Miscellaneous: August 23, 2024

And then there were none left by Agatha Christie. We recently finished reading this book aloud as a family (nothing relaxes kids before bed like a serial murder story). After selling over 100 million copies, And then they were no more Christie’s most popular novel is also one of the bestsellers of all time, and it has lived up to its hype. Christie manages to make a plot that might seem ridiculous – ten people are invited to an island and killed one by one – not ridiculous, and keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Huckberry Style IconsWith fall just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to start thinking about buying new pieces for your wardrobe. Huckberry has released “30 Icons of Timeless Men’s Style,” which features short profiles of figures like Steve McQueen and Johnny Cash, describing what made their styles distinctive. They’ve also created a modern smart casual clothing boutique that draws inspiration from these icons to help today’s men create their own classic-looking outfits.

“Ladyfingers” by Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass. My dad was a huge Herb Albert and Tijuana Brass fan back in the day. He owned every album, including the iconic Whipped cream and other delightswhich featured a pretty girl dressed only in whipped cream. There are a lot of great songs on this album, but my favorite is “Ladyfingers.” This song features Herb Albert’s signature trumpet playing that mixes cool jazz with a Latin twist. Surprisingly, my 13-year-old son, Gus, is a big fan of this song. He loves listening to it on sunset car rides.

An ode to Old Bay, the great American condiment. In a previous edition of Odds & Ends, we highlighted one of the McKays’ favorite seasonings: Old Bay. We use it on eggs, meat, and sandwiches. I like to use it when I make this healthier, homemade version of the classic crispy chicken sandwich. Well, Old Bay recently got the hagiography treatment The New Yorker. Casey Cep takes us on a historical tour of this Maryland staple and explains why you too should make Old Bay a staple in your spice rack. Long live Old Bay!

Quote of the week

To find one’s work in the world and to do it honorably, to keep one’s criminal record clean of any trace of anything clandestine, furtive, surreptitious, which can never spring from ambush and spoil one’s life, to be able thus to look the world in the face without fear, to live honorably also with one’s soul, to travel the path of life without being haunted by the ghosts of people from whose ruin one has robbed one of pleasure, and thus at last to be a gentleman, that is, one who gives to life a little more than one takes from it, to reap the significance of such a character, at forty, sixty, eighty years of age, one can well rejoice in the solid satisfactions of such a life.

—Henry Emerson Fosdick