Photo Finish

Ninety minutes left in July but by gum I'm going to check in on this list in July. July has felt pretty lazy and yet I know I did stuff. So I guess we'll just have to go to the list and see what the scientific results are. Heh. Like anything I do is scientific.

As always new(ish) information is in italics.

1. Get regular vocal coaching (see also #14) [I got a phone number for a guy months ago. I still haven't called it.]
2. Record 2 more tracks for CD
3. Night Before Christmas for fam (make a book? buy them? convince this guy to illustrate a version and help him publish it?)
4. Continue Floor Barre classes - IN PROGRESS Her current form of torture for me is to make me stand first at the barre when we're standing. I'm pretty sure she's trying to develop my ability to remember combinations and perform them immediately. Should be easy enough since any ability at all will be an improvement for me.
5. Add another hour per week of exercise (3 sessions of 20 minutes each per week) - I have taken a picture of my ass for Mrs. G's 5K Ass or Ass '08 Challenge or whatever she's calling it. That's as far as I've gotten. (It's the 5K Ass Challenge actually and it's very brave and smart, you should go sign up for the group.)
6. Submit Chekhov or Speed Dating play to 20 places - Still submitted to one place. I also wrote a screenplay for an actor-director team so I'm counting that as a submission of sorts, too. So 2 down, 18 to go. I put out a couple of feelers for this one but haven't gotten anything concrete. I can focus more effort here though.
7. Book Shakespeare 10 places
8. Go on a date - I'm going to enter this but I'm a little unsure about how to describe my financial style. Would a one word ad "Scattered" be at all alluring?
9. New Year at the steam pipes
10. 2 field trips with Alita We've been to the Botanical Gardens and out to lunch and we had the most awesome Mermaid Parade experience. I'm sure we'll do more before year's end but I'm counting this DONE.
11. Post-Thanksgiving Open House
12. Find director for Chekhov - I'm changing this to find a director for the Speed Dating play, which is DONE and is working out wonderfully.
13. Reading of Chekhov - In accordance with #12 I'm changing this to a second run of the Speed Dating play in NYC. We've got a director, we're doing it in MA so this might not be too difficult. More of a reach than changing this to performing it in MA.
14. Find new vocal coach
15. Sing live
16. Hang pictures
18. Perform at Boerum Hill nursing home sing along - This has been at the forefront of my mind lately. I need to just go.
19. Lobsterbake (June) - DONE
20. Complete play for Women's Night (Feb) - DONE
21. Complete non verbal piece for Women's Night (Feb) - DONE
22. Complete admin work for Women's Night (Feb) - DONE
23. Perform Women's Night (Feb 15 & 16) - DONE
24. Polish up 3 short stories - Working on a new short story and I just wrote a very short piece that I think is highly submittable. You'll probably see it here in a couple of days.
25. 20 short story submissions
26. Go to Met Museum - DONE Had drinks on the roof with friends, did the Turner exhibit in depth and visited the new layout of the impressionists gallery. It was a great way to spend a Friday night.
27. See South Pacific - DONE
28. See Farnsworth Invention - Totally missed this.
29. 3 activist actions that do not include the use of form e-mail (suggestions welcome) - saving Lorry and donating to Jen Lemen's friend. 2 down, 1 to go. I think I'll make a donation to the Obama campaign before tonight's midnight deadline and so we'll call this DONE.
30. See an opera
31. Go to MoMA - Doing this next Thursday.
32. Go to Frick - DONE in Jan when ChemE came to visit.
33. Fix back-up hard drive
34. Install Final Draft (script writing software)
35. Learn how to use Final Draft
36. Continue Weight Watchers eating plan - Have canceled my subscription (thanks for all your help!) and have been staying within 3 lbs of goal.
37. Meet goal weight of 125 - DONE!!!!!!!!! MOTHERFUCKING DONE!!!!!!!!!
38. Check in on this list once per month - Keeping up with this by the skin of my teeth. I could have sworn I'd looked at this in July but that's probably because I checked in last on the very last day of June.
39. Re-do work files - In progress.
40. Keep work files current
41. Clean out closets
42. Set up home filing system
43. Gyn appointment
44. Dentist appointment
45. Buy scanner
46. Scan family photos
47. Auntie Blanche's birthday (98 on August 23)
48. Trip to beach
49. Post photos to Flickr - Calling this DONE, it's a habit and something I love.
50. Invest 1/2 savings
51. See accountant in person - DONE, and I mailed her a check for her services today, too.
52. Re-work investments to maximize return
53. Sort out IRA contribution
54. NaBloPoMo (Nov)
55. Go to Brooklyn Museum
56. Update address book - Ah "Mobile" Me. At least the address part works. I've made a tiny amount of progress here.
57. Make Christmas cards
58. Take more photos (practice makes perfect after all) - DONE I've got a couple of portrait sessions booked now, too. It's all pretty exciting.
59. Learn more about how I'm taking those photos (suggestions welcome) - Audio Girl found me a one day class at ICP that will teach me all about my camera. It's a little under $300 but I think it'll be worth it. I will take this class Sept. I've been learning some stuff on the web but I need a good lecture demo.
60. Read 4 classic/good-for-me books (perhaps from this list Chrome mentioned) - Orlando done and quite enjoyed even. Add that to Sin & Syntax and you've got 2 down, 2 to go.
61. Plan 40th birthday celebration for Jan 2009 (trip? party? both? both, right?) - Yes to both. The venue I wanted fell through. I'm exploring others now.
62. Research health insurance providers - DONE! HooHA! I researched some, my insurance company decided to up my payment by over two c notes per month (see how creative I have to be without my number two key), I presented all the options to my bosses and they decided they'd rather pay the increase than make other arrangements.
63. Change health insurance providers if appropriate - Do I call this done since I didn't need to? How do I score this one?
64. Bring lunch 3 days/week - Doin' it, doin' it, doin' it!
65. Get photos framed
66. Get contact lenses
67. Make out will
68. Inquire about grave plot
69. Renew passport
70. Submit for print audition (actors access?)
71. Submit for commercial audition
72. Write Aunt Rena once/month - Sent this month's installment today.
73. Write Auntie Blanche once/month - See above and I'll see her this month too probably.
74. Cook once/week (doing this is integral to being able to do #64) - Doing it. Reminds me that I need to order some food.
75. Go to Cyclones game (Kath has said that I can tag along on one of their trips this summer)
76. Take all vacation days - When the laptop crashed I lost some of this info. I need to tally again. I think I'm taking another writing day next week, though. The bosses are out of town and work is slow so it's a good time to do it.
77. Make new cookbook pages (this may morph into making another homemade Christmas gift)
78. God's Love for Thanksgiving
79. Solve electric meter problem
80. Write on something significant (short story, play, etc.) 15 minutes/day, 5 days per week - I think I'm averaging this but I'm not writing a small amount consistently, I'm writing a larger amount with more space in between.
81. Send Christmas thank you notes - Must finish this.
82. Vocal warm-up 5 days/week
83. Physical warm-up 5 days/week
84. Pay extra mortgage payment
85. Get facial
86. Record financial outgoings faithfully (see #96 re: Quicken) - I talked to Zelda about this the other day but we haven't hit on a good system of support yet.
87. Get Elvis's ultrasound (May) - DONE!
88. Complete at least half of the items on this list (I'm so meta) - There's hope but who knows?
89. Actually hang up my Christmas wreath properly
90. Change over to those swirly energy saver light bulbs - I've installed a grand total of 1.
91. Host Supper Club
92. Host Brunch
93. Get lip biopsied - DONE and then my derm disappeared. I'm so unimpressed.
94. Wear sunscreen every day - Habit. DONE
95. 30 minutes per week home improvement (above and beyond my definition of maintenance cleaning) - Trying, weakly.
96. Learn how to set up a new "me" in Quicken (Any Quicken experts out there? I took a look at it last night and I don't know if I know how to do it right. And I want to know how to record cash purchases, too.)
97. Go to one participatory music event for the holidays
98. Finish sending out 2007 Holiday cards (I'm 2/3 done!) - This just ain't getting done.
99. Re-organize kitchen cabinets
100. Apply creams/lotions/oils/ungents to scar daily - Doing it.
101. Get new digital camera - DONE
102. Send birthday cards (preferably before the birthday) - Doing OK.
103. Travel once outside of "event" trips (birthdays, Christmas, lobsterbake etc.) - DONE, DC Day trip.
104. Floss thrice weekly - I have actually flossed twice this month. That's something.
105. Move Music and Photos to desktop Mac - I moved the photos (three times! oops), need to learn how to do the music just once.
106. Leap more often (as opposed to plan, plot, think, prepare ex. I just decided to produce an evening of work by my female friends and the next day I sent out an e-mail.) - This is so impossible to quantify. It feels like I'm getting better, though.
107. Make at least 1 of the books in #60 a non-fiction (maybe the Omnivore's Dilemma, definitely not Fast Food Nation. Probably better if it's not a food book at all. I have enough trouble with food already right now.) - I read Sin & Syntax so this is DONE.
108. Finish this list. DONE!

