2. Johnny Hartman - '50s and '60s recording artist. They called him The Voice That Is, and it's easy to understand why, the way he gave shape and form to romance by illuminating her face and tracing the curves of each  expression.  Here he is in 1963 sketching out some darker shades of lament.

3. Farberware Percolators- Half the fun of drinking coffee is in the making of it, the chugging spit and spudder, the boiling roll across the top, the steam wafting off the spout.  I just wish it had little springs on the bottom so it could dance on the counter top.

4. Google Reader - Don't search the web. Have the web come to you. Google Reader is an RSS feed that will funnel updates from all of your favorite sites to one page and display them for you, by title, in a list format. It's automatically synchronized, so no matter what tiny corner of the world you find yourself encamped, on your a computer or cell phone, you"ll get all the information you need.

5. McDonald's Sweet Tea - I really think this has become an addiction.  I pass a McDonald's anymore and think, "Better pull in here to get a sweet tea."  You get 16 ounces, lots of ice and it's only one dollar.  Tons of sugar, though.  It probably has some significant heath benefits. At least this is what I've been telling myself, lately.

6. Irwin Shaw's Five Decades - A set of 63 short stories by one of America's forgotten masters. He wrote these stories with complete and unwavering dedication to the sport.

More coming soon