Deciduous Trees Restock

Also, this:

2011-06-29T18:23:00.001-04:00

Y'all need to check out this song right now. I am not even joking. Was introduced to Arthur Russell's music this weekend, and holy shit. That's all I can say.

Nonstop YouTube listening party.

Things I forgot I love:

2011-06-29T14:49:00.004-04:00

My gold signet ring. I've taken nearly a yearlong hiatus from wearing this guy, choosing instead to wear my stump ring (which, fear not, has not been stricken from the rotation). This weekend, I reincorporated him into my Accessories Schema, and I'm ever-so-glad that I did. Strikingly simple, daintily suited to my hand, the ring brings me back to late-spring of 2009, when I'd wrapped up my coursework and had put the finishing touches on my thesis and spent a few fraught weeks sweating out my demons in Northampton. The ring was a graduation gift from my mom; mom, who thought I should ask for something more practical (and less fragile?), purchased it at the behest of Ali, who understands my true, deep love for jewelry.

I remember walking through the Smith gardens with my dad and Donna. I wore straight-leg jeans, an open-backed, black, raglan-sleeve tee, and a black cardigan. The sun cast steep shadows onto the paths. We narrowly avoided collision with insects.

Post-graduation dinner: I forgot what I ordered. Steak, likely. Beer, certainly. My dad got lamb (rare) -- I remember being unnerved by the redness of the meat. Afterward, we trouped back to Ali's and my apartment, where we had chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, special-ordered from Henion. All of us in that sweltering kitchen, my elbows stuck to the vinyl tablecloth, cat hair clotting every corner and joint. Silence as we ate, and silence afterward.

To this day, I'm charmed by my decision to leave the ring unengraved. Blank, its face draws more attention than it would were it marked with a symbol. Blank, it could stand for anything. It holds a fingerprint for hours (sigh: why not longer?), only to be wiped clean: renewed.

DOOM IS NIGH, but my face is flawless.

2011-05-18T13:28:00.004-04:00

(source)

Hi, friends! It's been a while, hasn't it? I've been busy updating I Eat, learning the ropes of giving foodie tours, and running, so DTR hasn't gotten much love. If one were to create a visual representation of this blog and its response to the lack of attention it has received, that representation would be a picture of all the plants I've allowed to die during the last year. Or something.

But so anyways, LAZINESS ASIDE, guess what? Judgment day is nigh! That's right: for those of you who haven't been paying attention to bus shelter ads, The Rapture is slated for 5/21/2011 -- a mere three days away. Are you prepared? Have you planned your last meal? Have you shredded every last page of your junior high/high school diaries so that future iterations of humans will never find those diaries and make fun of your now-deceased self? Good.

I'm also fully prepared -- just yesterday, I bought new mascara (Clinique High Lengths in black, natch) and also some facial illuminator. I've been plotting for months to get my paws on some of that stuff, and yesterday I realized that the world is going to motherfucking END -- if not now, when will I ever increase the dewiness of my upper cheeks/outer eye sockets?

Shopping under pressure usually raises my anxiety like whoa*, but Leila** set my mind at ease when she suggested I try Mineralize Skinfinish. Applied just above the blushline (who knew?), Skinfinish adds a soft glow to the normally drab upper cheek region. My days of having boring cheeks are OVER -- no longer will I have to rely solely on blush and bronzer to enhance my facial shimmer! Thanks to this product, a whole new area of my face can be radiant.

Seriously, though: how did I live without this shit for so long? I don't think facial illuminator even existed when I was Coming of Age -- we had to make do with old-timey cosmetics like rosewater and talc. I've only had Skinfinish for 12 hours, and I'm already thanking my lucky stars that a cosmetic chemist somewhere had the flash of brilliance to create such a product. My only regret is that I didn't jump on the Illuminator Train sooner; as it stands, I have only three days to enjoy the hell out of this product. In which case, I better get illuminatin'.

***

*And what greater pressure exists than trying to look good on the End of Days?
**Not her real name, but one that seems fitting for a MAC counter associate.

Sad but True:

2011-04-01T17:11:00.004-04:00

DTR isn't getting the love it deserves. Poor middle child: I will make a good-faith effort to update you more frequently. No promises, though -- your siblings are more interesting and relevant than you. #burn.

Busy two weeks here -- no surprise there. Here is a recap (in brief):

1) My sewing machine arrived this week. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!x1000.) Last night, Hook and I hit up Fabric Outlet in the Mission to get supplies for our first projects. I snagged an apron pattern and some cowboy-themed cotton (holla!). Gentleman that he is, Hook purchased sundry necessary items -- pins, good scissors, a seam ripper, a measuring tape, etc. -- in addition to material. Last night, I taught Hook how to wind a bobbin and thread the machine, and we each did a few lines of practice stitchery. Now comes the trickiest part: getting myself to use the pattern I bought rather than just messin' around/yielding crappy results. The second trickiest part will be disallowing myself from getting ueberfrustrated and giving up on whatever project I've started.

2) I got an awesome belt. Mayhap this doesn't deserve its own bulletpoint, but whatevs. I've spent ages searching for the ideal wide, brown belt (to be worn over dresses & tunics), and finally I have found it! Finally, I can get rid of that vinyl monstrosity from Target, the one with no loop to secure the belt tail and with the crappy plasticmetal buckle. Hallelujah!

3) I've been running outside. A few weeks ago, I took a weeklong break from exercise. Not by choice -- a college pal was in town for a day, then my family arrived 1.5 days later (and stayed through the weekend). As much as that sedentary stretch sucked, it reminded me how great a role exercise plays in my overall mood scheme. I hopped back on the running bandwagon and haven't thought about deboarding.

Confession: I haven't been to the gym in like, two weeks. It's not that I don't like the gym, but I like running outside more. The outdoors has trees and scenery, and it smells all floral and stuff (at least in the wee hours of the morning). I like feeling the sun on my face; I like running on actual ground instead of a rubber belt. I've also been scared of treadmills since my Treadmill Incident, so there is that...

4) I've been updating my other blogz. With frequency. Pat on the back.

It's sunny and 75 here. All I can think about is picnicking in Dolores Park. If this weather carries through the weekend, I am organizing a picnic. You are all invited.

Nap Nostalgia

2011-03-15T14:22:00.002-04:00

Today's acute exhaustion got me thinking about naps: the best, the worst, the totally mediocre. Wait: does a mediocre nap exist? It seems to me that naps are either awesome, leaving the napper totally satisfied/refreshed/ready to face the world!, or that they're total shit. Some of you will disagree with me on this point, but late-afternoon-into-evening naps fall into the latter category. I hate falling asleep as the sun is fading and waking up in the dark: the disorientation I face totally outweighs any benefits of added sleep. I don't have quantitative data to back up this assertion, but late-afternoon-into-evening naps also cause me to become overheated*, a factor that further lessens the naps' appeal.

Some of my best naps took place in Seymour Library (pictured above). Senior year, thanks to my decision to complete an Honors Project, I had a private office on the library's top floor. Sparsely furnished though it was (the only pieces of furniture I had were a chair, a lamp, and a large table), the office was cozier than the sum of its parts. I found such joy in having a place that was completely my own -- a rare thing in college -- and I loved the security that came with a locking door. It's strange: Knox was a relatively safe place -- really safe, even -- so I'm not sure why I derived such pleasure from being able to lock my office door. I think perhaps I relished the fact that I could isolate myself: that no one could actually reach me, should I not want to be reached.

Annnnnnnyway: napping. I took some damn good naps in that office. Yes, I'll admit that, beyond the standard-issue furniture, the only other things I had in my office were mustard packets (for grab n' go subs), some pens, a fleece blanket, and a pillow. The fleece blanket wasn't even mine; indeed, I am to this day clueless re: its origins. But the blanket was thick and, when folded onto itself, made a decent mattress. After long stretches of writing or revising (or just staring at the blank wall, identifying micropatterns in the abraded paint), when my eyes would droop, I'd fold my blanket, spread it across the table, and "rest my eyes." I never napped for more than an hour, though I was once startled by a friend who roused me from slumber by knocking on my door. I'd meant to meet her for dinner but, lacking an alarm clock, slept through the date.

I miss that office. I miss the total seclusion the space offered, and I miss the absence of stuff. I'd like to have a table, three pens, and a few mustard packets.

Totally unrelated: I would cut off my arm for a hot ham and cheese sandwich. It's been years (YEARS) since I've had one. Whence came this craving? (Note: This is a true "cheese sandwich" post, LOLZ.)

***

*Which phenomenon may owe to the fact that I sometimes nap in my clothes.

SHOEZ.

2011-03-04T19:04:00.004-05:00

It's been a while, mostly because I've been hard at work updating my other blog (garkyeats.com) and, with Hook, starting another project: bobowoes.tumblr.com. Yes, that's right: Bobo Woes: the small gripes that plague the lives of bourgeois bohemians. Check it out. You'll like it. YOU WILL LIKE IT.

In sartorial news, I have a new shoe obsession: Swedish Hasbeens. I'm late to jump on this boat*, I realize. I never jump on a boat until it has reached its final resting place (i.e., port of destination) and been totally roped to the dock. Anyway, anyway, I need to convince myself not to buy these shoes! Here are the cons I've brainstormed so far:

1) I don't need any more shoes. Ever.
2) These puppies are kind of expensive (for clogs, anyway), and shouldn't I be saving for retirement?
3) If I order online (which I'll have to do, unless I want to journey to Saks), I won't be able to try before I buy; if the shoes don't fit, I 1) must acquit; and 2) will have to return them via USPS, which is always a pain in the arse.

On the other hand:

1) Ohmygodtheseshoesaresocute, and they come in such vibrant shades!
2) No one never really needs new clothes; if I stop buying, I'm just hindering the growth of our already draggy economy.
3) But these shoes come in such vibrant shades.

Verdict? I'll think about it. I could just buy the Hasbeens and "let god sort it out," god being my bank account. Ehhhhhhhhh.

***

*In case you were curious, "jump on the boat" is a portmanteau meaning to jump on a bandwagon after that bandwagon's ship has sailed.

Our mutual mural dislike

2011-02-09T19:12:00.010-05:00

Sunday was a momentous day, not only because Hook and I ran a 5K* but also because the weather was summery. Non-Californians, I'm sorry: I know you're up to your navels in snow. Minor wars are being waged over shoveled-out parking spots, and Seasonal Affective Disorder is striking down all but the most robust souls. On Sunday, it was 72 and sunny here. After we'd run and collected our swag and walked back through the park to get showered and dressed, Hook and I had lunch at Magnolia. Magnolia is, at best, average: their beers are solid, but their menu lacks and lacks and lacks! I'll explain it like this: most of the dishes on the menu seem alright, but for one (or two) ingredients that are totally offputting. Arugula, baby beets, goat cheese, candied pecans, and dressing? Sure! Oh, with a poached egg? NO! I cannot wait for the poached egg trend to fizzle, let me tell you. Scrambled, fried, even over-medium -- fine. Poached eggs have the texture of mucous.

Back to the story. H. and I sat outside to capitalize on the summery weather, and what did we see but a mural in the process of being painted. How interesting, is what I would have liked to think. Instead, I thought, How douchey.

"I hate murals," said Hook, verbalizing my judgmental inner monologue.

But wait! Before you pigeonhole us as a bunch of asshole haters of public art, hear me out! During the course of our brunch, Hook and I compiled our list of reasons why MURALS SUCK:

1) They incorporate lame themes. This qualm is a tricky one to articulate, so let me say this: I like diversity, friendship, togetherness, cooperation, compassion, empathy, etc. as much as the next lady, but I hate hackneyed representations of these here abstractions. It's not so much that I mind murals' tendency to depict Themes of Unity, but the means in which they do. Really, do you think it's clever to slap up a rainbow of kid-sized palmprints meant to signify the exuberance and joy of Kids Working Together? How many of you really feel that compassion is personified by a lopsided caretaker reaching out to a grandmother whose face sags under waves of bloodhoundlike wrinkles? If you're going to create a piece around a Big Theme, move away from well-established symbolism and make your own meaning. This leads into justification two, which is...

2) The quality of the "art" is middling to poor. When was the last time you saw a mural that made you think, "Whoa! That's awesome -- I'd like to have a print of that!" Or even, "Hey, that's pretty good -- props to the dude [or lady] who painted that." What's that? Never? In my 1.5 years here, I've seen exactly two murals that I've liked enough to considering hanging reproductions thereof in my own home. TWO. It seems to me that many mural artists, carried away by the grandiosity of theme they're stretching to depict, lose focus and let slide their artistic skillz. Or maybe the skillz weren't there in the first place.

3) Mural artists can be self-satisfied. This really only applies to the Mural Artiste we saw on Sunday, who was swigging from a can of PBR and fist-bumping passersby, even though the "face" he'd outlined looked like it had been drawn by a child. A PBR-swilling child.

I wrote this post at the risk of sounding like a massive asshole: I'm aware of this. And as I said, it's not that I don't like what murals (in many ways) represent -- community unification, kids working on projects, togetherness, what have you. I just wish that, in their quest to promote Positive Values, murals could look nicer. Pretty things are what we respond to best, and the only two murals I've seen here and loved are not at all related to unity. One depicts a series of woodland creatures, and the other features a robot. I'm pretty sure that "Unity" > robots, but I want public art to confirm this suspicion. Step it up, mural artists.

***

*And I'd be lying if I told anyone my performance was momentous, unless "momentous" euphemizes "pretty fucking bad."

Tiny tiny

2011-01-26T16:05:00.006-05:00

Last night, Hook took me on an impromptu date to see "Tiny Furniture." OK: I knew [almost] nothing about the movie before I got to the theater, but am I glad I went? So very glad. Lena Dunham's conceptualization of post-graduate life is schlumpy, monochromatic, and startlingly accurate. Her dialogue is sharp without seeming like a total artifice; her hair is pleasantly unruly. I was impressed by the casting decisions made here and even more impressed by the characters' shoes. Related to shoes (and mostly unrelated to other aspects of the movie), I loved Aura's wardrobe and wanted to reappropriate it all for myself. That blue v-neck dress with the white rick-rack along the hems? Mine. Those oversized, hammered-silver hoops? Mine. And that white blouse with the multicolored trimmings along the edge of the collar -- oh, yes! "Tiny Furniture" made me want to be a better man. Scratch that: it made me want to wear nothing but 3.1 Phillip Lim.

I'm pretty sure it's a "girl thing," but sometimes, I have the feeling that I want to jettison my entire wardrobe and start fresh. Hook doesn't know what I'm talking about. "But I like your wardrobe," he says. "You always dress well." Hook is a good boyfriend, and I am glad he feels this way about my sartorial choices, even when I do not! Lately, though, the urge to discard and reamass has been strong. Like, planetary gravitational pull strong. I don't even know what that means, but it sounds about right.

Late-week good news: I got a promotion! I'm starting in my new position on Tuesday and am the most excited! I just hope my new desk has an accessible outlet and room for my coffeemaker.

Buttons and bows

2011-01-23T00:10:00.002-05:00

I went for a haircut today, considering drastic change -- think bangs, heavy and angled. I envisioned myself with spidery lashes, dramatic blush, aglow in the awesomeness of My New Haircut. Much to my disappointment (though not to my surprise), my stylist told me that dramatic change is hard to achieve when one is growing one's hair to Maximum Length.

"Wear braids," she suggested, "or get a new headband."

By means of compromise, Betsy cut my bangs so that they fall straighter and heavier. Eager to uphold my end of the bargain, I got two headbands: one leopard, and one black with an oblong plume of iridescent feathers. Oh, how I wish I could be one of those girls who look [somehow] normal while donning the most outlandish crepe flowers and bejeweled bobby pins! Alas. I'll start small and work my way up. I've got my eye on a golden headband with a trio of enameled blossoms, each with a rhinestone in place of the pollen, but that would be too much too soon.

The importance of REM sleep.

2011-01-19T01:27:00.005-05:00

When my alarm went off at five, I was deep in the middle of prime REM sleep. How do I know? Because I was also deep in a dream. I dreamed that I was commissioned to write a review of the latest Lorrie Moore novel. I'd just begun reading the novel, the female protagonist of which was complaining about her clumsy but well-meaning boyfriend (a cement mixer -- that's what I dreamed: that this man was a "cement mixer."). The boyfriend, aiming for creativity, embroidered on the ass of a pair of sweatpants the phrase "Annie's Mannies." Annie was the novel's female protagonist, and "mannies," in my dream world, was British slang for ladyparts. "Annie's Mannies" amused me ALL DAY LONG.

Can we please start referring to ladyparts as "Mannies?"

I am glad that I got my ass out of bed in time to hit the gym, but I am bummed that 1) I could not continue the above-described dream; and 2) I was so fucking tired all day long due to my truncated REM sleep. Ah, well. It's nearly bedtime. Hook brought me some flourless mocha chocolate cake (eff yeah!), I volunteered at the Bike Coalition, and I've got half a gallon of OJ in the fridge. Life is good.

Striking vs. Standard: Continued Examination of Why Striking-Looking Women are More Attractive Than Their Standardly-Beautiful Counterparts

2011-01-11T12:06:00.004-05:00

This article (er, blog post from OKCupid, via The Hairpin) corroborates what I've maintained for a long time: that striking-looking people are perceived as more attractive than their still-attractive-but-more-conventionally-so peers. Funny that I encountered the post this morning, just hours after Hook and I had a conversation about practically the same thing.

The scenario was this: it was post-Jeopardy time and Hook and I failed to turn off the TV. "The Bachelor" came on, at which point H. and I started speculating about the female contestants' motives and looks.

"How weird," I said, "that some of these people QUIT THEIR JOBS for a shot at a dude they have not met IRL."

"No shit," said Hook. "Also, most of them are not that attractive."

In keeping with my NY's resolution to be more positive, I played the role of Devil's Advocate and tried to defend the looks of some of the ladies. "They're not terrible," I said. "They're conventionally-good looking." That is, they all have long hair and symmetrical features. They're universally thin, and they seem to shop at the exact same mall. Who knew that attractiveness so relied on the ability to snag a bunch of shit from BCBG? Moreover, who knew that actually bucking the attractiveness norm set for us by shows like "The Bachelor" may actually have a more positive impact than adhering rigidly to it?