DONE: 23 (+4 from June if I'm counting right and I think I am.)

In Progress: 32 (+9, which seems impossible but very cool, also a palindrome for the number I've got done, how cool is that?)

Month O Ingestibles Wrap Up

A month of writing about food hasn't changed how I look at it or approach it. I didn't think it would. It has, though, changed my awareness of how pervasive the food thing is for me these days. On the one hand, how fucking boring. On the other hand food is, you know, what keeps you alive in greater or lesser degrees of health so it should be something we think about often and carefully.

All that being said I think that if by this time next year I can still be eating relatively well and have managed to reduce the number of times I have an internal hitch in my breath before I commit to what to eat every meal of every day. I think I can do it. Worst I can do is fail, right? The world won't end.

I love food. I'm not terribly discriminating about whether it's high class or common vittles but I love it. Weird as it was to do, I kind of liked writing about food every day.

But I won't be keeping it up.

So, one last hurrah before we go back to our regularly scheduled programming: What are you eating right now? Can I have some?

Things Starting With Fem

For some reason I added Feministing* to my reader this week. I've seen the name tossed around here and there for years and never taken the time to investigate. I can't even tell you what prompted me to go now but it was probably a Blogher recap.

I am not a particularly "good" feminist, whatever that means. I have conflicting feelings about pretty much everything. On the other hand someone who questions and explores can't be a bad member of any group, right? Well except the armed services and certain boarding schools of the 19th century. For now I'm mostly reading the site and thinking, "Uh....I don't know." Hopefully the whole questioning and exploring thing will kick into higher gear soon.

I'm off to an extremely light start, though, with this piece about Kiera Knightley taking a stand on airbrushing. On the one hand I think it's great to have someone who is prominently in the public eye insist on being seen as she is, without being crammed into someone else's mold. On the other hand she's a woman with relatively few flaws as far as the current social ideal goes so how noticeable will the changes be? Only time will tell I guess.

Don't take my picks as representative of what Feministing has to offer. You should head over and check it out yourself.

*Every time I see the name I read "Fisting" and feel all salacious.

Half Decent Failure

I decided to give those frozen brussels sprouts a second chance. You knew I'd have to, right?

The problem was a certain sogginess, right? So I sallied forth with a thousand ways to dry them out. First I let them thaw entirely. Then I drained them in the colander. Then I cut them in half and laid them out in one layer on a baking sheet and left them like that for a while. After that I spritzed them with Pam, sprinkled them with a tiny bit of romano and put them in a 400 degree oven.

So far sounds pretty good and even scientifically sound, doesn't it?

Finally I forgot about them and left them in too long. They are...surprisingly not so bad; quite crispy on the outside, still a little damp on the inside and teensy tinesy.

Looks like I'm going to have to give them a third chance.

9 Things To Tell You And One Thing To Ask

1. Baby wipes are the best way ever invented to remove makeup. Perfect for lazy people like me who can't be bothered to actually put their hair back and wash their faces before bed. I (and my pillow cases) are so much cleaner now.

2. Do not walk to the bathroom from your bed while drinking a glass of water. Stepping on the cat is a very guilty way to start the day.

3. This is a great music venue here in Brooklyn. The space is comfortable, the rest of the bar is far enough away not to interfere and the sound guy seems to actually know what to do and have the equipment to do it well.

4. I saw the Nu-Sonics at the above-mentioned venue last night and you really ought to see them live next time you get a chance. They've really stepped it up lately and they've got some new tunes. Highly recommend.

5. There's an ice cream/Italian ice place across from the venue. Ice cream is good. But you probably knew that already.

6. When you travel out and about the city for the purpose of picture taking may I suggest that you check that your camera battery is charged. I learned that the hard way.

7. If you're looking for pictures of my walk around Harlem last weekend there aren't any. See #6.

8. The number two key (also the at symbol key) is broken on my laptop. I hate that.

9. The pooch has been diagnosed with arthritis. Not too terribly surprising, she's 13 after all. She had some doggie ibuprofen for 5 days and now she's on a bunch of supplements. She is clearly feeling better but not exactly 100%. I'm considering getting her on some version of doggie ibuprofen permanently but waiting to see how she does.

1. So the place that I thought I would use for my 40th birthday party fell through. I'm looking for a place in New York where I can have a small amount of live acoustic music, serve food and drinks and just have a good time on a Saturday night in January. Anyone have any ideas?

I'm A Guest!

I have the great privilege of guest posting over at Chili's place for 10 Things Tuesday. Head over and check that out.

I'll be back here later with my own set.

Happy Tuesday!

Think Positive!

