So much for daily updates.

Tomorrow I leave for Peru.

I got some Cipro, just in case...

meat.

Bill's mom sent him some Omaha Steaks for his birthday. We documented their consumption.

Now I present that documentation for your consumption.

Bad Pizza Tragedy

Sorry, no pictures today. I spent way, way too much time working today and I am tired.

As a result of all the work (!!) I did, I was lacking in the energy needed for cooking and so Bill & I walked the block or so to the new neighborhood pizza joint. Which sucked. A lot.

I'm definitely an "if you put cheese on it, I'll come" sort of girl (heh), and I'm afraid this pizza just couldn't make it happen.

Too bad, because I have been excited about it for months and months. Sigh. At least I have Tokyo 7-7.

Friday Brunch!

I ate this.
Ginger beef, rice, two eggs over easy. The diner is too awesome to describe further. Suffice it to say, it's in an alley and breakfast starts at $2.35. Oh yeah, and it's less than two blocks from my apartment. Does this make me cooler than you? The answer to that is yes--unless you are in one of the few apartments closer.

Pancetta, grape tomatoes, onion.

Saute, add pasta, top with grated pecorino romano, eat, rejoice.

As you no doubt noticed, I totally slacked on my updating as I had a friend in town over the weekend and we were busy eating out and drinking. To make up for my bad behavior, I will draw you a picture of a meal I ate, for each day that I missed.

On Thursday, we had Ethiopian food and it was delicious! However, I have decided that from here on out, I will stop ordering the honey beer, as I do not like it.

Here is what our dinner looked like. We ate with our hands.

Oy, shameful, I have skipped yet another day.

I often thought about blogging, though, so it isn't as though it slipped my mind completely. I just got distracted: my job, laundry, grocery shopping, watching Undeclared on DVD.

Ah, but I did go grocery shopping yesterday, after preparing dinner with what needed to be eaten, stat. We had some British-style bacon from Fresh & Easy (a huge disappointment, by the way, with some pieces cut 2 to 3 times thinner than others), an avocado, a tomato. So, bacon, avocado, tomato & cheddar sandwiches it was for dinner.

And then, to my quarterly pasta & bulk buying trip to Whole Foods. I still love Whole Foods, but I live in walking distance to Trader Joe's & Albertson's, and there's a farmers' market on my street. It seems silly to drive to the market when I don't have to. But, there are certain things worth making the trip for: their whole wheat organic pasta, their bulk brown short-grain rice at the merest 89¢ a pound, their bulk orzo (no bargain, really, at $2.99/lb), some impulsively bought olives, beer, of course.

Fast Food, part I

While I have many junk food pleasures, fast food is not one of them. I admit a deep love for Chipotle but otherwise find little allure in fast food. The result being I have not eaten, ever, at many iconic restaurants. Here's my list of ubiquitous or iconic fast food establishments I have never visited:

• Checkers/Rally's Drive-In
• Chick-fil-A
• Del Taco
• El Pollo Loco
• Fatburger
• Five Guys
• Hot Dog on a Stick
• Jack in the Box
• L&L Hawaiian BBQ
• Long John Silver's
• Noodles and Co
• Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits
• Shakey's Pizza
• I've been in Taco Bell, but I've never ordered food there. This is perhaps the most shocking, but shouldn't be, given that I didn't like Mexican food until age 20 or so, after I stopped smoking pot with any regularity.
• Togo's
• Whataburger
• Wienerschnitzel

Anyway, this is my fast food list. I think a lot of the places on my list aren't found much in the Midwest, which is the primary reason I've never been there.

Hot Dog!

Many, many years ago I decided I hated hot dogs. In fact, I don't know when I last had a hot dog. If I had to guess, I'd say 20+ years ago.

My neighbor growing up ate frozen hot dogs like popsicles, which might explain why I found them so repulsive, as that is truly disgusting.

Anyway, yesterday I ate two hot dogs and I really liked them! Who knew?

Boring!

Well, this NaBloPoMo business has so far been really tedious--I am boring myself, so I'm sorry for any additional boredom I am passing on to you. I don't want to write in my blog every day, even if it is about my favorite thing, food. Especially today, post-4th of July drinking and eating and more eating. And, after a lazy day of sleeping, eating leftovers, shopping, and then sleeping some more, I am about to head out for some more excess.

So, I leave you with a picture of Bill eating, which I have decided I will do whenever I have nothing I really want to say.


Below: Bill eats carne asada fries at La Playa Taco Shop in San Diego, 6/29/08.

Overeating, overindulging, etc.

Yes. I did all of the above on the Fourth of July. And the only fireworks I saw were on the TV, which was fine. After all the food was laid out on the table, one of our companions said "take that, Hugo Chavez." Indeed, we are a wealthy land.

Popcorn, Helvetica

Well, today I got to watch the documentary Helvetica at work with a bunch of design & production people. They thought it was pretty funny, and I must say, I enjoyed the movie and especially enjoyed the watching a movie during work.

Someone made a bag of Newman's Own microwave popcorn.

If you didn't know this about me already, I will tell you: I love popcorn. I wouldn't say I need to eat it daily, but I definitely need to eat it weekly. And popcorn at the movie theater is mandatory, even if I have previously deemed it sub-par.

I was pretty alarmed last year when that microwave popcorn/lung disease story broke, and, anyway, since I tend to be pretty concerned with eating minimally processed foods, I finally made the move to get a stovetop popper (and by "made the move" I mean "asked my mom to get me one for my birthday") last fall.

