Live and Let Di

Thursday Thirteen (Vol. 15)

A quick update...Casey is back in the hospital and BORED. But she has loved the notes she has received from all over the world. If you want to drop her a note, click on the link above to read about her and e-mail her at: BasketCase1095@mac.com. As one of her main objectives, she needs to gain weight, so she is being forced to eat stuff that is really rich in calories...and consequently delicious! So, in honor of Casey and her quest for calories, I present:

Thirteen Foods that I Love

1. Steak – thick and rare. I’ve never sent a steak back for being too rare!
2. Tuna – sushi grade, seared on the outside, cool on the inside with sesame seeds a la Danny!
3. Caramel Cream Ice Cream – homemade at Sunny Skies in Angier, NC.
4. Asparagus – marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and garlic, then grilled
5. Corn on the Cob – from upstate NY in the month of August, “butter and sugar” variety which I think some people call bi-color
6. Lobster Ravioli – from Lilly’s on East Palmetto Park Rd.
7. Crab Cakes Benedict – from The Shore restaurant on A-1-A and Atlantic in Delray on a sunny Sunday morning
8. Stone Crabs – big ones, cracked and served with Joe’s mustard sauce, again a la Danny.
9. Tomatoes – from Shirley’s garden in the summer in NC. During peak season, I’ll eat at least two tomato sandwiches a day!
10. Deviled Eggs – one of my favorite parts of Bunco in NC was knowing that Suzanne would bring deviled eggs…with the eggs fresh from her own chickens! (My Boca friends are dying here, “You know someone who has chickens????”)
11. Pasta Fagiole (I don’t know how to spell it) – my friend Tim in NC has the recipe from the Olive Garden and I just love it!
12. Mozzarella, Tomato & Basil – this is such a great, fresh appetizer.
13. Anything that I’ve ever eaten that Danny has prepared that I haven’t already mentioned.

Danny is pretty much incapable of preparing food for fewer than a dozen people. I’ve never seen him run out of anything. He’s a stickler for just the right ingredients and is creative on the fly so things are never the same twice…but always great!

Di

McToast

I recently tossed over Kevin Costner as my man for whom I would leave my husband, replacing him with Patrick Dempsey, but tonight he pissed me off. As Anne Hathaway was delightfully praising the illustrious Julie Andrews, Patrick Dempsey, AKA McDreamy, was McBored. He could not have possibly looked less interested in the goings-on. Now, we can't blame it on age...he was born just four years after me and therefore more have been touched by Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music and the Carol Burnett combinations. But he just looked like he wanted to pick up his ensemble SAG award, listen to another person stand up for Isaiah Washington and get on to the after-hours party.

So, McDreamy, you are so tossed aside. And I now designate Kyle Chandler as the man for whom I would leave my husband. (Although, Michael knows that was it not for it my friendship with Stacy, it would TOTALLY be him!) Patrick Dempsey, Julie Andrews is the woman who was making it happen before you were born. You have no business McDayDreaming while she is being honored. She has earned every honor she has won. And while you have bedroom eyes and an all-day five o'clock shadow, you need to sit up and take notice that she has been awarded the status of Dame and you are nothing but the man of the moment. Do a tenth of what she's done and you can look as McBored as you want. And as painful as this may be...you've lost this 40-something soccer mom!

McDi

Snail Mail Sunday (Vol. 3)

I have so many people to thank this week that I don't know how to decide to whom to send my Sunday Snail Mail. There are people to thank. People to tell them that I'm thinking of them.

But I think this week's Snail Mail will go to my sister (and I'm hoping she doesn't read this until she gets it). I feel for people who do not have the amazing honor of having a sibling. This is someone who grew up in the same place, with the same experiences and under the same circumstances. When you talk to a sibling, there are many, many minutes of preface that can be passed over and you can just get to the meat of everything.

It is just that relationship that makes me appreciate my sister Linda as the years go by. She has been there for me whether by long distance or by opening her house and her heart to me whenever I need her.

So this week, I would like to recommend that you reach out to your sibling...or someone wh has been like a sibling to you.

Di

I Hate Other People's Kids

Metaphorically clutching the 64 Holiday Rewards dollars that I earned by spending unspeakable amounts of money at Borders last year, I ran across I Hate Other People's Kids by Adrianne Frost. I knew it was on my list, recommended by Mental Multivitamin although I can't now find where exactly, and thought it looked like a good "throw in the purse" read...funny, can be read in small doses, etc.

