Archive for February, 2010

Gotdamn, I loves me some books.

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

I’ve been studying some computer stuff at work in these random lulls in activity we’ve been having. Figured that I’d be productive and crack open a book and take some notes. Problem: since college, I have no aptitude for sitting and reading and taking notes. I was getting so sleepy I lost consciousness for a few seconds. Then I figured it was best if I just got up and did something else.

So I got up, put my coat on, and went to the 57th Street Bookstore, which is a short trek through an alley and half-a-block away.

The penultimate Twilight Zone episode features a dude who only wants to read, and when the world ends, and it’s nothing but him and books. Then, the most dastardly, wrongish, coldblooded thing EVAR happens to him that I shudder thinking about it. (That episode is also why I have not watched a single episode since I saw that one; I have no idea how anything else could affect me as badly as that episode did. I keep a spare pair of glasses just BECAUSE OF THAT EPISODE.)

I’ve raved about the bookstore before; I come not to praise it as a customer service haven, but a place where books are waiting. Picking them up, reading the back covers, maybe flipping through and reading a few pages. Recipe books about cooking with fat. A biography of Louis Armstrong. Sonia Sanchez haikus. And I, quite literally, am a kid in a candy store. And it makes me happy to write about.

And then I remember that I can’t buy anything because I have no money to buy them and we have no place to put yet more books. But I’m okay with that. For now.

Posted in artsy/musically, musings | No Comments »

hooray food!

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

i figured it was time for a new post, now that our outing to margie’s has passed. what better way to follow-up a post about margie’s than with a list of recipes? :-D

sauteed chicken with tonnato sauce: i didn’t try my hand at the sauce b/c, well, it sounded kinda gross. i was more interested in new/different ways to prepare chicken breasts, and this was nom.

fettuccine alfredo with bacon: not as nom as it could’ve been, primarily b/c i misread the recipe and added too much cheese. yes, i know, there’s no such thing as too much cheese, but in this case, it’s true. i’d try making it again, though, with the correct amount of cheese, to see what the difference is in taste.

shrimp and wild rice casserole: i’d tried my hand at this once before and decided to revisit it. glad i did, b/c it was nom. would make again.

butterscotch and black pepper carrots: nom. i didn’t slice the carrots in half, b/c they’re baby carrots and i didn’t really see the point.

weekend brunch casserole: nom. this is one of those recipes that i look at and realize that troy and i like all of the ingredients and therefore we should like the finished product. and we did.

tilapia soft tacos with chipotle cream: i didn’t actually make tacos or the chipotle cream sauce. the tilapia was nom, though. would make again.

chicken with cocoa tomato sauce: meh. i was disappointed with this one. this should’ve been epic nom, right? there’s chicken, there’s cocoa, there’s tomatoes and other yummy things, so therefore, this should be delicious. and it was. sorta. the cocoa taste was drowned out by everything else, and i don’t know if i care enough about this recipe to try it again and adding more cocoa powder.

balsamic pork chops: nom. would make again.

sausage and egg casserole with sundried tomatoes and mozzarella: meh. it was good, but not “omg nom must make again” good. i might try it again at some point.

lemon pasta with roasted shrimp: this, on the other hand, i’d make again. i used a pound of large (31-40 count) shrimp instead of 2 lbs. of the smaller shrimp, and linguine instead of angel hair pasta b/c that’s what i had on hand.

tilapia with green beans: somewhere b/t nom and meh. the tilapia was nom. the veggies, not so much. i think i want to try this again in the summer when i can get green beans and tomatoes from the farmers market, as opposed to when i tried this a couple of weeks ago and relied on the produce selection at jewel.

Posted in food, linkage | 3 Comments »

margie’s. montrose. monday. it’s gonna happen.

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

what: ice cream, hot fudge action, comedy, foolery, and who knows what else?

who: me and you, yo’ mama and yo’ cousin too (c) outkast – ok, seriously, me, troy, and whoever else wants to show up.

where: margie’s candies, 1813 w. montrose. take the brown line to montrose, or the #78 bus to ravenswood, or just look it up on mapquest or google maps and figure it out yourself.

when: monday, february 15, 2010, at 7:30 p.m.

why: if you haven’t hung out with one or both of us in a while, this is your chance. even if you’ve seen us recently, you should still show up. and if we haven’t met irl yet, this is your chance. and did i mention hot fudge action? :D

rsvp in the comments, or via e-mail, or text, or on twitter. see y’all monday.

