I’ve been a big fan of Minneapolis Michael’s weekly summary of his favorite articles in the Sunday New York Times. I like people who are comfortable saying “Times” without specifying the “New York” part. They have a sense of the world’s natural order.

I had the pleasure of meeting Michael a week ago at the SXSW Send-Off at First Avenue. Dispensing with pleasantries, we quickly moved into a discussion of the best section of the Sunday Times. He was shocked when I told him I turn to the magazine first. He prefers front page news and business and all those more “serious” sections. But on a Sunday morning? When you’re buried in pillows and have to ask yourself if breakfast is really worth getting out of bed for? Maybe he doesn’t have as good of a sense of the world’s natural order as I thought he did.

Kidding aside, I appreciate Michael’s summary because it introduces me to pieces I might otherwise miss. And his commentary is witty and thoughtful. Here’s my attempt at doing the same for the lighter side of the Sunday Times:

MAGAZINE

The Femivore’s Dilemna – I’m a bit of a feminist and a bit of a locavore, but if anyone ever calls me a “femivore” I may just punch them in the face. Peggy Orenstein asks if (usually well-educated, high income) women’s return to the kitchen propels or reverses social advancements made in the past half century. It’s a more complicated issue than I’d like to consider at the moment, but you should read it and let me know what you think (as long as you promise not to use the word “femivore” while doing so).

Vocabulary Size (On Language) – How important is a big vocabulary? Written by a man who spent a year reading all twenty volumes of the OED, this article makes the refreshing argument that learning words should be done for its own pleasure. Dropping “25 cent words” into conversation usually makes you a bad communicator and a “blowhard,” and won’t necessarily help you advance in life. Personally, Urban Dictionary has proved to be my most useful vocabulary tool. I’ll have to check out this “Yo Mamma Vocabulary Builder” he mentions.

Friend Request - A medical resident writes how connecting with a patient on Facebook made a lasting impression. Try reading this article without humming and/or getting a lump in your throat.

The Limits of Rahmism – I haven’t gotten through the complete text of this cover piece on Obama’s chief of staff, but I like what I’ve read so far. And the pictures. (See me wax poetic on this alpha male here).

SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW

Imitation of Life – A book on taxidermy, and how it strives to create the “illusion of life” (not the only medium to do so, but certainly the one to do so most literally). I learned lots of fun things from this short piece. Among them: the ineffable essence of a bird is called its “jizz” (having an Urban Dictionary moment here); guinea pigs play cricket after they die (or some do, at least); and Damien Hirst’s meat sculptures are only provocative because we’re so far removed from where our food comes from these days. I want to read this book. I’m afraid it’s going to make me want to become a taxidermist, though.