Amy, you should ace this thing too. But I love quizzes so here it is!
Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know “no” from “know.” Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).
More lazy blogging. Credit to JonOz for enabling. Enjoy!
1.) Do you talk in your sleep?
Yes. It’s either mumbling as I go to sleep or the ever-amusing awakening me when I’m fast asleep. I have entire conversations I can’t recollect. My brother likes to use this for his amusement.
2.) Red Jello or Blue Jello?
Red Raspberry.
3.) Whats the song thats getting on your nerves right now?
Lips of an Angel. When he sings “lips,” it sounds like he’s spitting.
4.) Current Crush?
Other than my husband? The Gen Con guy.
5.) What’s your favorite color?
Yellow. My room was yellow as a child, so I’m sure there is some psychiatry behind that.
6.) Window seat or aisle seat?
window
7.) Ever met anyone famous?
The Backstreet Boys, back when they were really famous
8.) Do you feel that you’ve had a truly successful life so far?
No. I’m content and feel very lucky, but I have the same number of hours in a day as Michelangelo. Where’s my Pieta?
9.) Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it?
Twirl.
10.) Ricki Lake or Oprah Winfrey?
Oprah.
11) Basketball or Football?
Football. Pro.
12.) How long do your showers last?
Depends. Either 10 minutes or an hour, depending on the day/my mood/exfoliation.
13.) Do you know how to drive a stick?
Absolutely. I think it should be required.
15.) Are you self-conscious?
Often. But I find it motivating and I try to rise to the challenge.
16.) Have you ever given money to a bum?
No. But I give lots of money to charities that help people in dire need.
18). Where do you wish you were?
In Charleston with my husband and the rest of my family, sipping coffee in the salt air and planning a trip downtown.
19. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?
No.
20.) Can you tango?
Barely.
21). Last gift you received?
My car. Reason #4,782 that Carlton is amazing!
22.) Last sport you played?
Tennis.
23.) Things you spend a lot of money on?
Lately, furniture. I also sense a big home theatre purchase in the next few months.
26) Favorite FAST food restaurant?
Lately? None. every once in a while I have a serious Taco Bell craving.
27) Most hated food(s)?
Used to be cucumbers, but that’s waning. Zucchini is still awful.
28) Can you sing?
Not really, but that doesn’t stop me as much as it should!
29) Last person you called?
My sister (shocking, eh?).
30) What’s your least fav. chore?
Love them all. Too lazy to do them usually, but love chores.
31. Favorite Drink?
Red wine.
32) Are you a vegetarian?
Almost.
33) Do you believe in Heaven?
Absolutely. I believe more and more in God in the every day things in life, too.
34) Do you miss someone?
I miss lots of people.
35) Have you ever come close to dying?
How close? I’ll go with a “yes,” but I’ve never flatlined and seen the pretty pretty lights.
37)Are you eating?
No.
38) Do you eat the stems of broccoli?
Yes. Very delicious in stir fry.
39) Do you wear makeup?
Yes. I’m surprised by how little, though…used to never be in public without full makeup. Now it’s usually just mascara and lip gloss.
40) What’s your worst fear?
Losing my husband.
41) Would you ever have plastic surgery?
Not on my face. Doubtful anywhere else, either.
42) What do you wear to bed?
A t-shirt and pants. Very boring.
43) Have you ever done anything illegal?
Everyone with a car can say yes…the posted speed limit is often exceeded!
44) Are you a good kisser?
Yep.
45) What kind of sneakers do you wear usually?
Don’t wear them usually. That’s a reflection of my lack of gym activity these days.
47) Future child’s name?
Not my choice alone.
50) Do you snore?
Nope.
51) If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?
Southern France. Or Alsace. Or Belgium.
52) Do you sleep with stuffed animals?
No. But I sleep with two real ones.
53) If you won the lottery, what would you do first?
Call my dad to work out the best plan for taxes, investments, etc.