So, now I pop my organic popping corn in bulk from Whole Foods, pop it canola oil and drizzle melted butter on my popped corn. And I wouldn't be lying if I said that it was basically the best tasting thing in the whole world. Still, I can't resist crummy microwaved popcorn so I indulged at the meeting... err, movie-watching. And it was kind of gross, but I kept eating it.

Also, Bill has officially turned into a popcorn hater. I guess there is only so much love for popcorn a couple can have, and I hog it all. Sigh.

bacon

Well, today I spent a lot of time thinking about bacon, and things I could wrap in bacon. I mainly blame the picture that keeps popping up on facebook ("6 of your friends have become fans of Bacon" and so on. Really, what's wrong with my other 215 friends??), here:

Also, I have two BBQs to attend this weekend, and I should bring food to both of them. So, I considered what I could bring that would be wrapped in bacon for most of my day at work. Temporary reprieve came at lunch, at which time I ordered the BLT.

I gave up, by the way. Unless a stroke of genius hits, I'll be bacon-less for the weekend. Which isn't entirely true, as I finally got to one of the new Fresh & Easy markets (Tesco's US expansion), and bought British-style rashers, which I will almost certainly eat this weekend. And actually, I think I will make hash browns and rashers for breakfast on the 4th. No, the two are not generally considered complementary, but I just happen to have applesauce and sour cream that needs to be eaten. And no, hash browns are not precisely the same at latkes but I think they will do just fine.

Food, NaBloPoMo

Well, I am trying something different, something not particularly like me. I am going to try this NaBloPoMo thing in which I agree to update my blog daily on a certain theme. I am copying my friend City Elf.

This month's theme is Food, which has long since been a source of nourishment for me (ha!), but is also amongst my primary hobbies and joys (exhibit a: my, err, abundance). So, from this day forward (through July 31st, that is), I will share with you my thoughts on things tangentially related to food.

And on that note, I will direct you to the blog of my younger (but taller) brother, who has recently arrived in Argentina for a junior year abroad. He is apparently being starved by his host mother. I encourage you to read it and feed his fragile male ego.

Wow, I can't believe it was only a few months ago I was making all of these grandiose plans to update my blog regularly. Sorry, folks, that idea got waylaid by, perhaps, my new Netflix subscription.

Given my proximity to Blockbuster stores and some lame-ass Walmart/Netflix coupling a few years back, I've been a Blockbuster online user. But when they would not rent me (or anyone) the big kid version of Lust, Caution, and they kept raising our rates/cutting services, we decided it was time to abandon ship.

In other news, I have a sore throat and want a crushing amount of noodles in broth.

California Pride

copyright Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times

It is so wonderful to see joyous faces in the newspaper. Hooray for justice and equality.

Science!

Today Bill & I visited NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratories at Cal Tech, which are, incidentally, not at Cal Tech.

It looked a lot like the set of Real Genius, but I didn't see Val Kilmer. When we toured various labs and saw things that were more or less like lazers, I kept thinking, gosh, how come all scientific equipment looks just exactly the same as it did in 80's movies. Suffice it to say, some of the exhibits were a bit beyond my Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry comprehension level.

However, we did get a fair amount of free stuff-- namely stickers, bookmarks and even a notebook!

Also, I will note that NASA sprung for the deluxe port-a-potties. Literally, the word "Royale" was emblazoned on the side. I mean, the port-a-potties were larger than high school classroom trailers that fill the playgrounds of the LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District, for my non-resident readers). Let it be known that I would prefer my tax dollars go to classrooms, not deluxe lavatories.

Finally, the labs are located in the city of La Cañada Flintridge, a lovely part of Los Angeles I had never visited before and indeed, assumed to be La Canada as many listings omit the tilde. So I'm glad I visited, saw the "Welcome to La Cañada Flintridge: Home of the Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory" signs, noted the en-yay (!), and remembered to look up the correct pronunciation (la can-yadda) upon my return home.

Officially a Los Angeleno (a?)

Today I saw Morrissey in a bar and kept my cool.

While I did take a gratuitous bathroom trip to investigate this sighting and, let's say, let my eyes linger, I did not scream, squeal, or express in any way my excitement in a way that would have been apparent to the Moz. Fortunately, my friends & I were on the patio and the Pope of Mope was seated inside (shockingly, with his back to the mirrored wall) so I could manage a little squealing here and there.

Spotted today

Very old (80+ for sure) man carrying a reusable grocery bag with a bumper sticker: Impeachment is Patriotic.

I love old liberals.

Hi, World.

Dear Blog,

I'm sorry that I have been so neglectful of you over the past year or even two. Part of the problem is that my life just isn't terribly eventful. I can't even think of the last time I saw a stranger jerking off, attempted a bagel-making project, or outed my roommate as a total freak!

Ah, but the truth is, my boyfriend still eats stuff for breakfast that is so predictable it's hilarious.

And, I still make exciting stuff to feast upon. Just yesterday I put yogurt into my macaroni and cheese! This is all part of my total infatuation with European or Greek-style non-fat, plain yogurt. It makes literally everything more delicious.

So, blog, I vow to try again. And try harder. And be totally awesome in every way. Especially since unemployment looms in my future. Thanks for that, President Bush and your war-mongering. That's right, folks, I may soon be a victim of the not-quite-recession. Fortunately, we have my boyfriend's graduate student income to sustain us.

And here we go, looking forward to a future of awesomeness.

Warmest regards,

Ruth

Happy May Day

Just received this email from my boss and felt the slightest pang of sadness that my work situation will soon change:

"Pause for a moment to consider the irony of your boss wishing you a happy May Day, which, of course, I do.

Now, get back to work!

