POCKET LINT.

BROOKLYN (& BEYOND): Shameless Self-Promotion & a New Type of Sushi Roll

This is very exciting for me.  This isn't just some regular old shamless self-promotion.  This is my book ... on Amazon and Barnes & Nobles!  And the cover above!  SEMI-CHARMED LIFE actually doesn't come out until this summer when I'll be doing all sorts of readings and such (July!), but it's available for pre-order as of last week.

Also, I learned via a Google Alert yesterday that it's up on Good Reads too!  I have no clue at all how that happens, which is the case for me with most of what goes on in publishing, but I'm totally pysched.  This might seem silly, all these small details, but each public announcement or step makes the whole thing seem a little more real.

Anywaaaay, what else is happening?

Well, during my first month back in NYC (Park Slope to be exact), I've discovered a new ingenius sushi roll invention: The Tempura Sweet Potato Roll.  Yup.  It's become a regular thing for me.  Well, as regular as something can be after 28 days.  Or, actually, more like 21.  Time flies when you're  ... unpacking boxes.  Whatever.  The roll is amazing.  What else can I say?

Also, I went without TV for four weeks and then wrote a story about it called "In Defense of The Boob Tube" for Huffington Post's new HuffPost TV section.  If you love TV like I do (and you all know I do), then I think you'll be nodding along with this one.

Some other highlights over the last few weeks?  An interview with my favorite pair of designer sisters from ELKIN on elle.com and a write-up of new antioxidant-rich line of beauty products, Radical Skincare, for Vital Juice.

Otherwise, I've mostly been on the road and all that implies (a.k.a. slightly broken out skin and a few extra fast food pounds).  Oh, and also the freedom of the open road.  That too.

Happy happy holidays to you all!  May the New Year bring you happiness, health, money and YES! a new season of THE BACHELOR.  It's baaaaaaaaack.

xo - N.

PALM SPRINGS/VA/MT/VT: THE BEST ARTISANAL RESORT PRODUCTS AND THE BEST WAY TO SAY ADIEU TO A YEAR WELL DONE

I know.  I know.  I keep apologizing and then being bad again, but I'm off on yet another jaunt and will not be LINTing Christmas week.  Actually, that's sort of not true.  I'll be LINTing in the sense that I'll be scouting new finds to share (though I still owe some Pittsburgh and NYC stuff), but I won't be posting regularly until January 2, 2010.

Anyway, I thought I'd leave you with a link to my latest little story in Travel & Leisure (see above) about resorts that farm or crush and create their own beauty and food products.  Short and sweet, just like me and my attention span.  And my patience.  And my fuse.  And my family.  And the time it takes me to devour french fries.  And the time it takes me to read a trashy detective novel.  And the time that will pass between now and my next post in 2010.

So, happy holidays of all kinds, folks.  Good tidings to all and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!  (I know I already have my sequined number picked out).  Well, I mean one only has so many sequin dresses from which to choose, right?

Love ya.  Mean it.

xo - N.

LA (AND BEYOND): CRUMPLED TWENTY (SALE!)

The Best Link Today:

Beauty sales are an elusive thing.  Generally, products don't go out of style seasonally (like so many baby doll dresses), so a product sale is must-attend.  This time, you don't have to leave your desk, as Haute Look is having a two-day online Kiehl's bonanza.

Cause, yeah, it's about time you stopped putting on disguises and begging for samples.  For real.

xo - N.

LA (AND WAY BEYOND): CRUMPLED TWENTY

(From Yahoo! Flickr Images)

The Best Link Today:

Ken Starr is like shoulder pads.  Once every decade, he shows up--all ugly and misshapen and full of false righteousness and vibrato--on a mission to destroy something beautiful and progressive in this world.  The issue is always sex-related (not necessarily true with the pads).  And the timing is always when we've won the kingdom back from the ravagers, bigots and self-interested liars. Not to mince words.

Anyway, I'm not even going to venture to understand from where the deep sexual repression that drives this awful person stems, but I will mention that it's always the most fervent anti-gay or "family values" guys who end up caught (literally) with their pants down in a men's bathroom with a call boy (of some immigrant descent, whose rights to live here they, of course, fervently fought against).

Why else would you care so much how other people live their lives without hurting you?  Why else would you be arrogant enough to believe that you should get to dictate how other people create families?

Now, the topic is Prop 8 and gay marriage rights.  It's continually amazing to me that--though historically bigotry against specific groups has been fought and eventually defeated (at least legally)--that, each time a new group of people fights persecution, Starr-types still try to argue that their prejudice is legitimate.  Guess what, guys: this is the same issue again.  This is the same as civil rights. The same as the women's movement.  You can't be anti-gay marriage and not be a homophobe and, inevitably you're going to LOSE.  AGAIN.

Anyway, here's a link to a website, where you can sign a pro-gay marriage petition and also (okay maybe this is a little bad, but . . .) you can also find lists of Prop 8 supporters, who are putting their hard-earned (ahem, tax-evaded) money towards stifling other people's civil rights.  The idea is just not to put more money is these people's pockets.

When Andrew and I got our marriage license last year, it was right after gay marriage was legalized and there were almost all gay couples getting hitched at the Beverly Hills Courthouse.  The only other straight couple looked to be in their seventies, so they were cuter than us too.  Anyway, it was such an amazing and touching piece of history to witness.

I'm really grateful for that experience.

And, just like shoulder pads, I know Ken Starr and his band of merry lynchers will quickly fade back into the abyss too.  Or at least I hope so.

xo - N.

P.S. We live in a country that's supposed to foster different belief systems, even if those other beliefs sometimes make you want to go ballistic.  But, even if you believe that gay marriage is a sin, I think it's important to remember that one set of religious beliefs is not meant to guide the way our country runs.  What you believe is fine (so don't have a gay marriage), but, as soon as you start stealing rights from others, your own rights are in jeopardy.