Mardi Gras

I know, I know, Mardi Gras was over a week ago.  I was so drunk and hungover that I couldn't even get the post written!  Okay, that's not true.  Really I forgot that I was even going to write it.  Not because MG wasn't fun, but because I'm a forgetful space case sometimes.

Anyway.  Remember way back when I went on a tour of the Laurel Apartments, MX redevelopment, etc.?  The apartments have been open for occupancy for some time, but they had their official grand opening celebration last Tuesday night.  It was warm for February, so they had food in the open-air courtyard of the apartments, as well as some inside.  I think there were three or four different spots you could find food and drink.  And one of their most ingenious ideas was hot chocolate in paper cups that we could take downstairs to watch the parade!

I didn't go to the big Saturday parade, but I know the Tuesday night one is much smaller.  Still, it's nice that they do it.

After that, we went to A&N's house and had ribs and cole slaw from Bogart's Smokehouse!  Bogart's in the new(ish) restaurant opened by the same guys who own Pappy's.  I've never actually been to the establishment, but now at least I can say I've had their food (and it was great)!

Bailey's Range

I went to Bailey's Range last night with a group of friends for dinner.  I'd heard mixed things about it, but it's hard to go too wrong when you're serving burgers and alcoholic milkshakes, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

I got the Blackened Bleu burger, which was good but not the best bleu cheese burger I've ever had.  Bonus points though for the enormous chunks of cheese!  They weren't skimping.  But beware when you order your burger: fries (or any other side) are not included.  I ordered a side of fries, and they were delightful - a little crispy, almost salty enough, and I had my pick of about a dozen sauces.  I went with the chipotle catsup (or as I would say, ketchup).

The real winner was a creation all my own though.  Going back to my days of living in London, I have a major obsession with Bailey's ice cream.  Haagen Dazs for a while put out a Bailey's ice cream, and it was amazing.  I found it I think twice as a "special edition" as I got back to Chicago, but no more.  (They do still have it in England - or at least they did the last time I was there, in 2009.)

So there we were at the restaurant last night, and since it's Bailey's Range, they have Bailey's ice cream!  I didn't yet know what kind of burger or catsup/ketchup I wanted, but I knew I would have Bailey's ice cream.  I started with the idea of their Irish Coffee - Jameson, Bailey's, and espresso ice cream - and I modified it to suit my needs: Bailey's, Bailey's ice cream, and espresso ice cream.  It was like being back in London!  Definitely worth the price of admission.

Although I didn't try either of the burgers, a fun thing on the menu is their burger showdown: two burgers, and whichever gets ordered more frequently sticks around to fight another week.  If I lived near there, I'd be a regular for that culinary experimentation.

And, after my oh-so-tasty boozy milkshake, the second best thing about Bailey's Range is that they're doing what this city most needs - which is to say, it's making it feel like a city.  They're located at 10th and Olive downtown (and they identify as such on their website, not with their actual street address), so not on Washington Avenue.  It's a two-story establishment, because that's often what you have to do when you're not in the suburbs.  And the way to get upstairs is this narrow little marble staircase that's probably 100 years old.  It's inconvenient and a challenge if you're wearing heels and probably a huge liability and it has character.  Amen, brother.

Goal #9

Goal #9: clear out my e-mail inboxes.

They've gotten a little bit out of control.  Every now and then I go through my inboxes and delete or archive old messages as appropriate, but it's been a while since that happened.  Unfortunately, the purging process takes a long time, because it involves writing and reading lots of long e-mails.

So the truth is, I probably won't get through all of my e-mails, because I have lots of e-mail addresses.  But I'm going to do my best to get through the three that I actually use with some regularity.  Maybe you will get an overdue e-mail from me!

