EY's Rants and Raves

Wow

2011-06-24T12:53:00.000-05:00

No posts since January. Don't worry, nothing important is going on.

Words words everywhere

2011-01-15T11:35:00.002-06:00

I love to read. Shocking, I know, to the two of you still out there. Was browsing through my fav online 'zine and found a listing of local blogs. A couple I knew about already and am already following. One I knew about and purposefully wasn't following as the writer is a somewhat public figure whose politics and mine have never really jived. On the blog, though, he writes about a few other things we DO have in common. What drew me in (of course) is food, but an article about Arkansas football and visits to New Orleans, pre and post Katrina hooked me. And made me cry. I could spend all day and probably not get caught up on his blog. But I don't have all day.

In my profession too, there are amazing and rocket-scientist-intelligent people who think about what we do nearly 24X7. A great many of them have fascinating blogs that I'm glad when I stumble across, yet don't have the time to devote to a full reading. I follow one of them, but rarely read. His work is the kind that makes your head explode, but even when I don't understand what I'm reading, his style is so approachable that I do anyway. Every once in a while, I'll scan through a posting just to see what's on his mind. It's always great stuff.

Then there are books. I've way outgrown the two bookshelves I have. The books piled and tossed around lend to the "amateur hoarder" motif of my office. Of course, this isn't "all". I have cookbooks in the kitchen, books in the living room, books on my dresser, books on my nightstand, books (special ones, at that) under my bed. I want more. There's always a book I want. An exceptionally well-read friend sent me a list I've barely touched. If I asked for that list again, I'm sure it would be twice what it was as his reading and movie watching has continued at a good pace and mine has not.

Maybe reading later. Workout, chores, football for today.

Hello Again

2011-01-02T12:15:00.002-06:00

Yes, it's been a while. No, posting regularly is not a New Year's resolution of mine. I'm not enough to do those. I have been trying to get in a regular exercise groove lately and after a horrible start to November (blew off one day, no electricity the next, plans, plans, plans, finally worked out that Saturday, yay), I did OK, nearly hitting working out 50% of the days. December was going really well until Christmas and travel and plans. Didn't work out yesterday (hmmm, wonder why), but Jan. 2 saw a kickbox and ab workout.

I really like the ab workout in the 10 Minute Solution Kickbox Bootcamp. Just when you really start to get tired of a move, you switch to something else. I feel constantly challenged and really dig that. I'm normally a wuss when it comes to abs and will use nearly any excuse to not work them. If it weren't NFL time, I think I would do the workout again. Yeah, nuts for me to be saying.

If I can get rid of some of my congestion it will soon be time to switch back to Ms. JM. I like her workouts, but I'm not as bouncy as she is. I think she's part Tigger; I'm not.

Grocery Rant

2010-10-17T18:10:00.002-05:00

No, not a football rant, not even today. No, today's rant is about grocery stores in my fair city. One of my favorite breakfasts is steel cut oats. I was going to make a crock pot of them, but I have a scant 1/3 cup. Not enough. Didn't want to go all the way over to the Cool Side of Town since a closer store has recently been refurbished. No steel cut oats. At all. No worries, I thought, a new store has opened on my side of town.

So I go to new store. Sure enough, they have steel cut oats...for $5.89. SIX dollars for steel cut oats. You can buy them at a store KNOWN for their super high prices (their nickname rhymes with mole haycheck) for $1 a pound. I do love my oats, but there is no way in terra firma that I'm paying that for them. Expensive store, I'll see you after work tomorrow for my favorite breakfast bargain.

On the upside, pomegranates are in. The early ones I bought could be a bit riper, but I'll take them.

Lettering

2010-08-03T08:16:00.003-05:00

I've often said I'm too much of a commitment-phobe to get a tattoo. That there is nothing I'd want to see every day for the rest of my life. Then I got a look at some of the fine work over at Contrariwise. Literary (and mostly well-done) tattoos. Yes, most are freshly done, which certainly helps. However....
If I chose a literary marking, what would I choose? Shakespeare? And which? Sonnet, play? Faulkner? Wilde? Jong? AS Byatt? Which brings the question...I've met her. She's a proper British lady. Wonder what she'd think about her works being inked on one's body? I'm not sure if she'd be impressed, offended or non-plussed. Allende? Heinlein? He does have some really good zingers. My faves are probably NSFTattoo-ing.

Hmmmmmm.

Hair

2010-07-08T21:01:00.002-05:00

No, I'm not about to break out into song about zodiac signs. This is more a rumination about my crowning glory. I think I've had 4 hairstyles my whole life, maybe 5. I never seem to be quite comfortable with any of them and now is really no exception. I got a haircut about a year ago and then couldn't decide if I liked it or not, so I just let it keep growing. When I'm undecided, I just abstain from deciding; a decision in and of itself, I know, but just how I roll. Two friends decided this was not the right path. When I said, for the millionth time "Oh, I just can't decide what to do with my hair", one friend sent ideas, pictures no less. All 4 were fairly short (to me), but she was getting her hair did soon, so I made made an appointment convenient for all of us to show up together.

My hair is naturally unruly and since I have no talent for fixing it, I generally don't like looks that require a lot of effort. Unfortunately, most hairstyle books have styles done by professionals who have spent hours on the do. I have neither that much skill or time every day. So with a little liquid courage, I got layers and have actually let it dry and be naturally unruly for over a week. I've gotten lots of compliments, even from people who have no reason to lie to me about how it looks, so I'm starting to think it's OK. Maybe.....

Are you a keeper?

2010-04-29T21:08:00.002-05:00

Had an interesting discussion with a friend recently about how it would be to be a "kept" person. I'm not sure I could do it. As much as I'd like to think that a life as a woman of leisure would be fun, I know I'd have to have some intellectual stimulation. I like what I do. I like the subject. I like the feeling of accomplishment in helping solve problems, I like the study to keep up with a changing landscape. I suppose I could certainly keep my subscriptions, read blogs, work out problems and write about them in my "free time" if I were kept. I'd certainly have to spend more time at the gym and I'd have time to do that.

However, I've often thought about having "a poolboy". A pool would be impractical where I live, but a poolboy would not. If I suddenly found myself single, having someone available for my physical needs wouldn't be too bad.

Just saying.....

diversity and its dilemmas

2010-04-23T08:33:00.002-05:00

I'm a well-rounded person in both physique and interest. Last night, I had an extreme example of the latter. When I got home from dinner with friends (helping out the former, actually) I had 2 TV shows competing for my interest: Round 1 of the NFL draft and the Season Finale of Project Runway. I'd missed a good deal of the draft and half the PR finale, but managed to flip adequately between the two.

Fav draft moment: didn't have one. Tim the Terribly Unsportsmanlike went higher than I expected (boo), but to a team I hate, so I don't have to see him on any of MY sidelines (yay). I call that a wash on the draft.

Fav PR moment: (from a conversation between The Incredible Tim Gunn and Seth Aaron) TITG: How many looks do you have?
SA: 24 (The finale requires each contestant to complete 10 outfits or looks)
TITG: Not how many pieces, how many "looks"?
SA: 24

And THAT, Ladies and Gents is why Seth Aaron is your PR2010 winner! YEAH SA!!!!

Worth my weight in gold....errr

2010-04-15T11:28:00.001-05:00

Created by Oatmeal

Weekend Randomness

2010-04-11T11:49:00.002-05:00

I'm digging hanging out with my rock and roll peeps, but it tends to make me want to have a very quiet night/day later. I've been busy enough all week that I just want to go all hermit-y for the weekend. Kinda sad to do that on a day as beautiful as today.

I really dig Texts From Last Night. I'm far too boring to do anything which would cause a text of mine or about me to show up there. Kinda like that and kinda don't. (No, Friend P, my fellow Crew Slut, this is NOT intended to be a challenge for you; it's a musing of mine.)

Have had a story floating in my head for about a week and a half. Need to get it written out. I don't think it will win a Hugo award or anything, but I'm excited about it.

I need to get back in a cooking groove. I've not cooked much lately and I miss it.

Starting a boot camp at a local gym this week. I'm pretty excited about it and still sore from the "how fit are you" 25 pushups I did. 21 more than I expected to do, so I'm kinda proud of myself.

"What Would Brian Boitano Make" is cheesy as all get out, but he does a good job of breaking recipes down, showing you that it's not rocket science and actually cooking.

Random thought for 03102010

2010-03-10T09:24:00.002-06:00

I'm in Tony Bourdain overload mode lately. Watching lots of No Res on the streaming through the teevee and reading a book of short stories of his ("The Nasty Bits" and no that title does not refer to what you think it does). He ends one story with a thought that has intrigued me for a few days: every cynic is a failed romantic.

An interesting thought, but since I've been called "the queen of cynicism", it leads me to ponder the idea even more. So was I once the queen of romance who slipped? I don't think so. Perhaps I was a run-of-the-mill romantic who had an epic fail that led to my royal cynic status.

Interesting. More pondering, I'm sure.

This

2010-02-25T07:47:00.001-06:00

I couldn't agree more.....

(from Steven Koplan's article "Drink up! A pleas to pour your best wines tonight" on Salon)

I admit to having more than a few special bottles in my cellar, set aside for broad celebrations and intimate seductions. As I gazed at dozens of wonderful wines I began to realize that any time true friends, new or old, and family, beloved or merely tolerated, break bread in my home, these treasured bottles should grace the table. Some of these wines are rare, many irreplaceable, but not nearly as rare or irreplaceable as the important people in my life....

We agreed that the pairing with the food really was amazing, almost a force of nature, but what was so much more important was that sharing this irreplaceable wine together enhanced our conversation during dinner and tied anew the strong bonds of a lifelong friendship. What started out as a day to just hang out became an important and memorable one.

To be sure, fine wines are treasures, and I sometimes wonder if even the most wine-stained among us realizes how truly rare is the opportunity to taste great wine. Ninety-six percent of the wine produced in the world is made to be consumed within one year of its harvest vintage; 99 percent within two years. No more than one-tenth of 1 percent of the wine produced in the world is destined to be among the treasured classics, and the rich and powerful can always get to them first.

We the many, who are neither so rich nor so powerful, may occasionally enjoy one of life's Little Luxuries, a fine wine to be shared with the right people at the right time. But with how fleeting life can be, we might want to reexamine the definition of "special occasion" to make it more inclusive, more elastic, more fun. Get those bottles out, stand them up in the light of day, and bring them to your table to enjoy. Opening and sharing a rare and wonderful wine makes the food taste better, the conversation more sophisticated (or at least the same old stories become bearable), your dining companions more attractive. Make tonight's dinner special for the one you love more than any other; special for your kids home from college; special for the friends who you rely on and who rely on you; special for the folks who don't always feel so special, but you know they are. Sharing your finest wines makes the table a place for celebration and meditation.

With our first look, our first smell, our first sip, we are transported to a place where riches and power run a distant second to pure pleasure, and for that brief moment we are as rich as the richest person, as happy as the happiest, and power just doesn't matter.

Dangerous beds

2010-02-23T08:31:00.001-06:00

From Mark Twain in 1871, via Bruce Schneier

I hunted up statistics, and was amazed to find that after all the glaring newspaper headings concerning railroad disasters, less than three hundred people had really lost their lives by those disasters in the preceding twelve months. The Erie road was set down as the most murderous in the list. It had killed forty-six—or twenty-six, I do not exactly remember which, but I know the number was double that of any other road. But the fact straightway suggested itself that the Erie was an immensely long road, and did more business than any other line in the country; so the double number of killed ceased to be matter for surprise.
By further figuring, it appeared that between New York and Rochester the Erie ran eight passenger trains each way every day—sixteen altogether; and carried a daily average of 6,000 persons. That is about a million in six months—the population of New York city. Well, the Erie kills from thirteen to twenty-three persons out of its million in six months; and in the same time 13,000 of New York's million die in their beds! My flesh crept, my hair stood on end. "This is appalling!" I said. "The danger isn't in travelling by rail, but in trusting to those deadly beds. I will never sleep in a bed again."

Nevah had it, nevah will

2010-02-22T07:38:00.004-06:00

(with apologies to the Sprite commercial from the 80's, from which I totally stole that line.)

I several wonderful blogs from P-Dub, my favorite being Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. I live out in the country, I get up insanely early, I like the city life sometimes, I like to cook, I have a basset. We have some things in common. But then again, we have other things not in common. She has 4 kids, she homeschools (which I completely cannot fathom how you do and do well...it's not a matter of how smart you are, but I digress) and every once in a while, she will post or comment on how seeing a baby makes her want to have one.

I've seen cute babies in my day. I've seen well-behaved babies, even. One was at my house yesterday, coo-ing and laughing and in general being a ham. Not screaming, not crying, not fussing so I (and certainly her mother) was happy to have her over. But it didn't make me want one. No kid, young or not so young has ever made me think "you know, I really ought to do that". Even the well-mannered, not making a mess, reasonable to talk to ones leave me with a "thank goodness I don't have to deal with THAT" feeling.

So while I feel for Ree that she's in "uterine conflict", my uterus-free, insensitive-to-such-things self just doesn't have that issue. And I suppose I never will.

Srsly?

2010-02-18T08:26:00.002-06:00

(Stolen from Emergent Chaos....a fine blog, btw)

http://emergentchaos.com/archives/2010/02/im-not-comfortable-with-that.html

The language of Facebook's iPhone app is fascinating: If you enable this feature, all contacts from your device will be sent to Facebook...Please make sure your friends are comfortable with any use you make of their information.
So first off, I don’t consent to you using that feature and providing my mobile phone number to Facebook. Not giving my cell phone to random web sites (including but not limited to Facebook) was implicit when that number was provided to you. Your continued compliance is appreciated. What’s really interesting is the way in which this dialog deflects the moral culpability for Facebook’s choices to you. They didn’t have to create a feature that sucked in all the information in your phone book. They could have offered an option to exclude numbers. And why does Facebook even need phone numbers? Their language also implies that such transfers of third party data are not constrained by any law they have to worry about. Perhaps that’s correct in the United States.
But none of that is considered in the brief notice.
I don’t agree.

Me either. I don't have my cell # in FB. I don't have many of my FB contacts in my cell phone. I'm quite happy for those streams of data to exist in "parallel lines that shall never again intersect"* It's probably not worth polling everyone I know to see if A) they have a Jeebus phone and B.) they use the FB Jeebus phone app. Besides, what would they do? If I'm in your cell address book, there's probably a reason. I can't ask folks to NOT use the app or manually enter my number every time they want to call/txt me. But FB really should have provided other options. Selecting who you import would be a good start. Not automatically sucking in information *not needed to run the application* (a novel idea, I know).

Facebook, this is yet another epic privacy FAIL. I sure wish I--and everyone I know--knew how to quit you.

*that's a quote from something...I don't remember what. If you know me, you know I'm not good at quotes. I can remember the quote or the source, but generally not both. This case, I got the quote.

Facebook games

2010-02-02T20:13:00.002-06:00

I'm not always one for following things on Facebook. I don't do the applications at all and no Farmville or play restaurant for me. But this one, I did.

Go to urbandictionary.com and look up your name. Simple. First definition specified that my name is the feminine version of my name. Wow. Second definition "Amazing girl that basically rocks everybody's world. She is totally classy and an awesome friend." I do pride myself on being a good friend. But the third definition (seriously, I'm not making this up and I didn't correct the spelling. I wanted to, but didn't.)...

Feminine name; Scottish in origin; meaning dark grey fortress.

Often given to women of incredible beauty and abysmal depth, whose demeanor evokes some ancient mystical rite lost to modern time.

Like a dark grey castle fortress in the early morning, one marvels at its beauty subtley and magically revealed through fog and mist. One longs to not merely see the timelessness of such a creation, but to also scale its walls to be part of something greater and far more ancient than the one's self.

Perhaps once in a lifetime, one is lucky enough to see an EY. And if so, one will never forget how such a sight grants one with an apprecitation of the gradiations between the physical and metaphysical.

