Yesterday when my dear wife and I were out buying our Christmas tree I saw a display of the book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, pointed it out to my wife, and said “Do you think the top of my desk is in there?” She was not amused. Or, rather, she was (just a little).

Have I mentioned that I’m not the tidiest person you’ve ever met?

Gerard Vanderleun of The American Digest has (I think) been re-posting some of his great essays from the last year. Today’s the last day you can cast a vote for him for Best Essayist in the 2004 Weblogs Awards.

And, while you’re over there, you can vote for The Glittering Eye for Best 1000 – 1750.

As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher’s Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around… per the Watcher’s instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.
Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.

Here are a few things worth taking a quick glance at:

• Jeff Jarvis has more on meeting Omar and Mohammed of Iraq the Model
• There have been some tremendous comments threads in the last week or so over at Dean’s World. Take a look at this one that followed an excellent post by guest poster Trudy Schuett on the limitations of programs for women who are victims of domestic violence.
• Steve Antler of Econopundit has read Michael Crichton’s latest science thriller, State of Fear and has some choice comments. If you’re a frequent reader of Steve’s (I am), you’ll know there are lots of charts and graphs.
• The inimitable Jeff Goldstein of Protein Wisdom’s version how to succeed at blogging. Click all the way through to his advice.

Several bloggers across the blogosphere have responded to MoveOn’s claim that they own the Democratic Party:

WASHINGTON – Liberal powerhouse MoveOn has a message for the “professional election losers” who run the Democratic Party: “We bought it, we own it, we’re going to take it back.”

A scathing e-mail from the head of MoveOn’s political action committee to the group’s supporters on Thursday targets outgoing Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe as a tool of corporate donors who alienated both traditional and progressive Democrats.

“For years, the party has been led by elite Washington insiders who are closer to corporate lobbyists than they are to the Democratic base,” said the e-mail from MoveOn PAC’s Eli Pariser. “But we can’t afford four more years of leadership by a consulting class of professional election losers.”

Joe Gandelman of The Moderate Voice wrote a fabulous post last week—How To Destroy Your Political Party In One Easy Lesson. Joe has some moderate advice for MoveOn. Read it.

Meanwhile, Glen Wishard of Canis Iratus muses on what he would do if he owned the Democratic Party. The first thing on his list: Experience Buyer’s Remorse. Some chuckles here.

I’m not sure I have any advice for the merry band at MoveOn. Here in Chicago where we have arguably the most powerful local Democratic Party in the country you can go weeks or months without hearing any of our Democratic pols talking about Christianity’s threat to the country, homogamy, how terrible President Bush is, the dangers of the Patriot Act, or the invincible ignorance of Red State voters. They’re too busy trying to run the city and solve its problems to worry too much about these issues which I guess form the core beliefs of the true believers over at MoveOn. I guess we’re not real Democrats here in Chicago.

UPDATE: More on this subject from The Smoking Room and George Will (hat tip: Joe Gandelman posting on Dean’s World).

I had never seen a performance of Leos Janáček’s opera The Cunning Little Vixen and when I learned it was part of the 2004-2005 Lyric Opera season I was truly looking forward to it. I wasn’t disappointed.

Lyric’s realization of Janáček’s work is absolutely charming. The Cunning Little Vixen or Liska Bystrouska—presumably “Vixen Quick-Ears” in the original Czech—was derived from a graphic novel. That’s an illustration from the original graphic novel down at the lower right corner of the post. The work was first performed in 1923 and is an Aesop-like story that takes place in a world in which talking animals and human beings live together and interact.

Two things struck me about his work. The first is Janáček’s incredible ability to evoke emotions: joy, love, sorrow. I had the feeling that in every scene he achieved precisely the effect that he was looking for. The second is the human scale of the work. I don’t mean the length—at 90 minutes it’s very approachable. What I mean is that the emotions are human-scale emotions. The joy is simple happiness rather than ecstasy. Love is genuine and warm but is not grand passion. And there’s sorrow here, too, but not the depths of despair. There are no gods or heroes here. But there are human beings and animals living their lives in a world that they love.

If there are messages in The Cunning Little Vixen they are human-scale, too. Life goes on. The world is beautiful.

The season so far (best to worst): Das Rheingold, The Cunning Little Vixen, Aida, Don Giovanni.

This week’s Carnival of the Recipes is now ready for your viewing and cooking pleasure! This week it’s being ably hosted by Marybeth of Random Thoughts from Marybeth who’s stepped in at the last moment and done a wonderful job.

Is it just me or is it quiet out there? Here’s what’s caught my eye this morrning:

• Richard Posner also responds to comments on his new blog.
• Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine on meeting Omar and Mohammed of Iraq the Model.
• The Diplomad is back with a post on affirmative action at the State Department.
  Sidney of The Daily Demarche throws in his two cents.
• Donald Sensing of One Hand Clapping gives his take on The Rumsfeld Grilling.

That’s the lot.

I don’t feel like doing anything particularly elaborate so here’s a dish that’s so simple and so delicious that once you’ve made it it will be a standard part of your repertory just as it is for me.

Roasted Vegetable Ratatouille

Makes 4 servings (or 2 if you’re feeding pigs like me)

1 large onion, peeled and cut length-wise into eight segments
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut cross-wise into ½ inch slices
1 medium zucchini, washed and cut cross-wise into ½ inch slices
3 large plum tomatoes, washed and seeded and cut length-wise in half
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced (optional)
&frac12 tsp. dried oregano, rosemary, or thyme (whatever you like)
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.
2. Line a large roasting pan with aluminum foil.
3. Grease the pan lightly with olive oil.
4. Arrange the onions, eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes in the pan in a single layer if possible.
5. Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables. Salt and pepper to taste.
6. Roast the vegetables in the oven for twenty minutes.
7. Turn the vegetables over. Add the garlic and herbs. I usually put them on the tomatoes.
8. Roast another twenty minutes.
9. Remove from the oven, mix slightly, and serve.

If you put a whole chicken breast in the oven (on a separate roasting dish) skin side up and seasoned as you like or with just salt and pepper, the chicken will be done at the same time as the ratatouille. Served with a little green salad and some nice red wine like a Sangiovese and you’ve got a meal that can’t be beat.