, Cheers, Seinfeld, and Frasier. Step by Step, Boy Meets World, Family Matters, etc. etc. Notice the conspicuous lack of the Simpsons and Martin, the two shows I wanted to watch more than any other) and so it never had the forbidden-fruit appeal of Thirtysomething, you know?

Anyway, here's a blog about all the fashion and style on every episode of Roseanne. See if you get any tips for spring fashion...I know I have!

[Thanks to Cafe Con Lesley]


UPDATE: did you know that Thirtysomething, Seasons 1-4 are all on Netflix (some on instant play)??? Thirtysomething party at my house next week!

Philadelphia is closing its public libraries!

This is the most fucked up thing ever!

http://libwww.freelibrary.org/closing/

I don't know about you or the people of Philadelphia or the people of America in general, but I certainly wouldn't mind paying a little more in taxes!!!! This is what happens when you insist on tax cuts in tough years, fools. We all lose. Congratulations.

UPDATE:

This is from an interesting comment on Consumerist about it. A different side of the story and still fucked up! Let's get it together, people!

What's happening is that city leaders are making a highly-visible yet token "cut" that's designed to annoy people and convince them that higher taxes are acceptable. Once people accede to this manipulation — which is really no better than an extortion scheme — these conniving officials are relieved of the obligation to do what they ought to have done in the first place: make the serious and genuine kinds of budget cuts that would actually make a difference ... such as cutting waste and graft, and paring the size of government down to something which is both manageable and affordable. They squander money in ways you would not believe — and they do it all the time, under the illusion that it's the best way to operate.

Example 1: The Connecticut DOT could not be bothered actually managing a construction project, so they contracted out that task to a well-connected company. Only that company, which was paid millions to supervise it, did absolutely nothing. The work done was poor and had to be redone. In order to avoid paying to redo it, the construction company liquidated itself, its owners reconstituted as another firm, and proceeded to lobby for more state business. CT DOT officials — who obviously had no problem with this situation — were ready to award them more work, when the story was reported and the state A.G. had to step in. The re-work took another 2 years and a great deal more money, only some of which has been recovered.

Example 2: New York City public schools are famously home to what are called "rubber rooms." These are places in which tenured but incompetent teachers are allowed to sit and do nothing all day, yet earn their salaries for having done nothing. You see, they cannot be fired, no matter how bad they are; since they are by contract "entitled" to work, this is the only way to keep them from hurting kids' education or harming them.

Both of these examples, and more, are basically ways in which money is sucked out of the public coffers, for no good purpose ... and which are actually, actively defended by some officials, who consider these to be good ideas.

It's not just Philadelphia that uses this scheme of token, annoying, noticeable cuts to entice taxpayers into paying more ... governments at ALL levels (municipalities, counties, regional authorities, and states) across the country do it. It's an old trick, but curiously, it seems to work more often than not, and most people are blissfully unaware they're being "played." The cold hard fact is that government officials profit too much from bloated government and artificially-high budgets, for them to slice them down to size.

Big announcement/hint/surprise!

Number one: I started a personal tumblr for more personal stuff, so probably my JOP posting might change or something. But this is the first/last/only time I'll mention my other, TOP SECRET, blog here, so make a note or forget about it forever.

Number two: JoP may be moving soon. Stay tuned!

Happy Birthday!

JoP turned 1 on Saturday!!!$%^!#$ What a year it's been!!

A look at the best post from each contributor (as voted by me):

Meg: Death By Cute

Winnie: A Couple of Holiday Don'ts

Kneeker: CruSH LiTTLe BaBy

McGregor: The Birthplace: Big F'ing Deal

Susan: 2009

Don't agree? Have another favorite that didn't get mentioned? Let us know!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I was listening to Morning Edition on my drive to work and today is Handel's 250th anniversary of death. This got me thinking about how special this week is. And I'm not just saying that! Seriously! A lot of noteworthy events have happened during this small span of time (for the purposes of this post, small span of time=4/14-4/16). Below is a run-down of some of the things I find interesting:

4/15/1452: Leonardo da Vinci is born.

4/14/1863: The Donner party sets off on their year-long Western journey. What a crazy trip that was!

4/15/1889: Thomas Hart Benton (muralist) is born. The placement of his murals in universities and the Missouri State Capitol is something I've always liked because it takes away the "museum fatigue" that I generally feel - where I have to learn/appreciate all works really quickly in a really uptight setting. More realistically art should be a part of our lives in a public space. Also, I just love the look of his work.

4/15/1892: GE is formed. This surprised me. I guess everyone else knew GE was that old?

4/14/1863 - 4/15/1863: President Lincoln is shot at Ford's Theater and dies on the morning of the 15th. I have always felt a connection to him. This fact really spooked me when we went to visit Ford's Theater and the museum as a child.

4/16/1889: Charlie Chaplin is born. I've always been more interested in his life off-camera than his films.

4/14/1912-4/15/1912: The Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks on the morning of the 15th.

4/16/1912: Catherine Scorsese is born (aka Martin's mom). I just found this interesting. In the way that Martin Scorsese during the Last Waltz years fascinates me.



4/15/1924: Rand McNally publishes his first road atlas. Look how far they've come!

4/14/1925: John Singer Sargent dies. I'm reading this book, The Gardner Heist, and though I don't necessarily care for his work, he painted portraits of/was good friends with the museum's owner, Isabella Stewart Gardner. So shout-out to John!

4/16/1927: Joseph Ratzinger (aka Joey Ratz) (aka Pope Benedict XVI) is born. Let's be honest - he's no John Paul II, but still - a birthday shared with a Pope. Fun fact: John Paul II died on my sister's birthday (4/2).

4/15/1933: Elizabeth Montgomery (Samantha from Bewitched) is born. I love her!

4/15/1947: Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Did anyone see the new Mets stadium, CitiField, last night? The Mets designed the new entrance of the field to look like the old Dodger field rotunda and have named it in honor of Robinson. From what I saw, I think CitiField looks better than the new Yankee Stadium.

4/15/1952: Heloise is born. I used to read her column in the N & O. Maybe it's even still there?

4/14/1956: Videotape is first demonstrated in Chicago.

4/16/1963: MLK Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail.

4/16/1965: Martin Lawrence is born. I share my birthday with true greatness.

4/15/1967: Dara Torres is born. She was the closest Olympian I could find.

4/14/1999: A severe hailstorm in Australia becomes their most costly natural disaster (over 1.4 billion US dollars). I can't believe this wasn't given more coverage. Or maybe it was and I wasn't listening.

4/14/2000: Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich files a lawsuit against Napster. Lars just cares about protecting the music people!