Born to it: WaPo talks to first-time graphic novelist Sarah Glidden about How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, inspired by her Birthright trip to Israel. The Brooklyn-based author-artist, who appears tonight at the D.C. JCC, traveled to Israel four years ago with a critical eye, determined to find facts amidst propaganda. She says she “got a really good reaction from Israel—I was kind of not expecting that.” Man—free trips, money for parties… I wish I were born Jewish. Maybe there’s still time to convert?

RIP: So, if you’ve been living under a rock, Elizabeth Taylor died yesterday. She’s been unwell for quite some time, so I’ve gotta think news outlets have been preparing obits and compiling footage for retrospectives for a while. WaPo‘s treating her like a local (a story about her five-year stint as a political spouse! a slideshow of her time in Washington!); our illustrious Jonathan L. Fischer expressed yesterday that he thought the coverage was overblown. But he does think she was hot: When I said yesterday, “Yeah, and I don’t even think she was that gorgeous,” his response was, “Are you kidding me? Have you seen her in Zeffirelli‘s The Taming of the Shrew?” I haven’t, but maybe it’ll change my mind.

Then again, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em: The New York Times also has expansive—and effusive—Taylor coverage (yes, they really did run the headline “A Lustrous Pinnacle of Hollywood Glamour“). Cathy Horyn has kind of an interesting read though about how Taylor broke the fashion mold: “She was overloaded with hair and bosom, a dreadnought of glamour rather than an elegant swan….”

Don’t question our authority: If you’re reading this, you probably know it’s Best of D.C. time, that beloved annual Washington City Paper tradition. We’ve got all sorts of good stuff: Fischer on Best Cruise Director (three guesses, and his last name kind of rhymes with “harmonious”), Michael J. West on Best Instrument (bass—duh), and Chris Klimek on Best Play That’s Actually a Non-Boring, Didactic Discussion of Race and Gentrification (Clybourne Park, returning this summer to Woolly Mammoth).