i feel...scruffy

i know, i know, this is all over the internet today, but this mug shot just screams 'LINK ME!!!!"

caution: may be too graphic for some viewers

dead whale explodes on busy taiwan street.

that's a pretty big mess to have to clean up just for an necropsy. but hey, it had a five foot penis.

a little something to pass the time

one of my favorite daily web reads, gawker, has launched a sister site, wonkette, based in DC. they are both definitely worth your time.

i gotta get out more often...

i've visited 54% of the US:



create your own visited states map

but i've only gone to 2% of the world:



create your own visited country map

(if you decide to do your own, be patient-this site is extremely popular right now and their server doesn't appear to be handling it very well...)

on free speech

court reporter

and more from the morning news...martha's day in court in annotated sketches

y Gael Garcia Bernal tambien

sarah hepola's take on sundance.

bad karma, catma, and dogma

last week, three separate people i know were told by their respective veterinarians that they were going to have to put their loving and faithful pets down (2 dogs and a cat) in the near future. i don't have to take darwin to the vet for any reason right now, but i'd be scared to do it if i did.

2004 resolution report, week 4

i made blondies from a martha stewart living recipe on friday. mmmmmm. i thought they'd be too too sweet because the recipe include butterscotch chips and toffee chips, but no, they were scrump-dilly-icious. and even better when paried with homemade vanilla ice cream last night in front of a roaring fire.

(sorry no link for this recipe-but it's in the latest issue of living if you wanna check it out.)

bee happy

i forgot to mention that we watched the movie spellbound the other night and i cannot recommend it enough. if you don't already know about it, it a documentary on the national spelling bee and some kids who compete in it. really, really good.

spoiling the surprise ending

possible scenarios for the final episodes of friends, courtesy of the morning news.

a sort of obsession

one of the great things about yesterday afternoon, beside the fact that i got a lot done, was that i got to play music i like on the stereo at extremely loud volumes. yesterday, it was u2.

when we go to the dartmouth hockey games, the music they play on the sound system at the arena before the dartmouth team comes out onto the ice is 'where the streets have no name' by u2. one of my favorite bands. and everytime i hear it, the reaction is the same. there's the building of the background keyboards (at least i think it's keyboards), then i feel a little shiver when the edge's guitar licks start to come in and build in volume and by the time they get to Adam clayton's thumping baseline, i can't really sit still anymore. and it's being played on many good speakers, carefully placed for maximum listening pleasure, and at extremely loud volumes. i'm always a little disappointed when they cut the song off to announce that night's starting lineup.

on monday, kfog's 10 @ 10 was an amazing collection of beautiful music and speech soundbites in honor of martin luther king. of course, somewhere in the middle they played 'pride (in the name of love)'. again, the song sent a shiver up my back-probably because i was thinking about the whole picture of the incredible things that mlk did and the combination of that with a song that i really like will tend to affect me. i don't mind it the shiver, in fact i really like that feeling, as sappy as it may sound. it makes me feel emotional and human.

so yesterday, blasting out u2 on the stereo while i did dishes, laundry and new years cards felt GREAT. and then i proceeded to change 3 of the 6 cds in the car cd player-i'm now listening to the best of u2 1980-1990, the b sides and war. i am rarely in the car by myself these days, and when i am, i usually only get about 2 songs in before i arrive at my destination or someone joins me and i'm obligated to turn the stereo down or off. those 3 cds should last me for about 3 months or more, or until i feel the next musical obsession coming on.

half day today-woo hoo!

i'm taking the afternoon off today in an attempt to get stuff done at home with out interruptions from brian and The Button. my list is already way too long, but if i only get a part of it completed i'll be very happy.

for example, we still haven't had the time to take down our christmas tree.

like the donald needs more 'press'

commentary from awful plastic surgery regarding the combover.

leftovers

FYI, the cherry tomato confit mentioned below is actually kinda good when squooshed into leftover mashed potatos.

schtate of the whaaa???

it's that time of year again-time to bottom's up while the president is yabbering on and on and on and on and making his serious squinty faces and stuff.

i'll be with you in spirit, cos i wouldn't want to get the baby drunk. wouldn't be prudent.

2004 resolution report, week 3

this week's recipe:flank steak with kalamata olive and pine nut stuffing, served with cherry tomato confit.

turned out so-so. i was kinda in a hurry so brian could get to the dartmouth hockey game on time and did not spend enough time pounding the steak (so it wasn't very thin at all). also, it neede to be cooked for a longer amount of time, because the steak was not pounded thin enough. although brian does not mind fairly rare meat, i had a hard time eating it. the stuffing was really good tho. the cherry tomato confit was intersting, but more of something i might serve in the summer as an appetizer-y thing.

mine looked NOTHING like the photo that accompanies the link. for one thing, since my flank steak was still rather thick, it just kinda folded up like a taco around the stuffing. so when i took the strings off and sliced it, the steak just fell open and spilled stuffing all over the plate. oh well. presentation isn't everything.

ps-whenever possible, i'll try to provide the link to the recipe i tried, or something similar.

does anyone else find this ironic?

olivia goldsmith, author of The First Wives Club, dies of complications from anesthesia during a face lift.

dyslexic moment

i just read a headline on one of the news websites that i thought said 'LAME DIET COKE TO DEBUT'.

upon closer inspection, i realize that it actually read 'LIME DIET COKE TO DEBUT'.

on new years resolutions

so this year, taking into account that i'm 4 1/2 months pregnant and due to give birth in the summer, i decided to take it easy on myself and make only one resolution. one that's do-able. i resolved to try at least one new recipe a week.

theoretically, i can knock off 2 weeks in one weekend because my week starts on sunday and ends on saturday. last weekend, i did a new breakfast dish (canadian bacon and potato hash) on saturday morning and a new dinner recipe (lamb shoulder roast stuffed with ham and mushrooms) on sunday night. it was great. now i only have to do one recipe this weekend. (because, really, weekends are the only time i have to try new stuff)

brian loves all the new food, mostly because i have reached the stage in pregnancy where i have become a raging carnivore and thus, most new recipes under consideration contain red meat.

i've been burned before making new years resolutions that i didn't keep. let me tell you, becoming a working mother really brings reality into EVERYTHING you do when you realize you just don't have to time to do everything you used to, so i tend to be more realistic now when setting goals.

so, this all started because i read this great piece on the morning news about new years resolutions about dieting and it got me thinking.

more mcsweeneys lists

college a capella groups, sorted by major college football rivalries

arrrggghhh!

i trust you all had a nice holiday and new years. the first day back at work is proving to be very trying, partly because my brain still seems to be on winter break even tho my body is sitting at my desk.

anyway, more when i surface from the pile of thank you cards and (ahem) new years cards i have to send out this week.