Dropping In On the New Pope

Wow. This blogging mess is stressful. I've been doing it for one whole week and already I need a break. So this evolving literary touchstone known as Is It About Pie? is going on hiatus for a couple of weeks. The reason: It is time for a vacation.
So in a mere eleven hours I'll be jetting off to that pasta and wine wonderland known as Italy. Its okay, you can be jealous. I'm a little jealous myself. Actually, its more like I'm giggly with excitement. Really annoying, chirpy giggles, so its good you can't hear them. But I digress. It has been seven years since I've been able to make a trip over there and I can not wait. Here's a brief itinerary: Sunday through Tuesday in Rome, Wednesday through Sunday in Florence (my favorite), Monday and Tuesday sitting on the beach in Cinque Terre (possibly the most beautiful spot on the planet), and then the rest of that week in the lake country of northern Italy near the Alps.
A detailed report will follow once I arrive back on American soil. But now it is late, and I really should pack. Ciao!

"Afternoon Delight"

"Afternoon Delight" 1. A seemingly innocent but actually very dirty pop song from the 70's. 2. Apparently a particularly potent brand of marijuana. Confuse the two and you have one of the plotlines from a recent episode of Arrested Development, which is the funniest show on television (Scrubs being a close second). Very few TV shows can make me laugh until I'm sobbing like a little girl, but this is one of them. If you're not a fan, you are missing out. Here are some other random recommendations and observations for your Wednesday reading pleasure.
CD of the Moment: Nashville, by Josh Rouse. His Under Cold Blue Stars was just about the perfect pop disc, and 1972 was one of the best of 2004. Nashville isn't quite up to those standards, but its still better than 95% of the other music out there. Buy it now. If I remember correctly he started out as a server at Sam and Zoe's Coffeehouse over in Berry Hill.
DVD Special Feature of the Moment: Sarah Vowell's video essay on The Incredibles DVD. Sarah voices Violet in the movie, and is also a commentator on NPR's This American Life. This essay is absolutely hilarious. She is the gold standard of dry humor. I might be in love.
Obscure Foreign Film of the Moment: Io Non Ho Paura (I'm Not Scared) Concerns a young boy happily growing up in rural Italy. One day, while playing at a nearby abandoned farmhouse, he discovers a pit dug into the earth. In this pit he discovers another boy his age, chained, beaten, and hungry. How did the boy get there? Was his own father involved? As he starts to discover the truth his perceptions of the grown-up world lose their innocence and his own life comes into danger. Beautifully photographed and acted, seek it out next time you go to Blockbuster.
Sad Restaurant News of the Moment: The Chez Jose off of West End has closed. They had the best salsa ever. Best salsa ever is defined as salsa that still burns your tongue an hour after the meal and requires you to be in close proximity to a toilet for at least the next three. The good news: Their other location is still open. The bad news: It is way the heck out in the office park dead zone known as Maryland Farms.
Most Disturbing Billboard of All Time: Back in Houston, eastbound on the south loop, there was a billboard for a local shoe store. On it was a small boy, about 8 or 9, grinning broadly and holding a pair of dress shoes. The slogan underneath him read: "My daddy says our shoes are so good they'll make love to your feet!" Honest. Disturbing: Some man in Houston thinking "Hmmmm...I bet I'll sell more shoes if I compare putting them on to a sexual act." Profoundly disturbing: Some man in Houston thinking "My son is so cute, I bet I'll sell even more shoes if I let him compare putting on shoes to a sexual act." Every time I drove past that billboard I said a silent prayer for that poor boy.

My Crunkin First Post

Stupid peer pressure. Since it seems like everyone and their monkey has a blog now, I felt it was time to create my own. Three easy steps and the world gets to know your thoughts. Technology is wonderful.
I used the word crunk in the title. Its my word of the week. Last week my friend Mary sent out an email for an event that will include a picnic that she promised would be "mad crunk". Now, unlike Mary, I am not a child of the streets. I haven't been hip to the street lingo since "rad" was in common usage. I assume that she meant crunk as meaning "this picnic will feature a bountiful selection of foods and beverages. A buffet, if you will". And "mad", the modifier, would make it: "this picnic will feature an exceedingly bountiful selection of foods and beverages". A few days later I called my friend LB a "mothercrunker", which she took as a compliment. Since she said crunk meant cool, therefore she had somehow given birth to cool, like a white Miles Davis. Whatever. If before the crunkin picnic email I had been asked to define the word crunk, I would have guessed "Crunk: v. A beneficial, though sometimes painful bodily function." Like so:
Chester: "Gee, Molly my stomach is killing me today."
Molly: "Sorry, Ches. You know, if you could just have a nice crunk you might feel better."
Anyway, I'm trying this week to incorportate crunk into my everyday conversation. I'll start tomorrow at work:
Patient: "I'm just a little worried about my hysterectomy."
Me: "Don't worry, dawg, your anesthesia is going to be mad crunk."
I think that will calm her nerves.