Prosaic Paradise

I was getting out the matches to light candles for a nice ambiance (and maybe to make sure the house smells nice for guests) and very nearly burned this little guy in the face!! How cruel would that be? 

Tags: cute, pics

Thanks to this post from my friend of excellent tastes Fred and holiday generosity from his crafty accomplice Rob, I ended up with fancy ice cream shipped from Ohio in time for Christmas.

The image of eating ice cream out of the pint from a comfortable position on the couch is a classic one; we can all sense the desperation and sadness from here, right? The sour taste of a breakup or fight  or loneliness washed away in sugary dairy onslaught?

In this case, cast that image out! Because this ice cream is for celebrating. This ice cream is special. This is Jeni’s ice cream and it comes from cows that practically have names. Or maybe they do have names, I don’t know. All I know is that this is good shit.

I put in on a co-order with Rob (which he turned into a Christmas present, because he is awesome like that) and decided to try three flavors. First, dark chocolate, because you need a baseline of something simple right? So that was good. Maybe not ship-from-Ohio good, but really good.

But then there’s the seasonal flavors, and this is where we get the rare and refined taste experience. The one that convinced me to order was Mackenzie Creamery Goat Cheese with Cognac Figs: “subtle cognac notes give way to sweet figs, a sweet start which is balanced by the tang of pure goat cheese flavor. The perfect cheese course!”. I have been eating this in the smallest of delicate servings to make it last approximately forever. I didn’t love it completely because I feel like maybe the fig flavor is overpowering the goat cheese, but still, I’ve never had another ice cream experience like it.

But it’s Scandinavian Winter Spices that is absolutely killing me. I love it so much. I want to marry it. I’ve eaten one spoonful in the morning just to refresh my memory. And I’ve added it to my coffee which honestly was the real coup, the point at which I knew bittersweet sadness because this flavor may not be available to me again. It’s so good. It is also, in fact, not listed on their web site any more. Oh god.

I am sure there are other equally decadent and delicate flavors but man, I am going to miss that when it’s gone.

Tags: food

I’ve got some stuff going out this week that might be of interest to y’all. \FREE STUFF to the people!

First: A laptop bag by Simple. I thought it would fit things they way I wanted and it didn’t really. So I would be happy to gift it to someone who has been wanting a new laptop bag with a nice organic style. It’s the combover style, and you can see what the pockets look like inside on zappos. This one is a tan color, as you can see.

Second: A Perfume-Making Kit. 9 small atomisers, some perfumer’s alcohol, and pipette thingies to move oils or alcohol from one place to another. I will throw in my BPAL imp box as well. This project worked really, really well for me but I can’t use the perfume as fast as the supply I have, and I am kind of a one-note girl these days. This works with one imp or oil sample per atomizer, so it makes your perfume oils go a loooong way. There are notes on the picture on flickr if you want more info.

I’d prefer these go to local folks I can meet up with; I’m not shipping hazmats!

Undocumented: This past weekend I purged a massive carful of clothes, shoes, and sundries. Including some shoes I’ve had since ’98. Looking at the photo I feel a little pang of regret but seriously I haven’t worn them in a year.And they were causing hell on my arches when I did wear them. Oh well – they are gone now!

Still to go: A LOT OF THINGS. I still haven’t figured out how to deal with the double four poster bed (anyone out there need one???) and I have decided to sell one of the drum kits as well. I have special plans for all my knitting equipment and got boxes to ship that finally. So the wheels are in motion!

Tags: Purge Thursday

I confess, I know why it’s been so cold. The below-average temperatures are due to hell freezing over.

Last week I went to the store, purchased the materials, came home, and prepared a meal. In our kitchen. That we then ate. If you know me and my indifference or perhaps loathing of cooking, you know this is a biggish deal. I mean, I cook in World of Warcraft all the time. Pippye the druid is very close to her Chef title. But real kitchens require like, timing. That is hard and other people do it better than me, and I would rather enjoy the fruits of their labor!

It all started when I saw this picture on one of my favorite photo blogs. It is a picture of Lefse, a traditional Norwegian bread. I did not make that. No, instead it made me think of when I was a poor new grad and I used to make quesadillas at home by putting two tortillas and some cheese together and eating that.

I’ve come a long way since then, so I had to fancy it up a bit. Since my friend Angela who actually love loves cooking made me fish tacos with tomatillos in them, and I watched this whole process so that I knew “tomatillo” is not code for “poison gross tasting thing”, I decided to have some of those. And some other vegetables. And I got the fancy “holds together in a melting situation” queso. (I cut it with the cheap stuff, because $5 a packet vs $2 for Sargento or whatever.) And finally I spiced up some melted butter and rubbed that on top. Then, into the oven on cookie sheets at a guessworked temperature for a totally unmeasured amount of time, and voila!

