Top 10 Tips for Beating That Cold

1. Oprah + Ellen (preferably together)= countless (ok, two) hours of fun.
2. Barcalounger + Italian Wool Throw (or, failing that, simply an Italian)= Sheared Bliss.
3. Visit your friends at work, touch everything on their desk, then cough ostentatiously on the way out (sharing the pain).
4. Absolutely No Dairy!!! (except for a little chocolate pudding).
5. Zesty Orange AirBorne (Yummo!)
6. Cough Syrup that expired two years ago (Delish!)
7. Lemon Zinger (chaser).
8. Once again, Turner Classic Movies, 24/7.
9. Puffs, Nutrilogie Lip Balm and Olba's Aromatic Inhalant (the trifecta of healing).
10. Look forward to later on today when your broken crown and floaters will make you forget all about that silly cold.

.....Watcha got Cooking?

Two new discoveries (for me) on the Food Network: Nigella Lawson and Giada De Laurentiis are adding both class and beauty along with great cooking tips to my little life.
Nigella Lawson, daughter of the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson, studied Modern Languages at Oxford University, and was the Literary Editor of the Sunday Times, among other things, before breaking some eggs. She is the author of "How to be a Domestic Goddess" and "How to Eat," among other works, and is currently the host of "Nigella Feasts" on the Food Network. The widow of British journalist John Diamond, she is married to famed art collector and advertising magnate Charles Saatchi.
Giada De Laurentiis is the granddaughter of film producer Dino De Laurentiis and Italian actress Silvana Mangano. She was somewhat pushed by her illustrious family, but she showed no interest in entering the film business, although apparently genes will out, as she ended up in front of the camera eventually. She graduated from UCLA and studied cooking at Le Cordon Bleu. Married to Anthropologie designer Todd Thompson, she is the author as well as the host of "Everyday Italian" on the Food Network.

Desert Island DVDs - Comedy, Continued

#3: Long before Christina Ricci explored her wilder side in Black Snake Moan (2006), she played an underage nymphet with very bad intentions in The Opposite of Sex (1998). Believe it or not, it's funnier than it sounds in a dark, twisted sort of way. Caught in her crosshairs are Lisa Kudrow as an antiPhoebeish spinster, Martin Donovan as her luckless half-brother and Ivan Sergei (emphasis on Gei). Narrator:"If you think I'm just plucky and scrappy and all I need is love, you're in over your heads. I don't have a heart of gold and I *don't* grow one later, OK?"

What I'm Reading Now

Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins by Rupert Everett
This thoroughly entertaining showbiz memoir covers much ground, from the author's upper middle class childhood on the outskirts of London, to hanging with Andy and Bianca to semi-stardom alongside the likes of Julia Roberts and Madonna. The author's keen observations and unflagging wit never fail to capture his chosen milieu and makes this reader wish the book would never end. I've always enjoyed Everett's performances as an actor - it's nice to know he works well in other mediums, too. Great good fun.

A Celebrity Sighting

Back from my two-day whirlwind trip to our nation's capital, where I got to see my old buddy Zoe, toured the Torpedo Factory in Old Town, Alexandria, where I purchased a hand-painted etching by the inimitable B.J. Anderson, had lunch at 100 King, dinner from Sette Bello, finally got to see that epic of tastelessness, Borat, and spotted Steve Kroft at the airport, on his cellphone, apparently bummed that his flight was canceled. For those who don't know who Steve is, (and that consists of legions), he's a 60 Minutes correspondent. He's the young one.