Wednesday, February 28, 2007

A Three Parter

So, in the tradition of posts past, a question: Painted whore or crazy person...oh, wait this just in...a new category has been added...okay, so, a question: painted whore, crazy person or person going to a wine tasting and trying to seem like a grown up.

Gumpy

To read my thoughts on fried chicken and hosting a birthday party go here.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

And, To Recap

And after such a lovely, if blustery, night it makes perfect sense that I would find my car in the above state. It precipitated occasionally throughout Sunday and some of Monday. Now it is fixed, some dudes came and fixed it this morning, but the slight rage I have lingers. Lingers in a lovely way that leads me to want to write an essay about Veronica Mars and the ass hole who threw a bottle through my car's window and didn't even have the decency to steal anything to make it worthwhile/understandable.

And now we're back to present day. End scene.

Snowy Escape

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it snowed on Saturday. I didn't know it was going to snow because I had dug a deep deep hole in my bed and filled it in with myself. A little ways away from the nice, comfy hole was my computer complete with as much of the third season of Veronica Mars as currently exists. At some point I came out of the hole and realized that, with the exception of Tonguethruster, I hadn't seen anybody in two days ... I got a little stir-crazy. My stir-craziness was alleviated by a nice visit at She-Who's house. Though getting there was a bit of a challenge, what with the snow ice falling and the wind winding.

We ordered pizza and played Trivial Pursuit while drinking whisky. It was nice, even if I couldn't completely take my brain away from Veronica.
The roads, as I walked home, were muoy icy.

Eggplant Tomato

Another meal eaten at home ... Eggplant and tomato sauteed with a bit of garlic over three cheese raviolis.

Still Searching For The Perfect Broccoli and Tofu

On Thursday She-Who-Has-No-Blog and M.Lady came over, as they often do, to watch Grey's Anatomy. We decided to order food. Perusing the Chinese delivery options c/o GrubHub, we found Miss Eggroll. M. Lady ordered veggie lo mein with fried tofu, She-Who ordered orange chicken, I ordered potstickers and fried tofu with broccoli in brown sauce. The delivery didn't take that long, a little over half an hour but the problem was that my tofu dish wasn't in the bag. I called the restaurant and twenty, or so, minutes later the delivery dude came back with the missing entree. The potstickers weren't all that great and the tofu/broccoli dish was not what I was looking for (why is it so hard to make what I want?). She-Who was impressed by her chicken however.

Catching Up

Last week I got downtown for my morning class early. This wasn't exactly by accident. I often arrive downtown early, always with the plan of getting some kind of edible treat that isn't very good for me. Usually, by the time I get to the loop, I manage to conquer the original urge for, say, a cheeseburger and simply get a tea from Cosi and half an hour to myself in the classroom. But last week the urge for a proper, diner-style breakfast was too much. So I stopped in to Beef and Brandy. I had the breakfast special (two eggs, one meat and coffee) done my way (poached eggs, sausage links). The eggs were cooked as I like though the sausage had much room for improvement. It was a nice, and different, way to start my day.
Later on I took this photograph from the Michigan SAIC building.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Snow

Yesterday it snowed, it looked like this.

Surprise!

So there are many meals that I have eaten since my last post. But, frankly, I'd rather show you some photos of what I saw this morning...the car in question is mine.

Somebody threw a bottle through my car. It's Sunday and no auto shop is open. If I was Veronica Mars I'd take the bottle and bring it around to all the local convenience stores and ask a) do they carry this beverage, b) do they remember selling this beverage to any person or c) do they have surveillance cameras. Then I would get a description of the person who bought the beverage and I'd get a sample of their DNA (or maybe just a finger print) and compare it to the DNA (fingerprint) on the bottle and then I would taser them and bring them to the police station. Then Logan and I would have a fight but then I'd realize I couldn't live without him and he'd realize that I had made him a better person and he couldn't go back to his bum fighting/hard drinking/married woman sexing ways.

That is, of course, if I was Veronica Mars.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Garden

An excerpt from an email the boyfriend wrote me about his preparations for a stupendous garden:

"If everything goes according to plan, I'll be up to my ears in tomatoes of all colors and shapes, choking on fresh tomatoes with mozzarella and and drowning in gazpacho, floating in a bath of tomato puree with big tomato steaks covering my eyes. I'll be sipping Bloody Marys, surrounded by women in tomato bikinis dropping cherry tomatoes into my mouth while fanning me with over-sized tomato foliage."

One Last Post/Procrastination

I so don't want to do what I ought to...thus lots of posts.

