Alpha Beat - Fascination

I don't know much about this band, except that they're from Denmark and this video is maybe the cutest, funnest thing ever. I can't stop watching it! The colors, the dancing! It's the perfect cure for a gloomy day.

more lists!

So I am on spring break. (Yeaaaahhh. Wooooo. Yeeeehaw.) I have no travel plans, which is new, and somewhat refreshing. I guess. I mean, HOW AWESOME! I AM TOTALLY GOING TO GET SHIT DONE! In fact, I need to make a list here so I actually do it. (Note: this is not so much for you, dear reader, to read with fascination as it is boring. But something about posting things on the internet makes me feel more accountable. AND using the strike html command is almost as fun as crossing things off a list with pen.)

- Make things (purse, apron, door curtain)
- Errands (bike stores, urban outfitters (on an impossible quest for new jeans), vintage stores, fabric stores)
- Taxes
- Mop floor, see also MASSIVE SPRING CLEANING
- New Yorkers. So many. Organize and recycle/give away.*
- Finish Middlesex. (started in January....sheesh.)
- Library!
- Do work crap (see other list)
- Plant paper white bulbs
- Update resume.


*That should be italicized, but I like it better that way, as if I'm going to organize the huge amount of New York citizens in my apartment.

listy.

1. Muxtape.com. You can upload up to 12 songs that anyone can listen to! Here is mine (it's a bunch of covers I like).

2. Rick Astley on "I'm Never Gonna Give You Up" (found here)

“If I was a young kid now looking at that song, I’d have to say I’d think it was pretty naff, really.”

3. I got called for jury duty. Yay?

ingredients for a sick day.

I am home sick. I started off excited for a day off last night, then felt crappy, woke up feeling crappy, and now am feeling a bit better for the time being. I still love sick days in theory because it's a paid day off where you're absolutely supposed to be lazy. Still, there a few crucial ingredients one needs to make the best of a sick day (the best one can have while still being sick, anyway).

Soup
Oh soup, I could marry you. I'm all for making my own soup, but that defies the lazy rule. So when I'm sick I usually head to a fancy grocer to get supplies, including hot soup. Sometimes I'll even break my "no-processed soup" rule and get instant noodle soups. They're like fancy ramen.

Tea
Something is wrong with my throat and tea goes down so much better than water or juice. (Which I managed to forget during the trip to the grocery store.) I've been all into Stash Tea lately, especially the herbal varieties. It's not too expensive but it's still tasty. I can even drink some of it without sugar now. I'm growing up, or something.

Netflix
Too bad I burned through my last dvds of the Wire. Now I might have to watch an actual movie.

WebMD
I only went on here on a whim, but when I started to put in symptoms for headache I had to crack up as the head symptoms include everything from sense of impending doom to fear of air to headache (worst ever). So great.


Random internet fun:
I like this dress. Actually, what I really like is the pockets. I want a dress with pockets.

Simply Breakfast. Artful pictures of breakfast. That's it. (But it at least supports my tendency to take pictures of my food.)

deep thoughts on fridges and life.

A few weeks ago I was cleaning in the kitchen and I noticed that there was some sort of liquidy ooze beneath the fridge. I realized that the ooze was definitely coming from the fridge, though I wasn't sure how. Oh, and I also found an old lemon, SO OLD that it now looked like a lime and had weird dust all over it.

And so I decided that it was time for a massive deep cleaning of the old refrigerator, to be undertaken with all deliberate speed. A task like this can teach one much about themselves - and life! Okay, maybe not so much about life. But moldy food, sure.

First of all, even though I have a small apartment fridge, I manage to keep things in there for obscene amounts of time, provided they will keep. (and um. well. they don't always do that.) One thing I finally had to throw out after two (!) years was this jar of red pepper jelly that I had barely put a dent in. There was a good reason for buying this: it was my birthday and I felt like buying fancy food like brie and bread and some good jelly to go with it. But this jelly was gross.

Lesson 1: Red pepper jelly CAN be good, but you gotta go for the good shit. In fact, this is good advice with most ingredients: go for the good shit when you can.

Then I started to remove the contents of my lower shelf so I could clean it well and I found a wide array of condiments I rarely use.

Lesson 2: For christ's sake, stop buying jelly at all. And no more natural peanut butter, you hear?!

Lesson 3: Wow, it's a bit frightening how long these food-like goods last when you think about it.

I'm still not done completely, as the top shelf needs a wipe down. But I discovered some interesting patterns in the foods in my fridge.

Foodstuffs I almost always have and use: Spinach, milk, eggs, butter, cheese (feta, parmesean, cheddar) tortillas, english muffins, yogurt containers (sometimes with yogurt in them), fruits of some sort, veggies of some sort.

