This past week, I was plagued with the gchat virus. It got into my gchat contacts and sent them all an instant message that said something like "lol check this out LINK." Now, I have a lot of gchat contacts, most of whom I don't know very well or at all. They're people who have emailed me about SHN or were on the big list of law clerks from last summer and so on. Once this message goes out, people are coming out of the woodwork, responding a day later, "it doesn't work!" or one girl who said "thanks for sharing!"
But, universally, my good friends from all stages of life were immediately suspicious... As Iliana said, "who are these morons thinking you're saying "lol"?" It was kind of a funny warm fuzzy aspect to the virus.
To be fair, if someone clicked on it, it doesn't mean we're not friends. I don't think Schiffty would say "lol" either but I let her give it to me...
Friday, February 20, 2009
Nerd Things
Nerd things include having a couple of glasses of wine and this causing the nerd to pledge online to her local public radio station. Lured by a reusable shopping bag. NERD!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Good things
Two good things happened today:
1. My harddrive crashed last night. Like, literally. It fell off the counter and then it was broken. But, thanks to Apple Care, the Genius Bar and a Time Machine backup from a couple of weeks ago... it was relatively painless. I did lose my most recent round of edits I was made on the video I am making to distribute to prisons. But all in all, a pretty happy x-harddrive story.
2. For Valentine's Day, Charlie gave me a mani and a facial at the salon at our gym. I'd never had a facial. Or a manicure from someone with a B.A. in Sociology. They were great. So great that I was totally hoodwinked in my hydrated state into buying the products. Well. Let me be honest... I resisted at the salon, then got home and bought them for marginally cheaper on QVC.com. So, yes, I paid $40 for face shit and yes, I bought something on QVC.com.
Anyway, this stuff came in the mail today and I am right not being exfoliated by mushroom extract.
1. My harddrive crashed last night. Like, literally. It fell off the counter and then it was broken. But, thanks to Apple Care, the Genius Bar and a Time Machine backup from a couple of weeks ago... it was relatively painless. I did lose my most recent round of edits I was made on the video I am making to distribute to prisons. But all in all, a pretty happy x-harddrive story.
2. For Valentine's Day, Charlie gave me a mani and a facial at the salon at our gym. I'd never had a facial. Or a manicure from someone with a B.A. in Sociology. They were great. So great that I was totally hoodwinked in my hydrated state into buying the products. Well. Let me be honest... I resisted at the salon, then got home and bought them for marginally cheaper on QVC.com. So, yes, I paid $40 for face shit and yes, I bought something on QVC.com.
Anyway, this stuff came in the mail today and I am right not being exfoliated by mushroom extract.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Recipe Ideas
Hi Friends,
Here are some recipes I've made recently. They're all relatively easy, very tasty and good for people with cholesterol situations.
Asian Chicken Cabbage Salad- pretty simple, healthy and has a nice flavor. Cabbage is supposed to be so good for you. Nutrition and so on. Go ahead and invest in sesame oil, a teeny amount really makes the difference in dishes like this.
Aloo Gobi- you know, that delicious cauliflower and potato dish you may recognize from the Indian Buffet? One thing I'd recommend before jumping in to too many Indian or Indian-inspired dishes is checking your local co-op for bulk spices. We belong to Willy St., but it's only a 10% surcharge if you don't belong. And the spices are SO much cheaper this way. Like I have been buying 2-3 oz. of spices for under $1/each. And also you can just get as much as you'll need, so if it's something more unusual you're not stuck with a buch of leftover that will just go stale. Of course, then you'll probably need these like me, too.
Vegetable and Chickpea Curry- this stuff is amazingly delicious. I forgot to buy green beans last time and so made it without, which was still great but I am looking forward to making it again.
Slow Cooker Chicken Chili- Ok, I made this with ground Turkey. And the tapioca aspect is pretty weird. I mean, it's not like you notice it, it's just strange. But this stuff is good, the best addition is the shredded sweet potatoes (a superfood!). Uncharacteristically, I did not add the beer. I love beans. All beans.
Speaking of beans. I have been making a delicious Southwestern Black Bean Salad. Kind of an amalgam of different recipes-- black beans, corn, green peppers, red onions, some red wine vinegar, some olive oil, cumin, salt & pepper. Maybe a minced hot pepper like jalapeno or serrano. Kind of like this.