Recap of Goal #8: I'll give myself a D on this one.  When I thought about the journal, I had no problem coming up with things to be thankful for.  But the problem was actually thinking about it.  I've never been a good, regular journal keeper, and this was no different.  There were three days I completely forgot that I was even supposed to be doing anything, although on one of those days I just passed out completely.  Not only did I not

Random Links

Unfortunately the sidebar where I post all my random and/or fun and/or bizarre links has been broken for quite some time.  I have been amassing links but have been unable to post!  So now, for your entertainment and edification, here they are:

I don't know why it's so fun to watch this dog tearing up the ground, but it is.
Where not to go.
Amazing animals.
Mushrooms vs. funeral.
Puppy rescue.
Cabin porn.
Where should you have gone to high school?
Seriously Google?  Just stop it.
The most beautiful bookstores.
Neil and Jason: the Confrontation Song.
Don't tease the frog.

What I'm Reading Now -- Outliers

My next audiobook!  I've listened to one of Malcolm Gladwell's other books, The Tipping Point, on audio.  It was a long time ago, but I recall enjoying it immensely.  I also read Blink the old-fashioned way, and I couldn't put it down.  It was so full of references and fun facts told in an accessible way that I just wanted to read it aloud to whomever happened to be nearby.  At some points, in fact, I did just that.  So I have high hopes for Outliers!

The Invention of Air -- Take 2

The version of The Invention of Air that I listened to must have been abridged - it was a long time ago that I imported it to iTunes.  But it was short, and I'm writing that off as abridgement.

What might also be the fault of abridgement is my big complaint: the narrative almost completely lacked flow until about halfway through.  I really like this period in history, and even I had a hard time following the story and staying interested.  I can only imagine how dry it must seem to someone who isn't so taken with the revolutionaries.  This may or may not be a fault of the author; it might be bad writing (and editing), or it might just be poor abridgement.  Either way, it was frustrating.

Eventually, the story does pick up and start to move in a linear and understandable fashion, and from that point on it was enjoyable.

The author also makes some obvious but refreshing observations about the time in general.  I love looking back on the revolutionary period, because all the main players were such Renaissance men - interested (and capable! and successful!) in fields of science, politics, literature, even agriculture.  Because such huge advances were being made in technology at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, new areas of study were accessible to anyone with the funds to get involved.  New fields were ripe for discovery, innovation, and development in a way that they no longer are.  Then, a man such as Joseph Priestley who was willing to commit himself to some serious study could make numerous significant discoveries in multiple fields.  Now, to make a groundbreaking discovery in chemistry or physics, you have to dedicate your life to it, and even then the chances of making such a discovery are slim.  It was a more elemental time, full of possibilities in a whole different way than what we know now.

So, all in all, I'd say the second half was enjoyable, and for the most part could have been appreciated without the first part.

What I Watched -- The Company Men

Somehow, The Company Men is one of those movies that sort of flew under my radar.  I had heard of it, but only in passing, and I don't think I read any reviews or the like.  And I'm not sure how all that happened, because it has quite and impressive cast, and usually such movies are all over the place.  Maybe the reason was because, while all of the performances were good, none of them were Oscar-worthy.  Just generally a good ensemble.

Said cast members include Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, and Tommy Lee Jones as the poor guys who lose their jobs.  Ben Affleck has done his share of terrible movies (Gigli, Phantoms, Daddy and Them - full disclosure: I did not see any of these movies, but I'm assuming they're bad), but also some darn good ones (The Town, Dogma, and of course Good Will Hunting). Chris Cooper has been on quite a run in the last several years, with hits including The Bourne Identity and Supremacy, Seabiscuit, Capote, Syriana, and (also) The  Town.  And then there's Tommy Lee Jones.  Holy hell, he's a good actor.  The Fugitive, JFK, In the Valley of Elah, No Country for Old Men...  Need I go on?  In his review of Elah, Roger Ebert ponders why TLJ is so good: "Look at the lines around his eyes.  He looks concerned, under pressure from himself, a man who has felt pain.  Look at his face.  It seems to conceal hurtful emotion.  He doesn't smile a lot, but when he does, it's like the clouds are lifting.  Listen to his voice, filled with authority and hard experience.  Notice when he speaks that he passes words out as if they were money he can't afford."