54) Gold or silver?
Gold usually, silver if I’m feeling adventurous.
55) Hamburger or hot dog?
Neither.
56) If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Is salad a food?
57) City, beach ,country?
City, with a beach attached. Hello, Charleston!
58) What was the last thing you touched?
Coffee mug.
59) Where did you last eat out?
Ice House.
60) When was the last time you cried?
The last time I had a bad migraine.
61) Do you read blogs?
All the time. I love to observe and understand people.
One can only type one word or short phrase. No explanations.
1. Yourself: unsatisfied
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend: wonderful
3. Your hair: needs a wash
4. Your mother: kind
5. Your father: nostalgic
6. Your favorite item: painting
7. Your dream last night: work-related
8. Your favorite drink: coffee
9. Your dream car: I own it
10. The room you are in: beautiful
11. Your ex: happier without me
12. Your fear: mediocrity
13. What you want to be in 10 years: satisfied
14. Who you hung out with last night: my whole family
15. What you’re not: mean
16. Muffins: waste of calories
17: One of your wish list items: wine refrigerator
18: Time: gone
19. The Last Thing You Did: watched TiVo
20. What You Are Wearing: workout clothes
21. Your Favorite Weather: crisp
22. Your Favorite Book: Cry, the Beloved Country
23. The Last Thing You Ate: olive cheese balls
24. Your Life: scattered
25. Your Mood: tepid
26. Your best friend(s): introvert
27. What are you thinking about right now: rated R
28. Your car: hybrid
29. What are you doing at the moment: surfing
30. Your summer: no different than my spring or fall
31. Your relationship status: very happy
32. What is on your tv: Diggnation
33. What is the weather like: sunny
34. When is the last time you laughed: 10 minutes ago
This is copied from Oz…
A good laugh on any rainy day.
I laughed out loud at many, but in honor of GenCon SoCal….
I’ve avoided politics, but this post is so good I have to mention it.
Like many webnerds, I realized that my poor little website was suffering from neglect. FrontPage served its purpose but it was a lot of work! So, as the blog I had not wanted grew by leaps and bounds, poor little Website was two years old with nary an update.
Enter Webmaster Carlton. Without my asking, he converted the whole site into my blog. If you look at the navigation bar to the right, the “Pages” section houses my old website, converted into a nice, easy (read:lazy) editing format. Maybe I’ll work on those pages now…maybe.
Next, you’ll note the “News Stories I Digg” section. That’s a listing of the last ten stories that I found compelling on Digg.com. It’s like a mini-blog, but lazier: here are the current events I follow, but I can’t be bothered with writing a blog entry. Aah, the joys of someone to program for me. Carlton basically reads my thoughts and implements them on my site without even asking.
Following that are my blog categories (unchanged) and my cool Netflix queue with cover art. I love that the art is displayed, not just titles. Webmaster Carlton is responsible for all of these cool changes, so if you want more information, here is how to contact him. That’s right, Carlton, I’m making you the IT Master for all my readers!
If you have any comments/suggestions on the format or content, please let me know and I (*cough*…Carlton) will implement them. Enjoy!
Note: all amounts on vegetables/herbs are approximate. Do not change the amount of cornstarch added.
To a large crockpot, add in this order:
1 bulb fennel, cut into chunks
4 ribs organic celery, cut into chunks (or the base of one bunch of celery stalks, degritted)
4 carrots, chunked
two large or three small onions, chunked
Mushroom stems from 8-16 ounces cremini or button mushrooms (optional)
2 t dried Mexican sweet oregano, uncrushed (optional)
10-20 black peppercorns
6-10 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
1/2 bunch fresh italian flat leaf parsley (about 1 cup)
Fill crock pot with water until barely covering ingredients. Simmer on low for 8 hours (or high for 4), uncovered for the last half hour. Remove from heat. Strain through a chinoise (then strain again through cheesecloth for really clear stock…but I’m too lazy for that step!). While stock is still hot, make a slurry of
1 T corn starch
2 T water
While stirring stock, add slurry until well mixed.
