- Forbes.com tells you what’s really in your fast food. If you’ve read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, this will not be news to you, but it’s a good reminder. On a related note, I’m going to be in receipt of 20 lbs. of locally raised grass-fed beef this Saturday, thanks to my super-organized and energetic friend Tammy who got a bunch of us together to share. If you’re a meat-eater, it’s worth trying to find out if your area has a source of non-factory-farmed beef. On another related note, two commercials I currently hate: the Carl’s Jr. commercial that tries to make you believe that homemade guacamole is rocket science (brought to you by the same people who try to make you believe that the dining environment of Carl’s is preferable to that of a sit-down restaurant), and the Panda Express commercial with Thai pandas who are apparently, as Michael Scott might say, “urban.” Thai. Urban. Pandas. Selling a product from an American Chinese joint. Ah, the great melting pot of consumer culture.

- To further tempt you to pick up Emily Wing Smith’s debut YA, The Way He Lived, and to whet your appetite to the interview I’ll be doing with her here, check out this great review from the City Weekly (scroll down a little). And if you’re going to NCTE/ALAN next week, look for Emily and say hi! And, NCTE/ALAN is also your chance to meet another wonderful author and friend, Ann Dee Ellis. I am only sad that I’m leaving San Antonio before they get there, so I can’t personally take them around and introduce them to all you wonderful people. Make them to home.

- I watched Baby Mama the other night and though it is not the Knocked-Up-style laugh riot as marketed, I thought it was sweet and entertaining. By the way, Tina Fey and I are, like, twins. We’re the same age. She married a man 9 years older than her, I married a man nine years older than me. She lost 35 pounds on Weight Watchers, I lost 35 pounds on Weight Watchers. (I, um, think our starting points were a little different.) She is a brunette with awesome glasses, I am a brunette with awesome glasses. She has a mysterious scar she doesn’t like to talk about, I have a mysterious scar I don’t…well, okay, twist my arm why don’t you…I got it when I fell off the jungle gym in grade school. She got paid to make out with Greg Kinnear, I…would do it for free. Despite the minor differences, it’s like we’re leading the same life. I’m sure that she marvels, too, at just how similar our lives are.