my favorite trader joe's snacks

since you now have a trader joe's in omaha, i thought i'd post some of my favorite snacks from that store. i don't have the chance to buy much of their fresh/cold/frozen foods because we're usually on a road trip of some sort when we swing by, so we only stock up on snackies. (though their naan is fantastic)

1. chocolate sunflower seed drops

2. dark chocolate almonds (sea salt/turbinado sugar)

3. wasabi peas

4. sesame honey cashews

5. triple ginger cookie thins

backin up song - watch second

watch this first

to keep the black monday doldrums at bay, another news item in the spirit of antoine dodson.

Someone in your life difficult to shop for?

I have the answer. I saw it on etsy today!

That's right, personalized dish drain plugs. The little snowman will only look better covered with old rice, coffee grounds and chunks of soggy bread.

happy birthday!

to caron the great. able to lift two kayaks simultaneously, all while eating a dumdum. girl has skillz. many happy returns, my friend.

bird of paradise

a happy birthday and many happy returns to the founder of the feast. we love you.

Maybe I am Some Family's Personal Santa...

I keep getting Christmas gift wish-lists from some family who has confused my email address for their family member Brad's email address.  They have very reasonable requests (a moleskine notebook, some Burt's Bees lip balm), but I keep telling them that I am not who they are looking for.

But maybe I am.

Maybe I am their own personal Santa Claus.

Does this happen to anyone else?  It's kinda weird.

God's Gonna Cut You Down

Johnny Cash God's Gonna Cut You Down - Watch a funny movie here

At this morning's fabulous WC breakfast (Thanks Darb!) we started talking about Gwyneth Paltrow's attempt at being "Country Strong". I think we all agreed that she fell somewhat short just because of who she is - but these days, the very genre of country music is compromised, with blurry lines between it and the world of pop. This is evident in this rendition of "God's Gonna Cut You Down" with images of pop icons in limos being flashed (Who are they preaching to anyway?) while Johnny Cash grits out the lyrics underneath. Indeed, the irony is too great.

whocares design star: season 2

HELP! i'm doing some rearranging today, thanks to a snazzy new bar/cabinet/buffet thingy i nabbed from the craigslist 'free' section (don draper would be so proud. all i need is a decanter. but i digress). now i'm left with these two bookcases that i've pushed together - which i like, but am not sure how to arrange the shelves. i didn't even try. you can see what i've got to work with - but i can pull books (have a shelf full downstairs) onto the case, and have 3 matching baskets, elephants, blue vases, etc. etc. or i can find new-to-me stuff. what i really don't like are the magazines.

your ideas, please! please. oh please. i'm begging you, stars of the whocares design spectrum. [in-person consultations also welcome]

really?

channel surfing last night, we caught this performance. gwyneth paltrow, singing a song called "country strong." it was weird. not because she can't sing, but because it's hard to picture her connecting with the nascar set. absolutely nothing about her says "country strong." not her macrobiotic diet, not her downward-facing dog, definitely not her upper-crust, yacht-club, uber-polished vibe. what's next? katherine zeta jones' rap album?

is is MY favorite billy collins poem

"morning"

Why do we bother with the rest of the day,

the swale of the afternoon,

the sudden dip into evening,

then night with his notorious perfumes,

his many-pointed stars?

This is the best—

throwing off the light covers,

feet on the cold floor,

and buzzing around the house on espresso—

maybe a splash of water on the face,

a palmful of vitamins—

but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso,

dictionary and atlas open on the rug,

the typewriter waiting for the key of the head,

a cello on the radio,

and, if necessary, the windows—

trees fifty, a hundred years old

out there,

heavy clouds on the way

and the lawn steaming like a horse

in the early morning.

you belong at whocares breakfast

breakfast time.
saturday, nov. 20
8:30-whenever
darby's house
be there.