Monday Night Dinner

Last week Reading Rainbow broadcast its last show and ended an era.  Long before I knew who Lieutenant Geordi was, or realized that his nifty visor was really just a spray-painted banana clip, I knew who Levar Burton was because he read to me on a regular basis.  Reading Rainbow was not actually one of my favorite PBS shows – I liked 1-2-3 Contact or Mr. Rogers better – but like every other adult of my generation I can sing the opening lyrics of Reading Rainbow and I was horrified when I saw the news. Read the rest of this entry ?

Bryn Mawr’s alumnae list serve is a weird and wonderful place full of women who can switch from talking about the current health care debate to the exact attributes of ancient Greek deities to what to do with a pot that comes with a pasta insert without blinking an eye. When the conversation about pasta inserts vs. steamers crossed over with the recent discussion about the merits of core curriculums it garnered the comment, “Obviously Mothership didn’t require a class in Pots and Pans.” This is very true. That’s entirely too practical a class for Bryn Mawr. Read the rest of this entry ?

When I was growing up we used to go to my grandmother’s in Virginia for a month every summer.  We’d get there and it felt like time just stopped and that one month lasted forever. It didn’t matter where we were living at the time, we always went home for a month in the summer and things were exactly the same as I’d left them the year before and I knew that they’d be the same the next year. Read the rest of this entry ?

I got a package in the mail on Tuesday and squeaked with delight when I opened it up and it revealed the folding, reusable plastic grocery bag that I’d ordered late last week. I’d been wanting a reusable shopping bag that was small enough to carry around with me so that I’d have it when I need it (read, for unexpected trips to a farmer’s market during lunch), and that I could carry over my shoulder. I love getting food at farmer’s markets but I hate lugging it home. Baggu makes shoulder strap reusable plastic grocery bags that fold up into a tiny square that’s so small it can get lost in my purse. They also come in a huge variety of colors, and I’m vain and I like having a pretty shopping bag (I got the purple flowered bag, if you’re curious – second row from the bottom in the middle – and it’s adorable).

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In it’s greater wisdom, or possibly as the result of a new marketing consultant – and if you’ve ever watched Slings & Arrows you’re going to be tempted to ask if they’re named Froghammer – the Sci-Fi network has rebranded itself as SyFy.  It’s pronounced the same as Sci-Fi.  It has the same line up of shows as Sci-Fi.  It makes the same mind-bogglingly bad movie-of-the-week movies as Sci-Fi.  But now, they’re called SyFy.

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