I think there should be a law against having school the day after Halloween. Or, at the very least, it should be a late start day. 10 AM would work for me. Let's start a petition! Have a sit in! Cry in the principal's office! Who's with me? 

In the glass half full part of my brain, I'm extremely grateful today is Friday. Let's all try to take it easy this weekend, shall we? And here, are a few good gems to read while lying a-bed: 

My SIL Debbie tried these Favorite Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies by Sally's Baking Addiction and reports the recipe is a keeper. In this era of fabulous, gooey cookie pictures, a personally baked and tested recipe is pure gold. (Don't even ask about the pumpkin spice cake crunch bars I tried this week. I shudder in memory!)

One thing I LOVE about blogging is the platform to put a beautiful cookie pic and recipe right smack next to an article by bell hooks. Do you guys know bell hooks? She's a prominent scholar and activist who writes about gender, class, and racial inequality. [Note: she doesn't capitalize her name (which is a nom de plume) because she wants focus directed at her work and not her person.] This article is bell hooks' commentary on Sheryl Sandburg's claim to feminism in her book, Lean In. Essentially, hooks emphasizes that Sandberg's message is about a small, privileged group of white women working within current oppressive and damaging ideologies -- that it's a falsity that all women really need to succeed is a little focus, a little leaning in. Just recently I've been rereading hooks and what she has to say about the role of home in providing safe places of political resistance. She is GOOD. [If you are interested in further reading this book is good. And this one.]
 
Have you guys seen Scoutmob? Normally I'm not much of a shopper, but the nonshopper in me gets a particular thrill from ordering up Christmas online, in my pajamas, with bedhead.  Scoutmob is billed as "inspired goods by independent makers," and it's just a huge treasure trove of great design and clever products.

I'll take a moustache print, please. 

I love this print of Houston -- lots of cities available. 

And how many of you can identify this quote? 50 points for a correct answer. 

Check out Indiebound.org both to support local, independent booksellers and for great book recommendations on their Indie Next List. I'm prone to only linking to Amazon (Look! I did it in my bell hooks link!) but I'm going to sign up at Indiebound and work on linking to my local peops. Nothing I like better than the Shop Around the Corner. Reference anyone?

We have a cold front blowing through in a day or two (yippee!) and I'm going to stir up a pot of this. Wish you could join me! 

That's it folks! Have a fab weekend! And many thanks to Debbie for brainstorming links with me on Halloween night (while watching old episodes of The X Files.)