Last night I cooked. Now, I've done that before, so that in and of itself is not the big deal. It's what I cooked.
I bought some raw chicken. And I put it on a grill. And I cooked it.
I don't do raw meat, especially not raw chicken. That's enough to make me gag even just thinking about it. But I was starving for meat yesterday. It happens sometimes, as I rarely eat it.
When Evan graduated from college and again later when he got married, he gave me several kitchen-y things: a toaster, old pots and pans, and a tiny George Foreman grill. I've never used the grill because, like I said, I don't do meat.
Last night was my first try with it. The chicken was brilliant and I'm sold. I think I can do it. I even picked up the chicken and placed it on the grill with my bare fingers. No gloves, to utensils. It was gross, but bearable.
I must be growing up. When I do things like get over a major hang-up in my life...
I can't lie. I like my weirdnesses. Many of those "major hang-ups" are things I actually don't want to get rid of. Produces a lot more stories in my life.
22 May 2007
18 May 2007
The second great thing
was having chocolate fondue for dinner on Tuesday night with Liz.
She randomly emailed me during the day, asking if I'd be interested...who can turn that down?
We compiled our resources: 1 fresh, perfect pineapple, 1 banana, a pile of ripe strawberries, and a bag of fresh marshmallows (for dessert).
In lieu of dinner, we melted chocolate in a pot over hot water and dipped everything mentioned above into it.
It was delicious and a perfect cap to my day.
She randomly emailed me during the day, asking if I'd be interested...who can turn that down?
We compiled our resources: 1 fresh, perfect pineapple, 1 banana, a pile of ripe strawberries, and a bag of fresh marshmallows (for dessert).
In lieu of dinner, we melted chocolate in a pot over hot water and dipped everything mentioned above into it.
It was delicious and a perfect cap to my day.
So, when I said nothing exciting was happening...
...I guess it depends on your definition of exciting.
Last week, a neighborhood cat mistook my front door for her own, which is across the street from me. This is how I knew.
Morning #1) pile of cat yak right outside my front door.
Afternoon #1) come home to said cat cleaning up her own vomit.
Morning #2) second pile of cat yak a foot from the one the day before.
Morning #3) once again, a clean front stoop on no account of my own.
Afternoon #4) dead baby bird, half-eaten, in between 2 former piles of vomit.
After catching the cat cleaning up after herself that first afternoon, I tried to befriend her. That way, if she continued with her "presents" outside my front door, I'd also be getting the benefit of a friendship from her. But she was skittish, seemingly terrified of me, and ran back to her home.
I'll give her this: every front stoop in our neighborhood is the same. Maybe she did actually get confused the first time. But after that, after I tried to befriend her, I think it was spite. I haven't seen her around my place since the dead baby bird showed up.
Last week, a neighborhood cat mistook my front door for her own, which is across the street from me. This is how I knew.
Morning #1) pile of cat yak right outside my front door.
Afternoon #1) come home to said cat cleaning up her own vomit.
Morning #2) second pile of cat yak a foot from the one the day before.
Morning #3) once again, a clean front stoop on no account of my own.
Afternoon #4) dead baby bird, half-eaten, in between 2 former piles of vomit.
After catching the cat cleaning up after herself that first afternoon, I tried to befriend her. That way, if she continued with her "presents" outside my front door, I'd also be getting the benefit of a friendship from her. But she was skittish, seemingly terrified of me, and ran back to her home.
I'll give her this: every front stoop in our neighborhood is the same. Maybe she did actually get confused the first time. But after that, after I tried to befriend her, I think it was spite. I haven't seen her around my place since the dead baby bird showed up.
13 May 2007
08 May 2007
Disaster Relief
I just made the worst cup of coffee ever in the world. Perhaps I was to asleep to know any better.
A new tool that has revolutionized my coffee-making and drinking at work is the manual coffee filter cone. I use it nearly every day with my scrumtralescent French Vanilla coffee.
Today, however, I misjudged the amount of grounds I put in the filter, based on a particularly strong cup I made and gagged on last week.
Oops.
Try, try again.
A new tool that has revolutionized my coffee-making and drinking at work is the manual coffee filter cone. I use it nearly every day with my scrumtralescent French Vanilla coffee.
Today, however, I misjudged the amount of grounds I put in the filter, based on a particularly strong cup I made and gagged on last week.
Oops.
Try, try again.
05 May 2007
Secret Ambition
A fellow student of mine in grad school graduates today and this past week landed her first professional job...
...as DIRECTOR OF LIBRARY SERVICES in a university.
Say what? That doesn't happen. Your first job out of school is one that pays crap, one in which you slowly learn how to run a single collection or department by working your way up through the corporate ladder.
You don't start at the top of the ladder.
Congrats to her! How very exciting.
...as DIRECTOR OF LIBRARY SERVICES in a university.
Say what? That doesn't happen. Your first job out of school is one that pays crap, one in which you slowly learn how to run a single collection or department by working your way up through the corporate ladder.
You don't start at the top of the ladder.
Congrats to her! How very exciting.