Super Bowl Ads

2010-01-27T20:25:00.003-06:00

The NFL is nothing if not advertising savvy. Even people who have no idea what the game is about can tell you a rough estimate of how much a 30 or 60 second ad for the big game costs. For many, the game of who has an ad, what it will be, when it will air is as much fun as the actual pigskin contest (but rest assured, Dear Reader that I'm all about the game). As other major sports take big PR hits from drug, violence and other scandals, the NFL leads an apparently charmed life.

This is, of course, a delusion. As the tastefully named Gregg E. of TMQ often warns us, "there is no law of nature that says football must remain so popular" and he's right. Why am I such an ardent NFL fan? Because I used to be a HUGE baseball fan (Ozzie Smith and the StL Cardinals, thankyouverymuch) and when I became disillusioned with millionaires going on strike and pumping themselves full of drugs, I needed a new outlet for my admiration and the NFL was just walking right by. The rebound sport snagged me. Oh I'd flirted with it every now and again, but didn't really pay it much attention until my first love broke my heart. Funny how life works out that way.

Because lots of ordinary fans (like me) love the NFL and will watch it to the point of being braindead (how I still remember the one day of watching NFL Sunday Ticket), people will pay the NFL outrageous amounts of money for insane things. The NFL has an official beer (Coors Light--not that you could tell with all the Miller Lite and Bud commercials thrown in), soft drink (Pepsi, with one of the most annoying commercials I've ever seen, but I don't like throwbacks), bank (B of A...I guess that's where the NFL officially keeps all their money), etc. Stadium naming rights, personal seat licenses (where you pay for the right to pay for your season tickets) and paying to stand up to watch a game are now the common parts of the biz.

None of this has ever bothered me. Do I think PSL's are stupid? Yes, but I'm not a season ticket holder. Would I pay to be allowed into a stadium and not have a seat? No, but since I hate the Cowboys and don't live near Dallas, I'm not obligated to participate. Even the excesses of the Super Bowl ads have never bothered me. Until now. For the most part, NFL fans keep politics out of the game. I don't know how my favorite player/coach/coordinator/trainer/ballboy votes and I don't care. You want to pray before the game? Go ahead, I'm watching the pregame show or racing through traffic to get home after church. You want to pray after you score a TD? Fine, make it quick. You want to point to God to thank Him for a good play? Your choice. If any NFL owner is shoveling money to a political party, that's up to him or her. It's their money; I'm not telling them how to spend it. They don't seem to have any issues with my Starbucks habit.

But not this year. This year, the NFL accepted money from a virulently anti-woman organization, Focus on the Family, to air a commercial with the assuredly-high draft pick Tim Tebow and his mom, discussing how she gutted (no pun intended) through a dangerous pregnancy against the advice of her doctors and give birth to the young man who some NFL club (cough, Jacksonville, Tampa) believes will fix all their problems with one fell swoop and take them on to glory in the postseason for the foreseeable future. Some will say "this is about choice...she was free to make a choice and see, everything turned out alright". And so it did. Congratulations Tim's Mama. I'd like to say this happens for everyone, but it doesn't. And FotF doesn't support a woman's right to choose. They support forcing women to carry every pregnancy to term, even if it kills her, maims her, destroys her reproductive system, saddles she and her family with a shell of a child they cannot manage emotionally or financially. They are not there to help once a child is born, only to demand that women be forced through that all-important 9 months. Hell with her after that. Pregnancy is a dangerous business. There's a reason infant and mother mortality rates dropped significantly when more births happened in medical facilities than on your own.

I'll be at a Super Bowl party this year, enjoying the game and making fun of most of the commercials. I'll be with people whose politics are vastly different from mine. We don't agree on a great many points, but we're all football fans. I might not like your favorite team, but I know you're a fan, same as I am and for that, I can respect you. I respect the common ground we can find, where political labels don't matter. Where there's a good game to be had, good-natured ribbing about a bad play by your offense or a good tackle by my defense. Where you're not some idiot fascist and I'm not a commie you'd like to shoot. The NFL allowing such a hot-button topic as this ad threatens that. Our country is polarized enough. We already shout slogans at each other while the real problems of every day go unsolved. There is too much "I've got mine, why should I worry about anyone else?", too much "my way is the right way and F*** anyone who disagrees", too much "they only think that because they're backwards idiots". Sports is a good way to find a place of agreement. I don't think one game will destroy anything, but it's a bad precedent. Remember NFL, there is no law of nature that says football must remain so popular.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T14:32:00.002-06:00

For someone who overthinks everything, you'd think I'd be totally into New Year's resolutions. While I do have plans for some changes in the new year, they're not really "resolutions". Yes, I'm planning more exercise and leaner food, but that's mostly because I won't have weird weeks of evening events and days off to mess up my workout schedule and after all the holiday partying, I'm actually craving veggies.
I got a new job last year, so no worries on that for 2010 (one hopes). I'm getting into a groove with the job, I'm learning the people and processes, so I do have ideas and things I want to do, but that too isn't really a resolution.
I want to spend more time with the folks who mean a lot to me. However, that too isn't a resolution so much as a constant. My peeps mean a lot to me and the more time with them, the better for EY. I do think this year may be more traveling to see far off friends. I've never been to New Jersey. Think it's about time I go.

So to the 3-4 folks who read this, I hope that 2010 brings you good times, good friends, good health.

T'was the night

2009-12-13T12:02:00.004-06:00

Approximately a fortnight before Christmas. This won't rhyme or be all that clever, but it's been perking in the noggin, so I thought I'd capture it.
My friends are social folks. We have an annual list of parties that have solidified over the years. Super Bowl, T's birthday, 4th of July, Winter Formal and New Year's. There are random gatherings sprinkled in as well. Last night was Winter Formal. It's the newest occasion. Last year, Lees decided that we needed an occasion to dress up, that our normal "show up in whatever" needed a break. So last year, I wore a nice skirt, a sparkly sweater and a nice wrap over it. This year, we put the "formal" in formal.
As outfits go, I'm happy to dress conservatively. In general, the more of me that's covered, the better, which has been my clothing MO for 90% of my life. Not this time. Friend P made it clear that my snazzy sweater and work-appropriate skirt wasn't going to cut it this time. She wanted cleavage and legs. Easy for her to say. So a-dress-shopping she went. She picked out preliminaries and later I joined for the fitting. I was really in favor of a dark blue goddess-y gown, but it was pronounced "not hot enough". Some of the dresses were cute on the rack, but really bad on. It's sad when your back fat makes better cleavage than your front fat.
Finally, the dress was found. Long, so no leg, but plenty of cleavage in front...where it should be. I described the dress to a friend as "cut halfway to my navel". Not quite. Halfway down to my knee is what it felt like and was in fact, about an inch and a half above my navel. I don't know if I flashed any scars from my hysterectomy, but I'm sure I could have.
All day Saturday, I had a giddy sense of anticipation. Cookies and other goodies were baked. Drinks packaged. Then the nerves started. How would I do my hair? What on earth would I do for my makeup? Could I pull off a look that wouldn't look like I was on my way to work? Could I really tape myself into clothing? That part worried me. Not sure why as it's the only practical thing for a gown like that.
As getting ready progressed, the nerves got worse. It was raining a little. Rain and long dresses with trains don't go well together. Got to the party a tad late and hauled our stuff in. I came in with a coat on (it was cold....even not half naked, it was cold) and got several "why are you wearing a coat" looks. Dropped off the coat and purse and made an entrance. Boy did I ever. I think Friend P couldn't have been prouder of me if I were her kid winning a contest. But she should have been proud. I would never have picked out a dress like this. I wouldn't have had much of an idea for my hair had she not made a suggestion that was not too hard for me to do and worked well.
I wore the dress through dinner, for many many pictures, a few trips outside (any more and I'd have swept Lees's deck clean) and then it was time to retire it. As far as things went, I was comfortable both dress fit and shoe-wise. I really wanted to be comfortable with wearing the dress longer, but the length and all the skin was a bit more than I could do.
So with slightly mixed feelings, I changed into my fav fleece shirt and jeans. Much better, but I almost felt that I'd given in too soon.
The girls discussed wearing our dresses again and going out for a night on the town. Maybe we'll do that. The dress certainly deserves another showing.

Note this day

2009-11-22T19:06:00.003-06:00

I'm going to say something positive about Bill Belichick. The decision to go for it on 4rd down at Indy on Monday at the end of the game was the right decision. Yes, they lost the game, but the decision was good. Bill knows better than to give PM the ball with 2 minutes left. Even if they could have managed for the drive to start out in the parking lot, 2 minutes is *forever* to the Indy QB. I can't say off the top of my head how many game winning drives PM has, but it's a lot. He's not scared of a big field, a short clock or the NE defense.

There were some bad plays and bad decisions prior to that 4th down, but the decision to go for it was a challenge to his offense to win the game. Unfortunately, the team that took up the challenge was Indy. That happens. You play the game to see who is better and even a good team is bested by their opponent at times. Again, that's why you play.the.game.

So NE lost. They lost to a team who has beaten every team they've played this year. NE played hard and for the most part, they played smart. No shame in that. Both teams will be playing in late December/January, count on it.

Whaaaa?

2009-11-20T07:31:00.003-06:00

Well, Salon finished their countdown. #1 was James Franco. Who? (No, I haven't see any of the Spiderman movies; I'd have a better shot of knowing him from Tristan + Isolde, but I haven't seen that either.) I guess he's cute in an annoying 14 year old kind of way. I looked him up on IMDB and was more impressed than I thought I'd be. But he just looks so, well, *young*. So unknowledgeable and newly formed. Oh well. I suppose I'll never be much of a cougar.

The only 5 on their list that seem worth mentioning are Ted Danson (love the way he rocks the gray! Been watching Anderson Cooper, haven't you, Ted?), Rahm Emanuel, Neil Patrick Harris, Jamie Oliver and the so-hot-you-have-to-use-the-Kelvin-scale-to measure George Clooney. I say bring back 2007's winner....Jon Hamm is still PLENTY hot.

Think sexy

2009-11-19T08:06:00.002-06:00

Salon is doing their "Sexiest Man Living" for 2009. I like that the men are judged on attributes other than just being a pretty face. Granted, there ARE some pretty faces, but it's not just about adoring hunks of man-candy.

Today's is a bit of a challenge for me: Joseph Gordon-Levitt. When I read the write up on him, intellectually, I agree that he has some good things to recommend him. If I look at him objectively, he's nice looking in the nerdy, intelligent way that I like. But I can't mentally get past him as the annoying little brother on 3rd Rock. And there's nothing sexy (to me) about annoying little brother.

I'm quite curious on who will eventually be the winner. To me, they left the Sexiest Man Living down at either #12 or certainly #10. Jamie Oliver is #12. Hmmmm, cute, Brit, chef, good with his hands and insists on tasting everything. Ummm, please sir, may I have some more? George Clooney, who will always hold the top spot on my "free pass list", is #10. TEN?!? I would have put him on the list when he was on Roseann. The graying of the hair, the crinkles around the eyes only add to his casual, comfortable sexiness. His range in serious and funny roles, especially those where he's not afraid to play a total buffoon up the temperature pretty well for me too. I do agree with Salon's categorizing him as "Old Reliable". Yep, reliably making my lady bits quiver since 1998. You're always #1 on my list, G.

Fame and journalism

2009-11-11T21:12:00.003-06:00

About a year ago, a local newscaster was killed in her home. A horrific crime and as expected, the investigation and subsequent trial has been reported on extensively by the local media. I keep wondering one thing: would this event have gotten the press coverage it has if she'd been a face in the crowd type person and not a beautiful young famous-in-our-area young woman? The ones covering the crime and trial are journalists. People who are supposed to be objective in their coverage. Yet, stories frequently mention "our colleague ".

While I understand that this was a shock, that the local media scene is tight-knit and that the individuals involved are human beings who did care for her, I question the breathless reporting of every.single.bit of the story. I wonder how many other stories, stories of the non-famous and the perhaps not beautiful, equally deserving of ink (or pixels) have gone uncovered or have been skimmed over in the rush to cover this story.

Why I'm a reader

2009-10-01T14:31:00.003-05:00

I'm listening a podcast of one of my fav technology minds right now and what he's saying is sticking in my head as well as olive oil on lard. It's not his fault. He's an interesting speaker, he's talking about something I'm interested in, I should be loving this. Yet, I'm also hearing general office work over the wall and was distracted enough to go blog.
This is why I read. I can focus on words in ways I can't focus on what comes in my ears. I think this is also why I'm a casual (at best) music fan. Words capture my eyes, I can hear them in my mind as I see them and finally, I read them. They capture more of my senses and I'm less able to be distracted by the "ooooh shinys" going on around me. Listening just doesn't do that for me.

Sorry Hoff.

My friends

2009-08-08T12:56:00.002-05:00

I have no idea how many times I've blogged about this, but I'm doing it again. I have great friends. Last night was the Annual Birthday Dinner at my fav Birthday Dinner Spot. The folks there are great and the waiter, who we've had for 3 years now, just fits right in with us. We apologized early in the night for any raw and inappropriate language we'd be subjecting him to. He says "That's alright, dessert tonight is rhinoceros crotch ice cream". So as you can see....he can hang right there with us.

Missed a few people, but that's fine. Have one friend who has 3 little ones under 8 and her anniversary is 2 days before my birthday. So if she and her hub can manage a free night that time of year, they're celebrating their holiday, which is only right in my book. Have one friend who always attends a conference this time of year. If she gets home, unpacked, re-organized, she makes it. This year was not one of those years. One couple is building a house and has had a few mishaps already, even though they're still working on the foundation. Ten inches of rain in a month doesn't do good things for your driveway when heavy trucks come a'calling. Had some new faces this year, which is always fun. Not sure how traumatized J and M are after all our fun, but they seem to have survived pretty well. A friend of T and D was in town from Florida and I was glad they brought her. She's a lot of fun.

Since I'm not a cheap date, I never request presENTS, but prefer presENCE. However, great friends that I have, I get the ENTS anyway. This year, two different people got me gift certificates to liquor stores. No, I didn't realize that they had gift certificates either. I have a feeling that shopping for wine "for free" is going to be better than shopping for books "for free".

Tomorrow I'm going to go see the movie about the chef and the blogger (I'd put the name, but I don't want a bunch of comment spam like I got when I posted football team names last year). I know that I'll boo hoo all through it. I can barely get through the trailer without tearing up. I wonder, when did I get so soft? Emotionally, I mean. I know exactly how I got to be physically soft. That being said, I'm still very much looking forward to it. I'm taking a fellow softie, so I won't sit and the theatre and sob alone.

Ahhhhh, the fun of Birthday Month continues!

Beets me!

2009-07-12T17:46:00.014-05:00

When I was a kid, I doubt you could have paid me to eat a beet. A funny sounding word, beet, I just wasn't hip to trying them. I did eat plenty of veggies as a kid, so it's not like I ended up malnourished. I discovered beets last year on a trip to NYC with some friends and got interested in cooking my own through seeing them in our Locally Grown market. Roasted beets sounded like the easiest way to go and it would allow me to add only what I wanted to as the recipe went on. Because beets are sweet, many recipes try to add even more sugar. I'm all about dessert, but veggies should be veggies and dessert should be dessert

I've often thought that I should blog about my beet-ing, but I've been a bit tardy about getting out the camera. Although the pesto post was deliciously beautiful, this one may top it. Lots more shiny things.

So to roast beets, you need a few things.
Beets? Check.

Sheets of aluminum foil? Check. (Yes, I needed to wash dishes. Those glasses are my new Riedel Cabernet glasses. AB.SO.LU.TE.LY NOT dishwasher safe. Beautiful, though. You'll be relieved to know that they are washed and safely in the cabinet.)

Oven? Check. I know an oven isn't usually listed as an ingredient, but my point here is that we're not using a pan for sauteeing, we're not boiling, we're not microwaving. We're roasting, which makes an oven important.

