You won’t need directions.

“With all that money that he’s got, Barack Obama should be able to afford a better suit…Get a tailor, man. Ask John Edwards, that pretty-boy undoubtedly has the hookup for all that.”

“I’m not sure why people feel that they have the right to live in a world unchanged from how they imagine their childhoods were and I’m not sure what we can do to overcome that.”

[I]t’s a challenge to experiment with editorial real-estate and conventions that you have trained readers to believe are reserved for only the most major news story. In this case, I think the experiment — despite its brilliance as advertising — needs need some re-thinking.”

Hooray for political commentary from A.C.!

Ever since moving to Berkeley I’ve heard about the beloved Berkeley Bowl grocery store. It’s been two months and a week since moving to Berkeley, and today was my first visit to the greatest market in all of grocery land.

I didn’t think it was possible to get so giddy over a food market. I’ve tried Safeway, which blows. I like Trader Joe’s, but their produce section is shitty, and the farmer’s markets in Berkeley are so highfalutin that you (or at least, I) can’t really afford to buy anything. (Can you say $6 for a dozen organic, free range, hand-petted, cuddled-at-night hen eggs?) I’d heard fantastic things about Berkeley Bowl, that they have the largest produce section in Northern California and that they have everything you could imagine, ever, but I’d also heard that it was crowded to the point of bursting. Today these proclamations were tested.

Somehow, like a little kiss from the parking gods, a spot beside the front door was open just after we pulled in the lot. I snagged a buggy, which was very long and hard to maneuver, then plowed inside and hung a right. The first thing I saw was bread: seeded baguettes and sourdough rounds and hard, rye rolls and cheese focaccia. I swooned a little at the bevy of fresh carbohydrate options in front of me, when I turned the corner and found three more rows just like it. I almost passed out. Spelt bread with no salt, oatmeal with currants, scones and croissants. And, people, that was just the bread. There is also an olive bar with dozens of different options, 12 rows of wines, every possible ethnic food under the sun, two rows of mixed salad lettuces and about 30 things in the produce section alone I’d never even heard of. I am not shitting you when I tell you there over 30 kinds of apples to choose from.

Here is the best part: Fuck Whole Foods prices, this stuff is actually affordable! Cheaper than crappy ol’ Safeway by far. 89 cent pomegranates, do you hear what I am saying? This is not some break the bank Wild Oats-style supermarket. It’s independently owned, and it’s breathtaking in scope and size. I can’t wait to eat up all this food, just so I can go back. No more lunches out, I’m back on the fresh food bento train thanks to my new boyfriend, Berkeley Bowl.

Some time I hope to run into this guy.

[Cross posted at Yelp.]

Sean Braisted:

I don’t want to gloat in his loss…only to say that it isn’t hard to see why he lost. His message was text-book “conservatism” and most of his speeches seemed to be an amalgamation of conservative bumperstickers. Yes, we found out that he didn’t like the ACLU, taxes, or “illegal immigrants,” but did anyone here why exactly Fred was the best person to lead the nation, other than that he was a “conservative”?

Well, I’ll gloat. I’ve known since Day One that Fred Thompson was done for. His candidacy has always been exactly as Sean describes: short on ideas, long on platitudes and lazy like a log. Fred Thompson’s presidential bid, and the Tennessee right-wing bloggers who so hurriedly jumped on his bandwagon, have been amusing to watch. The pleading for cash on Thanksgiving, the delusion that entering the race late was somehow going to be a boon, the continued vapidity of his statements (or lack thereof) have all been highly humorous to me, what with all the quickly thrown together paperbacks and blog begging by Middle Tennessee’s most rancorous radio personalities, GOP mouthpieces and online writers. You need only look to see who is (was?) supporting Fred Thompson in his great state of Tennessee to understand why he would be a colossal failure in the White House. Glad most of the rest of the country sees a fraud when presented with one.

UPDATE: The good times are gone. Fred done packed up his pick up and headed home.

Guess which drug is illegal?: One deadens nerves, barely works, has foul side effects. The other helps you feel God. [via]

Thought for the day: Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign is the biggest, longest-running joke I’ve been privy to in a month of Sundays.

“Twitter is fascinating, it’s like the elephant and we’re all blind men feeling our way around unaware that other people see it completely differently.”

Mitt Romney And AP Reporter Bitch Fight In Target