So I’m sitting here at my cube, eating a salad from Green, which up until recently has served some pretty tasty fresh-chopped salads. Unfortunately my Chef Jam salad is totally lackluster. What’s more - the chopped portabella mushrooms look like and have the texture of garden slugs. Fantastic! Why am I writing about this? Mainly because I have nothing else to write about at the present time. So Boo to you, Green!
In keeping with the theme, here are some unsavory salad toppings you may want to rethink before using:
- Pork Chops
- Refried Beans
- M&M’s
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
- Dandilions (trust me, they’re NOT edible)
- Pie
- Spaghetti
- Spaghetti Pie
- and of course, Ketchup
April 30th, 2008
* Blub blub * Resurfacing after weeks of non-stop hot co-ed graphic design action. Not really. Well, the design part is true. I can’t honestly back up the hot co-ed part.
During these past weeks, a lot has happened. For one, my good buddy Dave’s baby daughter Hadley contracted Infant Botulism, which can be life-threatening. Things were extremely scary for Dave and his wife Christy for a couple days as they and doctors were struggling to figure out what was wrong with Hadley. After several grueling tests (including a spinal tap), test revealed that Hadley, 4 months old, did in fact have Botulism, which is an incredibly rare disease that only 100 kids per year contract. Treatments immediately began, including an INSANELY expensive serum that most likely won’t be covered by Hadley’s insurance. Yet another shining example of our fantastic health care system. Thankfully, Hadley has recovered over the past week and is doing really well. So well, in fact, that Dave and Christy took her home from the hospital yesterday. Go Hadley!
On a lighter note, I’ve managed to catch some pretty fun shows in the Denver area over the past weeks. My hubby’s new band, Khale, had their first show at the Hi-Dive, followed by their second at the Meadowlark. Both were great, though I have to say their first show was better. Sidenote: they’re covering a Bjork song for their shows - “Hyper-ballad.” It sounds AWESOME.
Wed. night I joined fellow music lovers (my hubby, my boss, Darren, Steve, Matt B. and Nate) for a night of efficient German techno at the Kraftwerk show at the Fillmore. Fantastic! It was really, really fun. And you think it wouldn’t be, with four totally nerdy Germans dressed entirely in black standing completely still on stage for 3 hours. But the music was infectious. And holy God, was there a lot of pot there. I can still smell it.
Here’s to the weekend.
April 25th, 2008
Greetings blog readers -
As you can deduce from the lingering leprechaun-themed site banner, I’m totally in over my head with various other crapola. However I have been hoping to start posting again. Once this special section at work is put to bed and heavily sedated, I will be back at it.
For now, please to enjoy this:
April 9th, 2008
I know just how you feel. Here’s a virtual courtesy flush for you, sweetie.
March 13th, 2008
Yes, spring is definitely on its way. Shoots of kelly green are popping up everywhere in our front yard. The temperature’s on the rise. Flies are returning. And suddenly I’m noticing just exactly how much dog poop is in the backyard. Which probably explains the flies.
I love spring, for all of the expected reasons. Just like everyone else, the promise of sunlight and new flowers makes me giddy. The return of green grass and merrily chirping birds. However, there’s one thing I simply dread about spring - trying to figure out what to freaking wear.
I like to think of myself as somewhat of a mild fashionista. In the sense that I’m willing to take some risks with my wardrobe selections. But ever since I can remember, I just have this thing about trying to dress myself in the springtime. I just can’t figure it out. It’s too chilly for short sleeved tops & button ups, and too warm for the tried and true turtleneck (more suited for fall in my opinion). Long sleeved poplins? Probably, but then by noon I’m sweltering. Cardigans? Again, the same issue. What then? What??
The only thing I’m certain of in springtime, besides malted chocolate eggs, are skirts. I know that my legs have had enough of hibernating inside of pants (which I will of course continue to wear no matter the season because, as you know, I LOVE PANTS) and that if they don’t start getting color soon, I’ll be laughing stock of the Berkeley Park Community Center pool. And my neighbors, for that matter. No, there’s simply no questioning the importance of the skirt, preferably knee-length, at spring.
So, I look to the oncoming season with fear once again - not knowing if it will ever be safe to leave the house in my snap button cardigan, or pastel blue turtleneck. Maybe no one will notice me until summer. With my almost see-through pale white complexion, this is next to impossible.
Bring it on.
March 13th, 2008
Awesome.
March 8th, 2008
“Holding Out for a Hero,” by Bonnie Tyler.