Anyway, my coffee break is almost over, and I digress. Know this, ladies: not all dudes are into flat-ironed hair and spray tans and knockoff Tiffany jewelry! At least my dude isn't, and this is just one reason I love him.

MINITRIP!

2011-01-07T17:57:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's that time again: minitrip time. Hook and I are heading to LA tonight for a weekend of Jandek, Pinkberry, and [not too much] general debauchery. True fact: I have lived in California for one year, five months and I have never been to LA. How is possible? Eh, I don't like to leave the city like, ever. That is a lie. I actually don't know how I've never been to LA, but this situation will be rectified in mere hours!

Project ROC is going well in the sense that I 1) bought the product; and 2) have used it consistently since purchasing it. The package claimed that positive results will be seen (in most users) in four weeks. FOUR WEEKS? Do I look like I'm made of time, or something? In four weeks, I'll likely have forgotten all about this Very Important Self-Beautification Initiative (VISBI).

Until I start seeing miraclework on ma face, I can distract myself with this, which will make my face shiny in all the right places (and in a non-sweaty, ungross way).

For real, though, you guys.

2011-01-05T11:47:00.005-05:00

Heh @ my inability to start Roc Plan ("RP") yesterday -- instead of hitting the drugstore on my afternoon break, AS and I went to Safeway so I could get an apple, she an Odwalla bar. (Note: I realize that these details aren't critical to your understanding that I failed to buy Roc cream, but a concrete excuse makes me feel better about failing to fulfill my own expectations.) Am I perhaps dragging my heels because I do not want to acknowledge the possibility of crows' feet on my gd face? Might this be the vainest blog on the In-ter-netz?

I've decided that any skirts I buy henceforth must be biking compatible. What makes a skirt biking compatible, you ask? It must be machine washable, cut wide enough to allow for leg motion, and preferably not too short. It must not be made of a fabric easily torn, snagged, or marked with indentations. I realize that this buying strategy markedly limits my potential wardrobe, but it's cool. Biking > pencil skirts, for real. Pencil skirts are the enemy.

This blog is fast becoming a true Chronicle of Consumerism.

Starlet preferences

2011-01-04T13:29:00.005-05:00

Hook and I had a random little conversation last night -- a chat spurred by Hook's sighting of my copy of "The English Patient." (Note: Yep, that sentence is circuitous, but I'm only just now making coffee & my brain no is work good.) Hook was like, "Oh, The English Patient, eh?" To which I responded, "Yes -- it was one of my favorite movies in high school." I mentioned too that I always thought Kristin Scott Thomas was really pretty. To which Hook responded, "Her? I always thought she was kind of plain." ICE BURN! Noting my crumpled look, H. amended, "I mean, plain-pretty. I mean, not hot-hot, but hot."

Now, I didn't say KST was hot, but I do think she's a lot better looking than many female celebs out there (Kardashian clan, I'm looking at you). Hook's assessment started a longer assessment of which female celebs are the most attractive. My picks were SJ, Uma Thurman, Chloe Sevigny, Kate Moss, and Zooey Deschanel. Hook's picks were SJ, AMY ADAMS*, Natalie Portman...and I think that's it -- he may have listed more if I hadn't been talking so much.

Where am I going with this? Oh, yes: Hook noted that all of the celebs I found most attractive have "extremely thin faces" (his words). (Note: I would argue that SJ has a normal-width face, but that's one woman's opinion.) "I mean, their faces all look gaunt," he claimed, bringing up a pic of Uma Thurman. "I don't like seeing people's bones." This sentiment interested me -- that some of the [arguably] most attractive female celebrities are judged (by one male, at least) as having faces that are too narrow. What other celebrities might be judged as less attractive than People purports them to be? I'm curious. Also, I still don't understand the fuss about Natalie Portman and I probably never will. Being a brunette myself, this quandary is doubly disappointing.

***

In related news (or semi-related: take your pick), today is the day that I'm going to start using Roc under eye cream. There: I've said it. For most of my early twenties, I fretted not about crows' feet but about the possibility thereof. Examining my face this weekend, though, I think I've found crows' feet for real. Faint though they are, they're there, and I'm going to lotion the hell out of them until they reabsorb into my skin. Heh.

*Y'all, Amy Adams looks like a grown-up marching band girl. Enuff said.

New year, new projects.

2011-01-02T18:24:00.003-05:00

Hell yeah, 2o11: you're off on the right foot! I say this despite my inability to get up before 2pm yesterday, thanks in toto to our celebration of the new year/A-ron's 30th birthday. Gotta love Latin American Club and their generous Manhattans, but you know it's going to be a rough morning when you walk -- in stocking feet, no less! -- from the bar to 16th and Valencia for a bacon dog. Bacon dogs have become shorthand for the best [worst?] nights.

I set only one formal resolution this year -- to work out four times/week. No reading goal for 2011. I was 1.5 books short of my goal for this year (and one book short of reaching the selfsame goal in 2009). It's not as though the absence of a reading outline will discourage me from reading. On the contrary! I think that not having pressure re: how much reading I must accomplish might actually spur me to exceed my own unspoken expectations. We'll see.

But back to the exercise goal. I've devised a plan for myself, my mom, and my sister: we're each going to set a goal (any goal) and keep each other posted on our progress via weekly emails. If we achieve our goal 80% of the time, then we'll take a trip at year's end. Our destination of choice will either be Hawaii or Alaska. Ali's pulling for the latter, but I think Mai Tais on the beach might be a nice way to cap off a year of fitness.

We're listening to a Kamikaze Hearts album, blogging (me) and browsing for guitar accessories (Hook). The heat is on; I could go for a nap. Still, the year is young enough that the desire for sleep is outweighed by the desire to be ultimately productive! And so I will.

Dueling Bus Rides

2010-12-08T11:59:00.002-05:00

On the sad days that I don't bike to work, I take the bus -- two of them, actually. Most often I'll take the 21 and the 8BX, though sometimes I'll catch the 30 (or the F, if I'm feeling masochistic). Today's two bus rides were vastly different in quality and tone. Examples:

On the 21, the sassy lady driver remarked, "Oh, you look so cute!" as I swiped my Clipper card. (Nothing to start the day like a random compliment, eh? Note: I feel as though I should now spend more time planning my outfits to garner more compliments from city employees. Maybe. 2011 project idea?) Though the bus was crowded, each patron remained in his/her personal space. Bus was quiet, but for the sound of the wheels on the wet street and the occasional sniffle.

On the 8, I was pushed/jarred by a minimob of old, fish-smelling ladies. In fact, one of them [accidentally?] whacked me with her umbrella, which action caused me to glare meaningfully in said old biddy's direction. When I was finally able to snag a seat, I was promptly surrounded by a cluster of middle school boys who smelled like The Devil Himself. Don't kids these days know anything about hygiene? Has brushing one's teeth fallen out of favor among the under-15 crowd? Who knows. One thing is for certain: KIDS SMELL BAD.

I'm hoping for sunny weather tomorrow. Muni avoidance is my overall MO.

I'm BA-ACK!

2010-12-06T22:32:00.004-05:00

If only to kvetch about a few things(!)

In all seriousness, I've lately been wanting to post about things unrelated to gastronomic happenings -- my recent move, what I'm reading, and Things I Find Annoying. (Note: My plan is to relay the Annoying Things in a manner both comical and straightforward. That's the plan, anyhow. Advance apologies if my kvetching gets way out of hand, but what are blogs for if not to vent one's frustrations to the world, right?)

So like, this afternoon, en route to Borders to pick up my holiday cards (watch yer mailboxes!), I decided to get my eyebrows done. It has been weeks since I've had my brows groomed -- eeeeek! -- and they were starting to look as they did when I was in grade school (i.e., before I was allowed to partake of any cosmetic rituals). No problem, right? WRONG! Not only did my brow lady bruise the hell out of my right browbone -- how? God only knows -- but she managed too to drip wax in my hair. How is possible? This lady grooms brows for a living! I'd assume that her fine motor skillz, after years of waxing brows (and other things), would be more honed, but no. Nope! To remove the wax from my bangs, the Brow Lady used oil -- a ton of it. Which was great, given that I was to leave directly for the mall. There are far worse things than going shopping with grease-slicked bangs, but let me assure you that the grease-haired shopping experience is not a pleasant one. I mean, in case you had any doubts.

Adding to my general bitchiness was the group of guys smoking a blunt at the back of the bus. (Note: I was sitting in the last row of seats; these duders were a seat ahead of me.) Don't get me wrong: hypothetically, I have nothing against blunts. Do what you feel, right? Just don't do it on the damn bus, especially if the weed you're smoking is skunky and terrible and clouding the rear section of the vehicle. ACK.

OK, I'm better now. Those were my two main gripes. They're over now. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far. (Note: If you made it this far, mad props. I almost didn't make it through that bitch session, and I'm the aggrieved!)

Here's some good news: I registered for the Kaiser Permanente 5K, to be held Sunday, February 6th at Golden Gate Park. I've only run one 5K so far (the one associated with the SF Marathon), and while I achieved my goal of completing the race without stopping to walk (DER), my time wasn't what I'd have liked. My goal for this race is to shave 2:30 off of my previous time (which shall go unnoted). Lofty? Yes. Achievable? I think so, especially considering the amount of time I spend biking (cross training is good, right?), my renewed enthusiasm for strength training, and Hook's and my New Year's resolution to actually start the Insanity program. (Note: Since receiving my Insanity DVD set in the mail, I've done two workouts. OK, one. The other "workout" was the fit test, which I pretty much bombed.)

That's the scoop here. My plan is to reinvigorate this blog while continuing to update Garky Eats. Lofty? Yes. But lately, lofty is my MO.

New Project Underway!

2010-08-29T12:16:00.002-04:00

Hey, y'all! It has been a while since the last update here on Deciduous Trees Restock, but for good reason -- I've started a new food blog here, and I have actually been updating it. Food blogging is something I've wanted to do for quite some time (and I've made some half-hearted attempts on this ole' blog), but I've started in earnest. So check out the latest addition to the Garky blogosphere and let me know what you think(!)

Restaurant Review: Roam

2010-08-16T00:28:00.007-04:00

Having read the Chronicle's review of Roam, a new "artisan" burger joint in Cow Hollow, I cajoled Hook to take me on a date there! (Aside: not much cajoling was needed: Hook likes me almost as much as he likes burgers.) I was pretty pumped for my meal; Britt Billmaier touted the place as being both eco-conscious and offering healthy options*, and any place that makes their pickles on-site ranks pretty high in my book.

H & I arrived shortly after five; the dining room was about half full. We both ordered buffalo burgers: his came with just cheddar and mine was a "Pacific Blue," which came with blue cheese, watercress, tomato, caramelized onions, and steak sauce. We also shared an order of plain old fries. I seriously considered getting a milkshake with a bruleed marshmallow(!), but opted not to. Our food came quickly, the burgers nested in brown paper envelopes, 1950s-style, the fries garnished with parsley.

On the whole, I was pleased with our meal. My burger, which I'd ordered medium, had no pink in it, but oh, well. The bun, a chewy, pillowy, sesame-seed-encrusted delight, was quite evidently baked that day. The sweetness of the onions balanced nicely with the tang of the steak sauce, the peppery bite of the cress. I wish the burger had been served with more steak sauce; I am a steak sauce fiend, and this sandwich had just a dab poured onto the top of the bun. The tomato, too, was pale and toeing the line of mealiness -- not what I'd expect at this point in the growing season. Our fries were solid: crisp, uniform in size, and on the salty side. OH! I almost forgot this detail but I'm very glad I didn't! When ordering, I requested a pickle (wanting to see how these pickles measured up to Hook's and mine) and I didn't get it. Major burn.

Roam's atmosphere left me feeling ambivalent. The furnishings and decor were spot-on: very minimal with natural wood and light fixtures crafted from repurposed Mason jars. The music, however, was not. I don't know who thought reggae would be an appropriate choice, but it seemed really out of place, given Roam's focus. (After further considering the restaurant's location and the demographic of that area, I can see why reggae might be chosen. But really? Surely, there must be a musical middle ground that appeals to both aging frat dudes and also to everyone else.) I suggested that Iron and Wine or Bonnie "Prince" Billy or Bon Iver would have been a better choice. Hook agreed that the choice of music was odd, but I don't think it vexed him to the extent that it did me.

My overall rating of Roam is three and a half out of five. The burgers were solid but certainly not enough to warrant another special trip to Cow Hollow; quoting my dining companion, Roam is "like a more upscale Burgermeister." At the end of the day, I agreed with Hook when he posed the quasi-rhetorical question, "What makes these burgers artisinal?"

What, indeed.

*Looking back, I'm not sure what Billmaier was referring to as "healthy menu options." The Farmers Market salad, perhaps (sans sliders)? Or the seasonal veggies? Because everything else was pretty damn heavy. This isn't bad -- far from it! I like my burgers thick & juicy! -- but I find it strange that this restaurant was promoted, in the first paragraph of the review, as having healthy choices when the bulk of the menu items are fried, fried, fried.

Yogurt Roundup

2010-08-15T17:55:00.008-04:00

Like most people, I'm very fond of my routines. I look forward to my early morning bike ride, my post-workout tea and oatmeal, weekend walks downtown and evening "Forensic Files" marathons. (Aside: I realize that the elements of my routine listed here make me seem like a 38-year-old, but it's cool. I'm practically 38.) One major component of my routine -- weekday, at least -- is Greek yogurt. At some point, perhaps a year after trying and becoming obsessed with Greek yogurt, I became that Person Who Eats Yogurt Every Day. Prior to the transition, the exact time of which is unknown to me, I wondered about these yogurt-eating people always mentioned in women's magazines. Who the hell eats the same snack every day? I wanted to know. Well, I do.

Last week, Lucky (the [big] grocery store nearest my house) was sold out of Dannon plain Greek yogurt. This had never happened before, so I picked up a few Chobanis and decided to return a few days later, assuming the stock would be replenished. Yesterday morning, making a 7:30 run for coffee, milk, and Aquaphor, I checked the yogurt case. Still empty of Dannon! This led me to kvetch to Hook about how Dannon has the best product for the price point and shame on Lucky for not restocking like a normal store. My kvetchings, in turn, led Hook to prompt me to write about my system of evaluating Greek yogurt, whose intricacies I will share with you now.

Yogurt Roundup: The Best Greek Yogurt for Your Money

1) Dannon 0% Plain Yogurt. In the early days of my Greek yogurt consumption, I would never have guessed that Dannon -- plain old Dannon -- would reign supreme in my self-determined yogurt hierarchy. While it's true that Dannon is the best-selling brand of yogurt worldwide (who knew?), it seems, in some ways, mundane. I grew up eating Fruit on the Bottom, you know? I didn't initially trust Dannon's ability to produce an authentic-tasting Greek yogurt because I'd come to associate the brand with the marginal yogurts of my youth.

But the product speaks for itself: Dannon's Greek yogurt is thick and creamy, possessing an almost custardlike consistency. There's very little excess liquid, and the yogurt is tart but never sour. Additionally, one six-ounce carton costs a mere $.99 at Lucky -- about half the price of other, arguably-more-desirable brands (which I'll get to in a moment).

2) Fage 0%. I love Fage: the texture is incredible, the taste is spot-on, and the packaging design is lovely to behold. I don't love that a 5.3-ounce carton of Fage costs $1.79. I'd have ranked Fage as my top yogurt were the price-per-package a bit lower, but sadly, Dannon dominates in the cost category.

3) Chobani 0%. Texturally, Chobani is very similar to Dannon and Fage; tastewise, it's a bit tarter. I've found that Chobani has more liquid than either of the two brands previously listed, and I'm not a huge fan of this runoff (which I either drain off or hastily mix in to the yogurt, though I've been told that one should never stir Greek yogurt prior to consumption! I do not remember who told me this.). In my neck of the woods, a six-ounce carton of Chobani costs, on average, $1.69 -- which means that, in a battle with Fage, Fage will win any day. (Aside: Chobani does have a Pineapple yogurt that is tasty as a dessert, but is a little too sweet for a coffee break snack.)

4) Trader Joe's Fat Free Greek Yogurt. At $.89 per serving, Trader Joe's Nonfat Greek Yogurt (Plain variety) leads the pack in terms of price. In other areas, though, the yogurt falls flat. I've found TJ's Greek Yogurt to be runnier than the others listed, and the flavored varieties (Pomegranate, notably) miss the mark, both in terms of tangyness and in mimicking the flavor they're meant to mimic. Not wanting to be wasteful but also not really digging the Pomegranate yogurt, I actually left a carton of this in my office fridge last week, hoping someone would sneak off with it. As of Friday afternoon, it was still there.

5) Greek Gods Nonfat Plain Yogurt. I'd like to rank Greek Gods yogurt higher -- really, I would -- not least of all because their packaging is eye-catching (who doesn't love the bright colors combined with drawings of the gods?). My biggest qualm with this yogurt is its relative dearth of protein; yes, a six-ounce serving of the nonfat, plain yogurt is a scant 60 calories, but it also only has six grams of protein -- hardly more than a regular yogurt. Moreover, the flavored varieties (Fig, Vanilla, Honey Strawberry) are pretty damn caloric: one cup of the Honey Strawberry has 310 calories and 15 grams of fat (basically equivalent to a half-cup serving of premium ice cream, which at least seems properly indulgent, unlike this yogurt, which masquerades as a health food). At $1.49 for a six-ounce cup, Greek Gods is not the priciest of the competitors, but the quality of the product doesn't justify the cost.

***

So there you have it -- more than you ever wanted to/needed to/thought you'd know about my Greek yogurt preferences. I'm always on the lookout for new products and I'm planning to try two brands (Brown Cow and Oikos) that I haven't tried yet. For the time being, I'll stick with Dannon.

2010-08-09T10:52:00.002-04:00

I could use about two more cups of coffee right now: yes, please.

