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Wednesday, 27 February 2008

My Minor Procedure went well and I'm still alive.  I'm generally not a squeamish person but have you ever had some cut you open and work on you whilst awake?  It was not pleasant. 

Now I'm in pain and even worse, not allowed to shower for 24 hours.  I don't mind going without, certainly not on a weekend when I come into contact with all of two people (myself and the hamster) but going out to work and then out to drinks with people requires grooming.  And by the time I had my procedure it had been a good 10 hours since my last shower, which means I'm well into the 20th hour of not showering at this point.  Petting one's self delicately with a soap washcloth is insufficient.  I think I'm going to get a shampoo and blow dry during my lunch break, if only so I can feel good about myself again. 
by: DJGroovySlug at February 27, 2008 10:56 | link | comments (1)

Tuesday, 26 February 2008

BEST WEBSITE EVAH

Stuff White People Like:Religions their parents don't belong to.  Marathons.  Standing still during a concert.  Toyota Prius.

It's funny cuz it's true.
by: DJGroovySlug at February 26, 2008 12:32 | link | comments

Monday, 25 February 2008

I just signed up for summer classes and my rising excitement for them, for two classes whose subject matter will easily be the most boring part of my entire schooling, just proves how patently disinterested I am in my current classes.  We have a quiz today and I haven't even read anything beyond the title on the book cover.  I have group sessions with people where, I have to admit, I contribute very little (BAD, I know).  I haven't given a lick of thought to any of my final projects and frankly, I'm just coasting at this point.  These are core classes, which is fine, but I just.can't.be.bothered.

And I feel guilty for not putting in even 50% but we're doing all these fun new projects at my job.  And I'm going  back to photography class in a month so I've been researching new cameras WEEE.  I've started running again and hit that sweet spot where I actually look forward to it. The season finales of The Wire and Project Runway loom large.  There is always something better to look forward to.

And then when I run out of those excuses, I focus on other things.  My apartment is the cleanest it has been in a year.  I've thrown out junk that I haven't touched since college. I solidified my Whore status by agreeing to clean The Boy's apartment for a dinner at Palena, which will occur this weekend, so yet another thing to get excited about while simultaneously avoiding school.

In fact, I could spend the next hour describing all the things I'd rather be and have been doing to avoid even thinking about school (cooking!  planning trips to New York! getting a cat!) but this blog post is living proof since I should be finalizing my homework for tonight and going over our presentation.  GAH.  I'd rather my brain melted out of my ears.
by: DJGroovySlug at February 25, 2008 09:33 | link | comments

Wednesday, 20 February 2008

Link Monkey

Here's some really good stuff I've seen lately on the web:

  • Are We Having Fun Yet: The Infantalization of Corporate America - Hilariously chronicles the new wave of corporate culture that embraces FUN:  "If you thought there were only 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work, as suggested by the smash book that’s been translated into six languages, then you’re shortchanging yourself because, technically, there are 602 ways (see 301 More Ways to Have Fun at Work)."
  • Foreign Affairs: DC's Best Embassies - Ignore the super boring title, because this article is full of cool facts about embassies in the city:  "Embassies can be magnets for protests on issues playing out thousands of miles away....Though Greenpeace long ago folded up the inflatable blue whale it used to protest the whaling practices of the Japanese, one man has been standing in front of the Vatican Embassy with a sign attacking pedophilia in the church for more than a decade." 

    This reminded me that [a] I regularly drive by the empty Iraq embassy and man is that building creepy looking.  I plan on taking a picture of it one day, so if I go missing, you'll know why.  Also, [b], I have about a thousand Moroccan dirham burning a hole in my pocket and I just called the Moroccan embassy and thank god, someone there is willing to exchange it for me (little known fact of the day: Moroccan dirham is controlled currency, meaning controlled by the country, and most money changers won't exchange it.  D'oh.)
  •  Of course everyone has been making a big deal about the NYT book review on The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby, which discusses anti-intellectualism in American culture.  And here's her companion Outlook piece for the Washington Post.  And here's some guy refuting her in the same newspaper.   And here's a transcript of a chat she held on washingtonpost.com.  I think the Wikipedia guy in the 3rd piece fails to realize that Jacoby isn't arguing that we're stupid and uncreative.  She's arguing that intelligence has become a divisive concept in this country, like money and race.  Pride in stupidity is a new phenomenon and one fairly singular to our country.  I think she does a good job of outlining it.  Even if she is wrong about the age of video, since clearly she hasn't seen an episode of Project Runway.
by: DJGroovySlug at February 20, 2008 14:14 | link | comments

