List 65

Love: 1930s fashion. Especially the styles sported by Faye Dunaway's Bonnie Parker.

Like: Kit Kittridge. If you have a daughter, inevitably you will have to deal with the American Girl phenomenon. Looking at the catalog, I cringe when I imagine factory workers in China putting together miniature salon chairs for dolls. But the historical dolls pass muster with me - at least little girls in 2011 can learn a bit about the past. Aspiring reporter Kit's Depression-era story appeals to me most, and I am doing my best to convince Stella that Kit should be the girl for her.

Discovery: Rules of Civility, the debut novel by Amor Towles, a 40something banker-with-an-M.A.-in-English, who channels a bit of F. Scott. The book is about three friends in New York who meet on New Year's Eve in 1937, and features a wonderful lead character in Katey Kontent. Time to see Midnight in Paris again to get over the "I should have been born in another time" feeling the book inspired.

Obsession: 1930s photography. From the documentary portraits of Americans struggling to get by, by greats such as Walker Evans and Dorthea Lange, to Margaret Bourke White's WPA architecture shots.

Complaint: A decidedly modern one:  I wish publishers and sellers would come up with a scheme by which one could get both a hardcover book and a kindle/digital version for one price (maybe just $2 more than the hardcover on its own.) I enjoyed Rules of Civility so much that I wanted to get it off my iPad and into my permanent library, and was forced to pay twice.

List 64

Love: The great McSweeney's foray into food-focused publishing. Lucky Peach (the new quarterly magazine done in collaboration with Momofuku's David Chang) and Mission Street Food, (the cookbook and story of San Francisco's "improbable restaurant") are both very fun to read, highly informative and beautifully designed. Hopefully this is the start of a whole McSweeney's food-writing empire.

Like: Oven-roasted cherry tomatoes (olive oil, kosher salt, 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes). They can make even typically bland boneless, skinless chicken breasts more exciting. Add a side of greens and you've got an easy, fast and healthy weeknight dinner that sits pretty on the plate.

Discovery: The Local Butcher Shop, Chez Panisse alums Aaron and Monica Rocchino's new Gourmet Ghetto, well, local butcher shop. Not only is the meat of the highest quality, butchered and cut to order, everything else from the subway tiles to the pin-stripped aprons makes it a stop that promises your meal will be somehow more special too.

Obsession: Creating a turntable/receiver/speakers set-up in both our living room and in the backyard studio. (Currently, we're one down and one to go.) I really like these Cambridge Audio S20 dark oak speakers and picked up a pair. Berkeley's Sound Well is a great resource for restored stereo components.

Complaint: That the Out the Door in the Westfield is "closed indefinitely." Their fresh vegetarian spring rolls have been my favorite lunch. Now I will have to schlepp down to the Ferry Building once a week to satisfy that particular craving.

List 63

Love: Dirty Beach's melancholy, low-fi "True Blue." Alex Zhang Hungtai, originally from Taiwan, has claimed Wong Kar-Wai as an influence, and it's easy to imagine this song playing in the background of one of his films.

Like: Saigon Export beer, which I had for the first time at Oakland's Hawker Fare, Commis chef James Syhabout's newish Southeast Asian street food spot. It merited being tracked down at BevMo the next day.

Discovery: The Walrus & The Carpenter oyster bar in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood. The interior design was spot on and they offered a great oyster selection, not to mention a very yummy steak tartare, with plenty of roses, sparkling wines, and cocktails like The Porch Swing to wash everything down.

Obsession: Cold summer soups. Aside from a traditional gazpacho (the Barefoot Contessa's version is really nice), I had a wonderful Chilled Sweet Corn Soup with Avocado & Cilantro at Solage in Calistoga, and in Seattle, from a Farmers' Market, a Cool Cucumber & Melon soup, spiked with coconut milk, mint and chili oil. These soups can be the very definition of refreshing and I want to develop a good repertoire or recipes to try when the summer whether finally arrives in the Bay Area this month.

Complaint: I tore through Dances with Dragons, the fifth book in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, and am deeply distraught that it will likely be half a decade before another volume is published.

List 62

Love: My Dad, Terence T. Evans, known to many as T. He is, in many ways, the inspiration for this blog as he has always been a big maker of lists of all sorts. T is a great man - a guy who grew up dirt poor with a single mother, made it to college on a track scholarship, went to law school, and ultimately became a federal appeals court judge. What everyone who knows him will tell you, though, is that what makes him a great man is not just his many accomplishments but who he is as a human being. He's the kind of guy who, for example, when at Ikea winds up helping strangers load their cars up. Spend four minutes with him and he'll know where you're from and some interesting things about you. He's special, and I'm lucky to be his daughter. (He also comes highly recommended as a husband and grandfather.)

Like: Patatas Bravas y Chorizo - T's favorite dish at his favorite restaurant, La Merenda.

Discovery: One day in 1979, when T was in Chicago for work, he walked by a record store playing a new sort of music he'd never heard before. He went in, asked what it was, picked up the record, and that night we became the first white kids in Milwaukee to listen to Rapper's Delight.

Obsession: The Godfather 1 and 2, T's favorite movies (and in my personal Top Ten as well). Over the years, he has hosted many a "Festa Corleone" - Godfather-watching marathons accompanied by pasta. He also created The Godfather Test which included a wide range of trivia questions, including "what's the name of Solozzo's driver?" and fill-in-the-blanks like "take the __ leave the __."

Complaint: Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, which T has just been diagnosed with. (Ironically, Marlon Brando had IPF too.) It's a progressive lung disease that often has no known causes - my Dad never smoked - and for which there is no treatment. All the "how can this happen to our family" "life's not fair" sentiments that we have been so lucky to avoid for decades have become painfully real. I'll be by T's side every step of the way.

List 61

Love: Soniat House in New Orleans, an idyllic bed and breakfast and the perfect home base for exploring one of the world's most original cities. It's on the edge of the French Quarter, a comfortable distance from the not-for-me Bourbon Street scene. The breakfast in the courtyard is lovely.

Like: Steellllllaaaaaa! P.S., Marlon Brando, what happened to you?

Discovery: The National World War II Museum. It started as a tribute to D-Day, since the Higgins boats that made the beach invasions possible were manufactured in Louisiana. Overtime, the museum's scope has expanded to include the Pacific Theater and exhibits on the homefront as well.

Obsession: Bouligney Tavern. I love when bars or restaurants take over little houses. (Bonus if they're painted grey!) The Bouligney's lounge decor and vibe are right up my alley.

Complaint: That I didn't stick with Treme. The first couple of episodes that I did watch were a bit slow, but I have faith that David Simon will weave his spell, and need to make time to catch up.