On my desk: postal mail followup
June 2, 2010
Most of what???s on my desk is not that interesting, usually, but right now it holds several examples of a dying entity???postal mail.??
I don???t received much paper mail. I don???t have credit cards so I get virtually no junk mail, and I get my bills electronically. There are usually two or three days each week where the mailbox is empty, and sometimes I get is the weekly shopping circular.
It???s been so long since I got personal paper mail that I forgot how much fun it is to open the mailbox and find something. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about having mailed a bunch of postcards to my Tweak Today friends. Today you can see a few of the things I???ve received in return???quite a few postcards and a punny sticker, and (not pictured here) a beer newspaper and the jam I wrote about yesterday.
It has been lots of fun.
May 30, 2010
Bridge to Augsburgithia
June 2, 2010
All day long, I was trying to think of someplace to explore where I hadn???t been before, which would make me feel uncomfortable being there, and which was conveniently located due to my feeling that I never have enough time. I realized that if it were conveniently located, it would be unlikely to make me feel uncomfortable because convenience would mean it was somewhere between home and work.
If I had had more ambition, I thought it would be interesting to go to a Mexican restaurant in a Latino neighborhood. I had two years of Spanish in junior high and can get the gist of a conversation and pronounce menu items correctly. When I go to Chicago, I always listen to the Spanish language radio stations in the car. Going to a Mexican restaurant would be uncomfortable but would have a delicious payout. Today was a lazy day.
By the time I left work, I had instead convinced myself that Pizza Luc?? would be the perfect supper, no discomfort necessary. In addition to whole pies, they sell by the slice and each day feature different meat and veggie selections. The only question was whether to go to the one a couple of block from my office or the one a few blocks from my home. I chose home.
The Seward Neighborhood Pizza Luc?? is about a half mile further. To get to it, I have to cross I-94 and then travel a few blocks on a busy street. I rode on the sidewalk going and resolved to take the side street between the freeway and the busy street on the way back.
I picked up my slices and headed to the side street. Trouble was, it was one-way in the opposite direction that I needed to go. Maybe it makes me sappy, but as a bicyclist I do follow the rules of the road 98% of the time. I don???t blow through red lights and I come to a complete stop at stop signs even when no one???s there. I prefer not to ride on the sidewalk (though I will), and riding the wrong way just isn???t right.
So I paused at the corner, debating which was the lesser of the two evils, sidewalk or wrong way. I just happened to look the other way and spied the solution to my dilemma???a pedestrian bridge over the interstate. And it fulfilled another need, to explore someplace new.
I???d never even realized it was there. It???s just to the east of 22nd Avenue and crosses to Augsburg College. There was nothing uncomfortable about it, though as I stood still to take the pictures, it was disconcerting to feel the vibrations caused by the traffic hurtling past underneath. I???d never been in the part of Augsburg where it came out. I found myself at a little town square type park and another one-way street going in the opposite direction. This time I only had to go one block against the grain so I said screw it, yet it that short distance I had to dodge two cars and one pedestrian.
I got home and enjoyed some tasty pizza.
We be jammin???
June 1, 2010
What???s the oldest thing in your refrigerator? This jar of Welch???s grape jelly is five or more years old. Rob gave it to me when he was cleaning out in preparation for a Minnesota???California move. I never told him that I don???t really use grape jelly???at all. I don???t really use jelly of any kind???it seems mostly to be solidified corn syrup. When I did get jelly, I???d get currant jelly or something else red.
Kelly???s Unnecessary Blog, a.k.a. Kelly???s Confessional to Rob.
But I still have that grape jelly and it does get consumed???by my parents a few times each year. It???s pretty much just sugar. It???s fine.
When I did still eat toast for breakfast, I eventually shifted from the currant jelly to any mostly-fruit jam in an attempt to ingest as natural ingredients as possible, which I do not consider corn syrup or grape juice to be, even though they are touted as such. If fruit wasn???t the first ingredient listed, I put it right back.
I still don???t eat toast for breakfast (now I go more eggy), though sometimes I do keep whole wheat bread. My favorite is Healthy Choice 7-Grain. Whole wheat flour is the first ingredient and it???s soft and tasty. There again, just because bread is brown, that doesn???t mean it???s whole wheat. You must check the ingredients list. If it says anything other than ???whole,??? it???s not true whole wheat bread. Thomas 100% Whole Wheat English Muffins are good, too. However, the double fiber whatever muffins are like eating twigs and should be avoided.
I digress.
Now I have something new???Raspberry Pinot Noir jam, special delivery from Annie in Portland, Oregon. It is awesome! It???s made by the King Estate Oregon Wines, an organic, sustainable operation. Follow the link above and then explore the rest of the site. They use sheep to ???mow??? the grass. ???Moo??? the grass? ???Baa??? the grass? ???Bleat??? the grass?
