Whole Foods

Des Moines. Please.

Meanwhile, in Spain...

Smoking is now banned in indoor public spaces. I never thought I would see the day. When I studied in Spain, I used to come home from evenings out smelling like an ashtray. I showered before going to bed, no matter how late it was (and because it was Spain--and I was 20--it was ALWAYS late). All of my Spanish friends smoked. Nonstop. Everywhere. And 35 percent of Spaniards over the age of 16 are regular smokers. El País, the Spanish paper, published a FAQ for people who're trying to sort out the new restrictions. If you allow Google Translate to work its magic, you can learn:

- What about private parties, weddings or baptisms?

As soon as you do in a public place (a restaurant or hotel) can not smoke, among other reasons because there are staff (waiters) they will work on it.

- What I can do if I enter a bar or a club and there are people smoking?

Responsible for enforcing the law is the owner of the premises, so the first thing to do is talk with the manager. If this does not work, you can fill out a complaint form, and transport to the register, and put a complaint with the Ministry concerned (the Consumer, which is usually integrated Health Care System). You can also complain to the Municipal Police.

Only in Spain would the possibility of smoking at a baptism make the newspaper. You can read more (in Spanish, or let Google try to translate--but note that "tobacco" somehow is translated as "snuff," making this sound kind of like a Victorian habit) in this El País piece: "The New Spanish Lung." It's front-page news at El Mundo too. And at one bar in Marbella, the rebellion has begun.

And Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid's star footballer, has apparently been fending off calls from the anonymous mother of his child, who relinquished custody of the baby to him last year in exchange for a 10-million-pound payoff. She reportedly wants to return the payment and initiate contact with the child.

"Vast dumps of unnecessary detail"

In the new New Yorker, Joan Acocella speculates about why people seem to love Stieg Larsson's novels. I read the first one ("The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," if you've been far from any bookstore for the past couple of years) last fall. Jeff and I have enjoyed the wonderful acting of Noomi Rapace in each of the first two films. Jeff's just finishing up the second book, "The Girl Who Played With Fire," and as it's in our Kindle library, I will probably read it too.

But I didn't care for the first book at all. Any book in which the author tells you the memory specs for a computer (even an important computer) or describes the fruits of an IKEA shopping trip (much as I love IKEA) is not my kind of book. Yet even with their flaws, people are devouring these novels...with their "cheap thrills," "women warriors," and "punk fairy" heroine. Add to that a less-than-snowy-white picture of modern Sweden, and you apparently have a blockbuster in the making--even if you don't live to see it.

Meanwhile, Per Oscarsson, the actor who played Lisbeth Salander's "good guardian" in the films, appears to have died in a house fire at his home in rural Sweden late last week.

"You have an unusual accent...where are you from?" "Des Moines"

The challenges of recruiting international terrorists in Iowa, as relayed to you by the New Yorker's Shouts and Murmurs column.

It's funny...a joke...come on...it's IOWA. "I can't go to Beirut today...my granddaughter Caitlin has gymnastics."

2:00 a.m. snacks, unlimited chocolate, and baby dolls

All part of a novel and effective approach to managing the care of dementia patients. Check out this moving New York Times piece. Why did it take care providers so long to figure this out?