Grab a beet, put it in foil. This is a lovely yellow beet.

This is a lovely red beet all nestled in foil, ready to look like....

THIS!

Just crumple up the foil and put your lovely on a sheet pan (technically, this is a half sheet pan). Yes there are a lot of them. Beet roasting means the oven is on and beets are ready in late spring, when I'd rather not heat up the house for no good reason. Beets ARE a good reason, but since it's just as easy to roast many as it is to roast one, use your energy wisely....and roast plenty of beets.

Then put your lovelies in a very hot oven, say 425 degrees. No matter how large or small your beets are, these are going to take at least 40 minutes. You'd be safe if you planned on an hour. Tiny beets, round beets, oblong beets, doesn't matter. It's a mystery of thermodynamic mass that someone smarter than I will have to figure out. I just plan to spend a little reading time while the beets roast. OK, I don't always read; I watch TV. Bravo or Law and Order, usually.

When they're ready, open up the foil wads and let them cool. Doesn't the beet juice on the foil look pretty? Pink, yellow and shiny.

This one has all 3 in one package. Isn't that gorgeous?

Once they're cooled, you can just slip the skins right off. Yes, you'll get beet juice on your hands. It comes off. You can always wash your hands with salt to get anything that soap and water miss. As a bonus, it will leave your hands nice and soft.

Look at the leftover foil. I love that.

After your effort, you have beets to do almost anything with. Put them on a salad with goat cheese; put salt, pepper and olive oil on them; sautee the beet greens, make a vinagrette, toss some cannellini beans in, toss in the beets and you have a nice vegan dinner.

You'll note that the beets are segregated. I'm not some kind of color hater, but once beets are cut or cooked, their juice becomes an effective dye. Really. People have used beets to dye all kinds of things for centuries. Look on the side of a strawberry Yoplait container. There's beet juice in it to make it nice and pink. But I digress. I'd like the yellow beets to stay yellow. I'd like the pinkish ones to stay pink. Put them in with one of those dark red ones and all lighter color is lost. As cute as the tiny ones are, they took just as long to cook as the ones to their left and were a complete pain to peel.

So that's beets in just a few steps. Try them....I DARE you!

So I'm in Trouble....that starts with T which rhymes...

2009-06-21T21:52:00.002-05:00

I own a calendar. Several, in fact. Even if I didn't, the TV would certainly let me know, with commercials and such, that today is Father's Day: "Great Father's Day" sales here and there. I sent Dad a card. He's not really the flowers or gift-y kind. I even sent the card a couple of days EARLY so that he'd have it in plenty of time. The Boy and I are walking out the door and the phone rings. Parent's cell phone. We're walking out the door. I let it go. Cell phone rings. I'm about to be in a diesel truck with the windows down going 65 MPH for 45 minutes. It's not really a good time for a cell conversation.

Fast forward more time than I honestly thought it would be. The Boy and I have procured a delightful thing I've wanted for some time and at a price reasonable enough to be robbery. We make a stop on the way home and have a slight amount of diesel truck trouble. I get yet another call. I (mistakenly) answer it. Very irritated Mom wanting to know why I haven't called. I explain that now's not really a good time, which doesn't matter one iota. I say I'll call as soon as we get home, which again, doesn't matter one iota. Neither of us is particularly nice about it.

So we finally do get home, get situated and I call. Dad is quite happy to hear from me and he thinks the afternoon adventure (I skipped the car trouble bit) sounds grand. Dad, per his usual, is perfectly fine. I tell him about our adventure, he tells me about the festivities of a relative's wedding he and Mom attended this weekend. The whole time, I can hear Mom correcting everything he says. Then the dreaded words "Your Mother would like to talk to you". Uh huh. I'll bet she does. I get a good griping at for my earlier attitude and "sassy mouth". It's about all I can do to not say "hey, last I checked, I'm at adult, so you can stop acting like I'm not."

Because today's episode was not about what time of day I called for Father's Day. I talk to them on a regular basis and it's generally late afternoon/evening on Sunday. By my estimates, I had a few more hours. No today was my punishment for not going to the wedding. The wedding of a relative I've seen fewer than 10 times in my life. A relative who lives a fairly expensive plane ride away. But her Dad and my Mom are siblings and close. Which is lovely, but I feel doesn't really obligate ME to spend not a small amount of cash and a considerable amount of time going to this wedding. When plans were announced, Mom called to see what hotel we'd booked. She was pretty offended when I said "we haven't booked a hotel because we're not going. I have a huge project at work due right after that, so it's not a good time for me to take a few days off. That and it would be an expensive trip." No one seemed upset when I missed the wedding of a cousin on the other side of the family and they were less than 100 miles away.

Nope, my offense was not doing what Mom wanted when she wanted it done in the way she wanted. Two offenses really. Not going to the wedding and not calling Dad every hour on the hour. I've spent a lot of time feeling like what I did didn't quite measure up to expectations. I've about had it with that. I'm old enough to have paid off a few cars, have a mortgage, a job in a field I like (which I suppose makes it an Official Career). My friends seem to think I'm pretty OK and more days than not, my spouse agrees. I think if that's not acceptable for the 'rents, that's their problem, not mine.

Dear All.....

2009-05-12T08:57:00.002-05:00

Utility companies, phone companies, credit card companies*, internal help desks.....etc. The last 4 digits of a consumer's SSN are the only ones unique to that individual and the only digits that cannot be determined by knowing where and when someone was born (in most cases). Can you please stop frakking using them as a PIN CODE?!?!?

*CC folks, I'll almost give you a break on this one. Almost, but not quite. You, out of the above list are the only folks with a valid reason under the FCRA to have my SSN. However, that doesn't mean you need to use it for non-credit purposes.

If any of my handful of readers were avid fans of "Designing Women" and recall the fit Julia had about the poor state of customer service on one episode, you, like Suzanne, may find yourself saying "Oh great, Lesley has another experience with the public at large."

PS--Date of birth isn't much better....but until it's regulated, I guess I'll have to live with it. When it is, I expect I shall rant about it too.

Do I dare?

2009-04-19T15:17:00.003-05:00

As I'm browsing through all the apps in the iTunes App store, I'm drawn to the shopping list apps. I used to create my shopping lists on my PDA of the moment and loved the convenience of not having to remember to write something down or where my "current list" piece of paper was. However, those devices had disastrous end of life issues when they met the floor of the local Kroger. I've grown attached to the iPod and would hate for it to die in such a fashion. I do have a case for it, but I'm not sure that it provides adequate protection for a 4 1/2 ft fall onto linoleum.

sigh.....I'm still app-searching

Wha...?

2009-04-16T08:33:00.002-05:00

From a WaPo article today "operating an extremely lethal Gatling gun" Really? "Extremely lethal"? As opposed to just "marginally lethal", "slightly lethal" or what the Girls Gone Wild Dude and Hugh Hefner would probably like, "barely lethal"?

I've always been under the impression that lethal = dead and dead was dead with no modifiers or intensifiers needed. But what do I know....?

things I don't recommend

2009-04-08T07:42:00.002-05:00

Missing the first 20 minutes of an episode of House. This wasn't intentional--the cable folks were doing something that for whatever reason, couldn't be done between 8 and 5. Since USA has turned into the "L&O, NCIS and House" channel, I'm sure I'll see the beginning in a few weeks.
Shopping for an Easter dress after you work out. Actually, this one wouldn't have been bad, had I changed back into my "street clothes". You'd be amazed at how a sports bra really doesn't work with a v-necked top.
Bringing a can of beer to a funeral visitation (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30091125/?GT1=43001). Notice, my description of the event is different from MSBNC's. This is Arkansas. We don't have "wakes". If we did, beer would be not only acceptable, it would be required. I'm sure lots of people read that article and wondered why you'd fight over having beer at a wake.
Oh and Superman's cape? Just leave it alone, dude.

helpful hints

2009-03-18T12:17:00.003-05:00

Dear Kroger,

If you're going to sell fruit cups that you assemble manually from whole fruits, you might want to cut up larger pieces of fruit into sizes smaller than a golf ball.

Just a suggestion,
EY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Co-worker,

If you're going to ask me to proofread something, I'm happy to help. After all, someone paid a lot of money for my degree in English; it's nice to use it every once in a while. Before sending, however, could you please do your own spell check? It's a fairly easy to find button, even in the jacked up mess that is Word 2007. I realize technical documents have a lot of jargon in them, but when Word finds numerous actual misspellings, such as "wil", "foreward", and "therre", to name a few, please let it correct them.

Just a thought,
EY

It's not just me....

2009-03-03T12:34:00.001-06:00

Food IS the new sex. Researchers are studying it http://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/38245724.html

So unless my eating and exercise habits change, even *I* won't be able to get into my pants....HA!

Live and Learn

2009-03-01T16:44:00.002-06:00

A common phrase, but one that made me think last night. I was out with some friends to celebrate a birthday of one in the group. So, in effect, I was "live-ing". I wasn't being a hermit, not interacting with the world (although I'm a big fan of such). We had a good dinner where I learned quite a bit about the birthday girl's boyfriend, a guy I've known for a while. Also learned a lot about her. H (the birthday girl) is not who any of us would have picked for P. She's sweet, funny, opinionated (in a good way). P is argumenative, boorish at times, funny a lot of the time and stubborn. But not with her. With her (according to H) he is sweet, funny, kind, caring and watches her cat (an animal he professes to despise). We kept asking her "P? Really? The one you show up with a lot? HIM? Do you drug him? Is he paying you to lie?"

As can happen, when we talk about P, one of his previous relationships comes up. M was someone we all tried to like for P's sake, but never could. She was not friendly, had to have things her way (not easy at a gathering of 20+), didn't seem to be nice to P or care much if he was around. Then the doofus goes off and marries her. Wha? So at dinner, when her name comes up and we all roll our eyes, H stops us with "You guys....don't be that way. He really loved her. She may not have been great to him, but he really cared about her, so be nice about her." Current girlfriend sticking up for not nice ex-wife. It would be all too easy for H to jump on the bandwagon, but she didn't. She cares about P. P cared about M. H has respect for that, even though she might not understand or agree with it. I like H quite a bit more for that, even if it's something I can't join her in.

After dinner, we went to a piano bar. Despite the snow, it was a lively jumping place. We managed to squeeze back to the back bar. As we made our way through the crowd, I saw a familiar face. I had no name or context for him, but just a feeling that I should know who he is. I didn't think much about it again until he came up and bummed a smoke. He, my friend L and I started talking. I remarked how I felt that I should know who he is. We discussed "where are you from? Where do you work?" and he asked where I went to college. I told him. He said "I'm Current President of Alma Mater". You could have knocked me down with an atom. He's lost a decent amount of weight since I saw him last, wasn't wearing a suit and was in a BAR for goodness sake. (You couldn't have paid the 2 people who were college Prez when I went to consider going to a piano bar.)

I've ranted here several times about "The Hamlet" and here I am face to face with its biggest proponent. Instead of blasting him or unloading my truckful of righteous indignation at the idea, I listened to his points. He wants to get the faculty, most of whom live 30 miles away, re-integrated with the students as neighbors, not just authority figures. The rather expensive housing will be financed in a way that will make it affordable for a professor and not wreck them come tax time. The trees that I've been so worried about weren't always there. They are barely older than I am. That land used to be a golf course and was planted with pine to build a nature trail. The nature trail will be rebuilt. All of the actual hardwoods were tagged and saved.

I don't know that I feel tons better about the project. I still think the idea of football is questionable, although I do get that it will help the college compete with some other small lib arts schools. I am still vehemently opposed to the roundabout the college has pushed for. I'm glad there is a watershed and wetlands area planned. I'm glad the college understands that the faculty will need help affording this housing and are trying. I'm glad I kept an open mind and listened.

Uhhhh

2009-01-18T21:34:00.002-06:00

Arizona and Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh does not surprise me in the least, but I still can't get AZ and I've watched all or part of each of their playoff games. Yes Edgerrin James has actually played in these games, as opposed to half-assing it and sulking like he's done most of the season. Why? Because this is where he proves to OTHER TEAMS that he's still a valuable back and deserves a spot on a roster that is not based in Phoenix. How's that for a team mate? Kurt Warner is Kurt Warner, a good guy and a good quarterback. Who for most of the year has faced some porous defenses. With AZ in the SB, I'd kinda been rooting for Baltimore today. I think the Ravens would rip the Cards and their newfound ability to play football to shreds.

I think I'd said I'd watch a ARI vs PIT Super Bowl at the hizzy. I'm not sure.

The morning boil

2009-01-11T20:33:00.002-06:00

Years ago, in college, someone in my dorm complained in a meeting about "people who boil themselves awake". As she said this, she shot an evil look to me. I gave her a blank look in return. Hey, there were 2 other showers on our side of the floor. And it's not like you'd have to get up THAT early back then to beat me to the bathroom.

So nearly 20 years later and I can tell Ms. Margo that I'm still at it, but I might have found just the thing to change my water-wasting ways. I've noticed that the shower is my biggest chunk of time spent getting ready in the morning. Longer, even, than drying my hair. My current hairstyle requires careful drying in sections with different brushes and not the flip-my-head-over-and-hope-for-the-best that has been my MO for quite some time. And I still spend more time in the shower. Washing my hair doesn't really take THAT long. Neither does shaving my legs. No, I know what the culprit is: I like to just stand under the flow of very hot water and warm up while I come alive. In Margo's parlance (which I find to be quite accurate) "boiling myself awake". I need all the time I can in the morning and the boiling is going to have to be cut down. I'm drinking more coffee on the way to work, so I hope that will compensate.

On Saturdays, though....there will be a boil order in effect.

NFL Update

2009-01-11T19:43:00.003-06:00

You'd think with Miami getting into the playoffs, I'd have been blogging about the NFL a lot more than I have. I've come up with numerous posts in my head, only to have them evaporate when I sit down to type them in. Such is the fate of writers on all subjects, I suppose.

Now that it's down to four teams, my random NFL thoughts are....

Yes, I'm quite thrilled that MIA went from being a one loss team to the playoffs, even if it was one and done. I hope they draft well and next year is better. Wish I could say I believe more in Chad Pennington, but after the 4 INT debacle against the Ravens, I just can't feel great about him.
Dallas self-destructs again. Shocking. Maybe Jerry Jones should take the guys out for some team building exercises.
I simply cannot believe that Arizona is for real. I watched Atlanta self-destruct and saw more than I expected from the Desert Wrens, but couldn't be bothered to watch the game against Carolina. Apparently, I should have and maybe I'd understand how on earth they're in the NFC championship game. I still feel that if playing a "real team", they'll self-destruct unless the other team does so first.
I'm dreaming of an All-PA Super Bowl. Of course, if this happens, I won't go to any SB parties so that I can focus on the game. Which, really doesn't bother me any. I can go to good parties (and parties not on a school night, for that matter) any time of year. There's only one Super Bowl.
I realized today that thanks to me being a lazy, lie-a-bed idiot and scheduling my return flight from visiting a friend in the mid-afternoon next Sunday, I will miss ALL of the NFC championship game and probably the first part of the AFC game.
If the SB is Arizona and Pittsburgh, I'll probably go to a party, not get really hammered, expect a decent game, root for Pittsburgh (who, while not one of my absolute favorite teams, I have liked since 1976).
If the SB is Arizona and Baltimore, I may watch this at home. I cannot in any atom of my brain conceive of how Arizona would not get ripped to shreds by Ray Lewis and Company. I'd have to watch that one.
If the SB is Philly and Pittsburgh, I'll watch the game at home, expect a really good game, root for Pittsburgh (who, while not one of my absolute favorite teams, I have liked since 1976), but not feel bad if Philly won.
If the SB is Philly and Baltimore, I might end up at the party and would hope for the best. That pairing should be really good and I might end up watching it at home. Tough call. Philly would have to play perfectly mistake-free, which I think they can do. Philly's D will be rough for Flacco. They ARE the #4 defense in the NFL (BAL is #3, PIT is #2 ARI is #16). Not too shabby.
I wish the officials would pick ONE rule for how where the ball is influences the play. Breaks the plane for touchdowns, first downs and touchbacks should apply to line of scrimmage for passing (not the QB's body) and some other arcane play I can't remember now.
Retire Brett. You too, JoePa.
No matter what they're playing for, I can't root for Florida. I don't care that them winning the "national championship" looked good for the SEC. Uh, these folks are Arkansas's RIVALS, dude. I was happy to see Alabama lose because I think Nick Saban is a ego-ridden snake. I have a similar opinion of Urban Meyer and would have loved to see him get completely kicked by Oklahoma. Of course, OU and Utah are vastly different teams. Not much shame in losing to OU. Maybe it's like property values. If someone builds a very large house next to you, you feel a little sad about your domicile, but your property value will go up. Hmmmm. Yeah, I pondered that a bit. I still hate Florida. I still will not cheer for them for any reason.

