Open Thread

18Comments

1. 1.

   jeffreyw

   April 10, 2011 at 8:37 am

   Mmm…Sunday Dinners

2. 2.

   Phyllis

   April 10, 2011 at 9:06 am

   Book recommendations anyone? I’m currently reading ‘A Dirty Life’ by Kristin Kimball. She and her husband run a farm in upstate New York that operates like a sort-of csa. Pretty good so far.

   Everyone here is always reading or has just read really good stuff.

3. 3.

   "Serious" Superluminar

   April 10, 2011 at 9:09 am

   Well I see the Hope, but where’s the Change I can believe in, huh?
   Specifically, I’m hoping Sully won’t be mentioned here today, but I have no doubt that particular pony will be thrown under the bus in 3…2….1

4. 4.

   S. cerevisiae

   April 10, 2011 at 9:17 am

   UMD WINS THE NCAA HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!! GO BULLDOGS!!!!!!

   Sorry, I just had to shout that. First one for the men’s team.

5. 5.

   Maude

   April 10, 2011 at 9:33 am

   @Phyllis:
   Egg and I by Betty Mac Donald.
   This is the book with Ma and Pa Kettle.
   The movie made quite a few changes from the book.
   There is one section where Betty Mac Donald describes why she hates baby chicks. It is well worth reading.

6. 6.

   Phyllis

   April 10, 2011 at 9:41 am

   @Maude: I read that in high school. Good time for a revisit, I believe.

7. 7.

   Brian S (formerly Incertus)

   April 10, 2011 at 9:52 am

   I know most people here aren’t poetry types, but the poem I ran today for National Poetry Month is a bit of a mind-bender in that it’s an animation, for starters, and it’s done in a completely invented language. It’s called “Universal Translator.”

8. 8.

   Bill H.

   April 10, 2011 at 10:50 am

   Spring is here in Rochester, finally.

   Unlike San Diego, where we are setting record cold temperatures and the snow level is down to 3000 feet. Yes, I’m talking about the San Diego that is in Southern California.

9. 9.

   JCT

   April 10, 2011 at 10:54 am

   I will watch the thread for good book recs as well — very preoccupied of late, a good book would be therapeutic.

   I am spending my day starting to plan my first re-location in 30 years. Finally leaving NYC. Both exciting and daunting. The only problem is that as soon as I start to get jazzed about the “exciting” part, the enormity of the work involved brings me back to earth really fast.

   And boy, I haven’t looked for a house in 20 years. Barely know where to start.

   Oh and if anyone wants a laugh — go check out the Washington Monthly this morning — apparently the idgits on Fox and Fiends were arguing that women can get pap smears at Walgreens. Sigh.

10. 10.

    Origuy

    April 10, 2011 at 11:12 am

    A site that is worth checking out once in a while is Data Pointed, which is all about visualization of data. The latest entry uses the 2010 census to show how US population has migrated in the last ten years. The movement out of places like New Orleans and Detroit is pronounced, but it also shows the growth in many downtowns.
    The previous entry is relevant to recent discussions here; it shows the shifting burden of income taxes over recent decades.

11. 11.

    HRA

    April 10, 2011 at 11:19 am

    Looks like the wind shifted the sun and blue skies over to Rochester. Grey and gloomy here with a possibility of April showers.
    Love to see my name in lights. Tks, Mistermix.

12. 12.

    WereBear

    April 10, 2011 at 11:46 am

    @Phyllis: She lives about 45 minutes from where I live. But you know… two climate zones away, if you look at it from the elevation angle.

    I’m guardedly happy about the back-to-the-land thing. For other people. Been there, done that, didn’t kill anyone.

13. 13.

    4jkb4ia

    April 10, 2011 at 12:01 pm

    It might not sink in even if you go to their site, but John Thompson of Connick v. Thompson (who the Supremes ruled could not sue the prosecutors) has an op-ed in the NYT today

    Spring is definitely here. The weather feels more like late May and all the trees have grown leaves.

14. 14.

    4jkb4ia

    April 10, 2011 at 12:05 pm

    I’ll mention Justin Fox, “The Myth of the Rational Market”, that I just finished, because I thought it was awesome-sauce anyway. But that is exactly the kind of book I like and may not be what Phyllis is looking for.

    My mom mentioned “The Invisible Bridge” as something I would like. That has just won the Edward Lewis Wallant prize for Jewish writers living in the United States (see Zeek for more)

15. 15.

    WereBear

    April 10, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    @Maude: It is very funny; will dash any romantic dreams of farm living too.

    Well worth seeking out is another of her memoirs, The Plague and I, about her stay in a TB sanitarium.

16. 16.

    J.W. Hamner

    April 10, 2011 at 1:34 pm

    If channeled my budget rage into commenting on a foodie topic: Are You History’s Greatest Monster If You Like Truffle Oil?

17. 17.

    WaterGirl

    April 10, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    @jeffreyw: I would to place an order to have that twice-baked potato delivered to my home, every Sunday, until, let’s see, would the end of time be too much to ask for?

18. 18.

    Phyllis

    April 10, 2011 at 3:12 pm

    @4jkb4ia: I’ll add to my ‘books to read in the winter when I’m kinda depressed anyway’. Thanks.