Articles I have consumed and enjoyed:

I. Stuff I Hunted and Gathered:

1. Vive La France- Paul Rudnick (The New Yorker, 3/26/2012): Marie-Céline Dundelle packs an extraordinary number of bon mots per paragraph. For example: 

"As for family life, Americans are far too concerned with a child’s self-esteem and accomplishments. The French woman knows that to build a child’s inner strength it is best either to completely ignore the child or to belittle him. As I was giving birth to my daughter, I refused to put down my copy of French Vogue. When it was over, I turned to my husband and remarked, “I have just had an unusually large bowel movement that will never be as attractive as me."

 

    What a calorie-free treat!
    (Tangent: Jeeves and W. is my all-time favorite Shouts and Murmurs pastiche)

2. Sunday Vows: Vanessa Mongeon, Chris Piccioni - Rob Davis (NYT, 3/9/2012) : My roomie described their story as "creepy" however I thought it was lovely! It would definitely make my top 10 Vows. (And I have read religiously since high school!) It starts with a When Charlotte Met Harry-esque premise but gets better!  I don't want to ruin it, read it!

 

Also, I wonder, who is Rob Davis? Is this a 27 Dresses situation?

3. Homemade Chocolate Wafers + Icebox Cupcakes- Smitten Kitchen (3/25/2009): I used to consume icebox cakes all the time when I was a wee one (It probably contributed to my cherubic (read:  rotund) appearance, see below). I never particularly enjoyed real cake (it was sort of like oversweetened bread to me) but this inspired combination of chilled chocolate wafers and cream was one of my favorite summertime treats. Unfortunately, it has proved to be quite challenging to procure the chocolate wafer cookies necessary to recreate it. I visited several grocery stores and the closest thing was the chocolate pizzelle. (While it is also delicious, it was too thin to support the edifice of fat I wished to create...an overnight stay in the fridge resulted in some very soggy "cake".  As a further aside, during these journeys I also wondered why the Invisible Hand deemed it was necessary for grocery stores to have an entire aisle devoted to potato chips yet decide to only occasionally stock Brussels, the cookie of the gods.) I contemplated ordering Nabisco cookies in bulk on Amazon but it seemed a bit like overkill (my haus-mates would have to prepare for icebox cake all day erryday). Then I found this lovely recipe during one of the many hours I spend browsing through the backlogs of Smitten Kitchen. There are even pretty pictures! Results TBA.

I fear I am waddling!

II. Stuff that other Hunter/Gatherers sent to me: 

4. Democracy, English, and Wars Over Usage- David Foster Wallace (Harper's, 4/2001)
This article is really long. After I read this I purchased an anthology of his non-fiction and this piece spanned over 60 of its pages! It's worth it though! Essentially, DFW takes a basic book review and kicks it up a bajillion notches. I will reflect on this for real in the future and put it here. Also, for any IB kids out there, it is very TOK!

Also, breaking news: DFW is really insanely smart. AND not pretentious. I think sometimes writers (and non-writers) have a tendency to bask in their brilliance; they let observers know how smart they are but they don't really share it. Wallace totally shares. Perhaps even over shares. Regardless, I think it's so refreshing!

I have a bad habit of reading multiple things concurrently. Usually it detracts from the reading experience, but I thought in this case there was some definite synergy going on. (Also reading Perez probably did not create an economy of scale though.)

This was also really interesting. Dare I say juicy? It sheds (a bit) more light on Wallace's Mary Karr days, which the New Yorker profile downplayed. I think it makes him seem more human (er, flawed?). Also, if you are really curious, UT keeps an archive of his old syllabi that shows just how much more thought he tends devotes to things than normal people do. (Was this good for him? Debatable.)


III. Stuff I sent others that they found unsatisfying: 

5. An Ode to Nice Guys- Fu-zu Jen (First Call Magazine): This came up during a recent discussion about why I was anti- Heathcliff/Mr. Rochester/Edward Cullen. This is probably a pretty surprising position for someone who fits into Forever 21's consumer demographic. But its true! They are so whiny! Impressionable tweens, say no to this triumvirate!

This piece is a classic (in my mind) in the Why Nice Guys are Great genre and after I read this I was like, "oh em gee, so true! jerks suck!" However, my Y-chromosome endowed pal sided with the Jerk camp and said this piece was "lame". Reader, you decide!

That's it! Fare thee well, gharials!