The Management

"

Statistics

OK, you know that statistic about how 50% of young people couldn't find Iraq or Israel or wherever on a map?

Well, I'd really like to see the map in question. I think I am pretty decent at geography, but I don't think I could properly fill in a blank map of the Middle East, despite my success on the Map Tests in World Geography as a freshman in high school.

That's all.

Google, have you no morals?!?!

under

lovelovelovelovelovelovelove

So mad at me!!

Ugh, my annoyance with myself has skyrocketed, as I stupidly flaked and forgot to buy Magnetic Fields tickets and now it's sold out. And I owe money on my taxes this year so don't think I can justify paying scalpers' rates and my stupid lower lip won't pop back in.

On-sale dates are exactly why calendars were invented and anyway, GRRR GRRR GRR.

Fuck you, Year of the Rat.

Apparently, I'm going to have an atrocious 2008. Great news, especially since there are a number of anticipated changes upcoming.


The Year of the Rat for the Rooster

I swear, any time I read any astrological predictions, I just get incredibly angry. I guess I never caught the pre-destination bug from my time spent in presbyterian sunday school. gr.

Juicy in LA

On my way to work this morning, I saw a Range Rover with a Juicy Couture air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror.

Would you believe I've been enjoying life in LA quite a bit recently?

Wow, it's been a little rainy today, and the view from my work's window is the most beautiful thing I've seen in a while. The window overlooks the 405 freeway and the McMansions that dot the hills of Bel Air, and the light is that perfect twilight through the clouds, etc.

It's a little depressing, though, that I'm so excited to see a little sun-through-the-clouds action, casting shadows on nothing-too-special.



Sorry, under-attended blog, that this is the best I can come up with. That said, the only readers of my blog appear to be googlers of umbrella tattoos, so my guilt is minimal.

It must be awesome to have a girlfriend.

math

I just found an old post-it on my desk, and it says "6+11=18."

I hope I didn't write that.

Day of the Dead

Awesome.

feeding frenzy

So, Boyfriend "Can you put some more bacon on top of my milkshake?" Bill has decided that, given his advanced age, the time has come to more greatly consider the long term effects of diet and exercise.

I am glad of this, as I didn't want to worry about a) Bill burning his tongue while lapping bacon grease out of the pan or b) Bill ruining yet another evening whinging about brain freezes and begging for milkshake runs or c) Bill stealing the fat from my steak off my plate.

But prior to Bill's "oooh, do we have any flax to put on top of my high fiber cereal?" transformation, he was my food id, and I, the superego. Our powers combined created a sensible ego known to share a small (ok, mid-sized) bowl of ice cream while making kissy-face on the couch.

Now, however, I am driven by an insane hunger. I have consumed, on average, 3 servings of Oreos a day for the past few days. I contemplated leaving work to go buy a cupcake, even though I don't actually like cake very much.

I just finished my lady-time, so no, I'm not pregnant but thanks for your concern.

No, I fear that a certain number of calories must be consumed in our apartment, and I am, unfortunately, being forced to pick up Bill's slack. Sigh. Just call me "Jack Sprat's live-in girlfriend."

ohhh, the working world.

I just received this email from a colleague:

"Could you also make each caption seven points instead of eight? You just highlight the caption including the final paragraph mark, then highlight the 8 in the little formatting box and type in a 7, then hit enter."

Thanks for that.

next year.

I don't know how I missed National Punctuation Day (or its official meatloaf), but I did. And I am sad.

two to too

Two days to too old!

Actually, I am excited. My first birthday since starting college where I haven't been 'in transition' on the big day! Fuck the academic year and how it perpetually infringes on my celebration.

And, it's my golden birthday. I only get one of those, and this is it! At this particular moment, I am positively euphoric about the impending day of aging.

Change

I'm a regular at the airport.
It's getting chilly in LA-- low 70s, rain promised for the weekend...
And, I turn 26 in 8 days. I'd really rather not.

Oh, fuck lungs.

Every now and then, a news story comes out that just rocks one's world.

Apparently, microwave popcorn can cause lung deterioration.

The last convenience food that can always be found in my cabinets must go. Really, popcorn is the only reason I even have a freaking radioactive microwave.

R.I.P. microwave popcorn. I'm going old-school.

I'm so over it.

Los Angeles, I am so over your weather. Give me variety, give me rain, give me anything but tepid blue skies and dry heat.

carrot sticks

Sometimes, I throw some carrot sticks into my lunch. But then, while I work/think about food, I get unbearably depressed about how I will eventually have to eat carrot sticks. Even though I like carrots. There's just something a little depressing about them, especially when snacked upon in a cubicle.

Me? Simulated? Hmm.

I am probably like, the 50 millionth blogger to talk about this NY Times article in which some guy with a "Dr." preceding his name states that “there’s a 20 percent chance we’re living in a computer simulation.”
It says some other stuff, too, fascinating, really, and I'm possibly misunderstanding the whole thing. Still, if we are in fact an elaborate simulation by some sort of post-human, one has to wonder why they are so obsessed with Paris Hilton. It is somewhat comforting to think that it is actually some future mind that is getting stupider, not us. I wonder if they thought it was hilarious to give the 2000 election to Bush. I wonder if they are going to get tired of playing with the US and will focus their energies on Eritrea or Kyrgyzstan, those easily ignored nations.
Also, I wonder if I started sporting a "I'd like my ass to be better defined" on the back of my t-shirt if my ass would be suddenly more rounded, or if I would instead be struck with a desire to do lunges.

oh, to the poorhouse

My 403(b) has LOST 17¢. I can't believe it. My heart is broken. I have been robbed. Fuck you, Cheney.

ties and true love...

