Mmmmm.... eleven herbs and spices....

Hivemind question:

It looks like that messages I send using gmail aren't looking the way I expect them to on the other end--that the blank lines between paragraphs are disappearing, making my longer messages difficult to read. Is there any fix for this besides entering an extra carriage return, which I assume would make my messages look over-spaced to anyone receiving them through gmail? I'm trying to make it my primary account, but I'm sure not going to use it for job searching or contact with editors and agents if I'm not sure it's looking polished and professional in the recipient's inbox.

I snerk at Hec's favorite sandwiches. Bob Bob similarly categorizes experiences. He loves rankings. He asks me questions like, "where have you had the best pancakes in your life?" when I can't even remember the last time I had pancakes. In his case, I think it's related to an omnivorous hunger to KNOW, this categorizing. He has to be able to slot knowledge, to rate it, to put it into place. Like how he came in here and knew the thumbnail sketch of that philosopher, including the books where he was cited? He could also name the top five philosophers in that field and their departments and then name the top philosopher in that department and what they're most famous for.

Not surprisingly, he likes baseball.

Huh. So I flipped on ABC before Lost starts, and apparently Freddie Prinze Jr. and David Silver (from 90210, whatever the actor's name is) are in a show together.

Weird.

I fondly remember a chicken curry sandwich with green grapes on pumpernickel that I used to get 20 years ago at a kitschy little place called the Chinese Laundry cafe (in a building that used to be a ...)

Apparently, that cafe has been gone for 8 or 9 years. I still mourn it. Although the successor restaurant is pretty decent, it doesn't serve banana chocolate chip cheesecake.

I can tell you the best avocado I ever had. There's a tie for the most phenomenal sunrise ( Maxixe looking out towards Inhambane and also Vilankulos.) Bread would be harder, but I could probably do it. But for the most part, I am that and that and OH that one and then there was... I like categories. Not so much rankings. Unless it was the worst.

He asks me questions like, "where have you had the best pancakes in your life?"

I could tell you this! With sidebars on Best French Toast and Best Waffles.

This (oft male) tendency is roundly mocked in the movie Gregory's Girl.

But to me it's just an organizing principle that makes the subject more interesting. It forces me to remember and assess the experience. The ranking itself is fluid and far from binding. It's the process of making the list which is fun.

Smoked turkey on pumpernickel with romaine and mango chutney at Cremaldi's in Cambridge (don't know if it's still there--I used to live down the block).

Medianoche at Mambo's here in Burbank. Cuban pressed sandwiches, yum.

Fresh sliced turkey on a just-baked baguette with dijon mustard and shredded lettuce at Calvert's Goumet in Reston, Virgina.

A thin slice of ham on buttered bread, served with cornichons on the side at the cafe in the middle of the "The Fred" in The Haag.

Ahrg.

Dear Internets,

Can you please stop hating me by tomorrow morning. All I want to do is scope out the kind of replacement down comforter mom has offered to get me for xmas and buy a ticket. You spent all day today breaking on me and giving me nonsensical results (identical comforters from the same place $50 different? Magical disappearing and reappearing itineraries? Insisting my airport doesn't exist? PUHLEEZ)

Just work tomorrow, please? Pretty?

Sincerely, sarameg

My top five list in makeup land right now.

1. Smashbox Studio Seamless foundation in Petal
2. Laura Mercier loose powder in translucent
3. L'oreal Endless Kissable in 710 (Finest Wine)
4. MAC Lipstick "O"
5. Aromaleigh's Pure Minerals eyeshadow, pretty much anything from the Midsummer Night's Dream collection.

#3 is only on the list until I have time for actual face-doing again. It's a good throw-on-and-go color for when I'm rushed, which is all the freakin' time.