A Good Day

I had a great day!  Not for any big reason - it was just full of little delights.

My morning bus driver remembers that I grabbed a newspaper once last week and now always saves me one and hands it to me when I board.  I take for granted that I might be rememberable, but I suppose I can't help but stick out in the ethnic and age mix of Hawaii bus riders.  I always like to think I can blend into a crowd, but I think I'm just kidding myself sometimes.

I got downtown with enough time to pop in to a cafe/roaster downtown and get a latte.  And mine had a heart in it today.

After those two shots of espresso, I was totally wired.  I described myself to a friend as "barely containable"... and was only half joking.

I had a handful of appointments today, including an easy graduation audit, a double-major advising, and a degree plan and general advice.  Most appointments are solo - not much shadowing any more.  I routinely think that I'm not ready for the training wheels to come off just yet, but my mentor advisors think I am, and they let me take the lead.  I find myself pleasantly surprised with what I am capable of, more often than I am confronted by the things I don't know.  I don't know when, exactly, that ratio turned around, but I'm glad it did.

I'm so glad to be into advising now - it was so much of what I did on any given day that it's nice to make it my primary job description.  But recently I've been ... concerned about what I've been brought here to do.    I know it's still early - it hasn't even been two months at my job yet! - but most of my appointments have been very quick graduation audits.  I just make sure students, who are in their last semester, have completed their degree requirements - and it's not surprising that it's difficult (if not impossible) to forge relationships with them.  It's not the point, really.  I haven't yet had many degree-planning meetings with students, in which I will actually start to get to know them.  I understand that relationships need time to be cultivated.  But I've been concerned with the change in rhythm from teaching and the comparative ease with which I could speak into students' lives.  You can't help but forge those relationships when students barrel into your classroom on a daily basis. And how would that ever happen when I don't teach now?  But I also know that all I have to do is be available; ministry can't help but happen (1).  So I've been struggling with thoughts I know better than to dwell on - I just need to trust and be patient.

My last appointment of the day was counseling a student about finishing her undergrad degree, getting into education and teaching high school.  PERFECT.  She had a bundle of questions and was really personable.  She'll be back for several more appointments concerning graduation and her grad program.  It was exactly the glimpse of my career to come that was the exact antidote to all the prior concern.

Midway through the morning, an email arrived in my inbox, inviting me to this year's AP Reading!  And it's in the midwest, where I have family and friends.  I LOVED the reading I attended a couple years ago.  Completely unlike any conference I've ever attended (plus the stipend isn't shabby).  So, a nice professional-development opportunity, a good excuse to return to the mainland - even if briefly - this summer, and it might overlap with some of my former colleagues!

I had a lovely online conversation with a friend in which I quoted one of my favorite passages from one of my favorite books.  Last night, the very excerpt popped into my head while I was sorting laundry.  The Holy Spirit knew we'd need it the next day.

A midday appointment cancelled, so I decided to push lunch back so I could attend a weekly campus chapel service in the building next door.  We're still looking for a church home, still trying to figure out what the search should even look like (that deserves its own post later), so I thought a mid-week service on a college campus might be worthwhile.  Particularly since it's the beginning of the reflective Lenten season.  But lunch today, instead, brought a phone call from a dear friend, and I decided to stay at my desk and converse with him . I like to think I chose the better part.  I'll aim for chapel next week.

All these joys kept me in a great mood right up through closing time.  At the end of the day, I walked out to catch the bus, only to catch this rainbow first.  The rainy season weather has returned, with fresh trade winds and mauka showers that bring gentle rain and subsequent afternoon rainbows.  I can't believe I get to live here.

(1) Thank you, Frederick Buechner

Miscellany

I've had a fantastic mail week! A birthday gift, notes and letters from a few far-flung friends, a couple postcards from a friend who's touring the country and knows I love postcards. Hooray! :) I can't even describe the joy I get in my driveway as I leaf through mail and spot a hand-addressed envelope with my name on it. I think I will spend tomorrow morning making some cards and doing some writing - something for which I have loads of supplies but never the time.