I love my boyfriend, Bill, very much. It is with great sadness I must report to you that he does not really know how to tie a tie. I accept this as further evidence to his great manliness. He will, no doubt, accuse me of trying to emasculate him on my blog. This is false. If I wanted to do that, I would talk about his lengthy, sissy-girl showers. No, instead, I tell you about how his uber-manliness unfortunately does not allow his fingers to tie fine knots.
Alas, last night Bill needed to wear his (1) tie with his (1) suit. And, because he does not own a bolo tie (much to his sadness), he had to tie the tie. Thank god for the internet.
For your amusement, I offer you... Bill!

Hey Korea, Hey!

On some Korean search engine, a post I wrote about Desperate Housewives in 2005 shows up as #3 if one searches "desperate housewives."
Fascinating.

days like these, etc.

this morning, i finally decided it was worth ironing this lovely silk skirt i bought at a sample sale in london several years ago.
after a lengthy hunt for the iron, i finally found it (why, boyfriend, would you have put it in the cabinet ABOVE the fridge?), and ironed the skirt.

I promptly spilled my breakfast on it. I rinsed the spot & decided it would be fine.

I start driving to work. I run my hands through my hair. It's still wet? Oh, no, I just have a big blob of conditioner left on top of my head.

I get to work, step out into the sun. The spot is totally still visible. After scrubbing the spot every few hours, it is virtually gone by the time I go to lunch, when I spill salsa on myself this time.

Just now, at 4:30, I notice, while in the bathroom, that my bra is plainly visible beneath my sweater. Let's hope everyone thinks that's intentional...

Oh, dorkiness

After reading this article in the New York Times about the new Harry Potter book, I don't think I will be able to resist getting the book this weekend. I had hoped to make it until the first round of people finish reading, so that I could borrow their's, but I just don't think so. Bummer.

best analogy ever

Once you give it up, you will lose your stickiness! Forever!

You may even end up with a small metal bolt. Yikes.

Abstinence-only education, hooray.

I have managed to update my blog twice in the hour I have been at work. Today promises to be productive. You, readers, are lucky.

valid.

yesterday, my boss said "well, if you haven't heard of it, then it's not important."
just as i suspected, i am the supreme arbiter of cultural importance.

A recipe from Ruth

Last weekend, I deserted Bill to celebrate my grandfather's 90th birthday in Nebraska, and to kick it with my Kansas City crew (uh, that would be my parents, brothers, Jessica & Ryan--holla!)...
Anyway, Bill apparently spent the weekend watching Battlestar Galactica, and drinking beer.
So far, I have spent my boyfriend-less time eating cottage cheese and tuna salad, probably Bill's least favorite foods.

Also, Whole Foods sells this tasty cranberry tuna salad, which costs like, $10/lb.
Anyway, I think I have finally successfully replicated the recipe!!!

It follows:

2 cans tuna (regular size, regular tuna)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup red onion, chopped fine
1/4 cup mayo
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 T German Mustard (probably any whole grain would do)
1 T fresh parsley (optional-- by this I mean I didn't use it yesterday, but then remembered the abundance of fresh parsley on my balcony and added it today).

Soak cranberries & diced onion in water for about 5 minutes. Drain. Mix everything together. Eat it.

As a note, I made this yesterday, ate half for dinner last night, half for lunch today. I think the flavor was better today!

ruth from redleather, hm.

So, last month, I watched others read from their youthful diaries at the inaugural LA Angst. I went with fellow graduate student girlfriend Michelle and had a lovely evening. Met people, etc.

This month, I agreed to read. And while back in Kansas City this past weekend, picked up some of my old diaries. It turns out that I was awfully lame. I was in love with a lot of people I can't really put a face to now. Still, the old heartbreak hasn't quite faded (why did Andrew not like me? Who was Jeff R. and why did he choose Courtney R. over me?! Was it really because I should lose 10 lbs?), and I am pretty apprehensive about selling out teenage me for cheap laughs! Sure, my alternating concern with boys and the nature of the universe ("Peter M. is so nice. And hot! Ha! We don't even have to talk about gay things like school and friends, we can talk about real things, like feelings" followed by "I think if I accept all of Christianity's conditions I'd be cheating my self [sic]. Much of Christianity seems hypocritical to me. I truley [sic] believe in God, and that he could very well fill my void, but I don't want to become a Christian just to fill the void").

And, in 8th grade, I addressed my diary as "compilation of my ruminations." That I will encourage you to laugh at. However, I am pretty sure that should I sit down to write about my relationship with spirituality today it would be as trite as the above.

Anyway, you might note that the LA Angst page says that "Ruth from Redleather" will be reading. I guess that means I should be giving my blog some more lovin'.

kitie, married, bridesmaid, portland, etc!

Soo, this weekend, Kitie got married! In Portland! Veronica & I represented as bridesmaids, and did, if I do say so myself, a damn fine job, considering our novice status, especially.

Here I present a trio of photographs, but many many more can be found on my flickr.

Congratulations, Kitie & Curtis!

from my work, on earthquakes

"Make sure that you have a supply of your prescriptions with you should you be unable to leave work for a day or two following an event and don't forget a spare pair of glasses and contact lens solution!"

Life in Los Angeles is different.

I say:

"Is there a movie called 'Meet Cute'?"

"There should be; I would probably like it."

Les horreurs!

But pockets of tradition endure. At La Camembertière, a nearby restaurant, the owner and chef, Géry Boddaert, offers an entire menu with raw milk Camembert, including a Camembert tart, skate in Camembert sauce, entrecôte in Camembert sauce, free-range chicken in Camembert sauce, a green salad topped with melted Camembert and Camembert ice cream in apple syrup.