The point is, it looks like a neat place. And the jam is made from raspberries grown in the vineyard???s orchard and spiked with Pinot Noir. From the moment you unscrew the lid, you can smell the wine. It tastes as delicious as you would imagine.
So when the jam arrived, I didn???t have any bread to spread it on. I experimented with making whole wheat flour baking powder biscuits, but those were a disaster. But they were good enough to sample the jam and find out that it???s as delicious as it sounds. I would have made the biscuits with white flour, only I???ve been out of it since March. Yesterday I went to the store mainly to get a frozen pizza for supper but with the secondary intent to get some pop ???n??? fresh biscuit dough. I ended up getting pop ???n??? cinnamon rolls. No raspberry Pinot Noir jam got spread on those.
Today I went to the store again to get a steak and some fresh veggies to grill for supper. Still no bread.
But I might just put a dollop on these whole wheat brownies I just made. Chocolate, raspberry, and wine, especially red wine that I???m drinking? Oh yeah. Not even noticing the whole wheat aspect 🙂
The day in bike ride: May 29, 2010
May 31, 2010
I finally went on a ride I???ve been wanting to, down the Mississippi River to Minnehaha Creek, up the sides of a couple of lakes, and back home on the Midtown Greenway to the Hiawatha path. It???s 20.5 miles. I stopped to take a photo approximately every mile and here they are, locations duly noted on the map.
Photo 1, mile 0.75: Mississippi River. I didn???t think to start taking photos until I got down to the river, hence the 3/4 measurement.
Photo 2, mile 1.75: Mississippi River
Photo 3, mile 2.75: Mississippi River, under the Lake Street Bridge
Photo 4, mile 3.75: Mississippi River
Photo 5, mile 4.75: Mississippi River, near the turn-off for Lock & Dam #1
Photo 6, mile 5.75: Minnehaha Parkway
Photo 7, mile 6.75: Minnehaha Parkway, between Lakes Hiawatha and Nokomis
Photo 8, mile 7.75: Minnehaha Parkway
Photos 9, 10, mile 8.75: Minnehaha Parkway, ???Cottontail on the Trail??? at Portland Avenue. I did not know this was there, and it was time for a photo, honest!
Photo 11, mile 9.75: Minnehaha Parkway
Photo 12, mile 10.75: jog up to Lake Harriet
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Photo 13, mile 11.75: Lake Harriet
Photo 14, mile 12.75: Lake Harriet, lunch stop. I was really hungry by this time and the hotdog was a good enough combo of carbs and protein.
Photo 15, mile 13.75: Lake Calhoun. The temperature was in the mid-80sF. There were a lot of people enjoying the water.
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Photo 16, mile 14.75: Lake Calhoun soccer fields
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Photo 17, mile 15.75: between Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles, access point to the Midtown Greenway
Photo 18, mile 16.75: Midtown Greenway. This follows old railroad tracks along 29th Street.
Photo 19, mile 17.75: Midtown Greenway. White building is a Freewheel Bicycle store and pitstop for bikers. It even has showers.
Photo 20, mile 18.75: Midtown Greenway, turning toward Hiawatha Avenue.??
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Photo 21, mile 19.75: Hiawatha Avenue bike path. Franklin Avenue Light Rail Station in the background, and also downtown Minneapolis skyline. Almost home!
Photo 22, mile 20.58: Home, whew!
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Satellite Map ?? Google Maps
The cockpit of my life
May 22, 2010
There you have it. This is where my life happens. From this one chair, I waste time at the computer and I waste time watching television. ???Happens??? might imply a bit too much proaction on my part. From this one chair, my life passes before my very eyes in the form of RGB pixels.
This would be an appropriate time to make one of my periodic declarations that I???m on the verge of canceling my cable tv subscription. We all know that will never happen. It???s not because I???m too lazy to get shows online or join NetFlix. No, it???s because the Comcast machine makes it really easy from a financial standpoint to stay. The last time I attempted to leave, I was informed/coerced that if I unbundled, the price of my internet service would go up and that I???d be saving less than $15 per month. One could stand on principle and go ahead and cancel. I caved. The internet doesn???t help either. Unlike the television, I don???t see spending time with it to be as much of a waste, thought it certainly does chew up time. I got this chair, this comfy chair, from IKEA. I had previously sat a cast-off old desk chair from my office, but because of the amount of time I spend sitting in this one location doing both computer and television, I decided I wanted a better one. It was only about $80, but it???s a whole lot more comfortable than my fancy desk chair at the office which I know they paid over $200 for. Oh, and the cushion for a little extra lower back support? That???s the bottom pillow from the cat bed I got for my sweeties a couple of years ago. I didn???t really understand its purpose in its original application. So this is the location from which I conduct a large part of my life. On a typical night I would be writing my blog entry from there; tonight I am in a hotel room in Schaumburg, Illinois, where I will be bowling in a tournament tomorrow. It???s a little strange, because due to not having packed any long pants, such as sweat pants for lounging, and having the air conditioning on at full blast because it???s very humid outside and will be warm tomorrow, I was cold, so I pulled the comforter off the bed and wrapped myself in it while sitting in the desk chair with my feet up in a second chair. At home, I never wrap up in a blanket because I can just add more clothing layers. Here, burritoed as I am, all I can think of is how movie characters wrap themselves in a sheet or blanket when they get out of bed after sex. That???s my mental image, but it turns out it???s a really cozy, comfortable setup. But I digress.Enjoy every sandwich
May 20, 2010
There are several sandwiches that I like a lot.??