Monday, 18 February 2008

So it's like a national holiday or something?  All I know is the roads were super empty when I drove in this morning.  It's like the zombies have arrived.  I think The Boy and I are the only people who don't have today off and frankly it never occurred to me until this morning when I was already running late and then got to work in five minutes. 

I was so bad this weekend, spend-y wise, and I still don't have a new camera to show for it.  Must. Buy. Camera.

I completed the hipster transformation by purchasing tickets to Radiohead.  Okay, I'm actually pretty excited, all you haters can go listen to your Kenny Chesney.  Granted these are only lawn seats but [a] I don't care that much and [b] I really don't care all that much.  I really like Radiohead but I'm not a fanboy by any stretch of the imagination.  Let the true fans fight over seats, I'll be happy on the lawn listening to them live. 

I also, uh, may or may not have purchased previously mentioned Nintendo DS Lite, if you've been following my tumblr page.  There is nothing remotely sad about this, I swear.

We went to the zoo yet again.  But this time!! This time we actually saw the pandas.  Damn if I can't tell which one is the baby.  They all look the same to me.  Also, the otters were SOOOOO cute.  My heart is bursting from the cute.

Finally, we saw Michael Clayton, which was good (give me a Pulitzer for my critiquing abilities!).  This is the first time I've seen all five Oscar Best Picture nominees, so I'll rundown my picks at the end of the week. Hopefully I can catch a few more films before this Sunday.
by: DJGroovySlug at February 18, 2008 10:17 | link | comments (1)

Friday, 15 February 2008

Last night was truly a bittersweet Valentine's Day.  You don't ever realize what you're missing until a day like yesterday comes along.  Everyone else is capturing memories and there I was, standing alone in my kitchen, bemoaning the fact that I made the world's best macaroni and cheese and didn't have a darn camera to take a picture to show you.

Luckily I do have linkage power, so herewith are the keys to an amazing (and vegetarian!) meal. 

Mac & Cheese from Smitten Kitchen

 2 tablespoons butter
1 cup cottage cheese (not lowfat)
2 cups milk (not skim)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Pinch cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 pound elbow pasta, uncooked.

Heat oven to 375 degrees and position an oven rack in upper third of oven. Use 1 tablespoon butter to butter a 9-inch round or square baking pan.

In a blender, purée cottage cheese, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg and salt and pepper together.* Reserve 1/4 cup grated cheese for topping. In a large bowl, combine remaining grated cheese, milk mixture and uncooked pasta. Pour into prepared pan, cover tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes.

Uncover pan, stir gently, sprinkle with reserved cheese and dot with remaining tablespoon butter. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes more, until browned. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

**Notes: 
  • Next time I'm going to use extra cottage cheese for an even richer flavor.
  • It's not listed but I always loved a sprinkling of paprika on the top of mac&cheese for color and a smoky flavor but in lieu of that, I found Cayenne adds it with a bit of a spicy kick.  Don't go overboard.  Less is more in this case.
  • I used a cheese called the Dubliner, a white cheddar from the Cheesetique which, mind you, was NOT CHEAP.  But I'm willing to try it with a cheaper cheese next time, even if Adam claims it'll probably ruin the whole meal.  He's not going to notice.  You do not need $20/lb cheese.
  • If you have a food processor with a grating attachment, now's the time to use it.  I grated a pound a half of cheese in 10 minutes.

"Stewed" Tomatoes from A Mighty Appetite

1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 15 ounce-can whole plum tomatoes, including juices, (or if you're lucky enough, 6 plum tomatoes from your garden, fresh or canned)
Hot sauce of choice
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: Herbs, such as oregano or thyme in the winter, basil in the summer

Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat and swirl oil inside until it coats the bottom surface evenly. Add onion, garlic and bell pepper, and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and stir to combine. Bring mixture up to a boil, then reduce heat and cook, at a simmer, covered.