“There’s a completely different sensation with raw milk Camembert,” Mr. Boddaert said. “A different odor, a different taste, a different color. Industrial Camembert is a horror, a horror!”

meta

Last night, I slept like shit.
I either dreamed I saw a cockroach in the bathroom, saw a cockroach in the bathroom, or hallucinated one.
I'm afraid I don't really know which it was. Actually, I am pretty sure I didn't dream it, because when I woke up, the bathroom door was shut. Usually, it's not, and I remembered shutting the door.
But, I wasn't wearing my contacts or glasses, so all I can be sure of is that I might have seen a black dot and I might have seen it move. I didn't get close to it, because I didn't want to be obligated to do something about it, naked and barefoot was I.
It occurred to me, as I finished up the night fitfully tossing and turning (oh, fitfully is totally redundant there, isn't it? Really, I could just say I finished the night fitfully, couldn't I? Or, obviously, tossing and turning)... The point is, though, that I kept drowsily thinking that I should have put a glass over the the alleged roach, and made Bill deal with it in the morning (note: should anyone accuse me of being a mean and/or demanding girlfriend, I could have woken him to deal with the offending creature)...
But, that brings me to my speculation that it might have been a dream-- after all, I am a mean and demanding girlfriend-- so if I saw a roach, why didn't I wake up my noble protector? Maybe I didn't see it after all...

OMG Nas-T!

I know I'm not like, the most hygiene-oriented on the block (but hey, to be fair, I do live in one of LA's most densely populated zip codes), but I just observed some shocking bathroom behavior, especially considering she wasn't in there alone and you know, this is an office environment.

Woman stops at printer, takes printed stuff into the bathroom, goes into stall with print-outs, pees, flushes, leaves.

Umm, I know that it would have been awkward to put the papers down while washing her hands and she probably would have gotten them wet. But I think the obvious solution there is to pick the stuff up at the printer after using the bathroom. Maybe I'm crazy.

But, it's not like I think what she did is so filthy-nasty. No, I just think this refusal to conform to hygienic convention is odd-- if not exactly notable. I mean, I entered the restroom right behind her, took the stall right next to hers, etc.

I probably am crazy, because seriously, who blogs about the bathroom habits of total strangers? I've never seen this lady before-- she stopped at the web development printer, so she's not in my crew. I admired her black suede platform shoes though, I admit it.

Girl's a woman now!

Look at me look at me I have a 403B!
Yup, that's right, I'm doing right by my retirement and it feels good.
Holla.

Molasses cookies

OK, so, I just made molasses cookies & I am like, some kind of genius. Prior to this cookie-baking, I'd only eaten the Archway molasses cookies about once a year with my dad.
Recently, it occurred to me that one could actually make their own molasses cookies! So, I found a recipe. But then I was all distressed because it called for vegetable shortening, and I couldn't find molasses, and I couldn't believe how expensive ground cloves were. But eventually I found molasses, and I decided to splurge on organic fancy-ass vegetable shortening from Whole Foods. And it turned out that ground cloves were like, half as much as ground cloves at the regular grocer! So, lucky that.
And finally, today I made the cookies, and they are literally the best thing in the world. I am obsessed with their awesomeness. I'm not one to toot my own horn (ha!), but these are the best damn cookies in the world. Make them now!!

mail

In the past few months, I have received both an offer of membership to the AARP, and a letter addressed to the parents of myself, announcing my "who's who amongs american high school students." I have also received several offers for discount old-people scooters. Incidentally, do you ever see old people on scooters, outside of the grocery store/shopping mall?

the central coast

Bill and I just spent a lovely weekend on the central coast of california, where we celebrated our 7th anniversary with ...

wine & vineyards...

pretty views of the pacific...

strange sea creatures...

and of course, love. aw.

for more photos of our adventures, check out my flickr.

this is how i roll, or ruth goes to the culver city car show

so, down my street today was the culver city car show! i explored. it was a pretty sweet cross section of LA, complete with every and all social movement associated with vehicles. we had souped-up hoopties, complete with mexican & black homeboys, rockabilly roadsters, old white men with aged cadillacs, and of course, what i'd consider the car show standard, men with handlebar mustaches. anyway, i got the camera out for the pretty paint jobs...

A trip down memory lane?

So, friend Julie posted with her job history. I thought that was kinda fascinating, and decided to do the same. This is not an exhaustive list of positions I have held-- I did not include stipended positions held during college, nor did I include the positions held while a temp. I left off babysitting gigs, jobs held at camp as a pre-teen, etc.

I temped from 2004-2005 in London (4 different jobs there) and Dublin (about a dozen different jobs), where I held various administrative positions for organizations as varied as a diamond miner/whiskey distillery, plumber's union, pharmaceutical company, a law firm, a mortgage broker, two national NGOs, a builder of outlet malls, a university, and some sort of transportation center?

I also temped briefly upon my arrival to Los Angeles, where I sat at a desk at a Swiss money-managers. I was never clear on what I did there...

In any case, in chronological order... the working history of your truly:

1. Cashier at Big K-Mart
2. Receptionist at Bud Brown Chrysler Plymouth
3. Salesperson at Nordstrom (promoted from Cashier)
4. Marketing Intern at Sprint
5. Sales Associate at The Jones Store
6. Custodial Assistant, Knox (lasted about 2 weeks…)
7. Marketing Assistant, Knox College Office of Admission
8. Field Manager, US PIRG (promoted from Canvasser)
****TEMP****
9. Information Specialist, REACH for Kids
****TEMP****
10. Marketing Supervisor, Whole Foods Market (promoted from Marketing Assistant)
11. Senior Staff Assistant, Getty Publications

Park

Los Angeles doesn't have enough parks.
Even in Kansas City, I always lived within walking distance of a bonafide park. Not here. Boo.

