Favorites 10.16.14

Planning a faraway trip: Yes, yes, live in the now ... but what about the excitement/discovery of planning—planning a wild foreign adventure, to be specific? (Pic by Bernhard Lang).

Toasted pumpkin-seed oil: I'm pretty meh on pumpkins (most Thanksgiving food, really). But toasted pumpkin seed oil! Nutty, pungent—it's a cappella of flavor. Pour this forest-green elixir on fresh bread and sprinkle some salt. Please. Thanks.

Beginner violin practice in the house across the alley: When you have your window open for maybe the last time of the year, and instead of sirens or birdsong, what you hear on the thin fall air is a 4th grader stumbling through violin scales—this is profoundly comforting.

Friday Night Lights:  Not about football. (A little about football). About the human condition. About brotherhood. About adolescent upheaval. About dignity. Also, the filming's gritty, and the music's great. (Disclaimer: I'm talking the TV show—not the movie—which I haven't seen but DEF will so don't spoil).