“But we wondered, ‘How about we try lower temperatures?’” said Tohru Fushiki, professor of nutrition chemistry at Kyoto University and a leading researcher on oishisa, or tastiness. He is one of the chief proponents of washoku, the traditional Japanese cuisine that was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural treasure last December. (from “Chefs and scientists team up to make Japanese food even more delicious,” by Anna Fifield in The Washington Post, 10/27/14

Paul Murray, in an interview with The Millions (in the person of Mark O’Connell): I read Faulkner’s The Wild Palms recently. It’s not a great book, but there’s this terrific last line: “Between grief and nothing, I will take grief.” I don’t know that that’s a terrible thing. Robert Frost described literature as “a momentary stay against confusion.” Paul Murray talking to The Millions