Speaking more of beans, I am working my way through the 7 lb. can purchased at 40%. Last night I made these Bean and 'Bello Burgers, and I highly recommend them. I used twice as much Worcestire because Charlie is afraid of mustard, I might next time add some salt, but I do like my stuff salty.
Here are some recipes I've made recently. They're all relatively easy, very tasty and good for people with cholesterol situations.
Asian Chicken Cabbage Salad- pretty simple, healthy and has a nice flavor. Cabbage is supposed to be so good for you. Nutrition and so on. Go ahead and invest in sesame oil, a teeny amount really makes the difference in dishes like this.
Aloo Gobi- you know, that delicious cauliflower and potato dish you may recognize from the Indian Buffet? One thing I'd recommend before jumping in to too many Indian or Indian-inspired dishes is checking your local co-op for bulk spices. We belong to Willy St., but it's only a 10% surcharge if you don't belong. And the spices are SO much cheaper this way. Like I have been buying 2-3 oz. of spices for under $1/each. And also you can just get as much as you'll need, so if it's something more unusual you're not stuck with a buch of leftover that will just go stale. Of course, then you'll probably need these like me, too.
Vegetable and Chickpea Curry- this stuff is amazingly delicious. I forgot to buy green beans last time and so made it without, which was still great but I am looking forward to making it again.
Slow Cooker Chicken Chili- Ok, I made this with ground Turkey. And the tapioca aspect is pretty weird. I mean, it's not like you notice it, it's just strange. But this stuff is good, the best addition is the shredded sweet potatoes (a superfood!). Uncharacteristically, I did not add the beer. I love beans. All beans.
Speaking of beans. I have been making a delicious Southwestern Black Bean Salad. Kind of an amalgam of different recipes-- black beans, corn, green peppers, red onions, some red wine vinegar, some olive oil, cumin, salt & pepper. Maybe a minced hot pepper like jalapeno or serrano. Kind of like this.
Speaking more of beans, I am working my way through the 7 lb. can purchased at 40%. Last night I made these Bean and 'Bello Burgers, and I highly recommend them. I used twice as much Worcestire because Charlie is afraid of mustard, I might next time add some salt, but I do like my stuff salty.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
It's Friday the 13th, Let Me Tell You About Seeing Dead People
This December I was in Santo Domingo with Kristina and Sylia (and Johan and many more Alcantaras, but I don't believe any of them where there for this.) We were taking the bus back into the city from the beach at Boca Chica and passed what looked like a pretty nasty car accident with a bunch of people standing around and what looked to be a white sheet over a body on the ground.
That came up later, I think when we were in taxi en route to drink some caipirinhas or maybe some ice-cold Presidente. Kristina and Sylia thought it was strange, maybe even one of them said they'd never seen something like that before... and I had this realization that I have seen a lot of dead people while traveling.
In probably 1992 or so, my friend Hannah and I were walking along the beach in Mexico and passe some policias wrapping up a body that appeared to have washed in from the ocean. Later that night, my mom's friend told us it was probably a guerilla from Chiapas. I pretended to know what that meant.
In 2001 I went to Japan for two weeks. I spent about half the time in Tokyo where my dad and his wife were living, and half of the time traveling around. I was very taken with the place, the culture, how everything was so different and efficient. At the end of my stay, the three of us were waiting on the subway platform for the train to bring me to the airport. As the train pulled in going the opposite way, a man on the opposite platform jumped in front of it. My dad and I were the only non-Japanese people in the station and were in shock, I was looking back and forth between the mess that used to be a person, my dad and the people around us. Everyone in the station immediately got on their cell phones, obviously annoyed that the station would be shut down and they'd have to find another way to get where they were going. Men with white sheets came out from who knows where and started cleaning up the blood and body parts. Masako said that this line, the Chuo line, was nicknamed the suicide line and that once a day, somewhere in Tokyo, someone does this. Maybe they lost their job, maybe they are failing their families. The curtain fell and I was no longer in love with that culture, I was disgusted. I hadn't known how I felt about it, but all of the sudden it was clear-- I don't think you should kill yourself because you lose your job. I think you should stick around and take care of your family and get a different job and... oops, I was about to miss my flight, we made a mad dash to the airport. I spent the time waiting there talking to a man who was in the military and now comes back to visit his girlfriend in Okinawa. It was very retro. And my dad and I didn't speak of this whole episode for over a year.
