Three items for your last meal
March 6, 2010
How many ways can you answer this question? I will share my favorites.
Meal: three things you’d like to eat in association with each other:
Three things I really like to eat together as a meal are grilled salmon with lemon juice, asparagus steamed al dente, and white rice with just a little butter. All with a little salt.
Three things I often eat together and which would be acceptably pleasing:
One of my favorite lunch places is Asian Max (pictured). There are two three-item combos that I usually ask for: sesame chicken, spicy green beans, and cucumber salad; or sesame chicken, shrimp spring roll with sweet brown sauce, and either spicy green beans or cucumber salad, depending on my mood.
My comfort lunch is D’Amico caprese panini, Tuscan chicken soup, and small bag of potato chips. It’s a fancy grilled cheese and tomato soup. They have a punch card for buy five and get one free. That’s not very many.
Three things you like to eat that wouldn’t necessarily comprise a menued “meal”:
Grilled steak (rare) with onion salt, grilled salmon, giant salad.
Grilled steak (rare) with onion salt, giant salad, zinfandel (doesn’t have to be fancy).
Steak, sauteed mushrooms, Bell’s Oberon Ale. The first time I ever tried Oberon was at a wine tasting. Bell’s had a table off in the side room, and I went there after I had tried some steak bites with butter sauteed mushrooms from Murray’s Grill. Oberon was the first beer I sampled. It was divine.
Pizza. Well, there are at least three ingredients there, aren’t there?
Salad. The same would apply to a giant salad. I am quite happy with one of those.
To-do list (2 March 2010)
March 3, 2010
The to-do list. It seems innocuous enough. Yet at the end of the day, you curse it. If you’re like me, your ambition always outweighs your actual accomplishment. Yet today, I did okay.
√ Items 1 and 2
Things to do to finish the fifth out of six manuscripts for a book series I’m writing about simple science activities. Topic number 5 is water. The little projects were written, but I had to organize the materials list, as well as write the two- to four-sentence long book specific introduction and conclusion.
(√) Item 3
I’m working on a new text design for a grammar-related series. The author is very organized. All of a sudden, about forty-five minutes before quitting time (which turned into an hour and a half and me leaving another forty-five minutes after quitting time, which isn’t any specific time as long as we get our eight hours in and the work done), I found my design muse. Yesterday I remarked that I wish my whole day could be shifted about four hours to the later, because that’s when I shift into being productive.
√ Item 4
These are tiny little pre-final changes. They didn’t take very long. No problem.
(-) Item 5
I’ll address that tomorrow evening. I try to write at the office, but I’m easily distracted and there’s usually plenty going on. I’m much more efficient if I bite the bullet and write at home.
(-) Item 6
Well, if Item 3 hadn’t been going so well, I would have gotten to Item 6. I have to arrive t my Curves by 6:00, so I have to leave the office by 5:45 at the latest. Tonight I did not. But I went last night, so it is not yet a big deal that I didn’t make it there today
√ Item 7
I had to pick up a few items for the photoshoot for the simple science book on water. On the list: marbles (displacement), rubber tubing (siphon), cheesecloth (surface tension), clear straws (density), and wooden matches (surface tension). Marbles are hard to find these days. I imagine that’s for two reasons: they are a choking hazard which today’s paranoid parent doesn’t want to deal with, and they are not a video game which today’s youngster does not know how to deal with.
So all in all, today was pretty productive. And I drank some tasty beer and wrote a couple of blog entries, which was personally satisfying. And the temperature reached 40°F for the first time in what seems like years. It’s probably just been since November.
10 things that make me happy
March 1, 2010
This cup of grapefruit juice*
I like orange juice and tomato juice, but I love grapefruit juice!
This lovely sunny day*
It is the last day of February. On days like this, you believe that spring is truly right around the corner, even though it’s Minnesota and you know there could easily still be stretches of sub-freezing temperatures.
Watching my cat spaz out with the twirling rainbows on the wall*
I have solar powered twirling crystals in my south window. Poor Dasie just never figures it out.
Saving 10–15 minutes in the morning by neither combing nor drying my hair*
On February 13, I stopped both combing my hair and giving it the tiny bit of blow drying that I do, just to see what would happen. I am not in the early stages of dreadlocks and my curls twist up less frizzily and more curly. The only downside is that all day I shed the loose hairs that were formerly removed during combing. Having that ten or fifteen extra minutes is well worth it to me.
