Random Links

Somebody probably got fired for this, but it was worth it.

The re-trial of Socrates.

Turns out money can buy happiness.

Confessions of a liberal gun owner.

If you're a married man, you might want to rethink housework.

After my disastrous run-in with Nathan Englander, I decided to give Paper Menagerie a try.  Success.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank -- Take 2

It isn't often that I am so unhappy while reading a book that I don't even finish it.  I managed to get through the first two stories in this book, which took me about a third of the way through, maybe a little farther.

That was all I could do.

52 Weeks of Dresses -- Week 51

Otherwise titled: Pictures at an Exhibition

I had another set of symphony tickets on Friday, and T and I went to enjoy it.  The first piece was Mikhail Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila Overture, and I really enjoyed it.  I was not such a fan of the second piece, Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 3.

After intermission, we got to the title piece, Mussorgsy's Pictures at an Exhibition, which is fabulous in every way - enough to make up for the lackluster second piece.



Goal #4

Goal #4: lots of things - some big, some little.

1. I'm going to have some time to myself this week, and I have lots of big decisions to make.  I'm not sure if the best thing to do is to think about them, or to completely stop thinking about them.  Either way, I hope I figure it out.

2. Thank you notes.  I owe some, and I'd like to get them sent out.

3. Other notes. I'd like to write cards/emails to some peeps I've neglected of late. Will do that.

4. Reading.  I'm behind on magazines again, and in the middle of about a dozen different books.  I'd like to at least clear out some of the magazine backlog this week.  Get through two or three dozen!

Too ambitious?  We'll find out....

Recap of goal #3: books are sorted!  Of all the ones in the box (which we not all kids' books, as I thought), I ended up keeping about half.  The other half are in a box to give away.

What I'm Reading Now -- What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank

I'm not generally a fan of short stories, but I heard some good things about this one, I thought I'd give it a go.

I have to say though, I'm about a story and a half in, and am not loving it so far.  Hm.

52 Weeks of Dresses -- Week 50

Otherwise titled: Housewarming!

A mere month after my first party, I went ahead and had another one - this time opening my door to friends from all over town so they could check out my new place.  It was a hot chocolate bar with lots of variations, and lots of tasty snacks!

I spent the night before the party doing as much prep as I could:

 Cookies!

Making marshmallows...

...and caramel sauce.

Radar helped too.

Before I knew it, it was Saturday afternoon and party time!

The finished cookies!

So many snacks

Your hot chocolate choices (plus anything from the bar, of course)

Me, in the dress, after a successful party!

Thanks to everybody who stopped by to visit!

Seriously?

The Song I'm Loving Today

The Middle (Jimmy Eat World)

Actually, this is kind of the song I'm hating today, but in a loving way - if such a thing is possible.

I've loved this song since it first came out (I was in college, and used to listen to it ALL THE TIME).  It's a weird video which I didn't actually see until recently, but cute.  'Nuff said.



Hey, don't write yourself off yet,
It's only in your head to feel left out
And looked down on.

Just try your best, try everything you can,
Don't you worry what they tell themselves when you're away.

It just takes some time,
Little girl you're in the middle of the ride,
Everything, everything will be just fine,
Everything, everything will be alright.

Hey, you know they're all the same,
You know you're doing better on your own,
So don't buy in.
Live right now, just be yourself.
It doesn't matter if it's good enough for someone else.

It just takes some time,
Little girl you're in the middle of the ride,
Everything, everything will be just fine,
Everything, everything will be alright, alright.

It just takes some time,
Little girl you're in the middle of the ride,
Everything, everything will be just fine,
Everything, everything will be alright, alright.

Hey, don't write yourself off yet,
It's only in your head to feel left out
And looked down on.
Just do your best, do everything you can,
And don't you worry what their bitter hearts are gonna say.

It just takes some time,
Little girl you're in the middle of the ride,
Everything, everything will be just fine,
Everything, everything will be alright, alright.

It just takes some time,
Little girl you're in the middle of the ride,
Everything, everything will be just fine,
Everything, everything will be alright.

Queries

1. Is a bird in the hand worth two in the bush?  What if it's four in the bush?

2. Is it better to do the smart thing and be rich and maybe happy, or to do the fun thing and be poor and usually happy, but only able to do what you want when you can afford it?  Does your answer change if the smart thing is only temporary?  What if the fun thing is only temporary?

3. Is it ours to reason why?

4. What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

Deer of the Southern Wild

This morning, I was cruising along on a two-lane suburban road, minding my own business.  Three deer walked right up to the edge of the road a couple hundred feet in front of me, and I'll be damned if they didn't stop there side by side, wait for me to pass, and then cross the street behind me.

They're getting smarter.

Goal #3

Goal #3: kids' books.

