I woke up this morning and found the house entirely wrapped in fog. If you stood in front of the window in the kitchen, where I stand to make my coffee, you could watch it blow up the street in gusts – sometimes wisps, sometimes great puffs. I called Brandon over to see it when he woke up, and even half asleep, he managed a moderately enthusiastic WOW, which surprised me. The fog horns were blowing. And now, a couple of hours on, the sun is out, searing through it, working its way steadily across the floor.


I could talk about the weather all day. I am turning into an old man. The dog does his morning walk of the deck, securing the perimeter. Everyone has a job to do.

Last week, I was out of town, traveling with my mom. I took her as my date to a friend’s wedding, a wedding to beat all weddings, where the groom’s father played air guitar and I got to watch my mother, my near-retirement-age mother, break it down to “Empire State of Mind.” I’m still coming down from that. I shot eight rolls of film in nine days. When I have pictures, I promise to tell you about it.

In the meantime, I wanted to share some great things I’ve found lately. I really love gathering these for you, all the bits that stick in my head. Maybe they will stick in yours.

– My mom and I rented a car and drove about 1200 miles over the course of our trip. In the hopes that we would have a CD player, I burned a couple of albums before we left, and the one we listened to most often was Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone. It’s been out for about two years, but it took me a long time to fall for it. Now it’s thoroughly won me over. Especially the eighth track, “Fever.” The lyrics are sinister, but the sound feels so… sexy. Not that I make a habit of listening to sexy music with my mother. In any case, from now on, I think that album will always remind me of our trip, and I like that.

– I always love Tommy’s blog This is Naive, but she’s really been pushing the right buttons for me lately. I especially like this post. I love the way she sees.

– Brian’s midsummer mix!

– Soap from Townsend Bay Soap Company, in nearby Port Townsend, Washington. Apparently, I am really into soap. I particularly like the Townsend Bay Rum scent, and the Woods of Washington scent, too. Both smell like summer vacation. Different versions of summer vacation.

– Barry Estabrook is a national treasure. His investigative reporting on industrial tomato farming is eye-opening, horrifying, and very, very important.

– On the other hand, and not even remotely important: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Total Body Workout! Enjoy. Christophe and Gemma introduced me to this, so I can’t take any credit. DOWN UP DOWN UP DOWN UP DOWN UP

– I have long admired The Art of Eating, and I’m thrilled to have a story in their current issue. I’ve learned so much about food from reading AoE. Not available online, but well worth the price of a subscription.

– Last but not least, my new (old) favorite version of the song “Summertime,” via my friend Ben. Billy Stewart! Yeow. (Correction: apparently Ben learned about this song from Brandon, who used to play sax along to it when he was in high school.)

Happy week.