Working in ceramics is so 1970s. Painting is old news, and computer art is just too lifeless. The hot new artistic medium is glass blowing, and Boston is slowly catching on to what’s going on in New York and on the Left Coast in this exciting realm. Glass blowing produces incredibly fluid and classic forms, is fun to watch, and, best of all, is a little bit dangerous (and you know how we love to court danger). Check out www.bostonglass.com and www.diabloglassandmetal.com for info on how you too can hook into this hot (as in 2000 degrees Fahrenheit) medium.

We’ve been noticing that Bally of Switzerland must have hired a new creative director, because its new lines of bags and accessories are way cool. Always looking for the next " it " bag, we feel Bally’s designs could go head-to-head with the Dior, Tod, Fendi, Gucci, Prada, and Vuitton creations already piled in your closet. We especially like the camel-colored line of leather bags with names such as Clemesin and Lamay. At Bally Copley Place.

Bibliophiles are well aware that Tim Higgins has quietly been running what may be the best bookstore in Boston — in Newtonville. Newtonville Books, aside from its great selection and passionate booksellers, also hosts a sub-series of author events called Books and Brews. The authors read at the bookstore, and then the whole crew (author included) heads down the street to the Newtonville Times restaurant for free appetizers, cold beer, and plentiful chitchat. Also, keep your eyes peeled for a musicians-and-writers series that Higgins is organizing with Q Division Records, to be held this fall at the Kendall Café in Cambridge.

These little savory morsels are popping up on every menu around town as accompaniments to seafood, poultry, and vegetable dishes. Lardons are essentially little cubes of bacon, but using the word " lardon " makes us sound a bit further removed from the trailer park. Pork fat never tasted so good . . . oh wait, pork fat always tastes good.

Hot loop Jeans, skirts, you name it — this season’s big flashy belts go with everything. If you can’t afford Michael Kors’s version, head to Arden B. at the Pru or Bebe at Copley Place for affordable options.

As any student of rock history can tell you, hard drugs like coke and heroin can kill. And you never really know what dangerous chemicals have been used to cut the " new wave " of designer drugs, such as E and Special K. Which is why we’re seeing a rebirth of stoner culture. But watch out, this isn’t your parents’ grass. New breeding techniques have created strains of marijuana that contain far more THC than anything your hippie aunt used to smoke in the ’60s. Better go rent a few Cheech and Chong movies and stock up on chips and cookies, dude.

Call him mint jelly, ’cause he’s on the lam(b). We speak, of course, of Southie’s most infamous son, Whitey Bulger. We loved hearing that although the FBI still has no idea where he’s hiding, agents surmise that Whitey now has hideous halitosis (the result of not having dental work while in hiding), and that he might be frequenting gay and/or nudist communities. So if you see an older, fire-breathing naked dude with bleeding gums . . .

Here’s what’s literally hot: the tower of spices built by Ana Sortun, the chef/owner of Oleana. Particularly noteworthy are the Aleppo chilies, fresh-ground chilies from Aleppo, Syria, that are the color of a New Mexican sunset. Taste a dash of spicy heat in the grilled lamb steak and green-olive-and-walnut salad atop a beet tart. Or buy the tower, five homemade mixtures from around the world, available at the Cambridge restaurant.

Brunch is bountiful. Lunch is luscious. Dinner is delectable. The libations are lovely. The rooms are remarkable. The Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro has it all, which is what you would expect from such a worldly pair as owners Cecilia and Peter Rait, who came to Boston last year after running a successful restaurant in Lisbon for five years. The classic bistro food also happens to be one of the best foodie deals in town, so catch it while you can.

It’s the book that took France, and the better part of Europe, by storm. Michel Houellebecq, a self-described drunken hermit, is a major celebrity across the pond, and this tome is the reason why. Denounced by the mainstream press and celebrated by everyone else, The Elementary Particles is a disturbing yet insightful look at the value system that drives and defines modern society — think of it as Fight Club with more depth and less swelling. Available in hardcover at bookstores everywhere.