I haven't checked the archives or anything but it feels as though, in this month of food blogging, most of what I've had to say about food has been negative. Well that's not very nice is it? You get more flies with honey...and chocolate cake and possible hot fudge, definitely with frosting. This is just a quick thing but it is true and it's quite positive. I made something new a couple of weeks ago that I just love. It's not very fancy and it's not hard at all. I had bought some shrimp and had been just doing them up in the aforementioned butter flavored Pam and some herbs. I was bored with that. I do that with most foods these days. It's tasty but I know too much of a good thing when I see it. (Some things notwithstanding.) So I cast about my varied and bizarre kitchen supplies for something else to do. I tossed the cleaned shrimp into a tupperware with a little soy sauce and some dijon mustard. I let them marinate for a short time then threw them in the frying pan for another short time. TaDa! Delicious, nutritious, low in points and high in flavor. If I could afford it I'd eat a whole bag of these every day.

Being A Grown Up Bites The Big One

Quite by accident I discovered that this show is filming just a couple of blocks from my house tomorrow.
This guy is starring in that show.
I love this guy.
However, I...

...am a stupid grown up and tomorrow is the first day in like 6 weeks that my boss will be in the office so I can't, in good grown up conscience, skip work tomorrow.

Can I?

Google Images are to thank, as usual.

Terminals

It's starting to get kind of Terminatoresque over here. First my bank account then the MobileMe and now the New York City MTA.

A while ago, in the name of cost cutting, the MTA automated a number of their stations. Then, slowly and quietly they made some stations financially automated but with a station agent available for information and emergencies. Both of the stations I use on work days are like that. It means that if you want to buy a metrocard to get on the train you need to use a machine. There is a human being in the station but that person has no way to sell you a metrocard directly, all they can do is teach you how to use the machine. Now, there's a cash option and an ATM/Credit option but it's still all automated.

I hadn't thought about one particular eventuality and it seems that the MTA hadn't either. Today all the ATM/Credit options citywide went down. It's a computer network, right? It's no big surprise that it might go down completely, right? Guess who has no back up option?

So today I rode for free both to and from work but I was charged for two separate one month metrocards because I attempted purchase twice. Still waiting to see how that pans out.

Where's Linda Hamilton when you need her?

Hello Mr. Hipster!

Dear Apple,

I want to introduce you to a friend of mine, Fresh Direct. She comes to my house about once a week to deliver my groceries. We have a deal where I pay a flat fee every 6 months and there's no delivery charge (sort of like my one year .Mac/MobileMe deal with you). I order my food a day or two in advance and agree to be home during a short time frame to meet her.

Anyway last week we both screwed up. I needed a short notice appointment at the vet for the dog and I took what they had but couldn't call up FD to tell her that I might not make it home in time to meet her. Late that night when I got home and realized what I'd done I called to ask her if we could make some sort of change. Thank goodness she was still up! She's usually up until 1am, so I knew it would probably be OK but I was still relieved. Apparently my order had already gone to the warehouse so she couldn't help me right then but told me that if I called in the morning (she'd be up by 7:30) she could talk to the dispatcher and probably make a change.

Well, the next morning dawned and I called and she talked to the dispatcher and fixed me all up with another time. Right before we rang off, though, she said, "Hey, just give me a call when you get home, that way if they haven't gotten there yet we can still get you your food in that earlier time frame. OK?" OK!

My original time was 11am-1pm and I go home about 11:30. I called in and said I was home and she said she couldn't be sure which time slot my food would come in but she'd do her best to get it there soon. At 10 minutes to one FD had her machine call me back. The recorded message said that they were experiencing unavoidable delays up to 40 minutes and apologized for the inconvenience. Knowing that a verbal apology is pretty chintzy between friends she was going to extend my free delivery agreement by one week, too.

I mean, really, how nice is that? She helped me out with all those problems that were my fault then when she had a problem she called me up before it became a problem for me, apologized and gave me a little present as compensation. It's no wonder she and I are friends.

So, I know you guys don't have a lot in common but I thought you might want to think about meeting her, maybe exchanging some ideas, doing some networking. You never know, you might get to like her. I think she's single or at least playing the field.

On another note entirely I'd just like to point out that since MobileMe doesn't officially work with my operating system yet (I went on the message boards thanks to ChemE and found the unofficial workaround) that your "gift" of adding a free month onto my subscription isn't so much a gift as it is exactly what I paid for.

Hope you're having a great weekend! Let me know if you want FD's number.

Love,
Kizz

Frugality

Here's a tip if you're trying to motivate yourself to save money. On a night when you'd really like to order something in think about what you want. You can decide which restaurant, even choose your dishes, go ahead and really debate the pros and cons. Then wait to order until you're so hungry that you can't wait for them to deliver that shit, no matter how tasty, and eat something you already have in the house.

For instance I am planning to order either some chicken korma or some massaman curry but in about 10 minutes I'm going to end up eating some healthy tuna salad on a tortilla.

Do you have any money saving tips you'd like to share with the group? They don't have to be totally insane like mine.

Catering To All the Senses

This morning I'm headed to a part of the city that I have no experience with, really. I'm not even sure where I'm going. It might be Harlem or it might technically be Washington Heights, heck it might be Inwood for all I know but I think it's one of the first two. I'm going to visit Jan and Anna who both live up there. We haven't laid eyes on each other in far too long and it makes more sense for me to go to them than for both of them to travel to me. Plus, see above re: never been there. I want to expand my horizons a little, and my photographic opportunities. There's a coffee shop in Jan's building so we're meeting there for a little nosh, perhaps a toast to Anna's birthday, which was last week, and hopefully some pictures. I'll keep you posted about those.

I feel all grown up when I "get together for coffee" with friends. I don't drink coffee but I drink decaf herbal fruity tea or hot chocolate or whatever and hang out. There's something really comforting about a good, neighborhood coffee shop. I like to write in them and chat in them and read in them. Suffice to say I'm really looking forward to the adventure and I hope you're planning something equally fun for your Saturday.

Fucking Floral Friday - Flower of My Heart

See there in the background? She's the flower of my heart.

Today was a weird day. I was so tired that I just came home from class, ate something and took a nap. I couldn't shake it. The nap was good but I'm ready for bed now anyway.

I didn't want to miss FFF, though and I'm proud of this photo so I thought I'd share.

Hope you had a good day!

Food I Am Craving

Curry roasted broccoli (anyone have a recipe?)

Pudding cake like my mom used to make (I think I lost the damn recipe)

Corn on the cob (is it properly in season down here, yet?)

Lasagne

Stuffed Shells a la ChemE

This cool lentil stew stuff that one of our Dinner Club ladies served

Chicken Pot Pie from this place in Chelsea Market

Lobster steamed on the beach

Champagne

Baked Beans (which I actually had the other night)

Hot fudge

Bread & Butter pickles


OK, you go, what are you craving?

What Do You Propose?

Bourdain is back. I'm grossed out by him and in love with him and am just now realizing that he totally ruins my curve. I say I don't watch any reality TV but I watch Bourdain...and American Gladiators and Mythbusters and I used to watch Queer Eye. I am by no means blameless on this front, or on any other for that matter.

