Sassy Radish

I hope you’ve all had a good, albeit shortened week. To me, a short week just feels rushed, not that I don’t mind an extra day off, but then the rest of the week has just as much work as a regular one, and the whole thing feels a little frenetic. Maybe that’s why I am feeling a cold coming on. Here are some links I found through the week that range from ridiculous to amusing to kind of not-so-amusing. I’ll let you be the judge of which is which.

Ted Cruz’ goal is to shake up Washington, but I guess the real question is what is his definition of shake-up. My favorite part is on Cruz’ thoughts on Kerry and sentence about Cruz’ military service (he has none).

My favorite author with my favorite quote from my favorite book at Incanto. Also, in case I haven’t said it before, but we got married on Bloomsday! But that was purely by accident.

You can see compassion on the MRI – amazing.

Brave New Drones! Brought to you by Paul Greenberg, Scott Menchin, and the New York Times. Fantastic.

We are so very very very small.

Everyone keeps mentioning this article to me about hipsters moving out of Brooklyn and into the suburbs – it’s created quite a splash and there’s a lot of backlash against it. I don’t know what to make of it because there are so many other neighborhoods in Brooklyn, but that’s beside the point. What do you all think of it?

I promise this blog isn’t turning into a shrine to Ottolenghi, but if you happen to read his fantastic weekly column for the Guardian, the latest recipe is inspired by a recently-acquired by me (gifted by a relative) book called Food Of Life: Ancient Persian And Modern Iranian Cooking And Ceremonies, by Najmieh Batmanglij. Suddenly, I am noticing this book mentioned everywhere, and personally, I’m a little obsessed with it.

A new colony of 9,000 penguins was found in Antarctica. How, you might wonder? Why, it’s the poop trail that gave them away.

And if you missed this absolutely searing piece from Grantland, you must, must read it. For so many reasons Andy Greenwald just nails it. And by it I mean the transformation of food television from Julia and Jacques (and Yan Can Cook [cue suppressed sob here]) to the current shows on the Food Network. And not that I’m on anyone’s radar to have a show of my own, but the only place where I think I, personally, would fit in, is PBS.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend ahead.

See above? That was the state of my desk Wednesday morning. By Thursday morning, my attempts to declutter have been semi-effective. See the after picture. I hope that you all have had a good Valentine’s Day. I don’t put much emphasis on the holiday and neither does Andrew – this system works beautifully for the both of us. And we pretty much forgot what day it was yesterday (we were traveling) until, at lunch, we realized all the couples around us with flowers and chocolates, and burst out laughing because, for a few seconds, neither one of us had a clue. Anyway, I hope everyone’s day was filled with love: romantic, platonic, pet’s, self-indulgent – whatever the kind, I hope it made you happy!

Relax, you’ll be more productive!

Please stop pairing red wine with chocolate - finally, someone said something!

This week marks 50 years since Sylvia Plath’s death (the Bell Jar made an indelible impression on me as a teen), but when a writer went looking for her obituaries, there were none to be found. Here’s why. Sad and a reflection of that time.

The man who shot Bin Laden. Heartbreaking and disturbing on how the US cares for its vets.

Monsanto found guilty of chemical poisoning in France.

A (lazy) parent’s confession. I kind of just love it.

Last week, I spent one day trailing in the ABC Kitchen. I’ll speak more to that experience some other time (in short: it was awesome!). Here is some great advice from respected chefs on how to make it as a chef.

I heart Spencer Ackerman and Danger Room – this is his crowning achievement: Battle of Hoth!

Unpaid internships are not just a rich girl problem – they’re a problem, period. I’ve said this before and I’ve said it again, people really should be compensated for their work – no one, ever, should be expected to work for free.

I’ll be the first one to say it: when it’s time for pizza, I order a Diet Coke. It’s just that pizza tastes best to me with a cola. And it’s not that I’m so into counting calories, but more that I am very anti high-fructose corn syrup. However, I may have to give that habit up too. Diet drinks are associated with an increased risk of Type II diabetes – yikes!

Apparently, to those not with their head in the sand, NYC just had fashion week! Here are, Momofuku’s pastry chef, Christina Tosi, and model, Karlie Kloss (whose haircut has been apparently dubbed as the haircut of 2013!), work out (in style too, I might add!) and make cookies. The cutest thing I’ve seen all week!

Hope your week was wonderful, happy Friday, and a wonderful weekend!! xo

Happy Friday, folks. I hope you’ve had a good week – mine has been kind of frenetic, but not in a bad way. Today and tomorrow, I am spending at the Roger Smith Book Conference, and if any of you, reading this, are there – please say hello. My ticket was very generously provided by the wonderful Brian Samuels, who is one of the speakers. Were it not for him, I’d be at home. So thank you, Brian!

Why you should give yourself permission to screw up.