Hi, I'm new

2009-01-11T19:36:00.002-06:00

I feel like that's the sign I should have worn last week. Started a new job and I haven't been "brand new" to a company in over 13 years. In fact, I'm rather accustomed to being a wise, sage expert in my field. Ain't got that at the new gig. However, everyone is extremely nice and welcoming and no one seems to expect me to leap tall buildings in a single bound. I volunteered to do something that would help both the team mate I'm working with and help expose me to material I need to become VERY familiar with. I was reminded by team mate that there was no rush, that I was welcome to complete the task, but there was no rush.

It was rare that my former boss at Big Faceless ever asked for anything that wasn't a rush. It's not that he was a bad planner or a pointy-haired idiot, it's that the requests usually started way upstream by someone who WAS in a rush or was a bad planner, but also a Big Wig.

So I'm curious about how this week will go. When no one is giving me a break because it's no longer my first week. I'm not someone who can sit and be bored. I start to surf. Which, I'm quite sure at The New Gig is not smiled on. I suppose I'll see.....

Random Football Thoughts

2009-01-01T14:18:00.002-06:00

As we end the first part of the season and move toward the playoffs.....

ESPN headine "Browns Want Pioli Decision Thursday". Hey, folks in Cleveland, Scott Pioli has good job, an owner who supports him and a great relationship with his coach. You have a franchise that is struggling mightily. Should YOU be the one making demands?
"The Ultimate Leader".....Leading the Broncos no more.
Thomas Jones, a QB is not like a RB. You can't switch them out play by play. Well, you CAN, but it's very disruptive and doesn't build a sense of leadership and having a Field General. I'm sure you were all over the idea of getting Favre in August. If you didn't know then that he (as well as any QB) runs the risk of throwing interceptions to make plays happen, you haven't been watching many NFL games. On his 3 interceptions against MIA, how many receivers were covered? How many defensive guys did you block to give Brett a clear shot? Didn't think so.
Brett.....retire. Stay that way. We love you and you'll be a first balloter to Canton. Don't drag it out.
Dallas, your problem is not your special teams coach. Your problem is that your marquee players don't realize this is a team sport, not their own personal 17 week PR junket. That your owner is not willing to A) stay out or B) enforce some rules doesn't help either. Mr. Jones, you and Al Davis are getting more similar, not less. His team's record over the past few years has been, ahem, dismal. You want that? Keep up your good work.
Good luck Mike Singletary. I hope you really do stick with the fundamentals. MIA notwithstanding, that's what wins games.
I hope you bought your team something really nice for Christmas, John Fox.
Chad Pennington, I've been wrong about you. I thought you were a joke on the Jets and was not happy when you got moved to Miami. I did feel sorry for how you were treated, but hoped that you'd just warm the bench for my team. Instead, you've been a leader, you've put away the turmoil of the pre-season and I loved your quote after the Jets game, about how the game was not retribution and that the only great win was a Super Bowl win. You're a good egg.

2008 Highlights

2008-12-29T09:56:00.002-06:00

If I were better organized, my year-in-review would go month to month, declaring the highs and lows of each 30 day increment. Or I'd organize by category (sports, cooking, etc). Seeing as how I'm writing this with no prep and only a half cup of coffee (so far), I'm afraid this will be random.

Best makeup product I never thought I should use: Bronzer. I used bronzer this year for the first time at the insistence of my stylist. I flat out told her it wasn't for me, then she pointed out that she'd just put some on me and asked how I liked it. Truth is, I really dig it. To me, the only way that "EY" and "bronze" would ever fit in a sentence would be something like "EY is reading a book about the Bronze Age." or "EY was in a museum and saw pre-Barsoomian bronzes." But bronzer, the makeup powder, when used with a LIGHT hand makes me look, well, less dead. I like that.

Best near freakout in the state of TX: Last year, a long lost friend found me. [Editor's note: I still get a giggle that he paid a search engine for my OLD address when my current one is floating free in the ether for free. But at the time, I was working at a data company and he wasn't. I shouldn't laugh at him for that....but I do.] This year, since his promises to come to AR never happened, I loaded up a bag and flew to his city in the Lone Star State. I'm not sure I've ever been so nervous. I walked around in a state of panic for the last week before the trip. Rationalizing that I had no need to be nervous, that it wasn't a date or a hook up, that his opinion of me is unlikely to be swayed by the way I look, that we'd already exchanged pictures a few times already and thus if he cared about my exterior now vs 2 decades ago, he'd had ample time to say so, didn't help. I was still freaked out. And based on how we both seemed jumpy at dinner, I think he was too. Fortunately, dinner included a sufficient amount of booze to tone us both down. For the rest of the weekend, the calendar may as well have read 1990 (when we hung out in college).

Best Girls: I think I've written before about how lucky I am to have fallen in with a group of girls from "The Boy's" side of friends. I still feel that way. We're all still a lot of fun, we still have a lot of fun together and are even attempting to lose weight together. We support each other in those efforts and while I'm not much for the "Weight Watchers accountability model", I can't disagree with its effectiveness. I almost feel that gaining weight would be letting them down. And a couple of folks are working SO hard and looking so great that I just can't disappoint them (well, except for last night when I ate a pizza).

Best near freakout in AR: I left Big Faceless Corp in December. Dec. 12, to be exact. After thirteen and a half years, most of which were really good. I like the work, I like the people, but it was time for a change. Working with 2 groups in particular gave me a wakeup call. After numerous instances of each lying, not following through, backstabbing, etc, I simply could not deal with them effectively. Email from them would cast a shadow over my whole day. I would sit and stew about what lie they would come up with next, what ineffective leader they would get to cover their butt, what lengths they would go to to NOT do what was needed. It's one thing to treat such a team with caution and help them set "baby step" goals that are manageable. It's quite another to tell your team that you can't deal with them anymore and that you're voting yourself off the island where they're concerned. It's also grossly unfair to your team and the other folks. Especially when you're the expert on their issues and you continue to meddle in their challenges after you declare the voting off the island thing. After I found myself doing that a few times, I realized that I needed a change. I had lost the ability to be objective and find good solutions. Although at the time, it was only with 2 teams, the bitterness I had for them could easily spread to other teams. The two worst things you could ever call me work-wise are "unprofessional" and "ineffective", yet with these teams, I was both....blatently. So, when a new opportunity presented itself, I thought "what the heck?" The new folks seem pretty excited about me and I'm excited about them. My decision to leave was termed "a disaster" by a couple of folks and was a surprise to nearly everyone. One person who did not express surprise, was my boss. He's always been great to deal with and this situation was no different. He's a good man, a really great guy and I will miss him. I'm hoping my 2009 wrapup will say that this was a good decision.

Best thing I never thought I'd want: My iPod Touch. I won one this year and have been amazed by how much I dig it. It's not that I'm opposed to music and sound, but I do tend to be a person who loves silence. I crave peace and quiet. I'm not someone who would be jumping around to music all the time, like they show in the commercials. After so long in a cube environment, hearing conversations I'd rather not, trying to keep my conversations at a normal level, I'm not much for noise outside that time. But the iPod is just darn handy. I can pick and choose songs in seconds, create playlists that correspond to my flighty moods. I can listen to nothing but Nine Inch Nails, George Michael or Straight No Chaser all day if I want to. I can make a playlist with 2 songs about a rather naughty activity, one about "wrap me up in chains", one about a loose chick and one about the "in" status of being sexy and listen to nothing but that. Not surprisingly, I also have a "moody" playlist. I have them for Chicks, Christmas, Comedy, Fun, Funky, and ones dedicated to specific artists. The Fun playlist is getting too long, so I'll need to figure out how to split it up. Weirdly, I'm looking forward to that. I can listen to the iPod in the car. Santa brought me a boom box (Sony's description, not mine) that will let me listen all over the house. And that's not all....When I was in grad school, I found Mahjong. Darn addictive game that I would stay up way to late playing on my computer. Now, I have Mahjong on my iPod. I played for an hour waiting for a dr's appointment last week. I honestly thought they'd called me and I'd not heard it.

Best non-paying gig: eWine tasting. This is all kinds of fun. We still start too early and end too late, but it's a great thing to do, I meet really nice folks, drink good wine and usually hang out afterward with Vicious J (who has a serious girlfriend now and while I would never NEVER begrudge him his happiness, I do miss him sometimes . I love you, man!)

Best musical seen on Broadway: Spamalot. OK, it was the ONLY show we had time to see, but still, it was awesome. Yes, it's largely a rehash of The Holy Grail, but if you have to rehash something, you could do a lot worse. I was highly entertained.

Best island in NYC: Manhattan. I'd never been to NYC until this year. Two friends and I had a long weekend there and had a great time. I'm hoping to make it to other parts of New York at some point, but for now, I'm in love with Manhattan. I completely understand why the girls of SATC love it. I'm sure if I had to pay what it costs to live there, my enthusiasm would be dampened (OK, drenched), but as a tourista, it was a lot of fun.

Best Wine (special occasion class): This one is tough, I admit, but I have to go with something I tasted recently. Ambullneo Bulldog Pinot Noir. I bought some a few years ago on a recommendation from a friend "in the business". I tasted some a few weeks ago. It knocked my socks off. I swooned. I bought (hey, it was on SALE). I'm dying to open it now now now.

Best Wine (sparkling): Veuve Cliquot has been special to me for a long time, but 2 recent bad bottles have me looking elsewhere. The oh-so-popular Rosa di Rosa and Rosa di Bianca have now taken its place. Much cheaper, easier to drink and approachable by all, these just can't be beat. Doesn't hurt that I know the winemaker.

Best food discovery: Beets. Yes, seriously, beets. I bought some on a whim and now I can't get enough of them. I prefer them roasted, but nuked will do in a pinch. Made an incredible roasted beet, cannelli bean, beet green and goat cheese salad this summer. Very tasty and pretty good for you. Fresh fresh fresh and easy. What more could you want?

Best thing to get up and do now: exercise. Coffee is finished, I'm out of ideas (although I reserve the right to have Part II or III if needed) and I really need to work out (see note above about accountability to the girls and last night's pizza).

Books books books!

2008-12-26T20:45:00.002-06:00

I got lots o' books for Christmas. A good thing, to be sure, but I already have a small stack of books I'm behind on reading. A quick count reveals that after I've finished my not small sci-fi book I'm reading, I have 7 books awaiting. SEVEN. I guess I need to get off the internet and pick up some dead tree!

Fast friends

2008-12-26T20:27:00.002-06:00

If you had to pick two dogs which, it would be highly comical to see playing together, you couldn't do much better than a basset hound and a shih tzu. The In-Laws have a new ST puppy, C, who is just adorable as all puppies and small dogs are. She knows she is adorable and is a lot of fun. She likes to play, but the 2 other dogs in the house are older and not up for her youthful foolishness. E, our lovely long dog, however has always been up for playing and never has anyone who will play with her.

Over Thanksgiving, C and E became fast friends and had a great time. This week was no different. One of the things that struck me as funny is that C is the only dog small enough to go UNDER E while they're playing. Seriously, watching a tiny furball dart under your basset is high comedy. From early morning until they both fell out asleep, they were chasing and playing and having a good time. So much so, that E slept all the way home, had a bite to eat and went straight asleep tonight. I've tried getting her to play a few times and she's not up for it. Tiny dog wore her out.

I wasn't surprised to see the playful side of E come out this weekend, but one incident did surprise me. M, the neighbor's lab had spent a good bit of time in E's bed. Since E didn't seem too concerned, I didn't see a need to roust M. After all, E had ignored the bed, preferring to wander and moon around (which I despise). Today, however, M growled at E while E was passing by M who was curled up in E's bed. Apparently, this added too much insult to the injury of the stolen bed and E snarled back. M was put outside for her ill-behaviour. A girl can only take so much, apparently.

An actual conversation

2008-12-23T22:39:00.002-06:00

M: Can I help you with anything? Unload the dishwasher?
EY: Nope, everything's OK. I don't invite you over to do manual labor.
M: But I *like* helping you.
EY: Even though it drives me insane?
M: Yes.
EY: So I can deduce that you LIKE to drive me insane?
M: No, that's not exactly what I meant. I think I'll go read my book now.
EY: That would be nice.

Merry Christmas to one and all.....!

In bed with the devil

2008-12-19T10:36:00.003-06:00

For many years, I've watched the president of my alma mater make decisions which are not in keeping with the spirit of the school, or at least, not the mood when I was there. Instead of being a leader in education, Current Prez is a money-grubbing ho who seems to care only for how many times HIS name is in the paper.

His boondoggle that infuriated me to the point of cutting off all contact with the school was to ask the city to replace a stoplight on a MAJOR thoroughfare with a roundabout. Roundabouts are fine and have their place. Indeed, the city has a few in LOW traffic, single-lane areas. That's not what this one is. This is a high traffic, two-lanes each way, major intersection where big trucks pass on a regular basis. To make matters worse, school has built right up to the edge of their property on 2 sides of this intersection. Roundabouts need room. The more lanes you have, the more space you need. CP initially wanted the part of the road that goes in front of the college to be one lane each way and have crosswalks on the street instead of the unslightly (but safe) pedestrian bridge that exists now. Hmmmm. People trying to get from one end of town to the other get stuck in a roundabout, nearly get run over by the driver from Local Big Truck Firm who has no idea how to negotiate his huge 18 wheeler in a traffic pattern he's never encountered, now drivers are panicked and LATE, so to make up time, they'll shoot out of the roundabout and get back up to normal traffic speed (which, on that road is about 45-50). Yeah, I want to walk out in front of THAT.

The latest boondoggle is "The Hamlet". Clear cutting a lovely bit of land so that houses can be built. Clear cutting. This school, when I was there, was all about the environment. We recycled before it was cool, pushed the landscape folks to use fewer chemicals, pushed the cafeteria to serve vegetarian meals and source foods locally. Goodness knows Our Fair Town doesn't have enough housing. Designed by an architect from Miami who made fun of Fair Town when he was presenting the idea with CP to the press. That's how you know you got a good architect, when they have no respect for the area and insults you as he's taking your money. The Hamlet will be a very planned community where you can walk around, meet your neighbor, and now, possibly walk to work. A large energy company is building a building there. Only here's the catch: If you work at the school (especially if you work at the school) or the energy company, you won't make enough to afford a house in The Hamlet unless your spouse is really raking in some dough. Houses start at $200K and go up drastically from there. And for your money, you don't "own" the house. The Hamlet does. You get a long term lease. [Editor's note: I have a 3000 sq ft house on 3 acres not 8 miles away from The Hamlet for less than that and it's MINE.]

CP envisions internships for the science majors. What about the OTHER majors on campus? I get that there are a lot of science majors (a degree from school is an easier ticket to med school than a degree from the local State U), CP says 40%. I'm not great at math, but my reading says that over half your students do NOT study science. Big F's to them, CP?

Sigh.....The more I read about the goings on, the more I wish I'd gone to large state school.

