Over the River and Through the Woods...

So, the original plan for tomorrow was to carpool down to my sister's house with my brother and his wife. In his wife's car. But her car is in the shop - something we found out at around 6pm today. But they still want to carpool with us - in my car. Which is a 2 door Honda Civic. It's going to be a bit of a tight squeeze because of the cooler, bags, sleeping bags and 4 people. But sure, why not? And then my mom calls at 11pm (I can't believe she was still up) to tell us that my brother's cat is sick and they are bringing him as well. Only they don't tell us this. We call them to confirm. Oh - just come by in the morning and we'll figure it out then. I knew we should have left today instead. We are frickin' driving down to PA on Thanksgiving with 4 people, a very full car and a sick cat. It is usually a 4-ish hour car trip. And I'm already rambling. This is going to be interesting.

I probably won't have a chance to write anything until Sunday - so have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Sometimes I'm Just Evil

me: Do you like my hair like this?
him: (gears in head turning visibly) Yes, I like it, it's all floofy.
me: You like the black color?
him: (this must be a trap) Yes, I like the black. It looks great.
me: So you didn't like it when it was red?
him: (uh oh, what do I say?) Actually, I did like it red. And I like it black now. But to be honest, I don't really think about it.
me: So you don't think about me?

Another time:
me - on couch, wrapped in blanket, watching tv
him: You look so cute - like a little pig in a blanket
me: Did you just call me a pig?
him: No - I meant, you know, you looked cute all wrapped up like that.
me: Do you know what a pig in a blanket is?
him: Yes - it's one of those little sausage things in bread.
me: So you're saying I look like a sausage?

Founding Father Quiz

 

Which Founding Father Are You?

Thanks to styro for the link. The crazy thing is - my family is sort of related to John Adams. Through my dad's side of the family. I say "sort of" related because we are actually related to his wife Abigail Adams and, thus, their son, John Quincy Adams. Even more crazy - this family lineage also apparently includes at least one Playboy Bunny - Stephanie Adams.

Black Table Thanksgiving

The writers at Black Table are so frickin' funny. My favorite is Amy Blair - scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Thanksgiving

Why I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving:

• I get to see my whole family together.
  
• I'm in LOVE with my little niece and nephew.
  
• We are going to play Cranium and maybe Beyond Balderdash - both of which involve much giggling and almost peeing pants. My older sister and I are a crazy Pictionary-playing team and we've been banned from playing Pictionary. Luckily, Cranium has a part of the game that involves drawing. We kick ass.
  
• We are going to drink a lot of beer and wine.
  
• The food everyone is bringing sounds so yummy, my stomach is already rumbling.
  
• We are carpooling with my brother and his wife so we don't have to drive and I don't have to get annoyed by my hubby's awful driving techniques.
  
• I can read my books in the car on the way down - I have 4 to finish now.
  
• Weekends with my family involve a LOT of laughing.
  
• Weekends with my family involve a lot of storytelling.
  
• I don't have to work on Thursday or Friday.
  
• I get to see all the painting and decorating my sister and her husband have done on their house. As I helped them pick out the colors, I get to see if they worked out okay. Since I can't paint our apartment, I'm living vicariously through them.
  

Chocolate Overload

Sometimes wishes do come true. We have been counting our pennies lately and today I only had enough money to get myself a couple of tacos for lunch. And I was thinking how much I wanted chocolate. And what do we get in the mail at work? A 10 pound bar of chocolate from one of our vendors! We broke off a couple of chunks and I'm already feeling wired.

In other news, the tacos tasted a bit funny and I'm hoping they don't make me sick. Partly because I hate vomiting and partly because I love that taco place and their yummy tacos and I would hate to have to avoid them. You know when you get sick from something and you are unable to eat that food again? Like me with Skittles. Or Peach Tree Schnapps.

Commercial Contest

from here:

"POLITICAL popster Moby and Jonathan Soros - son of investment gazillionaire George Soros - are hooking up to embarrass President Bush. They're launching an Internet contest next month in which the public will be asked to create 30-second commercials attacking the Bush administration, to be judged by a panel of left-leaning celebs, including Jack Black, James Carville, Margaret Cho, Janeane Garofalo, Michael Moore, Michael Stipe, Gus Van Sant and Eddie Vedder. The winning entry will be aired on network TV during the week of Bush's State of the Union address in January. "We want to draw attention to the administration's failed policies," the chrome- domed musician tells us. Would-be propagandists can enter at moveone.org."

Weekend Update

We met with our new cat sitter. The cats hid, of course, but we thought she was nice. She's bonded and insured - which is more than our last crazy cat sitter had for credentials. It's always stressful to entrust our kitties to someone we don't know. And to let them into our house while we are gone.

Also dyed my hair black. I meant for it to be a dark brown, but maybe I left it in too long. I just really needed to get rid of those white hairs, you know? I'm just not ready to have white hair that is noticeable.

And I'm hopefully going to make a ton of my favorite peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies and a pumpkin caramel cheesecake for Thanksgiving at my younger sister's house. I'm thinking I might do them tomorrow night as I'm in a very lounge around the house kind of mood. And I don't feel like dealing with the cleanup today. Perhaps I'll change my mind tonight. For Thanksgiving I'm also in charge of a butternut squash soup, stuffing (wild mushroom with hazelnuts), gravy and helping my sister with her first turkey. It is always fun to hang out with Gretchen - she and her husband always have lots of beer on hand and we crack each other up. My whole family is headed down to their house in PA. We are carpooling with my brother and his wife. It's about 4.5 hours - depending on traffic. Which I think is going to be awful as we are driving on Thanksgiving morning.