To kick off this new round of shows Bourdain ran a viewer contest to see where he'd go next. They narrowed 1300 entries down to 4 interviews and then he chose to go to Saudi Arabia with a delightful female filmmaker. They ate camel and lizard and a bunch of other stuff, much of which the filmmaker had never tried before. I thought she was super brave and was impressed that she knew about all the stuff that would attract the chef even though she didn't eat it regularly. Throughout the show I wondered what my interview tape would have been. He knows New York better than I do. He's already taken the show to London and Scotland and Ireland, the places I know best. Frankly I'd go anywhere with him (anywhere without snakes) but that'd make for a short and creepy audition tape, wouldn't it? What about NH? What do we eat there? Fried clams, maple syrup, Diary Queen, lobstah? It's all good, sure, really good, but is any of it weird or gross enough to lure Anthony Bourdain? I suspect not.

Now, Gert tells me that she's been stockpiling her beloved reality shows on DVR and will be binging on them shortly. So I thought to myself, "Self? What would everyone else audition for?" So, tell me, what's your reality weakness and what would you do to convince the Powers That Be to put you in front of their cameras?

image courtesy of Google images.

Hats Off

Tonight my hat is off to everybody who has lived through chronic sleep deprivation. You insomniacs and parents and law students have my awe. I love sleep. I love a lot of it and I hate that feeling when you're sitting at a desk or table and you're nodding off uncontrollably.

It's raining here. Thunderstorms and whatnot. Likely it's nothing compared to what some of you experience regularly. My dog would like you to know that she does not care and that even a little thunder is way, way too much. At the first sign of thunder she proceeds to shake at about the same rate as those "massaging" beds in seedy motels. There is also drool and random hair shedding. Oh and desperate pacing, did I mention the pacing? What about the near-catatonic thousand yard stare?

I went to bed about half an hour later than I usually do last night. At about 5 this morning my bed felt like a bad night at the No Tell Motel and I woke to find the dog in full on panic mode though the thunder was an almost gentle rumble it was so far away and it never got any closer. No matter, from then until I got up at 6:30 I got about 10 minutes of sleep plagued with crazy weirdo dreams. She stood with her ass against the shower curtain while I showered. She hates the bathroom. Fortunately I think her day home alone was uneventful. I was looking forward to a good night's sleep despite the weather forecast of scattered thunderstorms.

I am stupid.

15 minutes ago I was about ready to hitch the girl up, take her for a walk and hit the hay. Is naive a nicer way to say stupid? Pouring rain and thunder and lightning but the dog wasn't reacting. Well, she wasn't until thunder cracked right overhead and I instinctively wigged and screeched like a teenager. Then she ran to the door and begged me to take her away, away from the bad noises now please! In my defense I was once almost killed in a windstorm so I come by the freaking somewhat honestly but it was still bad form, I admit. If I go now I think I've got a dry window but I bet you this won't be the end of it tonight.

I know, I'm a wuss, up at 5 and in bed by 11 is like vacation to a lot of people, but man, I'm a wuss who loves her beddy bye.

Night now! Pleasant dreams. I'll most likely kill you in the mor...um, sorry, wrong movie.

A Balm For the Wounded Gumline

Chili had her wisdom teeth out yesterday. Today she keeps saying things like, "I haven't gotten out of my pajamas yet." and apologizing for deciding not to drive and implying that by evening she'll be doing some sort of hard labor.
She was resting enough to watch a couple of Djimon Hounsou movies, though, and to e-mail me a request for a Hot People post.
Friend, consider this my multimedia way of saying, "Lay back down and put those frozen veggies back on your face, pronto!"
Djimoun says, "Good girl."


As always, images courtesy of google images.

I find this hilarious because I haven't had a caffeinated beverage in over a decade

Created by OnePlusYou

Obviously I am easily amused.

Via Geek.

Whose Idea Was This?

Some people don't believe in coincidence. I'm a Capricorn. I'd like to be all practical and not believe in them either but sometimes they're too obvious to ignore.

Corporate America is out to get me.

The best mainstream candy on the face of the planet was recently released for general consumption. Two candies were released actually but one pulls ahead of the other by a largish margin. The plain dark chocolate m&ms are lovely and all but it's the dark chocolate peanut ones that were designed by the angels and delivered to earth on pillowy soft clouds.

When did they appear, you ask?

Just a couple of months after I joined Weight Watchers.

They hate me, I tell you. They don't want me to succeed.

10 Late Things

I've been rolling 10 Things ideas around in my head all day but I haven't landed on anything. I should probably be happy that the cat hasn't inspired me this week. I've been reading accounts of BlogHer, how people have been inspired to write better, to think better, to be better. It's making me nervous to write I guess. Only one way to rectify that, now isn't there?

Write.

1. The dog has arthritis. She's slowing down. It's scary.

2. I'm afraid of what this month's electric bill is going to be. We've had more than one heat wave and the dog is really reacting to the heat so I don't want her to suffer.

3. They really should put warning labels on kids' books. I picked out the best looking book for Little Seal's last story of the night on Saturday. I don't know what it was called, something about Good Night Little Creature or something, I don't know. It's animal moms telling animal kids its time to go to bed. Third from last is Good Night Little Snake. WHA? HUH? GAH! I think I covered my freak out pretty well, my voice only went up about an octave and I didn't scream when I slammed the book closed on my thumb.

4. Kenny Johnson (above) is very, very pretty.

5. Tonight I was singing through some stuff from old shows and I had the idea of doing a special cabaret show as entertainment at next year's BlogHer. Wonder how one would go about that.

6. MobileMe still doesn't work right. It seized up for huge chunks of today. Apple can bite me.

7. I found out yesterday that Audio Girl was a Buffy fan but she missed the series finale. So today I brought her the entire seventh season so she can refresh then enjoy the finale. I can't wait to talk to her about it. It's so fun to see someone experience this for the first time.

8. I'm formulating my guest post for Chili's blog next Tuesday. In my head anyway. See above re: actually writing.

9. I keep meaning to ask Mrs. G if I can be a Slow Cook Thursday some day. If I qualify I might be the only Slow Cook participant so far whose perfect Sunday morning doesn't involve going to church.

10. My dermatologist is MIA. I have the info to track her down but I'm starting to think why fucking bother.

How was your Tuesday?

Making a Difference

Kitty asked a while ago if roasting my things in oil or butter would make a difference and I had to answer. I got all fired up about it because I hate that it makes a difference but, the thing is, for me it does. If your weight is different or the foods that you like are different it might work out for you. Sometimes I do use a little oil but not so often and never enough to actually coat the items in question*.

For the rest of my life I'm looking at about 21 points/2100 calories per day with about 35 points/3500 calories to toss around for any given week. And hell, I didn't look it up but that may go down to 20/2000 when I hit menopause in the not so distant future. I don't want to live a life without dessert and I love chocolate milk and ice cream and stuff like that. On the flip side I absolutely don't like a lot of things that are low in points and calories. Spinach, cabbage, pretty much any leafy green, bananas, and a ton of other things just do not do it for me, I can't make myself eat them.

