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☆ Brenda Wineapple Has Come Around on Historical Fiction
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-08 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Jan Morris’s “Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere.” It’s about the city she first visited as a soldier after World War II — and about the weirdness of time and history. Also Fernanda Eberstadt’s nervy “Bite Your Friends,” stories of artists and activists who use their bodies to defy the status quo. Mine is an orderly disorder: I keep the books I’m reading and using for work near at hand, even if that means on the floor around my desk. Reading a novel in the wee hours of the morning, when the city is quiet. I curl up on the couch beneath my favorite bookcases, and often stay there until the sky is streaked with morning light.

Persons: Jan Morris’s “, Fernanda Eberstadt’s nervy, Jenny Erpenbeck’s “, ”, Brenda Starr, Dale Messick, alphabetizes Locations: Jan Morris’s “ Trieste

☆ My wife and I collected 24 years' worth of clutter. Now, our hobby is throwing away a bag of trash every night, and it's changed our marriage.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-28 | by ( Noah Berlatsky | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"But do we really need eight reserve bottles of dish soap?" "It's dish soap," she pointed out. "You always need dish soap." After 24 years of marriage, we have found a hobby to renew our bond and a new journey to embark on together. But for now, we are united in our mission, and by the bittersweet realization that we never need to buy dish soap again.

Persons: Overstuffed, it's, David Byrne, It's, decluttering Organizations: Service Locations: There's

☆ Cracker Barrel employees and customers say the restaurant chain needs a turnaround, too
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-04 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

They also pointed to some ways Cracker Barrel could get diners back in the chain's iconic rocking chairs waiting for a table. Last month, one guest responded: "It seems like Cracker Barrel is trying to squeeze every dollar out of its patrons." AdvertisementA Cracker Barrel spokesperson said patrons "have responded positively" to the $5 offering since it was introduced last year. CEO Masino, who previously held executive roles at Taco Bell and Starbucks, has indicated that changes are coming to Cracker Barrel. Do you work at Cracker Barrel or another major restaurant and have a story idea to share?

Persons: —, Neal Klein, Klein, Julie Felss Masino, We've, crave, Masino, Tom Smith, it's, Bob Horner, Horner, That's, I've, It's, Smith, he's Organizations: Service, Business, Space, Taco Bell, Starbucks Locations: Florida, Chicago, Tennessee, Texas, Midwest

☆ Cracker Barrel is in a battle for relevancy. One of its solutions is surprising
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-01 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New Cracker Barrels might be smaller restaurants altogether, with menus that include new items like green chili cornbread and banana pudding. Discounted dinner from 4 to 6 p.m.Why would Cracker Barrel, so desperate for relevancy, lean into a tactic typically used to attract senior citizens? A woman eats lunch at Cracker Barrel. Masino didn’t explicitly mention the specials during the discussion about the long-term strategy for Cracker Barrel. To compete in this environment, Cracker Barrel realizes it has to offer some type of deal.

Persons: Julie Felss Masino, ” Masino, ”, Jeff Greenberg, Baby, Masino, Lisa W, Miller, RJ Hottovy, It’s, “, John A, Gordon Organizations: New, New York CNN, Universal, Getty, Baby Boomers, Miller & Associates, Street Journal, Pacific Management Consulting Group Locations: New York, The Tennessee, Placer.ai

☆ The Zoom backgrounds that make you look more - or less - trustworthy, according to experts
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Lianne Kolirin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

That’s according to new research, which looks at how people’s choice of Zoom background could be helping or hindering them. And we found that the living room and novelty backgrounds were the worst,” he said. Not everyone has a home office but yet there’s something that still seems a little unserious [about a home or novelty background]. “We found that generally smiling makes you look more trustworthy and competent, no matter what the background,” he said. “Female faces were also rated as more trustworthy and more competent, regardless of the background they were using,” the researchers wrote.