Creature of habit

2008-12-14T18:44:00.002-06:00

For most of my 30+ years, I've loved mail in all forms. Electronic or postal, I am always optimistic that something good will come my way. As a child, I loved getting and going through the mail. It was rare that I got anything at all, but when I did, it was better than a new toy and almost better than a new book. Even as more of my mail ended up being bills, I still have some excitement about the magic of the big green box.

When email came to little old EY, I was equally fascinated. Whether mundane, silly or frustrating, I like my email. Didn't hurt matters that a product I used to work on would ONLY tell you if things were well or ill by email. You could be in the computer room, sitting, looking at the screen and if something blew up, you'd have no idea. To keep your finger on the pulse, you had to watch your inbox. I've also developed the habit of responding quickly to email. So much so, that a co-worker once quipped that I respond to his emails before he sends them.

With Friday being my last day at Big Faceless Corp, my email account was, of course, turned off. Saturday was a fairly busy day, but I did spend some time on the computer. The urge to check my email was just as strong as it had been the previous Saturday. Today, I haven't been home much, but still, there is a lingering feeling that I "need" to check on things. That makes no sense whatsoever, but it's such an ingrained habit that I'm having a hard time shaking it.

I suppose about the time I calm down about email, my new gig will start and my attachment to email will start all over again.

I feel wonderful today

2008-12-08T13:51:00.002-06:00

(with a nod to E. Clapton for a great title and better song)

I'm nervous as I can be about stopping one job and starting another. I have a decent amount to get done before Friday, the largest task being cleaning out my office. I'm just going to have to get here early every day and start knocking it out. I have plans every evening, so staying late isn't an option. My spouse and Mother are going to discuss our holiday plans this evening. I expect near bloodshed. She's likely going to whine at him and he's not going to like it. Of course, it's entirely possible that she'll bow to his thoughts on the matter and then gripe at ME about it for 325 days. Either way, I don't care.

I feel great. I feel light (and not just because I had a Lean Cuisine and carrots for lunch). I didn't realize that work had been a weight, but I've felt lighter and lighter as the time between announcement and end has passed. Heck, by Friday, I could be levitating.

Wrong again, BCS

2008-12-07T21:59:00.002-06:00

I'm a fair to middling college football fan. I rarely worry too much about the BCS. Unfortunately, the prime reason for that is because the team I like (home state team) will never be in a BCS bowl. This year, however, I've watched a lot more college football than normal. Watched teams I don't even care about; rooted for in-conference rivals of my team. Heck, we didn't have a chance against them--may as well root for them when they're playing someone when the overall game will be good.

Because I've watched a little more football, I was interested in the national championship picks than in previous years. I didn't get to watch any of the SEC Championship, but I would have liked to. Maybe if I had, I'd see why Florida would get picked to be in the really big game instead of Alabama. I'm no Nick Saban fan, but I gotta say, I think they got robbed. Florida never held a BCS or AP position higher than #3 all season and for a few weeks, didn't make the top 5 or top 10. Alabama killed everyone they played; never got below #5; was #1 for 5 weeks in a row. Sure they lost to Florida. Texas lost to OU. In fact, everyone in the top 5 has one loss. Anyone want to suggest that 12-0 Utah should be playing for #1? How about Boise State? No takers? Anyone? Didn't think so.

If I were picking the games and I had to stay with the BCS idiocy, it would be OU and AL for the top spot with Texas and Florida battling for #2. Both games would happen NEW YEARS DAY. Not halfway through January like they do now. January is NFL playoff season, not "let's drag on the college game" season.

High Praise

2008-12-04T15:42:00.003-06:00

Got a compliment today that is the kind Mark Twain insisted he could live upon. I'm feeling pretty buoyed by it myself. Was talking to a soon-to-be-former co-worker, eccentric genius type of fellow. Starts sentences just fine, but will delve into things quickly that just make your head explode because you understand them. His head is doing just fine containing them. He asks if I'm excited about the new gig. I say "well, not so much excited as nervous". He says "no need to be nervous, you're a bad ass. You'll rock that place."

I almost fell over. I like this guy and we've always worked really well together. But for HIM to call ME "bad ass", well, that's like the Pope giving you a personal thumb's up. Or Thomas Keller saying you're a good cook. Or Tom Brady and Brett Favre saying you throw a nice football. Don't know that this one will last 2 months, but it will last a while.

Why....?

2008-11-30T21:58:00.002-06:00

Do washed out quarterbacks like Gus Frerotte play like geniuses when they're playing for teams I hate, but like three-fingered, uncoordinated sloths when they play for teams I LIKE?

Just a question.....

Shopping

2008-11-28T22:32:00.002-06:00

Mother-in-law and I did our traditional up-way-too-early shopping trip today. I'm tired, my feet hurt, I should be asleep now. But my brain is awake, E and I are watching Sex and the City (well, I am, she's asleep) and I just feel like writing, even if it's bad.

Got the 6 kids at family Christmas taken care of, daughter of one friend, daughter and son of another, Dad is done, the name I drew at family Christmas, an aunt, sister-in-law. That leaves a few people. Some are easy--just need to find the right time to order so they don't get their presents next week--some are not. But I'm feeling OK.

Sous Vide

2008-11-28T22:06:00.002-06:00

As defined by dictionary.com, "the technique of cooking ingredients in a vacuum-sealed plastic pouch, usually for a long time at a low temperature". My definition: it's a bunch of hooey. Oh, I know, technically, it's not hooey, it's science. But I find it highly contrived. It's a method that a home cook can never hope to replicate inexpensively and to me, that makes it elitist in the worst sense of the word. Eating, and thus cooking should be the most democratic (small d) activity in the world. There's no real reason that the average cook should find anything beyond his or her skill/interest level.

Sauteeing fresh greens and presenting them in an appealing way shouldn't be out of the reach of the average cook. You shouldn't have to train for years with a master chef to prepare dinner. One of my fav cooking-y things authors, Michael Ruhlman, is a big fan. Of course, he hangs out with Thomas Keller and Grant Achatz, who made the technique trendy (and I hate putting Keller's name and the word "trendy" in a sentence). I guess if I were buds with them, I'd dig it too. Or at least I'd say I did.

I'm not sure why this cooking method raises my hackles so much, but it does. I find it so freaking pretentious it's unreal.

I am thankful

2008-11-25T21:40:00.003-06:00

For a great many things this Thanksgiving Season. For things profound and silly, meaningful and fun. A list....not in any order

New boots. Smoking hot ones.
Just one pair of boots (I'm sure I'd be thankful for 2 pair, but in February, when I'm still paying Citibank, I might not be so thankful)
A good-tempered dog.
Friends who love me the way I am, but who will support me as I try to change my weight to height ratio.
In-laws who I really love and who love me.
Long lost friends who don't stay lost.
Opportunity....new ones, especially.
A church community of good folks.
Colleagues who have expressed kind thoughts (and some consternation) at me leaving.
Wine.

Hard work and new boots

2008-11-24T22:13:00.003-06:00

Did a lot of random things today, working with a gaggle of teenagers at church today. We were putting together baskets to give away later in the day and while we worked hard, we also had a lot of fun. Our fearless leader, who seems much like a Pied Piper of teenagers, kept us going and mostly organized. Her words of wisdom to me "if you can get a kid to do it, don't do any unnecessary work yourself". So I corraled kids into picking up, breaking down boxes, recycling, building boxes, moving cans, etc. Got kids to load up a truckload of cardboard into one girl's truck and escorted her to the dump to recycle.

I went to check things out when we opened and was amazed. There were people lined up out the door, into the parking lot and we moved quick. As soon as I could unbox pies and organize packages of rolls, someone had come to get them. We caught a break and cleaned up our space. We were mostly ready to go when the last basket went out. As I noticed last year, teenagers are funny. Pied Piper has 2 sons, both incredibly tall, one incredibly cute. At times, he's one of our best organizers, making sure everyone has something to do, corraling those who are playing too much. Tonight, during our breaks, he ventured back to "typical teen". Playing a more advanced game of Rock Paper Scissors and the time-honored classic, Burnout (his brother got him a few times....and good). Our "serious leader" is still just a kid. A good kid, but a silly, goofy teen. I hope he doesn't lose that for some time.

When I got home, there were the replacement boots that Zappos shipped me. Mmmmmm. Both pair the right size and for all that they are supposed to be one pair black and one pair brown, both pair look black. Which leaves me in a dilemma. I love the toe of one and the heel of the other. I'm calling in a reinforcement tomorrow to help me determine if I'm color-blind or crazy. Hopefully, she'll also help me figure out if I'm losing my mind in other areas as well......

Tragedy and triumph

2008-11-20T23:05:00.002-06:00

The perfect boots arrived as promised. Earlier than promised and I was delighted. When I got home, however, my delight was as crushed as the shipping box. It looked like Godzilla sat on it from Kentucky all the way here. One of the shoe boxes inside was damaged and I was fearful. Upon opening, however, I found beautiful boots. More beautiful than I could have imagined. I tried one on my larger foot.

The news was not good. Too small. Not "maybe these will get a little bigger with wear" too small, but "oh my goodness, I'm losing circulation below the ankle" too small. Reluctantly, I packed up the boot and opened the other box. Again, incredibly lovely boots. I nearly needed a moment and a moist towelette. Again, way.too.small. Yes, I ordered the size I like to wear instead of the size I should have. In my defense, the first brand wasn't available in the size/color combination I really wanted, so I knew that was a gamble. But the second brand tends to run big and the reviews online recommended you go down a half size. Heartbroken, I headed to the PC to see what my options were for returning the lovely boots.

I checked out the "Live Help" and chatted with an agent. He emailed me a return label and asked if I wanted to make an exchange. An exchange. Why yes, yes, I would. The size/color combination for the first brand still isn't available, so I ordered a different color and larger size. The second brand was available in the desired color and larger size. To help alleviate my perceived stress, the agent is sending the replacement boots one business day AT NO COST!?!?! He is truly my hero. I will have TWO pair of boots on Monday. Two not identical pair. You see where this is going, don't you? I'll fall in love with both of them. I'll rend garments, gnash my teeth and tear at my hair deciding which one to keep. But they both need a good home. And I know they'll be dead sexy......

Interesting comments

2008-11-19T12:02:00.002-06:00

I'm leaving Big Faceless Corp in a few weeks and I've started putting out the word. Comments back have been very interesting...

"Motherf*****! This is a disaster" Uh, not for me.
"You better call me right away" Right away? For a note I sent you 2 HOURS before you responded?
"let me know when your last day is--just want to get it on my calendar, so I know what day to cry when I get up in the morning." And that from a co-worker who is always rather distant. Awwww.
"What am I going to do without my EY?" Same thing you did before you met me, I'd guess.
"Oh my! I thought you were a lifer at BFC." Funny, I would have agreed with that until recently.

Lots of congratulations, lots of "you will be missed". It's interesting.

Shoes

2008-11-18T22:10:00.002-06:00

Things are looking up on the shoe quest. Zappos, as I should have expected, has come to my rescue with 2 pair of boots and a nice pair of dress shoes. No, I'm not keeping both pair of boots. I can't decide between them, so I ordered both, will compare them here Chez EY and send the lesser pair back. No, seriously, I will. I tried comparing the pictures, but they both look hot. I tried comparing my experience with the brands, but these are 2 really good brands (Nine West and Via Spiga). I tried going for the less expensive one, but one is $1.95 more expensive than the other. Seriously, for $2 difference, I can't write off a perfectly good boot.

So in 4-5 business days (I'm hoping for 4) I'll have lovely shoes....sigh.

Shoe blues

2008-11-13T22:28:00.002-06:00

I want a new pair of shoes. Boots, specifically. Tall ones with a decent heel and either a square or pointy toe. No round toes. No buckles, no straps, no fringe. Why is this such a hard thing to find? Perfect boots.....where are you?!?!?!?!

Never fails

2008-11-04T08:35:00.002-06:00

When I'm really tired, when I have a headache, I can guarantee that will be the day that the team across from me will have their team meeting via conference call with all the doors open. Three out of the six people have hard offices right across from me. Instead of them getting in one office to call in to their daily status meeting (can I say, I would kill my team if we had to have DAILY status meetings?), everyone sits in their own office with each phone on speaker and everyone YELLS into the call. Seriously, I wonder why they need a call in. The folks in other locations should be able to hear them from the row I'm on.

They seem to have no idea how loud and annoying they are. And when I have a headache, that just makes it all the more fun.

Blah, blah blah

2008-10-26T11:43:00.003-05:00

I feel horrid. Have for a few days. Sinuses are finally calming down, headache is mostly gone, but I'm still drained, physically and mentally. My brain is also running at half power. What I really want to do is crawl under the covers and not come out. I don't have a fever, I'm not actually "sick", I just have the blahs. Today is our group exercise event and I don't want to go. Mostly because of the blahs, some because it interrupts my football and the other things I need to do today.

Do I NEED to exercise? Yes. Would it do me some good to be outside on a beautiful day? Absolutely. Would the company of my best friends help lift my spirits? Quite possibly. I should look forward to this. Last week, our walk on the Big Dam Bridge was fun. Today, I am surly about "having" to do something. I'm starting to annoy myself. I guess I should look in the mirror and say "Snap out of it dammit!"

blah

Warning: Objects may not look as fun close up

2008-10-24T22:48:00.002-05:00

Volunteered to help at a community function about a month ago. Had no idea that I'd have a VERY busy week the week before the event. If I weren't bringing anything, I'd skip it. However, I'm bringing a snack and part of what will be needed for lunch. I was so tired today after work that I nearly fell asleep on the way home. When I did home, I took a small nap in the car before I went into the house. Couldn't even get out of the car without a snooze. I've been busy making cookies for tomorrow and haven't really sat down much since I got in. Now that I do, I am absolutely drained.

I think I may well drop things off in the am, come back and go back to bed.

Shenanigans!

2008-10-22T16:23:00.002-05:00

I'm calling shenanigans. It's a drastic step, I realize, but must be done. Every year, I purchase Boo Berry cereal around Halloween. This year, I look for it in some of my favorite stores. Three, so far. No Boo Berry. No Monster Cereal whatsoever.

There are some who believe that I don't "need" Boo Berry cereal. To them, I say 'If I hear those vile words again, I will kick you straight out of bed'. It's not like I'm going to sit down and eat a box in one day. Heck, I'm not eating the marshmallows.

I will check 2 more stores and then, it's time to grab the broomsticks.

Random Tuesday

2008-10-14T20:56:00.002-05:00

I've heard the old wive's tale "pluck out a gray hair and 10 more come up in it's place". PATENTLY UNTRUE! Before I got braces, I plucked at my head vigilantly and it didn't take much effort to keep the grays at bay. Then, once braced, to offset the fact that I looked 12, I let the grays roam free. Roam they did and multiplied like frakking rabbits. I may never get all these damn things plucked.

VOTE. For all that is good and right vote. Don't care who you vote for. Write in the bass player of your favorite band (especially if his fun and crafty wife would make a good Veep) if you choose, but vote.

If you get an email purporting to know some secret truth about a candidate, put your critical thinking hat on. Go to snopes.com, about.urbanlegends.com or google and try to see if there is some smidgen of truth to it. Keep the critical thinking hat on. You'll be one of the few people you know wearing one.

VOTE. For someone's position on the issues. Not because of an opponent's skin color, skin cancer or how much you want to see of the Veep's skin (unless, of course, you're voting for the bass player of your favorite band).

My office is a disaster. The one at home AND the one at work. I'm not inclined to do much about either.

If you're the one football fan who reads this.....did you think the Jints were totally flat last night? Matt Cassell's Pats could have beat that team. Consistency, gentlemen.

FB II: Really Mr. A. Jones? Was the understanding of "zero-tolerance" for your antics somehow confusing? Mr. J. Jones? You not understand the meaning of "zero-tolerance" either? With your "let the spoiled brat egos come to me all who are weary of treating this team game like a TEAM GAME". Are you the second coming of Al Davis? You might want to take a look at how that's turning out these days.