And those are just the three mains!  There's also Kevin Costner, who I think is actually my favorite character in the movie.  So, here's the setup.  The three above play Bobby, Phil, and Gene, respectively (and from lowest to highest in order of seniority).  All three lose their jobs.  Bobby's wife Maggie (the lovely Rosemarie DeWitt) comes from a working class family, and her brother Jack (Costner), who's just the right mix of asshole and good guy, offers Bobby some carpentry work to help him through.  Also stars Craig T "Coach" Nelson as the bossman and Maria Bello (another lovely) as the not-quite-universally hated HR employee tasked with handling the firings.

I like that these three guys - Gene most obviously, but each in his own way - is a contradiction.  Gene is totally on the straight and narrow at work, wants to do the ethical thing, the right thing, even if it isn't best for the company.  But - MINOR SPOILER ALERT - he's cheating on his wife.  Bobby has the best, most stable home life, but is obsessed with outward appearances.  Phil is the tough guy who may be the most soft-hearted.

Bottom line: some of this movie is roses and unicorns, some is not.  I like that.  I didn't know what to expect when I started watching it, and I like that too.  But what I liked most of all was that I was pleasantly surprised.

What I Watched -- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

It turned out that my big V-day date with T was go to see the new version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, because I can't think of anything more romantic than Cold War espionage.

This movie takes some work to watch.  You really have to pay attention to every detail, but it's worth the trouble.

Gary Oldman is sublimely reserved as the disgraced George Smiley.  There will be the inevitable comparisons to Alec Guinness, who starred in the BBC miniseries on which this movie is based.  While I have seen the miniseries - five hours of spy-tacular goodness - it was a long time ago and I don't remember the details well enough to share my thoughts with you.  (The miniseries, in turn, was based on John le Carre's book of the same name, which is itself part of the Karla Trilogy, also including The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People.  Call for the Dead, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, and other le Carre books also star Mr. Smiley, in case you want further reading, but not part of the trilogy.)

But anyway, the story.  George Smiley is a lifelong spy who was unceremoniously run out of "the Circus" by the newer, younger guys.  Something wasn't right about that, and the reappearance of one of their men who had gone AWOL turns up information that one of the men at the Circus is a mole, a double agent working for the Soviets.  But is the information true?  If so, who is it?  How does this all fit with that Smiley knows from his time there?  Watch, and you'll find out.

Also stars John Hurt, Colin Firth, Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones (who you don't know you know, but you do if you're a Harry Potter fan), and the man with the best name of all, Benedict Cumberbatch.

Bottom line: a classic spy movie.  While there is some blood and guts, don't go in expecting Bourne-style action.  But if you can do that, you won't be disappointed.

Goal #8

Goal #8: keep a daily gratitude journal.

Why not?  There are so many good things.  Might as well try to appreciate them.

Recap of Goal #7: guys, I have to be honest: I didn't do it.

You might ask, "How could you mess up a goal as simple and delightful as having a glass of red wine a day?"  Beer.  That's the answer.  All was going well until Friday, when I went out to meet some folks at a bar.  Unfortunately, the wine choices ranged from limited to nonexistent, so I opted for Blue Moon instead.  And by the time I got home, I was so tired all I could do was collapse into bed.

Funny...you'd think Friday night would be the night I'd most need a glass of wine, wouldn't you?

What I Watched -- Win Win

It took me two tries to get through Win Win, but not because the movie wasn't good.  I just pulled my usual movie routine of falling asleep in the first 20 minutes.  It's pretty standard for me and has nothing to do with the quality of the movie.

Paul Giamatti again plays kind of a hapless character with a good heart (see Sideways).  (Although don't write him off as completely typecast.  If you saw John Adams, you know that he can accomplish great things when he's trading letters with one Laura Linney.)

In this particular movie, Giamatti plays an attorney and wrestling coach struggling to make ends meet and hide that fact from his wife Jackie (Amy Ryan).  Into their lives falls Kyle (played by Alex Shaffer in his first role), a runaway who just happens to be a fantastic wrestler.  (Shaffer is actually a state champ wrestler in real life.)