My great mail week was punctuated today by an unfortunate kitchen incident. I was carrying a stack of dishes - 2 bowls, a plate, 3 glasses - over to the dishwasher. I thought I had everything secure, but then something shifted, and CRASH! I lost everything but the plate to the unforgiving tile floor. I try really hard not to get hung up on stuff and things, but I really love my kitchen items - particularly little bowls - and of the casualties, I lost one of my favorite bowls, one of my oldest bowls, and one of my oldest-and-favorite glasses. I will admit I tend to attribute a lot of memory and meaning to my things. I could tell you where I was when I got them or who gave them to me, triggering a whole flurry of memories just by going to the cupboard. And as is human nature, I think I grieve the loss of intangibles more than the loss of the tangibles. Which is silly - it isn't like I won't ever think of these people or places again. And then there is the shock of a particularly catastrophic event - five objects in a fraction of a second. I've swept three times, vacuumed once, and mopped twice, and I'm still picking shards of glass and ceramic out of the soles of my shoes.

Dumpster outside ceramic studio, Assisi, Italy. June 2008.

Stuff Jen Likes

A quarterly (or perhaps monthly, I haven't decided) list of, well, stuff I like. It started as a list of "ordinary things in which I take inordinate delight" and has quickly ballooned. So, to stave off the firehose, I'll dish it out in regular installments.

In no particular order...


Bistro aprons.

John McPhee.
The man can write a book about anything - the citrus industry of Florida, the landscape of New Jersey, the geology of California, or even long-haul freighters - and make surprisingly compelling. One of my favorite non-fiction authors.

7-11 Slurpees.
Icees are just foul imitations.

Chiaroscuro.
Caravaggio and Artemisia Gentileschi sure knew how to dramatically highlight a scene.

Mothballs.
The scent of napthalene (evocative of my grandparents' basement) preferable to paradichlorobenzene (evocative of a men's restroom).

Clutch purses.
More elegant than a shoulder bag, if inconvenient to carry.

Two-tone coins.
French ten-franc coins (pre-Euro), one- and two-Euro coins, Argentine pesos, etc.

Chik-Fil-A Polynesian Sauce.
It goes without saying that the nuggets are good. Better dipped in this stuff. Use it on your fries, too.

Lindeman's Bin 65 Chardonnay.
My go-to white wine. Inexpensive, found everywhere, and not oaky plonk.

White Sands National Park.

Tulips.
Far better than overdone and out-of-season red roses for Valentine's Day.

Photoshop Elements 2.0.
Most of the functionality of spendy Photoshop, for a fraction of the cost. Better than later versions, too.

Hats.
Not baseball caps! Honest millinery, nobody-wears-em-anymore chapeaux. Pillboxes, particularly.

Prestige Waterproof Eyeliner pencils.
I can make it through weddings and funerals in this stuff - no easy feat.

Cornstarch.
My preferred thickening agent for sauces and pies, plus it keeps meringue pies from weeping. Doesn't need a lot of cooking, like flour, to get rid of the floury taste. And let's face it. The physics-defying paste you can make with cornstarch and just a touch of water can keep kids occupied for a while. Use the term "dilatant fluid" to impress your friends.

Hot pink.
It's not just for flamingos anymore. Plus, in combination with black, it has a sort of 1983-wannabe-punk-girl pastiche.

Ice cream soup.
Stir up ice cream (optional: add chocolate syrup) until it's the consistency of loose soft-serve. Instantly improves the texture of virtually any ice cream - it's sometimes the only way to make cheap ice cream palatable.

Postcards.
Sending and receiving. Next to pressed pennies, it's a cheap souvenir, a fun gift to give, and a great way to get attractive pictures of some destinations without a fancypants camera or fortuitous lighting/weather/views.

Turtlenecks.

Passion fruit.
Tic Tacs, Liliko'i chiffon pie, and shave ice syrup. This summer, I'm going to try making some passion fruit sherbet. Sephora's old passion fragrance was quite wonderful (though nothing compared to their blackberry scent).

