Check out my Word Cloud! -- The nifty SnapShirts site allows you to plug in a URL and make this amalgam of words from that page, in this case TAI itself, then order a tshirt of same. I talk about food, politics, and pop culture a lot...who knew?? (Via Margalit)

Allow me to share a few Roadside Sightings, folks:

1. Yet another triple-take bumper sticker in Bedford -- at the junction of Rt. 62 and The Great Road, a nondescript sedan with a nondescript lady at the wheel sported this squintworthy label: "Caution! I brake for Elves, Faires, Gnomes, Leprechauns, Unicorns, Dragons, and other invisible creatures that only I can see." :-0

2. Some troubling items noticed at the Arlington Stop & Shop: the label on the French bread loaf (I cannot rightfully call it a real baguette) I bought for $1.29 was emblazoned: "Baked Fresh Today." That is, with the quotation marks! Maybe I should refer to it as "French" "bread" instead. Then, at the checkout, I had to laugh at the covers of the tabloids, all emblazoned with Brangelina nonsense. The Enquirer cover story said a mouthful about changing social mores: "BRAD and ANGELINA: "So happy!" They're living together, they're expecting a baby -- could marriage be next??" Hmmm, times have changed.

"I might as well have been doing scuba equipment.” -- Shocking confessions of Vera Wang, the uber-bridal gown designer who, it turns out, doesn't really like pouffy dresses, brides, or any of that "phantasmagoria of the American wedding" stuff. Cool! Still not going to even try on one of her $10,000 dresses myself, but that's good to know.

"Women see men with a sense of humour as dangerous and sexy, while men see [funny women] as threatening." -- Well, some men, anyway, and not the most dateable kind, I suspect. British study finds men like to be funny and have women laugh at them...wait, that sounds wrong...

Let the hollow columns snow, let 'em snow, let 'em snow -- cool closeups of different kinds of snowflakes, some of which visited us last night, thanks to a CalTech researcher. Maybe it really is winter...