rebecca's pocket

» Recently, my computer melted down. I suspect the hard drive will need to be replaced. Unfortunately, my last backup was mid-May. If you sent me an email requiring a reply between June 1 and June 20, and you have not received one, please resend it. Then go back up your computer. / (5) Comments / [ 07.05.07 ]

» NYT: "For the past 10 years, I have starred in my own reality series: “Working Mom Cooks Weeknight Dinner.” Think of it as “Survivor” meets “Iron Chef” with a bit of “Deal or No Deal.” In the show’s long-running history there have been stretches in which the entire tribe was forced to subsist on scrambled eggs, tuna sandwiches and reheated Chinese food. But together we have overcome obstacles, gained wisdom and reached a point where my husband and I and our two boys eat balanced and even inventive home-cooked meals most nights."

Cooking dinner every night is at once much, much harder than most people realize (especially if you're trying not to waste a thing—how can I use up this bunch of cilantro?) and, once you get into the habit, not nearly as hard as it seems like it will be. If you follow the meal plan she outlines here, you'll have something to eat every night of the week. (thanks, jjg!)  [ 07.13.07 ]

» NPR has an interesting little article about the Scholastic editor who discovered Harry Potter. Don't miss the sidebar, which includes a 1998 interview with JK Rowling, in which she discusses, among other things, the last chapter of the final book, her favorite characters, picking out names and writing the last book.  [ 07.16.07 ]

» The USDA has finally permanently prohibited the slaughter of "downer cattle", to take effect October 1. This is largely a response to the threat of mad cow disease, first diagnosed in the US on Dec. 23, 2003.  [ 07.16.07 ]

» I've got a 2-week backlog. So as not to overwhelm you with the whole thing at once, here's a modest installment of the latest summer reading lists:

• A Nature-centered Summer Reading List
• NPR: Playwright Sarah Ruhl's Summer Reading List
• Austin American Statesman: What to read on July 4. A list of books worthy of being read on Independence Day, as chosen by local writers
• New West Living: Savory Words: A Foodie’s Summer Reading List
• ABC News: Heat Up Your Summer With This Reading List. Suggestions in four genres
• WorldGolf.com's must-read summer golf books
• Amnesty International: A Human Rights Summer Reading List
• The US Marine Corps Reading List [pdf] [background]
• Times Online: Daniel Finkelstein, books I'm looking forward to this summer
• Times Online: Daniel Finkelstein, 5 books I recommend for you this summer
• NPR: True Stories to Dive Into This Summer
• Suggested Children's Books for Summer Reading (ENTERING GRADES 2, 3 AND 4)

 [ 07.17.07 ]

» 14 Ways to Cultivate a Lifetime Reading Habit.  [ 07.17.07 ]

» Here's a man after my own heart: John T. Edge, author of Southern Belly: The Ultimate Food Lover's Companion to the South, (and four-time James Beard award nominee and finalist for the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award). "Except for sex, eating is the most intimate activity we regularly engage in with others. [...] When we share food we share much of the same experience of the South. A lot divides us, but one of the reasons I'm so interested in food is that a shared love of okra can unite us too."

That's exactly why I love cooking so much. When I cook a meal with a history, I feel that I'm entering into the time and culture of the people who first created that food. After reading this interview, all I want to do is take a roadtrip through the South with this book in hand. / (2) Comments / [ 07.17.07 ]

» Awesome: Funslides are carpet skates. (via dm) / (1) Comments / [ 07.18.07 ]

» The Best time to buy everything from baby clothes, to airplane tickets, to groceries.  [ 07.18.07 ]

» Tuning out technology: Pressures of the wired world drive some to cut back on e-mail and electronic gadgets.

For Leda Dederich, there came a point about a year ago when she realized her life was overly shaped by technology. The manager of an Oakland-based online consulting firm for nonprofit groups, Dederich was a leader in her field, but she started feeling that high-tech culture was dramatically out of balance -- "like a combination of a hamster wheel and an echo chamber."