The first that comes to mind is a Potbelly Ham Wheat with a little bit of everything. I do dearly love Potbelly (and they have the best malts, too), but the sandwiches became less fun when I looked up the nutrition and learned that the Ham has over 2600mg of sodium. Now I eat them sparingly.
I also love a Chipotle Chicken Burrito???black beans, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, and sometimes the medium salsa. Chipotle has ruined me for burritos anywhere else. I???m not making any judgement as to the authenticity of their style, but they sure are delicious! Unfortunately, its sodium is right up there, too, at over 2300mg.
Rounding out the top three also-rans is Panera???s Bacon Turkey Bravo. I can thank my friend Rob for that one. I initially preferred the roast beef Asiago sandwich, but his devotion to the Bacon Turkey Bravo caused me to try it and what can I say? Everything???s better with bacon! I have not checked the sodium.
The grand winner in my personal sandwich preferences is the Caprese panini from a local outfit, D???Amico and Sons. I usually get the lunch special, which teams it with their equally delicious (but not sandwich) Tuscan chicken soup and my choice of a chunk of bread or potato chips. I choose chips. It???s my version of grilled cheese and tomato soup. Well, or theirs, I guess. I???m just in heaven when I eat this sandwich.
Lilacs in the house
May 19, 2010
I was about five or six in my earliest memory of lilacs. We still lived on Main Street across from the library and had some large lilac bushes in the back yard along the alley. My mom cut some sprigs and brought them inside. The instant the stems hit the water in the vase, a multitude of tiny white mites abandoned blossom like it was the Titanic and scattered out across the brown kitchen table like dandruff on a black turtleneck.
Of course there are many things that I love the smell of, but here in Minneapolis, lilacs are exactly in bloom at the moment and I have one right outside my front window that makes my home smell heavenly.
I think you???d be hard pressed to find someone who found the scent of a lilac to be offensive???a natural lilac, the plant. I completely agree that soaps and lotions?? go overboard on the amount of fragrance. The smell of a plant in the wild is rarely too much. The delicate rose. The mild-mannered carnation. The industrial marigold. My love for the scent of a marigold also goes back to childhood. The house that we moved to after Main Street had a planter in front of the porch, and each summer I got to tend my marigolds, grown from seed. Pleasant memory.
So in my current place, this lilac grows in the corner between my front window and the steps up to my neighbor???s unit. Now that I???ve finally taken the winter-insulating plastic off my windows, I can once again invite in the smell of the outside world; it took about forty-five minutes for the glorious scent of lilac to permeate my entire residence. I am lucky.
This year in particular I have been infatuated with my lilac. Just Saturday, I sat outside reading for three hours in large part because the lilac smelled so good. The other large part was that it was the first day in two weeks to reach into the 70s and forsake 50 and rainy. Plus, this spring (unlike last year) has been wet enough so that all plants are happy. I???ve cut the grass twice already.
I must enjoy this opportunity that Mother Nature has given me while it lasts. I snipped a sprig to have on my desk to inspire me while I was writing. I held my breath as I immersed the end of the stem in the vase. I???m happy to report that the only mass exodus was of divine lilac scent to my nose.
Billy Goat Can Float
May 18, 2010
Five years, six months ago, I was in the throes of writing, designing, and producing the First Sounds and First Rhymes series. Herewith, you will be treated to a couple of examples of my stunning writing prowess.
It???s not that I mean to be facetious about what I do for a living; it???s just that I had always envisioned something a little more highbrow for my writing endeavors. On the other hand, as these books all go into school libraries and are meant to supplement the regular reading curriculum, there are some very specific guidelines that we are required to follow and constraints that we must adhere to. In that regard, these are mini-masterpieces.
First Sounds was an A???Z series in which each book dealt with a single letter or letter combination and featured words beginning with those letters. First Rhymes also covered the alphabet, but via perfect rhymes. Both series were part of our Rebus Reader line, which meant that the first part of each book was given over to our version of rebuses for six-year-olds. The second parts of the books were simple stories illustrated by photo+clipart collages.