Haircut weekend was a success! The story is this: the story is that the salon I'd gone to for corrective color (and which I like quite a lot, actually - in theory, at least) canceled the cut/color appt. I'd made eight weeks prior. Their reason? "Oh, your stylist is going to be out of town." Really? I thought. Do stylists not have to put in for vacation time a few weeks in advance as do people in other trades? On account of this snafu/the fact that my bangs were getting out-of-control-long, I booked an appointment at the Chop Shop and I am so glad that I did. Betsy is not only a good conversationalist but an excellent stylist; indeed, she gave me angled, wispy bangs that I wouldn't necessarily have requested but that I love so much. So, yes: I guess it was fortuitous that the other salon bailed because otherwise, I might never have found this gem.

It was otherwise a pretty low-key weekend: Hook and I went to the Civic Center farmers' market yesterday and got about ten pounds of produce for ten dollars (I am dead serious). I love the Ferry Building's market, but it's more of an event than a practical means of produce acquisition. Every few weeks, I love to go and get baby white turnips and local, organic lavender and heirloom beans*, but the Ferry Building's prices prohibit buying in the quantities that I favor. While Civic Center doesn't quite have quite the variety and covetability of the Ferry Building's market, their vendors are no slouches: they have one local honey booth, a mushroom vendor, a baker, and several all-organic booths, one of which was selling baby greens with nasturtium blossoms(!) (Note: I totally tooted my own for correctly identifying the blossoms.) I still haven't been to the Upper Haight farmers' market -- travesty! -- but I'm hoping to make it there this Wednesday. I say that every Wednesday, but this time, I mean business.

*OK, I only bought those once, eight months ago, and they're still sitting in the cabinet under a partially-used bag of bulk quinoa. This is why I don't buy dried beans, people.

The best blueberry muffins ever.

2010-08-07T11:27:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, I bought a 2.5-pound clamshell of blueberries at Safeway. They were $5! That's a hell of a lot of berries for $5, and I couldn't resist! After a longish bus ride home (any bus ride is longish when one is schlepping 15 pounds of groceries in a flimsy paper sack), I was like, "Man, what am I going to do with all these berries?" So I ate some and froze the bulk of them. Since then, I've been making delicious, delicious blueberry muffins. In addition to being lip-smackingly good, these muffins are also low-sugar and low-cal. Also, they're hella easy to prepare. Here, then, is Simple Daily Recipes' take on the traditional recipe:

Ingredients:

3/4 cups low fat milk
1/2 cup natural applesauce
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh blueberries

Method:

Preheat oven to 400ºF degrees. Spray muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Blend milk, applesauce, egg in a small bowl and set aside.
Stir flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center and pour wet ingredients into the well. Stir with a spoon just until the flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fold in blueberries. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until golden brown; regular size muffins bake in 18 to 20 minutes, mini-muffins bake in 10 minutes. Immediately remove from pan.

***

Note: the muffins are really good when prepared according to the recipe listed above. My second time making them, I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a generous teaspoon of cinnamon, and they were even better. You could probably add a quarter to a half cup more berries, too -- I haven't tried this yet, but I probably will, for batch #3.

Happy weekend!

2010-08-07T11:10:00.002-04:00

And what a weekend it shall be! I'm predicting a three-day stretch conspicuously bereft of Fernet, Jaeger, and tortilla chips ground into Hook's area rug. (Wait, that sentence didn't make as much sense in person as it did in my brain, but I think you get the drift: there will be no powdered corn products dusting Hook's living room floor.) Yessiree: I have no plans for this weekend, other than a haircut at noon today (yea!) and a possible viewing of "I Am Love." Also, going to Nordstrom to return this North Face fleece I got online (during the Anniversary Sale, people! It doesn't count as shopping if it's on sale.), and by "return" I mean "exchange for the correct size." Also, cleaning the hell out of my room, poss. involving the use of Lysol and a power washer. (Note: my room is really not dirty -- certainly not dirty enough to warrant the use of harsh chemicals and heavy machinery, but I'm feeling dramatic this morning. There are a lot of errant issues of Runner's World that need to be re-stacked, however.) Also, I want to get a donut. I've been hankering for a donut so badly for the last week.

Plans seem to be forming themselves as we speak.

***

Sad news: Circus Bear has passed on. For those of you who are unfamiliar with my plants, Circus Bear is the Croton Banana plant I bought at the Galesburg Target during the spring of my sophomore year at Knox. He grew from a tiny (4") sproutling into a majestic mini-bush, and he survived several cross-country trips. At the agricultural checkpoint at the California border, the DNR worker commented on CB's impressive spread, noting too a bit of sun damage on CB's outer leaves (a prediction of the doom to come, perhaps?). I'm not sure what ultimately felled my plant; Hook suspects poor soil quality and possibly too much light, though I think Croton Bananas prefer high light conditions. I have suspicions that the clover that set up shop in CB's pot is some sort of parasitic species that diverted nutrients from my plant, suffocating it. I'll never know for sure. Now, I'm left with the sad task of depositing Circus Bear's corpse in the compost bin and cleaning the pollen leftover from the hell-clover. Sigh.

***

In other news, I want to go here.

Ooof.

2010-08-01T22:36:00.002-04:00

Kind of a slow day. Hook and I hosted a party last night and it was a total success(!), but one that left me unable to do anything today besides reading and watching "Steak Paradise" on the Travel Channel. (Aside: I am totally, totally disgusted by the 72-ounce steak challenge at the Big Texan.) Back to the party, though: Friday, my food processor arrived in the mail, and Hook and I made good use of this new toy in prepping party foods. Hook made Lemonhead- and Red Hot-infused cream cheese frosting for the green velvet cupcakes; I made hummus. Both were delicious. I also made mascarpone-stuffed dried apricots, some of which were topped with chopped cashews and some of which contained a chocolate chip. I never otherwise have the chance to make the apricots -- what would I do with all that leftover mascarpone, you know? -- which is one reason why parties rock: I have the chance to make big batches of food that I'd never make for myself.

***

Right now, I am craving Twizzlers. I blame Lindsay Lohan*.

***

Last week, I read a NY Times story about the increasingly popular concept of the clothing diet, individuals following which devote themselves either to buying no new clothing for a specified amount of time (i.e., a year), or who wear only a certain number of clothing articles for a given amount of time (i.e., six articles over the course of a month). I'm fascinated by this concept: I know that I shop too much and don't even wear most of the clothing I own. (Embarrassing aside: in some cases, I've "discovered" in my closet clothing I'd forgotten I had.) While I'm not going to commit to wearing the same six articles for a month, I am going to become more conscious of what I buy and cut down on needless buying. That way, when I do decide to get a new pair of jeans, the event of selecting and purchasing the jeans will be a more enjoyable event. Wish me luck on this venture!

*On Friday, I read a news story claiming that L.Lo is spending her jail time writing and eating large quantities of Twizzlers.

The Tot Trot and other running adventures.

2010-07-26T23:49:00.003-04:00

I realize that, in my last post (or my last post that mentions running), I presented a less-than-positive outlook re: my participation in the SF Marathon's 5K. Man, was I a curmudgeon! It is true that I injured my leg (though not debilitatingly) and that the doctor I saw advised me not to run on it (perhaps to prevent angry followup communication via email?), but I'm so glad I decided to run on Sunday.

When I woke up at approximately 5:40, I was more nervous than I'd been in months -- which, for me, is saying a lot. It took all the effort I could muster to make semi-normal conversation with Hook during our bus ride downtown, and prior to the race, I had a look of terror on my face (according to Hook). As soon as the gun went off and I started running, though, this fear dissipated. Miraculously, it seems, I made an instantaneous transition from a mindset of timidity to one of total enjoyment: it was fun running with a big ass crowd of people! The mix I'd prepared the night before was varied and upbeat and awesome! There were actual spectators, cheering us on! I picked another runner to keep pace with, kept my arms loose (i.e., as loose as I could), and made it through the race with minimal calf pain. I finished in 27:45, which -- while not super-fast -- is pretty respectable, all things considered.

I'm looking forward to my next 5K: on first allowing my leg to heal fully, and then on getting my time down. Meanwhile, I'll continue with bike commuting, ellipticalling, and yoga.

Almost-versary

2010-07-24T21:09:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is Hook's and my eleven-month anniversary. To celebrate, we are running the SF Marathon's 5K (in the AM) and going to a wine and dessert bar (in the PM). I'm hypothetically excited to run, though I'm worried that my recent calf sprain will force me, at some point, to walk. I'm very concretely excited for Candybar.

***

At the Ferry Building today, I bought a jar of cmb sweets' strawberry confiture from Carolina Braunschweig herself. Why is this so exciting, you ask? Well, aside from the obvious coolness of buying food directly from the individual who produced it, Carolina appeared on an episode of "Unwrapped" (the berries one, I believe) that Hook and I saw like, three days ago. Indeed, I walked right up to C and said, "Hey! I saw you on Food Network! You were buying berries at Civic Center!" To which she responded, "Yeah! I was at Civic Center." After this initial exchange, Ms. Braunschweig smeared some jam on my finger (the stash of sample crackers had been depleted). This jam is the shit.

***

As an anniversary gift, Hook bought me a raccoon skull(!!!) He is the best boyfriend ever.

2010-07-24T11:50:00.004-04:00

Hmmm. My plan of updating more than once every two weeks seems to have gotten off track. But, here I am, awake on a gray, post-Fernet morning, updating the ole blog. Kudos to myself(!)

This week, I bike commuted for the first time. (Aside: I guess I should say, "for the first and second time(s)," since I took my bike to work twice, but that could get confusing. Confusing like this foray right here...) Since I bought my bike early in the year, I'd been planning to bike commute but had put off this transportational transition for various reasons, some more substantiated than others. While it's true that my old job didn't provide adequate bike storage for staff -- there was one rickety bike rack out on the yard -- it is also true that I harbored a major, major fear of riding on Market. And who wouldn't? Market Street is scary! Anyway, this Tuesday, when I woke up at 5:30 to begin my ride, I almost talked myself out of it. But then I didn't, and I ended up loving bike commuting and I plan to do it three times a week, on average. (I'd ride more often but for the fact that there is no shower at my office, so the commute necessitates my going to the gym before work to work out and shower. That, and I like my other routine of reading on the bus and I don't want to give that up completely.)

I also had my first yoga class this week. Given my fitness history of the past two years, I'm pretty surprised that I'd never tried yoga, but there you have it. After a bit of research (i.e., perfunctory Yelping), I signed up for an intro package at Bend Yoga on Hayes, my decision being informed primarily by the positive Yelp reviews but also by the studio's close proximity to my home and by the killer deal for the intro package. The instructor I had was pretty great: I told her that this was my first yoga class ever, and she welcomed me heartily and corrected my poses in a very constructive, gentle way. And I really enjoyed the class: the guided breathing helped me relax more than I've been able to in like, weeks, and the minimini massage at session's end was also good. So, yes: I think I may become a yoga devotee. Or as Hook says, I might just become a blissed-out hippie. It's casual, though: I can abide.

Status: morning is still gray. Headache is waning, though not disappeared. I have no formal plans for the day but feel as though I should clean the bathroom and maybe make Strawberries Romanoff. Over & out.

CookieCakes

2010-07-12T21:28:00.003-04:00

Ueberproductive day, beginning with croissants with Hook @ Boulange de Cole, segueing to a brief mall visit (to return something, people!), oceanside bike ride, some tidying, and a bit of baking. My project today was gingersnaps; I used a recipe I found on AllRecipes. Shocked by the amount of oil included (3/4 cup!), I subbed in applesauce, which may have been a bad idea. (Note: substituting applesauce for oil is a legit thing. I mean, my mom used to do it all the time when I was a tot, and I corroborated the legitimacy of this practice using none other than Google.) The so-called cookies taste awesome -- gingery, but not overwhelmingly so, with hints of clove -- but texturally, they're more like cakes. Muffin tops, actually. In that way, they're a little weird. Not sure if I'll bring them in to share with the coworkers. Indeed, the only reason I deviated from the gingersnap recipe I used (and reused) last summer is that I don't have that recipe with me, here, immediately, though I'll get my mom to email it...

There are 31 gingery CookieCakes lined up on Hook's counter. At some point, I'm going to get a wire rack.

2010-07-11T22:52:00.004-04:00

I'm digging Hook's new spending blog. I thought, so so briefly, that maybe I should initiate a similar blog in order to identify purchasing trends (and possibly curtail frivolous buying), but I already know what such an experiment would reveal: I'm a little too familiar with jcrew.com's online sale section and the Ritter Sport rack at Cindy's Market. So.

Went for a bike ride by the ocean this afternoon. The sky was ominously overcast, but there was no rain. From an apartment near Great Highway and Moraga, I could hear the cheers of people watching the soccer game.

Today's Sunday Cooking Project was a batch of Jane Brody's rice pudding! It is really, stunningly easy, and hella tasty, too. (Note: I added nutmeg, and I'm not sure if that was the best decision. Overall, the pudding is still better than most.) Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked rice (1 cup raw)
2 cups skim or low-fat milk
1 egg white and 1 whole egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan, and mix them well. Cook the rice over moderate heat, stirring it now and then, until it has thickened (about 5 minutes after the milk reaches a boil).

And that's it. In addition to my nutmeg experiment, I added a heaping half-teaspoon of cinnamon, which I would recommend. Next time, I might add a little vanilla extract...

***

Now that I have Mondays off, I love Sunday nights. They've become so much cozier, so much less anxiety-fraught. They're like the best possible hybrid of laid-back Saturday afternoons and...I don't know, Sunday nights. Sunday nights light.

Time for Kezar's beet salad(!) and the Pavement documentary.

2010-07-08T01:59:00.002-04:00

This weekend, I tried two foods I never expected to try: caviar and Ovaltine.

I liked them both. Indeed, I foresee more of these two items in upcoming menus. Maybe not both in the same menu, though.

Also, my keyboard is real, real dirty. How to fix? I will maybe consult the genius bar; surely, they have some overpriced wipes that will fix this bad boy up real nicely.

Also also, I feel like this post is written in a half-assed way, but I'm three minutes from sleep and so this half-assedness is acceptable to me now.

Dreamland.

America Party!

2010-07-04T11:37:00.004-04:00

Happy Fourth! Growing up, my family celebrated this holiday somewhat inconsistently: sometimes, we'd cook out (albeit in the backyard) and see fireworks; sometimes, we'd just do whatever else we were going to do that day (albeit with the addition of those red/white/blue popsicles). Consequently, I never get as excited about the Fourth of July as I feel I should; this lack of fervor always inspires a slight guilt -- am I not patriotic enough? Why am I not more excited for cured/grilled meats? -- which, in turn, usually prompts me to get off the couch & do something, mostly so that I can say that I got off the couch and did something.

That being said, I'm legitimately excited for this year's Fourth. Hook and I are having a picnic (w/pals) at Alamo Square Park, and we spent the better part of yesterday making an assortment of homemade treats. Hook made an entirely from-scratch strawberry rhubarb pie and also some ginger candy (which, oh. my. god.) and, with the syrup leftover from the production of the candy, some homemade ginger ale. I made a ginormous loaf of bread whose taste and texture somewhat mimic that of a pretzel. (Note: I accidentally added too much yeast to the recipe, hence the textural abnormalities, and I also brushed the loaf with olive oil/sprinkled with salt before baking, hence the pretzelness.) No matter, though: I will happily eat that pretzel bread to celebrate the occasion of our country's birth.

Re: homemade pickles, Eating Well has not posted on their website the recipe we used, but they do have this very similar/almost identical recipe. Check it out!

Here is the recipe Hook used for making his ginger candy and ginger ale. The homemade ale tastes more like a commercially-prepared ginger beer; the concentration of ginger syrup also increases as you near the bottom of the club soda bottle, so the last swigs are actually the best part. Haven't tried the ginger ale float, but that, undoubtedly, is next on our list.

Enjoy Independence Day! Wear sunscreen! And, if you're prone to that sort of thing, raise a lukewarm can of domestic lager to celebrate this great land of ours! I'm off for a run, and then begins the stretch of picnic greatness.

Jam it, pickle it.

2010-06-24T11:45:00.004-04:00

This past weekend was a culinarily exciting one, to be sure. Hook and I tried two new recipes, both from Eating Well. The first -- a salad of small potatoes, green beans, and sirloin in a creamy, horseradish-based dressing -- was good enough to warrant a repeat preparation. The second, a wheatberry & veggie salad, was not. I actually expected to like the wheatberry salad more, being a huge wheatberry fan (and not so much a fan of potatoes), but the dish ended up being too oily, the proportion of vegetables to grain out of whack. If I were to prepare it again (and "prepare it again" is a generous classification: what I mean is, if I were to use this recipe as a starting point for another wheatberry-centric salad), I'd use half the amount of oil and would add a more diverse mixture of vegetables: broccoli florets, lightly-sauteed mushrooms, maybe some fresh corn. Who knows?

More exciting is the fact that Hook and I made refrigerator pickles(!) This activity was also inspired by an article in Eating Well -- Hook was so excited about the prospect of homemade pickles that 1) could be eaten within 24 hours of preparation; and 2) would not require the use of proper canning techniques that he went out the same day and got a set of canning jars. We pickled cucumbers, beets, and jalapenos, all purchased at the Civic Center farmers' market (save the golden beets, which I got at Haight St. Produce); we prepared a sour brine and used a variety of spice blends, including a traditional pickling blend, cinnamon/clove, curry/ginger (for some beets), and fresh herbs from our small, new herb garden: thyme, oregano, basil. I know I run the risk of tooting my own horn, but the pickled goods turned out phenomenally well. The curry ginger beets are my favorite: the curry flavor is less dominant, and the ginger adds a kick. YUM. Be advised that, if you are in the SF area this summer, you will be goaded to try 27 varieties of homemade pickles. Just saying.

Last night

2010-06-24T11:38:00.002-04:00

I dreamed that my hair reached halfway down my back. When I woke up, disoriented from a fitful night's sleep, I still believed that my hair was this long.

***

Yes, today I stayed home sick from work. I was feeling alright yesterday (though, in retrospect, I was feeling crummy enough to have allowed myself to predict that yes, indeed, I would be getting legitimately ill within the next twelve hours), but I was awake most of the night with a low-grade fever. And now, I will drink cup after cup of tea and catch up on blogging.

