Things that are making me happy today

- Barbara's summer reading list.

- A magical cottage (I will make one someday, only mine will be a treehouse!) and terrariums. (And apparently both these things fall under the label "Victoriana," so finally I have a word to describe my aesthetic tendencies toward chandeliers, canopy beds, and all things whimsical and cute--but not in a treacly, "country" way.)

- Pretty boys in great outfits. (Which also applies to this.)

- And on a more serious note, this piece on fellow Texan Bill Moyers. (I am behind on my podcasts, clearly.)

My favorite quotes from the interviews:

• "There are things in this country that the market will not provide: public education, public art, public schools, public broadcasting, public toilets. I mean, there are things that are not profitable, but that still serve a value. And I think the most important thing that we can do is to continue to treat Americans as citizens, not just consumers. If you look out and see an audience of consumers, you want to sell them something. If you look out and see an audience of citizens, you want to share something with them--and there is a difference."
• ". . . [P]residents shouldn't go to war unless it's a war of necessity, not a war of choice, beccause you can't fight a war in a democratic way without undermining the success of the war. And if you don't fight in a democratic way, you undermine democracy itself. . . . [I]f you start a war on tragic-- on flawed premises, you're going to have terrible things happen, and ultimately, you're going to come to grief."
• On the importance of the Freedom of Information Act: "I really do think that we need more openness, not more secrecy. . . . We are living in a closed society today."

- L'Editrice