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to finish my novel in time for the Nov. 30th deadline. I'm feeling like a bit of a failure. I was motivated at first, but now I've hit a wall. I definitely started too late. And I keep making excuses. At least I was able to get about 20,000 words down - lots of family stories that I can add to over time. Next year will be better. I'll plan out things in advance and start on time.

Everyone Should Read This

"This administration had a point of view the day that happened. If you look at 9/11 separately you realize it had nothing to do with Saddam Hussein. Except [vice president Dick] Cheney and [Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul] Wolfowitz put a plan together in '92 to try to convince [president] Bush One to invade Iraq, but here's what Bush One said about it, in his book "A World Transformed," which I think is devastating:

"I firmly believed that we should not march into Baghdad. To occupy Iraq would instantly shatter our coalition, turning the whole Arab world against us and make a broken tyrant into a latter day Arab hero. Assigning young soldiers to a fruitless hunt for a secretly entrenched dictator and condemning them to fight what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war."

Now, this administration bought the Cheney-Wolfowitz plan from '92 hook line and sinker. It was all about using 9/11 as an excuse to go into Baghdad, not as a reason."

From this interview with Max Cleland on Salon.com.

Cat in the Hat

Hmm. I don't think he liked it.

"And now Hollywood, perhaps inevitably, has gone and messed it up. Under the supervision of Brian Grazer, who was responsible for the monstrous "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" three years ago, and with the permission of Audrey Geisel, the author's widow and the custodian of his posthumous reputation, the first-time director Bo Welch has put together a vulgar, uninspired lump of poisoned eye candy that Universal has the temerity to call "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat.""

And more from defective yeti's Bad Review Revue

Unbelievable

This makes me angry.

"Henri Bisson, the Alaska director for the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management, said the leasing plan would “maximize the production of oil and gas resources in an environmentally safe manner while protecting the important biological, subsistence and cultural values also found in this area.”"

Right.

Hurtin'

I drank too much wine last night. My head is pounding. My hubby has been making himself cherry vanilla tea in the morning to bring to class. And the smell filled the car and just made me want to hurl. Ugh.

Passive Aggressive Behavior

My hubby and I got in an argument this morning about passive aggressive behavior. I started to write this post about his mother - as her behavior towards me used to be our main source of contention. But what if she reads this one day? What if his sisters read this? I'd like to hear from you on what you think defines a passive aggressive person. Maybe just give me some examples. Yes, I'm censoring myself. But you have to know this group. And this woman, in particular. My hubs thinks that for someone to be passive aggressive, they consciously do nothing in order to inflict harm or hurt on someone. And while I agree with that, I don't think that is all there is to the behavior. I think that someone can very effectively manipulate you behind the scenes and it is also considered passive aggressive behavior. Man, I'm being cryptic.

Feel free to email me if you want more of the back story.

Too Funny!

Man, this had me giggling madly. So funny.

Sankt Hans

I was in Denmark my junior year of high school as an exchange student with YFU (Youth for Understanding). High school was not a good time for me to visit another country. I was a typical surly teenager who knew everything. I did learn the language as best I could, and I tried to speak Danish as often as possible, but overall I think my attitude could have been better. I'm no longer in touch with my host family and it is one of my bigger regrets. I've been trying to relive my time there in my memory. Mostly because it was a very unique experience and Denmark is such a beautiful country. You'll have to forgive me if I get some of the facts wrong; my surliness affected my long term memory.

Pretty much everyone I met was kind and laid back and lovely. I lived in Nykøbing Falster (an island south of Copenhagen). I rode my white bike everywhere – there were very few people I knew who bothered with cars. The gas was very expensive and there are bike paths everywhere. The parking garage at my school was for bikes; cars had to park across the street. I'll have to relate more of my adventure later.

This post is because I was recently thinking of one of the cool holidays. At the end of June – on the summer solstice – everyone would head to the beaches for all-night bonfires. It always happens on the longest day of the year and is called Sankt Hans or Midsummer's Eve or Midsummer Night. This tradition has been going on for centuries. From what I can remember, the bonfires are in celebration of the burning of the witches. Or maybe the bonfires are lit to ward off witches and evil spirits. Or maybe the witch burning (which actually happened in Denmark in the 16th and 17th centuries) happened because Sankt Hans is/was considered a magical and holy day and the superstitious people of that time period felt that witches were evil. Not sure completely. If you know, please let me know. Anyhoo, my host parents owned a summer house near the coast of the Baltic Sea. It was near the end of my stay in Denmark and we all went to the beach together. It seemed like everyone I had ever met was on the beach. Bonfires all down the coastline, lots of beer and wine and partying all night long. I've never seen anything like it since.

