From the wonderful Table Topics people comes ElectionTopics, ($9.00) posing 40 questions we should all be thinking about, discussing, and deciding before November. Here are a few for your dinner table, or buy a set for your favorite Democrat, Republican or Independent: * How can the divisions in America be healed ? * What laws should be made or changed to reduce greenhouse gases?

The Washington Post Book World staff picks five favorites each week, arranging them under intriguing categories such as 5 Novels So Cold You’ll Forget the Heat, 5 Books that Have Summer Written All Over Them and 5 Poets with Staying Power, to name a few. You can read the archives or subscribe to a feed at ShortStack.

Souvenir postcards are fine for traveling, but when you want to send a note to a friend or family member (or the President telling him just what you think of his energy policy), make it personal. Have 4 x 6 prints made of favorite photos, apply a self-adhesive postcard back from The2Buds, write your message, add stamp and pop it in the mail.  

I’m a big fan of Kelly Rae Roberts’artwork, and now she has a book coming out that might make some of her creative DNA rub off  on the rest of us. Buy a copy of Taking Flight: Inspiration And Techniques To Give Your Creative Spirit Wings and do a little soaring this summer.

In the middle of the Al-Gore, globally warmed crazy hot weather we’re having, my first choice of comfort food would be homemade peach ice cream. But my favorite food blog, Orangette.com, recently featured a recipe for baked pasta that made my knees weak. She incorporates Marcella Hazen’s tomato sauce, and I can’t wait for cooler weather to try it out.   

I’m addicted to Jen Renninger’s etsy.com site. I’ve strung several of her prints on my office walls, but this is one of my favorites. It reminds me...well, you get the message. Jen will be our skirt! cover artist in October. In the meantime, browse her art at her etsy shop here and her website here.

For your next party, decorate with paper bird garlands made from vintage French magazines and other recyled papers. Each garland is approximately 12 feet long. They’re handmade by Mollie Greene and Annie Koelle and can be ordered from their etsy.com shop called Royal Buffet. $18.00 each.  

There is one thing guaranteed to make me laugh no matter how many times I hear it...the Peter Pan episode that aired as part of the Fiasco!

  What do you fear? The Be Brave Project challenges readers to do one thing every day that scares them. Inspired by the Eleanor Roosevelt quote, the project is ongoing--you can jump in at any time. Read all about it here.