Plain blank paper.
Lined paper just doesn't have the same flexibility. Fold in half the long way to make the perfect size paper for a grocery list.

Large mirrors.
There is one in one of the Wood Hall sitting rooms I have always coveted and tried to hatch a clandestine plot to cart it off. Fortunately, some are available at places like Ikea for a lot less physical labor under the cover of darkness.

Spelling it "grey" instead of "gray".

Ceylon Cinnamon.
Softer and more citrusy than canela cinnamons, which tend toward harsh.

Penzey's Spices.
The official spice purveyor to our household.

Levenger True Writer fountain pens.
Inexpensive, considering the quality of the pen. Good medium nib. Threaded caps. Not too masculine.

Curry ketchup.
I'm out of the stage in my life where french fries were just the vehicle for the ketchup, but I lapse whenever I have curry ketchup. Takes a trip to Europe to get it, though...

Sticky notes.
The explosion of shapes and sizes has brought me great delight, but there's something timeless about the original light-yellow Post-its.

Panel for Edwin R. Campbell No. 1-4. Vasily Kandinsky, 1914.
Saw these at MOMA last spring and was immediately taken by them. Never gave Kandinsky much regard until then.

Dave Matthews Band Crash.
This, along with U2's Achtung Baby, is always the answer to "what should I listen to?" Familiarity a bonus when you're trying to get meaningful work done but want some music on in the background.

Jellied cranberry sauce.
All the taste and shaped like the can! Not my husband's definition of a "sauce", but I don't care. It's not just for Thanksgiving anymore.

Uniforms.
It's true, men in uniform have a certain je ne sais quoi.

Desk Set.
It's wonderfully anachronistic film. Well, I guess it wasn't then. A delightful look at a time where dresses came in boxes, office drama involved efficiency experts, and people called a human for information instead of punching queries into google.

Black Chook Sparkling Shiraz.
A rare sparkling red that's well-balanced and just a little heady.

Orange County Public Library Home Delivery.
Responsible for soliciting more money in overdue fines from me...certainly exceeding their cost of delivery.

Easter Candy:
Cadbury Creme Eggs
Fondant yolk goo wins a couple authenticity points. As authenticity of chocolate eggs go...

Marshmallow Peeps
Only if they're uber-fresh. Prefer the chicks to the bunnies. No real color preference, but I tend towards the yellow.

Cadbury Mini Eggs.
Put on a paper plate and microwave for ten seconds, fifteen if you're feeling kicky. Eat. You won't be sorry.

Boeing 767s.
Smoothest planes on takeoff. Widebody but not ungainly.

TI-68 calculator.
My calculatron since high school; still the best. Displays the input in a string on the screen, no clearing or new lines between operations.

Pilot G2 pens.
Awesome gel pens - perfect for grading. Handy to have in the backpack, plus they come in navy blue, turquoise, and other great shades.

Walgreens EasySaver Rebates.
I haven't paid for toothpaste, a toothbrush, or cheap hair goo in years. Helpful for trying new foundations and lip glosses for free. New stuff every month.

Banana ice cream.
Ice cream, in general, is one of my favorite things. But banana ice cream is definitely my favorite flavor.

Fish, Clothing, and Emily Post

I think my fish is dying. I'm trying to stave off the death. The fish was part of a centerpiece at prom last year (not my idea); and a bunch of students (and I!) took home fishies that night. I kept him in a beaker in my classroom last spring. Named him Fred. But the beaker would get funky awfully quickly, so I bought a wee tank and filter for him. Starting a couple weeks ago, Fred's been pretty listless. It had been cold in the evenings, and the cool water was probably stressing him out. Lately, however, he's been hanging around behind the filter outlet, and not moving very much at all. I didn't see any telltale white splotches of ick, but upon further examination, he appears to have some sort of something on his back. I'm guessing it's some kind of fungus infection. I gave his tank a thorough cleaning, did some quick research on fish treatments, and found that methylene blue can be used to treat such afflictions. Hey, this chemistry teacher has plenty of that! I turned off the aquarium pump, too, hoping that still water will ease his irritation. We shall see...