2010-06-12T10:16:00.004-04:00

I'm really enjoying my new, blonder hair (though I'm worried that the color is already fading: paranoia). Indeed, at my next scheduled color appointment (on August 2nd), I may become totally blond.

I haven't done any cooking projects in a while, this owing mostly to the craziness brought about by my massive job hunt, starting this new job, and so forth. But now that I'm settling into a routine, I'd like to get back to cooking more regularly. This weekend's goal is to make bread pudding - a favorite of mine, though maybe not of Hook's. I just finished reading Judith Jones' "The Tenth Muse," which includes a fairly straightforward recipe for the said dessert, and so I'll start there. Also on the docket: rice pudding!

It's true: I love old-timey desserts.

2010-06-08T00:11:00.003-04:00

So much to report on this end that I don't know where to begin. (Note to self, others: it might be helpful if I updated this blog more than once a month, but oh, well. I'm still not convinced that switching over to strict use of my tumblr would encourage me to update more frequently. In fact, I tumbl even less often than I blog...)

The big news: I have a new job - my first actual adult job. By adult I mean 1) more than marginally related to my field of study; and 2) salaried, benefitted. Yes, friends: last week, I started working as a course captioning transcriber for the Academy of Art University. So far, so good. The work is interesting, the projects are varied; my coworkers are really friendly and stylish. This weekend, I bought a 4-cup coffeemaker for my desk! I commute! I just bought some office friendly wedges online!

Smaller news: I survived a legit hair disaster. Saturday, I went in to get highlights done. I asked for "sparse, natural-looking" highlights and ended up with hair that looked frosted and greenish. No joke, my hair looked like a toupee and/or an animal pelt. I did not cry, but I did wear a giant, decorated headband yesterday to cover the mess. Luckily, I was able to snag an appointment (today) at Edo, where Taylor reversed the horrible damage that had been done to me not 48 hours earlier. I kept the highlights but had the tone altered (they're now honeyish blonde, rather than chlorine-damaged grayblonde), the roots of my hair darkened/the ends brightened. Now, I'm happy to report, I look like a human again.

Medium news: Hook and I registered for the KP 5K (July 25th). Anyone wanna join us as we run?

Productivity!

2010-05-15T17:22:00.003-04:00

I find that I'm productive in bursts: that I'll accomplish a lot for like, a week, and then the following two weeks are far less impressive. This isn't to say that I'm slothful during the post-productive stretch - I'm just...I don't know, more average. What I'm saying is, this week has been ueberproductive!

I've made my reentry into the world of running. Hook and I went running twice last week in the park, and I did a 5K (without stopping!) this morning on the treadmill. (Note: I feel like treadmill runs are "cheater" runs, but this morning I didn't feel like holding my giant-ass keyring and my iPod as I ran, so I opted for the gym instead. I'm paying for a membership, you know? Might as well use it once in a while!) I'm trying to take it easy & not be overly-zealous, but I have a good feeling about the the coming months and finally entering some races.

Despite my lack of formalized plans, I'm pretty excited about the summer. My dad and Donna and my cousin Matt have (tentative) visits to SF scheduled, and Ali might also come out for a weekend. Dan and Alison are taking a trip to Portland, and I hope that Hook and I will meet up with them there. I'm hoping too to go back to Minnesota for a few days (during the State Fair, ideally), possibly road trip to Galesburg. I can almost smell the green of the cornfields. As much as I love CA, there's something so perfect about late summer cornfields, their rustle and sway.
That said, I am never going back to Cincinnati.

Also: I love my Chacos. They are possibly the best shoes I've ever owned. One of the best pairs of shoes I've ever owned, anyway.

ALSO: anyone want to go to the Grand Canyon during the next few months?

Editing time.

Appropriate Query

2010-05-10T23:30:00.002-04:00

Does anyone else remember learning about the "combination" food group during elementary and middle school health classes? I was just talking to Hook about this, and he claims never to have heard of "combination foods!" WHAT? Who doesn't remember the doubtful logic used to cast pizza in a healthy light - a healthiness attributed to the fact that pizza contains elements of the grain, dairy, vegetable, and (possibly) meat groups?

Well, I do.

2010-05-09T10:09:00.007-04:00

Happy Sunday and happy Mother's Day ! Looks a bit overcast but I think the clouds might clear out before 9:00...

It was a good week, weatherwise and activity-wise. The first declaration mostly explains itself, but I will expand on the second. To start, I went running twice with Hook(!) This is notable not only because I'm not a huge fan of running outside (I know, I know: it's better than using a treadmill, but treadmills are easier on the knees - plus I like being able to regulate my speed), but also because I hadn't gone running in about four months. My knee seems to have healed satisfactorily: it didn't hurt at all after the two runs, though my right Achilles tendon was a bit twitchy. I'm going to sign up for the 5K (on marathon day); keep your fingers crossed that no further harm comes to my knee.

Continuing with the trend of revisited athleisure activities, yesterday Hook and I bought tennis racquets and spent a few hours playing in the park. I played as a kid - with my family and on school teams - but it has been a good decade since I've played at any sort of regular intervals, and it felt really good to start again. (Aside: did I really just say that it's been a decade since I've done a certain activity? OLD PERSON STATEMENT!) I'm glad that Hook had as much fun as I did, and I predict that post-workday tennis will become a trend. It is awesome that the courts are like, four minutes from my house! And that there are so many courts! Yass!

In other news, we went to TARGET yesterday. Score! (Aside: now that I'm living in a place with limited/restricted access to Target, trips to said store are most certainly blogworthy news. Oh, how I mourn the bygone days of recreational Target shopping.) Since I stocked up on granola during our trip last week, I didn't go too nuts yesterday, though I did get a 2-pack of Bumble & Bumble hair lotion. Bumble and Bumble, I heart you.

On the schedule for today: spinning, bronch, chamber music concert, a little shopping (perhaps), and some tennis! Oh, yeah, and maybe some laundry and grocery shopping, those lesser-but-necessary weekend activities...

Dispatch from Stanyan St.

2010-04-24T14:40:00.006-04:00

It is a beautiful Saturday morning (er, late morning) - cloudless and sunny, with only the usual amount of traffic noise - and I'm taking a break from the freelance work of the day. This week seemed like the longest week; work was hectic and I had a big pile of freelance projects that all had to be completed immediately, and I feel like I've never been so grateful for a weekend as I am right now. Even while I was in grad school (and presumably swamped with work), weekends never seemed abruptly different from weekdays. Now, though, I understand the difference.

The good news: I somehow received an extra-awesome tax refund, so Hook and I are planning a trip to Mexico for next month(!!!) I'm pretty excited: I've never been to Mexico, and I also feel like I really need a vacation - a beach vacation, with sunny vacant days and beers by the water. Maybe a little hiking, a little kayaking. This trip is going to rock.

In other news...life is pretty much the same. The end of the school year is approaching and the students are getting restless. The rainy season seems to have subsided(?) I'm psyched to do more hiking around here, and also have MORE PICNICS in Dolores Park. Even though this is the land of dubious seasons, it's starting to feel like summer.

For the first time this season, I (may) have a tan.

2010-04-18T22:59:00.003-04:00

Oh, to be tan again! This weekend was gorgeous, and fortunately, I didn't spend the whole time indoors! Indeed, I made sure that my time was divided [sort-of] equally between work and bummin' outside, and now - finished as I am with my current freelance project - I'm relaxing on Hook's couch, a cool breeze coming in through the window.

Yesterday, Hook and I joined M. and P. for a picnic in Dolores Park. I'd only been to Dolores Park on a few occasions (read: field trips) - never in the picnic/beer context - and man, is it awesome. We chose a spot at the top of a hill (better for people watching), spread out our blanket, and sipped Tecate and ate cupcakes until the almost-evening. During our stint, we were approached by a canvasser, a lady trying to sell subscriptions to a CSA, a hobo asking for empties, and a grinning old dude selling pot cookies from a rolling suitcase. Indeed, I love everything about this park with the exception of its terrible, inadequate restroom facilities. But hey, nothing's perfect.

This morning, Drew, Hook and I ventured out to Muir Woods for a hike, which was equally enjoyable (though in a much different, read: more strenuous, way). I'd heard from a few people that the woods can be super busy on weekends - so busy that one has to park like, two miles down the road from the trail head - but we got an early start and snagged a primer parking spot. The hike was really good: I haven't gone hiking since last summer, when my mom, sis & I were at Yosemite, and some of the inclines were a little tricky. Overall, though, we did well, taking the Oceanfront Trail to the Lost Trail, continuing along the Ben Johnson trail to the Dipsea. (Note: I did not remember any of this, but instead relied on Hook for the names.) At the very very end, just before we reached the parking lot, we came to a creek that could only be crossed via log - the bridge was down. I did have a moment of panic & almost began crossing the log on my hands and knees (I was dehydrated, people!), but Hook came to my rescue and walked back across the log so that he could encourage me to walk like a biped. And so I crossed without falling into the creek, and the hike ended on a successful note.

This afternoon was mostly business: lunch at Squat and Gobble because the kitchen was empty, grocery shopping (to prevent unnecessary S&G trips), and the completion of this weekend's freelance project. My legs have the good tiredness in them, and I'm satisfied with the writing work that I did, and I think I'm going to have an awesome sleep tonight. This is all.

Weeeeeeekend roundup.

2010-04-11T22:17:00.005-04:00

Weekend roundups: that's pretty much all I manage anymore, in terms of blogging. Ah, well: maybe I'll go the way of tumblr? We shall see. My tumblr has been embarrassingly dormant for like, 8 - 10 months, so I'd have to get it up and running before I even converted to that microblogging format...

It was an excellent weekend on the friendship and bargain fronts. Friday, Hook and I met some new pals for dinner @ Acme Burgerhaus (on Divisidero. $1.95 pints from 3 - 10! Excellent fries!), after which we hit the Page for drinks. M. and P. are both from Minnesota (I met M. while she was subbing at my school); they both like biking, good music, cooking, the idea of rooftop gardening, thrift shopping, and whiskey drinks. Good friendship times on the horizon!

The bargain front was slightly less exciting: mostly, I used a bunch of Gap/BR gift certificates I'd hoarded. Also, today I saved 41% on my grocery bill through my crafty use of coupons/noting of in-store sales. Yes, I realize that my mentioning of this on my blog renders me a total, total geek, but the savings! Oh, the savings!
Well, you understand if you know me.

Tonight, Hook and I made a from-scratch pizza that was totally badass; now, Hook is crocheting and I am scanning the internet, about to knit for a bit, and then it's baking time! I love domestic Sundays!

Sentences to describe my day:

2010-04-06T01:03:00.003-04:00

1) The transition back to work wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.

2) My right hamstring hurts - maybe in a bad way?

3) I have rediscovered my love of pickled beets!

4) Ke$ha most certainly is a lesser Lady Gaga.

5) Ooooooooh, baby, did I stock up on clearance Easter candy!

6) Hook is here, reading a book of essays while I fritter away time in various online showrooms.

Also:

2010-04-04T23:14:00.001-04:00

2010-04-04T23:05:00.002-04:00

Happy Easter!

Indeed, spring break has been eventful, but not in the ways you might expect. My mom spent a few days visiting; we did typically-touristy things (e.g., multiple walks through Golden Gate Park, a Blue and Gold Bay Cruise, getting crappy Italian food in North Beach) and some untouristy things (e.g., making earrings, baking five-egg chocolate cupcakes, watching endless episodes of "Forensic Files" at Hook's). Besides hosting, I spent a bunch of time searching for new jobs, doing some much-needed spring cleaning, riding my bike, going to spin classes, and furtively eating Easter candy. Now it's the last evening before I return to work, and Hook and I have spent the whole day inside (it was downpouring) drinking Tecate and researching various budding hobbies/moneymaking schemes, and I think I'm ready to be back to my normal routine. As I typically am at the end of any sort of break.

Chocolate Cheerios don't live up to their hype.

Scone Fail Continues

2010-03-27T11:15:00.002-04:00

While stocking up on Buffalo "Chik'n" Nuggets the other day @ Trader Joe's, I happened upon TJ's mini cranberry orange scones and decided to give them a try. (Aside: the search for a suitable replacement for Panera's orange scone has begun in full force, and will not end until said replacement is determined.) They're tasty! And mini! Not as tasty as the product I'm seeking to replace, but pretty good. There's a unique set of drawbacks associated with the cranberry orange scones, though, these being:

1) They don't have as much frosting as I would prefer;
2) They come in packages of six, and six is too many scones for one person to comfortably eat in a few days' time (Hook doesn't eat scones);
3) They seem to spoil quickly. The package I purchased (on 3/23) had a sell-by date of 3/27, but the scones had gone bad by YESTERDAY. Believe you me, I'll be sending an email of complaint to Trader Joe's corporate to notify them of this mold problem.

***

Hook and I saw "Greenberg" last night and it was considerably better than either of us expected. We both had a hunch that it might fall into the "Away We Go" category - you know, movies that (based on their trailers) seem like they'd be enjoyable, but that are actually deflated by their own strained efforts at "quirkiness" and indielate20somethingsearly30somethingscuteness. On the contrary, "Greenberg" was mellow, plot-wise: the apparent paucity of a plot didn't announce itself as such, and Ben Stiller was the perfect casting choice. Hook was totally amused by the similarities between Greenberg and myself, these being:

1) Our tendency to write letters of complaint to major corporations;
2) Our sample shopping lists (His list included ice cream sandwiches and whiskey);
3) Our tendency to walk in pedestrian-unfriendly zones.

***

My mom arrives today! Our city-touring plans aren't totally solidified, but I think tomorrow is MoMA day (and, if my mom is up for it, a tour of the claw-machine floor at the Metreon). Today we'll probably walk through GG Park and visit the Tea Garden - a lot is blooming this time of year.
Holla for family visits!

Death of a [junk-food] era

2010-03-23T20:51:00.005-04:00

I detest the idea of letting my blog go altogether - after all, I've been blogging for roughly eight years, and thought of being blogless (despite the relative infrequency with which I update) makes me uneasy - but lately I'm starting to understand how many of my favorite bloggers have gone the way of twitter/tumblr/long-ass facebook updates. Yes, there is exciting stuff happening in my life! Yes, there is mundane stuff happening in my life - mundane stuff I would like to share with the world! And yes, I do often catch myself thinking, "Okie, will blog about that later." Invariably, I'm then sidetracked by facebook (durrrrr), a crossword puzzle, a beer, a bird, or the outdoors.

But here I am, updating! Today's update - or the first of many updates, perhaps? Or perhaps I shouldn't be overly-ambitious? - regards something in the "Mundane Stuff I Would Like to Share With the Internet" category. So, ahem: those of you who know me know the purity of my love for Panera's orange scones. This is not a love of which I'm proud: this love, heretofore, was kept secret from all but a select few, the same select few who've seen me without makeup and have viewed the Most Frequently Played list on my iTunes. My embarrassment about this fondness stems from my recognition that Panera is not the classiest pastry joint around - far from it. As far as consumption of confections goes, I'm pretty well-traveled: I've had croissants in Paris, scones and clotted cream in England, Monhschnecke in Germany, Mozartkugeln in Austria, and so on. Despite my diverse pastry-eating experience and my knowledge that Panera's scone is composed primarily of refined white flour, high-fructose corn syrup, and orange dye, my love remains steadfast.

Strike that: remained. Yes, friends: Panera changed the recipe for their orange scones, and I am not a fan of the replacement.

Last weekend (weekend of awesomeness, incidentally, but maybe I'll get to that in another post), Hook and I walked to the one Panera location in San Francisco so that I could get an orange scone. I'd been craving one for some time, and hadn't eaten one since last summer (late July), and Saturday was an awesome day for a walk. Upon entry into the bakery-cafe, I sensed something was amiss. The scone, unlike its favored predecessors, was more oblong than square in shape, and its frosting was lighter orange than normal and flecked with largeish chunks of orange zest. Despite my rising anxiety, I ordered the scone, hoping that its unusual appearance belied the familiar taste I'd grown to love. Sadly, the scone had been prepared according to a different recipe. Its texture was flakier (less dense) than the original, the buttermilk flavor more prominent. Both the frosting and the scone were less sweet than the standard.

I was crestfallen. I'd walked halfway across the city for this damn scone, only to find that the recipe had been changed while I was unaware. Hook tried to console me by suggesting that maybe this was only a regional difference - chain restaurants, after all, are known to include different products in different geographic regions. At some level I knew that this assessment was false, that my treasured scone was gone for good. That evening, I sent an email to Panera re: perceived changes in the orange scone. (I also mailed a letter to the CEO.) Today, I received the following response to my email:

Dear Kate,

Thank you for contacting Panera Bread about our new Orange Scone. We
reformulated our Orange Scone to improve its texture, flavor and
appearance. After nearly two years of testing in both districts and
entire markets, the new scone debuted nationwide in January of this
year. Although we are sorry that you miss our old scone and
disappointed that you do not care for the new one, we appreciate your
feedback.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us. We hope you will
continue to enjoy Panera Bread.

Sincerely,
Jamie
Customer Comment Coordinator

Disappointed that I "do not care for the new one?" How about my disappointment? I'm not sure where/with what audiences this scone was tested, but those audiences were WACK. It seems to me that Panera changed its scone to appear "healthier" - the sugar content has obviously been reduced (if only marginally), the frosting is no longer neon orange, and the bits of orange zest punctuating the frosted top probably trick a goodly number of consumers into thinking they're eating actual fruit. I'm the first to promote healthy eating, and I'd say that my diet is healthier than that of 85% or 90% of the population. BUT, every now and then, I like to eat total, sugary crap, and Panera's orange scone was the sugary crap I loved the most. I loved the crunch of that godawful frosting, the crumbliness of the trans-fat laden dough. Never again.

I am adrift.
I am accepting suggestions for a pastry/baked good (nationally-available) to replace Panera's orange scone in my pantheon of junk-food craves.
This is all.

The one you really love.