So, yeah, for me enough oil to roast my carrots makes a difference. It may sound stupid from the outside but it's the only way I'm getting this plan to work. I'm trying to hit a point of moderation in all things and I am probably missing the mark in a thousand different ways but I'm hanging in there and hoping this works long term.

We shall see. For better or worse we shall see.

*For anyone who likes what I make for Thanksgiving and Christmas I promise that the amounts of oils and butters and sugars and craziness in those things will not change. I would not know how to change them nor would I care to.

Copy Dog

I wish I had photographs to accompany this story but I forgot to bring my camera. Considering I also forgot the kid's shoes for the outing I'm actually pretty glad I forgot the camera. How bad would I feel to have remembered the camera and forgotten the shoes? On the flip side there's no photographic evidence so why did I just out myself to the parents who I know to be readers of this space? Hey, Mary Poppins I'm not but the kids seem to like me. Oh and I made up for it later by accidentally running into a Shakespeare performance later on and throwing the kid a dose of culture.

Anyway, Saturday night I was hanging with Little Seal. On my way over I remembered that there's a gelato and ice cream stand a couple of blocks from his house. Since the idea of having to entertain a toddler one on one for more than about 15 minutes strikes cold fear into my heart (it's not that I can't do it it's just that it's like, say, algebra it requires a constant vigilance that throws me into overdrive) and I was casting about for shiny distracting things I secured the appropriate permissions for an after dinner stroll to the stand.

I decided on chocolate ice cream. If I'd been on my own I might have gone with vanilla chip or mint chip but the kid is, so far, constitutionally opposed to solid foods where at all possible (whole wheat bunny crackers excepted) so, in anticipation of sharing, I went with a more classic option. We sat and I offered him the first taste or our delicacy. He closed his mouth firmly. I, somewhat guiltily, dug in and enjoyed the ice cream vocally as an enticement. After that Oscar worthy performance I offered him another bite. No go. He shoved his wrist in his mouth (his version of "I said no THANK you!") and used his other hand to point out a fuzzy puppy across the way. We watched the puppy. I ate the ice cream. The gentleman with the puppy gave the end of his vanilla cone to the dog. Little Seal gave me the quirked eyebrow. I offered him one last chance at chocolaty goodness and he liked it a lot.

So, you know, my opinion isn't worth crap but if the dog will eat it...

Oh Great Googly Moogly Frozen Yogurt* and Singing and Death Rays!

So, Suzanne finally posted. She's a busy gal, we try not to get on her for her occasionalness. I'm never going to bug her again because when she comes back she brings presents!

Oh. My. Goodness.

Do you guys know about Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog? If you do why didn't you tell me? If you don't, go, go now, and enjoy. It's free through tonight on that site then available for $5.97 ($1.99 per act) through iTunes. It's a Joss Whedon production and it has Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris in it so it's no wonder that I love it. I think you'll love it too.

*I mentioned food. It counts.

Feeling Peter Pannish

I saw Mama Mia on Friday and the sense of camaraderie made me cry while I was laughing and chair dancing. It made me think of putting together this post. Here are some women who I would like to grow up to be if I am ever fortunate enough to grow up without getting too adult.

Kelly Bishop

Sharon Gless

Sally Field

Annie Potts

Christine Baranski

Helen Mirren

The aforementioned Holly Hunter

And of course, Meryl Streep

Dinner Companion

I'm having dinner and spending the evening with this little dude while his parents take in a flick.
I suspect we'll have something besides birthday cake to eat.
Whatever the rations we'll have a good time. As long as we don't have to pick splinters out of our tongues.

UnFrancisco

I wanted to go to Blogher. I've actually wanted to go to Blogher for 2 or 3 years now. I've even gone so far as to nudgingly suggest to people here and there that we should go. The stars haven't aligned, though.


I especially wanted to go this year. It's in San Francisco and that's where Gar is so I'd already have a sort of home base feeling. I sort of know people from the blogosphere now so I'd feel more comfortable going up to someone and saying something like, "Hi, I'm Kizz, I comment on your blog once in a while." The kicker, though, the moment when I felt acutely sorry that I hadn't taken the leap was when SueBob announced the panel she'd be working with. That was then amplified when M. Kennedy's idea of the Community Keynote address was adopted and so many people I love to read were chosen to participate.

I remember reading about the first Blogher and how the mommy bloggers felt marginalized and they took the seminars by storm and refused to be put in a corner. Now it seems they are the majority, at least vocally, whether they love that term or hate it. A panel about what we few, we band of bloggers, who don't have kids, and don't intend to, is like chocolate ice cream with hot fudge sauce to me.

There will be a podcast and I plan to listen to it as soon as it's available. My first podcast ever, by the way. It won't be quite the same, though.

Perhaps I'll add that to the list of things I want to do in the year that I turn 40. I should start thinking about what to bring for swag now. Want to come with me?

If you're going (or have gone and are reading this afterwards) I hope you have a glorious time. Please raise a glass for me then get on the internet and tell me all about it.

Gar's Gone

Did I mention that Gar was back? He only stayed about 2 and a half weeks after his movie wrapped in NC. It wasn't long enough.
I've gone over time and again how I'm slow to warm to people. I've known Gar for 20 years so we're warm already. However, I will say that it was harder to see him go this time than it was last fall. It had been years before I saw him last fall. Then he came and we had fun and we got back our footing and he had to go. This time it was better, faster, funnier. As a result, harder to see the back of him.
These are from the dinner we had at Acme the night before he left. It was delicious, comforting, stick to your ribs kind of food and it made me feel a little better about his impending departure.

Notice how Gar, skilled actor that he is, totally found his light so that the pictures of him are the only ones that came out properly.

Fucking Floral Friday: Just Plain Flowers

You thought I'd never get back on theme didn't you?

Today I'm busy, gone from early to late, even had to get the dogwalker to come in. Going to class, spend a little time writing, seeing Mama Mia then way uptown for drinks on the roof of the Met and some culture with some friends. Looking forward to doing all the things but wishing I had a sherpa for all the things I'll need to carry in order to do all the things.

What's in your wallet/purse/backpack/gunny sack today?

Huh, I Guess I Did

It occurs to me that in the service of an internet community I just directly contradicted the widely disseminated advice of a very successful blog personality.

What's that saying about learning the rules so you know how to break them?

Eating Dessert First

Yesterday I did it for very practical reasons. Eminently justifiable. I wanted froyo and it was hot and the froyo place is farther away and I didn't want to go get salad and spend the time to eat it and then go to the froyo nor did I want to go out twice and it wouldn't last if I got it and waited until after I ate the salad so I got dessert first and savored it as I walked slowly back to the salad place and got my salad and went back to the office to eat my perfectly serviceable but ultimately unremarkable lunch.

