On the train, I stood next to a guy carrying a half-dozen roses. With a few ferns and a raffia tie, they had a nice, rough look and filled the car with a spicy, sweet smell. Every woman getting on the train looked at them. Other men looked faintly uncomfortable and maybe a little disoriented: Did I forget something? Rose Guy was carrying a packet of promotional materials for a local community college, and I tried to figure out the connection between the packet and the flowers. It really wasn't important. But why only half a dozen?

Link fun:

OK, I admit it: I read (and enjoy) Lucky! Ad Age has named it the magazine of the year and various detractors are calling it a cultural "soul death." The article alludes to one of the magazine's primary strengths--the absence of those annoying celebrity runway shots and product endorsements. On some level, Lucky understands the most basic of truths: I may never have a stylist, but I'll always have to buy new shoes.

But on to weightier matters. Here's a surprisingly even-handed analysis of the president's "leadership style" by David Gergen:
Moreover, the limited information only reinforces his tendency to see issues in stark black-and-white terms. That approach worked in rallying the country and then winning conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, but seems peculiarly inappropriate for winning the peace in those same regions. To deal with the cunning and scheming minds that foment terror, we would probably be better off with Nixon. He was intimately familiar with both the scepter and the switchblade.