2010-03-02T20:04:00.004-05:00

The past three days have been packed with Stephin Merritt, and Oh! what a glorious three days these have been. Saturday afternoon, S.M. hosted a "DJ Set" at Amoeba; I use quotation marks here because the intent/outcome of said set were dubious. S.M. was onstage (in the presence of a bouncer-type person) for half an hour or so and played a few songs - some his, some not. Then, he signed autographs. Guess who got her copy of Realism signed? That's right! The procurement of the autograph was an experience not without challenges, however: when it was my turn to hand my CD to S.M., I could not speak. I mean this in the most literal sense: face-to-face with one of my musical heroes, I couldn't think of a single thing to say. And so I stood there, staring, until S.M. said, "I really like your earrings, but I wonder how they don't get tangled in your hair." To which I responded, "Oh, they do. But it's cool." And that was the end of the exchange.

Sunday night was the (unofficial*) world premiere of Strange Powers, Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara's documentary of the Magnetic Fields. The event was held at Mezzanine, which, despite its marginal utility as a movie theater, is a really cool space. The film** was really well done: Fix and O'Hara compiled footage and interviews during a ten-year period, and the result was smartly-edited and informative and funny and sad: just how you'd want a documentary of your favorite band to turn out. After the screening, Fix, O'Hara, S.M., and Claudia Gonson responded to questions posed by audience members, some of which (and of whom) were quite stupid. Referring to S.M.'s filmed description of the narrative arc of "California Girls," one audience member asked, "Did you really write a song about a fat Midwestern woman who hates California girls?" Um? Yes.

Yesterday was the finale of my own personal Merrittfest: the Magnetic Fields played at the Herbst Theatre***. The show sold out a few hours after tickets went on sale, but Hook got tickets on StubHub as an Xmas gift (thank ye, considerate boyf!); we were sitting four rows from the stage, which was pure awesomeness. The show was super-sedate: I was among the youngest people in attendance (ha!) and the sets were both mellow, featured lots of songs from the new album and from "Highway Strip." Not a ton from "69 Love Songs" or "I" or "Distortion," but this was OK: I was [mostly] OK with this. I could spend all day listening to Stephin Merritt sing. I knew what Hook meant when he said that, once S.M. left town, it would be as though an old friend had left town (though neither of us is acquainted with the man, obv.). Indeed, I have the same feeling now as at the end of a vacation. Fewer pictures, sure, and no sand at the bottom of my duffel, but the same contentment with the new-minted memories & time well spent.

*The official premiere will be at SXSW on March 15th.
**I hate using the word "film" when referring to anything but an actual art film, but I already felt like I was overusing "documentary," so there you go. I'm not an asshole, I promise.
***I also typically spell this word "theater," but the name of the venue is an -re.

ALSO:

2010-02-24T00:48:00.004-05:00

1) Hook and I are starting a band real soon. Name: TBD. Instrument assignments: TBD. I'll sing mostly falsetto.
2) Lately I've taken to wearing large, windchimey hippie earrings. Who knows why, but the trend seems on course to stick around. Next, I'm gonna buy some Chacos.
3) Now more than ever, I resemble Chloe Sevigny. This is true: this is not just something I'm saying because that one facebook meme from a month ago caused me to start thinking a lot about which celebrities (if any) I resemble. I don't have any pictures to support this contention*, but the next time you see me, bear in mind this assertion and pay especial attention to my eyelashes, which are very, very defined.

*I do have one picture, but my face is real shiny in it and I don't want to clean it up (the picture, that is: my face right now is totally clean).

Music that I listen to might be classified as "classic rock."

2010-02-24T00:03:00.004-05:00

Hook and I went to Amoeba tonight so that I could pick up a copy of "Cherry Peel," which I had years ago and loved, but which I lost when I ditched my last laptop. (This is one argument against buying all your albums from iTunes/stealing music: when you're as lazy as I am re: backing up music, you lose everything when you lose a computer. Most people aren't as lazy as I (in this regard; in most other regards, they are lazier), but the threat remains.) I can't say why I had the sudden urge to hear this album again, but last night I was so tempted just to download it and let the nostalgia wash over me. Hook urged me to resist and I did (though I caved and downloaded "Tanglewood Numbers") in favor of getting the actual CD, so that when this computer dies, I won't have to buy the album a third time. Foresight, man: it's what separates us from the animals.

I was first introduced to "Cherry Peel" in 2003 when I received a mix CD (from Hook, coincidentally) with "Springtime is the Season" as the first track. Also in '03, a few pals of mine loved listening to "Tim, I Wish You Were Born a Girl" while swigging Arbor Mist straight from the bottle. The album didn't realize its emotional-nostalgic potential until 2007ish, though, when I was in my second year of grad school. Nights that spring, I'd drive along Route 9 in the beige Toyota that is no longer mine, reveling in the balminess of the air, the waft of lilacs, the peculiar, constrained brand of freedom common to grad students everywhere. The album came to represent, for me, the contentment that can result from isolation - or, if not contentment, then familiarity. I had "Montreal" on repeat as I drove back from that namesake city, stilled by Vermont's tree-to-human ratio, the remoteness of my traveling companion. "I Can't Stop Your Memory" recalls my inadequately-heated tenement of an apartment, the paint peeling from the floorboards of my room; drive-thrus at McDonald's long after bar time; heartache of the brand that should have run its course years earlier. "Cherry Peel," in short, is the album that reminds me why I'm obsessed with certain albums in the first place: its personal contexts are so thickly sedimented that a full listen brings to mind two distinct and distinctly formative times in my life. I love that, that songs can become psychic shorthand and shuttle us back to what we sometimes think of as gentler times, but what were really times of equal indifference viewed with naivete and longing.

Because I haven't updated in a while, I'm just going to post this picture of an awesome ring shaped like a stump:

2010-02-19T20:02:00.003-05:00

This piece (and multitudes of other excellent rings, pendants, earrings, and so forth) are available here. Go to it! (Real update coming soon.)

Like beating a dead horse.

2010-02-08T21:23:00.005-05:00

I'm sure you all have facebook friends with whom you were never really well-acquainted in real life: people you know (or knew, or sort-of know, or sort-of knew) and added just because, hey, why in egalitarianism's name not? But have you ever had the experience of realizing that one of these people has really good personal style, and wanting to tell said person, but not being able to because you were never really friends with them in actual, oxygen-sustained reality?
Didn't think so.

This was a weekend of awesomeness, not only because of the sunshine (bright! sustained!) and the prodigious amounts of candy H. and I bought/consumed, but because Hook completed his first half marathon on Sunday. I got up early to see him off at the start, walked down to the ocean to try to catch a glimpse of him as he ran along the Great Highway*, and was there at the finish line to take some profile pics. Hook, I am ueber-proud of you: 13.1 miles is hella impressive!

In other news, I've been having oddly realistic, very disconcerting dreams lately. A few nights ago, I dreamed that I was accompanying Gaby's class on a field trip to a racehorse rescue farm - you know, where old horses go to die natural, unrelated-to-glue-or-dogfood deaths. Within my dream world, all horses were severely lactose-intolerant; knowing this, one of the students mixed a ton of butter in with the horses' feed and killed all the racehorses. The opening image of this dream was an aerial view of the rescue, the horses streaming in through the gate of a fenced pasture, waiting - an image not unlike slaughterhouse footage.
Last night's dream was slightly less menacing: first, Ali (who was visiting me in SF) kept wearing my clothes, despite my requests that she stop. Then, I found myself at a Jonas Brothers' show being held at a dilapidated farmhouse. I went to use the ladies' room before the Brothers began their set, only to find that the toilet didn't work! Naturally, the management asked me to fix it, and I got toilet water all over my coat with the fur collar. Siiiiiiiigh.

*This attempt was an epic fail: I either got there a few minutes too late, or was in the port-a-john when Hook ran by. Ooops.

Are we really so stupid?

2010-02-08T19:40:00.003-05:00

This article discusses the FDA's efforts to reevaluate the serving sizes of some foods, thereby alerting consumers that these foods are more caloric than we (the collective we of the American consumer base) have been led to believe. Or, more accurately, as we've led ourselves to believe. I appreciate that the FDA is trying to keep current, but come on: does anyone really believe that, "If the serving size for cookies rose to two ounces, from one ounce, for instance, some consumers might think the government was telling them it was fine to eat more." The government is telling me it's fine to eat more? Let me just scarf a whole box of Triscuit!

Americans may be fat, but they're not [all] stupid. Most people know (I think?) that chips aren't healthy: that a serving of chips, as defined by the FDA, is about one ounce. Whether people choose to eat an ounce of chips or whether they defer to the "handful" method of measurement is a different issue. The bottom line is that people know what's good for them, but they don't always put this knowledge into action.

I was told there'd be culturally-relevant observations

2010-02-03T22:14:00.006-05:00

I'll be damned if I end my 25th year without knowing how to make non-instant [i.e., "traditional"] rice.

As mentioned, Reading Program 2010 is going well. Working on Sloane Crosley's "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" and while it's not terrible, neither will it become a favorite (or even a volume to return to, infrequently). Since my completion of an M.F.A. in fiction writing, I've become increasingly more interested in genres other than fiction; I've turned to memoirs, cookbooks, magazines widely varying in quality and content, volumes of poetry, collections of essays. Crosley's collection I discovered via Goodreads and, based on the title (who the hell doesn't love cake?) and the glib combo of the cover photo/sans-serif font in which the title is printed, I decided to give it a go. [Aside: I realize that the preceding statement critically undermines whatever "cred" I have as a reader, if there is such a thing as "reader's cred."] Yes: so, the point. The point I'm getting at is that I can neither like nor dislike Crosley's essays because said essays are insubstantial: they don't give me enough to (dis)agree with. Addressing topics such as one's youthful envisioning of "Oregon Trail" as a means of gaining power over individuals who, in life, control and vex one, the essays are funnyish, cuteish, and short enough to be read during in-between bits of time [i.e., lunch breaks, the ten minutes between packing my lunch and having to leave for work]. I'll finish reading "Cake," but only because I'm 100 pages in and because I rarely, rarely quit a book.

Update: the rice burned. Again.

NEW! OBSESSION!

2010-02-02T00:49:00.002-05:00

If you guessed "macaroons," you're not even close - though I understand your logic. No: my new love is spinning. (!!!!). I'd gone a few times last summer [in MN], but never got into it; back then, during that less-enlightened time, I considered the arc trainer the ultimate piece of equipment. Recently, though - perhaps because the instructors here are better, or perhaps because I can't run, due to my sloooooowly-healing knee - I just can't get enough of this class. Or, rather, I didn't get enough until tonight [i.e., my third spin class in as many days]. Tonight, I am bone tired. Tonight, I'm going to sleep the sleep of kings!

I have earned the title of Cookie Monster

2010-02-01T00:20:00.004-05:00

...or cookie maestro: take your pick. As I mentioned, this weekend was a snickerdoodle bake-a-thon, and what a -thon it was! I made two batches (so that I could give a bunch to friends...and also freeze some), and both turned out superbly. Here's the recipe I used:

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups white sugar
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 eggs
* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt

(and for the topping)

* 2 tablespoons white sugar
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups white sugar, butter or margarine, vanilla and eggs. Mix well.
3. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Blend well. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon. Roll dough in sugar/cinnamon mixture and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.

***

I will definitely be making these again; not too soon, mind you - there's a huge Tupperware of cookies atop Hook's fridge - but soon enough. In the meantime, I may try to master the art of vegan chocolate cake...

Yesterday was the day of harassment.

2010-01-30T17:42:00.004-05:00

Yes. So, yesterday was evidently The Day During Which Strangers Harass Kate; there were two separate instances of harassment. The first took place at a delicatessen: I had a paid holiday and met Hook downtown for lunch. We went to a deli near his office (this deli did not have great salads, but Hook liked his sandwich well enough and so that was good) and while I was at the register, paying for my salad and Baked Lays, a man slid a can of diet Sunkist orange up beside my food and said to the cashier, "Oh, we're together." In my mind I was all like, 'Dude WTF?' but then thought, 'OK, I can pay for this dude's can of soda I guess, it's a can of soda,' but before the cashier really had time to respond the dude smiled at me and said, "Gotcha." Elbowed me, retrieved his can of soda, and waited to pay. Mortified, I left the register without even taking my receipt and joined Hook at our table.

The second incident took place on the bus. I'd done a bit of shopping and was going to walk home but a drizzle started and then became a rainfall, hence the bus trip. When I boarded, I took a window seat; at the next stop, a man sat in the seat beside me. I didn't have my iPod at the time and so was fiddling with my phone, texting my sis, when the man beside me put his hand over mine and kind of jokingly tried to knock free the phone. No conversation, here: just the man half-slapping my hand, the phone. The man in the bank of seats directly across from me gave an alarmed look, which I returned. I couldn't tell if the man beside me was 1) trying, in some ass-backward way, trying to flirt with me; or 2) a legit psycho, so I said nothing. I kept texting. The man beside me leaned over and read all of my texts (none of which made mention of him), and then got off the bus three stops after he'd boarded.

These incidents left me profoundly unsettled: who are these brazen men, and why did they approach me from nowhere, on the same day?

I am glad to report that today has been a harassment-free day.

***

In more upbeat, sugar-related news, I am burning this soy-based, birthday-cake-scented candle, and it is just so excellent. My room smells like a beautiful cake! Speaking of baking, tonight is slated to be a snickerdoodle bake-a-thon, once I get to the store to pick up some cream of tartar.

***

Just finished reading "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men," which renewed my faith in contemporary fiction. Which statement may sound like an overstatement, but trust me, it is not.

I like rice.

2010-01-22T21:58:00.004-05:00

One useful habit I developed in grad school, aside from my jaw-dropping time management skillz & my ability to wrangle any sentence, is the ability to find a use for leftover food. Having had on hand too much milk and not wanting that milk to go bad, I spent part of the evening making rice pudding. Some people think rice pudding is for geriatrics, but some people don't know what they're missing: rice pudding is the shit! Normally, I make the oven-baked variety, but I have no idea where my covered casserole dishes are & I wasn't sure if my Pyrex bowl is oven-safe. Therefore, I used the following recipe, taken from simplyrecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups (600 ml) of whole milk
• 1/3 cup (66 grams) of uncooked short grain white rice
• Pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup (50 grams) dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/3 cup (40 grams) raisins

Method

1) In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the milk, rice and salt to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20-25 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

2) In a small mixing bowl, whisk together egg and brown sugar until well mixed. Add a half cup of the hot rice mixture to the egg mixture, a tablespoon at a time, vigorously whisking to incorporate.

3) Add egg mixture back into the saucepan of rice and milk and stir, on low heat, for 10 minutes or so, until thickened. Be careful not to have the mixture come to a boil at this point. Stir in the vanilla. Remove from heat and stir in the raisins and cinnamon.

Serve warm or cold.
Serves 2-3.

***

On the whole, my pudding turned out pretty well (3.8 stars out of 5). I used skim milk because that's what was in the fridge, but this substitution compromised the pudding's texture; I also didn't add raisins because 1) I don't like them, and 2) I didn't have any in the cupboard, anyway. Had I used whole milk, this dish would have been perfect.

One other note: the yield also seems off to me. I'd say this recipe made at least four, if not five, servings - or two to three extra-large portions.

Sign it!

2010-01-22T19:51:00.002-05:00

This, if you haven't seen it, is Jamie Oliver's proposed Food Revolution, a plan to redefine the typical school lunch. Working in a school, I have firsthand knowledge of what gets served in the cafeteria, and it ain't pretty. This isn't the fault of the individual school, mind you - Ellen, our cafeteria manager extraordinaire, does a great job with the resources she's given - but of the district. Of our country's way of thinking about school lunch. The entrees offered are prepared at a central location, distributed (in insulated bags of the sort used by delivery people) to district schools, and served hours after their initial preparation; roughly a third of the students don't even peel back the cellophane from their nuked main dishes - and can you blame them? Today's main course was some sort of pasta/chicken/zucchini casserole that was intermixed with a soggy breadcrumb paste. Mmmmmm.

Not trying to rant, here - just check out the Food Revolution & hope for a day when school lunch is made in the school kitchen(!)

2010-01-22T00:48:00.000-05:00

Also, bookmark this shit.

RANT

2010-01-22T00:10:00.003-05:00

A small rant: fuck those people who ignore the 30-minute time limit for the cardio equipment at the gym. Fuck them! I'll be the first to admit that the Richmond District Y does not have the greatest selection of ellipticals, that it can indeed be tempting to consider (at the end of one 30-minute stretch) hastily resetting one's machine & thereby clearing the elapsed time field, leaving no one the wiser to one's overuse of said machine. It can be tempting, yes, but I am not an asshole; once I've done my half hour on a machine, I'll move to a different type of machine (i.e., bike, treadmill, rowing machine) and if after that stretch of cardio I still feel the need to elliptical, I'll spend more time on the elliptical. OK. I won't, however, just spend a damn hour on one machine. Yes, chubby blond lady wearing a blood drive tee, this post is directed to you. It is directed to you and to anyone else who horqs the machines at my Y. Here's what I say: if you want to work out like a non-asshole, join a gym. If you want to dominate a single machine, just buy that machine for home use. The end.

2010-01-18T12:51:00.006-05:00

Refrain: thank god for 3-day weekends.

For games night yesterday, I baked my first loaf of bread. I am not trying to toot my own horn here - merely stating the facts, people - but it turned out perfectly. Proof: the loaf in its entirety was consumed by four people. Today, I am baking more bread. Hook made rye crackers, which also turned out awesomely (though he would argue that the crackers' texture wasn't ideal, but I liked the biscuit-y quality).
I am mystified by how four ingredients can produce such delicious results.

You know what name I haven't heard in a while? Libby. When I was a kid, I knew tons of Libbys (Libbies?). Now? None. Bring back that name.

Reading goal 2010 is on track: I'm almost done with the anthology of Southern fiction I've been working on for a week, then I'm moving on to either "Eat Me" (Kenny Shopsin) or the 69 Love Songs 331/3. Running goal 2010 is not on track; my knee is still fucked up, and though I've been doing the stretches the PT gave me and slathering on muscle cream like nobody's business, the muscle is too tender to run on.

I might actually buy the raincoat I've been looking at online. Today's a deluge.

