| Why??? |
[Nov. 12th, 2009|12:56 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | the office | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | trying not to lose my lunch | ] |
i just looked at a photograph of that woman whose face got mauled by a chimp. that was a VERY BAD IDEA. |
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| Lunch Saturday: Yummy Turkish Food |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|12:36 pm] |
i guess this is more for future reference than anything else, but i had a wonderful lunch at Seven's after belly dancing class on Saturday: baba ganoush, lamacun (this amazing Turkish flatbread "pizza" with tomato, ground lamb, and spices), and cubes of fried liver (leftovers, combined with brussels sprouts and rice, are today's lunch).
so good.
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| Election |
[Nov. 3rd, 2009|01:14 pm] |
i refuse to vote for either Bloomberg or Thompson. and i'm not nearly enough Goody Two-shoes to vote Green. |
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| Pumpkin Soup Update |
[Oct. 27th, 2009|12:55 pm] |
i ended up finally making soup late last night (though i had roasted the pumpkin over the weekend). the verdict: not bad, but doesn't taste like pumpkin. possibly because i worried it would taste too much like pumpkin. lol. i think the problem is possibly too much onion and cumin... and maybe i overdid it on the sugar a bit. and possibly because the recipe didn't call for nutmeg, which is probably the most typical flavoring for anything pumpkin-related.
oh, and i didn't need to use the mixer after all. i roasted the pumpkin for so long, it was very easy to mash it all up with a fork. so as far as the soup's consistency, it was fine (unless you hate having small pieces of onion in your soup, which doesn't bother me).
UPDATE: Eric says it's the sugar and milk. he liked it, but it was much too rich/sweet as lunch, on its own. |
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| Funny Typo |
[Oct. 26th, 2009|01:10 pm] |
Doctor Martian Luther King |
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| Mmm... |
[Oct. 23rd, 2009|12:59 pm] |
the gruyere and marinated anchovy on grilled bread at 'Wichcraft (Flatiron location, now open for dinner) is absolutely divine. |
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| Weird |
[Sep. 18th, 2009|04:14 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | the office | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | freaked out | ] |
i just talked to the FRIENDLIEST PHONE OPERATOR EVER. it was like being in an alternate universe. i actually thought she was using laugh tracks, at one point. |
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| My New Haagen-Dazs Obsession |
[Sep. 1st, 2009|11:24 am] |
i'm on this weird Haagen-Dazs 5-ingredient ice cream kick. so far i've tried vanilla, chocolate, and passion fruit, and all are pretty good. they taste less sweet (a huge plus for me) and have a better texture, and of course the idea of only five plain ingredients (milk, cream, eggs, sugar, and the ingredient that adds the flavor) appeals to me. :)
last night we trekked to the Stop and Shop on Northern Blvd. to get resupplied. (good thing HG has ice cream locator on their Web site. lol.) |
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| Trends That Drive Me Nuts |
[Aug. 21st, 2009|11:22 am] |
facial scrubs. if you go to a pharmacy to buy face wash, pretty much all of the options that aren't for acne/oily skin include a scrub agent. my old fallback, L'Oreal Cleanser, has been discontinued, in favor of several scrubby varieties. it's claimed the gritty material is great for exfoliation, but that's actually not the case. washing with a regular cleanser and drying with a towel is enough for most people. and the older you get, the slower your skin cells regenerate, so a scrub for older skin just makes no sense! plus the particles tend to be manufactured from plastic, not natural ingredients, and are terrible for the environment. BRING BACK THE REGULAR CLEANSERS. (meanwhile, i guess i'm going to have to switch back to the overpriced Clinique?)
whitening toothpaste. what's with the obsession with white teeth? people do crazy stuff just to make their teeth whiter. what is all the whitening doing to your tooth enamel? it can't possibly be good for it. a layer of plaque may actually be beneficial for protecting teeth from cavities. and yet you CANNOT buy a regular toothpaste these days, every single option proclaims "whitening" in silvery shiny bursty letters. woo-hoo! what's next? whitening one's eyes??? |
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| What Kind of Book Are You? |
[Aug. 19th, 2009|03:09 pm] |
| You Are Humor |  You love to laugh at life, and if possible, get others to laugh along with you.
You believe there's always a humorous side to everything. And your sense of humor ranges from upbeat to very dark.
You are outrageous and very honest. You're often the only one willing to say what everyone else is thinking.
You are witty and verbally talented. You like to play with words and say things in interesting ways. |
copied from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) swimmingotter. for the record, this is the most flattering quiz result i've ever received. :) |
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| While Taking a Break from Freelancing |
[Aug. 2nd, 2009|02:29 pm] |
let me share a pasta salad recipe...
one box of rotini pasta
half a large bunch of basil
6-7 pieces of sundried tomatoes preserved in olive oil, from a jar
olive oil
a white vinegar (i used rice vinegar)
salt and pepper
half a large ball of fresh mozarella
1. cook the pasta al dente, rinse in cold water to prevent it from sticking, and let it cool down completely.
2. finely chop the basil and tomatoes.
3. combine oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, and whisk. (I used just a splash of vinegar and maybe a half cup or more of oil, to have enough for the dressing.) pour over the basil/tomatoes mixture and let the basil steep in the dressing.
4. chop up the mozarella and add to the basil/dressing mixture.