My newest hobby!

OK, I am addicted to reviewing shit on yelp. Do you do it too? If you do, will you be my friend? Will you rate me as funny? People keep finding me useful or cool, but never funny. This is somewhat ironic as I spent much of my teens bemoaning the frequency of which I was described as funny or weird, not cool. Anyway, yelp with me, and read my reviews. Not that most of my readership lives in LA, but whatever.

No longer neutral about carbon neutrality...

Now that I am no longer required to sell 'carbon neutrality' to throngs of L.Aliens, I am inclined to discuss the ethical quagmire that is 'reducing one's carbon footprint.' In my time at WFM, I was expected to play up our 'carbon neutrality' and encourage our customers to buy wind power credits.
Today's NY Times article on the subject is pretty awesome, I think. There are a number of truly stupid things about buying your way to carbon neutrality--not the least of which, as the article notes, is that they are essentially plenary indulgences. The biggest environmental sinners can buy their way to eco-heaven. Not to mention the fact that where your money goes is somewhat mysterious. The money from a WFM wind power purchase goes to Renewable Choice, a privately-held energy brokerage. It's not a wind power farm-- indeed, you can't even find out which wind power farms benefit from your purchase. You are just giving money to a company that has little obligation to inform you, the consumer, of their business practices. Granted, they are certified by Green-e, an off-shoot of a non-profit.
Soo, the whole process is somewhat dubious. I mean, I'm sure it's somewhat beneficial to buy these energy credits or whatever. It's probably better than just blindly flying around the country. Any tool that suggests buying energy credits before, for instance, using less energy at home or recycling is not, in my opinion, a particularly useful one.

major new job perk: access to the OED online!

I will never be bored again.

I see France...

Wow, look at France's presidential candidates! A goofy-named son-of-an-immigrant and a controversial lady! We haven't had a president who grew up speaking anything other than English since 1841 (Van Buren, Dutch). And you know, considering the whole New York/Netherlands connection, nothing too special there.
Soo, France, after all your lame bitching and moaning about the US, it looks like you might finally actually show us up! Fascinating.
Let's hope US voters recognize the gauntlet has been thrown, and one-ups France in 2008.

On Hillary...

I have to say that I have been less willing to jump on the anti-Hillary bandwagon than my personal politics might suggest.

As the daughter of a strident feminist who always out-earned my father, who was part of that first generation of women in corporate America, and whose glass-ceiling battles were often keenly felt over the dinner table, I find myself casting a forgiving and hopeful eye on Ms. Rodham Clinton.

Anyway, I found this article in the New York Times on Hillary's Wellesley class absolutely fascinating.

I agree with one of her classmates, who says that she has "always felt that the way [Hillary] is singled out and attacked is very indicative of how society reacts to smart women.”

While I do think the liberal left has valid criticisms of Hillary that fall outside that construct, I think her classmates' justification (the inevitabilities of her life in the public eye) of some of her behavior makes sense, and I hope their predictions about the future of her campaign are accurate (that she will become more relaxed and more bold, etc).

Because truth be told, I really want to like Hillary Clinton.

With Obama, as I did with Howard Dean, I find myself very suspicious of this "golden boy" status thing he has going on. I suspect that if we scrutinized Obama as Hillary has been, we would find the same shrewdness and yes, politic that Hillary is criticized for. Certainly, I think Dean's position at the helm of the DNC has demonstrated that not only does he lack the political fortitute required for the presidency, he's hardly liberal America's bellwether.

I guess I take some comfort in her classmates' assertions (even the one purporting to be a Republican) that she was brilliant, charismatic, and "way off the charts in being engaged in her community and in the world, taking personally what was happening and wanting to do something about it.”

Compared with the LA Times' somewhat troubling article about Obama's time at Occidental College, which he attended because he 'met a girl' and then transferred to Columbia. I found it so trouble that I remembered the article from almost 2 months ago and successfully located it for you just now. Why I found it so troubling I don't really know, except that I felt like like it perhaps indicated that Obama has somewhat of an obsession with bettering his status in a relatively unsavory way.

If how one's classmates remember you is any indication of your value, then certainly, Hillary's the one. I admit that the Obama article is far more cursory than the Hillary one. Still, I think I'd rather know college Hillary than college Obama.

Not that I'm opposed to Obama by any means, but I doubt he's our salvation, or that he's even more genuine or ethical than Hillary.

Point being, I remain open to the possibility of voting for Hillary, and that NYT article is interesting.

walking breakthrough

OK, so, Bill's like, a really fast walker. I am constantly having to beg him to slow down. This is one of the on-going dramas of our relationship. Fortunately, this is less of a problem in pedestrian-unfriendly LA than it was in London, but still, I've always dreamed of a day in which I could keep up with my swift fella.
So, last week I was reading some health-oriented magazine and it said that the trick is shorter steps, not longer strides. Yesterday, on my walk to Blockbuster, I decided to try it out. Amazing!!! I felt like a speed demon.
Anyway, today I had the opportunity to walk a ways with Bill, and man, I was effortlessly keeping up!
I continued my speedy walking throughout work today, feeling like a real champ, until I inevitably ran into someone. Still, I am pretty thrilled with my newfound ability to truck it.