When I started reading it, my first reaction was, "Wow, this writer is bitter and harsh." But then it came back to me...I TOO HATE OTHER PEOPLE'S KIDS!!! I have just become adept at avoiding them. Frost snidely recounts the fabulous dinner party ruined by the couple who showed up at the door with their children "because they couldn't find a babysitter." Back in my day (my oldest is 13) that meant WE STAYED HOME!!! We're not talking infants asleep in car seat carriers, but toddlers dipping their fingers in freshly made hummus and demanding attention by alternately running wildly and clutching mom's skirt behind which to hide.

Then I took my friend's 8 year old daughter to her soccer game and experienced OPK and was even more resolute in my assertion that I HATE OTHER PEOPLE'S KIDS. I heard a father holding a one-sided logically cogent discussion with his 2 year old who was refusing to move off the field of play. PICK THE KID UP AND MOVE HIM...ten other parents paid for their kid to be on this soccer team and would like the game proceed without being called on account of annoying toddler! Another young boy (who, with his mother, could have been the Ralph Lauren ad of what it is to go to a Sunday afternoon soccer game...in other words, she wasn't sweating, reading Entertainment Weekly or holding a lukewarm water bottle to HER child's injury like I was to my FRIEND'S child's injury). Grandma showed up completing the three generation Ralph Lauren ad and Mom began talking to Grandma while the boy stood between them yammering, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" ad infinitem. My response would have been much different, involving a sharp admonishment (combined with the trademark Mom death stare) to stop interrupting, followed by the rapid removal of said child from the area if he does not immediately desist. There are four soccer fields! There were two empty ones! Any of these people could have removed their children to a spacious area where they could do whatever they wanted...but they chose to subject the rest of us to their questionable parenting and bad-mannered children.

The good news for haters of OPK out there is that what ends up happening as your children get older, is that you weed yourself out of situations that subject you to OPK. You learn to stop being coy and clearly state, "this is an adult party and children are not welcome." And if you are on the receiving end of an ambiguous invitation, you ASK if children are included or not, making it clear that your question DOES NOT imply that they should be. The friends who perpetuate the behaviors that make you hate their kids simply disappear from your life. If most of your friends are parents, sharing common values about child-rearing is a pretty critical factor in choosing friends.

At sporting events you probably bring a book and an iPod and place your folding chair far from the bleachers where someone's 4 year old will invariably be running, jumping and stomping on the bleachers. For parties, you and your friends collectively agree if kids will be included and if they are, there is a specific area identified for the children...usually FAR, FAR away from the adults.

Enough of my OPK diatribe. The book was cute, funny and just a tad harsh at times. And unfortunately, the parents who SHOULD read it, won't. This would be a fun book to give to a friend who likes to have something light to carry around...and read at sporting events while sitting in her chair with her iPod on!

Thursday Thirteen (Vol. 14)

My Thirteen Favorite Kitchen Accessories

Quick update on Casey. She's home from the hospital and recovering, but still LOVING the e-mails my gracious blog readers have sent ESPECIALLY the ones from faraway places. So, keep them coming...I love to see her smile when I bring them to her!

This Thursday Thirteen is dedicated to Vicky who has provided me with some cool kitchen applicances and made me look back and appreciate the ones I have.

1. Oster Inspire Wine Opener - This is such an impressive (not to mention inexpensive) item to pull out at a party when it's time to open a bottle of wine. It quietly and dependably removes the cork and then quietly returns the cork to your hand or the counter to be put back in the bottle if there is wine left over (ha ha!)

2. Oster Fusion Blender - No, this TT is NOT paid for by Oster or any other kitchen  appliance company. I was fortunate enough to be a "consumer product tester" for this appliance and I think my feedback was that I expected it would sell for about $149 and here it is for just $79.99. Is it time to replace the $18.99 blender you got for your wedding 15 years ago? If so, this is it....is it a blender? Is it a smoothie maker? Is it a food processor? It's all of the above. The best part (for me) is that the pitcher is heavy duty, solid glass.

3. T-Fal 4-slice Toaster - My daughter and her friend came home one day ooh-ing and ah-ing over the futuristic toaster a friend of mine had. So I had to get it. Mine is actually an earlier version of this one and quite honestly, has seen better days. But I love that you can set the darkness of the toast/bagel, there is a special button for bagels and best of all, there is lever on each side that allows you to "pop up" the finished product. I might have to get a new one now that I see how cool this one is and one of my levers is broken.

