What Would Jane Austen Do?

Reading I need some good crock pot recipes, if you have any. Reading Watching Opening day is finally here!

We should probably hate Katie Lee Joel, who is Billy Joel's child bride that he met at a bar. But she's really cute and personable, and her house, OMG. It was designed by Nate Berkus, and she gave a tour on Oprah the other day. ( Here's a link -- the download is a little wonky, but so worth it.) You may remember their house because the dressing room, which is entirely covered in gold leaf, was featured in Town and Country and on a couple of blogs .

I interrupt my torpor of sloth and self-pity to bring you the following announcement: Today is Sweater Day . Honestly, this makes me cry: today would be Mr. Rogers' 80th birthday. The nonprofit he left behind is asking everyone to wear a favorite sweater today in honor of Mr. Rogers and "his deep appreciation of what it means to be a caring neighbor." You got it, Mr. Rogers. You could also check out this old episode of This American Life where Davy Rothbart checks in with Mr. Rogers as an adult. Above: picture of Not Martha's sweater, which I hope she is wearing today, as it is awesome.

You will be happy to know that I am not dead; it's just that I have an extra kid for this Spring Break week. And, oh, what a kid. Thing you possibly did not know about me: I like quiet -- no I really like quiet. I watch the television on mute (swear to God). I don't listen to the radio in the car. I start getting agitated when decibels are above a soft conversational level. So this week, having a kid who shouts instead of talks, plus has to watch to Hannah Montana at top volume, is making me a bit edgy. So, I'm out for a few days, missing out on blogging about St. Patrick's Day, Holy Week and the first day of spring. But I'm thinking of you. Image (Apes! They are so funny! You will have LOLs!)

strep throat ... so sick... back later

I found a clarification of something I listed in 10 Things a couple of weeks ago : The DJIA was created in 1896, not 1882 (which is when Dow Jones & Co. was formed). Charles Dow created his original index of 11 stocks in 1884, and almost all of them were railroads. General Electric was not among those 11 because it was formed by Thomas Edison in 1890. The DJIA was formed with 12 stocks, of which GE was one. It is in the index today, nearly 112 years later, though it was taken out and put back in twice at the turn of the 20th century. Source

as seen on The Sugar Sheet

Reading Listening to

Before-and-After Edition 1. Before she was in The Spice Girls, Victoria Beckham was a rich girl. Her dad is a millionaire. (Thanks, E! True Hollywood Story !) 2. Before Vita Sackville-West, gardening was considered a masculine hobby . 3. Before 1995 Hepatitis A was 500% more common than it is now . 4. Before Leona Helmsley was the Queen of Mean, she was a divorcée factory worker with mouths to feed . 5. Before he was a writer, William F. Buckley, Jr. was a spy . 6. Before she won an Academy Award, Marion Cotillard espoused a crackpot 9/11 conspiracy . 7. Before he was a bassist, Flea was a high school trumpet prodigy . 8. After an auto accident when he was 23, Stevie Wonder lost his sense of smell . 9. After he became famous, Andy Warhol bought all of his clothes at Brooks Brothers . 10. After having her twins, J.Lo doesn't want to be called "J.Lo" any more . Aww, Jenifromtheblock takes up so much room. image from Awful Plastic Surgery

So what we need next is a satire of a parody of a humorist. Thanks to Deron Bauman , who's helping out Jason Kottke this week.

Why can't we have PSAs like this? HT: The London Blog

I’m beginning to have my suspicions about the people at Apartment Therapy. As evidence I offer these gems: From 7 Simple Upgrades for the Bathroom , comments section Don't underestimate the great look of a large clear apothecary jar filled with hotel-sized bath products. Great for guest bathrooms -- your guests can choose their own guest-sized grooming products from your cache. Are you running a hotel? How many guests do you regularly accommodate? Where did people get the idea that hotels are the pinnacle of elegance to which we should all aspire? Having people stay with you is an intimate experience. Let them use a fresh bar of your own soap. From Reader Review: Darlene Bakes from Jessica Seinfeld’s New Cookbook , comments section The best thing you can do for your child is to find a way to prepare foods in a way they actually enjoy. If they don't like steamed carrots, try different cooking methods and recipes until they discover a carrot dish th...

