Yesterday I was reading something and followed a link to Mother Earth News. I hadn’t read that in years. I stumbled on a couple of articles that I found interesting and informative. For all you folks who are looking for a project this winter, may I suggest building your own casket or take some time to plan your green funeral.
She said (as reported in USA Today): “I do believe in the sanctity of marriage; I totally do,” she told host Damien Fahey[TRL on MTV] from L.A. “But I think I was in Vegas and it took over me.”
And then she said: “We landed on Mars that day. Why aren’t they talking about that?”
I believe Britney is an attention-grabbing-media whore. In case you hadn’t noticed, “they” are talking about the Mars Rover.
Today is the Niece’s “gotcha day”. A year ago today my sister and her husband were in China and the Niece became part of our family. She’s the coolest Niece I have.
The Indigo Girls have a new album coming out in February and being the big freak that I am I have made a reminder on my calendar so I won’t forget to haul myself to the store. I also sent my FL sister an email about it but I’m sure she already knows–she’s always ahead of me on the Girls.
Back in high school or junior high school or both, whenever we’d have to read poetry, we’d have to read this:
No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the
Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy
friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am
involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell
tolls; It tolls for thee. -John Donne, poet (1573-1631)
I have always liked this for its beauty and for its wisdom. I’m sure back in school I also liked it because it dealt with Death. What made me think about this today? In addition to getting a word a day you also get a quote a day.
Last night we made Cioppino and it was out-freaking-standing. As we were stirring the pot, I said �I should learn how to pronounce the name of the soup in case this is good so I can order it out�. Yes, I’m a dweeb who makes things she can’t pronounce. My hat is off to epicurious for their concise pronunciation guide*.
Now that I’ve confessed my ignorance, I should also confess that we cheated and used a pre-made base but added our own seafood. We added little neck clams, scallops, cod and shrimp and the cod broke up which resulted in fish in every spoonful. Delightful and I like it when a company is not afraid to add spices to their concoctions. The garlic and cayenne really came through. As much as I liked their version, next time we’re going to make our own.
There was a little left over and I’ve decided to make a little bit of pasta tonight and use the cioppino as sauce. The better-half will be gone tonight which means he won’t get to enjoy the tomatoey goodness.
Edited Jan 21, 2008. It appears the epicurious link is no good. Here’s how to pronounce it: chah-PEE-noh.
Today at ye olde contracting job we were told that we had to get our new security cards between 3 and 4 or as of Wednesday we won’t be able to get into the door. I thought that there was no way that I’d be able to get one of those since I still don’t have the id badge. I went with my supervisor to prove that I really do work there.
There was a line of more than 100 people. There was one person handing out the security cards. There were lots of people whining and yammering. There was one person behind me who got into it with the woman giving out the cards. In case you didn’t notice pal you arguing with the woman who is clearly swamped is holding up the line. We wrestled our way back out the door and then groused about how much money the agency lost by having lots and lots of people stand around for 20 minutes waiting for a security card.
But, if you think about it, there are lots of people who waste more than 20 minutes every day at their jobs standing around chatting, drinking coffee, smoking, deciding about lunch, talking to their whomever and in general not working.
Last night the better-half and I went out and it was just like a date, in fact, you could call it that. First we went to Cabo’s for dinner and everything was pretty darn nice. He had fried oysters, caesar salad and sea bass with a risotto. I had vegetable spring rolls, mixed green salad and jumbo scallops. His oysters were good but not outstanding and that was the only real complaint about the experience. I’m glad we went there for dinner.
Then we went to the symphony (his Christmas gift from me) and were well entertained. The guest vocalist was very talented and it is nice to see people on stage who really want to be there. Richmond is lucky to have such talent.
After the show we moved the car out of the parking deck and swung around the corner to enjoy a few pints (a black and tan, a guinness and two fuller’s) at the newly re-opened Penny Lane Pub. Man o’ man they did a good job converting the space into a cozy pub. There is an upstairs as well and I assume that’s were the games are but I didn’t venture up the staircase. If there was more smoke (not that we didn’t come out of there reeking of smoke) and less food we could have imagined ourselves in a real pub in England. The owner is from Liverpool so he knows a good pub. I’m really glad they’ve opened the doors again after having to move. The place was hopping so I guess we’re not the only ones who are glad the pub is open again.
I saw this quote in a daily newsletter:
”I can’t understand why we continue to pour resources into the industries of the 19th century.” – Intel CEO Craig Barrett bemoaning U.S. agriculture subsidies
I felt compelled to respond.
Answer #1: Because we can’t eat microprocessors?
Answer #2: If we lose even the basic ability to produce food for ourselves, the rest of the world has us by the balls…
Answer #3: Corporate mass production of food has a less than stellar record (in terms of health of its consumers, environmental effects, food monoculture), with some truly scary genetic-modification propositions. We ought to hedge our bets with the individual farmers.
Answer #4: When we lose the individual farms, the corporations have the entire nation by the balls. And corporations have a singular focus: munny trumps everything else.
I thought I’d post a picture of the snow that is falling here in the Richmond area. The title of this post is an invitation for everyone to get a good chuckle out of our snow. I’ve read posts on other blogs over the past few weeks where they can’t find their cars because of all the snow falling. I will hand it to the local schools for not canceling today.