Stupidity

And then meeting the sociopath at an SAT preparation class in Westfield with a friend of mine. He was attractive – dark hair, tall, tan. He drove a fast, cool car that I later found out was his dad's. He was stupid – why didn't I remember that part? He asked my friend about me and of course she told me he was interested. And I was attracted to the idea of dating someone from another high school. And he went to the high school where all the cool girls in our school dated guys. Or so I thought at the time. Why didn't I pick up on the fact that he had no friends? Or that he was a compulsive liar. Or that he never knew any of the answers to any of the SAT questions? Why wasn't I suspicious when he gave me expensive gifts after only a week of phone calls? Because I wanted it to be true. The dream of a rich boyfriend who would allow me to escape my stifling school. I pretended he was smart and he caught on to my need for the lies. Sure, he got a 1260 on the SATs (actual score less than 900). Yes, he had considered Harvard and Yale, but had decided he didn't want to go there. Instead, he was going to some lumberjack/culinary school in the middle of nowhere. Oh, it is a well-known culinary school; it's just in the middle of nowhere for no reason? Oh well, then that is what mattered in my dream world. Stupidly listening to him tell me I was unattractive, that I had a big head, that my legs were chunky. Playing into my bulimic tendencies completely. I laughed too loud, I liked stupid movies, I was boring. I'm not very smart (yeah, no kidding). I've thought a lot about what a sociopath he was. His picking up on the subconscious signals from me about the guy I wished I could meet. And molding himself into that person when he felt me pulling away; slowly realizing what a fake he was. He was like an alien trying to be human. But the mean alien side of him couldn't stay hidden forever. He did not know how to act around people. He hated animals and I was surrounded by them. He was mean to Gretchen – something for which I don' t think she'll ever forgive me. My family recognized him as the freak that he was. My friends very quickly realized he was a psychopath. He had no friends – that should have been a clue. Even his parents warned me in their own way. I listened to none of them. They didn't see the sweet/sociopathic/alien side of him. He made me feel special by telling me that no one else would like me. I forgave the lying, the stealing, the verbal abuse. Obviously I still have a lot of lingering feelings about this time in my life. I'm embarrassed by my long association with him. I'm an expert in figuring people out quickly. Tuning into the subtleties of body language and innuendos. And he completely pulled the wool over my eyes. I would never let a friend of mine date someone like that. Or at least I would warn them very strongly. You know when people ask you if you could have one superpower, what would it be? Mine will always be the ability to travel back in time to warn myself about him. Consequences be damned. The scars from my time with him will never go away.

Woods

My parents live at the end of a dead end road, at the top of a mountain. They own about 90 acres of forest beyond their house. Which sounds grand, but it is not exactly prime real estate. Their view extends across the valley below. On the 4th of July, they can see fireworks in at least 5 or 6 different cities. I've had to come to terms with the forest as I grew up. Only recently have I learned to appreciate the privacy and the beauty of the land around them. It took moving to California and living on top of my neighbors to understand my need for space.

Growing up, all that land meant wood. They heat their house with two woodstoves and my dad refuses to use the furnace unless absolutely necessary. With four kids and now an extended group of 6, there are plenty of hands to enable them to continue heating with wood. Every visit to the house entails some form of wood labor. Stacking, cutting, chopping, throwing, stacking, lifting, moving. They were thrilled by my brawny husband. And being the city boy, he was actually thrilled to do manual labor. Because of this, I've had a hard time looking at all those trees with anything less than scorn.

And fear.

More:

There are no traffic lights on their road and it gets so incredibly dark at night. So many things could be lurking in those trees. Some of which we knew - like bears and coyotes and mountain lions. Even now I'm terrified of the darkness of their road. When we visit them, we always park at the end of the road, away from the house a bit. As we leave, the light of their driveway only pushes back the thick darkness to a small semi-circle. The darkness envelops us and the lack of traffic noises should be comforting. Instead we hear suspicious noises - leaves rustling, twigs snapping, wind gusts pushing things around our feet. To ask for a flashlight would be to admit my fear to my dad.

I've always tried to put on the guise of bravado - convincing my younger sister that we didn't need to use the night light in our room any more; we weren't babies. While inside I was battling the little voice who reminded me that I was terrified of the walk to the bathroom. On stormy nights, the power would occasionally go out. I remember one time when only my sister and I were home. We were both in the living room watching tv when the power went out. Complete and total darkness. We were both frozen for a long time. What if someone outside had cut the power lines? Whispering, I convinced her to crawl into the kitchen to get a flashlight. I would keep watch on the sliding glass doors that extended across the entire living room. Yeah right, more like I was sure I was going to pee my pants if I had to crawl into the kitchen. We eventually both made it into the kitchen to light candles and turn on the flashlight. Poor Gretchen, I put her through so much because of my own fears.

While I've never come to terms with the terror I feel in the darkness, I have tried to consciously appreciate the forest during the daytime. I realized that the smells and the sounds of the forest had seeped into my subconscious as I slept. At nights in California, I would try to block out the traffic and the sirens so that I could hear memories of peeping frogs and leaves rustling. And now that I've been able to experience Autumn again first-hand, I realize how much I missed the leaves. There is a specific smell in the air once the leaves start falling. It is sort of moldy and alive at the same time. Being able to kick the leaves as I walk along the road. Hearing the crunch of acorns under my boots. Being amazed by the colors of the leaves once they recognize winter is around the corner. The colors are almost florescent in their brilliance. Reds and yellows and greens against very dark trunks. Promising myself that I will remember to plant trees that will change to red and fuschia and yellow in front of my future house. Thinking that this year I need to get those colors onto paper. Watching the chipmunks and the squirrels getting fatter and more frantic as they prepare for hibernation. Trying to convince my husband that this winter won't be so bad and isn't he glad he got to be here for such an Autumn? All the little farmer's markets on the way to work with overflowing buckets of pumpkins and squash and apples. Every kind of apple you can imagine in the grocery stores. Eating more butternut and acorn and spaghetti squash than I ever have at one time. Being able to see the first snow of the season and then having fits of anxiety over what is about to come.