Turner Classic Movies has My Fair Lady on at 9 p.m. (Central) tonight. They also have Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors at 11:30 tomorrow night, and Vertigo at 4:30 p.m. (and again at 11 p.m.) on Saturday . E! is showing Lost in Translation on Saturday at 7 p.m. I know you're setting your VCR, Uncle Miles! I think the kids will like The Absent-Minded Professor (1961 version) on Sunday evening at 7 (followed immediately by the sequel, Son of Flubber ) on TCM. Finally, Ingrid Bergman and Yves Montand in Goodbye Again on Monday at 5 a .m. on TCM. Who even cares what the movie is about? It's Ingrid Bergman. Meanwhile it’s Testosterone Week over at AMC . If Charles Bronson is your thing, you should check it out.

Becca: "I want Martha to be President." Papi: (a lengthy explanation of why Martha, as a convicted felon, cannot be President) Becca: "But I want Martha to be President. She's a good cooker." Apparently being President is like being the Mommy of the whole country.

Azalea Trail this weekend Spring Break! We’ll do something fun… Alcoholic green milkshakes on St. Patrick’s Day Easter: the candy, the dresses, the flowers… Baseball season (I'm watching a Spring Training game right now!) Return of 30 Rock on April 3 (SGM said it best...) Baby Mama opens April 25 Risi e bisi on St. Mark’s Day , April 25 Wild Women Weekend with my homies in Rockport, April 25-7 (I guess what I’m looking forward to is April 25) Cinco de Mayo The Art Car Parade on May 10 Peonies on Mother’s Day, May 11 Going camping for Memorial Day weekend The end of the school year – finally! It’s been a rough year for Big E, especially.

Wired magazine's Top 10 Amazing Chemistry Videos . HT: Mental Floss

brought to you by Apartment Therapy: The Kitchn moreish adj. Addictive or nearly addictive; most often used to describe food or drink so good that you want more (primarily British and Australian in usage).

Okay folks, Haloscan is gone. Feel free to come back and comment anytime. It's been kinda lonely around here for the past couple of weeks.

Friday afternoon I spent at the park with the kiddos and our usual Friday afternoon gang. Then we just chilled at home, although for some reason I don't think we ate dinner. Saturday morning E&B had soccer games, then we went to lunch at Berryhill with a gang of people. Saturday evening Papi and Becca went to the Girl Scouts Father-Daughter dance while Emmet went to his buddy Graham's house. That night I went to the Barbecue Cookoff with Letitia and Cayce. What a party -- all the food you can eat plus all the beer and liquor you want for free. TONS of people there. We ate three plates of barbecue (three different places to try, you see), plus a funnel cake. I am definitely going back next year. Big thanks to Carl (Mr. Cayce) for getting us the tickets! Too bad we didn't have Mammy around to tell us "If you don't care what folks says about this family, I does. I has told you and told you that you can always tell a lady by the way that she eat...

Listening to Hey! How come y'all didn't tell me how awesome Wilco is? I had to find out for myself on Saturday Night Live this week.

1. Berthe Morisot was Fragonard's grand-niece . 2. Mirepoix was named after a French duke . 3. The doctor who identified SARS died from it . 4. General Electric is the only remaining of the 11 original Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks . 5. Somebody is keeping a blog called "What I Learned Today." Oh, it's on like Donkey Kong! 6. Leap Day is also called bissextile day . 7. David Lee Roth wrote a memoir . 8. California got its name from a sixteenth century Spanish novel . 9. Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth's first home as a married woman had only one full bathroom, which dated from the 1870s . 10. The Hell's Angels had plans to assassinate Mick Jagger in 1969 .

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