My pal Howard pointed me to an opinion piece written by Roger Ebert that discusses The One-Percenters, that is the 1% of the population who earn 40% of the nation's income.

Outrage at the lack of social justice aside, I noticed this bit from the article:
"...One of the challenges facing the One-Percenters these days is finding ways to spend their ( Read more... )

::The first two paragraphs should be read in a French accent resembling Pepe Le Pew's. This will help convey that I am cultured::

The 2006 Opus One that we imbibed last night. It was fantastique! Its aroma was a subtle understatement of ox musk, Oreos, and fried chicken playing harmony to a melody of oleander blossom, persimmon jelly, and laser ( Read more... )

I like wine. I like wine that tastes good. I like the way wine makes me feel. I do not claim to be an oenophile but am confident my palate is sophisticated enough to discern between a 1982 Château Margaux and a grape jelly jar filled with Two Buck Chuck. Then again, I admit to having chosen inconsistently when participating in the Pepsi Challenge ( Read more... )

A classmate of The Wife a while ago made her aware of a program I am now wholeheartedly pimping: Bountiful Baskets (bountifulbaskets.org). If you live in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming just do this. It's a food buying cooperative that gives you a huge amount of food for a cheap price. You sign up for a basket ( Read more... )

During my youth food was... an issue.

By that I mean I was raised with a rather unorthodox diet, the result of a communal living arrangement of well-meaning people doing their best to find and better themselves through meditation, yoga, introspection and a pure diet, the latter of which purified the mind or something. Mine was an adopted family ( Read more... )

Preheat oven to 350°

Butter a deep casserole pan and alternately layer with the following:

• canned tuna fish in oil
• cream cheese
• pancetta
• sharp cheddar cheese
• guacamole

The other day at the grocery store I noticed they had turkey breasts on sale. So I bought one, a crazy impulse purchase, thinking I'd roast it up during the week.

Then it turned into a thought that, "Hey! I'll make a Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all the trimmings." Because, really, who doesn't like a Thanksgiving turkey dinner with all the ( Read more... )

Honestly, I don't even know how much a "peck" is. I could consult the oracle known as teh interwebs, I suppose, but the instant gratification of knowing the definition of a unit of measure I've known about my whole life but that has been kinda nebulous and undefined would be somehow unsatisfactory and a letdown. I want to learn what a "peck" is by ( Read more... )

My friend Kate (superdaintykate on LiveJournal) believes The Wife birthed a reincarnation of Oscar Wilde. The Boy's not-so-typical 5 year-old tastes and actions are making me start to warm to her theory.

The Wife and I have been using a sticker chart reward system in what so far has been an almost futile attempt to get The Boy to adhere to the following rules:

1. ( Read more... )

Our pal R called today and offered to take The Boy with her and the rest of the family to a showing of the movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. This was great for him and us. Him because he got to get out of the house and see a movie with a pal. Us because The Wife and I have been not feeling too great and, at the risk of having to relinquish ( Read more... )