Manhattan: because I'd never make it as a farmer

-New Brooklyn continues to represent aspirational farming by non-ethnic white people. On that front, we have Swedish Brooklyn obsession , a...

Cheapness made easy

Ever since Kei invented the idea of a " wanty list ," I've used this concept in my own life and spending-or-lack-thereof. At a...

The NYT endorses your cappuccino habit

As you certainly know , I believe you should drink as many lattes as you can stomach. More accurately: I find cheapness-advice that urges yo...

Confessions of a woods-hermit

-We're all going to get the super-flu . Even those of us who got flu shots months ago. I'm going to make use of the lack of commute ...

Son of Simon

The French version of Keds is now sold in the States at a not-unreasonable price. This was no doubt the quickest I'd ever gone from see...

Poodles and cashmere UPDATED

Dear Bisou, What was it that made you decide that pulling sweaters out of a drawer and shredding them is now your thing? Were you inspired b...

Highly recommended

Because WWPD is not a forum to discuss grad-student angst - and the grad students are angsty! - I will instead make some beautification reco...

Loyalty points

Sometime soon, a post on meritocracy, aristocracy, and the Stuyvesant cheating scandal. Till then: A few days ago was a real festival of che...

Nails and intersectionality

Bisou - who, let it be known, is fine now - timed her worst-yet gastrointestinal woes for just as my husband had to leave to go give a talk...

WWPD Guides: Beauty

Beauty - as in makeup, skin creams, and so on - is strangely compelling. But why? Is it just because relative to clothing, makeup is cheap, ...

On running shoes

Alice Waters wouldn't approve , but the wisest purchase I've made in a long time was a pair of... Nike sneakers . They're gorge...

Don't mess with perfection

There is a perfect coffee shop, and I know this will come as a great surprise, but it's not in Princeton. Nothing against the coffee sho...

"Not gay bars, Ma. Zabar's."*

Every so often, I have to go to the Zabar's cheese department. Forces beyond my control compel it. When it was something I theoretically...