As much as I fear the forest, I also know that I must live near trees and have a backyard and privacy. I felt smothered and stifled in California. It was like I was on the long end of a rubber band - stretched across the country. Eventually, I would be flung back to where I belong. In New England.

Excerpt - Sledding on Ice

Here is another excerpt from my little novel. Again, please note that I have not started to edit any of this:

Ice; now ice was even better. Have you ever used a runner sled on ice? For those of you from warmer climates, a runner sled has two metal “runners” – kind of like ice skate blades, one on each side of the sled. And the part of the sled you sit on is wood, and is elevated from the ground. Ice and metal – perfect combination for speed. They did not turn all that well – but if you were headed down a straight stretch, you could catch some serious wind. Our next-door neighbors had a U-shaped driveway. And their house was on a downslope the hill from the road. So they had a great ice sledding driveway. One of the legs of the U was steeper than the other – so if you headed down the steep side first, you could turn at the bottom and head slightly up the other leg to slow down before you hit the road. We had a couple of runner sleds at the time. One steered very well and the other – um, not so much. But you only found out which one you were on once you were headed down the hill. One day, we noticed they were not home and that we had had an ice storm the night before. We decided to try out the runner sleds on their driveway before going down the bigger hill. I went first. I jumped onto the sled; stomach down, feet flailing behind me. I found out pretty quickly that I had the sled that didn’t steer. And the ice combined with the metal runners was a winning combination that morning. I got to the bottom of the driveway – in front of the cement steps that headed up to their front door – and tried to turn the sled towards the other leg of the U. Only the steering mechanism wasn't working. So screaming at the top of my lungs, I crash-bumped my way up the steps until I rammed the front door with the sled. And then, still screaming, I skid-bumped my way backwards down the stairs to land in a heap at the bottom of the driveway. And all I could hear was Gretchen hysterically laughing at the top of the driveway. I could hear her yelling for Derek to come see what I had done. She still insists that I had the sled that steered; I was just too much of a freak to figure out how to work it.

Novel Update

In other news, I'm over the 10,000 word mark on my novel! Woo hoo! I'm just trying to write down ideas and memories - I'll fill in more detail later. I'm realizing how many things I've blocked out. Do you ever feel like your past was a different lifetime? When I look back at high school and middle school, it sometimes feels like it was a movie that I remember. I can't believe some of the things I did. Especially memories of my psychotic boyfriend. Why did I put up with someone like that? He preyed on my low self esteem and made me believe that I wasn't pretty or special and that I was lucky he liked me because no one else would. Very cliché when I think back on it. I tried to keep my weight below 100 pounds. And I'm 5' 7" - not a healthy weight. It all seems crazy now. My family tried to convince me that he was awful. My friends tried to convince me. But I did not listen. And now that I'm trying to write some of these memories and thoughts down I keep wishing I could go back and warn myself about him.

Weekend Recap

I decided to take a break from the Peter Høeg book I'm reading and instead read "False Sense of Well Being" by Jeanne Braselton. Great book. Not so great to try to explain to my hubby that the main character keeps imagining herself as a widow. And laughing about it.

I finished the cake on Saturday and got rave reviews. It did taste pretty yummy - of course I had to test the frosting and the chocolate and a bit of the Grand Marnier as I went along!

I was all prepared for the anthropology paper tantrums, but there were next to none. Maybe because he decided to play his computer games for most of the time instead. So while I was preparing myself for this weekend's fireworks - they are now going to be spread through the beginning of this week. Lovely.

I also made a yummy onion and potato quiche yesterday. I had extra pie crust left in the freezer and a new tart pan. Made up the rest of it on the fly. Rosemary and garlic and onions and potatoes and egg whites.

Weekend Plans

I'm going to be working on the orange genoise cake due on Saturday afternoon for a client's dinner party. I started the first layer of the cake last night to make sure it turned out okay. I could not find an orange genoise recipe - so I took another genoise recipe and added orange oil and orange peel with the eggs. This cake takes 12 egg yolks! The finished layer is only 2 inches high, so I'm going to make another one tonight. And then tomorrow, I making the orange buttercream frosting and the chocolate ganache, toasting the sliced almonds, sprinkling the cake layers with Grand Marnier and then putting it all together. I'll try to remember to take photos.

Once that is all done and delivered, I'm hopefully going to buy new tires for my car. Now that snow is looking imminent, I want to make sure that I have decent traction.

And we are going to be doing a buttload of laundry this weekend. We've been putting it off and now there is a mountain. And by we, I mean my hubby. He's resigned himself to the fact that until we get a house with a washer and dryer inside; I'm not going to do the laundry. I'll fold everything and put it away, but I'm not going outside and downstairs to do it. Call me whatever you like, but he's accepted the rules.