4. Black & Decker Flavor Scenter Steamer - I love this despite the fact that everyone who puts dishes away around my house cannot seem to fathom that the top of this item needs to be stored in the same place as the item! So add to cooking time, five minutes to find the top. I actually don't use the rice steamer function much because I like cooking Basmati rice on the stove. But I am ALWAYS steaming veggies. And the cool thing is that there is a little place to put spices that will infuse your veggies. Now just when you thought it couldn't get better. With my previous steamer, I always had to find the manual and look up the veggie, find out the water level and steam time. Then I used my handy-dandy P-Touch and labeled my steamer with the info on my frequently cooked veggies. This one has it right on the steamer! Including suggested spices to use with each veggie. And, OK, you might want to sit down for this...hard boiled eggs prepared in the steamer...perfect every time...and no hot water to pour off.

5. P-Touch - At an affordable $29.99, you will use this constantly...especially as you have children. As a matter of fact, in my opinion, a PERFECT baby shower gift would be a P-Touch and a lifetime supply of Ziploc bags...trust me, you use them for EVERYTHING! I use my P-Touch to label stuff my kids will invariably lose with their names. I use it to label the Tupperware I keep my Basmati rice in to remind me of the water (or in my case chicken broth) to rice ratio. I use it to label the container of chicken broth with the date I opened it so I don't use it six months from now after it has probably gained antibiotic qualities.

6. Meat Thermometer - It was with great sadness that I gently laid to rest the meat thermometer that Paula (who has forbidden me to use the picture I used of her previously herein) gave to me 14 years ago last Thanksgiving when I was preparing my first turkey for my husband's family. After her incredulous, "YOU DON'T HAVE A MEAT THERMOMETER"...out of kindness, generosity and concern for my family's health...Paula brought me my first meat thermometer. I just had to replace it. It's important around here. Although my husband and I have decided that our marriage will never break up over mundane issues like finances or fidelity, it could easily fall apart over laundry or meat "doneness" (hey, I like my chicken rare!)

7. Pampered Chef Apple Peeler Corer - This would also be a great baby shower gift since I have never met a toddler who didn't want his/her apple peeled and cored before eating. I must add, however, in the interest of full disclosure, that Williams Sonoma now has its own version which IMHO is superior in design, ease-of-use and looks.

8. Cuisinart Grind & Brew Coffee Maker - I love this appliance conceptually. I think I made a mistake getting the 12 cup version though because in my last two houses, it would not fit under the cupboards which limited where I could put it in my kitchen. But I love waking up to the sound of my coffee beans grinding and secure in the knowledge that in just a few minutes my first wonderful cup of coffee will be waiting for me.

9. Presto Electric Skillet - OK, this isn't EXACTLY the one I have. I have the 16 years ago one that was given to me at my bridal shower. And as a new bride envisioning steaks on the grill, freshly baked potatoes in the oven and bright green steamed brocolli on the side, I thought, "When the hell am I ever going to use this?" Well, the answer is, CONSTANTLY!!! Why? GRILLED CHEESE! Grilled Cheese is the go-to meal around here. Run out of peanut butter? Grilled Cheese. Forget to thaw something for dinner? Grilled Cheese. I have a son and a husband whose savage hunger can always be tamed with a good grilled cheese sandwich...and this skillet that is older than my marriage is the ONLY way to cook it.

10. Rival Crock Pot - One's relationship with one's crockpot is kind of like one's marriage...it works in phases, peaks and valleys. Sometimes you are using it a couple times a week and sometimes you find that weeks, OK months, go by and you haven't even touched it. Everyone is following the metaphor, right? When it's good, it's very, very good. I have some awesome crock pot cookbooks and some great go-to recipes. The all time favorite is one that came in the cookbook that came with the crock pot...I call it Poulet au Pot and my kids think it's all glamorous...but it's really just me roughly translating plain ole "Chicken in a Pot". It couldn't be easier and more delicious!

11. Williams Sonoma Vegetable Chopper - What's the big deal about chopping vegetables? Well, nothing unless you are the one doing it...and the large vegetable has to somehow be made into teeny tiny pieces...liked diced onions, diced green peppers. This chopper is a HUGE time saver. You will get it and ask yourself why you didn't get it ten years ago!

12. Kitchenaid Stand Mixer - My mother-in-law used to say, "Buy Cheap, Buy Twice", but I never seem to remember what she said until I'm on the twice part. Thus my stupid purchase of a discount stand mixer that didn't do a good job and fell apart after two years. THEN I bought the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer and it is awesome!!!