Though he's a bit unorthodox and unpredictable, Kyle turns around the wrestling team and forces some honesty between Mike and Jackie.  Also includes Jeffrey Tambor, Bobby Cannavale (whom director Tom McCarthy also cast in The Station Agent), and Melanie Lynskey in the cast of lost souls.

Bottom line: all the casting was good and Giamatti was appropriately funny, but Alex Shaffer really stole the show as Kyle.  He was just believable enough to seem real, but not so much so that he was boring.  It's a good, if somewhat predictable, feel-good film.

What I'm Reading Now -- The Invention of Air

The Invention of Air is another audiobook Mom sent me.  As far as I can tell, this one is the story of the discovery of dioxide (O₂) (among other things) by scientist and theologian Joseph Priestley. The story so far includes the political and scientific climate leading up to the discovery and springing from it, though I'm not yet sure how far those threads will stretch.

The Help -- Take 2

I finished The Help, which is a fairly long book, in record time for me. (This post is a long time coming.)  It helped that I had lots of hours of reading during the aforementioned Super Bowl and airport day.

To be fair, it wasn't just that I had lots of time.  The book was an engaging read.  I enjoyed my time with the characters and their complicated relationships and mutual affection or distaste for one another.  The characters are fleshed out (or at least as fleshed out as some of the more shallow characters can be) and fun to read about.

Given that the book is about the dynamic situation of southern white women and their black housekeepers in Mississippi in the 1960s, obviously race and racism are huge topics. Stockett did a fine job toeing the line between being too preachy and too condescending.  Even so, it's still falls somewhat into the chick lit category.  It's a book almost exclusively about women and the relationships they have with one another, growing together or growing apart.

I guess I expected more, although I probably shouldn't have.  With few exceptions, books that are on the bestseller list for as long as this one was usually don't have too much in the way of intellectual heft.

Mom!

Mom was in town over the weekend, and I took her to one of my favorite places: the London Tea Room! We had lunch consisting of creamy tomato soup and a delicious three cheese grilled cheese, and after chatting for a while, we dove into a pot of Duke & Duchess tea with a Victoria Sandwich (white cake with vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam) and a masala chai brownie.

Our original plan was to have lunch and then go see Pina, but we talked for so long that we missed the start of the movie.  Instead, we ventured out west to Kerry Cottage and the Miriam Switching Post, where I found a lovely fur coat for a bargain!

Unfortunately, that was the end of our afternoon, and Mom had to head home again the next day.  But it was fun while it lasted!

The Fountain on Locust

Since my big V-day plans tonight include going to a movie and eating leftovers, I'll tell you instead about the dinner T and I had last Friday night.  We went out to The Fountain on Locust (but sadly, I'm not back in dress mode yet.  I'll get there!).

The Fountain is a retro restaurant-cum-ice cream parlor, except the ice cream comes in the form of alcoholic beverages!  Okay, it doesn't have to.  But really, why wouldn't you want it to?

We started out by sharing the hummus plate (Hummus a Sultry Tune), and then I had the Roast Beef Melt, mostly because the horseradish sauce sounded good.  I will, however, have to return for the Royal Grille.  For dessert, we shared a vanilla egg creme, which was...interesting.  Tasty, but I didn't really know what to expect.

The real winner, though, was the Brother Love: chocolate ice cream swimming in Frangelico.  It was like Nutella in a margarita glass.  Amazingly delicious!

Goal #7

Goal #7: drink one glass of red wine per day.  Yes!  Awesome goal!

Reasons:
1) It's good for your heart (or so they say);
2) After last week, I need something at which I can succeed!

Recap of Goal #6: epic fail!  I have read exactly one (1) magazine this week, and it wasn't even one of the ones that had been in a pile.  Bummer.

Happy Birthday E!

Hope it's a great day!