changes

so, i feel the need to get a fairly long life-update out there for my sparse readership. it is primarily career related.

a couple of months ago, i began the long and tedious process of interviewing for a promotion (which would mean a transfer) at my current place of employment. after being given the run-around, i did some soul-searching and realized that i really needed to start being proactive about finding a new position. so i started applying for jobs at museums and universities.

as luck would have it, i finally did get promoted, and i started at the new store a week ago.

also last week, i had an interview at the getty center (senior staff assistant, publications). the job was offered, my background check cleared, and today, i accepted the position.

the new job will be basically corresponding with archives around the world to get pictures for various getty projects--books, catalogues, posters etc. I will also get every other Friday off, and fully paid benefits from day one!

now, i must give notice, which i am petrified about. i've never just plain quit a job before-- i've always been moving, going back to school, etc. and you know, i just started, and i am managing people now (highly incompetent ones, that my coordinator told me i could start the process of firing today...). so, not only must i put in notice, i also will be doing it at a time where everyone involved will no doubt think really poorly of me. ideally, they would refuse my notice and let me leave immediately, thus sparing me the ensuring frustration and shame i will feel in leaving a job unfinished.

but the fact of the matter is--i hate my job, and even if the new one fails to live up to my expectations, at least i will have every other friday off!

grouchiness

On my fantastic Whole Foods health insurance, I pay $50.94 a month to control my alleged fertility. In the 6 years I've been on _the pill_, my co-pays have ranged from a glorious $7 to the unforgivable $50.94. My last employer-provided health care plan had a $30 co-pay, which resulted in me almost bursting into tears at the pharmacy. This vile $50.94 co-pay, however, has produced in me a nearly-catatonic state.
If I end up spending thousands of dollars trying to get pregnant in 10 years or whatever, please remind me to go on a rampant killing spree.

Chinese Food

Sometimes, I miss kc-style Chinese food so badly. Los Angeles Chinese food is only found authentically in certain neighborhoods, and the less authentic stuff in my neighborhood doesn't hit the spot like the less authentic stuff from home.
I just want some hunan chicken, egg drop soup & a crab rangoon.

sunny day

tipsy after a beer and a half, i finished my book on my sunny balcony.

there are reasons for optimism.

i do!

baguette-making

I made these two baguettes all by my lonesome. I'm proud of me. They taste good.

scissors

mo'

so much crank in my pants.

i think i have read everything of interest on the internet, i haven't been particularly engrossed in a book in weeks (months?), and my apartment is colder than it should be in los angeles.
also, my job has ceased to hold any possibility of greater interest, but the idea of pretending to be enthusiastic about a different sort of job in a cover letter seems downright nauseating.
in other news, the clothes on the drying rack have been dry for several days, but the prospect of hanging them in the closet overwhelms me.
finally, i have purchased several containers for the purpose of greater organization in the home, but they remain seated where i left them upon returning home post-shopping.
bill and i have finally succeeded in watching virtually every episode of virtually every show to have received high praise in the past few years.
i have experimented with improving my french via podcast, but alas, je cherche encore un divertissement.
Et aussi, le dimanche passe, un homme s'est adresse a moi en francais, et je n'ai que compris le mot "jamais." Je pense que cette anecdote est relevateur.
O forse, ho bisogno practicare il mio italiano.
Ho imparato molte cose che non sono piu importanti.

wheee

Bill and I have been the proud owners of a wii for about a week now.

I am quite satisfied thus far with our purchase, though I must say it brings out some less attractive boyfriend-attributes (how incredibly seriously he takes his ability to roll strikes). However, the seriousness with which Bill practices his boxing surely will bring out more attractive boyfriend-attributes (guns!), so I suppose we will soon be in balance.

spit rock story

does anyone remember reading a story where someone (i think a man, i think the protagonist & narrator) picks up what he thinks is a pretty rock but turns out to be a blob of spit?


i really need to know what that story is...

exhume.

i notice a lot of tv drama focuses on the exhumation of bodies, and various people connected to the body requiring exhumation causing a big fuss about not wanting the deburial to occur.
i personally don't see what the fuss is all about.
i want to go on record that should i be murdered, die of a mysterious disease, etc, i do not mind being exhumed. it doesn't trouble me, and i should hope it won't bother any of you.

ink.

I am beginning to wonder if I am not appropriately expressing my individuality by remaining untattooed.

Adult Matters

Man, I so wish this was about porn or something.

Alas, more pedestrian adult matters. Actually, I'm not sure if dental care is more pedestrian than porn...

But, how does one choose a dentist? I've had the same dentist for as long as I remember. Unfortunately, I have to choose a dentist for my dental hmo. It appears I have to make some sort of official dental care proclamation, before having ever seen a dentist outside of my mother's zip code.

And a dentist, of all things. The most challenging of all health care providers. I mean, I have heard horror stories galore of greedy dentists ordering multiple unnecessary procedures.

I assume, however, that perhaps some of my readership has faced this challenge in the past... so, what did you do? Help me choose wisely.

hip hood

Bill & I's neighborhood made the New York Times! We are so totally cool (if too poor to eat at the restaurants featured... but we walk by them all the time!)...

In Culver City, Calif., Art and Food Turn a Nowhere Into a Somewhere

$52 feminism

California NOW, why do you make your awesome feminist hoodie so expensive??? It's so much cuter than any other hoodie I have ever seen. I have wanted you for over a year now, but at $52 the chance of me ever buying you is slim to none.

I know that a reasonably crafty person could buy some fuzzy letters and brown hoodies and construct a near-identical sweatshirt, but I am not reasonably crafty.