I am dying to watch am addicted to House of Cards, a new show by Netflix, and think you should, at least, check it out. The lead character is based on Richard III, one of my favorite plays, and Kevin Spacey just nails it. Robin Wright plays his wife, is nothing if not tremendous in this role, very Lady Macbeth-like. While this show might be a game-changer in terms of the future of television, I wonder about the economics. Anyone else?

And speaking of Richard III, a parking lot?? Really?!?

50 Life Hacks to Simplify Your World – some are AMAZING!

A new, strange beauty trend – I’m not sure I get it.

Walter Cronkite on kitchens of 2001. Gotta love it.

A hysterical Old Milwaukee beer ad, featuring the brilliant Will Ferrel, that played during the Super Bowl but only in 3 cities.

On a completely different note, Heidi Swanson talks popovers and technique, and I’m smitten.

And finally, this totally made my week: WTF Evolution. I haven’t laughed this hard in awhile. Scroll down to the seahorse video. Oh, and you’re welcome.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Happy Friday, friends. This week, I found some interesting reading material: some which moved me to tears while other stuff made me raise my eyebrows. In any case, I hope you find them as interesting as I did. Happy reading.

Continue reading friday link love.

Happy Friday, friends! Another busy week where I am hoping something, something, will come together soon as I search for a new project. Being a freelancer can be the pits, sometimes. Two days ago, the amazing folks at Haven’s Kitchen invited me and a few other talented folks over for a lunch to celebrate Haven’s Kitchen turning 1! I could probably write a few pages on the amazing space Alison Schneider’s team has built – aesthetically, it’s as if someone picked my brain and deposited it into an actual, veritable place, white subway tiles and black grout (!) including. I came away inspired and hopeful that my own risk-taking will work out in the end. I’m also excited to have met HK’s talented team and to have partaken in the celebration of that first year. Now, here are some links to (hopefully) delight and entertain.

Margaret Atwood has been one of my favorite writers for ages. I was transformed when I read “The Handmaid’s Tale” and I was completely drawn into “Alias Grace”. I’ve loved her other work: her novels, her stories, her poems, but the book that I keep by my bedside and return to for advice and inspiration is “Negotiating With the Dead: A Writer on Writing”. She’s incredibly forward-looking: in her books and also with her online writing tools. Forward-thinking, indeed!

A new food study links registered dietitians to “Big Food”. Kind of disheartening.

By now I think everyone’s heard of the ReviewerCard – I’ll abstain from commenting, but here’s something that might compete with it. And unlike the ReviewerCard, this one’s free!

“Ours was a storybook romance.” Creepy.

I can’t wait to see this. I loved Before Sunrise and Before Sunset – so a third installment sounds incredible.

80% of antibiotics sold in the United States are used in animals. If that’s not disturbing, I don’t know what is.

The appetite workout. Interesting.

There’ve been countless “blogging rules” published across the interwebs, so no need to reinvent the wheel, right? And yet, something about Jenny’s post captured me. She doles out some good advice. Not SEO or traffic or any of that crap. Just sound advice about thinking, content, clarity of vision. This might be my favorite “blogging advice” entry I’ve read.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Happy friday, everyone. I hope it’s been a good week. Mine went by a bit too fast. I blinked and it was Thursday afternoon and the light went from a brilliant white to gray in a course of a few seconds. I hope that the weekend lingers on – I could use a lazy day. Here’s another collection of interesting and amusing links I collected over the course of the week. I hope you like them!

SNL’s Fred Armisen was on This American Life a little while ago, and the episode was centered on doppelgangers. Here’s part of the SNL rehearsal, that never made it onto the show, where Fred plays Ira Glass, the NPR’s show host. I think he pretty much nails it.

Man spends $22k on gold shirt to impress the ladies. Wow.

Last Sunday, when I was watching Up! with Chris Hayes (one of my favorite weekend indulgences), he had a panel of novelists towards the end of the show, including Michael Chabon (whose work I love). I think it was Chabon that mentioned that the coolest thing he learned all week was that astrophysicicts are aware of this amazing, huge quasar that’s so big, in fact, that it would take millions of lightyears just to get around it. Millions of lightyears. It’s the universe’s largest structure that we are aware of, and it’s challenging laws of mathematics and physics (though don’t ask me why; physics was never my strong suit). Learning about stuff like thatthat makes me both giddy and frightened at the same time. Kind of mind-blowing.

I am a fan of all things Muppet themed forever and ever. This is so cool: never before seen jim henson journal.

A woman drives 900 miles instead of 90 due to a GPS error – says was distracted despite the road signs in foreign languages. Start in Belgium, end up in Croatia. Yeah.

Bad Lip reading of NFL Football. I’m glad that it was none other than Tom Brady who found Fido! He was difficult to track! Also, Super Bowl is almost upon us!!!

Have an amazing weekend, all!