Within 10 minutes or so, tomatoes will start to soften and break down; use the back of a wooden spoon to help the process, if desired. Cook until desired consistency and season with hot sauce and salt and pepper.

**Notes
  • I doubled the recipe so I would have leftovers (and also so I wouldn't have to use halves of everything, I mean honestly! What do they expect us to do with half an onion or bell pepper lying around?)  and it really ended up being only being about 5 servings worth, so double if you are feeding more than two. 
  • I used Trader Joe's 28oz can of peeled whole plum tomatoes with basil (the no salt one, there is a salted one and I found that salting on my own was much more preferably). 
  • I ended up simmering for well past the 10 minute mark to really break down the tomatoes. 
  • I added fresh oregano and Frank's Red Hot Sauce and lots of fresh ground pepper and it was just wonderful and just the perfect amount of spice and acid to complement the creamy heaviness of the mac & cheese.
Honestly I can't get over how easy this meal was to do!  I got home at 6 and it was done by 7:30, including the hour long baking time which means that prep time was only about 30 minutes, plus I made the tomatoes while it was baking and that took all of 10 minutes of chopping and then standing around watching it simmer.

I asked Adam for a mini-review:  "If there was no cheese, it would have sucked."  My valentine, ladies and gentleman.  
by: DJGroovySlug at February 15, 2008 14:59 | link | comments (2)

Thursday, 14 February 2008

This Just In: Giant Cupcakes Vastly Improve My Disposition



Details at 11. 
by: DJGroovySlug at February 14, 2008 13:39 | link | comments

Thursday, 14 February 2008

As I'm sure you've ascertained, sometimes I get into these moods where I hate everyone and the whole world sucks and those are the times I tend to go quiet on here.   Woe is me and such.  It's like being 14 years old for the rest of your life, except even worse because I'm still blogging. 

I woke up grumpy and then got some absolutely fantastic news, and by fantastic I mean crappy and by crappy I mean I seriously considered the ethics of getting a drink on my lunch break.  Now I'm mad at myself for not including chocolate in today's Valentine's Day dinner, a dinner which the thought of preparing right now makes my head explode, that's how excited I am about doing it at this point.  Why didn't I just demand a nice dinner out instead of insisting on creating more work for myself?!

Oh yeah, happy Valentine's Day grumble grumble.
by: DJGroovySlug at February 14, 2008 11:28 | link | comments (1)

Tuesday, 12 February 2008

I've started using tumblr which is sort of an instant blog.  This is mostly for those times when I have insanely genius nuggets that I would want to blog about but can't because I'm driving or something.  And tumbling lets me do that, via text message.  So it'll be brief and mostly about my day-to-day (minute-to-minute?) activities instead of my actual content-produced blog, which will always be my first love. 

I'm The Best Person In The World
by: DJGroovySlug at February 12, 2008 16:05 | link | comments

Monday, 11 February 2008

Weekend Update

  • Ate at Nicaro.  Good food, not overwhelming but still very good with maybe one surprise, which was the white fish tartare, which I loved.
  • Saw There Will Be Blood.  It's a character study rather than plot-driven work.  It has the same sort of intense dread and feel as No Country For Old Men, but I preferred it far more.  Definitely more disturbing, without all the violence. 
  • Visited Charlottesville, where I got dinner at Orzo with some friends (most amazing fried chicken I've had in a really long time.) Then we all sat around watching D-Wars (Dragon Wars) which was just...terrible.  Even for a B-movie.
  • Prepped dinner for Valentine's Day.  Going with the classics here: mac and cheese. 
  • Uh and since I force everyone to view this site thanks to short entry RSS, obviously I had some fun playing around with the blog.  I don't know if I actually love this design, but I like that it's not the same one that's been up for over a year now.  And I like that I didn't need anyone's help to do it. 

Now I'm off to class which is a pain because Obama is speaking at the Field House at 12:30, class starts at 1pm and I need to find parking.  Damn you Obama!
by: DJGroovySlug at February 11, 2008 11:36 | link | comments (3)