I went to South Africa with my mom and sister in the summer of 2006. My major memories are me doing all the driving (manual transmission on the left side of the road? I'll collect my badass badge later) and World Cup soccer. Oh, and also it was really, really pretty. Anyway, one day I was driving along the Southern Cape, my mom and Zoe were asleep and I passed an accident. An accident that didn't look all that terrible, but there was clearly just a dead person laying in the road. South Africa is strange because in some ways and in some places, it is so developed. And there, for those black South Africans and their dead friend... it was completely third world. (That term is like "retarded," sometimes there just isn't a better one.) It was dusty and no ambulance was there and everyone looked dazed.
I thought there were more examples. Maybe there are and they will come to me. It's interesting how different death is in other countries, whether just more people die and they have to get used to it, or so many people cause their own deaths and it's socially acceptable. When Erin and I were in Peru, I remember having what seemed like an epiphany. Maybe our silly modern life is overburned with safety features and padding, maybe we should just be living more simply and more dangerously. A short time later, I saw a man with a tumor taking over his face. And after we left, the same bus we'd taken, white-knuckled, form Trujillo to Huaraz drove over the side of a mountain and everyone was killed. And then I had a second epiphany, which was that I sure am a moron sometimes.
That came up later, I think when we were in taxi en route to drink some caipirinhas or maybe some ice-cold Presidente. Kristina and Sylia thought it was strange, maybe even one of them said they'd never seen something like that before... and I had this realization that I have seen a lot of dead people while traveling.
In probably 1992 or so, my friend Hannah and I were walking along the beach in Mexico and passe some policias wrapping up a body that appeared to have washed in from the ocean. Later that night, my mom's friend told us it was probably a guerilla from Chiapas. I pretended to know what that meant.
In 2001 I went to Japan for two weeks. I spent about half the time in Tokyo where my dad and his wife were living, and half of the time traveling around. I was very taken with the place, the culture, how everything was so different and efficient. At the end of my stay, the three of us were waiting on the subway platform for the train to bring me to the airport. As the train pulled in going the opposite way, a man on the opposite platform jumped in front of it. My dad and I were the only non-Japanese people in the station and were in shock, I was looking back and forth between the mess that used to be a person, my dad and the people around us. Everyone in the station immediately got on their cell phones, obviously annoyed that the station would be shut down and they'd have to find another way to get where they were going. Men with white sheets came out from who knows where and started cleaning up the blood and body parts. Masako said that this line, the Chuo line, was nicknamed the suicide line and that once a day, somewhere in Tokyo, someone does this. Maybe they lost their job, maybe they are failing their families. The curtain fell and I was no longer in love with that culture, I was disgusted. I hadn't known how I felt about it, but all of the sudden it was clear-- I don't think you should kill yourself because you lose your job. I think you should stick around and take care of your family and get a different job and... oops, I was about to miss my flight, we made a mad dash to the airport. I spent the time waiting there talking to a man who was in the military and now comes back to visit his girlfriend in Okinawa. It was very retro. And my dad and I didn't speak of this whole episode for over a year.
I went to South Africa with my mom and sister in the summer of 2006. My major memories are me doing all the driving (manual transmission on the left side of the road? I'll collect my badass badge later) and World Cup soccer. Oh, and also it was really, really pretty. Anyway, one day I was driving along the Southern Cape, my mom and Zoe were asleep and I passed an accident. An accident that didn't look all that terrible, but there was clearly just a dead person laying in the road. South Africa is strange because in some ways and in some places, it is so developed. And there, for those black South Africans and their dead friend... it was completely third world. (That term is like "retarded," sometimes there just isn't a better one.) It was dusty and no ambulance was there and everyone looked dazed.
I thought there were more examples. Maybe there are and they will come to me. It's interesting how different death is in other countries, whether just more people die and they have to get used to it, or so many people cause their own deaths and it's socially acceptable. When Erin and I were in Peru, I remember having what seemed like an epiphany. Maybe our silly modern life is overburned with safety features and padding, maybe we should just be living more simply and more dangerously. A short time later, I saw a man with a tumor taking over his face. And after we left, the same bus we'd taken, white-knuckled, form Trujillo to Huaraz drove over the side of a mountain and everyone was killed. And then I had a second epiphany, which was that I sure am a moron sometimes.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Bargain City
First things first, Sophy is a mysterious badass/heartthrob.