Classical music on a Sunday afternoon*
In my quest to watch less tv, I have returned to doing something I used to twenty years ago, which is turning on public radio in the morning and enjoying it as the backdrop to the whole day.
How it’s light so much earlier in the morning
I know the time change will soon come and darkness will get another hour of morning time, but for now I’ll enjoy that it’s light when I should be thinking about getting up. It has been light when I do get up all winter …
That my rabbit feels better after having his teeth trimmed a couple of weeks ago
The watery eye has cleared up and Robbin seems to be in a better mood. I can even pet his head, something which he had shied away from for years. Now I know why.
The thought of planning my trip to London
I really must make time to do my tax return so that I can get going on this.
Video chat
It has been very satisfying getting to see people who I would otherwise have no opportunity to interact with “in person.”
Coffee in a paper cup
I don’t know why it is, but I really love drinking coffee from a coffee shop paper cup.
*pictured above
The roaring silence
January 21, 2010
I don’t remember ever not liking music. One of my earliest music memories is from when I was probably about four and my mom parked me in front of the console stereo (you know, the big hulking piece of furniture with AM/FM tuner and room to store some records all under a lid or sliding doors) to listen to Peter and the Wolf.
My parents held on to first that, and then a newer, console stereo. It was at least the mid-1980s, perhaps later, before they bit the bullet and got components instead.
As a kid, I was glued to the transistor radio. Initially, I listened to a small turquoise model that lived on the kitchen table. That was eventually supplanted by a larger (though still single speaker) model. This was during the time that “shoebox” portable cassette recorders were popular. I would cozy up the cassette recorder to the front of the radio and record my favorite songs. When I was a kid, I listened to CKLW on AM from Windsor, Ontario, during its Top 40 days. They tuned The Big 8 in at the swimming pool, too.
The radio/cassette pairing gave way to record albums of my own. I don’t remember doing too much recording off the radio once I got into records. That took me through high school.
Then I got my first stereo components. I still have the gigantic floor speakers. Generally gigantic, not guy audiophile gigantic. I was never much of an audiophile. I just enjoy listening. That’s sort of why I was never a good English major either. I like reading, but I don’t have to analyze every nuance to derive pleasure from it.
I returned to recording off the radio, this time FM and in stereo. I still have a lot of those tapes. I continued to buy records, but I never embraced the prerecorded cassette tape.Then compact discs came along. I rebought many of my favorite record albums on CD, though many more simply were never manufactured. It is for that reason that I must acquire one of those turntable-to-digital deals one of these days.
And, of course, I made the inevitable migration to mp3s on first my iPod and now my computer and a little bit on my iPhone. Most of my music listening is done on either my work or home computer, and these days, it’s just as likely to be a music streaming service such as Pandora or the streaming audio of a radio station, as something my lowly mp3 collection (the majority of which is, by the way, all of my CDs ripped).
The devices I have listened with the most all of these years are my good old ears.
My friend Green Robot
January 11, 2010
This is Green Robot. He and I made our debuts on Tweak Today on the same day. He was one of five random things of the same color that I scrounged up at my office on that fateful day. He has since made several appearances.
1. July 20: Photograph five things that are your favorite color. I would probably say that black is more my favorite color, but I do like lime green and chartreuse quite a bit, too. On that day, green was simply the color that I found five things of first at my office. Green Robot was actually the last to join the group. I guess technically, Green Robot is stolen property. He doesn’t seem to mind.
2. August 22: Photograph the same thing in three different places. It was a hot day, so this was all not too far from my front door. Then Green Robot told me he’d like to be in a movie. That’s at the bottom of the page.
3. October 10: Play copy cat. We looked at the photos of stuff that were posted before we made our submission, and assembled our own versions of previous seen items. Somebody else had already included both a rabbit and a robot. Green Robot was chuffed.
4. November 29: Photograph something in different places around town. Again, Green Robot was most pleased to be out and about. It was a raw November day and the outing didn’t last very long or go very far afield. The close-up on the fire hydrant at the top of the page was used in a special Advent calendar mission.
