some more x-mas cheer - dinner - yummy!

an attempt at v-blog

Christmas Dinner

and christmas begins...

with a "HE'S HERE!" yelled with an undertone of disgust and the sound of a frying pan crashing to the floor...

grandpa C for his annual yultide visit -- of during which he said, "I'm think about getting re-married. But I don't really know who I should pick. You see, I can chose from a 49 year old, a 59 year old, or a 69 year old." To this, my dad replied, "Well Ed, it all depends if you want to die with a smile on your face." It's times like that - you wish you had a video recorder. Ah, but I am now $25 a richer gal - with memories to last a lifetime...

melissa, this one is for you.

Velocity Jesus... and yes, I know, Jesus hates me... (this actually came from Grandma and Grandpa)...

luminaria II

it's back... the streets lined with little candle-lit bags...

-sigh- (for reasons of the sigh see a December 19, 2004 post)

pandas

i hate feeling like shit. i hate getting crazy over nothing. i hate being really paranoid for 1 week of the month. i hate being super cranky, i hate when my boobs ache, my back hurts, my stupid uterus pulses, and i am so tired i could sleep for days. and i hate that i can't deal with people - even people i like - that i can't even hold a conversation because it is full of grunts and uh-uhs and yeahs. this shit just beats me up. how - evolutionary speaking - did this ever fucking happen -- i mean i just watched a show last night about pandas and the mom panda popped out a little thing the size of a stick of butter. now, a panda is twice as big - and apparently they can only spawn once a year - which probably accounted for their "poor attempts" at doing it - but humans spit out an 8lb baby with a head the size of a coconut. i mean, come on. i wonder if pandas ache as much once a year.

marge schott

her sale was yesterday -- a complete marathon, from getting her stuff organized to the sale itself - which started at 1:00 pm and ended sometime around 9pm? here are some photos of the place - before and after the sale.

and this was on the front page of the enquirer this morning...

Fans Snap Up Memories of Marge

and from the cincinnati post...

Auction nets $207,805








(and here's our website... Cowan's Auctions)

This is Father Smith talking about his poetry...

http://www.jcu.edu/news/05_fall_readings.htm#smith

My Newest Invention...

This is so Henry does not eat Benji-cat's food. Very ingenious, I must say...

These were from Thanksgiving - Me, Becky, and Jane

Maple-Mustard Glazed Salmon

yummy :)

1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tbsp. coarse-grain mustard
2 tbsp light brown sugar
4 (6oz) salmon fillets


1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly coat shallow baking dish with butter or non-stick cooking spray. Place fillets skin side down.

2. Whisk together maple syrup, mustard, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Pour over salmon.

3. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

thanksgiving part II

in my grandma and grandpa's basement, the clans gathered...

thanksgiving part I

i didn't lie...



the lovely melissa correcting papers



go BENGALS!

and i am off - to brave the land of snow and ice... i am off to the lands of no sun...

the wi-fi chastity belt...

so today i took on the task of making my wee little apartment go wireless - just because. it so far has been a huge challenge b/c although i can see the oh so powerful strong signal - my browser refuses to recognize the flood of energy - the packets of power - coming its way... the damn thing is locked - and although i should have the secret password to open the gate - i cannot figure where the keyhole is to unleash its energy...

i shall prevail...

George Inness, Spirit of Autumn
1891, Oil on canvas

Molly Bloom

...I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.

-from Ulysses

peanut butter sandwiches

I found a cookbook published in 1953 entitled "The Modern Family Cookbook." In it, under Miscellaneous are recipes for "Bread-and-Butter Sandwiches." My favorite is entry number 895: Peanut Butter Sandwiches.

"Plain peanut butter is a sandwich spread in great favor with children and most grown-ups. To make it spread more easily, it may be mixed with milk, cream, mayonnaise or water as desired. Use as a filling between slices of buttered bread. A leaf of lettuce in the sandwich adds fresh crispness.

Variation: Thin slices of banana may be arranged over the peanut butter spread on the bread. A blend of 4 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons peanut butter, and 2 to 3 tablespoons strained honey is also a delicious spread."

I guess there needed to be a recipe for this at some time...

november morning

this morning i went outside and the wind was blowing, the clouds hung heavy in the sky, the trees were naked, and it was warm. i love november days like this - because in a few hours, it will be cold. there is a smell in the air that says - "have a little warmth and a hugging breeze - soon i will set true fall on you." and with that comes the fires - so elequently written about in Too Far Gone.

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujuh

i just heard this song again for the first time in a while. this song gives me goose bumps every time i listen to it. "hallelujah" means "i believe," a word of celebration. this song takes that and although, in a way it is celebratory, it is painful - ironic... and the way this fella sings is -it is absolutely beautiful. beautiful.

Now, I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do ya?
It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya
She tied you to her kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the hallelujah

Well baby, I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
You know, I used to live alone before I knew ya
And I've seen your flag on the marble arch
And love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

Well, there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me, do ya?
But remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was hallelujah

Maybe there is a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah ... hallelujah.

yeah - i guess they didn't like it - no radio on when i came home... and no clean apartment. damn it.

soothing the savage beast...

i am giving dogcat radio a try today... maybe it will inspire them to clean up my apartment.

so i am sitting here with кішка (benji-cat) on my lap. he is playing with the strings on my shirt which i had gotten as a christmas present a couple years back - henry dog is eating his bone. all's well.

i went to dinner tonight with ted and pat and frank and wes and another lady i did not know - ted always asks me every week to go to dinner with them - and i always have some reason not to go - but this week i didn't and so i went and it was nice. fun. - to allyn's cafe -- WOAH!! Wait -- I was going to check to see if they had a website (allyn's) - and on the NY times there was an article about an online radio station for dogs and cats...

Jumpy Enough to Chew a Chair? Try DogCatRadio

-- the radio station

DogCatRadio.com

Well, anything I had totally pales in comparison to this.... oh dear. I'm not entirely sure about this DJ...

bummed

so i put a bid on another house - vastly different than the first villita - and the stupid realitor of the house -- not mine -- never told anyone that it is under contract - like last week. i am so bummed. i really dug this place.

Somewhere Only We Know - by Keane

I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet
Sat by the river and it made me complete

Oh simple thing where have you gone
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

I came across a fallen tree
I felt the branches of it looking at me
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

Oh simple thing where have you gone
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go
Somewhere only we know?

Oh simple thing where have you gone
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on
So tell me when you're gonna let me in
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

So if you have a minute why don't we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go
So why don't we go

This could be the end of everything
So why don't we go
Somewhere only we know?

-------- i like this one alot. i'd love to post the tune... but i can't figure that out. and i don't feel like it.

vacation