5. finally, dress the pasta, and leave in the fridge for at least an hour to chill and for the flavors to meld.
servings: lots of pasta salad. :) |
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| Read and Be Jealous :) |
[Jul. 8th, 2009|04:38 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | the office | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | yay weekly bellydancing class | ] |
today, so far, i have had:
- cucumber/dill-flavored cottage cheese with a slice of nice wheat sourdough bread
- a tongue burrito from Uncle Moe's
- blueberries
for dinner, i'm going to have homemade chicken soup, made from a whole chicken.
that's some good eats. well, at least if you're not vegetarian. :) |
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| Will It Work? Worth a Try |
[Jun. 25th, 2009|10:55 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | the office | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  optimistic | ] |
If you use Twitter, set your location to Tehran & your time zone to GMT +3.30. Iranian security forces are hunting for bloggers using location/timezone searches. The more people at this location, the more of a logjam it creates for forces trying to shut down Iranians' access to the internet. Copy, paste, pass it on.
(via allita78)
never mind, won't work. :( |
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| Democracy for Democracy's Sake |
[Jun. 18th, 2009|11:52 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | the office | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  pessimistic | ] |
so, let me add my two cents regarding the current Iran situation. in theory, i'm all for freedom and democracy, but what does that really mean? social unrest, street violence, individuals turning into a chanting mob? no, thank you. that's not good for anyone. which is why i'm surprised to see all these people online cheering the Iranian mobs on. i mean, just because they're cheering for "democracy" rather than "death to the West" doesn't make them any less dangerous to those around them.
because, here is the thing. you know how the shah lost control of Iran in the 1970s? precisely the same way. it was a popular movement led by the students. some were communist/socialist, some were Islamic, but all were fed up with the extremely corrupt and repressive regime, perceived to be funded and protected by the West, particularly the U.S. (and it IS true that the West profited greatly from Iran and its situation. and remember, this was during the Cold War and the fear of the Red Menace. at the time, the U.S. supported any regime, as long as it wasn't left-wing.)
i'm sure many of those people meant well. but the result was the rise of the ayatollahs, the Basij (religious morality police), more repression. what changed? the people in power. the distribution of wealth. social corruption was replaced by social restriction. was it for better or for worse? depends who you ask. certainly, some people benefited and some people did not. obviously, the society went from one extreme to the other, and in the process did not gain the kind of stability and ease of life we associate with words "freedom" and "democracy"--the ability to live life as we see fit, free to prosper or at least make ends meet, within a law-abiding system. (i'm saying, our way isn't perfect, but it sure is more stable. and stability is what gives us the freedom to live like normal people.)
my problem with the current movement is, what exactly is it aiming to achieve? i hope i am wrong, but it doesn't look like there's any clear strategy, any hope for some logical outcome that would benefit the country. it feels, rather, like a huge temper tantrum. "mommy isn't listening to me, so i'll kick and scream until i get my ice cream." if the mommy is strict, the result will be a spanking, right? what else can be expected?
many people have drawn a parallel between the current events and the Tiananmen Square. and i see it too. in the end, what else COULD the Chinese government do? it had a "situation"--thousands of students, maybe hundreds of thousands, occupying the square for over a month, refusing to back down, without a clear leader who could negotiate with the government. the crowds were simply unmanageable. if you're a totalitarian regime with an army at your disposal, then the solution is clear. you use force to return to the status quo. what else could have been done?
you may ask, what's the solution, then? well, the only way to improve the system without this kind of social unrest is to work from within. but that's so much harder--how can you avoid being corrupted by the system as you rise up in the ranks, and once you're up, how can you avoid taking advantage? but if there's social pressure for change, a kind of propaganda to do what's right, then maybe there's a chance.... I don't know.
what do you guys think?
UPDATE: I should note here that i'm still making my way through NEITHER EAST NOR WEST... |
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| A Personal Pet Peeve |
[Jun. 16th, 2009|11:50 am] |
books and movies about Islamic terrorists. because i think most of the time the writer/director really has no clue what he's talking about. (not that i do, either--but i can distinctly feel that what i'm being told is untrue, or at least a dim version of the truth.) it's not so much a PC issue, it's more like any lack of awareness of other cultures, no finesse, just black-and-white carricatures.
case in point: BODY OF LIES. what a joke. never should have let Eric Netflix it. though Leo is not half bad in it. and, OMG, why is it that Middle Eastern guys are so hot? |
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| Podcasts |
[Jun. 10th, 2009|12:33 pm] |
my favorite one is THIS AMERICAN LIFE. it's an hourly NPR show that picks a theme and runs with it, and for the most part the stories tend to be interesting, and from an angle i can definitely relate to. Mike Birbiglia has been on it, which is a plus. the only semi-regular contributor that annoys me is Sara Vowel. no offense, but she's got sort of a speech impediment, and listening to her read something is awkward. does anyone else find her voice grating?
the SAVAGE LOVE podcast is oftentimes amusing. Dan Savage's talent is to take something marginal and make it sound mainstream and logical. plus, i've always had a fascination with reading advice columns. except, the funny thing is, what interests me more is the question, not the helpful response. very often, the helpful response doesn't sound all that helpful to me (for example, the Prudie column on slate.com). however, Dan's advice seems to be pretty solid, and it's fun to listen to him talk.
TED TALKS video podcasts started out being really interesting--there was a talk on sky jumping, another on newspaper layout design, one on robots in the military. lately, though, they haven't been as interesting. i skipped through the talk about racism in the past presidential election (the guy kept jumping to conclusions that just weren't warranted) and one that was basically a read-through of a comic about architecture. i hope the next ones are better.
NPR ALL SONGS CONSIDERED LIVE CONCERT SERIES--well, i can't believe you can get it for free. the whole concert is recorded in full, and in some cases there's also a video version. the Radiohead concert was really, really cool.
and now, a question. i've been wasting hours and hours playing solitaire, sudoku, and tetris on my iPod. what other games do you recommend, considering my interest in above three? :) |
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