What Would Jane Austen Do?

Back when The Dangerous Book for Boys came out, there was a lot of discussion about what we should include in the same book for girls. Ultimately, The Daring Book for Girls came out and served as a good complement to the boys’ book. Last week, Uncle John posted about Popular Mechanics’ “ 25 Skills Every Man Should Know .” Now, we could certainly make the case that a woman should know each of these things, too. After all, we drive cars, use computers, watch television, etc. But I’m interested in the Noah’s Ark approach – if a man can do all of those things, what should a woman bring to the table? After all, our manly man still hasn’t eaten or slept, even after using all of those macho skills. BTW, I’m leaving out generic, but useful, life skills like “decline an invitation to a Pampered Chef party” or “fake happiness;” those are child's play. A man should know how to… A woman should know how to… Patch a radiator hose Figur...

SodaWeb[1] , originally uploaded by houston mamacita . Via the Freakonomics blog , this soda display/ Mondrian homage .

A White Chick Singer , originally uploaded by houston mamacita . This will make you snort coke out of your nose: Cracked magazine's Six Musicians With Pasts They Hope You Will Forget . It's true, I had already forgotten about Alanis' foray into rap: My name is Alanis, I'm a white chick singer The drums are a-smokin' and so's the bass Shake your thing (chika chika chika, cha) When you sing (chika chika chika, ooh yeah) Just sixteen (chika chika chika, cha) No disco queen (chika chika chika, oh yeah) HT: Mental Floss

Reading Watching Images: Oxford Press , Encyclopedia Brittanica

I have to admit, I've never read any of her books, but I liked the movie Gigi . I love Leslie Caron. Image: Cinemovies.fr

1. Jackie Robinson played himself in the movie The Jackie Robinson Story . 2. What a Sullivan Nod is. 3. Artist James Turell was a cameraman for Fiddler on the Roof . 4. Mauve was invented in 1856 . 5. The Von Trapp family emigrated to the United States and set up a lodge in Vermont . 6. People really do turn black when they have Bubonic plague . (For the love of God, do not click that link.) 7. Purple hibiscus are coming to a nursery near you . 8. What the LIBOR Index is . 9. Mr. Whipple (Dick Wilson) made over 500 commercials for Charmin . 10. Tide has a 44% share of the detergent market .

Fire up the DVD player, kids. Image: Getty

It's hard enough for me to resist J. Crew, but when you throw the word "sale" into the equation... Do I get any credit for not buying everything I wanted? BTW, the coupon code FS0121 was still working this morning for free shipping, not that I'm trying to enable you.

DUDE! Check this out: Musicovery . Similar to Pandora , in that it streams music to your computer (so you don't have to download anything), but in this case you get to decide what kind of music you want to hear based on your mood. You can specify a mood, a tempo, a genre, a decade, and either "hits" or "non-hits." I selected "dark" and "energetic," but left the other options open; right now I'm listening to a James Brown song I'd never heard before. I'm in love.

Reading Watching Hooray for InterLibrary Loans! Images: Amazon

1. Bill Gates is stepping down from his position at Microsoft in July. 2. Prescott Bush, grandfather of the current President, was an early supporter of Planned Parenthood and the United Negro College Fund . 3. Christopher Columbus may have brought syphilis back to Europe from his travels in the New World . 4. Some of his contemporaries believed that Hitler had syphilis . 5. The Library of Congress has a huge archive of photos available on Flickr . 6. You can stage an effective protest with bouncy balls . 7. Until 2000 GPS intentionally broadcast errors to civilian systems as a security measure . 8. "Embodied cognition" is the element of thinking that is inextricably tied to certain types of fidgeting . 9. Linda Gray, a.k.a. Sue Ellen Ewing, was the leg model for the poster for The Graduate . 10. Most universities spend less than five percent of their endowments every year . Image via SDS Universe .

This is Uncle Miles. He wants to come back in his next life as a whale, because they get to eat all the shrimp they want and have orgies twice a year. Happy Birthday, Uncle Miles!