PS:

2010-01-13T23:14:00.004-05:00

I am still experiencing sadness at the thought of pruning my blogroll, but it must be done. Blogs that are updated with some sort of frequency (and this categorization is real relative, people) will remain in "Friends and Neighbors." Blogs that appear dead, for all practical purposes, will be transitioned to "Dormant Friends and Neighbors."

Wednesday, Wednesday

2010-01-13T22:57:00.004-05:00

It's a typical Wednesday: I'm sitting in Hook's living room, already in my pajamas (nothing says old person like wearing pjs @ approximately 8:00 pm, but that's cool: I've made peace with my advanced age), eating some gummi candies. By "some" I mean "lots of," but most people who know me are well acquainted to my consumption of candy. I found out today that we'll be having a three-day weekend(!), and now I'm wondering what to do with the extra day. Skiing? (I think we were supposed to go to Tahoe last weekend (and by "supposed to" I mean "had pretty certainly agreed to but then flaked at the last minute"), but Hook has yet to buy any ski gear.) Small road trip to local farms? (A coworker of mine is going to Nevada City on Sunday to attend a pig slaughter/giant ritual party; she told me that there are lots of nice, slaughter-free farms in Marin that I should check out.) Gym? (This will probably be the reality.)

The 100-mile diet is...going well, if you exclude all the non-100-mile gummi candies and Cheez-its I've worked into my recent meals. OK: the time for buckling down is certainly nigh. On the plus side, I ordered this book to help me learn to preserve the bounty of fruits & veggies obtained from the ferry building, and this book to help me better understand basic principles of cookery.

Also, I may or may not have covered this entire couch in sugar. Ooops.

<3 <3 <3 Saturdays

2010-01-10T00:21:00.004-05:00

Best Saturday ever! Here's why:

1) Hook and I woke up early to walk to the Ferry Building farmers' market. Walking everywhere is a common passion of ours, and we'd planned all week to hit the farmers' market for the produce we'd need for the next few days or so. (Aside: one of our joint resolutions for 2010 is to follow a modified version of the 100-mile diet. That is, we hope only to eat foods grown or produced within a 100-mile radius of San Francisco, with the exception of coffee, chocolate, some beers, and flour.) The market was awesome: just today, we purchased a bunch of carrots, a satchel of peppers (bell and banana), three blood oranges, one Asian pear, two onions, two cloves of garlic, a bunch of kale, a bunch of beets, green onions, fennel, two sunchokes, an 8-oz. bag of dark chocolate almond brittle, red popcorn, a bunch of lavender, and half a pound of dried Jacob's Cattle beans (an heirloom variety). Need I mention that all these items were local and organic? Had we not run out of cash and been so reluctant to wait in the ATM line, we could have bought tons more; I was tempted by the merchant selling organic salami. Hook wanted a bunch of black Spanish radishes. There's another (less bougie) market being held at Civic Center tomorrow, but I think we have enough produce - for the time being.

2) Finally putting my money where my mouth is, I bought a bike. While I was back in Minnesota, I sold my car. I'd been planning for some time to buy a bike, but today I just walked into the bike store, test rode a few models, and settled on this one. It's the nicest bike I've ever had - it shifts beautifully and is super light. Tomorrow, Hook is going to rent a bike and we'll ride through Golden Gate Park and maybe farther. Hopefully farther.

3) Tonight, Hook cooked me a dinner of roasted beets served over a bed of beet greens sauteed in garlic, garnished with walnut brittle. YUM. The 100-mile diet is rocking already. Hook always rocks.

Quick!

2010-01-06T01:10:00.004-05:00

This'll be a short one. Spent a few hours after work today creaming butter by hand, though Drew said he'd give me an inherited hand mixer and so the days of hand-creaming are drawing to a close. Baked a belated birthday cake for Hook, complete with candles(!) The cake was a traditional "golden" cake (a la Mark Bittman) with Meyer lemon buttercream frosting. It turned out pretty well, though the frosting could have been a little stiffer. (That's what she said.)

God, I've just consumed so much butter, confectioner's sugar, and Tecate. We are sitting on the couch like a couple of old folks, listening to the Glands; my sugar rush is finally wearing off.

Thank god tomorrow's Wednesday, right? This weekend holds in store a trip to Berkeley, a trip to the Bi-Rite Creamery, and maybe a trip to Amoeba. Maybe also a trip to American Apparel: I need some sheerish v-necks.

Year of the Donut (and Pizza, and Cupcake...)

2010-01-03T21:27:00.004-05:00

Culinarily speaking, 2010 has been my best year ever - and we're only three days in! This weekend, Hook and I cooked some kick ass meals, discovered a few cute restaurants, watched a lot of Food Network (and recognized some SF eateries: hells yes), and hit the farmers' market. Highlights:

1) Returning from Kaiser yesterday, H and I grabbed lunch at Tony's Cable Car Restaurant (2500 Geary). He ordered the polish sausage, I the turkey burger; we shared fries. Yelp rates Tony's at 3.5 stars, and I'd be inclined to agree with the standing assessment: the staff were ueber-friendly (the old man at the counter praised my choice, then praised Hook's choice with equal gusto), the service was prompt, and the food was good: solid. Better than average for fast food, actually - the turkey burger was well-spiced and came on a legit wheat bun (as opposed to a dyed-brown white bun). Hook was disappointed that his sausage came with lots of fixins' (mustard, shredded iceberg, and an inexplicably grand amount of pickles), but enjoyed the meal nonetheless. I'll be back, probably the next time I'm picking up a prescription...

2) En route to BB&B ("Bed, Bath, and Beyond") yesterday afternoon, I spotted a cupcake bakery, smack in the middle of the deserted street! The bakery's door was open; the proprietress saw me look in and beckoned me forth. Not one to resist the offer of baked goods (even if the "offer" is really "the availability of nice-looking baked goodies for sale"), I (and H) went in. The shop offered about eight different flavors of homemade cupcakes, including a few basics like red velvet and straight-up chocolate, and some more esoteric varieties. Hook chose the root beer float; after some classic "man v. self" internal struggle, I went with the "pancake breakfast," a pancake-flavored cupcake (with bits of bacon incorporated into the batter) topped with maple-buttercream frosting. Holy mother of god: I could eat a pile of these cupcakes. It's good that Cups and Cakes Bakery is in the middle of SOMA, else I'd become a regular. And nobody needs that much bacon and maple buttercream frosting.

3) Saturday night, we made carne asada for dinner. I don't know if we were just ueber hungry or whether the fajita marinade we used was more-than-typically impressive, but Hook claims that this was the best meal he's eaten in months.

4) Not having tired of eating and cooking (ha!), I made buttermilk pancakes with blackberry compote for breakfast today (recipes from Mark Bittman and the Food Network website, respectively). The compote turned out so well, in fact, that I wanted to include the recipe here:

Blackberry Compote:

* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 2 cups blackberries, rinsed
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup blackberry or raspberry liqueur
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Heat the butter in a large saute pan over high heat until melted and bubbly. Add the berries and saute for 2 minutes. Add the sugar and liqueur and cook until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. (Be careful: The liqueur may ignite. If it does, cool the berry mixture until the flames die down.) Add the ginger and cinnamon, mix well, and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer. Let cool for about 5 minutes.

I didn't have any liqueur so I subbed in orange juice, which seemed to work well. The original recipe (part of a larger recipe for panna cotta with compote, actually) suggested the compote be topped with fresh whipped cream, which I also recommend (and which suggestion I did not follow). Hell yes!

5) This weekend of epicurean delights closed with dinner tonight: homemade pizza topped with fresh mozzarella, Nameko mushrooms, and beautiful greens (topped with tiny yellow flowers) purchased at the farmers' market. Hook made the crust according to Mark Bittman's recipe; he added half a teaspoon of black pepper to the dough. And now, after a delicious, mostly-local dinner, I'm sitting back with a beer, preparing for the coming week.

Our ginger entry into the new year.

2010-01-02T11:44:00.004-05:00

Just checked out my post from last New Year's, and it is a bit curmudgeonly, isn't it? My only resolutions for 2009 (or "pseudoresolutions," as they might more accurately be termed) were to sort through my papers with greater diligence and to floss more frequently. That's it? That's all I was able to come up with? Anyway, I think I flossed more regularly this year. I'm pretty sure that I did. Let's check that one off the imagined to-do list.

Re: my other yearly goal - to read 50 books - I almost succeeded. I finished 49. This is what happened: on December 30th, I began reading "The Abstinence Teacher" (which I don't recommend, but I've always been curious to read something by Tom Perrotta and this book was in the bargain section @ Barnes and Noble so I thought What the hell...). On the 31st, I spent most of the day at the airport or in flight, and I finished reading this novel with 1.5 hours left until I touched down in SF. Perfect amount of time to read "69 Love Songs," I thought, but I'd tucked "69" in the small pocket of my backpack, which was crammed into the overhead compartment. The overhead compartment had closed with only great cajoling on the part of two stewardesses and I didn't want to pop it open only to have to ask for assistance to close it again. Hella long story short, I did not read that final book, and I fell one volume short of my goal. Still, 49 is a decent number of books to read; I'm feeling good about reaching my goal this year.

I realized yesterday that most of the blogs in my "Friends and Neighbors" section are dead. It's a little ghost town over there! And as much as I like prairie dogs and tumbleweed, I feel unnerved that my "friends" section is dominated by links to ghost blogs. What to do? Must I prune? Should I hold out hope for people who haven't updated in like, nine months? (Probably not, but I'm a fighter. Or a resuscitator.)

Going to hunt down a recipe for Coca-cola cake (to be made for Hook's birthday weekend!), then wash a big pile of dishes.

Goals

2009-12-30T09:57:00.004-05:00

It is that time again: the time to make resolutions for the new year. In the past, I've been a bit curmudgeonly about the process of resolution making, denouncing it as nothing more than the result of overzealous optimism (which is usually depleted by early March, if not sooner). This year, perhaps owing to my cultivation of a brighter outlook, or perhaps due to my setting my sights on more realistic achievements, I have a different take. I'm not as crabby! I've already started working on these projects (or goals, if you'd like)! Here, then, is a list of what I'd like to accomplish in 2010:

1) Run a 10K by late fall

This seems doable, right? I think so - as long as my left knee and/or right foot don't give me any trouble. I'm planning to run two (three?) 5Ks prior to running a 10K, beginning with the Kaiser Permanente 5K in early February.

2) Read 50 books

Reading 50 books was a goal of mine this year and I'm SO CLOSE to finishing. (Note: as of this writing, I've read 48 full books and am working on the 49th. The 50th is going to be short, though the 49th, Tom Perotta's "The Abstinence Teacher," is loooong.) Fifty doesn't sound like a lot, does it? This year, between finishing and defending my thesis, moving x-country a few times, and plunking into the "real world," I decided otherwise. Maybe next year I'll aim for 75.

3) Make my own cheese

A goal inspired in part by a chapter in "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," in part by my growing fascination with learning to cook everything and using local ingredients. My sister is skeptical about the quality of my yet-to-be-made cheese, but I am so stoked! I just ordered my cheese making manual on Amazon; until its arrival, I will fill the dairy void with Babybel and selections from the Haight St. Market.

Those are my main goals. There will be others, yes, smaller and subtler and less public than the ones just presented, but if I accomplish these three things in the coming year, I will be happy.

Happy upcoming 2010, friends!

Delay.

2009-12-26T21:42:00.002-05:00

Ah, yes: it has been almost two weeks since I've posted. A busy two weeks, mind you (but aren't most weeks busy?), but that's still no excuse for the ueberdelay in blogging. Maybe it is? I haven't felt super updatey recently, until now. And now, here I am! Things are running smoothly here in the T.C. Yas.

I returned to Minnesota to spend winter break with my mom and sis and the visit (thus far) has been awesome! Hook flew back with me and spent the first five days of vaca here, in Coon Rapids. We accomplished a lot during those first days of break. For example, we:

- Went to the Russian Museum of Art (the existence of which was unknown to me until like, a week ago) and saw the Matrushka Doll exhibit.

- Made four types of truffles (honey lemon, Jack Daniel's, cinnamon, and almond), gingerbread cookies, and sugar cookies, all from scratch

- Reluctantly watched "The Proposal," all the while wondering how Sandra Bullock's career has not altogether perished by this point in time

- Walked to my favorite childhood bakery (Hans'), which is 4.3 miles away from my house and not easily accessible via sidewalk.

- Enjoyed lunchberts and boneless wings at the local BWW, which I'd never previously visited.

My favorite part of Hook's visit was the trip to Hans'. I'm a sucker for long walks (round trip was an estimated eight miles) and for donuts, and I hadn't been back to Hans' in at least three years (but probably longer). The shop was exactly as I remembered: dimly-lit, with raggy carpet, wood-paneled walls and orange Formica booths. Because we'd gotten a later start than initially planned, we arrived at 1:00. The dining room was empty. I ordered my favorite donut (chocolate long john with custard filling) and a coffee, which tasted like watery instant coffee. The donut was trans-fatted perfection.

***

The house is quiet. I just put some laundry in and am eating a small dish of assorted licorices. Oh, licorice, how delicious you are. Hook's taste in Old Man Candy is rubbing off on me.

***

I realized that the reason this font never posts correctly when I blog from my mom's computer is that I'm forced to use Safari instead of Firefox. Still, I blog. What a convoluted sentence followed by a fine, declarative sentence!

This is where we walked today:

2009-12-13T00:41:00.002-05:00

View Larger Map

2009-12-12T13:31:00.002-05:00

Breakfast success: Cap'n Crunch pancakes. Well, pancake: I made a regular batch + one CC pancake at the very end, with what remained of the batter - this in case the cerealcake was a total flop - but oh, man! I have to say this was one of my better breakfast innovations.

I was a little shocked to realize that I'll be heading back to MN in just under a week. How did Xmas sneak up on me so? Accomplished: the beginning of Xmas shopping. To-be accomplished: the rest of Xmas shopping, the purchase/writing/sending of Xmas cards, the finding of my stocking somewhere in my piles of stuff. How did I lose my stocking? What is going on?

Last night, Hook and I strolled down to Murio's after dinner, dessert, and book shopping on Haight. As it so happens, yesterday was Murio's 50th anniversary party, complete with decorations, a buffet of fried things, and a DJ whose lineup included only 80s megahits. The bar was a little more crowded than usual (not much), but the relatively sparse crowd did not surprise me: it was, after all, Murio's.

I need to download Skype.

Just an ordinary day.

2009-12-06T22:53:00.003-05:00

So here it is, Sunday evening, and I am not even too sad that the week is about to start. True, I am still afflicted by the Cold of Death (though I am recovering), and true, I still have laundry to do. But the weekend was so lovely and relaxing that my typical Monday-induced anxiety has dissipated - temporarily, at least. Weekend highlights:

1) Friday night, Hook and I went to La Trappe, a Belgian restaurant in North Beach. I was super excited about this meal, not only because I dig frites with multiple dipping sauces (wasabi mayo, anyone?), but also because I hella heart Belgian beer. The fries did not disappoint, nor did the Affligem blonde. Bonus: I ordered grilled veggies and polenta that were garnished with blood orange reduction, which was awesome.

2) Yesterday evening, after dinner with Suzy and Turtle, Hook and I completed three New York Times crossword puzzles in good time. One of these puzzles was a Wednesday. My helpfulness in the completion of these puzzles was aided greatly by my consumption of two-buck chuck and ginger candies.

3) This morning, H and I finally made it to Zazie, which is widely considered one of the better brunch locales in the city. Our trip there required some planning; during past weekends, we'd shown up around 10:30 only to be greeted by a redonkulous line. Today, we arrived at 9:50ish and were seated right away(!) The dining room was small but bright (via skylight); each table had homemade preserves and ketchup. As it turns out, Hook and I ordered the exact same breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, and one pancake - but not an ordinary pancake! Rather, a gingerbread pancake with lemon curd and a bosc pear wedge. Oh god: this was the most memorable carb-centered experience of my life. Those who know me know that I rarely finish a restaurant portion of anything, but today I ate that whole pancake. (Aside: the eggs were a tad underdone: so noticeably so that I did not eat them, although I did pepper and mash them to make it look like I'd taken some good bites.)

4) I finally started my Christmas shopping! This probably doesn't deserve an exclamation point, but I tossed one in there, anyway, because I'm typically an Xmas slacka. Self-affirmation is good.

The upcoming week will include my hunt for a gingerbread pancake recipe, my wearing of gloves (another weekend accomplishment: the purchase of gloves), and the beginning of the Xmas card writing process, maybe. First, I have to find cards...

2009-11-27T23:46:00.003-05:00

Wow: I have never before encountered standing water that smells so much like turkey fat.
Yes, that's right: Thanksgiving dishes were left in the sink until just now. An uncharacteristic move, yes, but I am suffering a new permutation of the Cold of Death and after yesterday's ueberfeast was unable to do anything but watch an On-demanded Sesame Street movie. Gosh.

***

Where were we? It has been an eventful, eventful month. Recalling Halloween, Ali and Kit visited for just the weekend. Friday, we dined at Ploy II Thai (the selfsame place where I ate my first SF dinner(!)) and then spent some quality time at Murio's and Hobson's Choice. (Aside: quality time is rare at Murio's - much of the time I've spent there feels idle, but there have been a few enjoyable trips.) Stumbling up the stairs, we tore into the Jack-O-Lantern-shaped loaf from Boudin, then fell into bed. Saturday was bagels, Bank of America, a random mosey into the Lower Haight, and then a trip to Chinatown. I love Chinatown, though every time I've gone I feel I've gotten lost: that I can't quite make my way out. Perhaps that's part of its appeal? Picked up an adorable pandapple aluminum water bottle and a panda pile for Hook, mused over area bakeries. Ali, in an attempt to sate my unending sweet tooth, pointed out a seeming bakery called "Paradise of Heaven," only to discover that it was actually a butcher shop, flanks and sides and heads all laid out in a case of green plastic garnish.
Sunday was brunch with my housemates, a mess of French toast and jars of jam all laid out on a lazy-Susan. We drank mimosas in the living/dining room, sat on hard-backed chairs and made the most polite of conversations. Then, afterward, we went to the Ferry Building and Fisherman's Wharf. Sampled blood orange olive oil and truffle salt (oh.my.god.) and Ali bought a tote bag, as is her way, and Fisherman's Wharf was exactly as it always was. We had a terrible mediocre dinner at Wipeout!, then fro-yo with piles of stale gummi candy while we sat at a table gooey with melt. By the time we reached the water it was dark out, but we could hear the sea lions barking, and we could smell them.