(off the fantastical “Footloose” soundtrack)
God help me.
March 7th, 2008
Did I get your attention?
No, I’m currently not, and never have been, a stripper - but reading Diablo Cody’s autobiographical book Candy Girl is about as close to the real thing as I’m ever going to get. I just finished the book a couple nights ago. It’s a humorous “romp” (what ho, a pun?) with lots of juicy (literally) details about the secret life of stripping and working in the sex industry. And believe me, it’s not very glamorous, if you ever thought that rubbing yourself up and down a brass pole in front of a bunch of horny dudes was glamorous in the first place. Which it’s not.
However, the book has heart and finding out just what exactly goes in those sorts of places is pretty interesting. It’s a fast read - I recommend it. Plus, Diablo Cody is just super cool anyway, so how can you miss? Also, this book was written based on a blog she kept during her stripping career. You can read the blog HERE.
PS - if you’re the type that gets offended over the “p” word and other such colorful verbal embellishments, I highly recommend you neither visit Diablo’s blog NOR read her book. Both are chalk full.
March 5th, 2008
Happy Leap Year Day, everyone. I’m celebrating by…doing the exact same things I did yesterday. In other words, what’s the big deal, right? As pointless as Leap Year may seem, it’s actually keeping us in check, calendar-wise and season-wise. Here’s how it works:
Leap years are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the earth’s revolutions around the sun.
Details
I can see my house from here!
|
The vernal equinox is the time when the sun is directly above the Earth’s equator, moving from the southern to the northern hemisphere.
The mean time between two successive vernal equinoxes is called a tropical year–also known as a solar year–and is about 365.2422 days long.
Using a calendar with 365 days every year would result in a loss of 0.2422 days, or almost six hours per year. After 100 years, this calendar would be more than 24 days ahead of the season (tropical year), which is not desirable or accurate. It is desirable to align the calendar with the seasons and to make any difference as insignificant as possible.
By adding a leap year approximately every fourth year, the difference between the calendar and the seasons can be reduced significantly, and the calendar will align with the seasons much more accurately.
(The term “day” is used to mean “solar day”–which is the mean time between two transits of the sun across the meridian of the observer.)
Which years are leap years?
In the Gregorian calendar, the calendar used by most modern countries, the following three criteria determine which years will be leap years:
- Every year that is divisible by four is a leap year;
- of those years, if it can be divided by 100, it is NOT a leap year, unless
- the year is divisible by 400. Then it is a leap year.
According to the above criteria, that means that years 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300 and 2500 are NOT leap years, while year 2000 and 2400 are leap years.
It is interesting to note that 2000 was somewhat special as it was the first instance when the third criterion was used in most parts of the world.
In the Julian calendar–introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC and patterned after the Roman calendar–there was only one rule: any year divisible by four would be a leap year. This calendar was used before the Gregorian calendar was adopted.
— Got that? Good. Because now I’m even more confused.
This info courtesy of timeanddate.com
February 29th, 2008
You make soup, of course. Potato-leek soup. Easy to make, super tasty and good for you - well, if you made it without the butter and cream, that is. But why would you want to? This a conglomeration of a Martha Stewart recipe and an Emeril recipe:
Potato Leek Soup
- 1 small bay leaf
- 2 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 10 whole black peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup diced pancetta or proscuitto
- 3 leeks, white and light-green parts only, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 1 pound potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice (use New Potatoes for best texture)
- 1 quart homemade or low-sodium canned chicken stock
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- Coarse salt and freshly ground white pepper
- Boursin cheese (tbsp. dallop on each serving)
- Fresh chervil, for garnish
Directions
- Make bouquet garni: Wrap bay leaf, parsley, and peppercorns in cheesecloth. Tie with twine, and set aside. TIP: If you don’t have any cheesecloth lying around to make the garni, you can use a tea ball.
- Heat butter and oil in saucepan. Add pancetta, leeks and shallots; cook on medium-low heat until leeks & shallots are very soft, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not brown. Add potatoes, stock, and bouquet garni. Bring to a boil; reduce to gentle simmer. Cook until potatoes are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bouquet garni.
- Working in batches, pass soup through food mill with a medium disk into saucepan. Warm over medium-low heat. Slowly stir in milk and cream; season with salt and pepper. Once milk is added, do not boil. Spoon into bowls; serve hot, garnished with chervil leaves and tbsp. dallop of Boursin cheese.
February 21st, 2008
Previous Posts
