The Top Chef Crackerbarrel quickfire challenge is really the ... bottom of the barrel.

Southern Poverty Law Center indicted on federal fraud charges by Alabama grand jury Justice department’s inquiry focused on the civil rights organization’s prior use of paid informants to monitor hate groups, the CEO said

Where is Kash Patel? In Alabama, trying to kneecap the SPLC with bogus charges.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

And Molly Ringwald super sick with a terrible cold.

I saw the original ending at a test screening and loved it but only me and my friends were Team Duckie, apparently, and it was changed.

The end is amazing.

I was today years old when I learned that Wendy from The Revolution/Wendy & Lisa is the child of a member of The Wrecking Crew.

I learned that Diane Cecily recently passed away. She was Chuck Kinder’s wife, and he stole her from Raymond Carver. In this interview of Chuck and Diane (terrible questions!), you can see her quiet smarts and 1993 style.

americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-...

A gray kitten with white paws peeks out from behind an open laptop.

Buster Kitten is happy that I'm home.

Who can all spell “those.” (why do I post without my glasses?)

Spent all day yesterday at the Festival of Books. Thanks to everyone who came to see the panel I moderated with Susan Orlean, Melissa Febos, Lana Lin and Amanda Uhle. (full house!) And thanks to thise extraordinary authors.

A snapshot from 1994/6 with two women, one blonde (me), a brunette and a shoulder.

Back when I was a blonde.

I almost went to bobsledding!

Inside Bovard Auditorium for the LA Times book prizes on Fri April 17, 2026.

Me in lobby: I went here. I saw Public Enemy here! At Bovard!
USC students working the event: Who?
Me: Public Enemy! The rap group!
Some students nod. The main guy, tho: Who?
Me: OK, I'm going back in. [to die of old age]
Main guy, behind me, to his friends: Who? Who?

Speed: The Plow

The back entrance of an orange and brown building in Los Angeles with a white sign reading LINOLEUM CITY

Out of the archive, into Linoleum City.

Maybe we should bring back “crisp” for “sharply witty.” (Still in the archive)

Instagram Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

The five wild bear cubs were spotted with their mom in a back yard in Connecticut. It's the largest litter (?) of cubs known in the state. Go bears! www.instagram.com/reel/DXHv22u...

I do love an idiosyncratic capitalizer. (Yes, I’m back in an archive).

A desert restaurant patio with a shiny Airstream, distant mountains and blue sky.

Oh hai Joshua Tree.

Barrett Strong - Money (That's What I Want) (Official Audio) YouTube video by Classic Motown

I wonder why this song has been covered so many times.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=96XJ...

Reading reading reading.

I was today years old when I discovered the Sierra Nevadas are mountains in Spain.

To be fair, Skyhorse was already publishing these books. Tucker Carlson is just getting in on the grift.

I moved some furniture around today and found a cache of abandoned cat toys. Piled them in a chair before tossing them; oh wait they are the Best Cat Toys Ever! Callooh! Callay!

Helen Dewitt accepting a no-strings 175k grant from an evil Koch-funded libertarian pro-AI think tank is such a great twist, and from a writer not known for being particularly plot-driven

I count 3 or 4 of the 7 deadly sins being committed in this single social media post.

The cover of Secrets of Hungarian Cookery published in the 1950s by St. Stephen’s church, Toledo Ohio, which features a woman with short dark hair and a voluminous patterned folk skirt and top seated on a stool with a bowl of food.

If you’d like to cook something to celebrate / feel like getting dressed up, etc:

Rewatched The Blue Gardenia before it leaves the Criterion Channel and I know, Fritz Lang, duh, but it’s such an amazing movie. A great film, a great noir.

Particularly when the first Mrs. Bezos is actually helping nonprofits in a hugely transformative way.

A kitten sitting in a tub staing into the distance in black and white

It is tres difficile to be a kitty in 2026

Earlier this morning I saw a hummingbird and just now I saw a robin, by which we can conclude that the hummingbird gets the worm.