Ipod Procrastination Shuffle:

Level-The Raconteurs
Mary-Scissor Sisters
Ersatz-Fischerspooner
Farewell Ride-Beck
Stuff Me Up-Peaches
Ojos Asi-Shakira
Na Na Na Na Naa-Kaiser Chiefs
Blue Lagoon-Laurie Anderson
Dramamine-Modest Mouse
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic-The Police

Fickle, Strange Blogger

So for the last little while I've been trying to upload a certain photograph...but blogger was very insistent about that not being a possibility. And yet blogger didn't think twice about these three photographs. Fickle, fickle and strange blogger. These are badly photoshopped pictures from the dinner I had at Santorini's, thanks to the pageant friend's parents. We started out with the flaming cheese, an eggplant spread and a chicken salad...and oysters. The cheese, as always, was flamalicious until it got cold and kind of rubbery. I didn't try the chicken salad and the oysters didn't make me sick but weren't all that great in the true world of oysters.
For my entree I had the lamb artichokes. In person they looked a little more appealing than this photograph. Lamb, tender and on the bone, with fresh artichokes and vegetables in a butter lemon sauce. I think I would have liked it much better without the sauce. The lamb truly was amazing but overall it wasn't quite it. I went to Santorini's once before and was overwhelmed by their selection (though in my post I say I wasn't...who's to be believed?) and then a little let down by the actual quality of the food.
I thank the friend's parents for a wonderful meal...there was orange sorbet served in an orange and that was nice and refreshing.

Frustration Trumps Photography

I've been trying to upload a photograph that includes the ultimate Queen of the competition...but blogger really hates the file and I give up. This is where the pageant was held. By the time we got there our friend had already been eliminated. We stayed around and watched as slews of attractive girls stood, silently, on stage then got off of the stage and talked to the thirty or so judges...then disappeared just to, in slightly smaller numbers, reappear on the stage, silently, then talk to the thirty or so judges. I think this happened three times and in between those times a dude tried to entertain us with words I couldn't quite understand and the occasional murmuring along with whatever Irish song the Irish musical group on stage was playing. It was interesting and boring all at the same time.

Ina's and Oprah

On Sunday a friend participated in a pageant. The pageant was an opportunity for a lot of Irish American ladies between the ages of 17 and 28 to compete to be the St. Patrick's Day Parade Queen. Before going to the event I met up with Player of Words...but only after spending about two hours in a very frustrating and absolutely tedious mess up of CTA slowness and cc dumbness. Eventually I arrived (only half an hour late, ugh I hate being late) at Ina's for breakfast. Of course I was late enough that Player had to order for me, so a bloody Mary and Brie, asparagus and sausage omelet were waiting for me when, finally, I arrived. The food was pretty good, though I was rather suprised by the piddling number of potatoes. After breakfast/being kicked out of the closed restaurant, Player and I walked around the completely dead West Loop. This will probably be as close to Oprah as I will ever get.

Monday, February 19, 2007

She Who Gets Older

On Saturday Tonguthrust and I hosted a get together for She-Who's birthday. I made fried chicken, waffles, broccoli, salad, a weird onion thing, chocolate souffle and cake. Many of the prepared food items were not what I wanted them to be but most people left unhungry.
I wanted my fried chicken to look like KFC fried chicken. That didn't happen. And I still don't know much about how to ice a cake.

It was a good time though.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Cake

So I'm making a cake for She Who Has No Blog. Or, rather, I've made the cake but have not put icing on it. It made me think about the difference between making a cake out of a box and actually doing it yourself. At least for a cake as simple as the one I've made I think it adds, erm, meaning? Sifting flour, beating sugar into butter and then eggs into both. I remember one year that I wanted my mother to bake me a carrot cake. I can't remember if I vocalized this desire to her, or not but I didn't get the cake. I'm not sure how long I was home for, I think it may have been a quick Thanksgiving weekend. I ended up going to Vermont with friends. I was turning eighteen. I bought a pack of cigarettes and a lottery ticket at a gas station in Vermont. Did I? I may have bought a playboy too ... but I'm not sure about that. The friend who lived in Vermont knew of my desire for a carrot cake and one was waiting when we arrived at her house. One, maybe two, of the Vermonter's friends from home came over. We ate the cake. I assume happy birthday was sung ... but I'm not sure about that. And then the boy Vermonter friend proceeded to eat the rest of the birthday cake. Maybe he wasn't there for the singing, maybe he came later. Point is, I was saddened by the eating of the cake. I hadn't wanted to eat the rest of it by myself but I had wanted to have another piece, perhaps for breakfast.

That's what I thought about as I made She-Who's cake ... some dude almost ten years ago ate my birthday cake and I was sad. Sheesh

Shells In Glass Bowl

This is a photograph of the shells from St. George Island.

Gift Basket You Say?

