The Zanzibar Chest, by Aidan Hartley: Fascinating account of a white English boy born in Africa who grows up to be a journalist– he goes into a lot of depth about his family history and how it’s involved in the history of the region, as well. I recommended this to Luis, warning him that it started sad and got sadder. He said, well, it is Africa.
Charcuterie: Some of the recipes in this cookbook require expensive equipment, and some of them require almost none. Many of the items take days or months to make, and some may kill you. They are sausages and preserves and hams. So far I have packed some lemons in salt and put them in the back of the fridge; they’ll be ready in June. The next item I want to make is my own (fresh) sausage, then maybe beef jerky or my own bacon. But first, I need to buy more salt. I used up nearly five pounds last night, and we’re out.
The Paradox of Choice, from a prof at my brother’s school, Swarthmore, covers the fact that more choice doesn’t always make us happy. The idea applies to a lot of areas of life, such as user interface design and the success of specialty grocery stores. Also I think it has something to do with my ongoing pastoral fantasy: if we all just lived like Laura Ingalls Wilder, it’d be so much easier. We wouldn’t have to make decisions. We’d just survive. It’d be so great!