Went to a Super Tuesday party last night. ABC was proclaiming winners of primaries with a mere 6% of precincts reporting. Never before have I witnessed such a steamrolling of data and statistics. But that's not my point. I didn't want to bother driving all the way home and all the way back to school and stayed out that way. Which meant I had to plan far in advance for dress-up Wednesday. And a warm Wednesday, too. I have a hard time selecting outfits one night ahead - invariably, I don't feel like wearing whatever I picked. Plus, I had to cart my morning necessities with me. I'm not that high-maintenance, but I do require some product. Anyhow, I had a feeling yesterday that I wasn't going to be satisfied with the clothing choice I'd packed for today. The suit I brought, I like it, but there was a loose button (which manifested itself as a wardrobe malfunction this morning, requiring a swift dash to the theatre costume shop for repair!). I didn't bring the belt, either, and I still don't know where that might be. Despite my poor clothing pick, I received several compliments today. I suppose just means I can disguise poor wardrobe choices well. Or at least make the best of them. It was a weird start to the day, too, outside of my typical routine. I was able to set my alarm for the time I'd ordinarily be leaving for school! Anyhow, driving into campus this morning, I had a strange sensation - almost as if I'd not left campus since the morning before. I suppose I use my drive as mental distancing from the school day more than I realize.


Finally, how is etiquette taught these days? I used to check out Emily Post volumes from the library as a middle-schooler. We had workshops in college designed to teach us luncheon etiquette and business communication. How else would you learn the proper ways to address a letter, what fork to use, or the right time to applaud during a concerto? I've heard some criticisms of social graces as effete elitist rules, however, I believe etiquette serves as a way to make people feel comfortable, not uncomfortable. It provides a structure in which to operate, where people know what's expected and can respond appropriately. (I have found no greater illustration of the value of clear expectations than in a classroom.) I could have used a crash course in military protocol at a former job, where I interacted with both active-duty and retired officers. I always felt unequipped and ignorant. Anyhow, soapbox aside, one thing I considered last year was Jennifer's Charm School, before prom, to give students an idea of what to do at a formal dinner dance. As much as we prepare students for college classrooms, I wonder whether we prepare them for life outside the classroom. Balancing a checkbook, addressing others when making introductions, interview and business etiquette. How do you learn this stuff if you're not an etiquette guidebook nerd?


It's that blah time in late winter, when the only food in season is citrus and root vegetables and casseroles. A time of transition in weather, too - our taste of the 80s the past couple of days reminds me I'm not quite ready for summer. It's no wonder I am not satisfied by my clothing choices!

On the Road

(Yeah, it's a back-dated post. Leave me alone. I only have dial-up here. Makes it tougher to spend time online.)

I drove the length of Indiana today, from my in-laws in the south to my parents in the north. Almost five hours of driving gave me a lot of head-time. Here are some of the things I scrawled on the fast-food bag laying in my passenger seat:

It's remarkable how I take my iPod and XM radio for granted. I'm at the mercy of a "seek" button and a lot of FM junk. Why so many automobile manufacturers fail to include a "scan" button on their radios is a mystery. By the way, I'm driving this Suzuki that's the product of some cross-pollination between an SUV and a station-wagon. It was dreadful enough until my father-in-law proclaimed it "a hearse". Crap - he's totally right.

Driving across expansive stretches of gently rolling farmland, I wonder whether my affinity for this kind of countryside is merely a product of the location of my upbringing. Granted, I've lived in and visited some excruciatingly beautiful places (sorry, Florida is not one of them...) - but there's something appealing about this kind of scene. I'm sure not everyone shares my opinion. I mean, who's going to deny that there are some places on earth that everyone finds unspeakably beautiful. But I can't imagine the same percentage would hold midwestern corn fields in the same esteem as I do. But if I'd grown up in Florida, would I consider swampy marshes as lovely? Maybe it's a moot point, trying to separate out the pure beauty from that which is simply familiar. Beauty is beauty. A product of the beholder, yes, but why question it?