Foodstuffs I always have and rarely if ever use: Jellies and jams, beer from Wisconsin, creepy old salad dressing that is probably still good (that also needs to go), applesauce, natural peanut butter, ketchup.

Foodstuffs I always want and rarely if ever have: chocolate, dried cherries, bacon.

I think I'll conclude my fridge self-analysis right there for now. But remember, it's almost spring! Clean out those refrigerators and know thyself in the process!


p.s. food link of the day: Organic food companies and the corporations behind them.

ah, craigslist.

Best Missed Connection of the Week


This wasn't anything out of the ordinary until I read the last line. And then it got me to thinking - do you really want to meet a potential mate at Planned Parenthood? [And this is nothing against PP, as I totally support them.] But think about it - nearly everyone there is either getting tested for pregnancy, STIs, or about to have their annual lady check up. Maybe it's just me, but I don't really want to get hit on when I'm about to go through that. Then again, that makes it the opportune time for more missed connections:

You were the hot lady with a look of dread on her face. I didn't want to bug ya since you were about to be felt up by a doctor. But if you want, I'd be happy to play doctor with you. (And don't worry about me, I'm clean - they said the rash will go away.)

tortilla chips.

My laziness is very illogical. Sometime at work today I decided that I wanted tortilla chips, but I was too lazy to go to the store to get some, so instead, I would make them. (though, maybe this says more about me being a total homebody during the week.) It worked out though, because I have a bunch of corn tortillas that are not going away because I only like them for certain things and they're only sold in huge quantities.

So, using this recipe as a rough guide, I made tortilla chips. I put oil on 'em, cut them up*, and seasoned them with salt, cumin, and chili powder. While they baked I cooked up some quick chili for tostada salad. [so easy: black beans + diced tomatoes + onion + garlic + spices = 10 minute chili. then eat it with spinach mixed in. yum.] They took longer to bake than expected, but finally (most of) the batch was crisp. I excitedly tried one and....not nearly enough salt! Sigh. So I added some more, and ate my dinner.

Lesson learned: homemade tortilla chips are easy but unless you deep fry them and douse them in salt you should probably just go buy a bag. I tend to get the Target organic ones.

[Pictures here.]

*Did I mention my new knife?! It's super sharp and cuts way better than my dull IKEA one and makes me feel like an adult!

french press.

I'm not a huge coffee drinker. I don't have a coffee maker because it would take up too much space, so I stick to tea during the week and save my coffee for the weekends. I've always wanted a french press because silly me thinks it to be more romantic, and now I finally have one! (It was a birthday gift courtesy of the boy.)

So I just now finished my first cup of coffee pressed in my own apartment and my fingers are a weeeee bit shaky. But I'm feeling oh so European and caffeinated and generally fancy as I sit in my mismatched PJs on a Sunday morning. Maybe I should make an omelette to continue with my fancy morning. Or, french toast?! Except I have no bread. Perhaps pancakes?

(I apologize for this hyper stream of consciousness post but perhaps the coffee is helpful as I currently have two drafts started that I just can't finish. Here's a cute vase that's made of drinking glasses and colored condoms. Also, I'm freaking out because a friend just told me that there's a fungus slowly killing bananas and even though I don't even LIKE bananas that much, I eat them almost every goddamn day. Ooh having read that I should totally make banana pancakes.)

diary of a foodie.

I used to have a Saturday tradition of watching cooking shows on PBS, which has sadly fallen to the wayside in the past months. My standby favorite is America's Test Kitchen, but it's gotten a bit boring lately. Other favorites tend to get recycled in and out with no warning, which can be disappointing when they're good. (As evidenced here - I have not seen that one in months.)

But seeing as how I'm sick and sniffly today, I found myself catching an episode of my new favorite show: Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie. (warning: that link will play a video on click) I've seen it a few times, and they're often focusing on sustainable farms and eateries from around the world and it's just really fun. Today's show caught my attention because it was all about food bloggers (though none that I currently read). David Lebovitz talked about Paris and its specialty cheese shops with amazing eggs and of course, I too wanted to move there. But mostly the episode just motivated me to blog more about food, even if I'll never be featured on tv because of it.

stress.

Quickly: work has been killing me in a most frustrating way. It's way too long to explain here (nor would I feel comfortable doing so), but today I was there for 10 hours with only a 24 minute lunch break (during which I had to make copies as well). I am so tired of meetings but it's something I care deeply about so I have to attend, even if they're not required.

Enough vagueness. I'm mostly frustrated that work has left me so drained that I can barely think about any creative pursuits, let alone read any of the books I've started. I did realize that the same maps I used for mapping paper make really pretty homemade envelopes. So, there's one good thing?

Crawling into bed with my New Yorker now.