I made a few mistakes: randomly cooking avocado slices inside them was gross. (I wanted guacamole but didn’t feel like making it.) I wanted white wine with dinner and we only had Riesling, which is a dessert wine. But if you know me you also know I am soooo indiscriminate about anything having to do with wine (or beer for that matter). I also had some trouble wrangling the jerk cat away from the cooking area.

But all my efforts (?) really paid off because damn if these were not way tastier than Major Chain Restaurant quesadillas. Jack gave them a big thumbs up too, so I’m not just self-justifying.

So I guess I’ll post again in six months or so when I embark on my next cooking adventure.

(A last note for you World of Darkness fans out there: check out the sweet wine glasses that Telf etched for me a long time ago. Recognize that? I don’t even know if that clan exists in the WoD anymore.) (And that is how I bring two gaming references into a post on food. You’re welcome.)

Tags: food

Much of the time, I can be pretty cynical about marketing ploys. But recently someone tweeted about the @BirkenstockUSA 365 blog project, sourced entirely out of owners’ and fans’ pictures from flickr. And wouldn’t you know I went back for some reason and looked at practically the whole archive and in the process fell into a deep yearning. Nothing is more compelling than real people loving your product, I guess.

So promising myself I would donate at least two pairs of shoes in exchange, I trekked out to the store and I got myself some clogs. (That was a whole amusing experience in itself as the teenage salesgirl and I had more in common than I would have thought.) They are getting very gently worn in today, a day of ease. Here they are getting used to being worn on the couch with pajamas.

But come a dry day I am wearing them out! With a cute hippie skirt or something.Yes, I have issues with delayed gratification.

Tags: stuff

After the harrowing drive, Beachmas itself was quiet and lovely. We ate many things and read books, tried to do a puzzle that was so hard that we all gave up, explored bits of the Outer Banks we hadn’t previously, that kind of thing. Jack introduced my mother to Arrested Development and I had no idea how much she would like that. My family may be tiny, but we do know how to chill together.

My parents got me an Xbox for Christmas which has allowed us to launch ourselves into the effort that is Rock Band. I used to call Blizzard the money printing machine – I believe that title is now also afforded to Harmonix. Jack had a little ethernet adventure getting the thing online, but we did it successfully and: why didn’t anyone tell me The Damned’s “Smash It Up” is available? I’ll be playing through that 1,000 times.

I was sad to leave, to see another Christmas pass, knowing how much I’d looked forward to vacation all year. But I came back weirdly energized. Penny says it’s distracting thoughts stopping me from doing things I feel obligated to do, and she’s right, but any productivity is fine with me. Maybe this weekend I’ll see if I can apply some of those buzzing thoughts and mind energy to the stuff I feel I need to do.

Tags: christmas, Gaming, pics, Vacation

What? Oh, hi. Yes. Writing.

We had a lovely trip down south. Once we actually got there. Somehow, I was taken by surprise at the swiftness and ferocity of the east coast blizzard. I thought we were going to beat it out of town, or at least get far enough east that all we would have to deal with was rain. I was so, so wrong.

Going to Norfolk generally involves either 95 to 64, a taxing and nightmarish drive at the best of times, or taking 301 down to 17, mild, pleasant state roads that generally have a lack of traffic and frustration. We took 301 south and had a lovely time, experiencing no inkling of the snow which was coming.

I thought taking 17 would take us to the rain zone. That it would be OK. It was not OK. My father advised against trying to get to 64, because Richmond was a hellscape. Thus we drove through the blizzard on unlit, lightly traveled roads that have hills and ditches and virtually no motels for long stretches so that at your most terrified and desperate, stopping seems like a terrible option because you are not kitted out with emergency blankets in your hatchback. We slid. Other folks went into ditches. I drove slower.

At some point I began to talk to myself in scary crazy-person monotone, scaring even the imperturbable Jack. But somehow despite refusing to drive in snow at all other times, I had newish tires and some reasonable snow driving instincts and we did not die or get stranded. There were a couple of hills I thought we would not have the traction to ascend; I did start to cry once or twice.

All in all I’d say I refuse to ever, ever do that again. Next time I will interpret the weather forecasts a little more pessimistically. Next time I will turn my ass around and find a motel before it gets bad. Next time perhaps I’ll only be hearing about it because I’ll be living in Arizona or Florida or southern California.

