This Twitter post is, well, the biggest cock tease (pun intended) I’ve seen in a long time:
As it turns out, most men who die from cardiac arrest during sex are having affairs with younger women: http://t.co/O8d7TAiQ.
Bait…and bait
January 27th, 2012Peter Pan in Manolos
January 26th, 2012On the road, the only television programming more common than Sex and the City is Law & Order. That, and three-dozen versions of ESPN.
Now, there might be even more SATC – there are talks about a possible spin-off, a prequel.
Whenever I check in and its on, I turn the channel. Unless, of course, it’s the episode where John Slatterly plays a politician with, um, issues. So I was trying to think why. After all, this used to be total appointment television.
Then I read this essay by Mary Elizabeth Williams that hits the nail on the head. It’s because Carrie Bradshaw never grows up. She’s always petulant, always pouting, always chasing after Mr. Big. The other characters have arcs: Charlotte becomes less shallow and marries a Jew, Samantha has an actual relationship, Miranda stops dressing like a lesbian. But Carrie — she’s kind of like that girl from high school who embarasses you by being exactly the same when you go home for reunions, right down to the hairsprayed bangs. She is like Peter Pan, without the charm.
Learning man
January 25th, 2012Is this guy what we all should aspire to? Or, is he just irritating?
I mean, I know I should be learning Urdu, but sometimes a girl just wants to watch The Bachelor.
Mad patience
January 24th, 2012472 down, 60 to go.
Forgotten gems
January 22nd, 2012Was there more of an It Girl in the 1990s than Parker Posey? (Except, of course, Liz Phair.)
She was cool but still a little spastic, caustically funny, beautiful without being unapproachable. She was in all the right movies (I’m overlooking You’ve Got Mail, because everyone’s got to cash in/eat): Party Girl, House of Yes, Noah Baumbach films before he became tiresomely self-congratulatory and totally self-referential…and this gem, which I’d almost forgotten about until this New York interview. As Posey herself says, “That movie is so charming and easy and effortless!”
For years afterward, whenever I was stuck in testy family situations, I’d try to reimagine the moment as a Daytrippers scene, trying to find amusement in the tiresomeness, the humour in the same-old sniping, the punch line in the nagging.
The best part
January 20th, 2012A taste of the sea
January 19th, 2012I was watching Top Chef (boo, Mean Girls), which made me think of the most revelatory dish I’ve had in awhile, Jaleo’s erizos de mar con pipirrana.
First, a little set-up: When I was in high school, one of the highlights was the sophomore biology field trip to Bar Harbor. I should know — because I am a dork, I went not once but three times, as an actual sophomore and twice as a biology lab aide. Anyhow, the whole point of the trip was this specimen collection competition, in which your team tried to collect and correctly identify the largest number of different marine biology. I will tell you, modestly, that my team won every single time. And here’s why: sea urchin. The single biggest point total was awarded for finding and eating — or, rather, convincing everyone on your team to eat — sea urchin. They’re a bit of a pain to locate, and inevitably, someone on one of the teams that did find a sea urchin would wimp out and refuse to eat the small sample. But my team always did and did, and I like to think it’s because we realised they’re actually pretty good, a really heady taste of sea.
Anyhow, that’s all to say that since I’ve been 15 I’ve had kind of a thing for sea urchin. I order it at every sushi restaurant I go to, despite the fact that it often makes my dining companions squirm. Somehow, though, I completely overlooked the fact that it is on the menu — has it always been? — at José Andrés’ Jaleo. And Oh. My. God. On a bed of diced peppers, tomatoes, and cucumber, the essence of gazpacho, the glistening piece of sea urchin shone. It was even better than the couple of wonderful tastes I had in Japan.
And even better, it’s a Metro ride away.
Low wattage
January 18th, 2012Dear GQ, I’m not sure if printing a list of Cabinet secretaries equals to a D.C. Power List. Although kudos for knowing the names of so many Cabinet secretaries. Although their very anonymity would maybe, sorta, kinda argue against their “power.”