Like Mare Winningham's middle of the night peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the end of St. Elmo's Fire it made the froyo (with sprinkles!) better.

Today, all plans backfired.

I started out quite planny. I usually do. I love plans and I make an ever-morphing series of them as the day goes on. When someone tells me, "I was going to see such and so but my spouse re-arranged the Netflix queue so I have no idea when it's coming." my first instinct is to ask, "So did s/he leave a forwarding address?" You don't just change the plan without checking in with someone! Plans are delicate and finely ruled. I even made my lunch (cucumbers, beets, tuna salad) last night so all I had to do was put it in the backpack. I grabbed a can of pineapple for a snack and hit the road with a niggling feeling that I'd forgotten something.

I spent the morning talking myself out of spending money and points on froyo again today. (But it's hot! But it's $4. But I want it! But you just lost all that weight. But I want it! Shut your pie hole.) I ate my pineapple for a snack then got through my intensely crunchy and effortful lunch. I had a taste for something just a little sweet. I reached over to stash the tupperware in my bag and before I even looked inside it the movie of my morning flashed in my head and I realized that I NEVER PUT THE OREO CRISPS IN MY BAG! No after lunch sweet treat! No button to the musical theatre Act I closer that is my virtuous lunch! I always have Oreo crisps after lunch! It's in the plan! What about the plan? NOooooooooooo!

But wait.

Now I can go get some froyo.

Bet it'll taste just as good eaten second.

Internet Food

When in doubt you can always go to Google for inspiration.
I searched Google Images for "food."
This is what I found.
I didn't even bother to read what most of this stuff is.
Nice to look at, though.
Anything strike your fancy?
Yeah, this last one is my favorite.

I Wanna Be The Mystery In The Room

"I wanna bust the world wide open the way you do when you’re filled with youth. I wanna engage with people and lovers and fellow cops. I wanna be physical and I also wanna ask the big questions. I wanna taste the tastes and fix the problems. I wanna run headlong into chaos and bad guys and darkness and pranks and fun and laugh, laugh, laugh. I wanna be the best friend and I wanna be the greatest Aunt and the most complicated daughter. I wanna be the mystery in the room. I wanna be known. Embrace your Grace."

Clearly it was written by the marketing department. It's even more clear when you hear Holly Hunter's delivery. There's something in it, though. The character is admirable and screwed up and compelling and this tries very hard to express that in commercial form. "The most complicated daughter" "I wanna be the mystery in the room" "I wanna run headlong into chaos and bad guys and darkness and pranks."

Makes me think it might be time for a new version of this post.

Breaking Sadness

Mama Kizz had to let Tigger go today.

In 1990, or possibly 1991, I was working at the River Cafe and the wait staff was rescuing cats one night before the boss did a sweep and had them sent to kill shelters. There was a pair of black cats who stuck together like glue. The girl was shy and the boy was sweet. I took them home to Chinatown where I was living with JAM and some roommates. Soon the girl had kittens. She followed JAM around begging him to sit with her while she gave birth and he did his best while trying not to be late to the production of Midsummer Night's Dream he was doing. She had 5 babies and we had to bleach the hell out of our comforter. We kept 4 of the babies but mom ended up with all of them after we broke up and started moving all over the globe.

Tigger was the last one left. He was mom's particular companion and loved to ride around on her shoulders and sit in her lap and sometimes eat off her plate. After he lost his sight she still let him outside but would follow him around to be sure he didn't cross the road. I suspect she's a neighborhood legend. He continued to hunt birds by sound.

He's been failing for a while now but not so badly and, seriously, he's been in bad situations before and rallied so we didn't really think anything of it. This week she took him in for some symptoms and they found that he'd lost 15% of his body weight, had signs of advanced lymphoma and was exhibiting fairly serious pain responses. So mom decided she had to do the right thing and let him go. He went simply and peacefully and I'm sure she made the right decision.

Doesn't make it suck any less. She has him in his coffin at the house and she'll bury him with his Mama and siblings in the back yard tomorrow.

Goodnight sweet feline prince, and flights of angels sing thee to they rest.

Poison Makes a Valid Food Entry, Right?

So, I accidentally tried to poison myself with my own cooking. Wow, hope the Supper Club ladies are reading this. Forget the wine, bring emetics! But really, total accident, I won't do it again, I promise.

Since the Weight Watchers I have been cooking mostly with ` instead of butter or oil. I roast with it but I also sautee and fry. I had a new can delivered on Saturday but there still seemed to be a couple of servings left over in the old one so I was using that up. In the course of roasting my carrots the can began to emit a gas, but there was still actual Pam substance hitting the veggies so I finished up and popped them in the oven before throwing the can away...and stepping out of the kitchen until the air cleared.

The next night I was eating the carrots and they tasted, I don't know, zingy! Sort of spicy but not quite and they made my tongue tingle. I couldn't think of anything I'd put in the dish to make that happen (carrots, Pam, herbes de Provence, air) but nothing I'd put in there was weird and they tasted good zingy not bad so I kept eating. Yesterday I brought some for my lunch. Halfway through lunch I realized that I was probably experiencing some sort of toxic reaction to whatever the aerosol fog was that I'd been vigorously spraying out of the near empty can. Whoops.

That made my stomach feel a little woozy. Of course it didn't gain wooziness and was probably brought on by the realization/hypochondria and carrots are expensive and on my "new eating regimen" (don't say diet) dammit. So I brought some more today, the last of them even. I don't think I'm going to die.

Well, not from this.

What's the worst cooking mistake you've made?

So Many Options for 10 Things

10 Ways to Cook Your Cat (fricasee is my favorite)

10 Protest Messages to Shave Into Your Cat (No Justice. No Beets. is my favorite)

10 Things to Dangle in Front of Your Cat and Snatch Away Before He Can Get It (Most popular: His own tail)

10 Ways To Remove A Cat's Voice Box Using Everyday Items You Have in Your Bedside Table (they're all good)

10 Names to Call Your Cat at 1:19am (Hint: Sweetums isn't on this list)

10 Ways To Kill An Animal With 9 Lives

10 Ways to Fashion a Feline Gag (#6, He already has a tail he's not using for anything productive)

10 Cats I Do Not Want to Disembowel With a Grapefruit Spoon (Don't go looking for Elvis on this list)

10 Uses For Feline Domestic Shorthair Pelts (Snazzy handwarmer for winter, not a bad loofah either)

10 Reasons I Love My Million Dollar Cat (don't check back here for this one any time soon)

So, yeah, the dogs were lovely last night. The cat is an asshole. He is doing the feline equivalent to that old time road trip standard, "Ma! He's lookin' at me! Make him stOOOOOoooop! Right. Now!" It is tiresome. At some point last night when I was sleeping mostly naked (my apartment = temperature of the sun's surface, remember) and there was some relatively serious sabre rattling on Elvis' part I put the cats out and closed the door. So me and two dogs on the bed together managing some sleep, locked away from the bathroom and the water. Cats have the run of the rest of the apartment including their litter box and refreshing cool water with the added bonus that none of us can look at them inappropriately. Oh but no, Elvis spent an hour (an hour) wailing to be let back in to the bedroom so he could put himself somewhere that Bobby could look at him again so he could get all pissed off about it. Couldn't be content to be out of (imaginary) harm's way, had to be in the way of the (entirely imaginary) harm and complaining about it. Who wants a nice fuzzy throw rug for their bed room? Bathmat? Anyone?

