My jam of the moment.

The best cure for a hangover, boring night alone, or moments when you feel like torturing your food willpower is the Paradise series on the Travel Channel. We’ve all seen these shows come up on our Tivo or preview channel: Donut Paradise. Pizza Paradise. Steak Paradise. Barbeque Paradise. All You Can Eat Paradise. Hot Dog Paradise. These shows are like crack to me. It’s like food porn.

They basically take you to every traditional, infamous, or bizarre landmark of each type of food. Somehow, after watching Donut Paradise, I want to visit Portland, OR just to eat a doughnut (real spelling) from Voodoo Doughnut. They have one with maple syrup frosting and BACON STRIPS on top. SERIOUSLY.


(Photo credit: Portland Food & Ink)

This show makes me want to drive to Chicago, IL and eat a hot dog at Hot Doug’s Encased Meats Emporium.

And the sad this is, I don’t even really like doughnuts. Or hot dogs. I probably eat those things MAYBE once a year, tops. But this show does that to ya. It makes everything look devastatingly delicious. What makes it more painful is the fact that I am a terrible cook, so after watching one of these episodes, it’s not like I can whip up something to take my mind off of my dreams of Chili Hot Dogs, or Chicago deep dish pizza, or Memphis barbecue. This show is dangerous. And addictive. It’s probably my favorite series on television. Yes, even slightly better than Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Only slightly.

Sigh.

My relationship with the opinion columnists is often love-hate, especially when it comes to David Brooks. Brooks is one of those ultra-conservative opinion factories that loves to skewer lefty, latte drinking, Prius driving, farmers market visiting liberals while trying to paint himself as one of the “common folk”. He even wrote a whole book skewering these elitists, Bob’s In Paradise.

His column in the New York Times provides me with so many moments of anger, frustration, and disbelief. Mainly disbelief at how he got his job in the first place. Anyway, his column today is called The Two Obamas and it’s a really hilarious look at how Obama’s rejection of public financing somehow turns him into a Machiavellian figure/street hustla known as “Fast Eddie”.

After reading this column, I wrote Mr. Brooks an email. (P.S- the Applebees comment is a reference to this gaffe. He’s so obviously in touch with the “common folk.”)

___________________________

Hey David,

Read your column today on Obama’s Machiavellian ambitions and his multiple political personalities. It was an interesting read in the sense that I didn’t really gather what your grand thesis statement was supposed to be. From what I can decipher, you seem shocked that as a politician, Barack Obama is indeed ACTING LIKE A POLITICIAN. Whoa. Who would have thought?

Also, not only is he a good political schemer, but he like, lies and stuff. No way? You act like just because Obama is a new kind of politician, that he’s supposed to make really stupid, novice, naive decisions like opt for public financing even when he is set to make 3 times that money on his own (from people like me! I donated $25. Glad my lobbying money is getting me what I want!!). Somehow that makes him bad. Machiavellian, in fact. Somehow you’re surprised.

You know that if he indeed DID accept public financing all of you conservatives would chastise him for being RIDICULOUSLY stupid, politically naive, not ready for office, etc. Political inconvenience? For whom? Oh yeah, Grandpa McCrankypants and his honorable, beloved campaign finance reform. Gramps may be oh-so-noble by accepting public financing, but think about all of the unpaid lobbyists on his campaign staff. How will he be paying them back if he wins the election? Oh yeah, by allowing them to do whatever they want with our government. Awesome.

I also didn’t realize that campaign finance reform was the primary cause of Obama’s professional life? Funny how in all of his speeches, he spends SO MUCH TIME talking about this VASTLY IMPORTANT ISSUE. I’m so glad that in your mind, something like this is more indicative of his character than say, his belief that the Iraq war was a bad idea, or that a way to help the economy is to roll back tax cuts on the rich (wait….didn’t McShame originally talk shit on the Bush tax cuts and THEN FLIP FLOP? What a morally corrupt person. as if!).

Half of the midwest is flooding and the levees are shit (glad billions of dollars is being spent in Iraq. Hope their infastructure can handle the elements brought by Global Warming).

Oh well, nice try. I really did enjoy your Bobos in Paradise book. Very humorous. Maybe we can go to Applebees soon and try out their salad bar.

Oh wait. They don’t have one.

It’s Official: Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for President.

