meet selby.

This is my new friend Selby. She's a cat! I got her a couple of weeks ago from the Humane Society. She is a play addict, is very affectionate, and can also be completely needy. She is living up to my grand theory called Selby Loves Everyone. It's been tested on three people so far. My friends say she's like a dog.

If you're wondering about the name, it's a street in my neighborhood. A friend and I went back and forth about cats named after streets, and which prominent Twin Cities streets would make the best names for cats. So, without further adieu, some lists with good and bad street names for cats.

Good names:

• Selby
• Franklin
• Cleveland
• Marshall
• Lyndale
• Emerson
• Dupont

Bad names:

• Payne
• University
• First Ave.
• Grand
• Summit
• West Seventh Street
• Ford Parkway
  

in other news

I think Micheal Pollan is my new hero.

The last page of his essay pretty much sums up all my food related resolutions, only much more eloquently than I could put it.

on books and beets.

Cook more. Eat better. Read more.

When I'm in someone's apartment for the first time, whether it's a friend or acquaintance, one of my favorite things to do is explore their bookshelves. (I also use that as a pick-up line..Hey baby, I'd like to explore your bookshelves....) I like running my fingers along the spines, noticing if they organize in any certain ways or if it's haphazard, and wondering if they have actually read all the books their shelves contain. But lately all I notice is, "Hey this person has way more books than I do!"

I have a few reasons for not buying books. The triple threat of the high price of new books, my somewhat frugal nature, and the fact that I'm a library fiend certainly don't help. But I've also come to realize a more crucial cause: when I buy books, I'm not very motivated to read them. I always think, "Oh, that book, that will be around all the time, like when I'm in the depths of despair with nothing to read. But this library book! This library book has a deadline!"

I'm not about to go buy loads of books any time soon, but I'm trying to change my outlook a bit. My most recent book purchase was The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, which is quite fitting with my current food obsession. I even started reading it!

Speaking of books about food, I still think one of my best reference books is the Joy of Cooking. I love the fact that you can get practical information about nearly any food, such as beets! Which brings us to beets. (oh transitions, I'm trying.)

So....going along with goals for the year, I've decided that I want to branch out more in terms of recipes and ingredients. And one food I haven't tried, or at least don't remember eating, is beets. Weird, huh? My first venture into the beet world ending up being a beet salad with goat cheese and candied walnuts on spinach. And it was yummy. The end!

(yeah, strong finish. I need to sleep.)

i resolve.

It's the 10th of January and I still don't have any suitable resolutions. I've come to the conclusion that if you want to be able to reach your resolution, it has to be measurable in some way. For instance...running a marathon. You either do it or you don't. (Or maybe you try and have to drop out along the way, but you get my point, right?) And so I'm stuck, as I can't think of any good quantifiable goals for the year. Instead, my "resolution" list ends up looking something this:

Cook more. Bake more. Eat better. Eat more local, more organic. Read more. Write more (correspondence). Write more (non-fiction, blogs). Listen more (music). Learn more. Internet less. Run more. Drive less. Walk/bike more. Sleep more. Socialize more. Create more. Travel more. Dwell less. Give more (time, emotions, money).

Or I could just put it as my friend so eloquently did: "I want to be less dumb!" And isn't that what self improvement is all about?