wooing the bush administration
I was just reading about the gifts our White House administration has received from foreign dignitaries. I was tickled to learn that while King Abdullah of Saudia Arabia showered Condaleeza Rice with a ruby and diamond necklace worth $165,000 and King Abdullah II of Jordan gave her an emerald and diamond necklace worth $147,000 – the Dalai Lama gave Mrs. Bush a $6 assortment of fruit and dried nuts. How cute! (By the way, the officials can’t keep any of the stuff.)
wordplay
I’m home for the holidays and am taking up crossword puzzles. Today’s mission: NYTimes Monday (read: the easiest) edition from Dec. 15. Serena’s time: 63:19. Help involved: 4 “Reveals” and countless Google searches to find some answers. Still, I was pretty pleased when I picked up the pattern. There were several clues about famous authors’ “favorite” foods – and the answers ended up being a food with their last name in it. So for instance, author “Jack” was “londonbroil” and author “Anne” was “ricepudding.” Smart Serena! Sort of, until I remember it took me over an hour to complete – with help - the Monday puzzle. Let’s see how I progress over the next 8 days.
the orange tomato
The Times today gravely offended the great persimmon today (and me) in its description of my second favorite fruit: “Their mild, undistinctive flavor, vaguely reminscent of pumpkin…”
Mild?! UNDISTINCTIVE???? And, pumpkin? That comparison only works when you’re looking at color. Monsieur Author, you must have lost your taste buds in the other room. The persimmon is absolute deliciousness and has a sweet, rich, crisp flavor unlike any other fruit. (It actually tastes even better than I have made it out to be – my limited repetoire of adjectives limits my ability to describe it.)
Sigh. New York Times, I love you so but at times like these, I hang my head in shame.
i have maxed out on friends
Facebook tells me I have 562 friends, and lately, the “People You May Know Box” is only filled with people I don’t know. When I click on “See All” I do see a bunch of old classmates, who I don’t really care to connect with…so I’ve come to the conclusion that I only know 562 people. That means I’ve met about 21 people each year of my 26 years. Shoot. Now I’m starting to feel a little pathetic. Actually, I’ll tell you what’s pathetic. That I’m blogging about how many friends I purportedly have.
