Wegman's Pizza of Raleigh, NC

Before yesterday I'd never been to a Wegmans, which is the nicest grocery store I've been to in my humble 40 years. They sell pizzas of every general variety. Nothing too crazy. I could loiter here all day, at Wegman's wonderful 'cafe' area, where you can buy most types of hot food. My slice had a ratio of 3cr/2ce/3ch.

The crust gets a 3 out of 5. Texturally it's very good, though a hair on the dry side. There isn't much flavor to it. The sauce gets a 4 out of 5. It's sweet and adequately thick, minding me of what I might get at Chuck E. Cheese's.

For style, I'll give Wegman's a 3 out of 5. It's a grocery store pizza, so I wouldn't expect them to do anything that stands out. I like that I can quickly buy my slice and sit wherever I want with nobody asking me to tip. I wish it was cheaper, since quantity-wise it's about the same value as a slice from 7-11. I give Wegman's a 5 out of 5 for quality. I figure the quality might falter if they were making a couple hundred pizzas to order every day, but they're not. And it seems like the nice old ladies making the pizzas have one very simple job to do and they do it well.

With an overall score of 75%, I likely will eat Wegman's again if Pizza is what I'm having and there's a less enticing option. I know Raleigh has pizzas galore, but I'm not sure where to find an old local staple.

* Let me explain my ratio system, regarding mass of standard Pizza Elements. Cr=Crust. Ce=Sauce. Ch=Cheese.

For CR (CRust), 1 is the equivalent of a transparent pizza in the New York style, or the rolled-out, crackery Saint Louis style. 3 would be a regular Domino's hand-tossed Pizza. 4 would be like a Pizza Hut Pan Pizza, and 5 would be like a Sicilian Pizza or some varieties of Deep Dish.

For Ce (sauCE), 1 would be a watery sauce with a thin spreading, no clumping and no oozing. In this cause, the sauce is an afterthought, more like oregano than a key ingredient. 3 would be what you'd expect from a Pizza Hut Pan Pizza. 5 would require a fork to eat.

For CH (CHeese), 1 would be a transparent layer, mostly existing to assure you that your pizza indeed Does have cheese on it. 3 would be a regular Domino's hand-tossed pizza. 4 would be what you get on a Pizza Hut Pan Pizza. And 5 would be what you get in a pizza that requires a fork to eat, like a respectable Deep Dish Pie.

The Waste Lands by Stephen King

This is the fourth book in the Dark Tower series. Roland and Jake need to be reunited, so they do some going between worlds again. There are some bad guys and action and cute creatures, leading me to think this was hoped to become an epic film series. I know they did a movie of the first Dark Tower, but I don't know if the whole thing can happen in King's lifetime. It wouldn't surprise me if we did get it someday, with some AI enhanced graphics to make it look like an 80s Spielberg feature. I'd be curious to see it.

Satan Burger by Carlton Mellick III

With this, I was hoping for more horror than the bizarro thing I got. But it was fun. Carl Mellick III is, I guess famous for pushing forth this type of storytelling where our world and characters are too messed up and wrong(?) to make us fear for them. It's all pretty fun and clever, showing no lack of Culture in our writer. The details are fuzzy to me now, but I know Satan opens a burger shop where food is paid for with the consumer's soul. There are debaucherous noise/punk performances, terrible driving scenes, and appearances from both God and Jesus. It's worth checking out if you are a person of culture as well. 

Wild at Heart by Barry Gifford

I was a big fan of the Nicolas Cage film Wild at Heart and when I found out it was based on a book, of course I had to read it. Most of the story beats are the same, without David Lynch's theatrical pizzazz. This story is part of a longer volume that I didn't finish and assume tells about our minor characters. Altogether it's a pretty good piece of writing for those who like crime, wild romance, and Big Tuna. 

My Secret Garden by Nancy Friday

It took me a very long time to finish this book. It's a collection of letters from various women to the author, telling the secrets of their sexual fantasies, divided into topics and bookended with authorial essays. It's a very interesting topic, but a lot to get through. 

The Circle by Dave Eggers

Here's another book which I did not yet know had been made into a movie. It tells the story of a young woman's blossoming career in the tech world of silicon valley where she works for the Circle. I think that's what it's called. Basically the company likes to track every place and every person because no information should be destroyed or forgotten, or private. Needless to say, not everyone is into this. Things go bad for some people. At the time of its advent I think this story was far more poignant. As of now, its concepts are old and not very scary. 

Wool by Hugh Howey

Here we go. People had been talking about this awesome sci-fi tv show with the enchanting Rebecca Ferguson, Rashida Jones, and Steve Zahn. And I watched a few episodes, after reading this book which I think tells the story of both seasons of the tv show. It's good. Immersive, dark, makes you wonder. If you like modern science fiction, you'll like it. 

It's about people who live in underground silos after some sort of catastrophic event on earth, and there's a lot of control in the amount of information people can have. There's also a lot of climbing and going down stairs, which the tv show doesn't emphasize enough. 

Other People's Clothes by Calla Henkel

This book is kind of a murder mystery. Well, we have two friends who meet while studying abroad in Berlin. They rent a house from a famous writer for very cheap, and throw parties to supplement their rent. 

No spoilers here, I promise. One girl kills herself and the other can't believe it is so, and ends up in an insane asylum after reading her old friends' diary and going out pretending to be the friend, in her clothes. I liked this book. Sure. Was it my thing? I don't know. I'm not super into mysteries above juicy thrills. Maybe you'd like it.