American Wife and a Huge Sandwich

"Certainly picturesque towns can be found in New England or California or the Pacific Northwest, but I can't shake the sense that they're too picturesque. On the East Coast, especially, these places - Princeton, New Jersey, say, or Farmington, Connecticut - seem to me aggressively quaint, unbecomingly smug, and even xenophobic, downright paranoid in their wariness of those who might somehow infringe upon the local charm. I suspect this wariness is tied to the high cost of real estate, the fear that there might not be enough space or money and what there is of both must be clung to and defended. The West Coast, I think, has a similar self-regard - all that talk of proximity to the ocean and the mountains - and a beauty that I can't help seeing as show-offy. But the Midwest: It is quietly lovely, not preening with the need to have its attributes remarked on. It is the place I am calmest and most myself."
- American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld

You HAVE to read this book. It is sooooooooooo good. I just finished it today and I loved it! It's all about the life of a first lady and it's loosely based on the life of former first lady Laura Bush. I had to Wikipedia her after reading this book and I discovered that a lot of what was in this fiction book is indeed TRUE. The details surrounding certain events, however, have been fictionalized but my oh my. I can't even tell you about one thing that I never knew actually happened to Laura Bush b/c it would ruin the story for you when you read the book AND YOU WILL READ THIS BOOK!

In non-book news, Danae and I met for dinner Friday night after work to clog our arteries and gain 50 pounds. This is the Something Different sandwich at Junior's: roast beef between two potato latkes and au jus sauce (or gravy, if you wish) for dipping. The thing was bigger than my mouth. I finished one latke and all my beef, while Danae finished both latkes and took home her leftover beef. Delicious? Yes. A once a year (heck, maybe every five years) occurrence? Oh yes.


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