Salt

So, even though I was in Breck last weekend, I had dinner with Dad again this week!  He was in town for some meetings, so T joined us and we went to Salt. 

It was great!  The plates were reasonably sized, except for Dad's ginormous pile of duck fat frites.  They came with house-made ketchup, but the real winner was the garlic aioli. I started with the pork and fennel meatballs, and had the ribeye, which was delightful with the herbed mustard.  But I didn't stop there!  Dessert was the rustic tart with salted caramel ice cream from Serendipity.

It was a lovely meal!

What I Watched -- The Lincoln Lawyer

I've long known that my "lawyer film" repertoire is somewhat lacking.  I didn't really intend to start catching up with a film like The Lincoln Lawyer, but I do like Matthew McConaughey, so why not?  (He seems to like the lawyer films: see also A Time to Kill.)
A good, twisty lawyer film is like a spy movie: the parts don't fall in place until the end, the players don't all make sense.

To McConaughey's credit, he plays the role of Mick Haller, slick defense attorney, well.  He's a smooth talker who knows his way around the streets as well as (or better than) around the courthouse.  He's hired to defend rich playboy Louis Roulet (played by Ryan Phillipe, who seems a little too much like a genuine sociopath to be acting), who's been accused of attempted rape and assault.

Mick comes to discover that Louis has him in a trap, and it will take all of his brains and grit to get out without getting hurt (or worse), or selling out his own backstabbing client.

Bottom line: much like the Bourne movies, this is not a classic destined to be watched regularly in 50 years.  But it is a fun, fast-paced, twisty ride, so enjoy it.

Breck!, Part 2

Whew, where did I leave off?  That's right, with P's dinner on Friday.  Well, it made excellent leftovers for Saturday lunch as well.  Dad and I took a mid-day break from practicing our mad mogul skillz (that's right, with a z) to come in for some lunch, and caught P just as he was headed out the door to try his hand at cross-country skiing (one event in the nordic skiing family, Wikipedia has told me).

Saturday night we had more fun with the smoke detector while dad made some delicious roast ducks with wild rice and carrots, and we had a dynamo cabernet, much to P's satisfaction.  Great meal, ducks were the perfect size, with some leftovers for Keystone as well.

Sunday brought a slightly shorter day on the slopes, but marked improvement for both of us in our moguls technique.  P had so much fun at his new activity on Saturday that he headed out again on Sunday for the golf course, which they turn into a cross-country track in the winter (how clever!).  We regrouped that afternoon for a soak in the hot tub and some eagerly-awaited Super Bowl snack food: beer, Velveeta cheese dip, and lots of chips.  Ours was something like this, although we were wingin' it at the time.

That was it for the skiing.  We left during the only real snow we had and headed down to the airport Monday morning, and I'm back to the grind in St. Louis now.  Although I did have several good hours with my book - I'm almost finished!

And for everyone's enjoyment, a lovely photo P took of me, attempting to silence the smoke detector.  This continued for entirely too long:

What I'm Reading Now -- The Help

The Help has been out for a while now, and it's gotten rave reviews all along. I never really had any particular desire to read it, nor any particular aversion to it. It just wasn't on my list. But then the movie came out, also to rave reviews, and one of my book clubs decided to do a "book and a movie" event.

It's possible that I already missed the event, but I had gotten the book and am now determined to read it. I'm about three chapters in, and enjoying the narrative so far.

Goal #6

Goal #6: Read one pile of magazines.

I have a collection of magazines that have been building up as I've been quite busy lately.  Right now they're sitting around in three piles, and it's my goal this week to get through just one of those piles.  The easy part of this: as the magazines get older, the less they matter and the less stuff in there I actually need to read.

So, by the end of the week, only two piles shall remain.

Recap of Goal #5: I did it!

Or at least close to it.  In St. Louis, when I was mostly drinking out of a Nalgene bottle, I had a good idea of exactly how much water I was drinking.  Once out in Breck it wasn't quite so clear, but I did my best to eyeball the glass and estimate how much water was contained therein.  And every time: 64 ounces, at least!  That does not, for the record, include coffee, juice, tea, or soda (but it does include tonic water).