***

The next weekend, Hook and I attended Jaime and Matthew's wedding(!) A belated congratulations to J & M(!!!) I hadn't been to St. Louis since...2005? Or maybe late-late 2004: the precise date is anyone's guess. At any rate, I was excited to see which of my memories held true, and which were mostly fabrications. I was able to recognize several streets, several shops (though some of the restaurants I'd once used as landmarks have since closed), and, of course, Kopperman's. (!!!! for Kopperman's.) Got a volume of Vonnegut at Left Bank Books and felt odd in the unseasonable 70 degrees, wearing a sleeveless dress in the true autumn.

***

I'd been looking forward to Thanksgiving for some time, this excitement owing to the prospect of cooking a large, butter-laden meal according to the old traditional recipes. Ah, butter! Only a few times a year do I enjoy you in such a carefree manner! H and I teamed up with Sabina and Thomas to host dinner: the event proper was at Sabina's, but H and I cooked a turkey (complete with a stuffing of aromatic veggies and a spice rub), stuffing (mom's recipe), two types of cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and gravy. The pie didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped: the filling didn't totally set - this, I think, a result of my cooking two pies at once (and perhaps for too short a time? by five minutes or so?). But it was tasty and, as one guest remarked, not unlike a pumpkin shake. The stuffing was so similar to my mom's, despite my use of only half the butter called for in the recipe. (Aside: the original recipe calls for two sticks of butter per recipe of stuffing. WHAT??? So I subbed in some low-sodium chix broth.) In all, a memorable meal, sipping malbec and musing over who might win this season's Top Chef, then retiring to the sofas for some post-indulgence TV.

***

That's mostly to the present, sort-of. There are other tidbits, of course. I got short bangs cut after seeing "An Education" and being uebersmitten with Carey Mulligan's hairdo. I registered for my first 5K, which will take place in two weeks. (Eeek.) I am now suffering the worst cold of my lyfe and am chugging diet Canada Dry like it's my job, and thank god it's a long weekend. I'd otherwise be so toast.

I don't know...

2009-11-14T00:43:00.002-05:00

Can you blame a lady for slouching? And the shirt isn't so bad...

Real update to follow, I promise.

2009-10-25T11:40:00.004-04:00

And it's Sunday again. The weekends seem to pass more quickly: perhaps because I have more obligations (perceived or otherwise)? This weekend, though, has been exceptionally productive:

1) Friday, the Blue Velvet party went [mostly] as planned. Hook made the cupcakes (delicious!), and instead of watching the movie, we had homemade egg rolls. Later, I picked up H's guitar and played the few things I remembered from when I took lessons, these being three chords + the pentatonic scales. But Hook found the tab for Bach's Bourree in E Minor, which I'm going to learn & which will be my formal reintroduction to guitar playing(!)

2) We finally made it to the MOMA, where we saw the Avedon exhibit, as well as this. The P_Wall reminded us both of Joe Page's work, though Page is way, way better.

3) Last night we went for the first time to the Roller Derby! Our initial lack of comprehension of the rules did not damper our enthusiasm for the sparkly pseudoviolence that transpired. Highlights included the $5 beer + shot value combo (holla for value) and the Rocketdog booth where one could sign up to foster (adorable) homeless dogs. And the derby, of course.

***

This morning had the chilliness of a real fall morning. I'm going to hold off on using my heater until the temperatures drop further.

Worst day ever, part two?

2009-10-19T21:44:00.004-04:00

NO. It was actually a pretty good day. Though I woke up late, I managed to get out of the house on time - and with good hair! And not having skipped breakfast or percolated coffee! The students were awesome: one talked to me all through recess, telling me what to expect at this weekend's Fall Fair, and I was invited to sit at the coolest lunch table while I was on lunch duty (the sitting being an arguable dereliction of duty, but whatevs). The rainstorm that gathered in the late afternoon cleared before I walked home, and I bought the best-ever Mountain Goats EP on iTunes. I am listening to said EP at the moment. I have a red velvet cupcake waiting for me in the fridge.

What detracted from this pleasant day, you might wonder? PARKING TICKETS. I just paid $199 in parking fines and I am not pleased about it. This beer is helping, but not enough. Oh, San Francisco, I love everything about you but your pigeons and your redonkulously-strict parking regulations!

Major plus and major spoiler alert for those living in this metro area who will be hanging out with us this weekend (i.e., Drew): Hook is going to throw a Blue Velvet party at which we will watch "Blue Velvet," eat blue velvet cupcakes, and drink PBR. Win(!!!).

Slowly, I am joining the rest of the human race.

2009-10-17T15:21:00.005-04:00

Most excellent news: I'm one step closer to becoming a functioning member of society! That is, I replaced my terrible Razr of Doom (which was killed in last week's giant rainstorm) with an iPhone. I realize I'm about two years late to this trend - as I am to most tech trends: oops - but this phone is so exciting. I mean, this morning, I looked up a pancake recipe on my phone! And bookmarked it! And then downloaded the Emoji app and sent some texts composed entirely of pastry icons! Such utility cannot be paralleled.

I did suffer - and indeed, am still suffering - a bout of guilt: that is, I felt slightly frivolous buying this phone. After all, it's doubtful that I actually need internet access at all times. But the iPhone is a beautiful object. Also, I get lost a lot, so the maps will help me. Also, the joy I felt yesterday sending texts was equal to the joy I felt when I sent my first-ever text message - and I haven't felt that way in a long time.

WORST DAY EVER.

2009-10-13T19:08:00.004-04:00

That bears repeating: worst day ever. I had no idea that SF could be considered a rain capital of the world, but so it can. (Aside: and of course I, not having packed thoughtfully, left all waterproof outerwear in Minnesota. DOI.) Going to work this morning, I got drenched. I'm not exaggerating: my shoes were completely sodden and my jeans were wet from the knees down. You may be wondering how this was even possible. Well, friends, I don't know. The rain was coming down in sheets & these sheets were blowing sideways in the wind, and my umbrella is basically decorative. Fortunately, today was my short day (school gets out at 1:05 instead of 3:15), so the agony of having wet feet was [mercifully] truncated.

BUT THEN. Oh, but then I called the district center to inquire after the paycheck I should have received last week (but didn't). The payroll person claims not to have received my time card, which I most certainly faxed on time! Not only did I fax this documentation on time, but I called the payroll coordinator to make sure the fax had gone through - and it had. Oy! So I will be getting paid sometime in the indeterminate future.

Still more shit hit the fan when my phone broke - the display just...went blank. Water damage, I think, from today's helladeluge. I called Verizon, only to discover that I can't buy a new phone without extending my mom's family-plan contract. (Aside: I am not allowed to extend this contract because my mom hates hates hates Verizon.) Verdict: I must keep this phone until February, when the contract expires.

Things are looking up, though. For one thing, I changed out of my wet clothes when I got home (again: DOI). My phone's display is better, I think, though I'm currently letting the phone and battery dry separately. And I'm going to buy a raincoat and rain boots online tonight: EMS is having a sale, y'all! And Target has a hella good selection of boots. There's not much that online shopping can't fix. Furthermore, I got not one but TWO letters in the mail, plus The Miracle of Mindfulness (which I'd recently ordered on Amazon). Score! The rain - at least, as it appears from my window - seems to be subsiding. I have some Mothership Wit in the fridge. Breathe. Repeat.

2009-10-12T18:52:00.005-04:00

First post from my new apartment! Yes, friends: I'm mostly moved in to my new place; I say "mostly" because I still have a big pile o' possessions (all my shoes minus three pairs, printer, FADO lamp, some coats, makeup, etcetcetc.) @ Hook's place. But, all my IKEA furniture is assembled and arranged, the boxes broken down and taken to the recycling barrel in the courtyard. So life is good.

Had the day off on account of Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day. Woke up at eight, made breakfast, had some coffee, hung the rest of my clothes in my closet. Met Hook for lunch and ate a chocolate croissant on the walk home. That croissant, though delicious, may have been a terrible idea: I'm not sure I'll be hungry for dinner. Oooops. I'm reading The Rules of Attraction and I alternate between semi-enjoying and loathing it. I don't so much dig multiple narrators, though I think the strategy works well here. (Aside: none of the narrators is vibrant enough to carry an entire novel-length narrative, don't you think?) Applied to a few editorial jobs: keep your fingers crossed.

Good news: Hook and I joined a gym! Bad news: the gym is far away (18th and Geary), so we might not go very often. Or ever. Just kidding: we will totally go. Good news: Pilates classes are included in the cost of the membership. Bad news: those classes are held when I'm at work.

I wish the sun would come out, but it's a bit late in the afternoon for that. Siiigh! Haven't given up hope yet, though - the weather here is krazy.

Tonight will bring the viewing of multiple "Office" episodes and an early bedtime. I'm so stoked.

My heart is buffered by particleboard.

2009-10-11T00:49:00.004-04:00

IKEA happened, and O what a trip it was! I am now the proud owner of a dresser, two [baby blue] Lack tables, a drying rack, a new down comforter/cover, some Lingonberry jam...the list goes on. As one might imagine, IKEA is not a fun place to be hungover. Then again, IKEA is never fun and hangovers are also never fun, and so the lack of enjoyment was totally predictable.
On the plus side, my room is almost fully furnished, and Hook and I split a "princess" cake at the IKEA cafe. The princess cake was like a Swedish Twinkie.

Hook and I were just discussing the time, way back when, when texting hadn't yet become an integral part of one's daily life. At the present time, I can't imagine a day without texting - it just sounds impossible, doesn't it? Yessssssss. And yet, there was a time (2005) when friends of ours did not have text plans. That's all. That's what I'm thinking about. I shouldn't be as flabbergasted as I am, but only about 10% of my brain is working right now.

Now I'm going to On-demand this week's "Top Chef" and drink at least two more cups of tea. Good evening to you.

2009-10-10T16:11:00.002-04:00

Indeed, it feels like the post-party afternoon that it is. Hook and I got the apartment cleaned up; Hook is napping. Still hoping to make it to IKEA before evening, but chances are slimmer than they were fourteen hours ago. Gah! I really need a dresser!
This is all.

Here's hoping I don't have swine flu.

2009-10-09T14:10:00.004-04:00

After some hemming and hawing (and some difficulty figuring out how to use the district's electronic substitute location system), I called in sick to work. Lame? Yes. You know what's also lame? This headache that feels like my brain is in a fish tank. Also this sinus revolt.

On the plus, we made banana chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Eating these, I felt momentarily better. Perhaps by this logic I should eat pancakes constantly until my flulike symptoms cease? Or until I explode? Which would precede the other? God, I need Day Quil, but I'm too tired and lazy and unshowered to move.

In other news, this weekend is the big IKEA trip/the final stage of my move to my new apartment(!) Most of my stuff is over there now (minus a bunch of clothes, my printer, and an adorable IKEA globe lamp), but I still need a few key pieces of furniture and a down comforter before I can call the place my own. I'm a bit concerned about what my new roommates think; I mean, I'll show up for a few hours, leave for a few days, show up for a few hours... I have no food in the fridge, toilet items on the bathroom shelf. Soon, though, it's gonna change. I can feel it.

And there is this: I have a Halloween costume planned. Sabina is lending me her slutty 1950s gal getup (shortshort poodle skirt, midriff sweater, neckerchief); Hook is going to wear a short-sleeved, collared shirt and a skinny tie. We'll be like, the NASA engineer + the NASA engineer's sexy wife, or something. Details to be ironed out.

Nostalgiafest, nostalgiafest, you are a part of my daily life.

2009-10-06T21:35:00.004-04:00

Though I haven't actually stayed [overnight] at my new apartment, my room is certainly feeling homier. This afternoon, I spent the longest amount of time at said new place that I've ever spent there (i.e., three hours); during this time, I was able to install a custom-cut dowel in my closet, unpack almost all of my clothes, sort these clothes into categories (and hang ten items in the closet - have to retrieve the other hangers from my car), unpack all my books and arrange them into neat stacks in the "reading nook," and decorate the large, blank wall. By "decorate" I mean "create an elaborate framework of postcards using landlord-denied thumbtacks." OK, so I don't know for sure if thumbtacks are a no-no, but wait 'til I post a photo of the postcard wall: you will undoubtedly agree that it is any landlord's nightmare. HA.

As tends to happen when I'm packing/unpacking, I got distracted and managed to look through an entire scrapbook whose contents date from September 2002 - May 2007. Oh, holy nostalgiafest. It's difficult for me to fathom my own prior meticulousness re: saving and chronologically-ordering scraps, stubs, and emails; in some ways, I wish I still saved everything, though I'm not sure I would now make the time for such preservationist activities. Reading through five years' of emails was lovely and difficult: I was reminded of how giddy I once was, irrational and rash. Striking, how these years-old messages shed light on current relationships.

Alignment.

Time now to make dinner, something quick. Sauteed swiss chard (sans sweet potatoes) and pasta with sauteed chicken and zucchini. And a Hoegaarden, for good measure. Why not? It's Tuesday.

A few observations:

2009-10-05T20:32:00.002-04:00

1) Though regular Altoids are gross, dark chocolate Altoids are god's gift to humanity.

2) One should not chew nicotine gum as though it were regular gum.

3) Getting a full night's sleep really improves one's energy level/general outlook.

2009-10-04T22:48:00.004-04:00

Pretty much every weekend I've spent in SF has been awesome, but this one rocked my face off. (Well, parts of it rocked my face off and parts were just really annoying, but I'm trying not to focus on the annoyances.) Highlights:

1) Saturday afternoon, I accompanied Drew and Chad to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, where we caught the end of the Old 97's set and a good portion of Gillian Welch's. (Aside: I think there should be an additional apostrophe after the 's' in 'Old 97's,' but since I'm not sure I'm going to omit it. And for this you may criticize me.) I was really impressed by the festival, as comparatively little of it as I saw - the lineup was solid, the crowd was wicked diverse (= a gathering of young hippies, yuppie parents struggling to weave jogging strollers through the masses, random middle-aged couples smoking from odd little pipes, bromancing frat guys: you name it), and the signage was more than adequate. We drank Olde English and Jaeger and squinted against the dust clouds being raised by the crowd's shuffle, and it was good.

2) Miike Snow. Holy god, this was the best show I've seen in like, five years. Following the festival and appropriate afterpartylike activities, we headed to Bottom of the Hill to see Loquat/Jack Penate/Miike Snow. Loquat (whose work I'd never previously heard) was kind of so-so: reminiscent of the Cardigans but not as good (at least, this was the judgment I made as I listened to their set from the courtyard). Jack Penate's songs were dancy and filled with lovely harmonies/awesome tambourine action. And Miike Snow was better than even I'd predicted: they opened with 'Silvia' and the crowd went nuts, and stayed nuts through the set. I've never seen a crowd so engaged; the word I used yesterday - maudlin, and perhaps too-strongly influenced by all those Stoli Raz & sodas, but I'll mention it nonetheless - was breathtaking. I stand by that description: I haven't felt so giddy at a concert since I was 19. Was a bit disappointed that they didn't play 'A Horse is Not a Home,' but as Drew so aptly noted, the slow songs really seemed to grab the ladies' attention. Well & good.

3) Hook and I found out that we were the winners of the RecipeHacking pizza competition(!) It feels good to win something, even something in which our participation was remote [geographically]. I'm excited to see what the next challenge will be.

4) This isn't really a highlight (lowlight, perhaps?), but I made a big Target trip today and dragged Drew along for moral support/driving guidance. (Aside: those of you who know me know that I'm a solid driver under normal circumstances, but there are no normal circumstances in California. Therefore, whenever I take my car out, I enlist the help of Hook or Drew so that I don't literally crash & burn.) The trip was mostly successful; that is, I got 85% of the stuff on my list and avoided [was steered away from] the Halloween candy aisle. But, the drive back into the city took an ass long time, and finding a parking spot took one hour. This is not an exaggeration: this is the god's honest truth. Now you know why I'm trying to sell my car.

This week, I'll finish moving into my new place, look for a part-time job, continue working toward my reading goal, and cook some fall dishes (acorn squash, I'm looking at you). I've finally gotten out of my penpallery rut, so check your mailboxes soon(!)

Finally, I've just eaten an obscene amount of granola. Obscene!

2009-10-02T22:28:00.005-04:00

God, when did it get dark out?

Today was field trip day for the fourth graders. The destination? Day one of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival(!) If you think that taking 20 rowdy nine-year-olds to a festival sounds like a crazy idea - well, you're right. Kids were running and screaming and tearing their sandwiches to pieces and throwing these pieces in the air, and it was altogether a great time. MC Hammer played, and the class (though most of them had little to no idea who he was) went nuts. S. (the student teacher) and I milled and chatted and tried to prevent kids from running into the "woods." When we returned to school, the class had recess, free reading time, and more recess.

When I was in elementary school, we did not take cool field trips. Once, we went to the wastewater processing plant, but that's all I remember.

Day one of the move went well, though I have to buy a bunch of stuff (mattress pad, bookshelf, dowel for the closet, cushions for the mission chair) to make my room fully livable. I'm excited, though - I'm going to have a reading/plant nook!

On which note: time to kill that anthology.

Moving Day.

2009-10-01T10:18:00.002-04:00

This is my fifth week in San Francisco. I'm beginning to feel settled, in small ways: I've established grocery shopping habits, have been to the dentist, can navigate the bus system without disastrous results. Today I begin the process of moving into my own apartment (i.e., room), which will undoubtedly increase my sense of settled-ness while subtly disturbing it - after all, I do have to repack and re-move all my stuff, then unpack, identify, sort, tidy. I'll eventually venture to IKEA. The grocery store, to buy a duplicate bottle of honey, and Bed Bath & Beyond for bed linens and an extra towel.

