an unordered list

> YOU GUYS YOU GUYS BEST LUNCH EVER TODAY. It's cold outside (frosted last night!), it's cold inside (we still have no heat!), and I think I have a cold (joy!), so quite frankly I did not want a fucking salad for lunch today. So instead I shelled a handful of pistachios, dumped it on top of a package of raman, microwaved it, mixed in the flavor packet, let it set, drained off the liquid, added crushed red pepper flakes (you know, the kind that come with delivered pizza), and nommed. It was quite delicious.

(I've done something similar with canned chickpeas, which is similarly tasty, but I was cold and tired and didn't want to deal with the fucking can opener attachment on my pocketknife, so there.)

> I emailed this article to my Dad and then later, while we were talking on the phone, told him I wanted to go to Uzbekistan. He was like, dude, that article is a list of reasons why you don't want to go to Uzbekistan.

> The Turkish TV show “Fatmagül’ün Suçu Ne?” ("Is it Fatmagül's Fault?") apparently has a gang rape scene, and whoa, the controversy (allegedly there is unauthorized tie-in merchandise in the form of underwear and sex dolls. I wish I was kidding). The show's creators argue that it's wrong to characterize a show by one scene, but I would, like to point out that suggesting gang rape (or any other form of sexual assault) is the victim's fault as part of the title would be a good starting place for a discussion.

> This article was headlined as such on the foreignpolicy.com homepage: "Red Red Wine: Can Communists Learn to Love Cabernet? (Bonus: Other Strange Obsessions of the Chinese Bourgeoisie)." I haven't even read the article, but I can't say no to a headline like that.

ETA: Reading the article now: "But a nation of uneducated drinkers who show little interest in learning about wine's subtler notes...and rampant counterfeiting mean that China's nascent wine explosion may end up corked." Ha! You slay me.
 

> I am not entirely sure that this logic tracks? "'If you unjustly thought that it is your right to prevent free Muslim women from wearing the face veil, is it not our right to expel your invading men and cut their necks?'"

> The New Zealand Herald had an interesting headline today: "Credible terrorist threat against US - Obama" I kind of hope that that formatting was an accident? On the other hand, New Zealand's quality of life indicators are making the rest of us look bad, so I suppose they're entitled to be snarky.

> "In an unprecedented event in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia, Saudi women claimed the world record for forming the largest-ever human pink ribbon at a rally to raise awareness about breast cancer." (Warning: irritating pop-up ads)

> The Economist, in an editorial on the Obama administration: "Everyone knew that Mr Obama had inherited the in-box from hell." Very true, that. (This article is actually titled "How did it come to this?" which is a phrase I cannot hear without thinking of "Where is the horse and the rider?") But seriously, though, I cannot begin to emphasize how much this matters:
 

Obamacare... compels every citizen to buy health insurance on pain of a fine. In return, the poorest buyers get a subsidy. And in return for receiving more than 30m previously uninsured customers, many of them young and healthy, the insurance companies are obliged to offer more generous coverage. For example, they will no longer be able to deny customers coverage on the strength of some pre-existing condition, or put a cap on how much health care they will pay for over a lifetime.

 > A NYT article on what a dollar will get you, food-wise.

> Truly gorgeous Sherlock pic, with subtle .giffery.

> Aaand there goes my productivity. Damn you, internetz.

> Jon Stewart quoted Natalie Merchant in his closing remarks. FTW.
 

 

this is an x-files rec post

I don't remember precisely how I found it, but this will, forever and for always, be one of my favorite TXF fics of all time. It's one of the fics that was on the bookmarks my Dad sent - as with Dance Card et al., the original link was dead, but I remembered liking it enough to hunt it down over at Gossamer. And without further ado, I bring you:

"Mr. & Mrs. Smith and the Ruby-throated Warbler" by rah. Beautiful and hazy, with just a hint of creeping dread the so characterized the show and a whole lot of really nice house!porn. The opening paragraph:

The house is on a quiet square in the old part of town.  Like several of the other proud houses on the street, it is surrounded by an ornate wrought iron fence, and shaded by live oaks and wide-branching magnolias that make an awful mess of the sidewalk in the springtime.  The neighborhood is genteel and, because this particular square hasn't become fashionable yet, very private.  They have been here three weeks.

Please. Like you don't want to go read it right now.