Breck!

As you probably gathered from yesterday's post, I am in Breckenridge!

I came out here Wednesday afternoon, and Dad and I headed down to Empire Burger for a quick bite (Western Burger for me, mushroom and Swiss for dad).  We took to the slopes on Thursday to get back into the swing of things, and it actually took less time than I expected.  The snow was thin, but we played on Peak 9, everything from Upper Lehman (ungroomed - oops) to Shock.

After a late lunch, we took Keys on a walk.  It was supposed to be five miles, but the snow made for hard walking.  We limited ourselves to three miles, although Keys probably went twice that far, much of it through deep snow off the trail.

Uncle P arrived to a three-smoke-alarm welcome on Thursday night, just in time for dinner.  (No fires, the smoke alarms are just very sensitive.)  Dinner was a mixed greens salad with quail, and roasted cauliflower on the side (the smoky culprit).

While Dad and I were out having a ski lesson on Friday, P explored some of the art galleries and shops in town, and then headed to the store to get supplies for the dinner he was making us (recipe below).  Dad and I had a pretty good day skiing.  We worked on some of the basics to start out, but then had to forget all that as we started doing bumps in the afternoon.  And G took me on two runs down the slalom race track, which was awesomely fun!

P's dinner was just what we needed when we got back, some good, hearty, stick-to-your-ribs type of food.  It's called taco soup, but really is the consistency of chili, and is delicious.

Taco Soup
Ingredients:
1 onion
2 pounds ground beef
1 can light kidney beans
1 can dark kidney beans
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can creamed corn
1 package taco seasoning
1 package ranch dressing mix

Brown hamburger and onion, and season with salt and pepper.  Pour all ingredients into a crock pot and cook on low all day.

Doesn't get much easier than that!

What I'm Reading Now -- The Dublin Saga: The Princes of Ireland

I started listening to another audiobook before I left for Breck: The Dublin Saga: The Princes of Ireland.  I'm not very far into it yet, because I spent most of the journey out reading rather than listening.

The Princes of Ireland starts out in ancient Ireland, and so far one man's soon-to-be wife has run off with another and is pregnant with his baby.  Saucy stuff.  The book is technically fiction, but based in fact.  Looking forward to seeing how this one plays out.

There is another book, The Dublin Saga: The Rebels of Ireland, which I might read as a follow-up.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks -- Take 2

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks seems like an odd name for this book.  In a lot of ways, the book really isn't about Henrietta.  Sure, her cells are what got the whole story started, but really the story the author tells is about how her children and other family members responded to the discovery that her cells were still being used for medical research decades after Henrietta's death.  The story is theirs.

It's a sad story, although with a happy-ish ending.  It's sad because her family had so little understanding of what happened to Henrietta's cells, and virtually no control over the process.  At the time, as the author points out, that wasn't unusual.  Doctors didn't have to have every patient sign all the waivers and releases that they do now; it just wasn't standard practice.

The author took a very personal interest in the story and in Henrietta's family, and that gives you the happy-ish ending.  Everything doesn't come up roses, but they are vastly improved.

There is not a lot of hard science in the book.  What is there is mostly general and fairly easy to understand, so don't let that scare you off!

In the end, the author does a good job of telling the story, and of carrying Henrietta's daughter, who goes on a voyage of discovery with the author, as the main character throughout the book.  I think I wasn't quite expecting that though.  I thought there would be more science and more about the cells.  It's not bad that there wasn't more of those things (for a lay person like me, anyway), but I did always feel as though the book was about to change drastically from the biography-style writing to hard science.  Given that, I think I finished it feeling a little unsatisfied, because that change never came about, and even though the book didn't really need to take that turn.

Aside: having nothing to do with the actual book itself, I'm totally loving listening to books on audio now that I'm all caught up on podcasts.  It's so quick and enjoyable!  I get to listen to way more this way than I would actually have time to read.