Sorry so late today...

Di

Snail Mail Sunday (Vol. 2)

First of all, thank you so much to all of my generous blog readers who gave a moment of their time to e-mail Casey. She is still in the hospital and every day when I bring her a handful of e-mails full of warm wishes, stories, jokes and friendship, she gives me the brightest, HEALTHIEST smile I've seen in a long time! So far she has had e-mails from Maryland, North Carolina, Maine, Ohio, England, Indonesia, Serbia and Hawaii! She is still in the hospital, so if you have a moment, drop her an e-mail...and if you have any contacts in faraway places that you can get to join our cause, I would love to add more dots to her map!

Despite the underwhelming reception to my first stab at Snail Mail Sunday, I am nothing if not tenacious. As a matter of fact, I do have a strong tendency to perseverate. (I would like to send out my thanks to Andrea's Mom for that word. I had never heard it before when Andrea used it and she graciously gave credit to her Mom for introducing her to the word. Look it up...it really is a good one! OK, I know you are too lazy, "to repeat or prolong an action, thought or utterance after the stimulus that prompted it has ceased.")

At least four people wrote handwritten notes to someone last Sunday and either commented or e-mailed me to let me know. Of course, there could be countless lurkers who did so without commenting or sending an e-mail (by the way, lurkers, have I mentioned how much bloggers LOVE comments and e-mails?)

I have a file folder cleverly titled "Things I Can't Throw Out". It is where I stick things I think that I might need some time and won't know where to find. In addition to random magazine articles and copies of things I've had published (don't get excited, they include a May 1997 letter to the Miami Herald's Tropic magazine in response to a Dave Barry Column and a letter in Golf For Women magazine on the controversial topic of 9-holer's vs. 18-holers), I tend to keep cards and notes in there. Just for kicks, I just pulled it out and found 46 notes of thanks from over the years. Some of them were for things I barely remember doing and some were from people I barely remember! But each of those notes means that someone appreciated something I did enough to put pen to paper/note card and say thank you.

So this week I am actually going to send two handwritten notes of thanks. During this past week when Casey was in the hospital, her 8 year old brother and sister came here after school, had dinner with us and hung out with us. But as it turned out, it wasn't ME doing THEM a favor...they ended up helping me out. Zachary, as it turns out, is a budding chef and he prepared dinner for all of us on both nights. After he scrutinized my spice rack and selected his ingredients I said, "Zach, how did you learn about spices and cooking?" His deadpan response, "[Sigh] Eight years of watching the Food Network." By the way, the dinners were fabulous...beautifully seasoned chicken breasts the first night and spaghetti the second. Lindsay, who is probably taking her sister's hospital stay the hardest, is an artist. In just a few weeks, several random Moms are responsible for staffing the "Face Painting" booth at the school's Winter Carnival. We were selected, not for our artistic ability, but for the unique quality of BEING WILLING TO DO IT! So we need simple ideas for face-painting designs. Lindsay scrounged up what art supplies she could find in my house (where I make up for my lack of colored pencils by having LOTS of technology) and created a page of beautiful designs, most of which I could actually paint on someone's face.

So Lindsay and Zachary are going to get handwritten cards from me this week. I am going to enclose pictures I took of them...Zachary wearing my chef's hat and Lindsay doing her artwork. For anyone who is considering joining my Snail Mail Sunday revolution...here's a tip...kids LOVE to get mail. Any kind of mail. Sports Illustrated pleas for renewal are ripped from the pile if addressed to my son. Holiday cards addressed to the whole family are fought over. So if you have a child in your life, let that child be your inspiration. Send a "just because" card or send a cool photo you have of him/her or recommend a book or find a perfect joke. Maybe ten years from now they will be flipping through their "Things I Can't Throw Out" file and there your note will be!

Di

Death on the Flop

Don't forget to click here for my blog about Casey. She has been really enjoying the e-mails, stories, jokes and pictures everyone has been sending!

Death on the Flop by Jackie Chance is the first book that was sent to me to review by the publisher since I started this blog, so I kept it near the top of my pile so I would get to it soon. The bottom line...it's not my cuppa tea! I know there is a huge market for the $6.99 paperback mystery...especially if it has a cool female protagonist and an interesting draw, like the tie-in with Texas Hold 'em. So I wanted to like it. I love Texas Hold 'em...like Las Vegas. But it just didn't draw me in and didn't hold me.

