Lunch in Greece and other Friday news briefs.

Before I haul myself into the kitchen to make a late dinner I thought I’d spend a few minutes here with the Howdygram, touching briefly on the biggest news stories of the day.

First, it seems that Facebook’s week-old “dream IPO” turned out to be a genuine nightmare, with its stock already down 16½% at the close of business today. Seriously, what did anybody really expect from a meaningless product created to help teenagers find out what their friends had for lunch? Everybody is already suing everybody else — especially Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs — prompting the SEC to ask who the hell thought all these juvenile Einsteins could launch a public corporation. Schmucks.

Second, Sam and I went to Greece for lunch today! Okay, not really. We actually went to Cafe Greek in north Dallas for their excellent buffet, which turned out to be WONDERFUL, EXTREMELY GREEK and VERY AFFORDABLE at $9.99. The aforementioned excellent buffet included: 1) a pile of Greek salads and dips; 2) lots of olives; 3) two kinds of hummos (smooth hummos and lumpy hummos); 4) stuffed grape leaves; 5) gyros; 6) two kinds of Greek chicken; 7) hot pita bread made in a stone oven; and 8) trays of lovely Greek desserts that I couldn’t eat because I have diabetes.

We’re definitely going back, probably very soon. I’m thinking tomorrow. The map below indicates: A) Howdygram headquarters in Mesquite; and B) Cafe Greek on Preston Road in north Dallas, about a block south of I-635. There’s a lot of parking if you want to come, too.

I’d like to recommend a couple of fabulous movies that Sam and I enjoyed last night ... Stars in My Crown (1950) with Joel McCrea, Ellen Drew and Dean Stockwell and The More the Merrier (1942) with Joel McCrea, Jean Arthur and adorable Charles Coburn. (I’m a big Joel McCrea fan.)

Stars in My Crown is a heartwarming story set in middle America just after the Civil War and The More the Merrier is a priceless screwball comedy about overcrowded housing in Washington, D.C. during World War II. If you’ve never seen these two movies I strongly suggest you buy them soon on DVD from Amazon. (Go ahead. I’ll wait.)

And now, since it’s already 9 p.m. I think I’d better make dinner before Sam and I get too weak from starvation. I’m hungrier, however, because Sam’s been eating hors d’oeuvres for the last couple of hours, including a large quantity of Mother’s English Tea cookies (pictured below), cashews and a banana.

Thank you for reading this.