Quite bemusing when taken in contrast to all the plastic piling up in landfills.
Chocolate-Scented Stamps Released in France | Serious Eats
Last month France’s postal service La Poste released limited edition chocolate-themed stamps to celebrate the 400th anniversary of chocolate’s arrival in France in 1609. Each stamp in the ten-stamp set illustrates a different point in chocolate history. Even better, they smell like chocolate! If you’re in France, buy them at the post office or online.A reminder to myself to buy a set.
![Some Twitter-esque food updates from the lower countries:
In Amsterdam, fast food comes out of a wall. (Above)
Stroopwafels are the one redeeming feature of Dutch cuisine.
Harring: raw herring with raw onions, or automatic breath-stinker.
The “cafes” smell like marijuana and there is cannabis beer.
Gouda (pronounced howda) tastes like smoked sausage.
[Photoblogging fail: I forgot to bring the cord connecting my camera to the computer, so the above photo isn’t mine. As always, thanks Internet.]](http://4.media.tumblr.com/rvKifR30jp45a0emsohZSMHRo1_400.jpg)
Some Twitter-esque food updates from the lower countries:
[Photoblogging fail: I forgot to bring the cord connecting my camera to the computer, so the above photo isn’t mine. As always, thanks Internet.]
I am so doing that!In an installation called ‘play me I’m yours’ by Luke Jerram, 30 pianos have been placed around London so the public can play them, gather round, talk and generally socialise.Someone take me to London so I can dazzle passerby with my stunning rendition of 4’33”.
Is it possible, finally, for one human being to achieve perfect understanding of another?
We can invest enormous time and energy in serious efforts to know another person, but in the end, how close are we able to come to that person’s essence? We convince ourselves that we know the other person well, but do we really know anything important about anyone?
—
Haruki Marukami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
I’ve always thought this answer to be no, and it sometimes bothers me. But really, isn’t it better this way?
—
I read the entire 607 page book between Boston and Amsterdam. The last time I had such a long, intense reading session was sometime in elementary school. It was so engrossing and I had no glowing screens to distract me. I want to say something profound about it— it’s the type of book that prods people that way — but maybe attempting that after an effective all-nighter is futile. I may not have any special powers like Malta Kano, but I see more Murakami in my future.
Novel Idea | Bathroom Reading - The Moment Blog - NYTimes.com
Who says print is dead? Koji Suzuki, the Tokyo-based author of smash-hit horror novels like the “The Ring,” has found a new publishing medium: toilet paper. Suzuki has teamed with Hayashi Paper Company, which makes novelty printed paper products for public restrooms, to manufacture rolls of toilet tissue stamped with a nine-chapter horror novella called “Drop.” The story, about a goblin living in a public restroom, places the reader at the center of the tale, and each roll contains several copies of the novella so that you can easily pick up the narrative where you left off.Solves the icky problem of leaving/bringing reading material into the bathroom. The resourceful Japanese!
(I agreed this ridiculous overnight layover because the ticket was cheap, and I’m a cash-poor, time-rich student. Also, it was in Iceland. If I can’t actually go there, this is the next best thing!)
Have you ever seen an empty airport? It’s eerie. Unlike public spaces such as schools or malls that run on a set schedule, airports are a temporal limbo that shouldn’t belong to any particular time zone. Yet the Reykjavik Ariport had functionally such down by the time I arrived at 11:50 Greenwich Mean Time, and when I took a walk around later, I saw exactly four people around the entire airport.
Also, the sun never set. At its darkest was the ghostly, grey glow of post-twilight. Empty and ghostly, the scene felt very apocalyptic.
On a lighter note, the employees whiz around the airport on scooters. Whee!
This is, more or less, my itinerary for the next two months. I am incredibly excited and incredibly nervous embarking on this journey. It’s so cliche, isn’t it? Backpacking through Europe, the Grand Tour. My visions are Europe are so clouded by childhood dreams and Hollywood images, I’m having a hard time sorting out exactly what I’m trying to do here on this continent.
It’s not terribly well planned either, despite my initial attempts at a trip spreadsheet, so there will be a fair amount of roaming around. Except for concrete plans at Ilfracombe where I will be working on a sheep farm (yes me, I know) and Oxford where I’ll be studying Darwin and evolutionary bio, my plans are in flux. This is okay because I believe in adventure, not plans. I hope to return to American poorer in cash but richer in experience.
If you live or have been to any of these places, I’d love to here from you about things to do! Send me a note to jinxyte@gmail.com. Especially we’ve always had this passive follower/followee relationship — I’ve traveled 5000 kilometers, meet me halfway.
P.S. Is this an alphabetical list or a chronological list? It’s both! Actually, that is kind of weird and not planned.
Devendra Banhart - Little Yellow Spider
This song came up on the radio as we pulled into the parking lot, and I made everyone stay in the car to listen to the rest of it. I’m sure glad we did! A song with lyrics like “Hey there mister happy squid, you mooooooove so psy-che-delically” can’t be anything other than awesome. Though Liz and Karm may disagree, haha.
Hands down, this may be the best flavor of ice cream I’ve ever had.* Most compelling food item from the three bakeries/cafes we hit up today. Unfortunately, the lady at this cafe was very rude and I have no inclination to return. Thank god for online recipes!
*Aside from guilty favorites like cookie dough and birthday cake or a good classic strawberry.
Los Colorados - Hot & cold (via oltsya)
An Ukrainian polka band covers Katy Perry’s Hot N Cold. Been sitting on this for a while, but just too awesome not to share.
Discovery - So Insane
Discovery is a side project featuring Rostam Batmangli of Vampire Weekend, Wes Miles of Ra Ra Riot, and um, Autotune, rumors of whose death have been greatly exaggerated. Electropop is so much fun, why haven’t I been always listening to it?
I’m really impressed with this blog. Perhaps it’s because she has great taste in music (originally landed there through hypem) or I have a particular affinity to this Wordpress layout or something much more, huh, je ne sais quoi. It’s always delightful when the personal blog of a complete stranger pulls me in like this. The first paragraph I read and I liked it.
What if I only wore mascara to accentuate my eyeballs? I thought about it, but the problem is that then you wouldn’t be able to touch my eyelashes without getting your fingers black and waxy. You wouldn’t be able to feel just how soft they are (and soft they are, they really are), and butterfly kisses would just be a mess.