This book would be OK for light, mindless reading...but I have Entertainment Weekly and Go Fug Yourself for that. And just for the record, when I DO read light mysteries, I like the murder to happen sometime before I reach the halfway point of the book.

And that's about all I have to say about that!

Di

Thursday Thirteen (Vol. 13)

Thirteen Songs I would have on my iPod if I was going to be stranded on a desert island with an inexplicably constantly charged iPod (you know Steve Jobs has it in the hopper...to be released soon after the anticipated iPhone).

These songs have to be not just great, but the type of music that is going to continue to inspire and bring new meaning, even on the 5,736,454th listening. And a challenge to my blog readers who were UNDERWHELMING in their response to my plea for a resurgence of handwritten notes, let me know what ONE tune you would add to my list...and maybe I'll bring you along. I am pretty sure I have a readership that would consider time on a desert island (even with me) a gift!

If you have a brief moment after reading my TT, please look at This Blog's for Casey. I have gotten some incredibly cool responses and they have really brightened her day.

1. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby, Stills & Nash. Listen to this on your iPod and you will find David Crosby in the middle of your brain with Steven Stills and Graham Nash in either ear. It's poetry. It's a brilliant melding of three distinct songs with three distinct voices. And for those who went to St. Lawrence University or worked in Lake George, NY in the early 80's...memories of Ed Moynihan and/or Masters & Moynihan.
2. Smooth - Carlos Santana with Rob Thomas. Every riff, every note, every beat of this song makes it something to listen to over and over. Carlos Santana has been brilliant and genre-bending for decades. His decision to collaborate with some of the new artists of the era in Supernatural is nothing short of genius!
3. Reflections - Diana Ross & The Supremes. I remember cranking up the opening notes of China Beach just to revel in the inescapable beat and message of the Motown sound. Plus I can work on learning all three parts of the harmony and do my own little karaoke without offending anyone (the island's deserted, remember?)
4. Imagine - John Lennon. Liberal Democrat...it keeps shining through this week. I share Lennon's image, his dream...but I guess I lack his intense belief that one person with a vision can make a difference. I want to live in the world of Imagine.
5. Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway) - Billy Joel. There simply MUST be a Billy Joel song on here because his music winds its way through my high school and college years and has continued to speak to me through adulthood. Seeing him walk out as a surprise at the end of opening night of Movin' Out in Ft. Lauderdale brought tears to my eyes. This song captures it all for me if I must only choose one.
6. We've Got Tonight - Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band. This song has the ability to make me 17 again, with a boyfriend with a car and the world at my feet. I had no awareness of my good fortune and bright future...but had the unshakeable knowledge of the happiness that great rock and roll can give a teenager in a small town.
7. Feel Like a Natural Woman - Carole King. I don't know how to choose one Carole King song. She is so much more than Tapestry, but on the other hand Tapestry is so much what she is and what she was for us in the late '70's. Aretha may have done an amazing rendition, but Carole King WROTE it! And sings it in a way that I will never tire of hearing.
8. Moondance - Van Morrison. This may be one of the more commercial successes of Van Morrison...but it captures a love affair I had with a musician who idolized Van Morrison and made me understand the magic and artistry of his music. Brown Eyed Girl is another favorite...who can tire of that tune?
9. Ain't Too Proud to Beg - Temptations. The Motown sound that I love elicits memories of the dance scene in The Big Chill, a seminal movie for our generation even though it was about the generation before us. Is there anyone who doesn't want to dance around the kitchen, cleaning up after dinner when they hear this song?
10. I Fall to Pieces - Patsy Cline. Patsy Cline has the most beautiful voice and the most emotional delivery of any singer....ever. In my next life I want to sing this song half as well as Patsy. And on my desert island I will be practicing over and over and over again! With no one to tell me, "Hush, you're no Patsy Cline!"
11. Kind of Blue - Miles Davis. OK, I get one album. I went into a record store one day and said to the kinda cute guy there that I wanted to have some jazz in my collection, but didn't know where to start. He handed me this CD. I later read a write-up in Entertainment Weekly that said, "Kind of Blue, the answer to the question, What is Jazz?"
12. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road/Tiny Dancer - Elton John. Cheating again...sorry. Goodbye Yellow Brick road as an album was a masterpiece. As a song, resonates as much today as 33 years ago when it was released. But you have to throw in Tiny Dancer just because of the universal need to sing along like the cast of Almost Famous.
13. Hotel California - Eagles. What does it mean? What visions does it bring into your head? How did you feel when you listened to it stoned? It's all part of the magic of this song. It could be a movie...but I'm glad it's not!