I have always enjoyed working on the story illustrations; we make frequent use of that style. The goofy rhyming stories are fun, too. And this was back in the day when we more heartily embraced the cookie-cutter method of graphic design.
So put on your reading glasses, sit back, and enjoy.
Eva and Ethan from the First Sounds series, ??2005 ABDO Publishing Company.
Billy Goat Can Float from the First Rhymes series, ??2006 ABDO Publishing Company.
All about chemistry
May 16, 2010
Chemistry class in college was not my friend. I squeaked by with a?? D-. ???Chemistry??? by Semisonic, on the other hand, is at the top of the class. When I sort my iPod by Play Count, that song comes out number one.
The other songs from ???All About Chemistry??? round out the rest of the top spots. I still listen to whole albums as a unit most of the time, but I also will put an artist on shuffle. Either way, I do sometimes skip songs I???m not in the mood for. So within this album, the play counts vary from 64 down to 45. I think Dan Wilson is a top songwriter.
After the ???All About Chemistry??? songs, the next most frequent is ???The Slacks??? by Trip Shakespeare, the precursor band to Semisonic. The album is ???Across the Universe.??? Trip Shakespeare also contained Dan Wilson???s brother Matt, and along with John Munson, a masterpiece was created.
Those of you who know me may be wondering, well where???s the Del Amitri and Queen? Del Amitri starts up after ???The Slacks, and begins a rotation with songs from the Trip Shakespeare album with songs from ???Change Everything??? and ???Can You Do Me Good???? The other Del Amitri albums work their way in, along with Justin Currie???s first solo album.
I have to say that now because he just released his second solo album. Dan Wilson seems to be getting recognition and writes for other acts, including the Dixie Chicks. Justin Currie is a completely underrated genius songwriter. With each new album, he only gets better, whether it was for Del Amitri, The Uncle Devil Show, or, now, himself.
At first, I was incredulous that it wasn???t a Del Amitri or Queen album that topped the list, but in a way it makes sense. Semisonic only have three full-length albums and ???All About Chemistry??? is by far my favorite. Del Amitri, Queen, and Elton John have more albums that I like more equally, so the playing gets spread around. But as artists, they probably have the most total plays.
I was a little surprised by the order of who else showed up. After the TripSonicWilson songs (as I fondly refer to the shuffle grouping of Trip Shakespeare, Semisonic, and Dan and Matt Wilson???s solo material) and Del Amitri/Justin Currie, we next have one interloping song by the Doves, ???Catch the Sun,??? then:
Scissor Sisters, Tears For Fears, Brazilian Girls, more Doves, Little River Band, The Adventures, All Seeing I, Cowboy Mouth, Gram Rabbit, Nickel Creek, Gino Vannelli, Cousteau, The Uncle Devil Show, America, Minnie Driver, October Project, Queen (finally, though I have so many albums by them, is it really representative that they???re this far down?), Robbie Williams, Shelby Lynne, Spacehog, Thomas Dolby, Babybird, Rhett Miller, Travis, ABC, Anna Fermin???s Trigger Gospel, The Cars, Chicago, Journey, Coldplay, Duran Duran, Elton John. Then the field gets more crowded, and by now you???re probably bored with the list anyway.
A thing of the past: postal mail
May 15, 2010
Last Thursday I sent more snail mail than I have in probably the last five years. You???ve heard the winging and moaning from the postal service and it???s true. The telephone and email take the place of the letters I used to write.
My most prolific letter-writing phase was during my teenage years after we moved from Ohio to Wisconsin. I left behind lifelong friends and we all did a good job keeping up. At the time, long distance was a luxury not to be squandered, and cell phones were from the Star Trek future, so we wrote letters. (Dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, too, but that???s a different story.)
In college, I still wrote letters, still to my friends and with the addition of my parents, as I was now out of town. For a couple of years I was very creative with the packaging of the letters to my parents, doing anything thing I could to avoid using a regular envelope but still have it go through on one stamp.
I gradually stopped writing letters, or sending cards, or mailing anything. Even bills I now pay electronically. I can???t remember the last time I stuck a stamp on something.
Last Wednesday, there was a flurry of address exchanging on Tweak Today, and Thursday I mailed out seven pieces. There will be a second wave in a couple of days. It???s mostly Minneapolis postcards, but for the people I know a little better, it???s more customized. I mailed two Washingtons, a California, New York, England, Scotland, and France in the first batch. I will be adding another California, a Tennessee, Idaho, Ohio, and Netherlands. I typed a couple of the email addresses incorrectly so the messages were undeliverable, so those addresses will be delayed, but I???ll still do it.
The post office clerk got a big kick out of my taking a picture before I???d relinquish my mail to him.
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May 12, 2010
Kelly’s Unnecessary Blog 