NFL Week 6 Update

2008-10-13T20:36:00.002-05:00

How many of you* would have said 6 weeks ago that Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Arizona would be leading their divisions? That Tennessee would be undefeated? That the worst team in the NFC East would have the same record as the NFC North leader?

Unpredictability, games won in the last 30 seconds, teams who "aren't supposed to win" suddenly winning, teams who "aren't supposed to lose" losing. That makes it fun.

Confidential to NFL Offensive Coordinators--don't spend too much time on the "Wildcat" play. Teams figure it out pretty quick and then you just look like an idiot. Just ask Houston Nutt who ran the "wild hog" so many times teams defended it every play.

*Yes, I know that a very small number of people who read my blog are also football fans. Like, maybe 1.

What happens at Fit Club....

2008-10-12T22:16:00.002-05:00

will hopefully keep me motivated to do good things for my health. Weigh in was tonight and I was pleasantly surprised. I'd feared things would not be good, but I've only gained 2.5 lbs since the last time I stepped on a scale back on August. The braces are helping, I'm sure, but they come off Friday (YEAH!) On the up side, I'll be able to eat apples, a good healthy snack, once they're off. We're all very excited, we have activities planned and have a lot of accountability in our group.

Tomorrow's lunch of veggie chili and turnips will be a step in the right direction. I'm hoping that I can help some of our folks who "don't eat anything green" learn that vegetables can be good tasting as well as good for you. There is one person in particular who I'd like to see try a few more things. She has been trying to be open-minded and I'm very proud of her for that. She hasn't liked a couple of things she's tried, but that's OK. No one has to like everything. In fact, a veggie she likes is one I can't stand.

Here's to the next six months!

Confidential....

2008-10-05T14:11:00.001-05:00

To Antwaan Randle El: The football is not a live ferret. Please stop acting like it is. It's just as safe to catch as it is to throw.

Bleah

2008-10-01T15:17:00.001-05:00

Brain dead. And it's only Wednesday. But already I'm eyes-crossed, head hurts, brain hurts and just about gone.

Bleah,
bleah,
bleah

A no coffee morning

2008-09-21T12:55:00.003-05:00

I'm addicted to coffee. There are certainly other vehicles for caffeine, but coffee works best for me. Less extreme than injecting it, less sugar than a Coke. I've been told by a former boss, "I don't care when you show up, but DO NOT come to work without coffee again". Now that our fair city has a Starbucks, I can get fueled up easily, even when we're out of coffee or dairy.

I'm comfortable with my addiction. As they go, this one isn't so bad. Today, however, I had no time for coffee. Got up late, didn't sleep well thanks to our wildlife-intolerant dog, needed to go to church. So no cute hair, no coffee. Bad decision. Was groggy all through church, although I did get my errands done. Made a pot of coffee as soon as I got home and I've had one cup. It's not enough.

The Boy gets up and asks how I am. "Fine" I say. "Fine?" he asks worriedly. I don't get this. Why is it a bad thing to be "fine". As George Carlin said "no superlatives, nothing to gossip about". I can't be Little EY Sunshine every day and I especially can't do that when I'm tired and have had my coffee late. So if you get a "fine" out of me, take it and be happy. Don't continue the interrogation. "Really, fine, is that it?" "Well, I'm actually kinda tired and I didn't have coffee this morning" "OH" he says, offended that he's encountered me in this state. I fully admit that I'm not pleasant to deal with under the above circumstances. But I don't go rant and rave about it. If I'm asleep, don't wake me up. If you do and I'm crabby, hey, you woke ME up and you did so at your peril. If you think I'm irritable, leave me alone, don't poke at me with a stick. If I'm watching football, uh, ditto. That was the next question I got. "Why are you watching Oakland and Buffalo? You don't even like either of those teams." "It's the only game on. We don't get a noon Fox game today." "That's never stopped you before" (Huh? Stopped me from what? Watching a game between teams I don't particularly like? Well, yes, you're right.)

I don't get it. But then, the later I have coffee, the longer it takes to work. I could have dreamed all this.....See, this is why a no coffee morning is bad for EY

Fantasy Free Sundays

2008-09-15T08:19:00.002-05:00

Last year, I participated in a fantasy football league for the first time. Sundays last season were a panic of trying to keep track of my players while I watched the games. Tracking stats, wondering why my guys weren't playing, weren't getting "enough" done was a constant worry. I'd watch players I like, but when they did well, I would be upset because they weren't "mine". I could be glad Pittsburgh won, but not happy that Willie Parker got more yards than my #2 running back.

Fast forward to this year and all I have to do on Sunday is WATCH. In the OAK/KC game, I didn't even have to do that. I could go outside and sweep off the deck and not care that I might be missing any "good" football or that a stat might come in without me noticing. Sigh.....I love this time of year

huh?

2008-09-14T13:50:00.003-05:00

From a CBS sportscaster (not sure if it's Rich Gannon or the other guy calling the OAK/KC game), "missed assignments and mental errs will kill you". Mental ERRS? You mean mental ERRORS, dude?

Mental errs. That's a new one for me.

Which one....?

2008-09-11T13:00:00.003-05:00

A). Enchiladas with shredded beef
B.) Chopped cooked spinach
C.) Sundried tomatoes

Which one of these is fun to eat and try to get out of your braces?

Can't make a guess? It's NONE OF THEM.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.....

According to....

2008-08-31T18:25:00.002-05:00

The little square on my Minnie Mouse watch, it's still August. Barely still August, but August nonetheless. So when the phone rang and it was my Mom, I was uneasy. Somehow, I knew this would not be a pleasant call. Don't know exactly how I knew, it was, as Inspector Finch says in "V for Vendetta", just a feeling. And I was right. Mom wanted to talk about Christmas. In August.

When will we have Christmas with Dad's side of the family? If we have it at the cousin who hasn't had it yet's house, then technically, The Boy and I could "magically" do Christmas with his family too (his family lives near my cousin) and golly gee, we'd be "open" for Christmas and could go see Mom and Dad. Sigh. We do this every year. The time we spend with them is never enough, we might spend 30 minutes longer with someone else, their visit is always so compressed, we're always in such a rush to get out. Oddly enough, we see them once a month, maybe once every two months the rest of the year. The only time we don't talk weekly is when they're traveling. As counterintuitive as this seems, getting hounded about Christmas plans in August doesn't make me want to drop everything and shove everyone else aside to make Mom happy. I'm a contrarian, you see.

And thus the Great Christmas Debate of 2008 starts....only 116 days to go!

blog to blog, part II

2008-08-29T14:36:00.002-05:00

As interesting as the Omnivore's list was, someone from Slashfood came up with an All-American list. In the interest of fairness.....I'll post it too.

Totals: 34 No items, 51 Yes and 15 "I haven't, but would". Not bad.

New York pizza--Yep, this April
Hoppin' Joh--Don't think so, but I would.
New Mexico green chile--probably
Homemade buttermilk biscuits--YES, I do love a good biscuit
Tasso--don't think I've had this
Whole Maine lobster--Yep, although I don't like for dinner to look at me.
Calabash-style shrimp and hushpuppies--Not sure what "calabash-style" is, but I've eaten my fair share of hushpuppies
Kansas City barbecue ribs--nope, but I would
Hot glazed Krispy Kreme--I will ONLY eat them if the HOT light is on.
San Diego fish taco--don't eat fish, so a fish taco is out
Cheese curds--yep
Key lime pie--yep
Philly cheese steak--no, but I'm intrigued by them (a REAL Philly steak "wit", that is)
Memphis pork barbecue sandwich--Absolutely....yum!
Lowcountry boil--No
Huckleberry pie--No and I'm not sure I'd be interested. Raw huckleberries, sure, but I don't like cooked fruit.
New England clam chowder--yep
Boiled peanuts--yes, although I'm not a huge fan
Buffalo burger--yes. have ground buffalo in the freezer as I type
Eggs Benedict--nope, egg yolks
Pastrami on rye--yep
Corned beef and cabbage--I think so
Pancakes with maple syrup--yes
Everything bagel with cream cheese and tomato--I've had an everything bagel with cream cheese, don't recall if I had tomato too
Thin Mints (preferably frozen)--the only kind of GS cookie I order every year, no matter what. and they hide easy in the freezer.
Frito pie--I wish I could say I'd never been introduced to these delish things. Occasionally, I will make veggie chili and get 2% cheese so I can have one without fearing a coronary.
Potato knish with mustard--no, but they sound really good...I have a weakness for any kind of dumpling-y thing.
Silver Queen corn on the cob--I've eaten tons of corn on the cob in my life (not lately, of course), but I don't know that I've had this variety
Soft pretzel from a street cart--yep
Fresh-picked blueberries--yep and I was the person who picked them
Sourwood honey--don't like honey
State fair funnel cake--of course...and I've helped make funnel cakes
Chesapeake crab cakes--I love crab cakes in general, but I'm not sure I've had authentic "Chesapeake" cakes...I certainly would if I had the chance
Candied yams--for me, vegetables and sugar are NOT a good combination. I typically sneak a piece of unsugared yam out of the bowl when Mom makes these
Oyster dressing--don't eat oysters
Snow cone or snowball--From my favorite "frozen sugar water stand" just by Burns Park.
Wild Alaskan salmon--I don't think so. I've had smoked salmon a few times, but I don't know its origin.
Sautéed morels--yes.....and I pine for them
Persimmon pudding--nope and not inclined to
General Tso's Chicken--not a huge fan of chicken, especially not at home. Chicken fat or connective tissue freaks me out, so any chicken I eat has to be VERY well-trimmed. I don't trust that the average restaurant will do that.
Frozen custard--yep, although our local Shakey's is now a Shakee's and they did something weird to their recipe. Can't eat it now. (Technically, most of what is sold as "ice cream" is actually "frozen custard" because one drop of egg is the difference between the two. If I'm making ice cream at home, it's ice cream and NOT custard. Dealing with warm dairy and eggs is too much of a PITA to me.)
Italian sausage with peppers and onions on a hoagie bun--yep
Chili dog--oh my yes
Buffalo wings with blue cheese--see chicken phobia above. Bony pieces have all kinds of unsavory bits.
Spam musubi--if I ever make it to Hawaii, maybe
Saltwater taffy--yep
Fluffernutter sandwich on Wonder Bread--don't eat marshmallow or Wonder bread, so no
Black and white cookie--I think I have, but I don't get what is supposed to be so incredible about them
Frybread--no, but it looks VERY interesting
BLT with thick-cut applewood bacon--a BT perhaps, but no L
Baked beans--yep
Pumpkin pie--no
Collards with vinegar and Tabasco--yep
Tex-Mex fajitas with skirt steak and sautéed peppers--yes, I've participated in the fajita craze. I do find it a bit more work than I generally want to do when I'm eating in a restaurant. My fav "good thing" to eat at a local Mexican place is beef fajitas, extra peppers, no tortillas, no sour cream, no cheese. I just eat the meat, veg and guac (their guac is REALLY good).
Fried green tomatoes--yes, they don't do much for me
Succotash--no, but I'd probably like it
Shrimp and grits--Oh my yes. I had this one year at Acadia (birthday dinner) and a friend re-created it a few nights later....I was one.happy.girl.
Hot water cornbread--yep
Barbecue chicken pizza with red onions--nope
Chicken fried steak--I do love a good CFS. I'll eat the ones at KFC if I get desperate enough
Carnitas burrito--yep
Apple butter--no (cooked fruit thing)
Geoduck--not by itself...I may have had in clam chowder or fried clam strips
Soft-serve ice cream cone dipped in chocolate shell (especially Dairy Queen)--Oh yes (but not lately)
Pecan pie--I've never been one for really sweet desserts and I'm not a fan of nuts in things (I do like them alone, but since the braces, not so much). However, pecan pie is a breeze to make and apparently, I do make a good one.
Catfish supper at a church or fire station--how about a fish fry at a farm shop? Not that I eat the fish...I usually just have fries and hushpuppies
Oysters Rockefeller--nope
Homemade cranberry sauce--I'm not a big cranberry fan, although I will make a cranberry relish for Mom and The Boy
Pimiento cheese--I didn't think I liked this until I had some a friend made, not bought. If all pimento cheese was like D's, I'd love it.
MoonPie washed down with R.C. Cola--I realize this is heresy coming from someone born in the South, but Moon Pies have never remotely sounded good. RC is OK, I guess.
Pickled watermelon rind--nope, just can't do it
Cracker Jacks at the ball game--yes
Smithfield ham--I think so
Meatloaf and mashed potato blue plate special at diner--absolutely...I love meatloaf and mashed potatoes
Chicken and waffles--no and I don't get why this would be an interesting combo
Po'Boy--yep
Green bean casserole with French's fried onions--nope, don't eat green beans
Stuffed sopaipillas--had them, not stuffed
Turducken--I find the concept interesting, but I'm not a big fan of any ingredient other than the stuffing
Shad roe on toast--no
Sweet potato casserole with or without marshmallows--prefer my sweet potatoes roasted
Cioppino--no
New York cheesecake--yep, delish
Pan-fried river trout--no
Jambalaya--yes
North Carolina pig pickin'--haven't participated in this exactly, but I have been to a BBQ where we cooked an entire pig (and yes, it cooked over smoke and a low fire all day so it was in fact a BBQ, not a cookout)
California rolls--my favorite kind of sushi
Burgoo--I made a version of it, not terribly authentic. It was good. I'd be interested in trying authentic as long as it's not so authentic that there's game in it.
Penuche fudge--nope and it doesn't sound that interesting
Fried peanut butter and banana sandwich (the Elvis)--nope, don't do bananas
Scrapple or livermush--no, although I have had goetta which is pretty good
Elk medallions in red wine reduction--I was tricked into eating elk chili once....that's as close as I intend to get
Muscadine grapes--I have muscadines growing in my yard
Cheeseburger at backyard barbecue--at a backyard COOKOUT?!?!?! yes
Open-face turkey sandwich--nope, not a turkey fan
Chicago deep dish pizza--I think so
Cobb salad--yep
Peach pie a la mode--I'll eat peaches a la mode, but not pie
Macaroni and cheese with Tillamook sharp cheddar --no, but I grew up on Kraft mac and cheese!
Root beer float--root beer.....bleah, no

blog to blog

2008-08-28T12:46:00.004-05:00

I don't normally do the "I'm posting something on my blog and I invite everyone else to join in" thing, but this one from Very Good Taste (that I got via slashfood) was pretty fun. I'm known to be a picky eater, but I only had 24 no's had 41 yes's and 35 would's. I think that's not bad, but obviously I have work to do!