Yesterday I had class and grad projects. Class is this thing that happens for three hours. Grad projects is this other thing that happens for one hour. It, technically, should be referred to as Graduate Projects. The class and the grad project both went well. In the class we talked about Marilyn Robinson's book Housekeeping. We watched parts of the movie version, mostly in fast forward and silence. The grad project was good. I realize I know a fair amount of my characters but not all of it comes across through my writing. Which means, astoundingly, more writing. I came home and there was a box by our mailboxes. It had my name on it! I took it up to the apartment and opened it. Inside was a basket filled with Harry and David goodness. Apples, pears, chocolate covered cherries, cheese and more were waiting for me when I got home!
I have already eaten an apple, a fair amount of the cherries and two truffles. It's dangerous this basket. It's dangerous in a brilliant, wonderful way. Thank you to Bear and Mackey's owner for such a thoughtful and sunshiney spot of my day.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Snowy Yesterday (And Still)

Yesterday was my "early" day. I woke up by seven and was out of the house by seven thirty so that I could get to my nine o'clock class with time to spare (time to do reading for my Thursday class). It was crazy snowing. Though not a blizzard it was intense, especially downtown where the tall buildings encourage strong wind that, then, brings massive amounts of snow straight into one's eyeballs causing them to tear up and be temporarily blind.
This is the view of the 55 Monroe building from the ninth floor of the SAIC Michigan building. You can't tell, but it's snowing...I blame the dirty window.
This was my carbohydrate heavy breakfast: Dunkin Donuts everything bagel with smoked salmon cream cheese.
The snow let up a little after class. Though it was enough for my grad advisor to reschedule our noon meeting.


Our ashtray got lost in the snow and I got obsessed with it.
I decided I needed photographs of myself in the snow. But I was home alone, so this was the best I could do. I think the snow is more of an assumed atmosphere than a presence.

Looking through a chink in the new snow wall at night.
Oh yes, and it's still snowing...in a flurry fat flake kind of way. It makes it very unlikely that I will go to the grocery store for any thing I might need.

Bread Without Muscles

To read about my experience making Mark Bittman's kneadless bread go here.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Again

Oh yeah, and it's snowing.

Breaky Breaky Break Your Fast

Bypassing dim sum, I got together with M. Lady and She Who Has No Blog for breakfast at the Lincoln Restaurant. She-Who drove and we were lucky to find that the restaurant has its own parking lot. This place, because it's also a comedy club/bar, still has a smoking section. We didn't sit in the smoking section but I felt strangely comforted just knowing it was there. I believe I ordered the "Hood Omelette", a four cheese egg creation served with hash browns. I also ordered sausage links. My omelette tasted a bit like a pancake. I think this was probably because the surface it was cooked on had housed, however briefly, a pancake before it. The potatoes were good, same with the sausage. M. Lady had eggs benedict and She-Who had an omelette, the name of which I forget. I would go back here.
The omelette was well-constructed and large enough that I took half of it home for a meal later on.

Now That's A Lasagna!

She Who Has No Blog made lasagna on Saturday night. I ate it. Others ate it. We also ate marinated mozzarella and jalapeno stuffed olives...and bread, lots of bread.
It was quite lovely.

Dumpling Love

For lunch on Saturday I had some more of the lovely frozen potstickers from Golden Pacific Market. Satisfying again.

I've been thinking about my cursory way of describing food. I only use three or four adjectives with any regularity and they are: tasty, satisfying, yummy and good. There are moments when I wish I could assign more descriptive or flourishy adjectives on the meals I eat. Adjectives like: orgasmic, mind-blowing, satiating, stupendous and velvety. Maybe not velvety...or orgasmic...though you never know. I find myself enjoying food. I find myself writing about food. But I don't find, within myself, a natural and expanded language for this interest. I probably won't change.

Zing

The morning after the Innertown and Double Door, ie Friday, I started my day with two eggs fried in olive oil, tomatoes and half an avocado. The eggs were splendid and the veggie/fruits were juicy/tasty.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

I Ponder

Who, exactly, is it that buys Red Hot Chili Peppers albums these days?

Friday, February 09, 2007

Two Locations, One Night

Yesterday I had class. Then I had home time with the Gilmore Girls. Then I had a bus ride down to Wicker Park for a writing department get together at Innertown Pub. There was pizza but I didn't eat any of it. The Writing Department footed (foot?) the bill for us all to drink whatever we wanted for about an hour and a half. I had beer called Hofbrau or something...house frau? I tore myself away from the good time at Innertown so I could represent at the Chicagoist thingy at The Double Door.
When I first got to the second location I started regretting leaving the first. At the first there was noise but not so much that you couldn't have a conversation with those around you. Of course the entire point of the event was live music, so really I'm just a curmudgeon. But I stuck it out, partially because if I left Double Door I'd no longer be on the list (they won't let you go outside...once you're out you're out or something) and I wasn't actually sure anyone was left at the other locale. The music, as I mentioned, was loud. Loud but good. I have no idea which band I took a photograph of. When I got home (relatively early...kind of) my ears continued to ringggg ringggg ringgg.

But it was fun. Chicagoist writers are funny and nice.