-I'm a fan of blogs. I go through a monthly debate where I decide on how to sort them in my bookmarks--all blogs, no matter what the subject matter, in one folder--or sorted into the corresponding folder that they belong in. I discovered a new blog that I can tell I'm really going to like. Off The Broiler focuses on food and technology--what's not to like? It's written by Jason Perlow and I found it by accident--googled "baked sweet potato fries" because my two past attempts ended first in crunchy, burnt matchsticks, and then soggy, limp slightly fatter matchsticks. I am by no means exclaiming to have "found" this blog, it's already been well-covered, but it looks pretty damn interesting despite the fact that Mr. Perlow doesn't seem to be a big fan of Apple.
-Every New York Rangers fan, probably even every NHL fan, has an opinion on Sean Avery. I think he's a great asset to the team--you can't argue with their win/loss record with him on the squad rather than when he's not--and while I understand why he wasn't re-signed (too much money), I'm glad he's back. I think he's 100% right that the NHL needs to move away from the old traditions that has basically relugated it to 3rd Tier status in the American sports landscape. They aren't working. Avery playing the love-to-hate-him villain, Ovie and his stick-on-fire celebrations, shit like that, it gets media coverage, which gets people interested in watching games, which means advertising dollars. It's common-sense. Respect, honor, and sportsmanship don't televise well, sorry.
The fact that the Avery article I'm recommending is in the Style section of today's NY Times shouldn't strike you as odd. Avery is a known fashionista, and as the article points out, a pretty damn knowledgable one. This quote is priceless though, and I'm sure some cunning smack-talker on another team will have a field day with it:
In the first period of the New York Rangers game Tuesday, Sean Avery, a left wing, repeatedly punched an opponent in the skull. An hour later, Mr. Avery stood in a locker room at Madison Square Garden discussing men’s fashion.
“I admire well-dressed men no matter where they are — a guy in a police uniform that has it pulled together nicely or a doctor in his scrubs,” he said, a nasty scratch bleeding on his chin. “I like that identity of having a presence. I think that’s what it is. It states your presence.”
In the first period of the New York Rangers game Tuesday, Sean Avery, a left wing, repeatedly punched an opponent in the skull. An hour later, Mr. Avery stood in a locker room at Madison Square Garden discussing men’s fashion.
“I admire well-dressed men no matter where they are — a guy in a police uniform that has it pulled together nicely or a doctor in his scrubs,” he said, a nasty scratch bleeding on his chin. “I like that identity of having a presence. I think that’s what it is. It states your presence.”
I can just hear Darcy Tucker now:
Hey, Sean! Check out that security guard over in section 6! What a hottie! He's got presence, eh?
-There's a quick little Q&A in the NY Times Magazine with Donald Trump, a man who I admittedly know little about. But I thought he contradicted himself in two separate answers, and the contradiction really got to the heart of many economic discussions I've found myself in before. When asked if he thought "showy materialism" had become passe (what a NY Times question, seriously), he said:
Great apartments and homes and things of extreme luxury will never be out of fashion. That’s what people aspire to. It’s a good thing, because it makes people work in order to attain that lifestyle.
Fine. I don't really buy that kind of rationale, but I'll accept it for the moment. Two questions later, he is asked if he thinks anyone can be a champion (on The Apprentice). He responds:
Well Donny, wouldn't that mean that it's virtually impossible for some people, no matter how hard they work, to attain a lifestyle of extreme luxury? And doesn't that basically run against the core virtues of capitalism? And doesn't it also mean that the books you peddle to people about how to get rich and wealthy and powerful and happy (oh wait, that last one is never in the books), are basically worthless, considering that most of the people who read them won't be able to be successful anyway?
I'll stop here because I refuse to be angry on a Sunday.
-Crazy, crazy article about Libertarians and their conspiracy theories about the IRS and income taxes, also from The Magazine. These are the Ron Paul-ites, and honestly, I was a bit scared. According to them, the income tax is anything from "unconstitutional" to "grossly misapplied." Peter Hendrickson, the wackjob the article centers around, says that, "the incomes of most Americans aren't legally subject to state or federal income tax."
My view on this may be off-base since I don't make all that much money, but honestly, I think paying taxes is patriotic. I'm happy to give some of my money to the government, knowing that it's paying for police officers and fire fighters and hospitals and schools when, as far as I can tell, those are all, uh, services I plan on using at various points in my life. Maybe I'm wrong though.
-I've been feeling really stuck when it comes to the short story I'm working on. It's one of the longest ones I've ever written, and the 2nd draft feels like a sea of words that I am lost in the middle of. I read a couple of crappy books in a row, and so I decided to take a break from reading altogether, and that didn't work either. I didn't want to start reading something new, so I decided to take out some comfort food--something I knew would be good and would hold me in its grasp with little effort on my part.
So I went and picked up Amy.
The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel is a book you should read. It's amazing and will break your heart and you will want to talk to people about it and lend it to friends and family. This is the NY Times review of it, which is called Little Earthquakes, which I just fucking love. You won't regret picking this up, I promise.
-That's a collection of read newspapers, torn-out recipes that don't seem delicious or economically feasible anymore, and ads for various aspects of a wedding. Danielle and I cleaned out a bookcase and our recipe folder and it was quite the delicious pile of paper. Oddly enough, Bukowski did not take advantage of it.
-We're not cooking anything too crazy this week, although Saturday night we'll be making fish tacos, which should be fun. And we're going to try and make turkey burgers, although I am highly skeptical. Ground turkey, no matter what the fuck you put in it, is not and will never taste like juicy ground chuck. And I refuse to make a turkey burger-loaf. Burger patties are held together by the shaping you do with your hands--physics. They don't have eggs in them. But I'll give them a shot.
I just realized it's 6 o'clock. Time to go enjoy the rest of this Sunday. Here's one last picture I took--of our fridge, no less:
Coming soon: my thoughts on some movies I watched over the weekend, including Milk, and a couple of iPhone apps you should get because they're basically the best shit ever.
More soon, kids.
JS
No comments:
Post a Comment