04 May 2007
Join the club
Last night at 9:45 I reached a milestone in my life: I finished Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. And it was sad, oh my goodness. I cried. I cannot lie. This last book, or the second to last in the series, is very sad. Which goes to show how fond I've grown of the characters: Harry, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Ginny, and others. I love Hogwarts and Hagrid's cottage, and have learned to despise the Dursleys and Malfoys. (a link to a great H.P. character resource)
It has been just three months since I picked up the first book, H.P. and the Sorcerer's Stone. After quickly racing through that one, I realized that I had to finish the series as soon as possible. It was going to take a lot of time, as the books get longer and heavier with each new installment, and I had no desire to turn into a hermit who sat around with her nose buried in a book during every spare minute.
At that point, I remembered the suggestion of my friend Kate that I listen to the books on CD. The dramatic reading was excellent, she told me. When I found out that one of my co-workers had them all on CD, I began borrowing them. Thus, I could spend my lunch hours "reading" about Harry Potter, while preparing, consuming, and cleaning up after my food. I could continue my journey with Harry during my three weekly trips to and from Muncie. To the grocery store (first time I felt lucky that it was in a different city), on the way to friends' houses in Ohio, on my way to meet my parents for dinner, etc.
I was able to nearly finish a ginormous scrapbooking project because I could listen to Harry's stories and get lost in the process of choosing background paper, matting, and cutting and arranging all of my photos and bits of pamphlets that I'd saved from my trip to Ireland. I also made great progress on my quilting project while listening to Harry Potter.
And did I mention the Jim Dale, the reader of the books on CD, is the best dramatist ever? He won an award (can't remember which one) for the 134 different voices he created for H.P. and the Order of the Phoenix. How could a person keep all of those characters straight without Mr. Dale's voices? He brings life to the characters in a way that reading the words on a page could not (not that I'm discouraging reading them, but I'm saying -- he's good. He's very good.).
But now I'm finished. And I'm sad, though very eager for Book 7 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) to arrive (July 21st). I'm also excited to share the tremendous story-telling ability that JK Rowling possesses and the convincing world she has created.
From one bibliophile/librarian to her readership - you absolutely must read these books. They are so well-written; the characters are endearing and revolting (as per the author's intentions), and there are so many excellent themes woven throughout each book - within each and within the series as a whole. She deals with issues of racism, adolescence, cliques, self-identity and self-esteem, and decision-making. Giving of oneself for others - therefore, selflessness - is a significant theme beginning in Book 1 and continuing.
These are important for ideas for people to consider, and it would be easy for parents to parallel these issues with things their children deal with in real life, thus helping them learn how to digest and personally apply, even to discern positives and negatives, in their own lives.
Thus, READ, I say. And read good literature, the stuff that fortifies your soul and encourages your imagination. This is one example, but there are many books out there. Read things that challenge you (both your intellect and your perceptions), not just the things that make you feel good.
It has been just three months since I picked up the first book, H.P. and the Sorcerer's Stone. After quickly racing through that one, I realized that I had to finish the series as soon as possible. It was going to take a lot of time, as the books get longer and heavier with each new installment, and I had no desire to turn into a hermit who sat around with her nose buried in a book during every spare minute.
At that point, I remembered the suggestion of my friend Kate that I listen to the books on CD. The dramatic reading was excellent, she told me. When I found out that one of my co-workers had them all on CD, I began borrowing them. Thus, I could spend my lunch hours "reading" about Harry Potter, while preparing, consuming, and cleaning up after my food. I could continue my journey with Harry during my three weekly trips to and from Muncie. To the grocery store (first time I felt lucky that it was in a different city), on the way to friends' houses in Ohio, on my way to meet my parents for dinner, etc.
I was able to nearly finish a ginormous scrapbooking project because I could listen to Harry's stories and get lost in the process of choosing background paper, matting, and cutting and arranging all of my photos and bits of pamphlets that I'd saved from my trip to Ireland. I also made great progress on my quilting project while listening to Harry Potter.
And did I mention the Jim Dale, the reader of the books on CD, is the best dramatist ever? He won an award (can't remember which one) for the 134 different voices he created for H.P. and the Order of the Phoenix. How could a person keep all of those characters straight without Mr. Dale's voices? He brings life to the characters in a way that reading the words on a page could not (not that I'm discouraging reading them, but I'm saying -- he's good. He's very good.).
But now I'm finished. And I'm sad, though very eager for Book 7 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) to arrive (July 21st). I'm also excited to share the tremendous story-telling ability that JK Rowling possesses and the convincing world she has created.
From one bibliophile/librarian to her readership - you absolutely must read these books. They are so well-written; the characters are endearing and revolting (as per the author's intentions), and there are so many excellent themes woven throughout each book - within each and within the series as a whole. She deals with issues of racism, adolescence, cliques, self-identity and self-esteem, and decision-making. Giving of oneself for others - therefore, selflessness - is a significant theme beginning in Book 1 and continuing.
These are important for ideas for people to consider, and it would be easy for parents to parallel these issues with things their children deal with in real life, thus helping them learn how to digest and personally apply, even to discern positives and negatives, in their own lives.
Thus, READ, I say. And read good literature, the stuff that fortifies your soul and encourages your imagination. This is one example, but there are many books out there. Read things that challenge you (both your intellect and your perceptions), not just the things that make you feel good.
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