Top Five Midwestern Ephemera

1. A dark sky, highlighted by the silvery undersides of maple leaves exposed by the gusts of an approaching storm. There's always a crescendo to a storm - when the sky gets progressively more ominous, but there's always a subtle dissatisfaction to the denouement, as the sky begins to lighten.

2. A temperate summer morning - not cool, but not overly warm, either - one you know is going to give way to a toasty afternoon later. We never seem to get these in Florida, presumably because of the humidity, which tends to assault you as you step out the door.

3. A bright snowy night, as any available light gets bounced all around off myriad white surfaces.

4. Tree trunks darkened by spring rain, punctuated by the bright green of young leaves on an overcast day. Also: The same thing in autumn, when those leaves have turned red and orange.

5. Late afternoon sunshine across fields in late autumn. Pewter stratocumulus in the sky, growing progressively more grey as the sun slips below them and casts sidelong illumination, gilding everything it touches.

One fun thing about driving long stretches in Indiana is the License Plate Game. License plates are issued by county, of course, and the first digits on standard plates indicate the county. So, 71 is St. Joseph (South Bend), 79 is Tippecanoe (Lafayette), 49 is Marion (Indianapolis). When I was young - middle school, maybe - my parents and I went to Indianapolis for the State Fair one summer. [Warning: severe geekiness to follow!] In advance of the trip, I made a spreadsheet on our new computer (using Lotus 1-2-3, a precursor to Microsoft Excel. On a DOS platform! And an amber monochrome monitor!) of all 92 counties in Indiana, along with their corresponding license plate number - they're numbered in alphabetical order. I remember the hardest to find was Switzerland county (77, IIRC...?) - a tiny little county in southeastern Indiana. Oh, the joy when I finally found that one! Anyhow, it was fun, playing that game again (without my lists, I got to be pretty good about interpolating between counties I knew; I've gotten rusty in the past decade) - though a lot of the fun has been lost with the rise in popularity of specialty plates, which carry no county designation.

I passed an old stone church for sale, on US31 in Tipton County, I think. Too bad there's not much around it, because it would be an awesome building to buy and turn into a bed-and-breakfast! I've long harbored desire for architectural reuse. As I've mentioned in this blog before and am too lazy to link right now.

Train tracks. This state is lousy with 'em. There really aren't many in Monterey, and I don't encounter many in Orlando, either - roads are built around or over them.

Just north of Indianapolis is a Wendy's on US 31 that was always the first indication that you're entering the Indy metro area. At least it was for me as a kid. Now, there's so much development going on around it, I hardly recognize the landmark.

Passed a fancy-looking high school (Westfield?) north of Indianapolis that advertises itself as a Verizon Smart Campus. Remind me to look this up later.

I should make some baklava when I get back to my kitchen. I haven't made that in a while. We also need to have a housewarming party. If for no other reason than to give us a deadline to finish painting the bathrooms. :)

Stopped at Trader Joe's in Castleton (NE Indianapolis). I went in looking for vanilla paste. Came out with $55 worth of stuff - and no vanilla paste. :-\ Did get some interesting foods. I shall report back later on them. Passed the hotel where I remember staying with my parents and some friends for the 1994 boys basketball state tournament, which our high school won. Turns out two of the players from that team have returned to the school as coaches. I wonder how that is, to be a player, with a giant picture of your coach at your age, staring down on you from above the bleachers. I know I'm romanticizing it all, but I can't help but think of Hoosiers. Which is a good movie, by the way. Go rent it - if you've never seen it, you are wrong.

More fields. Seed corn signs at the side of the road. Lonely irrigation sprinklers amid the dessicated remnants of chopped stalks. The demise of the family farm at the hands of mega-agribusiness operations saddens me, even though it seems an inevitability. Cue the John Mellencamp... seek... seek... seek... oh wait, there it is! Rain on the scarecrow...