Here’s what I did:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison: Not intentionally, anyway. I almost want to cross this out because I think deer are more valuable as wildlife than food. The Boy would say it violates my "don't eat anything cute" rule. Which I don't actually have.
2. Nettle tea: I can't imagine why I wouldn't have this. I drink every kind of tea made.
3. Huevos Rancheros: Never had it. Can't figure out how to turn the underline off, dammit.
4. Steak tartare: Goodness yes I'd eat this, but I haven't. (please ignore the underline)
5. Crocodile: No, because I'm quite sure it tastes chicken and while I will eat chicken if I HAVE to, I do NOT like it.
6. Black pudding: Haven't, but I probably would.
7. Cheese fondue: HAVE eaten....in Lucern Switzerland.
8. Carp: Not a big fish person, so I'm putting this down as a "no".
9. Borscht: A year ago, I'd have said "hell no", but I've fallen in love with beets. So yes I would try this, although I haven't.
10. Baba ghanoush: No, because there's eggplant in it.
11. Calamari: I have eaten calamari several times, but I don't really like it.
12. Pho: Yes, I've tried it and it's magical
13. PB&J sandwich: If it weren't for these, I'd never have made it past the age of 5.
14. Aloo gobi: It's vegetarian Indian food. I haven't, but I would in a second.
15. Hot dog from a street cart: Yep, in Central Park, no less
16. Epoisses: An unpasteurized milk cheese. Haven't, but I would.
17. Black truffle: I've had (and still have) black truffle oil. If the real thing is anything like the oil, then my answer is yes Yes YES.
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes: Mt. Bethel at Altus makes really good blackberry, blueberry and elderberry. I have some in my pantry right now. Have and would again.
19. Steamed pork buns: I've eaten steamed pork buns, but I don't like them (as much as I try, I just can't get past the steamed bread)
20. Pistachio ice cream: I believe I have and I certainly would again
21. Heirloom tomatoes: Have some on my counter right now. They are incredible, especially the yellow ones
22. Fresh wild berries: Absolutely. I picked dewberries as a child and now I pick wild blackberries on our land
23. Foie gras: I didn't think I would like this, but I tried it at a friend's suggestion. It's fine. I don't die over it.
24. Rice and beans: Absolutely. Have and would again
25. Brawn, or head cheese: I'd like to be adventurous and say "I'd try it", but I know I wouldn't.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper: Nope, I'm a weenie when it comes to hot food.
27. Dulce de leche : I think I have a jar in the pantry
28. Oysters: My dad loves oysters, so I tried them one day. He didn't tell me not to chew. It was AWFUL and I've never tried them again.
29. Baklava: I've had it, but I don't really like it.
30. Bagna cauda: I'm there. I would, but I haven't.
31. Wasabi peas: LOVE me some wasabi peas.
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl: I've had clam chowder, but I can't guarantee that I had it in the right bowl.
33. Salted lassi: I probably would, but I haven't
34. Sauerkraut: I have to have it on a ruben and at the sausage and spaghetti dinner at Center Ridge
35. Root beer float: I hate Hate HATE root beer, so no.
36. Cognac with a fat cigar: this....I'd do.
37. Clotted cream tea: Done it, would again
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O: vodka jello shooters. Ahhh, back in the day, Ty and I got plumb silly on these. The Boy was Not Amused.
39. Gumbo: Yep and I would again
40. Oxtail: No, but I would
41. Curried goat: Absolutely not
42. Whole insects: Absolutely not
43. Phaal (really hot curry): This is hard. I haven't, but since I love Indian, I probably would, even if I knew it would kill me.
44. Goat’s milk: I could drink goat's milk, but not eat goat.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more: I haven't. I probaby would as long as I didn't have to buy the bottle. I'd hope I was sharing with Leisa or Mark. They'd appreciate it.
46. Fugu: I haven't, but if I ever got the chance to do it right, I think I'd have to.
47. Chicken tikka masala: It's chicken. I'm sure it would be safe, but there are Indian dishes I'd rather have.
48. Eel: I've tried it, I do not like it
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut: Oh yeah
50. Sea urchin: I don't think I have tried this, but I think I would.
51. Prickly pear:I don't think I have tried this, but I think I would
52. Umeboshi : Nope, I like fruit plain and raw
53. Abalone: I would try this in a second
54. Paneer: I typically pick it out of my sag paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal: I've never had a Big Mac. Two all beef patties I can live with, but it's the "special sauce, lettuce, pickles" that get me. And the extra bun. Please, I'm watching my unecessary carbs....
56. Spaetzle: Here's where I'd prefer to use them. I've never had spaetzle, but I'm fascinated by them.
57. Dirty gin martini : I've had a sip of The Boy's. It's OK. I really prefer just the olives.
58. Beer above 8% ABV: I'm 99% sure I've had something that fits this
59. Poutine : french fries topped with fresh cheese curds covered in gravy. Yeah, I'd try it.
60. Carob chips: NO NO NO! Carob is EVIL. It looks like chocolate and tastes TERRIBLE. Unless you're a dog (real chocolate can kill them) , stay away!
61. S’mores : Nope, don't like marshmallows
62. Sweetbreads: I feel that I *should* like them, but I never really want to try them
63. Kaolin : clay or dirt Nope
64. Currywurst: I haven't, but I would
65. Durian: I haven't, but I would just so I could say I had
66. Frogs’ legs: absolutely not
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake: I've eaten beignets, never had churros, had elephant ears and I used to help my Aunt Ev MAKE funnel cakes. Yes, Aunt Ev would make me funnel cakes. That's love, folks
68. Haggis : I haven't but I probably would
69. Fried plantain: Not a huge plantain fan as a rule, but I'd probably try it. (still, terribly sorry about all the underlining)
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette: Haven't...not sure I would
71. Gazpacho : LOVE gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini : I've had it, but I never want to again. I still remember the horrible fishy taste I couldn't hardly get out of my mouth
73. Louche absinthe : Haven't, but I would
74. Gjetost, or brunost: YES! A friend got me some gjetost for my birthday last year. It's a caramel-y kind of cheese and is quite delightful
75. Roadkill: hell no
76. Baijiu: A Chinese liquor. I was ready to say "yeah, I'd try it" until I read that some compare the taste to diesel. I'm trying to cut back on my diesely-tasting foods. I find them to be nutritionally poor and high in calories. Who needs that? I'll save my calories for Poutine
77. Hostess Fruit Pie: I've never had one of these. I don't like fruit pies in general (don't like cooked fruit) and these have never tempted me.
78. Snail: Snails, on the other hand, are VERY yummy.
79. Lapsang souchong : This is a variety of tea, so I'm fairly sure I've had it.
80. Bellini : Oh yeah....I'd like one now
81. Tom yum: haven't, but I would in a second
82. Eggs Benedict: Nope, I don't like egg yolks. If I could get poached egg whites in an eggs benedict, I'd be all about it.
83. Pocky: A cookie coated with chocolate? Sure I'd try that
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.: haven't, but I would
85. Kobe beef: I've had the variety used for Kobe (Wagyu) that was raised in Australia. That count?
86. Hare: Nope, too close to rabbit
87. Goulash: I haven't just had goulash, I've MADE it....tasty stuff. When it cools off, I'll make it again!
88. Flowers : Yes, I've eaten flowers on salads
89. Horse: No, but I've seen a store in Italy that specializes in Carne Equina
90. Criollo chocolate: oddly enough, I haven't had this, that I'm aware of, but I would....oh my would I ever!
91. Spam: sad to say, I've had Spam. I'm not proud of it.
92. Soft shell crab: I love crab, but there's something about eating it shell and ALL that I just can't deal with.
93. Rose harissa : haven't, but I would
94. Catfish: I'm sure I've eaten it, but I can't recall it. Not a big fish person
95. Mole poblano: i've made a VERY simple mole and it was really good. I'd love to try a REAL mole poblano.
96. Bagel and lox : Real bagels and REAL lox....Oh my yes
97. Lobster Thermidor: had it, loved it
98. Polenta : I really like polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee : I've had what claimed to be a "Jamaican Blue Mountain blend". I'm sure they added one JBM ground to the package. But if I ever get a chance to have the real stuff, I certainly will.
100. Snake. Uh, no. See crocodile

Not on their list, but Vegemite. It sounds interesting. My current boss has a small jar on a bookshelf that was probably a present from someone who'd visited the AU office. If I make it to the Land Down Under, I'll try it.

Three times this week....!

2008-08-22T11:41:00.002-05:00

I've managed to work out to a DVD I have three times this week. Admittedly, Sunday's was easy although it did make the day "start late". Today's was as well since I took today off. Tuesday, I made myself come in and work out before I started dinner, before I worried about what the kitchen looked like, before I read the mail, before I checked what was on TV. That is what I'm going to have to keep doing. If I get up late on the weekend, I can't use that as an excuse to not work out. If I have even a little time on a weeknight, I'm going to have to work out. Dinner can be a little late.

While I'm proud of my accomplishment, I know I'm not "done". Baby steps.....

Bunny ears

2008-08-18T09:06:00.002-05:00

I'm often accused of having "bunny ears". No, they're not long and soft, they just work really well. Sometimes, too well. A team near me has a status meeting at 9 am every morning. Three of these people work in hard offices in a row just outside my cube. Do they get together to meet? Heck no. They ALL THREE sit in their offices, with the door open on speakerphone. And two of them, including their team leader, don't have "inside voices". One guy, who doesn't work in this office, but who is generally on the call, has even less of an "inside voice" than they do. Seriously, I think they could go outside to meet and they'd hear him 30 miles away. With multiple people on speaker, the echo of everyone's voice rings down the hall. Drives.me.frakking.nuts.

Headphones should be required equipment for anyone who has to speak aloud during the day and if there were a way to disable a speakerphone unless a door is shut, I'd so buy it and install in each office near me. Of course, why 3 people who sit near each other can't get in one room and shut the door is beyond me. If only I could tune out the idiocy......

heh

2008-08-17T20:02:00.002-05:00

I really like the song "Promiscuous" by Nelly Furtado and Timbaland. I find the banter back and forth fun. However, there is one line that cracks me up every time I hear it. In one bit, Nelly says "What kind of girl do you take me for?" Uh, sweetie....maybe a PROMISCUOUS ONE?!?!

I know, I'm easily amused.....

I used to like John Lynch

2008-08-15T10:02:00.003-05:00

But then he signed with the Broncos. I really really don't like the Broncos. When they released him, I hoped he'd sign with someone else. He's a good player and I like watching him. So he finds a new team. New England. If there is anyone I like less than Denver, it's the lying cheating cheater cheater pumpkin eater Patriots.

Favre to the Jets, Lynch to the Pats. I'm going to have to stay high from September to February for this season to make any sense.

Anti-Temple Food

2008-08-14T10:38:00.002-05:00

While "Temple Food" is what one should have, and often, what one wants more often than not can easily be classified as "Anti-Temple Food". Today, I'm ready for lunch at 10:30 am. Snacking for dinner with too many refined carbs and not enough protein combined with skipping breakfast can do that for you. So what might I want? The latest thing to hit my "There's no way I should ever eat this again, but it's so good you know I will" list: a BBQ-stuffed baked potato from the new BBQ joint in town.

It's a well-respected place in other parts of the state and we got a store about a year ago. They have large baked potatoes that they put lovely chopped pork, *real* butter, and cheese on. I generally make 2 meals out of one, which is certainly better than eating the whole thing at one sitting. But it's sooooo not what I should be eating.

Olympic thoughts

2008-08-12T09:07:00.002-05:00

Synchronized diving is interesting. Don't know that I'd seen much of it before. The men's uniforms don't leave much to the imagination.

Beach volleyball is not a sport. It's an activity people do because laying out on the beach is boring. Yes, there are other faux sports in the Olympics. NBC hasn't shown any of them when I've been watching.

Indeed.....

2008-08-11T16:02:00.001-05:00

This may be the best Living Will I've Seen

I,__________________, being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of pinhead politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it, or lawyers/doctors interested in simply running up the bills. If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to ask for at least one of the following:

Glass of wine
Chocolate
Sex
Martini (preferably a chocolate one from Acadia)
Cold Beer
Chocolate
Chicken fried steak
Cream gravy
Sex
Mexican food
Chocolate
French fries
Chocolate
Pizza
Sex
Ice cream
Cup of tea
Chocolate
Chocolate
Sex
Chocolate

It should be presumed that I won't ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my appointed person and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes, let the 'fat lady sing,' and call it a day!

Temple Food

2008-08-11T11:51:00.002-05:00

Nigella Lawson refers to healthy food eaten after a period of indulgence as "temple food". I love the concept and need to put it into practice, especially this week. Trying to think of a spot to GRAB some "temple food" however, is not so easy. If it were, I'd probably eat "temple food" more often. Subway would be an option, but I'm not a big sandwich person. Plus Subway's bread is too much. Salads? Yes, salads, especially lightly dressed like I like them are good temple food. But a nightmare to eat with braces.

Sigh...I may just have green tea.

What I've learned

2008-08-09T11:39:00.004-05:00

A blogger I read is currently posting about things he learns on a daily basis. Unfortunately, I'm not that diligent about being aware of my learning opportunities, nor am I that regular a blogger. But today, on the completion of another trip around the sun, I'm posting about things I've learned since my last trip.

Good folks can be hard to find (Part 1). At work, someone I worked very well with left for a better opportunity. I miss talking to her every day, but as much as the personal, I miss how good a team she and I are. She's open to brainstorming ways to make things better, she's willing to build processes and do some of the other "heavy lifting" to be successful, she knows how to use other resources and escalate issues. As I did my review this year, I realized how MY success diminished this year because I didn't have a partner like her to work with anymore. Her replacement doesn't get that I'm a resource. He brings me issues reluctantly, it seems. I want to help him in any way I can, but he's almost unwilling to be helped.
Good folks can be hard to find (Part 2). This year, I started hanging out with some of "The Girls" who are in one way or another, attached to "The Guys" that The Boy hangs out with. I feel like I've hit the lottery with them sometimes. We're in different fields, have different backgrounds, are in different "life stages", but we all get along great and they are awesome chicks
I'm ambivalent about shopping. When I *need* something, I want to go in, find it, buy it, get out. Most days, I'd rather do something worthwhile at work (which can be rare sometimes) than wander around a store looking for something that fits and looks decent on me. Then there are days like yesterday. I took my annual Birthday Holiday from work and went errand running. I fed my addiction to expensive makeup (and boy, do I wish I could shake THAT one....) and headed to The Mall. At Ann Taylor, I tried on 4 shirts. Two looked horrible, but 2 looked smoking hot, even on my not-smoking-hot torso. I might wear one to Birthday Dinner tonight. Headed to buy shoes. For years, this has been a slam dunk, but I'm getting pickier about my shoe purchases. This time, I had a specific need. Took longer than I really wanted to and my "I just want to get in and out of here" mood was about to kick in. Learned that there are shoes way to high for me. Was quite surprised by a pair of Michael Kors sandals. I have a long, narrow foot. Yet, my big AND little toe hung over the edge on these. They were maybe 1/8 of an inch taller than the shoes I bought, but that was enough to make them WAY too high. The VS "Biofit" bra is nowhere near as good as the IPEX. I admit, I bought an IPEX because of the heavy marketing, but they really are excellent bras. Biofit, not so much. My shopping luck continued at Chicos where I found the last pair of pants in the store that go with a very cool jacket I bought a couple of weeks ago. Would I want to do this every day? No. Yesterday was a rare day of shopping luck. Even if every day could be like that, there are other things I'd rather spend my time and money on.
I'm a procrastinator. This isn't really news, it's just something I've been thinking about a lot lately.
I don't like interruptions. Once I've made a plan and have gotten off my duff to complete it, I am rather offended about being taken off course. I find this most irritating when my sleep is interrupted. My poor dog isn't into sharing her food with the less fortunate neighborhood wildlife. At 3 am, I'm less willing to tolerate her instinct to protect her food. Racoons just want to eat, I just want to sleep....Can't we all just get along?
I am a homebody. Seriously. I don't know if it's from growing up an only child out in the country or the "I need a place that's not work"refuge, but I like being at home. I'm fine running errands, but I'd rather do them all at once and not keep running into town all the time.

I'm sure I learned a lot more than that this year, but those are the things perking in my mind at the moment. Here's to another round trip.....

The JETS?!?!?!

2008-08-07T07:48:00.003-05:00

Bleah, bleah and double-bleah. Brett Favre a JET?!? ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHH. I hate the f'ing Jets. They are one of the few teams that I will ONLY watch if a Team I Love (tm) is playing them and has a decent chance to win (considering that Miami is in their division, that's generally not been the case recently. Oh, they play the Jets, they just haven't done well against them.). I hate the Pats and I hate the Jets, but knowing that Brady and Co are going to wipe the floor with the Jets isn't enough for me to want to watch that.

Bleah. Such nastiness for me to read as I have my morning coffee.

Still tired

2008-08-04T08:52:00.003-05:00

And still dehydrated. So my braces are sticking to my jaws. It's quite lovely. However, I'm absolutely loving the Bombay Black CD, "Psycho Magnet". So far, my two favs are "The Ride" and "Inflicted". Yes, I know, completely opposite topics, but good nonetheless.

