Year: 2015

Short Cuts

Go Write a Classic

Although he’s certainly not alone in questioning the provenance of Harper Lee’s sequel written before the prequel, Go Set a Watchman, I like Adam Gopnik’s take the most out of all I’ve read so far. It’s tough, but if I had to pick a favorite passage from his piece in The New Yorker, it’s this (emphasis mine):

It is, I suppose, possible that Lee wrote it as we have it, and that her ingenious editor, setting an all-time record for editorial ingenuity, saw in a few paragraphs referring to the trial of a young black man the material for a masterpiece. But it would not be surprising if this novel turns out to be a revised version of an early draft, returned to later, with an eye to writing the “race novel” that elsewhere Harper Lee has mentioned as an ambition.

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my all time favorite books (I know, very original), so the paint on the pre-order button barely had time to dry before I was one-clicking Go Set a Watchman into my future life. That future is now here and I don’t care how it might change my opinion of Atticus, I’m excited about checking in on the characters that Harper Lee so masterfully crafted.

Quoted

Distraction

“At painful times, when composition is impossible and reading is not enough, grammars and dictionaries are excellent for distraction.”

— Elizabeth Barrett Browning
TIDNTKIL

TIDNTKIL: Iced Coffee Lemonade

As if I needed another reason and way to enjoy coffee, Sprudge goes out and discovers this incredible sounding iced coffee lemonade. Thankfully, staff writer Anna Brones, did our dirty work for us by working out a recipe for the heir to the iced tea lemonade throne.

Since consuming this drink, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. So I did what any rational person would do: I made my own version. While the original wasn’t fizzy, I do like the extra kick of tonic water, but you can also make it without. And for some extra lemon action, I made the simple syrup infused with lemon zest. You can also get extra fancy and use coffee ice cubes. Because, coffee ice cubes. Enough said.

New summer standard, no question.

Brief

Beericana: Craft Beers, Food Trucks, Music and More

Last year, I attended a beer festival for the first time, eschewing the perennial downtown festivals for an upstart festival held on farmland recently converted into an open-field park. My selectiveness paid off big time. Now it’s time, once again, to order tickets for this year’s Beericana. I can’t recommend this festival highly enough. If you enjoy live music, beer, food trucks and yard games – or just any one of those things – you’re going to love Beericana. Get your tickets starting tomorrow at 10am.

Quoted

Quit

“It’s pretty tough to quit something no one knows you do.”

— Nate Bargatze
Short Cuts

N&O: Ashley Christensen to open pizza joint in downtown Raleigh ↬

No target opening date yet, but it has a name: PooleSide Pie, apropos to its location next to Christensen’s flagship restaurant, Poole’s Diner.

“I’m super excited about it,” Christensen wrote in an email. “Much like coffee, I think there’s lots of room for great pizza of varying styles in downtown. I predict that you’ll see a number of unique spots to pop up in the next couple of years. The idea of that makes me very happy.”

I can’t wait.

O&F
Locally Notable

Sprudge: Gray Squirrel Coffee In Carrboro, NC ↬

Sprudge, as part of their Build-Outs of Summer series, profiles Gray Squirrel Coffee in Carrboro, NC:

At just 250 square feet, this space is small, but like the squirrel species, it contains multitudes. Top-of-the-line gear? This place boasts kit you’d be impressed by in a shop 5 times its size. An interesting hook? This coffee bar exists inside a hip local brewery. The team at Gray Squirrel have created something that punches above its weight class, something capable of showing unexpected grace and dexterity, smaller than the larger mammals surrounding it but wholly its own, a being perfectly adapted to its environs…not unlike the humble squirrel from which it takes its name.

O&F