Just a warning: This will be my last post for at least the next 24 hours or so. Tomorrow’s my birthday, which would be reason enough to spend the day with feet up, but it’s also my designated day to cook for the Fall Fellows Tuesday Night Extravaganzas, in which two people give their 30-minute This Is My Life presentations, and two others make dinner for everyone else.

My presentation was a month ago. Tomorrow I cook. And then I can relax, except for writing 30 more pages of screenplay before Dec. 8.

What’s on the menu? It’s a secret. My partner has taken the bit in his teeth, and I’m just along for the ride. He’s Israeli, he’s a cook, he has opinions. Our shopping excursion — to Whole Foods, Aladdin’s Middle Eastern Market and Kroger — was an exercise in international understanding, proof again that you can learn more about people from examining their grocery carts than from five hours of interviews: “What is this? ‘Lite’ coconut milk? What is the point?”

“It’s the magic button,” I said. “Like saying ‘liberal’ on the Rush Limbaugh show. People think they can have as much as they want and never get fat.”

Moments later: “‘Lite’ eggnog? For what reason is this?”

Being around foreign nationals makes me realize what a titanic effort it must be to live in a different country and speak another language, how tempting it must be to seek out others like you and just let your damn brain and tongue relax for a few hours: “You do the list. I do not understand this American cooking system of ‘LB’ and ‘spoons.'” I thought I could maybe help, because I have at least a nodding acquaintance with the metric system, plus I watch Nigella. I snuck a peek at his recipes.

They were in Hebrew.

I’m sure dinner will be fine. We seem to have purchased vast amounts of food for maybe 30 people, but the leftovers will be wonderful.

In the meantime, and I hope this isn’t too much like inter-blogatary ass-kissing and log-rolling, Greg Beato followed the link to that Michelle Malkin column I referenced yesterday and drew his own conclusions about the girl. His take on the darling of World Net Daily is far better than mine, and worth reading.

Me, I’ll be back here on Wednesday at the latest, with some leftovers for you.