Mondrianyone

I got Nora Ephron. Her books and essays were better than her film scripts, IMO. But, digging down into my personal dungeon of publishing history . . . Back when I actually was a proofreader--when we read by lantern light, wearing green visors--Fannie Flagg's book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Café was one of the first books I read (for money). So that was a funny guess from my POV. Also Mommie Dearest. So if you find any errors in those, pretend you didn't see them. They're probably not my fault anyway. And there's a statute of limitations. I, too, don't get why they are so married (not a joke) to the whole "Women This or That" business. Don't the women who work on the show ever speak up about this? ETA: Salt is a treatment for warts. So yeah.

I have several sets, and the ones that are on a ring I usually leave connected. It seems pretty easy to use one without dirtying the others. My favorites, though, are a set of Martha Stewart spoons, each of which has a little disk magnet embedded in the handle (and flat bottoms on the spoon parts, so you can set them on the counter without having them wobble and spill). The magnets keep them together in the cupboard, but you can pull off whichever one you need to use without separating them all. It really is funny, the kinds of things that drive us crazy!

As much as JJ has been getting on my nerves lately, there's one type of case that I still really love: suits over jewelry. She totally snaps to and comes alive, and I love to see her zero in on the ring (or whatever else) with her gimlet eye. In today's case of the diamond-and-emerald engagement ring, I actually think the plaintiff made out better with the second ring. The original looked like a ton of things I used to see on QVC in the '90s. The second ring was much more beautiful, I thought, both intricate and not overdone. But what is the deal with women buying their own engagement rings these days? I'm a serious feminist, but if you're going to play along with the whole engagement/ring/fancy wedding business, isn't part of that the man buying the ring and the woman pretending to like it? Or at least the woman having a major say in the way the ring looks but the man paying for it? What's the fun if you design it yourself, pay for it yourself, present it to yourself? Why even bother? I'll just go sit on the fossil shelf and gather more dust. P.S. I also love the occasional insane litigant, even more when the lunatic has a name like Bubonic. You can't make that stuff up.

Ten thousand likes just for any Foster Brooks reference in any context. I will FedEx them to you. ;o)

You're welcome. And so do I. I have autocorrect turned off on every device I own. It's embarrassed me more often than it helps me. It has a somewhat limited intelligence. ;o)

Maybe it's his powerful neck muscles.

Because a galop is a type of dance or the music that accompanies it. The clue was in reference to the parts of The William Tell Overture, so . . . musical spelling.

Maybe you were thinking of the Farnsworth Museum, Saber. That is in my neck of the woods--it's in Rockland, Maine, home to the original Robert Indiana LOVE sign--and it has a great collection of American artists, including the Wyeth boys. Farnsworth also owns the farmhouse and surrounding land where Christina's World was painted, which you can visit. I vote for Florida. If you could hang yourself in a car, I'd be dead a hundred times over. And also add me to the sad list that Erika seemed not to know much about A-A history. James Meredith is one of the people who made her life possible. Is this not being taught anymore? It seems like just yesterday that A-A studies actually became a thing in schools.

If you're ever in PA, you should go to the Brandywine Museum, which has a permanent (I think) Wyeth family collection. It's also the most beautiful museum I've ever been in, surrounded by woods and the Brandywine Creek, all framed by huge windows, so they're like pieces of art as well. I'd say go to Longwood Gardens nearby, but if you hate flowers . . . ;o) Thanks for the usps.com recommendation, guys. I just bought Janis and Sarah Vaughan stamps, which I didn't even know existed. As much as I learn on J!, I learn at least twice as much here. P.S. My husband has a sheet of genuine Richard Nixon stamps that have been altered by an artist to look like Nixon's behind bars. I don't see how they can be legal, but he uses them all the time, and the mail goes through. God bless America.

Did I miss some additional reason that Dannie was sent away during the divorce process? That's really something I've never heard of before, getting rid of the kid while the split plays out. It would seem to me that the more acrimonious the divorce, the more you want to have your kid with you, to comfort her and let her know she's loved by both parents (or at least the one she lives with, if the father was a real POS). This struck me as a way of handing off an inconvenience while the mom's life was disrupted. Dannie didn't seem to have much supervision and concern from any of the adults in her life, much as they tried to clean up their look after the fact.

I used to have a print of that Arcimboldo painting in my kitchen, so I kind of love the dress. But my boobage situation wouldn't allow me to wear it--his cheeks would be very . . . prominent. ;o)

Maybe we can get Arnold Schwarzenegger to do a public-service announcement: "It's not a TOOO-meric!" (Sorry, I just jump on any opportunity to say that line. But I get you--those two drive me nuts as well. I never trust a professional who doesn't know the right names for his/her tools.) And also: Yes, Sunny, I know what you're sayin'! You don't have to ask after every other sentence. I realize this is part of her new "street" persona, but it's so annoying.

