Stringer Bell on the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency!

Idris Elba sure gets those bad guy roles!

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Hope it was a great day! I wish I had been in Denver for the party.

Erica's blog

Neilson's mom has a blog on Amazon about her book. Check it out here.

Is this the big one?

Denverites went to sleep last night to news of a major blizzard with 10-16 inches of snow predicited for the Denver area. We awoke to a dusting of snow but major hoopla on all the news and weather stations continued. The schools had already shut down, planes were cancelled, businesses closing early, etc. Where is the snow?

Actually, it is snowing harder now but I find it hard to believe it is enough to shut the city down for the day. We will have to wait and see.

For now, I am at work and the kids are at Trish and Dak's house (already planned stay at home day due to Anders surgery. Good thing since my partner stayed home with her kids and daycare is closing at 1:00 pm).

More later today.

The Photographer

I have an article in PW Comics Week about a wonderful, haunting new graphic novel by Emmanuel Guibert called The Photographer: Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders . It is about the experience of a French photojournalist who went to Afghanistan in the 1980s with DWB. The volume, which was an enormous hit in France, includes Guibert's illustrations and Didier Lefèvre's images. Fair warning: it is one of those stories that makes you feel completely lame for ever complaining about your own life.

Mao Wakes Up

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Originally uploaded by neilsonabeel

Mao loves nothing more than sleeping in a dresser drawer. Here he emerges after a nap.

Irish Whiskey

This compares Jameson to that Protestant whiskey, Bushmill's. Apparently, until recently, there were both owned by the same french company.

Stringer Bell on The Office!

Actor Idris Elba, who played drug lord Stringer Bell on The Wire, is on The Office as Steve Carell's boss for six episodes. Here's an interview with him on NPR. (Listen to his Brit accent!) Here's the episode on Hulu.

President Obama's Bracket

Watch the President create his bracket on ESPN.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Wear green. Don't wear orange. And as my first boss in New York told me, "Try to get home before someone throws up on you."

Lush Life

I just read Richard Price's novel about clashing cultures on the Lower East Side Lush Life. It was great. Here's an interview with Price on NPR's Fresh Air.

Price was one of the writers on The Wire, one of my other current obsessions.

Book Club Girl hosts Adriana Trigiani

Book Club Girl will be hosting Adriana Trigiani on her radio show on April 7.  If you are quick and post a comment on BCG's blog, you may get a free copy of the book .  If not, tune in anyway. The radio shows are always interesting and neat chance to talk to some of your favorite authors.  I just finished Very Valentine on Saturday.  I agree with Mom/Trish that it is not as good as Lucia, Lucia, but it was still a fun read and the descriptions of Greenwich  Village, and Valentine's horror over how it is changing, were great.

A Nice Day for a Walk

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Originally uploaded by neilsonabeel

Audrey, Neilson and I took advantage of the spring weather yesterday to take a stroll. Here we are on St. Luke's Place, my favorite street in NYC.

Julie Evans and Laura Parnes

I have two friend who have great shows in NY up right now, Julie Evans and Laura Parnes.

Julie's show, at Julie Saul's Gallery in Chelsea, Lesson from a Guinea Hen consists of exquisitely beautiful works on paper that show Julie's continuing fascination with techniques and rituals involved in Indian miniatures (she had a Fulbright to study in India, and has traveled there many other times).

Blood and Guts in High School is Laura's video installation based on Kathy Acker's 1980's novel. It is funny, frightening and beautiful. Laura also has a book with scripts and documentation of this piece and others published by Paricipant Press.

Lucy of Glens Falls

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Originally uploaded by neilsonabeel

I forgot to add that there was one more attraction in Glens Falls: my friends' adorable cat Lucy. She was an "inst-snuggler." It took me 9 years to get Audrey to sleep on the bed--Lucy jumped up the first night and curled up next to me.

Stewart vs. Cramer

Has anyone been following the Jim Cramer vs. Jon Stewart battle? You can watch the entire Cramer vs. Stewart interview, including several minutes which didn't make it on air, on The Daily Show website.

Happy Birthday, Jody!

Jody, I'll buy you or make you a big batch of Whiskey Sours to toast your birthday when I next see you. In the meantime, we're thinking of you celebrating with your cocktail(s) of choice tonight in the Big Apple!

Mengshol Kidlets

Sarah, Andy, Anders and Sonja are up in Vail with Dusty and Clay and Frank. Swimming was first on the agenda, and Ander's first day on the slopes might happen today.

Khoi Vinh on Watchmen

Read Khoi Vinh, design director of nytimes.com review Watchmen.

Billy Crudup on The Daily Show talks about Watchmen

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Billy Crudup

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Watching the Watchmen

Calvin and I went to a screening of Watchmen on Tuesday night. It was fun, kind of. Really corny and uber-violent, but fun, I think. (Guess I've got mixed feelings). Many good performances (Rorschach!) and one of the best title sequences ever.

Here is a very long interview on Wired with writer Alan Moore- whose name is not even on the movie- he wanted it taken off. He doesn't like the Hollywood versions of his comics.

Books, Beer, and Baths

Over the weekend, Neilson and I went to visit our friends Susie and Naftali. A few years ago they moved to Glens Falls, NY, to open Red Fox Books. It is a great bookstore, very Rivers Endian. In fact, they studied The Rivers End as a model in their planning stages. If you are ever in the area, check it out; they also accept online orders, with free shipping over $30.



On Saturday, Michael Harney of Harney and Sons tea gave a talk about tea, and oversaw a tea tasting, to a standing room only crowd. Did you know tea bags are filled with dust left over from processing the loose tea? I didn't. We also visited the two microbreweries in town. By far the better one was Coopers Cave Ale Company. The store sells beer out one door (with free tastings) and ice cream out of the other; soon the owners are opening a pub out back.


On Sunday, we went to the Roosevelt Baths in Saratoga Springs, where we "took the waters." I had no idea those mineral water spas still existed in the area. The water's color may make it look unappealing in this picture, but it was completely relaxing experience.

Happy Birthday Trish

Today is Trish's birthday. She, GrandMary and I all have "big" birthdays and we are planning to celebrate in various ways for the next 6 months.