Bombay Black

2008-08-03T17:39:00.002-05:00

Four of the hardest rocking guys you'll ever meet. Cool to just hang out with as well. CD release show seemed to go well. Afterparty was, well, interesting. It's been a long time since I crawled into bed at 6 am. Didn't drink all that much, so I'm not hungover today, so much as tired and definitely dehydrated.

Woo Hoo Birthday Month......

Birthday Month est arrive!

2008-08-01T09:40:00.001-05:00

Parked in the "coveted" parking space today, spent a little time straightening my hair, wearing a killer outfit. Yep, I'd say that Birthday Month is starting out just as it should......

A to B

2008-07-31T10:28:00.002-05:00

There are lots of personality tests out in the world. Birkman, Meyers-Briggs, etc. However, I am partial to one a friend made up. She focused on how a person delivered communication. Some folks wander all around a point before finally making it. Some people head in an odd direction, turn sharply and get there. And some are "A to B". Two points, straight line, no wandering, no turn.

Normally, I'm a wanderer. Big time. When I don't wander, however, I'm "A to B". To the point of nearly being rude. You want to gripe and wallow about something? I'm likely to think "Look, how many options do you have? One? OK, then let's go with that option and MOVE ON". Or "I don't want to resolve this issue with our current process" "OK, how do you want to do it?" "I don't know" "Figure it out and come back when you have".

I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to tick someone off today.....

Friends.....

2008-07-30T14:53:00.002-05:00

"Use every man after his desert, and who should 'scape whipping?" One of many good quotes from Hamlet. And probably more true between you and your friends than you think. We love our friends...and they love us. Which is good, because we're probably more stupid with our friends than with anyone else.

Case in point. Friend of mine sends me an email, which, if I'd thought about the content and context a bit harder, I would have seen his point. I didn't, only considered it from my POV and sent back a rather sarcastic response. Which got me a longer note with him elaborating on a subject he didn't want to discuss in the first place. As I thought about it, what he was trying to get across in the first note was pretty clear. Why didn't I pick it up? "I didn't think" (An excuse that makes me want to rip out someone's liver when I hear it.) Why didn't I think? "I don't know" (Another of my least favorite things to hear and is most commonly heard in conjunction with "I didn't think"). Guilty guilty guilty as charged. And I still feel bad about it....quite bad, in fact.

That was just one thing....I'm sure I'll make some goof to someone else (or him again) or someone will make one to me. Because we're friends...it will be OK.

To all my friends who read this <> I love you guys!

Too much lunch

2008-07-28T13:51:00.003-05:00

too little sleep and lots to do make EY a dull girl. Seriously, I'm going to either start ordering half portions when I eat at the kiosk or sectioning out half FIRST. I'd have nowhere to put it, but maybe distance in the takeout box would be enough.

I get that there are creatures in the back yard that annoy the basset. Her howling in the middle of the night annoys ME (and I get far fewer naps in a day).

And now I have a task that has boomeranged on me. I could have sworn that I'd gotten rid of it, but it's back.

Where do good moods come from?

2008-07-23T10:18:00.002-05:00

I'm in a really good mood today. Got to bed way late, got up reasonably early, ran a couple of errands, so not to work early, but that's OK. Work is reasonable. Nothing horrible, but no inbox full of accolades.

Missed a call from a friend yesterday, but texted for a bit like we were 13 year olds. Nothing alarming or critical there either.

So I guess I'll take my good mood at face value, enjoy it while it lasts and try not to get bummed out about the tiny, TINY elastics I now need for my very very back teeth.

Games people play

2008-07-22T16:04:00.002-05:00

Anywhere there is a system, people are going to want to game it. I suppose it's human nature of some to be unsatisfied that someone might be getting a break (deserved or not) that they're not getting. I don't pretend that I'm more noble than the average meatpuppet, but I've always felt uncomfortable taking advantage in situations like that.

Today, I ran across two. One is at attempt by a co-worker to get slotted into a job role she neither wants or is qualified for because it will help her stay in the area. I can understand that. She's comfortable here, she's built a life here and may not have the same opportunities elsewhere. Is she smart enough to convince someone that she's qualified for the new role? Likely, as she's quite bright. Does she in any way want to stop what she's doing now? My sources say "no".

In another instance, a group of folks at work want their jobs to be reclassified. Accuracy, they say is what they're going for, and have invited my co-workers and I go "join in". The new classfication doesn't fit. Not even close. However, it does have a higher pay scale, a fact I'm sure isn't lost on these people. Could we make a legit argument to join them? Oddly enough, if anyone fits the new category, it's most of my peeps (I do not fit neatly into the new category.). I flat out told my immediate supervisor that I'm not comfortable gaming the system for more money, although my enlightened self-interest says I'm probably stupid for doing so. If I'm doing enough good work to warrant more money, it would be nice if someone would throw me a few bucks. But to lie and pretend I have skills that I do not posssess, just isn't something I can be comfortable doing.

I'm sure the change will go through and it will facilitate the other folks getting more money. I'm sure there are things I do on a daily basis that they couldn't live with. But I've seen far more instances of questionable behaviour from them than from my closer co-workers. So while I'll admit to not being perfect, I'm also not surprised at the willingness of the other group to misrepresent themselves. I've long felt that these people were way overdue for a karma correction. I'll probably not see it if it happens, but I'm happier not joining in a lie.

Stay on the Farm

2008-07-14T08:43:00.003-05:00

I like Brett Favre. Both as a player and a personality. I love his enthusiasm for football and his recognition that he's far from a perfect player. Most of the time, I've agreed with his decisions (other than a few wacky passes). However, I cannot in any way, shape, form or fashion be OK with his decision to come out of retirement. Brett Favre in any other uniform is a travesty. Yes, I know he played with Atlanta first, but he didn't do much there. Brett Favre is a Packer.

When he retired, it gave Aaron Rodgers a chance to put down the clipboard and have a shot at making his own impact. For Rodgers, this has got to be torture. For years, he's learned from one of the best QB's in the league. If McCarthy takes Favre back, Aaron goes back to the bench and likely won't be a Packer long. Then what does the Pack do when Favre REALLY retires? Rodgers is "the quarterback of the future" who deserves that future to start in August.

Yes, other teams could take Favre. But it would be like Jerry Rice playing in Oakland, Seattle and Denver. Like Broadway Joe playing as an LA Ram (and how awful were the Rams in LA ? ). Like Joe Montana playing as a KC Chief. Bad, just bad.

I know my opinion is like everyone else outside Favre's family and friends: meaningless. But as a fan of the game and the player, it's time to retire. And stay that way.

Yep

2008-07-07T08:15:00.001-05:00

It was our own moral failure and not any accident of chance, that while preserving the appearance of the Republic we lost its reality. -Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE)

Bad gardener

2008-07-04T00:41:00.002-05:00

I try. Really, I do. But I'm not the best water-er. I've noticed a disturbing pattern. I'll forget to water for a few days, plants look like hell, I water, it rains. Sigh. Happened again today.

Pesto time!

2008-06-29T22:46:00.000-05:00

Pesto....that simple paste of fresh basil, garlic, parmesan cheese and olive oil. It transforms pasta, potatoes, cauliflower tomatoes and numerous other things into something de-lish. Heck, I'll bet you could take a piece of wood, put pesto on it and it would be tasty. You'd even get a significant amount of insoluble fiber. Splinters too...ANYWAY, pesto is good and if you can take a little tedious prep, incredibly easy to make.

Step 1: Grow some basil. Not as hard as you'd really think. Go to your local home improvement store, buy a pot, dirt (unless you're one of those lucky people who have dirt in your yard) and a basil plant. Heck, buy two. If you're buying dirt, what else will you do with the rest of it? Exactly. I wish I'd taken a picture of the large bushy basil before I denuded it. It was very hearty and beautiful. And if basil can get "hearty and beautiful" under my care, you can surely do better. I'm not much of a plant person. I'm not much for tending in general. If you can't fend for yourself, you won't do well around me, but basil is quite forgiving and easy. Really.

Step 2: Gather the non-basil ingredients. I used olive oil out of the pourer we have hanging around, garlic, parmesan, parsley, yogurt, pine nuts. I know parsley and yogurt aren't typical ingredients, but hear me out. Basil, like apples, bananas and iron, oxidizes when exposed to oxygen and turns dark brownish black. I could load up the pesto with olive oil, but I prefer to add in some extra chlorophyll by adding parsley and I'll section out some of the pesto to add in to the yogurt. This will add creaminess, protein and tang. It's an experiment, I admit, but there's plenty more time this summer to grow basil. Apologies for the picture. The other one was worse....promise.

Step 3: Begin prep--green things. Pesto needs a lot of prep. After cutting, you should probably wash the basil. It grows up out of the dirt, but you never know what kind of life form it could be supporting. After a bath, the basil relaxes like so....

Step 3A: Still prepping the green things. After a nice rinse, you pluck the leaves off the stem. some herbs have tender, forgiving stems (like our friend parsley), but basil does not. The basil stems are so tough, I didn't even put them down the garbage disposal. They went outside to become compost. Not "formal" compost, I'm not that organized. More a casual "I threw them outside and they'll turn into organic matter where they land" kind of compost. And after you pick off the basil, give it a good spin. It doesn't have to be dry dry, but shouldn't be soaking wet.

Step 3B: Our friend, parsley. There's not a lot to say about parsley in the pesto-making process. It's a supporting character. I hope it will stabilize the color and not add much flavor. This particular parsley was incredibly dirty, but there are only so many exciting ways of capturing greens as they wash. However, it's our friend, so it gets a photo op.

Step 4: Start on everything else. First off is the parmesan cheese. I could use really incredible Parmesano Reggiano for this, but I think it gets lost here. You neeed parm, but whatever your local store sells will be OK. You don't have to be fussy with it. Just cut it into chunks your food processor or blender can handle.

Step 5: Garlic. Mr. EY actually grew the garlic you see here. I admit, I was not sure it would work or make decent garlic, but it did.

Step 6: Shredding the parm. There's no need to clean out the bowl of the processor, just dump in the chunks

and hit "ON". Like this

Step 7: Go nuts. Pine nuts, specifically. Pine nuts come from a specific kind of pine tree and are mighty tasty. They're even tastier toasted. Some advocate toasting them in a pan on the stove, but on a quarter sheet pan under the broiler (a long way from the broiler) is easier for me.

Step 8: Invite the herbs to the party. Pesto takes a lot of basil. Really. A lot. See? If you can't see the line in the bowl, that's 16 cups. I packed it down a bit, but didn't get carried away, so it's not precisely 16 cups, but it's fairly close. Pesto is best made my feel, smell and taste. I could give you amounts on some ingredients, but the only reason I can measure this one is that I knew I needed my biggest bowl. Which happens to have measurements inside. Otherwise, I'd just say I use a LOT of basil.

Step 9: Everybody in the pool. Yes, now that you've picked, washed, spun, toasted and processed a little bit, it's time to process a lot. Put as much of everything as you can into your handy food processor, put the lid on and go.

When you're done, it will look all green and delicious

No, that's not all. All of what I had wouldn't fit in the processor at one time. So here's Round 2

And then the batches mix together

You see how the bottom part isn't so green? That's because that round had more parm. I'll mix it together and it will be fine. Really.

I know there are no pictures of the olive oil. It's not that I don't think olive oil is important. Far from it. About the only things I don't put olive oil in are coffee, cookies and cheesecake. However, I'm not a steady picture taker (Not that you'd have noticed. Oh, you didn't? Aren't you sweet?). And I'm a klutz. Me trying to take a picture while I slowly drizzle olive oil into the running food processor is asking for disaster. When you make pesto, put "enough" in. How much is "enough"? You'll know. Trust yourself. I prefer to have slightly dry pesto because you can always add in liquid. If you make an oily delicious mess, you're kinda stuck with it. You can always do more basil, pine nuts, garlic and parm, but it's safer to go easy on the oil.

Here is where I've taken out some of the pesto to add in yogurt. If I ate fish, this would be perfect to serve over a nice piece of, well, whatever fish goes with pesto. What I think will probably happen to this pesto and yogurt is that it will adorn sauteed zucchini or spiral pasta. If someone would fix chicken, this would be good with it.

Step 10: We're DONE! Yes, now the pesto is ready for action. What kind of action? Hot pasta action is a classic. Hot baby potatoes are another. I'll be taking some of the non-yogurted pesto on some baby potatoes to a cookout on Friday. Chicken, if you're brave enough to touch it. Good sliced tomatoes would love a spoon of pesto. Grilled bread schmeared with pesto will send most people to swooning. Just about anything savory (e.g. not sweet) would be 1000% better with some pesto.

So get out there and make some pesto!

Christian Bale

2008-06-28T23:19:00.002-05:00

Because the new Batman movie is coming out, MSN has a nice collection of Christian Bale pictures. Oh my. He is one hot man. He has a raw kind of sensuality that never gets old, no matter what he's in or how many times I've seen it. "American Psycho", as warped as that is, is one of my favorite movies. Lots of nearly naked CB in incredibly good shape. "The Prestige" had little to no undressed CB, but it was still an incredible movie. And to top it off, he's Welsh. When it comes to accents, any place in the British Isles is a-OK with me.

Bale's attractiveness reminds me of that of a friend. Not exactly conventionally handsome, but compelling. Granted, they each have dark brown hair and green-brown eyes, but they also have a quality that's hard to identify. What makes another person "compelling"? Physical characteristics, sure, but it's also personality as well. That certain something....that I well appreciate.

I really should get dressed

2008-06-28T13:07:00.003-05:00

It's after one pm, after all. However, it's Saturday and a rainy gray one at that. So what's wrong with hair up in a barrette, glasses on, wearing a robe? I'm sure one person who regularly reads this will say "Absolutely nothing, girl!" There is at least one reader who will be slightly horrified at me "wasting" this much of a day (hey, I just got up an hour and a half ago...that's really all I've "wasted"....lol). The house is cleaner than it's been in months, thanks to the efforts of two eager college girls. Laundry is being worked on. It's not like I'm being a total slug.

Yawn....it's Saturday. I'm pretty happy.

Locally Grown

2008-06-27T19:37:00.002-05:00

I've been participating in our town's "locally grown" movement. Coming from a farm family, supporting local growers is important to me, as is having tasty things to eat in season. I missed this week's pickup, but I still managed to get some locally grown blackberries. Blackberries whose growth consumed not one iota of chemicals, petroleum or other shunned things. These are definitely not Genetically Modified.

Now, on the downside, they're not really big. They haven't been artifically irrigated, fertilized and have had to struggle on their own to survive. They're precarious to pick and I'm still not sure I didn't get a tick somewhere. I did try to be choosy when I picked them and tried to only get ones that were really ripe.....

My music....062608

2008-06-26T22:20:00.001-05:00

Werewolves of London-Warren Zevon
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)-The Proclaimers
Love Rollercoaster-Red Hot Chili Peppers
London Bridge-Fergie
SexyBack-Justin Timberlake
Get Ur Freak On-Missy Elliott
I Touch Myself-The Divynls
Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover-Sophie B Hawkins
As I Lay Me Down-Sophie B Hawkins
Criminal-Fiona Apple
Groove Is In the Heart-DeeLite
Glamourous-Fergie
Freeze-Frame-J. Geils Band
Love Stinks-J. Geils Band
She Blinded Me With Science-Thomas Dolby
You Could Be Mine-GNR
100 Years-5 for Fighting
Lullaby-The Cure
Hot Hot Hot!!!-The Cure

Oh Jaeger, my love

2008-06-24T16:32:00.002-05:00

A friend got a Jaegermeister machine recently and I promised to "donate" a bottle to the cause. This one holds 3, pours an ice-cold shot and will blend in well to its new environs. I surprised myself when I just volunteered to run out and contribute.

However, I think fondly of my past brushes with Jaeger, painful though they were at the time. It's like thinking of a long-ago ex. You remember the fun you had, but not the torrid breakup. Yep, I'm like that with Jaeger.