5. January 10: Take an inanimate object to a meal with you. That was today’s mission. Green Robot and I enjoyed a nice smoked salmon frittata and tomato juice for breakfast.
I am certain Green Robot will find a way to appear in many more missions.
Things that make me happy
December 23, 2009
I only had to come up with five, but once you think of one you think of 100. Here are the top pleasure-givers in my life.
The best First by default are Robbin, CJ, and Dasie. Even if they’re not doing any of the innumerable cute and sweet things they do, I only need to look at any one of them to feel better. I treasure their companionship. The other top vote getter is working out at Curves. Not only is it good for me but it makes me feel good. Really good! I’ve become a believer in endorphins, because for a good two hours afterwards, I’m very joyful, regardless of how my day had been going previously. The rest in no particular order (well, in a little bit of order) Writing this blog Good beer (the two pictured are my favorites), and related to that, a nice wine buzz Pizza “Dancing with the Stars” — Say what you want to about reality tv, but you just can’t beat this show for feel good escapism, especially when people experience life-changing personal growth, like Kelly Osborne did this past season. The show is a joy to watch. Anthony Bourdain — when I watch his tv show I just want to eat and drink. It’s fun. Craig Ferguson — the man is a comic genius. The thought of moving to London Travel in general, especially long car trips by myself — Particularly effective if I can stay off the interstates and just take state and U.S. highways and go through towns. Going to baseball games Pigeons — I love pigeons. There are a couple of flocks that I encounter frequently. The one near my home has lots of mottled and white members. Mother Nature — When she throws up a rainbow or shows me tracks in the snow, or one lone tulip in a random place, or Maxfield Parrish colors in the sunset.I like beer, it makes me feel mellow
December 6, 2009
There is no logical explanation for this photo. I was commanded to make up a drink using what was on hand. What was on hand was Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, Southern Tier IPA, and Magic Hat Black as Night Winter Lager. Unlike the Southern Tier IPA which I liked and had only one left of, I was willing to donate the Magic Hat to the effort as I was unimpressed with the first five of it, and I had 11 of 12 of the SN Celebration Ale left.
I was hoping for a result like a Black and Tan, and I didn’t know which way might be more successful. I knew I’d sacrifice both bottles, so I tried pouring it both ways. Zero visual success. Taste results, um, drinkable but nothing special. A little like each of the ingredients. So, since that was largely a failure, or at least a non-event, let me tell you this about me and beer instead. I have five favorite breweries. And I have met three of five of the brewers. They are as follows (in the cliché, no particular order):
Lagunitas. I had the opportunity to meet Tony Magee in late summer. I convinced him to sponsor one of my bowling teams. Really.
Bell’s. Several years ago I fell in love with Oberon, and then several others. I met Larry Bell about a month ago when he was in town. He taught me that the reason why I like hoppier beers now is because hops have estrogen. Beer is my estrogen replacement therapy. Who knew? (Dan, that’s why people say it.)
Summit. From here in the Twin Cities. Summit EPA is my go-to beer. Most places have it. It is best at the Metrodome, where it flows cold and fresh. Eric—oh dear—Harper, is that you in the photo? I remember Eric, but not a surname.
Surly. My other favorite local brew. Furious is wicked good. Bender and Coffee Bender get me revved up! Haven’t met anyone from Surly yet. Sierra Nevada. They’re in California, so I wouldn’t expect to have met anyone—oh wait, Lagunitas is in California, too, and they sponsor my bowling team!… Maybe Sierra Nevada will read this and at least get in touch. Celebration Ale is nectar of the gods, and Pale Ale is a good all-rounder. Torpedo IPA’s not bad either. Red Seal Pale Ale is trying to sneak in to my best-of list.What do you love the feel of?
December 3, 2009
Robbin Rabbit does not love the feel of being picked up, and he is merely polite about it until I release him. I made him endure this holding so that I could mimic the photo another gal took of her and her Rex rabbit. Rex rabbits’ fur feels like velvet.