Just when I looked down to my gauges and see that the temperature outside is 32, I notice some stuff in my headlights. Snow! Just a flurry here and there at first, but as I put my car in park, big floofy flakes started to fall. We have more in store for this week! A nice welcome "home". I catch myself when referring to this as home. I grew up here. Lived in this state for 24 years and one week (minus one summer). But looking around at all the changes, it's no more home than any other place, really. I suppose it always will be home, even if only home to my memories. Which grow fonder with time. It really was a good place to grow up.

Never-Ending Miscellany

Trapper Keepers. Anyone else notice the surge of vintage-80s stuff available now/again? I saw Trapper Keepers in back-to-school advertisements a couple weeks ago. I remember you just had to have one; mine was beige and had a picture of kittens on it, though the ink-splash one pictured here is pretty sweet. Next thing you know, we're going to start seeing GI Joe lunch box-thermos combos again. They're probably already on shelves. By the way, I had Snoopy on my lunch box. [Dang. The site where I pulled the picture has my old lunchbox (w/o the thermos) for $48. Too bad mine's banged up and has been storing crayons in my parents' basement for the last ... couple decades.] Anyhow, this shouldn't be a surprise. Everyone who grew up in the 80s is now having kids, and what better way to market to parents than through nostalgia? Brilliant.

Postage Rates. Every time the USPS raises first-class postage prices, there's always outcry. I don't understand - 41 cents to pick up a letter at my house, deliver it clear across the country directly to someone else's home, all in a matter of days? Sounds like a bargain at twice the price.

More Bad Chocolate. Saw these chocolates at the grocery store - thought I'd give them a go. Bad idea. They're $5 for 6 pieces. One of them was all melty and misshapen, so I didn't even try it. The tops don't correspond *at all* to what's inside, so the one with red patterns on top wasn't the raspberry ganache I was expecting. One (the cacao truffle) was so bad I spat it out - and I usually commit to swallowing chocolate, even if it's bad. No discernible differences in taste among them all, either. Cheap transfer patterns on top, too. Run. Far.

My Plate Obsession. I have a serious thing for plates and bowls and assorted kitchenry. Someone needs to send me $200 so I can have these. Please and thank you. :)

Still More Miscellany

It appears I've been remiss in my daily postings. So, to catch you up on the past three days...

I'd had a remarkable week, in terms of commerce and customer satisfaction, all which came to a screeching halt. Or a plateau, perhaps. Kitchenaid mixer deal, replacement breadmaker, free chocolate. My heretofore fabulous new pen started skipping on the page - a major irritant - and I called up Levenger to see if there was anything I could do, beyond rinsing it. The CS agent e-mailed me a return label and told me they'll replace it. Score! My camera flash has been hinky for months. I just bought it a year ago (so it's four weeks out of warranty) - I don't often need the fill flash, but it's annoying when I do. Anyhow, I took my camera into the local Nikon repair shop and they tell me that the repair will run $250. What! I can try my luck, sending it in and hoping for warranty grace, but it will likely take 4+ weeks [the reason I never sent it in for repair during the school year...] and there's no guarantee they'll do it for free anyhow. At that rate, I'll just buy a for-real flash and forgo repair. Brian went shopping and came home with a blender. The drive shaft teeth that engage the turning thingy in the jar have nearly sheared off. I don't know what he brought home, but I told him that if he's going to replace it, at least replace it with another Kitchenaid - those things take down ice like nobody's business. Anyhow, a quick search of the internets reveals this is a common problem - particularly for those impatient consumers like us who shake the jar back and forth during blending... So we don't need a new blender, but a $6 part. Not bad.

Ha ha - that Kitchenaid blender link shows the review I wrote 6 years ago when I purchased it! 102 of 106 people have found my review helpful. :)

Let's see, Friday night, I went to our church's Not-Your-Mainstream-Movie Night. Run Lola Run, postponed from May. I'd seen it before, but I really liked it. I got more out of it this time. It's tight filmmaking. And I actually enjoy reading movies, so I don't need much of an excuse to watch something subtitled. I dig Franka Potente, though her co-star was kind of annoying - I think it's his distractingly large lips.