Believe it or not, despite the general cleanliness of my apartment for the party this weekend, I still have a number of projects that are incomplete.  One such project is a collection of kids' books in my possession.  I know I've regressed to reading teen books on several occasions, but it has to be a pretty darn good one for me to go all the way back to grade school level.

Anyway, this week, I will sort through the box, pick out what I want to keep for sentimental value, and either find a good home for or donate the rest.

If anybody wants them, this is your chance to speak up!

Recap of goal #2: I'm happy to report that party prep went well!  (The party was a success; more on that to come.)

Random Links

A true story.

Do we still need libraries?  An online debate.

Thank you, Fox News.  I owe you one.

Epic fail?

Cheerleaders in bikinis? Check.  Men in (or out) of uniform? Check. Catchy tune? Check. Laughs? Check. The only thing this video is missing is a bit about a dog.

The questionable ethics of quinoa.

What I Watched -- Soul Food Junkies

Last week (maybe the week before?), I went to see Soul Food Junkies at the Missouri History Museum.  I've always been into food, but pay much more attention to issues of availability and nutrition now that E is a foodie for pay.

This movie is, as you might guess, about the effect that a soul food-based diet has on one's health, based around the filmmaker's reflection on his own father's life and early death.  The film is funny - with a few especially hilarious moments - but at only about an hour, I feel like it's a little too much narrative and not quite enough evaluation.

It isn't until about halfway through the film that the first professional food expert type appears, and another fifteen minutes after that before we get any real prescriptive discussion about how to fix the problems identified.  On the other hand, too much of "should-shouldn't" business can seem preachy, so maybe he cut it out to prevent that.

Bottom line: short, interesting, decently well done.

Butternut Squash Soup

Guys, I just totally winged it and made a really good butternut squash soup for dinner!  Of course, since I was winging it, it'll be hard to recreate, but it went something like this:

Ingredients:
EVOO
1 yellow onion, sliced thinly
1/2 each of red, orange, and yellow bell peppers, diced
1 whole butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped in 1-inch pieces
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped in 1-inch pieces
stock (veggie, chicken, or beef)
heavy cream
salt, pepper, sage, and ground nutmeg to taste

Directions:
1. Simmer onion and peppers in EVOO over medium-low heat until soft, about 25 mins.
2. Meanwhile, boil squash and sweet potato pieces in large pot of water until tender, about 15 mins.
3. Drain squash and sweet potato.
4. In add 1/3 (roughly) of onion mix and squash/sweet potato chunks to blender, with enough stock and cream to make mostly smooth (my ratio was about 2:1 of stock:cream).  Add salt, pepper, and spices to taste.  Repeat until all veggies are blended, and re-mix to distribute evenly in your still-hot pot.  (I don't have an immersion blender, so I did this. If you have an immersion blender, just toss everything in the big pot after you've drained the veg and blend away.)

Serve immediately with crusty bread.

This was rather onion-y.  I like cooked onion; if you don't, knock it down to 1/2 an onion and you should be all set.

Divergent -- Take 2

This book is absolutely, without question, food for the starving Hunger Games crowd.

Basic plot: dystopian future Chicago.  Society has split into five factions, each of which is named for its dominant characteristic: Dauntless, Amity, Candor, Erudite, and Abnegation.  At age 16, all kids get tested to see what their aptitudes are - most kids align with and stay in their faction, but some switch based on their test results.  Occasionally, someone turns out to be divergent, or have aptitudes of more than one faction.  So it is with Beatrice, who (MINOR SPOILER ALERT) chooses to leave her Abnegation family and become a Dauntless, at a ceremony similar to Harry Potter's sorting ceremony.

This book, the first in the trilogy, follows Tris, as she has renamed herself, as she struggles to make her way in her new faction, and discovers some of the schemes of the political leaders.

As I said, it's great reading if you're looking for easy, kid stuff.  Entertaining, easy, fun, in a sick and twisted kind of way.

What I'm Reading Now -- Autobiography of Mark Twain

Mark Twain wrote a three-volume biography, which famously was not to be released until 100 years after death.  It came out a couple of years ago, and I read a few excerpts in Time.  They were, of course, uproariously funny, and then and there I decided this was one book I needed on audio (and this was back before I was regularly listening to audiobooks).  It just seemed like something that should be read aloud, in order to enjoy the full humor of it.

I got it recently and was very nearly terribly disappointed.  Given that I was listening on audio,  I couldn't really tell what was going on in the book in terms of forewords, acknowledgments, introductions, etc.  The introduction (or something like it) was so long and so tediously detailed regarding things like paper usage, pagination, use of pen versus pencil, which edits were made by whom and in what order, etc., that I almost stopped listening, thinking that was what I had to look forward to for the remaining discs (and this is a long book).

