One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times - Chapter 8

#8 - "Always leave an inch of tipping room from the top of your cup or glass." 
 Although this is such a simple statement, this lesson that my mother taught me a million times brings a smile to my lips and a particular lightness to my heart. First, it is one of those things that everyone in my family has sort of latched onto as a humorous and sweet touchstone of remembrance of my mom, along with "enchi-lalas" which is what she called enchiladas, and a few others that will no doubt surface in later chapters of "One Hundred Things...." When there's a family get together and a beverage is being poured (usually tea - we're southern after all), there's almost a contest to see who will be the first to say, "Be sure to leave an inch of tipping room," as a silly but loving tribute to mom.

The Big Rich by Bryan Burrough

The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Oil Fortunes, by Bryan Burrough, is one of those books that I'll sit in a parking lot to listen to (I'm listening to it on my iPod), ironically and guiltily burning the very resource that is the basis of the story, and that which sometimes seems the bane of our existence - oil.

Not only is it well written (I know, I always say that, but that's an important criteria for me), but there are so many personal points of reference in the book, that I feel like I'm in it!