Slept in this morning and went to the second service. 'Twas quite odd, not being there at daybreak, for once. Went to Crispers afterwards, where I had one of their flatbreads. I was pleasantly surprised - lots of Parmesan or Asiago on the crust that melted and browned and got all crunchity. You should try one.

And in case you weren't aware, the leaving of marshmallows in a car in Florida doesn't end well for the marshmallows.

I was reminded today that we're going to a wedding this weekend. I'm helping out with the flowers, which means I need to pack exceptionally sketchy-looking stuff like floral wire and hot glue sticks. Maybe I should just FedEx them ahead and circumvent the TSA altogether...


I promise to post something of more substance later. But I need to do more reading and less writing.

Even More Miscellany

This is bad. I've been procrastinating and generally undermotivated for the past week or so. I'm talking set-the-alarm-for-nine-AM-and-still-smack-snooze- for-an-hour brand of unmotivation. Well, I can write it off to summer, right? I don't get the luxury of laziness the other nine months of the year. I did get my laboratory balance bench (and all the balances) clean today, so I don't feel too badly about it all.

Today's On-The-Go Playlist (or What I Sang Along With While I Cleaned My Lab):
Under African Skies, Paul Simon
Into the Night, Benny Mardones
Anything Genuine, Smalltown Poets
The Way, Telecast
Jesse's Girl, Rick Springfield
Creep, Radiohead
Window, Guster
King of New Orleans, Better Than Ezra
Lackluster, Poi Dog Pondering
Uninvited, Alanis Morrissette
Here's Where the Story Ends, The Sundays
Cry on My Shoulder, Overflow
No One is to Blame, Howard Jones
When You're Falling, Afro Celt Sound System
And So It Goes, Billy Joel
Under the Milky Way, The Church
Hang Me Up to Dry, Cold War Kids
Don't Drink the Water, Dave Matthews
Bang Bang, David Sanborn
Allison Road, Gin Blossoms
Sexy Back, Justin Timberlake (1)
Fast Love, George Michael
Maneater, Nelly Furtado (2)
Ruby, Kaiser Chiefs
Too Much, Leeland
Don't Look Back in Anger, Oasis
All This Time, Sting
Old Friends, Simon & Garfunkel
1000 Julys, Third Eye Blind
Stay - Far Away So Close, U2
Time of the Season, The Zombies
Key West Intermezzo, John Mellencamp
Synchronicity II, The Police

(1) I don't respect myself for this; I don't expect you to, either.
(2) I'm a bit disturbed that I own this, mostly because Ms. Furtado belongs to a group of female singers that make my ears bleed (also: Paula Cole and Shakira). But this song is different. It's a fantastic tango. Maybe that's its redeeming factor.


Just so you know, the quality of a soft drink is directly proportional to the quality of the ice floating in it. Tijuana Flats serves some of the best soda in the world simply because they put crushed ice in it, not cubes. And slushy = good. The miniature golf establishment where I worked throughout high school and college had awesome Dr. Pepper, partly because the syrup-to-water ratio was relatively high, but mostly because the ice was killer. It had a peculiar temperature cycle and would occasionally produce very icy ice, but then, about twenty minutes later, it would spit out fresh, soft, wet ice that I don't even know how to describe. They weren't exactly cubes. Not exactly pellets, either. Anyhow, most times, the drink was just a vehicle for the ice. I wasn't above just eating cups of ice straight up, either - maybe it was my burgeoning ice connoisseurship, maybe it was a symptom of the anemia I had for years. (shrug) I never cared for fizzy drinks as a child - they were like an assault on the tongue. I guess when I think about it, I have an unconventional food history - I never ate typical American kid food - I only discovered the joys of mac & cheese within the past five years, I can count on one hand the number of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches I've consumed (okay, I can count on one finger the number I've even tasted. I only like peanut butter in cookies. Friends loved going trick-or-treating with me because they got all my Reese's cups. That's all right - banana taffy was totally a fair trade.). So I never really drank soda pop until I took that job, but it was free for the drinking as long as you were judicious with your cup usage (I brought my own - nerd. I had two I used all the time, they're in the picture over there - bigger nerd. That picture is from the auction I just bid on - biggest nerd ever!). I hear that glorious ice machine has since been replaced. Ah, one can never truly go home.