Robbin is the Satin breed. That’s an apt description. He has an entirely different kind of fine, soft fur—silky smooth with a satiny sheen. And there is no softer fur than the fur at the nape of the neck of any rabbit. My cat Dasie’s white fur feels very fine and soft compared to her black fur. My cat CJ also has very soft, longish black fur which is even finer and softer than Dasie’s white fur. I love how it feels in the morning when I’m half awake and still cozy in bed under my electric blanket, just drifting in and out. That is, unless I have to go to the bathroom. Then I feel anxious and unable to relax until I’ve gotten up. Nothing beats standing under the hot shower. In the summer, it feels really good to depart from the overactive air conditioning in my office to go outside and turn my face to the sun. If the temperature is 75° or less, I even like just sitting in the sun for half an hour. I love the feel of a good wine buzz. Getting loopy on wine is completely different than getting loopy on beer, which is also pleasant, but not in the same way. When I go to bed at night, I always hope that CJ will come with me. If I offer her my arm and get positioned just right, she licks my wrist with her rough cat tongue and the feel of it puts me right to sleep. It works if it’s my wrist or hand; my forearm is too ticklish. I also love the feel of a cat purring when I’m holding her close. Dasie is the more violent purrer, so she’s a little more enjoyable. Those are all physical things. Then I got to thinking that there are a number of things that feel good on an emotional level. I realized that as I finished my Curves workout tonight. No matter how tired I am or what kind of fowl mood I might be in, I just feel happy for a good 90 minutes afterward. Let’s hear it for endorphins. I feel good about myself when I get up the hour earlier on work mornings that I really should do all the time. I get proverbial and literal warm fuzzies when I commune with my sweeties. Both cats like to be held, and even Robbin, if I leave his feet on the floor, will let me smother him in a hug. I’ll probably think of ten more things as soon as I post this, but these are the things that immediately come to mind. And keeping up with this blog makes me feel a sense of accomplishment, however trivial in the bigger scheme.A mouse by many other names is an entirely different concept
November 10, 2009
How would my life look through the eyes of a mouse? There are a surprising number of things to see.
Obvious
I have cats. Several of their toys are in a pleasing mouse shape. Some are filled with catnip, some crinkle, and some have wheels.
I am a graphic designer, therefore I sit at a computer all day using a mouse. Both at home and at the office, I have ancient Microsoft mice, because those are the ones that are ergonomic for me. They’re basically the same, but the one at the office is a little beefier. My boss affectionately refers to it as the rat. For home, I saved $10 or $15 and got the less steroidal version.
Clichés
Although I am quite prodigious in my online posts of status updates and photos and social community participation, in person I don’t always say a lot. Sometimes I am quiet as a mouse.
I also don’t like confrontation—who does? If an issue needs to be addressed I’ll do that, because it’s something that should be taken care of. If it’s walking up to a stranger in a social setting, quite often the very notion of introducing myself terrifies me. You could say I’m timid as a mouse. You can at least say that I am not a shmoozer.
I have to go to work every day. I never feel caught up. I never have enough money. I have personal-life issues. It’s one big rat race.
I do love cheese. I guess it’s not so much a cliché as a mouse stereotype. My current favorite is pepperjack (Monterey Jack with flecks of hot peppers interspersed, for you European purists). I also like cheddar of any persuasion, mozzarella, Asiago and Parmesan, Gouda, brie, and hard and soft goat cheese. I don’t like bleu cheeses at all. Well, that’s not 100% true. I will tolerate a really generic bleu cheese salad dressing if it’s accompanying spicy barbecue chicken wings. That’s the only circumstance.
Cartoon mice
My two favorite cartoons are mice. No, not Mickey and Minnie. I’m talking about real mice—Danger Mouse, and the Brain (okay, Pinky was an accomplished foil). You heard me—Danger Mouse. I have the complete DVD collection. Still so, so funny. I think my favorite is when the washing machines tried to take over. Since I’ve become more of a James Bond fan, Danger Mouse is even better. And, don’t try to tell me it’s just a coincidence that Austin Powers’ middle name is Danger.
Music-related
The artist Stanley Mouse (along with partner Alton Kelley) illustrated the covers for three of my all-time favorite albums: “Infinity” and “Evolution” from Journey, and “Book of Dreams” by the Steve Miller Band. Yes, I know Mouse also did Grateful Dead covers, but I’m not a fan of the Dead so I don’t care.
I like the band Modest Mouse well enough when I hear them. Also, I know there is the producer Danger Mouse. I wouldn’t know his style from anybody else’s, but I guess he works with Gnarls Barkley and I like them just fine.