Anna, of course, is rather placidly weighing her options. When last I left her she was wavering between actually wanting Bobby to play with her and wanting him to try to play with her so she could teach give him an introductory lesson in psychological warfare. She never needs to claw you, she just likes you to know that she's thinking about it. I'm actually not even kidding about that. It's how she kept Pony Express' Pinto cat in line when he lived with us. She's just slam her paw down an inch from his head and dare him to come closer. She is tiny but she is mighty. She also kind of couldn't give a shit about Bobby being around. Elvis on the other hand...she might have her own 10 Things list.

Everyone was fine when I left and I suspect they will be fine when I return, as indeed they were all last evening right up until bed time. Elvis may be sleeping in his cat carrier tonight, though. Ungrateful bastard.

Storming the Bastille

It's a big anniversary day. Some people broke out of a big old prison and changed the course of history and I started blogging.
The bell in my memory rang sometime mid-morning so I checked the archives and verified that it was really today that was the anniversary of my embarking on this nutty venture. This nutty venture into which I have happily dragged a few of you. Yay for company on nutty ventures!

Once I was sure it was the historic day I cast about for content. Let's see...nearly killed myself with spray fumes, got very late info on changes at work (she was fired?! really?!?!?!) and my beloved Bobby was coming to stay for a couple of days. It didn't seem, well, weighty enough, you know? So I just kept staring at my day harder looking for something and it turns out that content doesn't just spring forth while you're shining a desk chair with your derriere. While walking the pooches, though, I came to one of those realizations we're so fond of here in the blogosphere.

Both Kath and Alex feel that Bobby is an enormous imposition. They call him a big, hunking galoot with bad manners. And, you know, he is a big, hunking galoot but, frankly, that's part of his charm. His manners are truly not so bad with me at all. Once in a while he'll try to pull me or jump on me and I give him the word or a corrective jerk (so many jokes to go with that term and only so much space on the internet) and he straightens up and flies right, as the saying goes. I love having his matching floppy lips and ears around and even his insidious silent but deadly farts have been making me giggle all evening.

Miss Emily, as you know, has a bum leg. It remains similarly bad to when I complained of it yesterday. She can't go far for a while. Well, she can, she would in fact love to, but I can't let her. So for the past couple of days I've been brainstorming how to be sure that Bob gets his ya yas out and not feel guilty about leaving Em alone and still get to work on time. More than once I've considered not going in to work at least one of the days he's here. It'd be nice for the dogs but I didn't do it mostly because it seemed too nice a thing to do for myself. Staying home, writing, hanging with the dogs, wearing my PJs, extravagant, no? I've settled on getting up at 6, as I normally do, taking Bob immediately to the park for a bit of off leash time, coming home, getting ready for work, feeding the menagerie and taking both dogs for a short spin before I go to work. Courtesy of Kath they'll have a noon time walk with our local dogwalker extraordinaire. At night I'll gauge the Bobster's energy level and decide whether it's vital that he hit the park at 9 for another taste of the off leash.

This evening I went straight from work to pick the boy up. He was super excited to see me but easily convinced not to jump then petted and highly praised while he wiggled and rolled and drooled to his heart's content. I power snuggled our Lorry, gave her some food, grabbed a couple of dog toys and we hit the road. He was excited but not nutty and within half a block, really, he'd settled in to walk at a normal pace without pulling. I took him on a long, circuitous route home to pick up Emily. At home he immediately wanted to play with the cats since at his house the kitten is his playmate. I broke that up, reprimanding both sides for stupidity and rounded up the Emster. For her part she stood around looking confused and refusing to touch her injured paw to the ground which I took as a sign that we really shouldn't go far. I settled on a 2 block route with grass for her feet and a mostly deserted home stretch for greater freedom and we, you'll pardon the pun, bobbed and weaved to the sidewalk under the disapproving stares of my ridiculous neighbors. Speaking of Bobby, he was essentially docile by this point, happy to walk at my side or stand and survey his kingdom while we waited for Emily to sniff and scratch. On the aforementioned home stretch I chose to stay on the side with the crazy dog who flings itself at the glass doors because I didn't want to drag Em to the other sidewalk. I figured that, with her bad foot, she'd ignore him or give him a bark and leave it at that.

Some days I couldn't be wronger.

He flung himself, she jumped and the second she landed she yelped in pain and wouldn't put the paw down and I had a hell of a time limping her away from the excitement of the other dog still trying to break through the window pane so we could diffuse the situation. I'm not sure Bobby noticed at all. It was right about there that I had my realization.

I've been blogging for four years today. It's not so very long next to folks like Scalzi and Pamie and Sars and even Dooce but it's practically an eternity next to the new generation of power houses like our beautiful friend Mrs. G. It's no surprise that over the course of those 4 years I've changed where this space is concerned. Take my word for it, please don't go back and read the first entry, or indeed any entry in the first few months. I think I've managed to find a voice and a rhythm and even begun to fly, just a little, quite close to the ground, don't want any of that Icarus craziness to happen. Very exciting things have happened what with Neil Gaiman linking to me and Susie Bright sending me an e-mail. New friendships have been forged, old acquaintanceships have been unearthed and become friendships, old friendships have been strengthened and it would be a laughable understatement to say that I've learned some things.

This past year has been somewhat more intense in that learning category. I've had some rough conversations with friends and family about what I say here and how I say it. It's taught me how important this outlet is to me by how quickly, emotionally and somewhat inexpertly I have defended it. I love this spot in the amorphous vastness of the internet. I've planted my flag here and started to build my tiny claim shanty. Of course I also love my friends and family even when I disagree with them most heartily. So I am having to change my approach and adjust my expectations of myself and of others.

I am honestly not a little grateful to have Bobby here for a few days. It may sound logistically convoluted but he is a comfort to me. We've all been sitting here quietly for over an hour and just a moment ago he spontaneously stood up, whined and licked me all over the face. Now Em is up and cleaning out the entire inside of his mouth. I am studiously not looking. The thing is, I am quite worried about Emily. Objectively she probably has a bad sprain that's getting re-aggravated but at 13 years old there are other possibilities that make all my important orifices pucker in abject fear. With Bobby here she has company even when I'm not around and I've got his special brand of slobbery love to keep my spirits up and a reason to walk off some of my nervous energy without breaking Emily any further. I've just had to adjust my approach a little to protect and enjoy what's important to me.

It's not simple and sometimes it makes me furious and despondent but it's totally worth it.