What a digressive paragraph! At least it started and finished with ice. :)


I'm learning how to do latte art; I'm amazed by this stuff. And this. I'll be excited when I can just do a simple rosetta. It seems pretty easy, watching the training videos, but I practiced some tonight. It's clearly one of those skills that the people who are good at it, well, they just make it look maddeningly effortless. Figure skating is another one of those things. Anyhow, the texture of the milk is crucial - it has to be. Because I think my milk is sadly a bit too foamy. If you watch people do it, it seems like the bright white foam is still fairly fluid. Mine tonight was *fantastic* for cappuccinos - I was constantly slurping foam, one bad attempt after another (wasn't gonna waste it...), but I never got anything remotely close to latte art. So it's gonna take far more practice, but I think figuring out the right milk texture is what makes or breaks it all. I also think I might pour too fast? Or maybe too slow. I don't know. I'm working the coffee bar on Sunday, so I'll have plenty of time to practice, though I wonder how our to-go cups are going to affect it.


We've had two days of awesome lightning - really electrified storms with really close strokes. I was going to write about the Turkey Lake Convergence Zone, but now I'm not feeling it. Remind me - some other time.

The alacrity by which our house is being constructed is almost alarming. We had the framing inspection last Friday, and by the end of work today, they've finished nearly all the drywall and the exterior stucco. If things keep at this pace, we'll be closing well before the projected late-October date.

Even though I give little credence to wine rankings and ratings, I love that Two-Buck Chuck just won this big wine competition. Let it be known that I would probably be willing to compromise my ethics to bring a Trader Joe's to central Florida. Let me know what it'll take, guys.

In a bit of an Iron Chef moment, I decided I should use up some pie crust in my freezer and a can of pumpkin in my pantry. So I made a pumpkin pie last night, which also gave me the excuse to use some of my new Ceylon cinnamon and whole nutmeg. Brian thinks pumpkin pie is akin to barf, which means I have a whole pie to myself! I'll own up to my gluttony when it comes to desserts. Also, I haven't had a grilled cheese sandwich in a long time. I think I'm going to go get some cottony white bread and plastic American cheese slices tomorrow before lunch. Mmmm...

Yes, I do realize that in one paragraph, I managed to extol the virtues of both fancypants spices and Kraft singles. Deal with it. :)

More Miscellany

This is a horribly undignified way to die.

I passed this accident scene on I-95 Monday afternoon. Seeing the pancaked cars in the median, I was horrified at how grisly this accident had to be to flatten cars like that! So you can imagine my relief and surprise at learning that the overturned trailer was simply hauling compacted cars...


This is tasty stuff. Try it and tell me you don't agree.

Mixed Berries with Balsamic-Red Wine Reduction

3 parts balsamic vinegar
1 part red wine
1 part sugar
Splash of vanilla
Lemon zest

Combine balsamic, wine, and sugar. Simmer until reduced and syrupy (you can do this in the microwave - it takes a fraction of the time as it does on the stovetop and doesn't gas your house with vinegar fumes). Cool, then add vanilla and zest. Pour over a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Or eat it right away. No matter.

Assorted Brainings

Look. I only have a couple months of summer, which afford me the fun and privilege of getting mail from the mailbox. I'm tired of crappy mail. So send me stuff already. Postcard, letter, a box of socks, I don't care. Just something better than junk mail and bills, please.


Call me simple, but these always make me smile. I can't explain it, they just do.

[By the way, try a google image search for those things if you don't know what they're really called. Fun times ensue.]


And will someone tell me why white and silver cars are so popular? They're so boring - like the guys on the assembly line let them roll off without being painted.


This might be all for today. I just got home from South Florida and there is reading I want to do. But I might give in and go rent a couple movies I have had on my to-watch list for months. Specifically, Children of Men and Notes on a Scandal (the book was excellent).