Indeed, the opening remarks ran for nearly two full CDs.  I'm glad I toughed it out (though I did skip sections when they got too dull), because now I'm into Twain's actual words, and they contain all the humor and scathing wit I was hoping for, and then some.

Goal #2

Goal #2: more party prep.

I'm having a housewarming party on Saturday, and there is so much to do!  True, I have already had people over, but they were mostly family remembers and are required to like me even if my house is kind of an unfinished mess.  (Which is not to say I didn't try to spiff it up, because I did.  It just wasn't quite so stressful when I knew it would still seem unfinished.)

However, lots of people are coming over next weekend, and they are not all required to put up with my unfinished-ness!  Granted, they are all people who agreed to come (so either they already like me or just want some free food), and I warned them on the invite that I was "mostly moved in," but there are some things I'd really like to have finished before they arrive, including:
- finish putting together the cabinet (for real this time);
- hang my bikes from the ceiling (this required a special trip to the hardware store for a 13/64 drill bit.  Really?  Can't you use a standard size?  C'mon people!);
- general cleaning;
- finish planning the menu;
- test out a couple of recipes;
- shopping.

So much to do, so little time.  I have made progress on a few things since the fam was here for Christmas though!  I got the last of my books put on shelves; I made some extra space in my utility room for I'm-not-sure-what-yet; two trips to Lowe's for appropriately-sized plastic totes allowed me to protect my sleeping bags from the funk in the garage; I hung the decal E got me for Christmas (and it is awesome!); a trip to Target for an enormous red and green Rubbermaid tote allowed me to sort, organize, and store Christmas decorations; my adorable little Christmas tree is now a safe place for birds to hide (thanks to T, who delivered it to my bird-watching friend); and I organized my desk a bit.  So, progress!  Yay!

 What to put here?

Books, unpacked.

 My now-awesome bedroom wall!
(Don't mind the disaster of a bedroom.)

[Aside: As votes to return to goal #1 and start counting over again created, as T said, "a landslide victory," which is to say 2-0, here we are back at goal #2.]

Recap of Goal #53/1: it's a partial victory.  Thanks to T, who delivered it while I was at work, the cabinet is now at my apartment.  It has leaves reattached and a back on it to keep stuff from falling out.  (The back, a new version of an old household item - the radiator grate - itself required about four trips to different stores before one of the highly qualified employees knew what I was talking about.)  Hopefully it provides enough structural support; I think it will.

I keep forgetting to pick up the new handles I'm planning to put on it (versions of which were many times bought and returned at Home Depot), so I haven't put the doors on yet - they're hard to open if they don't have handles!  I'm also pondering what I can do to protect the underside of the leaves from the supports scratching against them as they're lifted and lowered.  I think some felt and craft glue should probably do well there; even better because I think I actually have those things on hand!

The Black Hole of Home Improvement Stores

Why is it that, no matter how carefully planned a trip to Lowe's or Home Depot is, or how sure you are you measured everything you could possibly need to measure (because you finally measured all the things that you realized last time you were at the home improvement store you had forgotten to measure), or how sure you are you've thought of every project you're working on, that it is impossible - impossible - to leave the home improvement store without a list of follow-up tasks and a return trip in your future?

The Song I'm Loving Today

Merry Go 'Round (Kacey Musgraves)

E turned me on to this song, and I've been listening to it for a couple of months and am still unsure of exactly what I want to say about it.  So I'll just stumble along with half-thoughts, and hope you can figure out the rest.

First things first: Ms. Musgraves can sing.  That's an excellent quality in a singer, one which isn't always present.  Her voice doesn't sound particularly strong, but she does the right thing and doesn't try to force it.  She doesn't belt or scream, she just sings.  And this is an appropriately non-belty, non-screamy song.  It's melancholy, but poignant.  It's all about how our lives don't turn out the way we hope, because we just let them happen.  Maybe it is instructional, a cautionary tale: make your life into what you want, and this won't be you.

And that's another thing I like about it.  It's a song about something.  One of the nice things about country music is that, it seems to me, most of the songs are about something.  They're not always particularly highbrow or deep, but there's usually a story behind them.  I like that.  And this song has primary writing credits going to little Ms. Musgraves, age 24.  Not bad for a kid.  Hopefully she keeps it up.

Plus I like the vintage quality of the video.



If you ain't got two kids by twenty-one
You're probably gonna die alone,
At least that's what tradition told you.
And it don't matter if you don't believe,
Come Sunday morning you best be
There in the front row like you're supposed to.

Same hurt in every heart.
Same trailer, different park.

Mama's hooked on Mary Kay,
Brother's hooked on Mary Jane,
Daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down.
Mary, Mary quite contrary,
We get bored so we get married.
Just like dust we settle in this town
On this broken merry go 'round and 'round and 'round we go,
Where it stops nobody knows, and it ain't slowing down,
This merry go 'round.