I don't know if my new place has a coffeemaker, but this will be one of the first things I find out.

Ice cream dream/the beginning of the reversal of seafood hatred.

2009-09-27T11:01:00.004-04:00

Yesterday had many highlights, among them my acquisition of an Amy Hempel collection at Half-Price Books, our eating lunch on a median with a handful of other pizza enthusiasts, and my discovery that I actually like salmon (more on this later), but the highest highlight was a visit to Ici in Berkeley. Ohhhhhhh, man: their ice cream was the best I've had in a long time, if not ever*. I had a scoop of creme fraiche-muscat in a cone, and I did truly feel that, were the confection somehow endlessly self-replenishing, I could have eaten it forever. The flavors were so subtle (especially the muscat), and the texture of the ice cream was beautiful and velvety. The cone, too, was the best of its kind that I've ever tasted - it reminded me in some ways of a pizzelle, and the chocolate in the tip was fresh and creamy. Sigh. I had bites of the wildflower honey and Thai curry-candied peanut creams, too, and both were equally well-crafted.

Part of Ici's appeal, I think, beyond the outstanding quality of the product, is the establishment's presentation. Flawlessly neat, with white-tiled walls and the daily ice-cream flavors displayed (individually) in ribbon-strung picture frames, the shop is quaint and precious (in a good way: only in a good way) without being overwhelmingly so. It felt like a confectionery should: dainty and neat and a little bit frilly.

But enough about that: major discovery: I like salmon(!) Here's how the revelation came about: H and I went to dinner at Adam and Jen's last night, and they prepared salmon as a main course. Never a rude dinner guest, I told them that I love salmon though I did harbor a secret fear about eating such a large fillet. Well, folks: success. I discovered that salmon tastes good, that I do not (as previously thought) dislike it. What's next? Oysters?
I'm kidding! I will hate oysters forever!

Coffee time.

*Sebastian Joe's in Minneapolis and Herrell's in Northampton, MA give Ici a run for its money (esp. S.J.'s), but in a throwdown, I'm confident that Ici would blow both out of the water.

ALSO:

2009-09-23T19:57:00.002-04:00

I started work this week. No longer a member of the pseduo-leisure-class, baby!

2009-09-23T19:32:00.005-04:00

So I'm a little behind with the weekend update (oops), but there is so much to report that I'm going to post, dubious though this move is. Ahem:

1) Saturday, I went to visit my new apartmentmates/discuss house policies/write a check for my first/last months' rent + security deposit. My new apartmentmates all seem chill - a good balance of personable and reserved - and everyone is environmentally-conscious and tidy. So that's good. Even better? My rent is actually $280 less per month than I was initially told. What? Here's the scoop: the rent listed in the craigslist ad was not the real value (which, if posted, might have elicited responses far too numerous to even be considered). The apartment is rent-controlled, and M. (one of the housemates) has been living there for 15-odd years, so...yes. I was ecstatic to make this discovery.

2) More apartment-related joys: my room is partially furnished, and the lease is month-to-month(!)

3) Also on Saturday, H and I walked to the ocean. I didn't walk down on the beach, not wanting to get sand in my shoes, but bonfire plans are in the making. BONFIRE!

4) Finally saw "Away We Go," which I found alternately grating and kinda amusing. Let it be said that Jon Krasinski is cute but a terrible actor, and that Maya Rudolph is cute and a better actress. Let it also be said that I went into this movie-viewing experience with small hopes, knowing that this movie might be a total let-down but not wanting this to be so. Pros: the soundtrack, the scene in which the plane moves across the face of a mirrored skyscraper, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as a Madison hippie (love!). Cons: the sermonlike/stilted/otherwise awkward dialogue, John Krasinski's total inability to play a character other than John Krasinski, Rudolph's character's (already forgot her name) staunch opposition to Marriage in General (which came across as insincere). I don't know: this movie wasn't terrible, but I expected more from Eggers and Mendes. Did we really need to be deposited at the [very literal] doorsteps of various families/couples to observe and critique their interaction styles? Frankly, I didn't see the point, which leads to my biggest con: where was the conflict? Ostensibly, the main couples' primary obstacle was finding the perfect home while coping with uncertainty (gah), but really? Is that it?

I don't know: maybe I'm used to more problems - or more pressing ones - but this narrative just felt like a big pile of wishy-washy and rigidly-controlled zaniness.

5) Sunday was the Heart of Cole Festival, a street fair celebrating Cole Valley/local artists/residents of this area/and so forth. We went for a bit in the early afternoon to look at the antique cars and the vendors' booths. Lots of adorable screen-printed tees and totes, semi-precious jewelry. H got a sausage and I got a chocolate croissant, and the sun was out, and I couldn't think of any way that the afternoon could be better.

6) OK, so this isn't about the weekend, but tonight is a (mini) dinner party and the Jonathan Richman show. Here's to midweek festivities! (Read also: Isn't My Life Enviable?)

Yahoo has it all wrong:

2009-09-19T11:43:00.003-04:00

Drew Barrymore's dress is awesome. Ditto her eyeliner. And that is all.

Total pizza bliss

2009-09-18T16:30:00.009-04:00

Yesterday's pizza experiment was an astonishing success. I say "astonishing" not because I lack confidence in my/H's cooking skillz, but because the pizza far exceeded our (moderately-high) expectations. Without further ado, here's the method we followed to produce the bad boy featured at left.

First, the dough. I'd never made pizza dough from scratch before and was indeed a bit intimidated about the prospect - but, as it turns out, this fear was unfounded. The recipe I used is really quite simple:

Ingredients

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons white sugar

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups bread flour, olive oil, salt, white sugar and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine. Beat well until a stiff dough has formed. Cover and rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Form dough into a round and roll out into a pizza crust shape. Cover with your favorite sauce and toppings and bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
We made a few amendments to this recipe - I let the dough rise for an hour (or just over), having consulted with my mom (a pizza making veteran), who correctly advised that half an hour isn't a long enough rising time. Also, we baked the pizza at 400 degrees, but that's putting the cart before the horse...

Rather than using a tomato-based sauce, we made a fig pesto. H followed Epicurious' classic pesto recipe and added five fresh mission figs, chopped coarsely.

Classic Pesto Recipe @ Epicurious Ingredients

4 cups fresh basil leaves (from about 3 large bunches)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated pecorino Sardo or Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Directions

Combine first 4 ingredients in blender. Blend until paste forms, stopping often to push down basil. Add both cheeses and salt; blend until smooth. Transfer to small bowl.

While H made the pesto, I rolled out the dough and placed it on a greased pan. We then topped the dough with the pesto, chevre (about 5 oz.), crumbled feta (1/3 cup or so), sliced white mushrooms, sliced figs (three), a chicken breast that had been sauteed in olive oil with black pepper and rosemary and then chopped, and a wee bit of grated Parmesan. The pizza baked for 22 minutes at 400; the crust was lightly browned and perfectly chewy, and the cheese melted evenly. This was total pizza heaven and a great way of using fresh figs.

One small note: in case you're wondering, the other half of the pizza was a traditional Margherita, made with one heirloom and one Roma tomato. Why make a split pizza, you ask? Having just whipped up the fig pesto idea (and not knowing if the flavors of that pizza would complement one another), we wanted to have a backup pizza in case the experimental one totally sucked. Which it did not, but, you know: precautions.

On that note, make some fig pesto this weekend! You will be filled with so much joy.

I'll eat the chocolate hidden in the fridge.

2009-09-16T20:49:00.008-04:00

It's been a week of culinary excitement! Highlights:

1) This weekend was the annual Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival. Did I plan my weekend around this event? Um, yes. Initially, H and I had planned to go only Saturday, but as it so happened we could not manage to eat fifteen chocolate samples in one afternoon and so we also attended on Sunday. (Aside: I was surprised by my inability to eat fifteen samples in one go. For one, chocolate is one of my favorite foodstuffs, and for another, I've been known to consume prodigious quantities, of chocolate & otherwise.) Without meaning to sound like a betch, I'm not fond of Ghirardelli - it's like a less waxy Hershey's with sliiiightly better packaging - but fortunately, the festival included tons of booths from local vendors. Here's a comprehensive list of what we sampled/who provided it:

- Ganache truffles (Ana Mandara)
- Chocolate martinis (Boomerang Vodka)
- Chocolate Hazelnut gelato (Ciao Bella Gelato)
- Chocolate stuffed marshmallows (Gued Fued)
- Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting (Kara's Cupcakes)
- Brownie bites (Sugar Bowl Bakery)
- Raspberry Rooibos-infused dark chocolate (The Tea Room Chocolates)
- Double chocolate pancakes and vanilla pancakes with chocolate butter (Bo's Best Pancakes)
- Chocolate-dipped pumpkin marshmallows (Pete's Gourmet Confections)
- An unknown gelato made of whole milk, sugar, and chocolate nibs (Gelateria Naia)
- Chocolate malts (Lori's Diner)
- A host of inferior Ghirardelli products

Of the abovementioned items, my favorites were the cupcake and the tea-infused chocolate bar. The cupcake was moist and the frosting was buttery and pure. (I'm salivating just recalling it.) Least-favorites included the martini, which was watery, and the chocolate-dipped pumpkin marshmallow, which was just too sweet - even for my forgiving tastes. Needless to say, I'll be returning to the festival next year.

2) Just before hitting up the festival, we got brunch at the Pork Store. I'd heard a lot about this diner (all good, minus the extravagant wait on weekends) and am a fan of greasy breakfast grub, and I approached the counter with reverence and raised expectations. Were I to rate the dining experience using the letter grading system, I'd give it a B. The food: pretty tasty - I ordered the "Eggs in a Tasty Nest," two eggs scrambled with assorted veggies on a bed of hash browns, accompanied by toast. The browns were as I like them (crispy), the eggs were eggs, but the veggies were super greasy - the tomatoes (which probably don't belong in scramblers in the first place due to their high water content) were sodden, and the other vegetables were just loaded with oil. The atmosphere: meh. The dining room wasn't as crowded as I expected it to be, our waitress was moderately surly (forgivably so), but the restaurant was ueber-humid and I left with frizzy hair and smelling of bacon. Sexxxy. I'll probably go back, but I sure as hell won't wait for an hour.

3) Tomorrow, H and I are going to prepare a pizza for entry in the latest RecipeHacking challenge. The basic premise of the group is to rework common recipes in a manner that makes them healthier and using sustainable/eco-friendly(-ier) ingredients. This month's challenge is pizza, and we have an awesome idea: rather than using a tomato-based sauce (or creating a white pie), we're going to make a fig pesto. Yum. Toppings: chevre, mushrooms, finely-diced dried apricots, and possibly roasted garlic. And anything else that strikes our fancy. There is the chance that this recipe could totally bomb (and we're having company), in which case: takeout. There's always takeout.

2009-08-27T20:05:00.003-04:00

The past week has been frantic, dreamy, and red-eyed: my experience seems to belong solely to me, is fragmentary, is impossible to reproduce in words. Here are some key points, anyway:

1) I drove 1,983 miles in three days, stopping over in Loveland, CO and Winnemucca, NV. The next time I attempt such a drive (or anything approximating it), somebody stop me. I'd never driven through the west and it is beautiful - Utah, especially, bleached and treed - but long. So very long. To amuse myself during the trip, I listened to the big stack of mix CDs Ali burned for me, listened to Dave Sedaris reading his own work, and thought of amusing potential resumes for various musical artists whose songs popped up in my shuffle.

Winnemucca was marginally sketchy; my hotel was attached to a casino, as were all the hotels in that town, and it was strange to see people gambling at 9:00 on a Sunday morning. The casino itself isn't what made me uneasy about the hotel, rather, the fact that I found 1) a yellow peanut M&M just under my bed and 2) a HAIR on my bedside table. Unsanitary! Naturally, my fear of potentially-unwashed hotel linens prevented me from having a good night's sleep/enjoying my shower the next day.

2) So far this week, I've had two actual job interviews, one interview that I canceled, and one interview that canceled on me. I've been offered two jobs, both of which I'll have to turn down because they aren't practical - but I'm off to a good start. (!)

3) I love the fog, the disproportionate number of Bernese Mountain dogs, and the preponderance of neon-hued leggings and Ray Bans here. Also, I ate the best burrito of my life.

4) Wrapped in an oversized hoodie, shivering into the night breeze, I smoked a cigarette on the fire escape. I feel solid about my plans.

2009-08-19T17:53:00.002-04:00

Friday I leave for California. It's a prospect both exciting and terrifying, this new life plan of mine: on one hand, I'm thrilled to be relocating to an excellent city (or, excellent in my limited experience of it, which included sea lion sightings, five ice cream cones, several hours in Chinatown, and a massive hangover). On the other, I'm worried that I might become a pauper, as my dad suggested. Scratch that: there shall be no pauperdom! Indeed, I have a job interview the day after my arrival, and another potential employer called this afternoon while I was napping.

The bad news: I think my car is falling apart. This morning, I took the Golden Chariot in for an oil change, and afterward the mechanic told me that, actually, truthfully, my car needs massive repairs. The conversation went something like this:

Mechanic: So, yeah, we did the oil change, but there are some other problems...

Me: Oh?

Mechanic: Well, there's some corrosion on the battery, and your alternator belt is massively cracked, and also, did you know that your check engine light is on?

Me: Yeah, it's been on for a year.

Mechanic: Well, the light is there to signal a problem.

Me: [Staring sternly] Yes. I took it to the dealership a few times and had them shut it off.

Mechanic: So, the alternator belt...

Me: I'm in the middle of moving, so I'll think about it.

At this point, I grabbed my keys and ran [walked briskly out of the lobby]. Haunted by visions of being stranded in the desert, surrounded by vultures and tumbleweed, I took my car to my mom's [reputable] mechanic to get the alternator belt replaced. If all else (or anything else) fails, I have AAA.

Ali (who was there to witness the entire above-mentioned exchange) posits that the mechanic was actually hitting on me, to which I must respond: the worst way to hit on someone is to tell them that their car needs $500 of repairs. Word to the wise.

2009-08-05T20:20:00.002-04:00

I haven't felt very update-y lately, though a lot has happened in the last month. A lot has happened: I broke up with Eric and called off the move to Madison. Slowly, a new plan is forming itself.

I am typically loathe to blog about anything too personal, but the above seems appropriate, succinct. I am reminded of how much more reticent I've become, though no less ruminative. This week I have been frantically productive: job searching, editing account histories, unpacking, sorting, repacking. I finished everything on today's to-do list, and am drinking a gin and tonic. I discovered a partial bottle of Lorazepam among my toiletries. My pedicure remains intact.

The days are easier than the nights.

Chicago after its fire

2009-08-01T11:15:00.003-04:00

Here and northeast of here lies the vast Chippewa Valley. At the start of lumbering in Wisconsin it held one-sixth of the nation's white pine. Surveyors estimated the total pine stand in the state at 136 billion board feet of pine lumber. Lumberman considered the supply inexhaustible.

Chippewa Valley white pine helped built the homes and cities of the corn belt, the great plains, Chicago after its fire. This valley made strong men, record log jams, tall tales, and prosperous cities, all while wasting 60 percent of its pine in stumps, slashings, culls, sawdust, slabs, and fires. The harvest here that began in 1838 with 5-foot diameter trunks 160 feet high ended 80 years later taking 5-inch logs.

Today the Chippewa Valley is green again with farms and pine. Reforestation began before 1920. Early plantings are now merchantable timber. In time the Chippewa Valley will again stand with mature pine.

(Plaque at the Chippewa Valley rest area, Wisconsin)

Planes screamed overhead. Sometimes I could not hear what you said, with your face pressed against me. I could not ask you to repeat, I would have felt ridiculous, and anyway such things are usually not repeatable. But what if you asked me a question, and hearing no answer were unable to ask it again? This possibility tormented me at a later time, when I wanted to give you every hoped-for answer.

We both trembled. We barely managed it, being overcome - both of us, both of us - with gratitude, and amazement. The flood of luck, the happiness undeserved, unqualified, nearly unbelieved-in. Tears stood in our eyes. Undeniably. Yes.

(From Alice Munro's "Tell Me Yes or No")

More baking!

2009-07-09T23:39:00.003-04:00

One of the best parts of summer is all the free time available for baking. We had a bunch of strawberries just sittin' in the fridge, getting mushy (perhaps that 4-lb. clamshell was ill-advised?), and I wanted to find a creative way to use them. Voila! Strawberry buttermilk muffins. Here's the recipe, copied & pasted from the Body and Soul website. (The recipe originally appeared in the July/August 2009 issue of Body and Soul, which I found lying on the coffee table. Just so you know.) It is true that I posted this link on my facebook page, but I am so enthusiastic about these muffins that I thought the recipe deserved two postings. In all honesty, these delightful muffs will change the way you think about strawberries, and buttermilk. The end.

Strawberry Muffins

Ingredients

Makes 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup light olive oil or vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Toss together strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar. Using a potato masher, lightly mash berries; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a glass 2-quart measuring cup or a medium bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla; whisk to combine.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture and the berry mixture (with juice). Fold just until combined. Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with remaining sugar.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

2009-07-04T22:56:00.003-04:00

Happy 4th, everyone! We celebrated by hittin' the gym (which was mostly empty: hellz yes), bumming around the house, and getting dinner at the Holy Land deli, which serves a badass Greek salad. (I know Greek salads sometimes get a bad rap, but this shiz is authentic & delectable.)

Speaking of Greek, I accidentally created the most perfect [Greek yogurt-based] snack last night and could not wait another day to share my find with the in-ter-net. I was hoping to have Fage with almonds and a drizzle of honey, but no such luck - the honey was one big crystallized mess. Still wanting something sweet, I found some Ghiradelli dark hot chocolate and added a scant tablespoon of chocolate to about 1/3 cup of Fage. I blended the two until the yogurt had the consistency of mousse, and topped with finely-chopped almonds. Srsly, people, this was the best snack of my lyfe. Try it!

(Aside: the Ghiradelli isn't very good as cocoa. I can't articulate why - it just doesn't taste cocoalike. )

Also:

2009-07-03T22:56:00.001-04:00

dude, why won't this publish my entries in the correct font?