Di

P.S. Please do NOT perpetuate the rumor that is permeating the blogosphere that Mr. Linky and I are having a blog affair. But he really does rule the internet IMHO. I stupidly overwrote last week's TT with this week's and he not only found it in his archives or whatever it is that he has over there in Linky Land, but sent it to me in HTML so I didn't even have to cut and paste my header!!!

P.P.S. Don't forget to click here for Casey!

This Blog's for Casey!

This blog's for Casey (who will probably not like the picture I used...oh well, beauty is in the eye of the blogger!)

Casey is my friend Stacy's daughter and my son Rory's friend. She is 11 and in 5th grade. She just landed in the hospital for several days for various testing and treatment for some chronic, but not life-threatening, health problems. In my experience, being in the hospital is a little exciting...for about the first 12 hours...then it's really boring. There's only so much TV you can watch, so much conversation you can have with visitors, etc.

So, knowing my blog readership to be incredibly resourceful, erudite and loving, I thought you might be able to help. I have set up an e-mail account for Casey on my computer which I will check regularly, print out the responses and bring them to her. So if you get a minute, drop her an e-mail, tell her a joke, relate a funny story, send a picture. If there's a web site that I can print out and have her get the effect, send it along. I don't know if they have Wi-Fi at the hospital or if I'm going to be able to bring my laptop in.

Her e-mail will be: basketcase1095@mac.com

Please note that basket case does not refer to her medical condition, but to her love of basketball (Go Heat!)

Thank you my blogosphere friends!

Di

Brainiac

What does everyone who becomes a pop culture phenom experiencing his/her 15 minutes do? Of course, write a book. And I usually roll my eyes as I see them on the "New Releases" shelf, envisioning them several months later on the "Discounted so you can buy them as gifts for people who will never read them" shelf. Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs by Ken Jennings, record setting Jeopardy! winner, is a notable exception!

This book was passed along to me by Vicky, of the Vicky/Donnie team of Curious, Competitive, Compulsive Trivia Buffs. If you are into trivia, Vicky is the Mom of Taylor who won the Teen/Tween Division of my BAFAB contest last week. Regardless of the fact that Stacy's husband Michael and I beat them at Trivial Pursuit (the end result is still a matter of contentious debate), I defer to them as the King and Queen of Trivia...until Hurley and I get them on a level playing field and knock them on their asses!

I expected Brainiac to be the typical "Capitalize on the Notoriety" book...quick bucks, little substance...but was most pleasantly surprised. Ken Jennings, whose Jeopardy! run I had heard of but not witnessed as Jeopardy! hour is dinner hour at our house, is a self-deprecating, self-proclaimed nerd with a penchant for trivia. He wrote a book that was not a self-promoting account of his 75 appearances on Jeopardy! but instead an interesting analysis of trivia, an exploration of its history and a gentle-but-candid description of the geeks who love it (I use the word "geek" with the fondness of one who aspires to be one). Jennings intersperses (has anyone noticed that "intersperse" is a prevalent word in my book reviews? synonyms anyone?) details of his Jeopardy! experience with descriptions of his meetings with trivia gurus, travels to marathon annual trivia contests, memory-lane trips to the College Bowl years, participation in a pub trivia challenge and a steakhouse NTN experience leaving him in NTN ignominy and his handset covered in steak sauce.

Jennings' total winnings are mentioned only a few times in the book while the words "geek" and "nerd" appear frequently and with pride. The most fun aspect of the book is that in each chapter trivia questions are mentioned with a superscript number relating to the answer at the end of the chapter. So we fellow trivia geeks and nerds can play along. Yes! I totally knew that a cloche (French for "bell"...I knew those 7 years of French were going to get me more than a glass of wine and as many chocolate croissants as I wanted in Paris!) was a brimless hat popular in the '20's. And what drugs were replaced by penicillin in WWII? Duh, did I not just recently review The Demon Under the Microscope by Tom Hager which detailed just that? (I love mentioning his book in later posts, because it usually elicits an e-mail from the author with some new tidbit...and makes me feel important in my very small world of book reviewing!)

So, if you are a trivia nerd or geek, relax...you are in good company. In addition to the humble millionaire Ken Jennings, you share a passion with Tom Hanks, Chief Justice Rehnquist, Bill Clinton, Thomas Edison and Maya Angelou. Now there is a group I would love to have around my dining room table for a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit! Brainiac is a truly enjoyable surprise from an author who you just have to love!

Di