also

This, brought to my attention by my friend K., is wonderful.

wall stickers

I like this for a hallway:

This for a bathroom:

And this for a dining room (just one).

And, of course: this.

From Ferm Living and Blik.

herbs

I've always been certain - absolutely certain - that my favorite herb was rosemary. It goes well with the take-no-prisoners style of cooking that I like to eat; subtlety, in food, bores me, and I latch loudly onto indications that it's an Italian herb, and so part of the molecular structure of the blood that courses though my veins. Or something. But, and this has been indicative of a trend, just about everything that I'm making this week involves thyme: lemon/thyme/olive oil cookies (to which I've added mini chocolate chips), Jamie Oliver's grilled fillet with creamy leeks and white beans, Nigel Slater's chicken with garlic and herbs, and a lentils and bacon recipe. So I feel like the misguided boy in the romantic comedy who thinks he likes the hot girl but really likes the geeky one, or I assume that rosemary is the body-building beach stud who kicks sand on the 99-pound weaklings (bay leaves, maybe, or asafoetida, or any herb that doesn't hold up to direct fire), and I actually prefer the one with "smaller leaves."

What's your favorite herb (or spice)?

semiotics for sillies

Over the weekend, P. and I were looking at a chummy, "hand-drawn" map of Portland, ringed with ads. One featured a cartoon drawing of a fish, with a thought bubble reading "One free lobster, just for visiting!" I wish that were my shop, so when people came in, I could be like "What? No - that's just what the fish is thinking."

pictures do spruce up a blog

This weekend we went to Portland, ME. Above is our view from the rooftop hotel bar, where we drank Stingahs, or, as they pronounce them outside of Boston, "Stingers." We had a great time, wandering, eating, drinking, and my most dangerous of pursuits - tipsy book-buying.

The Believer? I picked up the 50th anniversary issue, because it literally had a shiny cover and an interview with my hero Lydia Davis. I hate that magazine. Journal. Where snarkiness meets the New Sincerity, the practitioners of which are insufficiently in touch with their insincerities to be truly sincere. I should have examples here, but wouldn't that be just like something they'd do, back up their assertions with evidence.

Anyway, the postcards I sent to my family were about Old Orchard Beach and the winterly-ghosttowny oceanfront amusement park we passed on the train.

I love the quality of light in that photograph. So - yes. Portland ME = good weekend trip (esp. if you find Fading Grandeur Hotel on priceline.com for $64), but I think I'm more of an Ogunquit or Portsmouth NH kind of gal.

Narathon

hello, new favorite site.

My friend H. sent me this awesome link. The first post is a typography joke (kerning refers to the space between letters, see also this (I like the leading idea in that post)) - but the ones further down are great. I love the Polaroid frame.