"And sundry views from nature..." ~ Jane Eyre

Saturday Morning Sundries:

~ I just purchased three more crossword puzzle books since I just finished another. I bought two that Will Shortz edited for the NYTimes and a Random House collection called "Fall for Foliage," which claims crosswords are great to do as the leaves fall. Right. I am so addicted at this point that I would probably be doing crosswords while the world was ending.

~ Last night I discovered that my new favorite show is now on television. I have not watched a show weekly since "Sex and the City" ended, but that is about to change. "Men in Trees" is a drama written by a writer from "SATC" and its absolutely delightful. The plot seems like Carrie Bradshaw meets rural America - the main character is jilted right before her wedding and ends up in an Alaskan town during a book tour to promote her new self-help guide about dating. Since Elmo, Alaska, is filled with men, she decides to stay there to write her next book and POOF! you have a new series for single urbanite women like moi! At times the script was a bit fromage-y, but Anne Heche is a lovely runner up to Sarah Jessica. http://abc.go.com/primetime/menintrees/about.html

~ I woke up this morning and smelled a Subway Series. I think a World Series between the Yankees and the Mets is in the Autumn air. Mets are about to clinch their division, the Yanks only have 6 more to go, and there is a great chance that the best days of baseball this season lie ahead of us. Whilst I know my Yankees would beat the Mets in a series, just as they did so amazingly back in 2000, it would be quite nice to see Derek Jeter and David Wright battle it out for a bit...and then have Derek kick David to a Bronx curb.

~ Tonight J. Sarah is taking me to the dinner owed to me from our bet! We are heading to Parea, and I am looking forward to some Greek wine and wedding talk over some keftedes. I am working now on some details and just printed out the floor plans of the venue. In two more months I shall be going to look for my dress; J. Sarah ordered hers (a Watters and Watters) and it is divine. It is all lace and so perfect for a wedding on a summer's eve.
http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails.asp?areaid=0&restaurantid=33918&neighborhoodid=0&cuisineid=29

~ Yesterday afternoon I showed my American Lit honor's class the Simpson's scene in the "Treehouse of Horror" when they do Poe's "The Raven." We were all laughing hysterically and as I looked at them appreciate the intertextuality, I thought it was pretty damn cool that I get paid to do this. My favorite part is when a painting of "Lenore" is shown and it is Marge!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLUnmEpxXPI Right now I am working to take the class on a field trip in the spring to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The museum is great, but the students and I agree that the more important event that day would be eating in Chinatown. Ahem.

~ My friend D.R. is finally home from Iraq. I am looking forward to seeing him when he gets into New York. I think he could use an Irish Car Bomb...or three! Before he left we had pints of Guinness, so some stout is in order now that he is back. Speaking of beverages to revel with, I just picked up a few recommended wines yesterday. One is the Barefoot Merlot that I have been drinking since the spring. One I have not tried yet is a Portuguese red wine called Adriano. The third is one I had seen mentioned in a Wine Spectator. It is called Red Bicyclette. Since its an imported French rose, I figured I better try it before summer officially ends.
http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Daily/News/0,1145,2515,00.html