My hubs also has an anthropology paper due next week and he has to write it this weekend. This is not going to be fun. He's a great writer, but he gets caught up in writing it perfectly the first time. Stage fright? Writer's block? Not sure, but it happens every time. I just retire myself to the other room with lots of wine until the storm is over. Lots of yelling and stressing from the other room. Both cats end up on the couch with me looking very concerned.

I'm also going to put together the bookcase we bought several weeks ago. We moved to this apartment in February and we are still living out of boxes in a couple of rooms. I have the boxes down to mostly books at this point so the bookcase is going to be a huge help. Now all I need is a couple of big dressers and we are all set.

Old Man Winter

Today it is very cold and blustery outside. There is no turning my back on winter now. On my walk up into town, there were violent fits of wind that cut my cheeks like razors. Old Man Winter was trying to push me back down the hill, back to my warm office. But I'm hungry, I whisper to the wind. I make it to the taco shop and the wind has punished me for my insistence; tears on my cheeks evidence of its vengeance. The way back down the hill, warm tacos and coffee in hand, was easier. The wind was behind me then, shoving me back to where I belonged. In the midst of all the blustering show of force and chaos; one magical moment. The wind stopped its posturing for a few minutes and merely coaxed the leaves on the sidewalk to walk along side me. An impromptu parade back down the hill, less pomp than circumstance.

Novel Excerpt

Take this with a grain of salt - I haven't really started editing anything yet. But just to give you a taste of what I'm trying to write about. This short excerpt is a story about my sister.

"One time, Gretchen and I were in the garage and I noticed that there was a huge, green, winged bug on her back. And when I say huge, I mean at least 6 inches in length.Or maybe 12 inches, come to think of it. Twitching on her back. Flexing its wings. Near her head. It also had long antennae and what looked like poisonous fangs. I freaked out, of course. And because she couldn't see the bug, but could only see my reaction to the gargantuan thing on her back; she started freaking out. “Get if off! Hit it! AAAGH!” But I couldn't bring myself to touch it because it might fly and land on me next. She started running to try and shoo it off of her and I tried and pull myself together in the midst of all the screaming hysteria. I eventually managed to roll some newspaper together and I started hitting her with it to kill the prehistoric being with the fangs and the wings that were ready to carry her away. Which made her scream even more with the thought of something like that squished on her back. It turned out to be a cicada bug. She still blames me for not getting it off her sooner."

NaNoWriMo

Well, I'm a little late to the game, but I've decided I'm going to try to write a novel this month. I started yesterday when I first heard about it and I think I can crank something out by the deadline of November 30. I realized how many stories I have in my little brain about my family and they are just pouring out of me.

Book List

I love to read. And I've recently, in the past couple of months, finished several very good books that I highly recommend. I tend to find an author I like and then read as many books of theirs as I can. Like when I read "Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood - I absolutely loved it and ended up reading "Poisonwood Bible", "Alias Grace", "Cat's Eye" and "The Robber Bride" in the following months. Love Margaret Atwood.

So, here's my list of recommendations in no particular order:

"Stardust" by Neil Gaiman - a very delightful fairy tale of sorts.

"Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman - another type of fairy tale, but more modern. Highly recommend.

"The Mango Season" by Amulya Malladi - a lush book about an Indian woman who returns home for the mango season and tries to tell her parents that she is engaged to an American man.

"The Idiot Girls' Action Adventure Club" by Laurie Notaro. Incredibly funny.

"Autobiography of a Fat Bride: True Tales of a Pretend Adulthood" also by Laurie Notaro. Absolutely have to read this book.

"Good in Bed" by Jennifer Weiner. Also very funny and touching. I was crying by the end of the book.

"Dry: A Memoir" by Augusten Burroughs. Incredible what this man has been through. And amazing that he can find such humor in it.

"Running with Scissors: A Memoir" also by Augusten Burroughs. Tragic and funny. Also a bit strange for me as it happens literally right where I'm living. I work in Amherst and live in Northampton and he grew up here with his crazy mom and associates.

"Sellevision: A Novel" another by Augusten Burroughs. This one is a novel, not an autobiography. And it is also very funny.

"The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel in Two Semesters" by Chip Kidd. Funny and odd. Interesting for me because I went to art school, so I recognize the characters in some of my fellow students.

That's all I can remember for now. I'll add more when I remember them. I just started Peter Høeg's "The History of Danish Dreams" so I'll have to let you know how it was when I finish.

Norman Lear Interview on NPR

Really great interview with Norman Lear on NPR. He has started a nationwide tour to encourage young people to vote.

From the website: "Lear cites studies that show the importance of getting young adults to vote as soon as they turn 18. "If you get that person to vote, inspire that person to vote the first time, the chances are much greater that they will vote for the rest of their lives," he says."

Camouflage

This attempt at camouflage is just too funny!

Girl Trouble

My new favorite song is "Girl Trouble" by the Violent Femmes. I recently bought their deluxe edition CD of their self-titled album. For anyone who loves the Violent Femmes - it is excellent. Live versions of songs, previously unreleased, etc.

Tangent

This article on Salon.com is making me so angry. I just love the photo of all the smiling white men behind Dubya as he signs this into law.

Kitty Photos

Please excuse the overall crappiness of the photos. We have a camera that is not the best. There are more of Otto because my hubby was taking the pictures and he likes to play favorites.

