I am a food curmudgeon.

I think you are not a food curmudgeon until you have complained loudly at a restaurant that haricot verts literally translates to green beans, and if they want to say there are green beans then they should just cop to their being ordinary green beans.

(I was informed, with a sniff, that haricot verts are Extra Special green beans, younger and tenderer and more likely to levitate in circles over your plate than the ordinary kind.)

I don't have a problem with spice-conservatism -- if adobo is as far as you go, it's as far as you go -- as long as people recognize that chickenis not supposed to be the texture of a hockey puck. I knew a guy in grad school who really thought that Applebee's was fine dining. I mean, we were grad students, but come on!

(My personal odyssey out of spice-conservatism was facilitated by a Vedic nun from Santa Barbara teaching me how to make Indian curry from scratch. Once I owned turmeric, coriander, cayenne, ginger, and actual, real garlic, it sort of behooved me to find other dishes to cook with them.)

Don't buy a Volkswagen.

Hey, now. Maybe it's the cutie pie Beetles that are the problem. Mine's been good to me -- better than the Honda.

Allyson -- I'm kinda confused myself.

Kat -- I know The OC has popped up on my To Record on Steve. That's the first of the fall shows I've remembered to watch.

Which makes me think -- Prison Break and Kitchen Confidential. Must check on those.

Why I bother, I'm not sure. I'm so far behind. But what I don't catch up on by the end of next weekend, gets tossed.

Kristen, if you decide you are going to upgrade, you should ask me first, because I bet I can get you a deal.

Which makes me think -- Prison Break and Kitchen Confidential. Must check on those.

I'm going to check out Kitchen Confidential, and also Bones. Both strictly for the BTVS-alumni factor (although the female lead in Bones seems awfully pretty).

Hey! I'm thinking about upgrading too. Where's my deal, perkins?

Thanks for the TV info, ita.

I should pack my bag and get to bed early. I started reading the Aeneid as part of a larger quest to become a better thinker and DAMN it's taking me forever. Which is good, because it's making me smarter and bad because it's making me feel stupid.

Strega is recapping Bones, which is how I plan to watch.

I think Nielsen's should cover TWoP, for all the people who won't watch a show, but go to the recap, instead.

last I looked, but the oregano wasn't looking too hot.

If I had known, I'd have saved you guys some whole plants when I was thinning the front yard!

I still have a fair amount, however. Some mint, but it took a hit in the heat, and I've been underwatering anything tough enough to survive.

Where's my deal, perkins?

I've told you that before!

Kat! I finished True Notebooks yesterday. I had a hard time keeping track of all the inmates, but other than that, I really enjoyed it. Do you want it back, or should I just Bookcrossing it on?

and KC has Bradley Cooper who I love in spite of myself!

Okay, one complaint about New School. We only get 1000 copies a month. Now that sounds like a lot, and it is. But I have 175 or so students and therefore 1000 copies not that many.

This is compounded by the fact that EACH TIME you go to make copies, you have to bring your own paper. You can pick up 2 reams of paper at the beginning of each month.

Is that weird? Or is it just me?