We think the first time's good enough
So we hold on to high school love,
Sayin' we won't end up like our parents.
Tiny little boxes in a row.
Ain't what you want, it's what you know,
Just happy in the shoes you're wearing.
Same checks we're always cashin' to buy a little more distraction.

Mama's hooked on Mary Kay,
Brother's hooked on Mary Jane,
Daddy's hooked on Mary two doors down.
Mary, Mary quite contrary,
We get bored so we get married.
Just like dust we settle in this town
On this broken merry go 'round and 'round and 'round we go,
Where it stops nobody knows, and it ain't slowing down,
This merry go 'round.

Mary, Mary quite contrary,
We're so bored until we're buried.
Just like dust we settle in this town
On this broken merry go 'round.
Merry go 'round.

Jack and Jill went up the hill,
Jack burned out on booze and pills,
Mary had a little lamb,
Mary just don't give a damn no more.

What I Watched -- Django Unchained

This post is way overdue - I saw Django with T, et al., almost two weeks ago!  Anyway, here's the brief rundown:

It's definitely a Quentin Tarantino flick.  There is blood and gore to excess, so much at some points that it's almost comical.  But there's something unsettling about it, aside from just the visuals - like the movie takes itself too seriously to be satire, but not seriously enough to be dramatic.  It's in a weird middle ground.

The main players were great - Jamie Foxx as Django, Christoph Waltz as Dr. King Schultz, Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie, and Samuel L. Jackson as Stephen.  Stephen was a particularly interesting character, perhaps the most racist one in the whole film, which I did not expect after the big kerfuffle over the use of the n-word by all the white folks.  Stephen is the butler of Calvin Candie, a wealthy plantation owner.  He works in the house, lives a nice life, and despises the slaves - despite the fact that he is one.  He's having an identity problem.

Bottom line: entertaining, bloody, Tarantino.  If you like his other stuff, you'll be okay with this too.

What I'm Reading Now -- Divergent

It's been a while since I read a dystopian future novel aimed at teenagers - probably over a year, since I think Mockingjay was the last one.  Unless you count Fahrenheit 451, which, while not technically in the teens section of a bookstore, is often first encountered in high school.

In any case, Veronica Roth has been getting lots of good press about her trilogy, the first two of which - Divergent and Insurgent - are out already.  Just based on what I've read about them, I've sold them to lots of people who are looking for something after The Hunger Games series.  I hope I haven't led them astray.

I'll find out soon enough.

Goal #53

Goal #53: assemble the aforementioned cabinet.

Now that the painting is finished (see below), I need to relocate the cabinet I have been working so hard to paint.  Once I get it to my apartment - I certainly hope I can fit it in my car, or this will be a difficult goal to accomplish - I need to reassemble the pieces and give me remaining kitchen items a home!  I also need to get some material for the back, since I threw out the junk that was on it before.

[Aside: Should I start over at Goal #1?  I did at first.  Then I decided I'll probably feel like I accomplished more if I keep counting up.  It's all about feeling accomplished, even I'm actually not, right?  Right?]

Recap of goal #52: I just barely squeaked by on this one.  Technically I should have finished the cabinet yesterday, and I actually finished painting it tonight.  About an hour ago.  Just in time for Downton Abbey, which I watched the old-fashioned way - on TV!

Farm City -- Take 2

I really didn't know what to expect when I started this book, since I randomly picked it up at the library.  But I really liked it!

It's amusing and quirky and makes me want to buy some chickens!  Her storytelling is easy and conversational, and the whole thing was well balanced - comical stories of attempts gone wrong and the gravity of nose-to-tail, birth-to-death animal rearing.

All in all, quite enjoyable.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Gone Girl -- Take 2

I really enjoyed listening to this book, but I'm hesitant to say too much about it for fear I'll give something away!

Suffice it to say, I couldn't take my headphones out of my ears - until the end.  I hated the ending!  I'm not sure if there was another way it could have ended that would have worked for the characters in the story.  But it was so unsatisfying for me!

I don't feel like I can say any more, so I guess you'll just have to read it and decide for yourself.

52 Weeks of Dresses -- Week 49

Otherwise titled: my amazing party!

I had a birthday last week.  I had plans to have dinner with T, K&J, and G&G.  What I didn't plan on were 12 other people showing up also!  T decided I needed a celebration, so celebrate we did.

I asked T whether I should wear a fancy dress (not really knowing what the plan was).  He - knowing the answer I really wanted was "yes" - said yes.  Unfortunately there's not a great picture of it, but it's just that purple and black pattern all over, and long.  Of course I'm wearing the requisite scarf/shawl.

It was so nice of everyone to come out and celebrate - what a great surprise!!

Another Year

What is going to happen this year?  Only one way to find out.