Thank you for swinging through here and spending some time having happy hour (at all times of the day) on my virtual porch. I look forward to having you around for a long, long time.

Gathering Ideas

I don't like cooking for myself. I'm sure I've made that clear. I do, however, get a kick out of cooking for other people. Even you. Two of the things I love about the holiday season are cooking a Thanksgiving meal for my friends in NYC and cooking Christmas dinner for my friends and family in NH.

My greatest weakness as far as cooking goes (cleaning up doesn't count) is my willingness, or lack thereof, to make new things. If you're going to cook a meal and you get nervous I will tell you that cooking is just following directions and you are smart so you can follow directions and you shouldn't worry about it. When I get nervous about trying something new I tell myself that cooking is chemistry and I almost failed chemistry (true story). I could also, you know, practice. But that's too simple an instruction now isn't it?

Anyway, September will see me hosting the Southern Girls for Supper Club and I don't yet know what I'll be cooking. I know it's early but I think I need some extra time for research and planning and pep talking. Last time I hosted I motivated myself with a theme, Breakfast for Dinner. I served a simple and mostly pre-cookable strata, with beets and something as a side. Of course I made Grandma Dow's Chocolate Cake for dessert with raspberries and powdered sugar. Whatever I make must be completely pescetarian with at least one serving easily turned completely vegetarian. I would prefer that most of it be make ahead friendly so I can swing home from work and chuck stuff in to warm while I walk the dog then put things together easily while the ladies arrive.

Your suggestions, links and ideas are eagerly awaited.

Good Food Day

Today was a brunch day. For those of you just joining us, I co-curate a monthly brunch group of friends. It's all about enjoying brunch, our favorite meal of the week, enjoying friends and feeling no pressure. No RSVP is necessary, we never go to the same place twice in a row and we have a good laugh.

This month we decided it was a picnic day. We haven't done that in a couple of years. So we went to Brooklyn Bridge Park so we could check out some of the arty waterfalls (pictures forthcoming) while eating food we brought with us and getting some fresh air.

I brought a bunch of berries I bought for the occasion from the berry man near work. Totally forgot to bring the cherries, oops. For my main meal I made myself an egg sandwich. I used egg beaters which I think are better than real eggs for my dietery/points situation and I mixed in some onion and salmon and put it on some double fiber toast. OK, and I put some ketchup on it, I admit it. Delicious and relatively virtuous, no?

Fortunately I wasn't all about protecting my virtue, though. Someone brought cheese curls (GLORIOUS!) and someone brought fabulously squishy, bready bagels and cream cheese and I indulged in one of those, too. Then we went over the road for ice cream.

I had vanilla chocolate chunk. It was gooooooooood.

Can't. Formulate. Themed. Post.

I switched to frozen brussels sprouts to save some time and work but they came out kind of soggy. Should I have drained them? I thawed them, cut them in half and cooked them up in the frying pan with butter flavored pam and some herbs. Would they have been crispier if I'd baked them or something?

Is crushed ice not the best thing ever to happen to any kind of drink?

Ladies in Lavender is quite a nice little movie.

Live Free or Die Hard is quite a fun movie but I was surprised that some bits of it were just the slightest bit offensive. And I'm not easily offended. There were some epithets that just seemed, I don't know, gratuitous? Excessive? Icky?

Justin Long was, fortunately, not party to any of the partially offensive bits.

My Netflix queue is under 230!

Gar left for Marin County today. His stay was too short.

The pooch has injured her right front paw, I think at the ankle, and it's not getting better. Today whenever she stands (looking piteously at me for something or other) she holds it up off the ground and shakes it every so often. I think it's just a sprain that she keeps re-aggravating but I hate that she's hurt. We should have had a shorter walk this morning but I thought walking carefully on the straightaway might me good for it. I think I was wrong. And yet, she just levered herself up onto the couch without assistance so I don't think she's done for.

I resent having to cook for myself. It takes too long (I know, you've hear this tune before) and the clean up takes too long and I hate cleaning up and why can't food just get trucked in to me but if I eat the trucked in kind I just get fat and I just spent a long time getting unfat so I cook. Resentfully.

I remain so grateful and amazed and pleased at the number of you who put me on your calendars and reminded me to cancel my WW subscription. Thank you again! Also, how do you remind yourself of stuff like that? You're amazing!

I'm hot. It's not all that hot out but my apartment is, as usual, the temperature of the surface of the sun. I was going to buy another fan but the guy at the dollar store started condescendingly yet conversationally berating me for not having bred Emily before I had her "spaded" and I just had to get the hell out of the way.

This week I got in touch with an old friend (did I tell you this already?) who I googled and accidentally found an e-mail address for. It has been such a joy to hear from him. I hear his voice even though it's coming at me through words typed into cyberspace. I knew I missed him but man, I miss him!

This book meme has been floating around certain communities here on the internet and a number of times people have mentioned how they read books and don't even crease the spines. I love books, I have always loved them but, as with most things I own, I am tough on them. I don't usually write in them (plays or stories I am adapting are exceptions) but I occasionally dog ear and the spines do get broken, I don't always have a bookmark handy, I read in bed or on the train and drag books around with everything else in my backpack. Right now I am reading a borrowed book, part of a set, in paperback. The spine, when I received it, was not creased so I am working so hard not to crease it and I have to ask, "How do you people do it?" I'm quite near the end and I can barely read the words near the center. I have to tilt the book and/or my head at all sorts of angles to see what's going on at a very adventurous point in the narrative. It's making me really annoyed but I don't want to be disrespectful to someone else's property. Tips? Pointers? Anyone? Help, please?

Fucking Floral Friday - The Flowers of Brooklyn

I am lucky enough that, despite my northern origins, I have been allowed to join The Southern Girls Supper Club that Kath started about a year and a half ago. We are a group of 8 who, about once a month, go to someone's house and enjoy a delicious home cooked meal. Last night we had spicy cucumber soup (cooled down with extra cucumbers for me, the weak tastebudded northerner), cheesy grits casserole, salmon, salad and a dessert of meringue, organic berries and homemade ice cream. It was delicious and a good time was had by all. You know, unless they were lying when they licked their plates clean.

I got a few pictures of the delicious hot house flowers that make up our number. Here's Kath with our champagne for rooftop cocktails.
Our hostess and chef for the evening, Anne.
Jenny Mac, our legal representation.
Kath took some snaps last night as well so I'm counting on her to post pictures of the rest of the gathering. I was too busy eating, drinking and catching up to do a thorough job. Here's the exquisitely set table. Anne decided we should go semi-formal this month so she brought out all the china, silver & linen. It was Gosford Park with better conversation.

Despite a glass or two extra of champagne I did get up and go this morning. I went to class and wrote for almost an hour afterward and have even canceled my Weight Watchers subscription. Thank you to everyone who reminded me. Without you I would be lost. And poor.

Happy Friday y'all, what are you having for dinner?