I love my computer, but the last two weeks of checking email once or twice a day and spending the rest of my time offline have been truly lovely. Highly recommended. (via 43f)  [ 07.19.07 ]

» New Yorker: What Else Is New? How uses, not innovations, drive human technology. So far up my alley, and absolutely fascinating. (via br) / (2) Comments / [ 07.19.07 ]

» Here's another man after my own heart: Mark Bittman, Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less. (via se) / (1) Comments / [ 07.19.07 ]

» Another installment of recommended summer reading:

• NPR: Ruth Reichl: Favorite Food Memoirs
• Sarah Handel's Summer Reading List
• The Fayetteville Observer Summer reading list
• Articles of Faith: Summer reader is good for body and soul
• Hamptons.com's Ultimate Summer Reading List
• The Duke University Alumni Association Reading List [about]
• Frontpage’s Summer Reading
• The Official NorthTemple Uber List of Inspirational Instructional Books, Conferences, and other stuff
• Montreal Business Book Club - Summer Reading List
• The Anti-Marketer's List of Recommended Reading
• From Drucker to Dilbert: The Quick, Quicker and Quickest Reading List on Disruption
• Rabbi Phil Graubart's Jewish-themed Summer Reading List
• A Jewish summer reading list
• The Jewish Press Blog: News Media themed Summer Reading List
• Reading list for American students going to the UK

 [ 07.20.07 ]

» FlyLady: Declutter 15 Minutes a Day - 5 Great Tools That Make it Easy! (via 43f) / (5) Comments / [ 07.20.07 ]

» All our tortured heroes.  [ 07.20.07 ]

» Summer Reading lists for this week:

• David Finch's Summer Reading List
• Oxford University Press pitch for their Good Fiction Guide, with recommended reading lists on the subjects of Adventure, Childhood, and Short Story Collections
• The Essential Hurricane Katrina Nonfiction Reading List
• Summer Reading for reform-minded administrators and teachers
• Jonathan M. Wellum's Business-focused Summer Reading List
• Civil War Memory Reading List
• A Kentucky Civil War Military Studies Reading List
• A Summer Reading List For Railroad Riders

Young people:

• New York Magazine: The Top Five: Summer Reading

 [ 07.23.07 ]

» Why Bambi II Is Better Than Bambi. Wow. He's convinced me to take a look.  [ 07.23.07 ]

» Oh goodie! As of this morning, I have a new instant messaging buddy: IM Street. AOL please give me a way to opt out of your advertising deals. / (5) Comments / [ 07.23.07 ]

» Hey! Did you know that OK Go has a Flickr feed? / (1) Comments / [ 07.25.07 ]

» This week's roundup of 2007 summer reading.

• The Sackville Tribune Post: Bill Hamilton's suggestions for Summertime Reading
• Newsday.com: Summer reading for sports fans
• The Motley Fool: Summer Reading for Fools
• Seattle PI: Summer reading for and about wild women
• WGBH: Recommended Summer Reading
• People's Weekly World summer reading picks
• Women's Voices for Change: Summer Reading: A Different Approach
• About.com: A Candlemaker's Reading List
• Amnesty International's 3rd installment of their Human Rights Summer Reading List
• Five Great Books For Summer Reading
• A Sense of Place: Michigan Summer Reading
• Ivory Towerz's Nonfiction Summer Reading List
• FicBot's Project Gutenberg Reading List [about]
• Star Trek Summer Reading Reviews
• An Andrew Jackson Reading List
• Mary Shustack's Summer Reading List with an emphasis on the decorative arts, particularly home design and decorating
• Summer Reading from Pastor James Emery White

Young people:

• Andover Townsman: Top-five list of must-read books for young adults.
• Book Girl Club: What to Read after Water for Elephants - More from Sara Gruen
• 50+ Essential Web Sites for Literature Teachers including numerous book lists

/ (3) Comments / [ 07.27.07 ]

» Booklovers, here's a blog you might be interested in adding to your regular reads: Critical Mass, written by the National Book Critics Circle Board of Directors  [ 07.27.07 ]

» A brief history of Christian rock, which is altogether stranger and more interesting than you ever could have imagined.

The All Saved Freak Band is a different kettle of fish—at once more powerful and more disturbing, and a reminder of how apocalyptic convictions, Christian or otherwise, can go sour. The band began when a drugged-out Chicago guitarist named Joe Markko moved to Ohio, where he met a fiery street pastor named Larry Hill.

Convinced that the Chinese and/or Russians were coming, Hill set himself up as patriarch of an isolated survivalist Christian commune, replete with guns and goats. When he performed, Hill wore a wide Amish hat and a priest's habit, and he sang to hector and convert. But the band didn't really gel until Hill and Markko were joined by Glenn Schwartz, an incendiary blues shromper who had played guitar for the James Gang but had publicly renounced commercial rock. Living collectively, the band made a handful of intense and very strange records, including the Tolkien-inspired folk-rock rarity "For Christians, Elves, and Lovers". In 1975, in response to Hill's authoritarian brutality, Schwartz's family attempted to kidnap and "deprogram" the guitarist. The attempt failed, and the band's third record was called Brainwashed.

You can listen to clips of ASFB's music on their website. / (1) Comments / [ 07.31.07 ]