Miss Tabitha

Otto in Laundry Basket (just out of the dryer)

Otto Tummy Sprawl

Cuddly Otto

Otto Sprawling

Sex Bracelets

Too funny. Who knew that if you wear a red jelly bracelet it means that you want a lap dance? (via gawker)

October Birthday

Spreading this around.

You are supposed to cross out the statements that don't apply to you.

OCTOBER:
Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to takes things at the center. Inner and physical beauty(have you seen my skin?). Lies but doesn't pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

(via absolutely vile)

Coffee

My hubs brought me more coffee this afternoon. But he bought me hazelnut. I've decided that I loathe hazelnut coffee. My breath stinks and I have a dry mouth feeling. I didn't do anything fun to warrant that. Hazelnut Dream, my ass.

White Hair

Oh, white hair, why do you torment me?
I thought you dyed but now you are back.
And you are so obvious against the dark red.
Are you trying to tell me something?
Is it stress? It is the caffeine?
I'm still getting carded, do not take that away from me.
Why do you grow faster and thicker than my other hair?
Why must you be an extrovert?
Always with the "ta da!" and the encore curtain calls.
Why, when I pluck you, must you reproduce?
It is time for your retreat.

Liza Minnelli

Wow! Liza Minnelli is going to be on Arrested Development starting Nov. 23rd. (via tv barn ticker)

It's Too Soon!

YIKES! I just looked at the weather map for this area. The white part is snow and the pink is ice. And I'm in the middle of Massachusetts! It's on its way!

Loving Tribute

This has me sobbing and dropping tears in my coffee. Very well written tribute to a puppy who has gone towards the light. (via petit hiboux)

Working Assets Phone Service

This is my plug for my new long distance phone company. Not only do they give you free pints of Ben & Jerry's for 12 months, but they donate 1% of each monthly phone bill to progressive causes (yes, I have skewed priorities). Working Assets. Check them out. They are "a true alternative to the major carriers and perfect for people who are looking for new ways to do some good in the world". I don't see Verizon offering to donate a portion of my bill to progressive causes. Nor is Verizon giving me a year of Ben & Jerry's.

Badass Kitty

I had a dream last night that my cat Tabitha was hit by a car. I saw her run out into the highway at the same moment that a huge Cadillac was storming by. I screamed and covered my eyes and heard the car go by. I finally managed to look and that is when I saw her on the fender of the Caddy and she was surfing on the ledge! The car stopped and she casually hopped off. So badass.

Chicken Lady

On the way home from work/school - we were discussing what we needed to get at the grocery store. I stated my need for a rotisserie chicken. And the hubs said - but it's too expensive! And I reminded him that it is only $8 and it feeds both of us for 2 days. "Yeah, feeds you for 2 days and I only get a little piece." Hee.

Hazelnut Dream?

My hubby just showed up at work with coffee for me! Actually, it was for him, but it has my name all over it.

TMI

I've been very gassy all weekend. And by gassy, I mean some serious, trumpeting farting and stinkiness. Luckily I have a husband who gives me high-fives after especially good ones. And he giggles when I come into the computer room and strafe him. Farts = funny.

I think the current gassiness is from a recent influx of carbs and dairy.

I've been doing the Zone Diet since earlier this year. I started because I knew that my hubs and I were not eating well. We were stuck in a routine of pasta, pasta, rice and pasta. Also, I have hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) and I wanted to find a nutrition plan that would help regulate my hormones, sugar and etc. Zone is not heavy protein like Atkins. It is more about eating in blocks of fat, protein and carbs. So you are giving your body blocks of fuel that work together. And it has been great. I wasn't doing it to lose weight, but I've lost a bit of my chubbies and I feel great. Lots of energy, no blood sugar crashing. And you do not want to deal with me when my blood sugar crashes. My whole family has an issue with it. We all recently found out that our significant others all have coping strategies to deal - most of them involve carrying snacks around just in case. So, it has been great that the Zone nutrition ideas help with this.

However, it is tough to always eat some protein with carbs. And I've realized how much my family eats carbs. Weekends with my family entails bagels and waffles and pretzels, etc. And I don't want to be the one to bring all the meat. I also don't eat pork or red meat - I'm a poultry/fish girl. So I'd be bringing tons of chicken and fish. I guess I'm going to have to start doing that though, because when I don't get enough protein - I have days of trumpeting to endure afterwards. I'm constantly cooking chicken and fish. Mostly chicken. It gets tiresome. So this weekend was about having my favorite pasta and cheese and crackers and wine. And now I'm lucky that I have an office all to myself.

Whose Democracy Is It?

Here are citizenship quizzes for you to test your knowledge about the USA. See how well you do.

Freezing!

The hot water and heat in our apartment has been off since yesterday. And last night the temperature hit 12 degrees. Yikes! We've called the apartment management and someone came last night and things were working for a while, but now it's off again. I'm freezing. And the kitties are hiding under the blankets. I hate not taking a shower in the morning. Woe is me. They better get here to fix the furnace soon, or I'm taking this out of my rent.

Why Cats are Better Than Dogs

Let me preface this by saying that I love dogs. And my dad is a veterinarian, so we had many dogs in our childhood. And my parents still have one of my most favorite dogs in the whole world - Goober. She is a wirey, chihuahua/terrier mix that could give Toto a run for his money in the movie business. And you can shape her hair into one serious mohawk.