Posted in food | 4 Comments »

doing more with less when less isn’t more…

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

i love libraries. i love the concept of libraries – that here’s a depository of information and with the right credentials, you can access that information. i love the reality of libraries – i can go in looking for one book and come out with five more. i can research one topic and tangentially find myself on a completely different subject. i can send a message to those in charge that yes, i use the library on a regular basis.

i don’t think i’m alone in this. during my period of un(der)employment, i’ve definitely seen an increase in people using the library. this is awesome.

except…the hours at our local branch have been reduced, just as libraries nationwide have seen a spke in patronage. this means fewer staff to handle a greater number of users at a library branch that’s open ~16 fewer hours a week than it used to be.

remember when libraries weren’t really seen as “cool?” ok, for a bookworm like me, libraries have been cool for as long as i can remember, but for “average” people, not so much. then people “(re)discovered” the library during the recession. “o hai! i can haz books and dvds for free? kthxbai!”

i am not knocking those people. hell, i’m one of those people – i just happened to be an early adopter.

same goes with public transit. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again – there will always be a soft spot in my heart for the cta. both daddy and james worked there for decades. daddy’s cta pension (and later, james’ cta paycheck) helped pay my tuition at northwestern.

i have been riding cta for at least 20 years, if not longer. i know people who are amazed that i go as many places as i do in and around chicago primarily on buses and trains. i’m not alone in this, mind you. there are lots of us who’ve been cta-loyal for years, for myriad reasons.

then, of course, the recession hit. gas prices spiked, people didn’t want to drive as much (also for myriad reasons), and ridership on the cta increased. again, i’ve seen this with my own eyes.

so, of course, service on the cta has been cut, and will be cut again on sunday, barring a last-minute reprieve. perfect sense, right? just like the libraries – cut back while more people are using your services.

i saw a commercial for allstate that asks if the recession has made us great. i don’t know about y’all, but it’s made me kinda bitter. it goes back to the aforementioned early adopter thing. i’ve been clipping coupons and going to the library and riding public transit for years, and yet it’s the “new wave” who are lauded in articles for their thriftiness. am i wrong for thinking that this is some bullshit?

Posted in musings | 1 Comment »

save the date: monday, february 15, 2010

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

i’m “planning” a trip to margie’s on montrose. you know you want ice cream. i’m thinking some time in the evening on the 15th. that’s as far as i’ve gotten with this. look for a more detailed post w/in the next few days or so.

Posted in food | 2 Comments »

A post of Internet thanks.

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

On Twitter I’ve met a number of individuals who are thoughtful, smart, and are a lot more prolific at writing than I am. They are a source of humor and often bring up things to think about.

One of the people I follow wrote this, and it really resounded with me. Suicide, as a topic, very rarely gets broached, with a number of faiths condemning it as a sin punishable by eternal damnation. But what actually makes someone actually think of suicide as an option, much less DO it?

What CBK (the author) does in this article is to examine what would happen to warrant such an act, and I think her summations are meritorious. To even consider suicide is be acknowledge an utter lack of hope, the demise of a sense that things can get better. She speaks of hope, and how one can really keep that in the face of occurrences that would manifest themselves as insurmountable. Spurred by the actions of a friend, she wonders out loud how despair can lead to suicide being an action that is even seen as viable.

I read with interest because I was suicidal for quite a while. And I recognize why now, but CBK put it into words, as well as strategies that could have helped me those years ago.

Odd, but I remember reading something a while ago that said, in part, that “no creative has ever NOT been suicidal.” And it makes sense. Someone who is preoccupied with bringing something new and creative into being likely thinks they’re going it alone, and alone is the worst feeling, but unavoidable when you’re concerned with being the next Gwendolyn Brooks, Toni Morrison, or (in my case) Basquiat.

So thank you for putting down in words what I wish I could have known. Cheers to you, Mrs. CBK.

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