Organic celery is more flavorful; if not using organic, increase celery to 6 ribs or add 1/4 teaspoon celery seed. This stock can tend to have some residual bitterness; to combat this, replace one cup of the cooking water with one cup beer. I freeze this stock in 2-cup containers; 4 cups takes forever to thaw and is often too much for a non-soup recipe. To amp up the flavor, add fennel, celery, carrots, onions in the crock pot insert and roast in a 450F oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and roasty-smelling. Remove from oven; allow to cool, then proceed with recipe as written. If the container is not cooled before adding water, the cold water could crack your insert.
Prep time: 15-20 min
Cook time: 8 hours
Taste: [rate 4]
Ease: [rate 5]
How, oh how, can I beg for people to start making their own chicken stock?? Not only is it easy and cost effective, it is delicious!
Note: all amounts are approximate.
To a large crockpot, add in this order:
bones of two chickens
4 ribs organic celery, cut into chunks (or the base of one bunch of celery stalks)
4 carrots, cut into chunks
one large or two small onions, chunked
2 t dried Mexican sweet oregano, uncrushed (optional)
10-20 black peppercorns
6-10 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
1/2 bunch fresh italian flat leaf parsley (about 1 cup)
Fill crock pot with water until barely covering ingredients. Simmer on low for 8 hours (or high for 4), uncovered for the last half hour. Strain through a chinoise (then strain again through cheesecloth for really clear stock…but I’m too lazy for that step!).
Organic celery is much more flavorful, so if not using organic, increase celery to 6 ribs or add 1/4 teaspoon celery seed. I freeze this stock in 2-cup containers; 4 cups takes forever to thaw and is often too much for a non-soup recipe. To amp up the flavor, add chicken, celery, carrots, onions in the crock pot insert and roast in a 450F oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and roasty-smelling. Remove from oven; allow to cool, then proceed with recipe as written. If the container is not cooled before adding water, the cold water could crack your insert.
To keep this as cheap as possible, I have a big container in my freezer into which I throw chicken bones until full. I almost always buy whole chickens for economy (free-range organic is expensive!!), but if you’re using bones from thighs, wings, etc, it can take a while to have enough bones for a batch. If my carrots/celery are starting to look less than fresh, I’ll throw them in the freezer too. I make stock when I have enough rejects to fill the crockpot.
This stock is not only more flavorful than store-bought, it contains much more collagen- which makes the mouthfeel more velvety and recipes will require less fat as a result.
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 8 hours
Taste: [rate 5]
Ease: [rate 5]
I knew the movie was something special from the opening credits. It shows LA at night, glittery like any large city, with clogged arteries like only LA. I’ve never even been to LA and I recognized the freeways at once…even at night. The aerial photography is accompanied by a sweeping dramatic theme. Without change of meter or perspective, the “aerial” shot becomes neat rows of lipsticks, eyeshadows, and various other makeup. Beautiful photography, sweeping music, symbolism before a single word is uttered: I’m hooked. Finally, the scene settles on the Shopgirl.
I was quickly wrapped in a life I recognized as similar to my life ten years ago (see #100). Not completely devoid, but not great either: moving someplace new didn’t solve anything.
Jason Schwartzman (Jeremy) has grown up beautifully from the fantastic Rushmore. Every moment he is on screen is perfect. He is charmingly idiotic and makes me laugh, but not at him, even when he’s manically zipping and unzipping his sweatshirt like a 12-year-old.
