nomadreader

As the faithful readers may recall, I have an odd fascination with Ashley Parker Angel. I admit to watching O-town videos, although I always drew the line at listening to the music in a purely audio format. I revered his reality tv show, There and Back ; I'm still holding out hope for a second season. Wouldn't it be fun to see Lyric grow up and realize he has an even more feminine name than his father? Am I the only one who wonders how Tiffany handled the model to mom transition? What ever happened to her mother? I would love to see backstage at Hairspray . I digress. My beloved New York Times had this fantastic piece on Ashley Parker Angel by their writer Ashley Parker. This guy remains endearing; it makes me wish he would be a star.

Yesterday's New York Times offered this fascinating glimpse into what makes a bestseller these days. A snippet: Eric Simonoff, a literary agent at Janklow & Nesbit Associates, said that whenever he discusses the book industry with people in other industries, “they’re stunned because it’s so unpredictable, because the profit margins are so small, the cycles are so incredibly long, and because of the almost total lack of market research.” The inevitable follow-up question: how to you factor all the readers at libraries? Are we as irrelevant in the minds of moneymakers as DVR watchers?

The New York Times has this article about Venice's first female gondolier today. I adore Venice, and as a normally rather observant feminist, I was shocked to realize that there has never been a female gondolier. It surprised me to learn that it was only eight years ago a woman was first permitted to wait tables in St. Mark's Square. I was relieved I never deigned the Florian with my money or presence, as they still only allow women to wait on tables indoors, not on the piazza itself. Perhaps I was too blinded by the beauty of Venice on my vacations there to stop and notice the rampant sexism.

How did I miss Friday's New York Times travel article about Kansas ? The dear Flint Hills get the star treatment, and with the exception of the kind words for Wichita, the article nails the simple beauty of the prairie.

Rekha Basu , a gifted writer, consistently raises consciousness about national and world matters to her readers. She writes for the Des Moines Register , however, so many are not aware of her intuitive powers. Sunday's column examines the way U.S. news outlets cover foreign matters and celebrity news, both here and abroad. Here's a taste: "Our kind of coverage seems intended to enforce America's cultural and political isolation, designating us as a unique breed and foreigners an alien species, not people we might admire or learn from. That mind-set, I suspect, helps drive us to war instead of diplomacy when the going gets tough." I probably would not have discovered her columns if I had not spent time in Iowa, where one can still read the local paper and feel informed. For the past eight years, I've been reading her columns, as well as her late husband, Rob Borsellino . I remember the giddiness I felt when I discovered my two favorite columnists were ma...

Clearly I won't be the only one upset if Law & Order is cancelled. New York-based actors have been the backbone of the program for years, and there aren't many opportunities out there for television roles in New York. On a related note, I believe I officially have too much time on my hands when I read the Post every day instead of waiting for Gawker to fill me in.

When I clicked on the business tab of today's New York Times, I wasn't expecting an article about menstruation to be the lead story. First came the quarterly period. Now we are about to have the option to take an oral contraceptive that would completely eliminate menstruation as long as the woman takes it. Women generally hate to menstruate but don't necessarily want to give it up. This issue fascinates me both sociologically and medically.

Nomadreaderboy and I made the drive from Atlanta to Kansas City and back this week. As always, it's a lovely drive until one hits St. Louis. From there, it's all nerve-wracking and horrific until the Kansas state line comes. I admit to being rather partial with my love of Kansas and detest of Missoui, but my impartial Northeastern-raised nomadreaderboy agrees: Missouri is an awful place to drive. Imagine my delight as I'm catching up on five days worth of reading to discover Mike Hendricks' column from Monday, "Just Consider Us Skillful Drivers." It begins: A leading men’s magazine (not the one you’re thinking of) recently put out this year’s list of the cities with the nation’s worst drivers. Naturally, St. Louis came in second. If you’ve been through there on the interstate, then you know those maniacs missed getting first place only by virtue of a statistical fluke. Or a payoff. But clearly there was some kind of mistake for Kansas City to come in sixth pla...

Danish researchers have found an inexpensive and easy way to convert all bloodtypes into the universal type O. So cool .

My favorite freelance writer has started blogging again ! Definitely check out her celebrity sighting post from March 30 - David Canary, Tyne Daly, Joan Didion & David Hare. Then go immediately to her hysterical take on her sexual fantasies about NPR personalities .

Mike Hendricks, my favorite Kansas City columnist has an intriguing column today on the Kansas-brewed controversy about a paid (Topeka) Capitol intern having a bumper sticker "fuck war" on her car. A good lesson in free speech is also refreshing, and the Fred Phelps-town I grew up in clearly needs a reminder. My favorite line: "What’s the greater obscenity, after all? A cuss word on somebody’s bumper? Or the bodies of men, women and children being blown to bits by insurgents in Baghdad?" http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/columnists/mike_hendricks/16956520.htm

New York Times writer Julia Moskin, a good writer who enjoys cooking and wine, offers her test kitchen up to the debate about whether better wine makes better cooking wine this week. It's an entertaining story, slightly reminiscent of Julie and Julia (one of my favorite books so far this year), and it's one I completely agree with. Although I've never conducted such a scientific test, I wince when I pour good wine in a pot. I have become a believer in drinking the good stuff, then after two glasses, switching to the not-as-good stuff that I cooked the meal with. For Moskin's in-depth take on cooking with wine: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/21/dining/21cook.html?ref=style

Today's New York Times has an interesting article on ABC's plans to alter commercial breaks. The article does not raise any specific new ideas, but there should be more news coming soon. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/21/business/media/21adco.html?ref=media One of my favorite features of DVR remains never watching commercials, and I imagine I am not the only television watcher with an aversion to commercials. So much television, yet so little time.

Stop the Presses, Boys! Women Claim Space on Op-Ed Pages by Patricia Cohen Cohen presents a lovely look at the dearth of female op-ed writers in the country. I'm also glad to know there are people trying to remedy the situation. Having a wide variety of voices and backgrounds is crucial to great op-ed pages and the discourse these pages should foster. As I'm in the midst of Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope , I daresay a diversity of voices remains critical for the success of a democracy as well.

From today's New York Times , a reminder of why I read the science section religiously. True, I may rarely understand what the writers are talking about, but the articles are always informative and well-written, and I figure as long as I learn something, I'm ahead. This article, though, is pop-culture intriguing. The sociologist in me loves it. "What's So Funny? Well, Maybe Nothing" by John Tierney http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/science/13tier.html?ref=science