June Cleaver is crying into her crinolines. Carol Brady has turned to a life of crime. It’s all because they know that they’ve been pwned in the mothering department. I am the MOTHER OF THE FREAKING YEAR. We had an impromptu playdate the other day, and I had to come up with a snack for everybody. Hence, Nutella Puffs. Here’s the drill*: Preheat oven to 400. Unfold a sheet of thawed puff pastry. Spread Nutella all over the pastry. Roll the pastry into a log and cut into discs about ½” thick. Lay the discs on a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in oven until they are golden, brown and delicious. But don’t take my word for it – ask one of my satisfied customers: And how does the MOTHER OF THE FREAKING YEAR top herself? By forgetting to pay the water bill (for two months straight) and having the water cut off. Yesss! *Incidentally, if you replace the word “Nutella” with the word “pesto” you have the recipe for The Amazing Pesto Pinwheel...

Unless you are married to a SuperNerd, you may have missed this: a short film about Bill Gates' last day at Microsoft, starring every A-list celebrity who might need a favor one day.

The complete works of Jane Austen are airing on PBS over the next few weeks. In Houston they're on at 8 p.m. (regular and HD channels). Here's the schedule: Jan. 13-- Persuasion Jan. 20-- Northanger Abbey Jan. 27-- Mansfield Park Feb. 3-- a Jane Austen biography film Feb. 10, 17 and 24 -- Pride and Prejudice, in three parts (Colin Firth edition, Emily !) Mar. 23-- Emma (Kate Beckinsale edition) Click here for more details . Check your local listings for times. Your mileage may vary.

1. As struggling young actors, Robert Duvall and Dustin Hoffman were roommates. 2. They were pals with Gene Hackman . 3. The real-life wife of R2D2 (Kenny Baker) played an Ewok in Return of the Jedi . 4. Fernand Leger made a movie (you can catch it on YouTube ). 5. There is a museum dedicated to barbed wire . 6. Most birds have a poor sense of smell . 7. Woodstock is for sale . 8. The Supreme Court didn't have a permanent home until 1935 . 9. The UN has declared 2008 "International Year of the Potato." 10. Maybe it was supposed to be a rope , not a camel , through the eye of the needle .

Sechler’s Sweet Heat Mixed Pickles Hamilton sugar cookies Nutella cookies Homemade limoncello Pesto pinwheels

Plum ginger jam Green chili chicken stew Chili mole Blueberry jam Coco jam Use the comments section to demand the recipes. If she doesn't comply, I'll give you her home address.

Okay, I will finally take down my Christmas decorations now. I just couldn't do it before I got some cake. Clockwise from the top: Rosco de Reyes, from El Bolillo bakery (a little dry and disappointing); some leftover Christmas cookies my neighbor Lisa brought over; chocolate mendicants, which I made; Gallette des Rois, made by Letitia (definitely the day's favorite); Epiphany Tart, also by Letitia; and Nutella cookies by Uncle John (so, so yummy. He made up the recipe, and will be famous for it one day.). In the center are the crowns Letitia made for the person who found the Baby Jesus (i.e. the whole almond) in the cakes. I'd show you a picture of the lucky winner, but I may want to blackmail Angela one day.

1. The U.S. Office of Production Management prohibited the sale of new automobiles to civilians during World War II . 2. Albert Lamorisse, director of the film The Red Balloon , also invented the board game Risk . 3. There are sixteen paintings in the Dogs Playing Poker series by Cassius Coolidge . 4. The peace symbol turns fifty this year . 5. Six of the Food Network's top ten most-searched recipes last year were the creation of Paula Deen . 6. WD-40 dissolves cocaine . 7. Ed LaDou was the pioneer of the gourmet pizza . 8. Tina Brown asked Norman Mailer to write a letter on behalf of her green card application. He apparently obliged . 9. According to some, the living standard in the UK is set to surpass that in the US this year . 10. There is a cheap test available to see if you are a supertaster . image via Jordan's etsy shop .

I subscribe to both A Word A Day and the Urban Dictionary's Word of the Day ; I am what you call a "logophile" (if you are a huge nerd). So, without further ado, let me present to you my favorite word of the year for 2007. Here is the Urban Dictionary's semi-literate definition : stabby : The feeling one has when one is in a particularly bad mood about wither nothing or something. It doesn't matter. You are feeling borderline homicidal. Ideas of stabbing things to relieve the seething anger come to mind.. Then you get distrated or blog about it and it goes away. [ sic ] That covers soooo much territory, doesn't it? And it beats the crap out of locavore .

And thanks for all that Renaissance Italy stuff. Cool hat, BTW.