Mirabelle (Claire Danes) feels rescued from Jeremy by the smooth, wealthy Ray Porter (Steve Martin). The most interesting moment is with Ray and Mirabelle after they’ve become intimately involved. They have a very brief conversation about the level of time and level of commitment they have. Well, really, it’s a soliloquy by Ray but it ends with Mirabelle vigorously agreeing. Then, she tells her friends and he tells his shrink what the content of the conversation was. It’s like watching the opening sequence in Grease, or Ross and Rachel describing their first date. How can two people have such opposing stories about the same event?? Most interesting about the Shopgirl point-counterpoint is how both parties started with a semblance of the truth, then convinced themselves of the lies they wanted to believe. Thus began their courtship with neither party willing to confront the truth.
The movie also contains some hilarious vignettes, sort of comic relief for a heavy piece. Only Jeremy could be so adorably go-with-the-flow (especially when he doesn’t understand what’s happening).
At one moment, and I’ll try not to give away the plot here, Ray is talking to Mirabelle outside the gallery and he tells her something. Her reaction is one I’ve actually felt: happiness and true pain at the same time.
Some may say the theme music and the timbre of the movie is too serious, but I disagree. Living those moments is the most serious thing a person does to grow. Lots of movies can make death and explosions dramatic; this one succeeds in making real life as imortant as it is.
[rate 4.5]
Had friends over, experimented with her favorite recipe to make it animal friendly. Here’s what we made. The tofu is delicious; like fried cheese but meatier. Serve with fried vegetable rice:
Using a clean tea towel, press
two 12.5 ounce blocks of extra firm tofu
under ~5 pounds of evenly distributed weight. Press for one hour, changing the towel once. Cut tofu into 1??? cubes.
Place a large wire cake rack over a jelly roll pan or yesterday’s newpaper. Place the tofu in a medium bowl. Add
2 T soy sauce
1 T sake
1 t toasted sesame oil
and mix well. Allow tofu to soak for 10 minutes. Drain any excess liquid and add
one egg, beaten lightly
and mix again until well coated. Put
2/3 cup cornstarch
in a covered container. Add the tofu and shake to coat. Add more cornstarch if needed; pieces should not stick together. Place tofu on the wire rack without the pieces touching each other. Set the bowl of cornstarch aside. Refrigerate to set the coating, at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours, the longer the better. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before deep-frying.
In a large saucepan of lightly salted boiling water, cook
3 cups broccoli florets
until bright green and crisp-tender, 1-2 minutes. Using a wire mesh skimmer, transfer the broccoli to a bowl of cold water and set aside.
Heat a large flat-bottomed wok or deep Dutch oven over high heat until very hot. Add enough
peanut oil (2-3 cups)
to come about one third of the way up the sides of the wok or to a depth of 2 to 3 inches in the Dutch oven. Over high heat, heat the oil until very hot, but not smoking (the surface of the oil will shimmer slightly), or to 400*F (200*C) on a deep frying thermometer.
In a small bowl, combine
1/4 cup strong ale (substitute vegetable broth if needed)
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 T sake
1 T sugar
1 1/2 T rice vinegar
stirring to dissolve the sugar as much as possible. In another small bowl, dissolve the remaining
1 T cornstarch in
2 T water.
Roll the tofu again in the bowl of cornstarch until white and powdery. Shake off excess. In batches without crowding, deep-fry the pieces until the coating sets, about 30 seconds. Using a wire-mesh skimmer, remove the tofu and count to 10. Return the chicken to the oil and cook until the coating is crisp and golden brown, about 1 minute. Transfer to the wire rack and set aside while deep-frying the remaining tofu.
Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the wok. Return to high heat and add
10 dried chillies.
Cook until the chilies are dark red. Stir in the soy sauce mixture; then stir in
2 T garlic.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30-45 seconds. Turn off heat. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened. Add the tofu pieces; drain and add broccoli; stir to coat. Serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings. If vegetable broth is used instead of beer, increase sugar to 2 tablespoons. This is not one of my easy recipes, but it is worth the effort.
Prep time: 45 minutes
Total time: 3-4 hours
Taste [rate 4]
Ease [rate 2]
