*Love*

"This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body."



— Walt Whitman

Flickr Photostream

This is one of the photos I took in Sandwich, New Hampshire from the view from our porch! This was just added to my new photostream at Flickr.

Why we love going out to eat

"...we all become actors, to some extent,
when we go out to eat. Every restaurant is a
theater, and the truly great ones allow us to
indulge in the fantasy that we are rich
and powerful. When restaurants hold up their
end of the bargain, they give us the illusion of
being surrounded by servants intent on
ensuring our happiness and offering
extraordinary food.

But even modest restaurants offer the
opportunity to become someone else, at least
for a little while. Restaurants free us from
mundane reality; that is part of their charm."
-- Ruth Reichl

 

This is from a new book I'm reading, Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth

Reichl, and I am absolutely in love with it! Former restuarant critic

for the New York Times, Reichl's writing makes your mouth water!

The book is a story about her first years at the New York Times and how she had to disguise herself in various costumes so as not to be recognized.

Her actual restaurant reviews are sandwiched in between these entertaining anecdotes. I'm halfway through the book so far and I can barely put it down! If you love food this is a great read.