Literacy, so hot right now

I am so busy at work these days that I am behind on all things pop culture.
Sadly, I am most behind on my reading since when I get home totally exhausted I find myself going toward the TV rather than the bookshelf.

I am going to make a serious effort for that to change in the coming weeks and here are three things that will help me...

Nobel prize winning author Ms. Toni Morrison has a new book out. It's called Home and I am picking it up today after work (right before hitting the Wednesday night wine flight at Swirl- it's a Rosè tasting!).
I L-O-V-E Toni Morrison so I am very much looking forward to reading this soon.

Here is a review from the NPR Books page to get you psyched up:
'Home': Toni Morrison's Taut, Triumphant New Novel

Another of my favorite authors, Gillian Flynn has a new book coming out in the beginning of June called Gone Girl. Gillian Flynn is the author of two other books both of which are wicked little stories that I love: Sharp Objects and Dark Places (which I read this morning is being made into a movie). These are not for the faint at heart- they are thrillers but not overly gory or gross- just the perfect amount of grotesque!

On NPR there is an exclusive "first read" excerpt that you can download and listen to or read. I have downloaded it to my i pod so I can listen while cleaning the house this weekend.

Check it out:
Exclusive First Read: 'Gone Girl' By Gillian Flynn

And last but not in the slightest bit least, my friend Ms. Elizabeth Myrddin is writing like the devil these days and I have so much to catch up on!
Here is her newest blog "Inky Heels" (loving that name!)- check it out!
http://inkyheels.wordpress.com

What have you been reading these days in print or electronically?

P.S. Hey locals, tomorrow begins the annual LPO New Orleans Symphony book fair! It is held at Delgado and is free on Friday and Saturday (to get in early Thursday it is a $10.00 donation) I am going to dig for literary treasures on Friday afternoon- bring a bag and head over!

 Book Fair Dates May 17-19, 2012    

Thursday and Friday, May 17 – 18, 9 AM – 8 PM

Saturday, May 19, 9 AM – 4 PM

($10.00 admission on Thursday only)

at Delgado Community College`s Student Life Center. (Entrance at Navarre Ave.)

Benedict Cumberbatch, so hot right now

Season 2 of the BBC's Sherlock begins this Sunday on PBS and I am super excited!

Not only is this show a brilliant update of timeless characters, but the actor who plays Sherlock Holmes, Benedict Cumberbatch is so darned cute! Sorry Don Draper, you're getting DVR'd this Sunday...

Here is is with co-star Martin Freeman as Dr. Watson

If you missed season 1 which aired as 3 90 minute episodes on PBS last year, you can watch instantly on Netflix or download from Amazon.com for only $9.99.

Geek out on Sherlock with the links below:

PBS's main Sherlock page

NPR's interview with Mr Cumberbatch, Benedict Cumberbatch: 'Sherlock,' Smaug And Spying

Fresh Air's piece on the creator of Sherlock, Steven Moffat, who incidentally also rebooted Dr. Who and created one of my all time favorite shows, Coupling.
(If you haven't seen Coupling you can watch on Netflix- you will DIE laughing.)

Innocence, so hot right now

Tonight I am honored to be helping out at the Innocence Project New Orleans' annual gala.
It is a great organization that does amazing work!
Please check out their site and donate...

May, so hot right now

Well hey, May! I love May- it's hot but not "stay inside all day for fear of dying of heatstroke" hot.

In honor of May, I am going to do a project (or a to do item that has been on the list) a (week)day.
I only take on challenges with rhyming schemes.

For day 1 of "project a day May" I am going to go to Home Depot and get paint samples.
Picking paints is really daunting to me so after lots of paint chip collecting, I decided that I am going to use Martha Stewart's paint line sold at Home Depot.

It's great, she created a pallet with over 150 colors that are each catagorized by a symbol. As long as you choose colors with the same symbol, they will all flow together because they have the same undertone, thus taking the guess work out of choosing coordinating colors!

Here is an example- see the little symbols next to the names and formulas? Brilliant, I tell you!

I narrowed down my choices by looking at the whole palette and writing down the names and symbols of all the paint colors I loved. Then I counted them up to see which symbol I had the most of and decided from there.

I had a huge majority of the asterisk * symbol (you can see it above, top middle next to Lamb) so I selected a master bedroom color, 3 very similar colors for the main rooms that I can use all or one of, a fun color for the kitchen and a few "crazy" ones for the bathrooms.

Today after work I am off to Home Depot to purchase little samples of all my colors and start the process of finally getting our house painted!



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Kale, so hot right now

This is a post dedicated to Meri and Sarah...

Kale is having a serious moment right now- it's the veggie du jour (um, that sounds good- I'll have that).

Really, I had never had kale until I started juicing (fruit and veggies, not roids) and then serendipitously, kale has been everywhere.

You can juice it, saute it, eat it in a salad, make chips out of it- it's a super veggie!
Personally, I like it in green juice and in veggie soup.

It even showed up in my weekly Hollygrove Market box (there is is on the top right being all green and leafy- another one of my instagram photos)

I used mine in a really quick and easy soup made with chicken broth, shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken we had half eaten, carrots, zucchini, and leeks (all three also from the Hollygrove box). Add some S&P and a few bay leaves and you're good to go!

Next time I may try to make kale chips since Martha makes them look so easy in her Chili sauce kale chips:

Kale is having a moment...what will be the next fad veggie to take it's place?!

Instagram, so hot right now...

I am totally late to the table on this one but, I use an Android phone so I was just able to download the Instagram app!

In case you don't know what it is, Instagram is an app for your phone that allows you to "artsy up" your photos and share them with followers.

So far I only have 2 photos up and only one of them is artsy...
I was at an antiques shop this weekend and saw this very Game of Thrones House Targaryen dragon planter so I snapped my first Instagram photo:

I still have to learn how to take better pictures as far as centering, cropping, getting interesting POVs, but I think this is pretty good for a my first one. You can follow me on Instagram- my user name is eamwilliams...
Comment and share yours!

PS- work as been so NOT hot right now for me but hopefully it will turn around soon and I will be able to update more- so stick around, I'm not done yet!

Spartacus, so hot (and very sexy) right now

Spartacus on the Starz channel just wrapped up it's 3rd season and it was AWESOME!

The show began in 2010 with it's first season Spartacus: Blood and Sand and quickly became one of my favorite shows. While the first few episodes are a bit hard to get through- really, they play as soft core porn in an ancient Roman setting- if you can stick with it you will not be disappointed; the language is foul, the deaths are numerous and bloody, deception abounds and the sex is hot and heavy.

Season two, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena is actually a prequel of season 1 because the star of Spartacus, Andy Whitfield had cancer and rather than go on without him, the prequel season was made with the hope that Andy would be able to return in the role of Spartacus. Sadly, Andy Whitfield died in 2011, but he gave his blessing for a new actor, Liam McIntyre to take the roll.

Andy Whitfield as Spartacus- swoon...

Lucy Lawless and John Hannah play Lucretia and Quintus- the Mr. and Mrs. of the House of Batiatus

Liam McIntyre as Spartacus- season 3 swoon...

Crixus and Gannicus- Champions of Capua swoon...

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