Port Royal to Tappahannock to Gloucester, about a 75 mile stretch, probably hasn’t seen that kind of snowfall in 15 years, and probably won’t again for another 15. So my dreams of moving somewhere it doesn’t snow are perhaps superfluous. But still, we managed to be there to see it.

We made it to Genie‘s house in a cool 8.5 hours, double the usual, with me in basket-case mode. But safe. And grateful. It took me a day or two to get calmed down, but it happened. We got to spend a day and a night eating and chatting and enjoying each others’ company. Hearing Genie’s stories, even the little ones, is so much more fun in person, as is telling my own.

After that we we moved down the road to the beach, but I’ll have to talk about that later as I am out of time!

Tags: car, Vacation

So walking the walk seems to have worked; getting back to work, getting out and seeing people, it all seems to have upped the motivation factor significantly. There’s still some lost lamb business going on in my consciousness but I don’t feel like I can blame it all on fear and depression right now.

I am not loving my job, but so be it. I’m doing stuff that’s really kind of confusing and that makes me very slow. I have pushed past it every other time I’ve felt like what I’m doing is complicated and miserable, I will get past it this time.

I’ve helped Telf move and paint, I’ve trimmed trees and hammed it up (with actual ham) and exchanged secret santa books. I’ve been trying to pull the camera out more (click through the picture of books to see all December’s labors) and my head’s been buzzing with ideas for that as well as ideas for tattoos which is something I don’t need (to spend money on) right now but I’m letting it percolate.

Last weekend we decided we’d do chores for a little while and that wound up with each of us spending 5+ hours on our respective cleaning tasks (him – bathroom, me – kitchen) getting them back to pristine condition. I think nothing helped me get out of my funk more than doing that. It seems like it ought to be sad that I consider cleaning this huge accomplishment, but it sure didn’t make me feel sad every time I’ve gone in the kitchen since Sunday. Quite the opposite, really.

I may or may not be out of internet contact next week. If I can’t post, then I’ll say Happy Holidays for now!

It would appear that 2010 is not going to just stop having concerts I want to attend despite the fact that I want to start living frugally. It starts with the Jaxx calendar. You know I hate going alone so if you want to give the gift of musical friendship, offer to join me for one of these as a Christmas present.

Jan 16: First we’ve got Korpiklaani back headlining, along with Tyr and Swashbuckle. Some TBA slots are listed for local bands, and there are sometimes potential gems among those. I’ve seen all three of the named bands on various tours now and all are fun to watch and draw a good crowd. Swashbuckle are a little harder around the edges than the perhaps better-known Alestorm, but no less piratey. I don’t go listen to the Korpiklaani albums I have all the time, but I think their live show brings down the house and I can’t wait.

April 6: Finntroll, Moonsorrow, and Swallow the Sun. I saw Moonsorrow on the Paganfest II bill and while at the time I thought they were OK, listening to their album their sound has grown on me. I’m thinking of this show as optional depending on my plans but maybe somehow some big Finntroll fans read this blog (ha) and will convince me to go with them. Listening to some Swallow the Sun tracks on their website, they seem to have a sound I will enjoy – a little symphonic, mix of clean and death vocals.

May 2: I know it’s a long way off, but I’m very excited to see Sonata Arctica coming back! And headlining! So instead of a wimpy half hour set, we might see some real substance! Supporting bands appear to include Mutiny Within and Powerglove. Never heard either band but that’s never stopped me before. And I know that SA is worth the price of admission alone.

If you are up for any of these shows let me know! If you are committed I’ll order our tickets at the same time, you just have to say you promise you’ll go with me.

Tags: Music, shows

This is how I spend my lazy morning – trying to take a self-portrait for the Digital Photography School weekend challenge. Things I wanted to capture: my bedhead Bon Jovi hair, the bathtub for no good reason, and my camera which was the actual point of the challenge. Why yes, I’m just sitting in the bathtub clothed, randomly gazing into a mirror. Sadly I’m ignorant of physics/optics so I couldn’t get me and the camera in focus. When the camera was in focus, the back wall was also in focus, so I probably just needed another 3 feet. Der. This is what I had to do to even be able to get the camera in the mirror – Nikon D90’s live view plus another mirror. Thanks to Genie for the remote – I couldn’t do these wackass things without it. Also, this is why I can’t ever do anything really well, I get bored within a half hour. I probably could have fooled with this setup for another 30 minutes and got the perfect shot but my attention span, she is tiny.

Oh my god, last night we played all through Beatles Rock Band thanks to Jen and Pam and Lars and it was the most fun. I want to do it again but I’d need a tub of Visine for the Rock Band dry eye and a gallon of tea for my throat.

Tags: photography, pics