I've seen John Mahoney a few times in the Oak Park/Forest Park area (I helped him in the library back in 1990, and he was at the car wash when Mom and I were there a few years ago--she went up and thanked him for his work right before we left, and he was very sweet about it).

Aww, I bet he was awesome.

He still lives in Oak Park, which I think is pretty cool (he grew up across the street in Forest Park). Both times, I did the whole "treat him like a normal person" thing, which was helpful when I was tracking down a copy of Uncle Vanya for him at the library. I told my mom to leave the poor guy alone, but she couldn't resist approaching him. It's got to be pretty hard on him, though--both times, I knew he was in the building before he showed up because an employee came around and told us he was there. At the library, it was pre-Frasier, so he didn't get too much notice, but at the car wash, he was getting a lot of out-of-the-corner glances from everyone there.

I've seen Kenny Rodgers at the Cascades in Nashville, and I think Hal Holbrook passing by some nameless seafood restaurant on Decatur St. In New Orleans. No famous people in local restaurants though. (I made a point of avoiding The Rendezvous when I knew George Bush was coming to town.)

Raw fish? Never tried it, probably never will. Even the idea of steak tartare turns my stomach.

I don't do raw fish either. I love sushi, but my place has some really great vegetarian and cooked options. There's a rock n roll, with small bits of deep-fried halibut, avocado, cucumber, and maybe something else that I don't remember (with rice, seaweed and the teeny-tiny orange fish eggs). You get to have all the pleasure of deep-fried halibut, and yet still feel kind of virtuous because there's so little of it.

I regard fish and beef as two widely divergent things when it comes to cooking... there probably aren't too many people who like their steak cooked more thoroughly than I, but I love the taste of raw sushi-grade tuna.

No to raw fish or meat. Yes to raw oysters and broccoli.

Oh, lordie. I read BusinessWeek's tech section because they have pretty shiny pictures, but I also get to read jewels such as this:

Facebook can be a compelling way for the over-35 crowd to keep in touch with friends and family. Still, it's got different rules from sites such as LinkedIn, and it's a whole new way of communicating for a demographic that went through college without cell phones, the Web, and e-mail. If you're pushing 40 on Facebook, you'll probably never qualify as cool, but you can avoid major social-networking taboos. Herewith, Facebook 101 for old folks.

The 101 is basically lame, but still.

No to raw fish or meat. Yes to raw oysters and broccoli.

Living in the middle of the US, I have to vote no to all raw meat. On the coast however, I would love to try sushi with someone experienced who could be the guide. We have a few sushi restaurants in town, I'm just not sure how accurate a taste they are. As it is, I am sheltered enough to picture Gollum eating the fish from the river when someone mentions sushi.

I don't think there's much of a difference between sushi near an ocean and in the middle of the country anymore. Almost all sushi in the US is flash frozen and you can overnight anything anywhere. Which is not to say the quality of, say, a Japanese restaurant is as good where there aren't a lot of Japanese people. Just that the fish is not necessarily better here than a two hour plane ride away.