However, this entry is really about why cats are better than dogs.

Let me count the ways:

1. Cats do not eat poop. One of my earliest memories was my dog Benji (female mutt - lovely dog aside from this incident) eating my sister's poop out of her training potty seat. For real.
   
2. Cats do not need to be walked. And now that we have moved to polar Massachusetts, we are ever so thankful.
   
3. Cats do not eat poop. Seriously. This was very traumatic. It may explain my obsession with pooping. However, I will never know as I refuse to see a therapist.
   
4. Cats do not need obedience training. They are what they are. If you don't like it; get out.
   
5. You have to admire their superiority complex.
   
6. They do not put up with baby talk.
   
7. They will frickin' scratch your eyes out if you ever think about putting a stupid costume on them.
   
8. Eight, I forget what eight was for, but
   
9. My sister's cat drinks black coffee. He's so New York.
   
10. (for everything, everything, everything)
    
11. They clean themselves religiously. I love dogs, but MAN have you ever gotten close to one that has been out roaming all day! Damn! There is a reason why people say that something "smells like a wet dog"!
    
12. I will add more later, but it is very important to note that they do not eat poop.
    

Dogs in Tights

This photo just made my day! Notice you don't see any cats in costumes.

Schwarzenegger

Oh, so glad this came out after he was elected. I feel so sorry for California. Side note: it's amazing to me that after all the progress that was made with hybrid and electric vehicles in California that they elect a man who owns at least two Hummers.

Total Lunar Eclipse

There will be a total lunar eclipse on Saturday night. Don't miss it! (via girlhacker) Please visit girlhacker - she has tons of links to very interesting things.

Very Educational

Man, this just makes me very sick to my stomach.

Added: and this is just making me angry and scared for this country. There is a lot of information on Greg Palast's site - if you have time, explore his site. My eyes are wide open.

Unbelievable

Lawyers at E.P.A. Say It Will Drop Pollution Cases. Love this: "Representatives of the utility industry have been among President Bush's biggest campaign donors, and a change in the enforcement policies has been a top priority of the industry's lobbyists." (via morning news)

Honda Commercial

This is a pretty cool commercial (for Honda via morning news). It is by Roman Coppola.

Cakes!

Per styro's request, I've decided to post pictures from my first wedding cakes. My brother and his lovely new wife were married on Labor Day weekend. The white cake was a vanilla country cake with lemon buttercream frosting and raspberry and blackberry sauce between the layers. The white covering is fondant. My new sister-in-law wanted a simple but colorful design which I did with mint leaves and different berries. And because my brother is a chocolate fiend, he wanted another cake that was solid chocolate. It was two tiers of chocolate oblivion torte. Each tier had two layers of torte with bittersweet ganache between the layers. Decorated with more ganache and raspberries.

Me with Bride & Groom

My brother with my grandmother

Cutting the cakes

Closeup of white cake

De-tox

After realizing that we were spending close to $250/month on alcohol, the hubs and I have decided to limit ourselves to one bottle of wine per week. And not just to save money, but to make sure we stay healthy. We were mostly drinking wine, but it adds up in more ways than one. I blame the wine I've been drinking on the nice flabbiness around my belly and the extra jigglies on my bum. My new vice is caffeine.

Axel Commercial

Have you seen the Axel (aftershave?) commercial with the twin men going out with the same girl. And the guys turn out to be the good and the bad sides of the same person? Man, can that girl in the green tank top not dance. At. All. Horrible posture, too. She's fairly cute up until that point. Goodness am I getting old if I'm talking about the posture of someone in a commercial.

Yummy!

I just made my new favorite soup. Spicy Butternut Squash Soup. I made up the recipe on my own. I roasted the butternut squash yesterday and then let it sit. Today, I cooked onions, garlic, rosemary and the squash with a bit of butter and olive oil. And then added my new homemade hot pepper mix (click on the link below if you are interested in what this is). And then added a bit of chicken broth. And simmered things for a bit. And then put everything in my food processor and as it was churning, added more chicken broth and a bit of heavy cream. And then put everything back in the pan and let it simmer for a bit more. Added salt and some more of my spice mix. Served it to myself (hubby's at class) with salted pumpkin seeds on top. YUMS!

Hot Pepper Mix
This summer I bought some hot pepper plants at the local farmers' market. There were 6 plants: 2 jalapeno, 2 habanero, and 2 of what they called "dragon's breath" - but looks an awful lot like cayenne.

Huge amounts of each were grown. Probably had a lot to do with the Miracle Grow potting soil I used in the planter boxes outside. I cooked (jalapeno and habanero), froze (habanero) and dried (dragon's breath) the various peppers.

Yesterday, I put all the dried dragon's breath in my food processor along with dried basil, hot paprika, some other chile powder, red chile flakes and pepper corns. Spun this mix for a while. Coughed a lot. Eyes tearing. (have to rethink the food processor strategy next time). And Voila! Spice Mix!

80's Quiz

I got a 49 for my score. Pitiful. Especially after I saw the answers. I knew the songs, just couldn't think of the words...

Orange Genoise?

At the Halloween party this weekend (luckily before I got too tipsy from martinis) I was chatting with a woman who lived upstairs from our friends. She overheard us talking about cakes and how the cakes for my brother's wedding turned out. She started asking me how I got started, why cakes, etc. Long story short - she emailed me the next day and ordered a cake from me! Woohoo!