Cultural icon
Again, I am not talking about Mickey. I understand Mickey’s place in world cultural history, but as with the Grateful Dead I’m not a particular fan or non-fan. This time I’m talking about—drum roll please—Rat Fink. In fact, Rat Fink was created by Ed Roth to be the antithesis to Mickey. The photo above is of my actual Rat Fink, snapped only moments ago. I still have him, though he would be more valuable as a ‘70s collectible if I hadn’t eaten half his tail (I chew my fingernails, too, so what?), and nibbled the tops of his ears and then trimmed them with a nail clippers (yes, I remember that I did that).
Personal details
I first started coloring my hair 14 years ago because it was really long and I wanted to do something different but I didn’t want to cut it. After that first color grew out and I could see the true shade again, I realized just how mousy it was. The fact that I was starting to get grey hairs didn’t help either.
My cat Dasie’s nickname is Squeaky due to the sound she makes when I squeeze her. She has since revealed herself to have a quite nice voice when she sits on the toilet seat and meows at me while I’m in the shower. She is fascinated by the running water and three days ago I was sure she was going to jump in with me. Her front feet were halfway down the side but she chickened out.
Last and least, my car is a nondescript mousy grey.
Music memories
November 8, 2009
What songs do you like? What songs, when you hear them, magically transport you to another place and time? There are a lot more, but here’s what I remember without effort.
Out and about: Paul McCartney and Wings “Uncle Albert”: My dad and me waiting in the car in the parking lot outside the Sears store in the Lima (Ohio) Mall, waiting for my mom to pick up our catalog order. Commodores “I’m Easy”: My parents and I driving in Lima and I wouldn’t let them change the radio until that song was over. Almann Brothers “Ramblin’ Man”: My parents and I were out for pizza, again in Lima. We always just drank water because paying for soda pop was too extravagant, but on this one occasion they gave me the nickel or dime to play this song on the jukebox because it was my favorite at the time. Cher “Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves,” Carpenters “Top of the World”: The Ada (Ohio) swimming pool, where I spent most of every summer as a kid. In my dad’s den listening to the radio and poised at any moment to record my favorite songs from the external speaker of the radio to the portable cassette player. Usually, I was working on the pedigrees and crayon pictures of the horses in my imaginary stable: “Bennie and the Jets” and really, many of the Elton John songs of that time. I liked Elton John a lot. Ringo Starr “Photograph”: It was summer and the window was open. I was recording this song when my dad walked past with the lawn mower. If I put my hand flat on the top of the radio, the volume would amplify. This happened during the chime solo in the middle of the song. Segue on the cassette tape: Davie Bowie “Fame” into Bee Gees “Jive Talkin’” Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody”: I didn’t really pay attention to this song, but I began to notice that every time after it was on, there was a commercial for Galileo wine. To this day, I go back to the den during the opera section. High school: The Cars’ debut album: Having the epiphany while driving with Bob S that the vocal production reminded me very much of what Roy Thomas Baker was doing with Queen (who by then was my undisputed favorite). I was right. Journey “Daydream”: My high school had a little close-circuit in-house radio station that I worked at. Whenever I played this song, one of the other kids always gave me a hard time because the one riff made it sound like the turntable was going wonky. As a club-going young adult: Billy Squier “Everybody Wants You,” Romantics “What I Like about You”: Dancing in the Point Club (Stevens Point, Wisconsin) with Steve R who drove down from Wausau with his two friends to go out. We both loved jumping straight up at the appropriate moments in those songs. Phil Collins and Philip Bailey “Easy Lover”: Singing harmony with John M. Wham! “Careless Whisper”: Dancing with Paul G. Thomas Dolby “She Blinded Me (with Science)”: SCIENCE!-ing at the right times with John G the DJ. Really, very many early- to mid-80s hits take me right back to the Point Club. College: Def Leppard “Photograph”: In the dorm, the girl across the hall and I would open our doors and synchronize our turntables to the Pyromania album. INXS “The One Thing”: Same dorm without the synchronization. Faith No More “Epic”: The campus bowling alley at the University of Wisconsin and the crew I bowled with.
Kelly’s Unnecessary Blog 