Because my brain is mush and so yours should be too

02.28.06 3:38pm(0 comments)

Experiments in life and tempera-cha

Tuesday was valentines day. After much debate over what we were going to give each other, Tom and I decided to go to some fancy Chicago restaurant and then split the tab, paying each other's half. Upon recommendation of my boss and others, Tom and I went to Topolobampo. This is a Rick Bayless restaurant, and he's got this smooth talking pbs show and sometimes ends up on Iron Chef America. His show "Mexico, One plate at a time," is kind of like something I would imagine Bob Ross doing, if Bob Ross ended up being a Mexican chef instead of an artist. The last episode that I watched was about the lucha libre, which I found incredibly entertaining. Anyway, Tom and I rolled up to topolobampo in a cab after work and were seated right away. The topolo part of the two restaurants (topolobampo and frontera grill) is kind of small, but very classy. We both started out with some drinks, a mojito with notes of ginger and habanera for me, a classic topolo margarita for Tom. After not much deliberation, we decided to go with the Chef's tasting menu with the wine pairings:

Uchepos de Huitlacoche Gratinados - fresh corn tamales filled with inky corn mushroom under a cap of chilaca chile cream and two cheeses; citrusy watercress-frise salad.

2004 "Walla Voila" Chenin Blanc, L'ecole No. 41

Walla Walla, Washington

Chileatole Verde con Dos Ostiones - savory tomatillo soup with crispy fresh oysters.

2004 Parxet, Marqus de Alella, Alella, Spain

Langosta con Crema de Quelites - Maine lobster with a creamy sauce of wild Mexican greens.

2002 Brancott B Estate Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand

Puerco en Mole Guerrerense - grill-roasted Maple Creek pork in Enriques moms mole.

2003 Ridge Dusi Ranch Zinfandel, Paso Robles, California

Best-of-the-day dessert sampler - warm honey-spice cake, chocolate tart with caramelized plantains, toasted coconut-sour cream ice cream, bittersweet chocolate sauce.

2002 Von Hvel Oberemmeler Htte, Riesling Eiswein, Mosel Saar Ruwer, Germany

Somewhere in there I also had a 'magical margarita' which had rose water and rose blossoms in it that tasted, um, beautiful and Tom had a mezcal margarita that despite it's earthy and smokey taste, was bright pink. Rick Bayless himself showed up in the dining room and made his way around to the various important people tables (i.e. not ours). So that gave me the idea, since he was there, that he could autograph one of his cookbooks and personalize it to my mother, who collects such things. I got the salsa book, since my mom and step dad make garden fresh salsa, I figured they would enjoy that.

After all that food, came the bill, so it was good that we had a bunch of wine and liquor because it was expensive, but absolutely worth it. It is rare to have an absolute perfect meal, but this was one of those meals. Everything matched, the flow was great, the food to die for, and well, it was just as it should be, but better. We caught a cab home and tried to recover from the meal.

Then, at 3 am, my computer decided to update itself and reboot, there by also playing the windows shutdown sound REALLY LOUDLY and waking me up. And I couldn't get back to sleep. I tried for about an hour, but had no luck. So I worked on some homework and played on the internet, although I knew that the day would suck and I would feel like ass. I was tired and not feeling so well in the evening, so I decided to skip class and stay a little later at work, go home, and call it a night. Sitting around in my office, chatting with Mary and Eric, I decided to google Julius Sumner Miller who was another PBS favorite from my childhood. I found this, a collection of videos of his show when it was on ABC and still in black and white. Upon further searching I found this tribute and this tribute. I was so tickled, but Mary and Eric had no idea who I was talking about. Oh how they've missed out! Why? Because Physics is what physicists do! He is Julius Sumner Miller, and Physics is his business!

Thursday I got really really sick in the afternoon. First I was feeling sort of motion sick, sitting in my office, working on my computer... Then I got nauseous and then heavy and then barfy. Tom had to leave work early to pick me up and take me home. I was in bad shape and I took friday off too. I can't tell you how therapeutic it is to take naps with the puppies, but it is.

Oh and Friday, our friends Jodie and Aysha, who own the local pet supply store and also walk Ruby and Sybil had their baby on on Friday! He's a healthy little boy named Logan Lucas, otherwise known as L.L. Cool Baby. Congratulations!!!! I still have to finish that damn bunny hat, but I'm almost done! I swear!

Saturday I was feeling enough better to eat some pancakes from the ravenswood. Later that night, since it was so incredibly cold outside, Tom picked up some takeout from Uno di Martino and we watched the godfather, which I had never seen before, drank wine and port and really enjoyed ourselves. Which is good because Tom got really sick, having picked up whatever I had earlier in the week and mistakenly thought was some sort of food poisening. He was in bad shape on Sunday and ended up taking Monday off. Fortunately, he was able to get in a few naps with the puppies and was feeling better in no time.

Yesterday I woke up in the morning and there was no heat. Fortunately we had hot water, so we were able to shower and go to work. I called the apt people and they came to the apartment to fix stuff. Then, later that afternoon, I get a call from Jodie, who was there to walk the dogs, who told me that the apt people had gone into the kitchen and stuff was everywhere and the dogs were really upset. So Tom and I got home, and not only did we still have no heat, but we also had no pipes under the sink. Fabulous. We scooped up the puppies and headed to Ruby's first training class. I had forgotten that we weren't supposed to bring the puppies, but it was cold and we were cold so oh well.

What is today, wednesday?

02.22.06 8:48am(13 comments)

I am not a bipolar trixie pimp

I've been on this up and down cycle where I first feel so inadequate and I get all self critical. Then I get some sort of bug up my ass that makes it to my brain to tell me that my life is pretty damn good and that I'm on the up and up (which is really true, thanks bug!). So to avoid the downward part of this spiral, today, on valentines day, I'm starting a Love yourself campaign. Why should I be so self-critical when I've got so much to be proud of? True, there's always room for self improvement, and I'm certainly hellbent on constantly improving myself. There really is no such thing as perfection, so why is it that I always find myself pointing my goals at it? WTF?

So Happy St. Valentines Day - go and love yourself, and try to stretch that philosophy beyond masturbation - do something good for yourself. Be happy with where you are and what you have. Be proud of who you are and what you've become.

Today, I got up early and exercised. I feel great! I'm not ass tired like I usually am in the morning and it looks as if today is going to be a wonderful day.

Love yourself!

02.14.06 8:30am(6 comments)

Kristyland, a hotbed of ter’rist activity

What.the.fuck.is.wrong.with.you.people.

Stop wasting my tax dollars by getting all big brother on American bloggers. If you gotta eavesdrop on someone, here's an idea... And hear me out on this one... How about you spend less time on infringing upon the civil rights of the American public, conducting warrantless wiretaps and searches, arresting mothers of sons who were killed iraq for wearing anti-bush tshirts, and - yes I know I'm reaching far for this one - go listen to someone else who may be actually connected to terrorist activites instead of people who just disagree with your bullshit.

I believe the words of one of our fearless puppet masters are appropriate here...

FUCK OFF

02.01.06 1:04pm(2 comments)