He was my pick in the caucus and he will definitely be my pick in November vs. Grandpa McCrankypants (a fabulous nickname coined by someone over at Jezebel).

I’m donating money to the Obama campaign later tonight– the first time I’ve ever given money to any political candidate. Woohoo.

There’s nothing better than those early days of summer, sitting by the pool or lake with a cocktail (hoperfully) and a good book. This summer I am excited for two books. The first, is the long-awaited Waiter Rant, which is an adaptation of the popular blog by a Manhattan waiter/amateur customer psychologist/voice for those who have worked in the service industry. I know I have plugged Waiter’s site before on this blog, but for goodness sakes, it is a worthy read for people who have had to work at restaurants, and also for those who eat in them. I’ve had food service experience, and let me tell you, there are a lot of assholes out there…and a lot of people who have no idea how to properly behave in public or muster up some human decency. I am SO EXCITED for the book, that I’ve been re-reading the archives on his blog in anticipation.

Another book I definitely have to get is
Girls Like Us by Sheila Weller.

I read an excerpt of it in last month’s Vanity Fair and it seems like a perfect summer read. The book examines the love life and careers of 70s singer/songwriters Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Carly Simon. I love Joni Mitchell, who is a genius, supremely talented in many areas of life (besides writing and composing, she’s also a fantastic painter and artist), gorgeous, controversial, and has had a few fabulous men in her life (David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, James Taylor….)

Carole King is has lead a less tabloid-worthy life, and she’s the woman I know the least about, in terms of her personal life. I think as a songwriter, she is very underrated for her versatility and for being the first important female songwriter in the 60s. Although I’m not a fan of her Tapestry stuff, her songs in the 60s were so important. To write “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman” and “One Fine Day”, and then to write “Wasn’t Born To Follow” and “Porpoise Song” and everything in between. WHOA.

Carly Simon’s career is less impressive than Mitchell’s and King’s, but she has an interesting backstory, a couple good albums, one legendary song (”You’re So Vain”), interesting former boyfriends/husbands (James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Kris Kristofferson, Warren Beaty…), and she’s the only one of the three that was actually interviewed for the biography.

Anyway, those are my suggestions for summer reading fun! I am such a dork…

Today at work I read an article on MSNBC.com about Encountering racism on the campaign trail by Obama supporters. It mainly focuses on the Clinton strongholds of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia and some of the racist, ignorant, and misinformed beliefs of some voters in those states. The article was really upsetting to me in the sense that although I knew that racism was still festering in this country, in Kansas and Nebraska (where I’m from) I really don’t ever encounter any statements like those found in the article. Here’s a sampling:

“He’s a half-breed and he’s a Muslim. How can you trust that?”

“Barack Hussein Obama and all of his talk will do nothing for our country. There is so much that people don’t know about his upbringing in the Muslim world. His stepfather was a radical Muslim and the ranting of his minister against the white America, you can’t convince me that some of that didn’t rub off on him.

“No, I want a president that will salute our flag, and put their hand on the Bible when they take the oath of office.” (and the person that said this was an actual MAYOR of a town in Pennsylvania)

There’s more stories of racism, including graffiti about Jeremiah Wright, bombs at campaign offices, nasty words yelled at rallies, and much more. The article itself is an interesting read, especially in light of Clinton’s huge West Virginia win and her assertion last week that hard working white people vote for her, and they are the only voters that will matter in the fall election. (I’m paraphrasing, but whatever.)

What a strange country we live in.

Easily one of my favorite books when I was a kid was The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Thanks to my favorite blog, Jezebel, I was reminded of the true awesomeness of this book. If you don’t remember the plot, Jezebel gives a really good synopsis. It basically is a really confusing and witty mystery about a group of people that live in a luxury high-rise apartment complex and how their lives are intertwined. It’s genius.

I’m so desperate to read it again that I’m considering buying a copy on eBay. I stole a copy from my elementary school back in the day and now I can’t find it. Ugh.

Does anyone else remember this book?

The whole crew watching the KU vs. Memphis game. Thanks Zach and Range Life Records for documenting this momentous occaision!

On Monday, my beloved KANSAS JAYHAWKS beat Memphis in the NCAA Basketball Championship game, 75-68. These past two days have been the most amazing days to be a Jayhawk and to be living in Lawrence, KS.

There were over 40,000 people celebrating our victory in Lawrence on Monday. I was amongst the crowd. It was beautiful.