Friday Afterthoughts

Only a few quick afterthoughts today as I am feeling particularly non-engaged. I'm blaming the rain for that. I am about to head out into rainy New Jersey, Friday night, Lincoln Tunnel rush hour traffic. (Why is it that drivers seem to loose brain cells with every rain drop?) So here's the short and sometimes sweet:

• If you live in the Bergen County area and haven't already checked out Wide World of Bagels in Ridgewood then you must do so right away. Their bagels are fantastic, all soft and fluffy and they don't scrape off the roof of your mouth when you're chewing. I had a salt bagel from them this week and it was perfect; not so drenched in salt so that you immediately needed a saline IV to balance your system, just enough to give it a bite . And their cream cheese is delish, creamy and lush. It's also a deli and has catering, but I can't vouch for that just yet. Their Web site (look at me - I'm linking!) says it's on N. Maple Ave in Ridgewood; It's down the street from the Goffle Grill, which I thought was on Goffle Ave in that Hawthorne/Midland Park/Ridgewood wasteland where you're never sure exactly what town you're in at a given time. But then I'm a native Essex County girl. You may wonder why I'm touting a bagel store. Do you know how difficult it is to find a bagel worth the name? Sure, I can make do with some inferior versions or the occasional good effort bagel. But once found, a prime bagel provider should be held on to fiercely. Trust me - I spent 6 bagelless months when I first got to England before I discovered George & Davies ice cream shop, which, ironically, had real bagels. And Bailey's Irish Cream ice cream, but that's a different story. Anyways. Check them out.
• If you want to see good people doing great things for animals, check out Best Friend Animal Shelter, an organization I discovered today, courtesy of the Guidelines magazine that my boss pawns off on me every so often. When I was a little girl, I dreamed of having my own ranch with all the cats and dogs that no one wanted; I imagined being able to tell surrounding shelters to send their unwanted ones to me rather than euthanize them. Here are people who are actually doing that exact thing.
• On a much more irreverent but funny note, there is a clip of comedian Sarah Silverman on the Jimmy Kimmel show from last night that is very funny. WARNING: it's not "family friendly" by any stretch of the imagination and I'm certainly no proponent of Silverman's work. But I laughed big time at this one.
• A few weeks ago, we had a Krum family party for my grandmother's 95th birthday, a luncheon that my uncle kicked off with a list of Krum/Litzenberger (my grandmother's maiden name) traits. One in the long list was OCD, which, okay, to some extent, yes. But it made me wonder if there was a more personally accurate OSD - Obsessive Snark Disorder. 'Cause I'm pretty sure I got that.

Happy Friday everyone!