Health Food Update

The Pioneer Woman shows how to make brown sugar oatmeal cookies.

10 Rules for Thanksgiving

I wrote this post several years ago and it is now an Execupundit tradition:

1. Thou shalt not discuss politics at the dinner. There is next to no chance that you'll convert anyone and any hard feelings that are generated may last long after the pumpkin pie is finished. Why spoil a good meal?


2. Thou shalt limit discussion of The Big Game. This is mainly directed at the men who choose to argue plays, records, and coaches while their wives stare longingly at the silverware. The sharp silverware.


3. Thou shalt say nice things about every dish. Including the bizarre one with Jello and marshmallows.


4. Thou shalt be especially kind to anyone who may feel left out. Some Thanksgiving guests are tag-alongs or, as we say in the business world, "new to the organization." Make a point of drawing them in.


5. Thou shalt be wary of gossip. After all, do you know what they say when you leave the room? Remember the old saying: All of the brothers are valiant and all of the sisters are virtuous.


6. Thou shalt not hog the white or dark meat. We know you're on Atkins but that's no excuse.


7. Thou shalt think mightily before going back for seconds. Especially if that means waddling back for seconds.


8. Thou shalt not get drunk. Strong drink improves neither your wit nor your discretion. Give everyone else a gift by remaining sober.


9. Thou shalt be cheerful. This is not a therapy session. This is not the moment to recount all of the mistakes in your life or to get back at Uncle Bo for the wisecrack he made at your high school graduation. This is a time for Rule #10.


10. Thou shalt be thankful. You're above ground and functioning in an extraordinary place at an extraordinary time. Many people paid a very heavy price (and I'm not talking about groceries) to give you this day. Take some time to think of them and to express gratitude to your friends and relatives. Above all, give special thanks to the divine power who blesses you in innumerable ways.

Language to Remember and Use

"If his brain had been as formidable as his proboscis there would have been no problem."

Quote of the Day

To managers, an ounce of knowledge is worth a pound of information.

- Russell L. Ackoff

"I had botherations that led to good things"

Talk about language to remember and use! 

Check out the Shelby Foote profile at Cultural Offering.

[I have an old friend who does a spot-on imitation of Shelby Foote. I seldom see him without asking for his rendition of Shelby describing Stonewall Jackson's conversation with Dr. McGuire.]

Discretion and Candor Index

Times when you regretted not saying something: 12
Times when you regretted saying something: 980,712

First Paragraph

They seemed to bring with them the smell of the snow falling in Seventh Avenue. Or perhaps the other people who had entered before them had done it, bringing it with them in their lungs and exhaling it, filling the arcade with a stale chill like that which might lie unwinded and spent upon the cold plans of infinity itself. In it the bright and serried shopwindows had a fixed and insomniac glare like the eyes of people drugged with coffee, sitting up with a strange corpse.

- From Pennsylvania Station by William Faulkner

Andy Kaufman: Mighty Mouse

Back by popular demand: Something to make you smile.

Art Break: Mehoffer

Art Contrarian looks at the work of Jozef Mehoffer.

A Reading Bubble

The New Republic has an article on the media diet of several people.  Note the pattern and the lack of ideological diversity.