I would if I were one. God bless you, though. It's an eye-killing job.

Don't worry, it's not a mistake. "Rack" without the w has been the preferred spelling of the verb in this sense for decades now. b : to afflict and agitate very much with or as if with trouble, stress, anxiety, doubt, unpleasant emotion, or illness <the Greco-Roman world had been racked by revolutions — A. J. Toynbee> <was obviously racking his brains as his answer … disclosed — Robert Grant †1940> In most dictionaries, if you look up "wrack," you'll be referred to "rack." I actually get paid to be the real-life Grammar/Spelling/Language Police, but I try not to use my gun unless absolutely necessary. ;o)

It was the highest-value clue in the category, so thinking it might be harder than it turned out to be wasn't unreasonable, IMO. You expect the clues to get harder as they get more valuable--you don't expect them to stay at the same level of difficulty. (The parts were a plug and a valve, not a spout, as I misremembered.)

The fact that it was ridiculously easy could very well be why it was a TS. I kept wondering if that was a trick clue--what other trades would deal with a spout and a valve? (I think those were the two components, but maybe not.) And then I just said plumber, because that's all I could come up with. I'm fairly sure they were overthinking it, too.

Bravo should put this on a T-shirt and sell it in their online store.

They come ground quite finely in premade rubs, and if you make your own, you can grind them to whatever fineness you like. Even if the coffee bits are fairly chunky, they aren't noticeably chewy. It's the same as ground black peppercorns, or coriander seeds, or any other hard spice you might use. Cooking breaks them down, so no problem.

Try http://www.sleepwithmepodcast.com/. It's a podcast designed to put you to sleep. It seems pretty weird at first (because it is), and it can take three or four tries before it works. For some people it doesn't work at all. For me it works about 90% of the time, which is about 90% better than anything else I've tried, including sleeping meds, and I've had insomnia all my adult life. I feel you. It's a horrible problem. Hope this helps.

Did he really?? I must've dozed off. Is that even a thing? The fact that "mayonnaise in his bolognese" rhymes makes me want to write a song about it. This could get ugly. I'm sad that Nolan had to leave. I think I would've liked his bruschetta better (that can go in the song, too!), because what's wrong with bacon?

There's a great joke in there somewhere. I took this as a challenge. Bec in French (and what other language would we go to?) most literally means "beak." So that would make him Alex Three-Beaks. Which is kind of a sissy Mafia name. But there are a lot of secondary meanings, like "spout" and "nozzle" and "nose," and on and on. My personal favorite, natch, is Alex Three-Peckers. Maybe that could be a clue someday. Osman did nothing to annoy me. I must not be looking hard enough. But both women got on my nerves by turning to him and clapping whenever he answered correctly, like they were Tony Orlando and Dawn or something. You're not there to cheer him on throughout the game, you're there to compete with him. Clap when he wins. So I'm glad he did.

Another entry in the ongoing Sunny Anderson Vocabulary Watch: On yesterday's show she referred to the final touch added to a dish as "the coup d'état." I think she meant "coup de grâce." Unless she really is planning a violent overthrow of the government. Which I could actually get behind these days. (Just kidding, Secret Service. Don't come knocking on my door. It's Sunny you're looking for.)

Today's show was really enjoyable. Even if there isn't anything revolutionary about coffee in a steak rub (we've been using a coffee rub for years--a cocoa one, too), that steak looked great. And I will be all over that fried chicken. This felt like a throwback show, which is a very good thing, IMO. How easy was that?

The tampon box as hiding place is pure genius. I realize I've completely overlooked feminine-hygiene packaging as a stealth resource. I recently had to hide a jar of fig jam in the fridge so my husband couldn't finish off the whole thing before I got even a taste of it (I bought it for myself, and he knew that, but it didn't seem to matter). I hid it inside the shrink wrap covering a six-pack of this sparkling fruit soda he never drinks. The one other option was to bury it inside a package of ground beef. I always feel as if I hear the Mission: Impossible theme playing behind me while I'm scrambling to conceal something. I adore Helen Mirren, but she holds the distinction of being in the only movie I've ever walked out on--The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover--not because it was shocking but because it was so boring. She looked gorgeous, though. Bye, Carolyn. You annoyed me almost as much as you entertained yourself.

His name isn't Randy by any chance, is it? No, seriously, I hope he's doing great and that the meds fix everything. I asked my cat to send her best wishes, too, but she just yawned. Do not cave. (I don't know a power-fist emoji, so just imagine one aimed at you and all your colleagues. I credit my elementary-school English teacher for giving me the tools it takes to do my job. Everything after that was just icing. You can't be paid enough.) You have peacocks, Saber? I'm so jealous. A neighbor down the road used to have a pair (brace?), but they were often in the road. I don't see them anymore, so they could've ended badly. I liked Alexandra, and she made me laugh. I just don't want her to wear that top combo again tomorrow.