Persons: Paddy Ross, bookcases, ”, “, …, ” Ross, Ross Organizations: CNN, United Kingdom’s Durham University, Durham University

☆ Companies are betting on a demand rebound in second half of year, DHL says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

That marks the second consecutive month that U.S. imports increased and are higher than 2019 levels, according to data provided to CNBC from Descartes Datamyne, a global trade data platform. The combination of a slow ramp up from "Zero Covid" in China and the reopening of manufacturing plants in the country delayed exports. The top Vietnamese imports in the latest data are wrought iron fencing and plant stands, imported for companies including Home Depot. Black jewelry bags for Zales and men's and boy's t-shirts for Nike rounded out the list of U.S. imports data from China, Vietnam, Thailand, and India reviewed by CNBC. In April, the trade data shows that vitamins and containers of pencils were bound from India to Walmart , and zip polos and t-shirts for Guess .

☆ In California, a John Marsh Davis-Designed Home Comes Up for Sale for the Very First Time
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Fred A. Bernstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

There are supports, but a magician hid some of them in floor-to-ceiling bookcases and threaded others through wisteria-laden trellises. Though labeled Midcentury Modern, his houses are nothing like the better known Midcentury Modern works of architects like Richard Neutra, which are composed of flat, white surfaces. And, though labeled organic, they are nothing like the better-known organic works of Frank Lloyd Wright, which tend to hug the ground. Mr. Davis’s houses aren’t flat, or white, or low. They soar, in a style that Hans Baldauf, the author of a new book about Mr. Davis, calls “wood expressionism.” Mr. Davis himself liked to call his approach Forgotten Modern.

Before “Heartstopper” became a global phenomenon, it was a web comic, published online by the author, Alice Oseman, a few pages at a time. Oseman, 28, began the webcomic in 2016 just after finishing college, and she was the creator, writer and an executive producer of the Netflix series. The main story between Nick and Charlie remains largely unchanged, she said; much of the new material in the Netflix series came from expanding the supporting characters. Rugby scenes were also tricky to film – in the book and on the show, Nick is a rugby player and Charlie joins the team. While filming, she was part of an enormous team, and spent 11-hour days on location in Paris and at a school in Slough, England.

☆ I'm a Florida teacher who's been forced to cover up the books in my classroom. Here's why I'm suing Ron DeSantis.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Yelena Dzhanova | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

This year, a new law in Florida requires that all books in public schools be vetted for children. High school social studies teacher Don Falls said he covered up his books to comply with the law. The district recently began implementing a new Florida law requiring all books in a public school to be vetted by a trained media specialist. Many teachers, including Falls, chose to cover un-vetted books in their classrooms rather than remove them. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis openly said in his swearing-in inauguration that this is the state where woke goes to die.

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☆ Here are the origins of the oldest public library in the Americas
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

PUEBLA, Mexico — It is, according to UNESCO, the oldest public library in the Americas, tucked away from the street front at a cultural center in the historic heart of this Mexican city. “Everything that was imagined at that time is in the library,” said Juan Fernández del Campo, the library’s current manager. Palafox’s passion for books is evident in a quote from him, written on a mosaic outside the library. This was not the time for Mexico to raise its wings toward freedom of thought,” the library manager said. The library reopened in 2002; two years later it was added by UNESCO to its Memory of the World Register.

☆ Bob Newhart, Button-Down Comic, Is Still Standing Up at 76
▼ + stars: | 2006-03-25 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But a comedian craves the sound of laughter, and Mr. Newhart, though happily deep into his golf-playing years, cannot stay away from the stand-up circuit. It's like Russian roulette -- you're out there and it's working and you're saying, 'Thank God the bullet's not in the chamber.' "Mr. Newhart built his career on a persona that would avoid tension and thrills at all cost. ("You take a pinch of tobacco and you stuff it up your nose and it makes you sneeze? Yeah, I imagine it would, Walt!")

Persons: David McCulloch, Joseph J, Ellis, Bob Newhart's, Newhart, Sir Walter Raleigh, Walt Organizations: Brooklyn Center, Performing Arts Locations: ANGELES, Bel

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