But second, I did the funnest thing today, you guys. Well, yesterday I had Thanksgiving... which was very fun (and I didn't even shut down and sleep through half of it like I did last year...) But TODAY, Charlie and I visited a nearby Cub Foods grocery store that is going out of business. All regular groceries there are 40% off (including the cherry Pucker schnapps and alcohol-free wine) and some things, like greeting cards and medicine were 60-85% off. It was amazing. We got all this weird food from the completely picked-over store-- and for so cheap! One good find was an industrial-sized can of black beans-- 23 servings for $5. Also lots of marinades, salad dressings and pickled things, some cheese and mini-marshmallows. The whole thing made me feel very rich and it was one of my favorite things I have done recently. Which is weird and maybe a little sad.
I can tell how jealous you are, internet. There is a lot, a lot of Cream of Mushroom soup left-- so get over there!
But second, I did the funnest thing today, you guys. Well, yesterday I had Thanksgiving... which was very fun (and I didn't even shut down and sleep through half of it like I did last year...) But TODAY, Charlie and I visited a nearby Cub Foods grocery store that is going out of business. All regular groceries there are 40% off (including the cherry Pucker schnapps and alcohol-free wine) and some things, like greeting cards and medicine were 60-85% off. It was amazing. We got all this weird food from the completely picked-over store-- and for so cheap! One good find was an industrial-sized can of black beans-- 23 servings for $5. Also lots of marinades, salad dressings and pickled things, some cheese and mini-marshmallows. The whole thing made me feel very rich and it was one of my favorite things I have done recently. Which is weird and maybe a little sad.
I can tell how jealous you are, internet. There is a lot, a lot of Cream of Mushroom soup left-- so get over there!
Friday, February 06, 2009
Monday, February 02, 2009
I guess I can't move quotes up... so here's a new one...
My professor told us this one at the end of our 4th, 5th, 6th Amendment Seminar last semester, wishing for us that we build cathedrals:
Years ago in Italy, a woman walked through the piazza on a sweltering summer day. As she made her way, she passed three stone carvers laboring in the hot sun, each working a on a separate stone. She stopped and asked the first man what he was doing. "I'm just trying to make a living, lady," he grunted. She went over to second man to asked the same thing. "Well, you see, I've got this blueprint," he said. "I'm trying to carve the stone to match the design," he explained. She then asked the third man what he was doing. He looked at the woman and said "I'm building a cathedral."
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Super Sunday
My body is terribly sore from the aforementioned x-country skiing... although less sore than Body Pump. Sore is good, right?
Last night we went to friends' regifting party. Charlie and I made out like bandits (as in got good stuff, not spent the time kissing and stealing.) He scored a bunch of coffee and coffee-related goodies-- syrups and chocolates, etc. I got this:
Yes, it's a Michelangelo's David Apron. Goes well with my other apron, which I don't have a picture of, but I got it in South Africa and it has smiling Nelson Mandelas all over it. Anyway, that is awesome and I also got some martini glasses. Which, despite having soooo many glasses, is a type of glass we don't have.
It was still an evening of getting in bed before midnight (and subsequently sleeping for 12 hours) because the previous three nights were late and all too revelrous. A word? Yes.
Wednesday night I got caught up celebrating this-- which I had no personal part in, except for being employed by the same clinic. Thursday night was a friend's birthday. Friday night turned from a quiet night at home to wine tasting, which turned to pizza and more wine, which turned to sipping rum and singing... typical. Anyway, my laundry is done and so I think I'll try to bank another 6-7 hours riiiight now.
Last night we went to friends' regifting party. Charlie and I made out like bandits (as in got good stuff, not spent the time kissing and stealing.) He scored a bunch of coffee and coffee-related goodies-- syrups and chocolates, etc. I got this:
Yes, it's a Michelangelo's David Apron. Goes well with my other apron, which I don't have a picture of, but I got it in South Africa and it has smiling Nelson Mandelas all over it. Anyway, that is awesome and I also got some martini glasses. Which, despite having soooo many glasses, is a type of glass we don't have.
It was still an evening of getting in bed before midnight (and subsequently sleeping for 12 hours) because the previous three nights were late and all too revelrous. A word? Yes.
Wednesday night I got caught up celebrating this-- which I had no personal part in, except for being employed by the same clinic. Thursday night was a friend's birthday. Friday night turned from a quiet night at home to wine tasting, which turned to pizza and more wine, which turned to sipping rum and singing... typical. Anyway, my laundry is done and so I think I'll try to bank another 6-7 hours riiiight now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