The only problem now is that she wants an orange genoise cake with orange buttercream and chocolate ganache. Buttercream, no problem; ganache, my specialty; orange genoise, eh? I've looked everywhere for an orange genoise recipe and cannot find a single one. Even my trusty Cake Bible has every kind of genoise you can imagine, but no citrus - or even fruit - genoise. A genoise is a very light, spongy cake that you generally flavor and moisten with syrup. I plan on having a Grand Marnier syrup on this one.

So - if anyone reads this and you can give me some tips, I'd very much appreciate it. I'm sure I can alter one of the other recipes I have, but I'm a bit worried about the acidity of orange interfering with the eggs. And my new client sounds pretty picky about her cakes. Thanks!

Cupcakes!

Well, this is good news for my little cake business. 'Cause I love making cupcakes! (via morning news). One of my favorite dessert cookbooks is How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson. Mostly because of the beautiful cupcakes throughout the book.

One of my other favorite cake books is the essential Cake Bible.

Gilmour Girls

Just watched the latest episode. And while this show can get a bit annoying - the live portrait show (or whatever it was called) was extremely cool. They did a really fine job with the paintings they were imitating. Very strange festival, though. I've never known a single town around here to do anything like that. That said - if a town around here ever did - I'd LOVE to be a part of it. Whether I'm part of a painting or just doing the makeup, count me in.

Caffeine

I am crannnkkkeeedd up on coffee at the moment. A local deli has Dean's Beans coffee and I highly recommend the Ahab's Revenge for anyone who needs to wake up a bit. It is dark and cold and drizzling outside and I needed a little pick me up. Well, I'm picked up - way above and beyond my need. I'm whirring!

News Break

Very disturbing article on salon.com.

Love the photo on the home page as well.

Love Poem from my hubby

He just gave me a card with the following poem:

When I'm being smug, you give me a hug.
You pinch my patoot when I'm not astute.
You're my sexy shug-shugga,
even when I'm a big bugga.
You laugh when I pout and make me feel stout.
Together we stay,
two years to the day.
Now you know why - without you I can't get by.

Ain't he cute?

How do I love thee?

And in honor of our anniversary, and because he sometimes reads my little blog, here are the main reasons I love my hubby so much.

In no particular order:

• He is kind and patient and gives really great hugs.
• He is very funny and loves to giggle.
• He is extremely ticklish and lets me torment him while he's trying to sleep.
• He listens to heavy metal, but I catch him changing the words and singing to our kitties instead. "Otto - you are so fluffy! And fuzzy! And orange!"
• All I have to do is start humming a tune and he can't help but start singing with me.
• Because he did not throw me out of the apartment when I told him that if he lost both arms and legs all I would do all day is tickle him.
• Because at any time, on any day he will give me a hug and a smooch. He will also dance with me for no reason.
• He calls me smoochalicious and baby-di-baby-baby and shugah shugah.
• He thinks I'm beautiful even when my face is swollen to three times its size with chicken pox.
• He can admit he is very, very creeped out by spiders.
• He thinks farts are funny, even when I'm holding the covers over his head so he can get the full effect.
• He is gullible and he falls for the same tricks over and over. Like me locking the car door just as he's about to open it.
• He moved with me to Massachusetts so I could live closer to my family for a while even though he really, really hates the cold.
• And most importantly - he loves me, too.

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 2nd wedding anniversary! No big plans in store except to get some champagne and snuggle. We realized that we have actually been together for 7 years now! And we've lived together for 6. Too crazy. I've never been able to stand someone that long. Especially someone I see every day for many hours on end.

So, in honor of our anniversary, here's the story of how we met:

It's kind of long, so bear with me. Short version, met through a mutual friend. Love at first sight for me; him: needed some convincing.

Jessica and I went to high school in a very small town in Massachusetts. Graduating class was about 85 students. We were good friends - she had the sleepover birthday parties where we would always end up crying about how mean our fathers were.

After high school and through college, we stayed in semi-constant touch. After college, she took a job in Hawaii teaching special education.

My hubby was stationed in Hawaii (Pearl Harbor) in the Navy. He met Jessica through her boyfriend at the time (he was also in the Navy). They became good friends.

Jessica moved back to Massachusetts to another smallish town. I was living there myself at the time. We found out through a mutual friend that we were living about a mile from each other and we didn't even know it.

Meanwhile my hubby was sent to Connecticut for electronics training. Since Connecticut is a short train ride from Massachusetts - he was traveling up on the weekends to visit Jessica as she was the only person he knew in the area.

Jess and I kept trying to set up a day/time to have dinner and we finally made plans. Coincidentally on one of the weekend that my hubs was heading up to visit her. So, I went over to her place for dinner and laid eyes on my future husband. And as cliche as it sounds - I knew I was going to marry him.

There was something about the vulnerability in his eyes that made me sure I could trust him. And I had a lot of trust issues. I had been without a steady boyfriend for several years at that point. After dating a sociopath and then a pothead, I took myself off the market until I could straighten my head out.

And I could see in his eyes that he had been hurt, too. And he wasn't ready to trust anyone either. It was like looking into a window on my own hurt and mistrust and endless hope.

And I've loved him ever since.