$52 is the equivalent to half a day's work, roughly 1/25 of my rent. Obviously, not something I can part with lightly. But that's not even the real issue, which is, why a hoodie would cost $52 in the first place! Sweatshop-free & USA-made, OK, but come on! This is totally a for-profit hoodie. I mean, American Apparel's retail of their basic men's hoodie is $41. However, I have determined that their wholesale price is roughly 25% of their retail price, making the approximate cost $10. I appreciate that there are printing, administrative, etc costs and that NOW also likely uses the sale of their products to raise money. However, $30-40 is surely fair. My $30/annual donation should surely get me a hoodie-hookup...


Note: Friends, family, gift-givers-- don't take this as a buy-me plea. I scorn $52 hoodies.

oh, the sickness!

i have the flu.

i had to go home sick from work, which would be cool, except i don't have sick leave yet. and my lame boyfriend is going to be at school until like midnight, so no one is here to take care of me!

and i had to go to the grocery store all by myself to get popsicles and seven-up. and, now that i'm home, all i want is sourdough bread.

wah wah wah.

update: i also want cheez-its.

lost the touch

so, i just sat down to draw you the most picture-worthy of things... but i couldn't do it. i fear that i've lost my touch, after probably a year or so of not drawing any pictures for my blog. perspective totally baffled me, and i felt sad about my inability to render the world as i see it, and yet, unwilling to produce the charmingly simplistic vignette i no doubt would have come up with.

i suppose this serves as a useful metaphor for lack of event in my daily life of... get this: going to work, cooking food, watching gilmore girls season six on dvd (finally! blockbuster online had totally been holding out on me), and reading about sex. the reading about sex is a relatively new development, enabled by a christmas gift i received, sex & single girls, a collection of essays written by a number of individuals very inclusively defined as 'girl' and 'single.' fascinating stuff, to be sure.

but, back to what i wished to render for you in visual form.

on my way to work today, i had the great fortune of witnessing a man drag a body from the back seat of his car in the middle of an intersection and begin either life-saving measures or unspeakable violence. obviously, traffic slowed as this atrocity went on, so, being stuck in my car, i had the opportunity to rubberneck. as i slowly drove past (the police and an ambulance had since arrived), it became apparent that this man had pulled the mother of his child out of the car and began beating her in the middle of an 8-lane intersection! I was able to ascertain the facts of this scene as he was being handcuffed and yelling "you're a liar! you can't do this to me or my child! you're going to jail."

i know. it is so awesome that they have a child.

anyway, i know violence against women is a terrible terrible thing (unless, of course, it's consensual, and, i don't know, approved by whatever governing body bdsm has. but sometimes, it's just too absurd not to entertain. just so you know, the victim was standing and more or less ok when I saw this fascinating tableau unfold before my very eyes.

finally, this is actually the third scene i've witnessed in los angeles of a man being handcuffed by the police. i don't think i'd ever seen that before.

well, i have returned from a lovely trip to kansas city, where sadly i got no snow. this may very well be my first totally snow-free winter, which i find pretty disappointing. hopefully, bill and i will get to take a mountain vacation, but no guarantees.

i must say, i thoroughly enjoyed the lack of waiting in traffic, in line, for a table, etc, that came with my kansas city visit. there is surely something to be said for relative tranquility. i also enjoyed drinking copious amounts of booze with friends. i did not enjoy flight delays, etc.

while bill was suffering with the denver fiasco, i frequently thanked the powers that be that i would be flying through balmy dallas. the powers that be, no doubt peevish about my usual lack of attention, saw fit to bring tornadoes through dallas, cancelling my own flights. so, that was a bit of a bummer.

a bit bigger of a bummer, of course, as the 3,000 us soldiers dead in iraq. a tragic headlines day when i hoped to be reading feature-y predictions about the year to come. let's hope that 2007 brings less violence.

Celebrity, etc.

Today I sold a turkey to Diana Ross.

Faye Dunaway asked me for the time.

Yesterday, I observed Kirsten Dunst to eat a chocolate from the bulk bins. Stealing a chocolate. In pink converse.

And finally, last week I saw Leonardo Di Caprio, who departed Whole Foods in a large BMW. Not a hybrid. Fraud.

In conclusion, I miss truly crappy weather.

Funnestness

Alt+Clicking at the New York Times Website.

Tips
To find reference information about the words used in this article, hold down the ALT key and click on any word, phrase or name. A new window will open with a dictionary definition or encyclopedia entry.

This is awesome. I want the whole world to be like that.

Christmas shopping, joyous new finds

Etsy is my new obsession. For those unfamiliar, it is a virtual bazaar of all things wondrous and handmade (and bargainful!). I purchased a most beautiful umbrella print, and am eagerly scouring the site around the clock for presents.
I can not begin to tell of my excitement in finding such treasures as a burnt Patti Hearse lamp, or perhaps a Derrida onesie. Look for yourselves, and, crafty friends, sell your wares!

Nasi Bungkus

Bill and I sampled Indonesian cuisine at our local Indo Cafe. It was supremely delicious, and I ate something called Nasi Bungkus. Unfortunately, I learned that Nasi Bungkus basically means wrapped rice, which so totally does not describe what I ate today.
Bill and I were also complimented on our spicy-eating, which of course, made us feel totally special.
Anyway, here is a picture of Nasi Bungkus. It is insanely cute, even if the name is pretty vulgar.

longing?

i don't know if it's because of lack of fun in my daily life, but for some reason, i am driven mad with longing for a Nintendo Wii. I just know that I have to have it.

New Experiences, bad.

For the first time in my life, I live below someone. Someone who apparently has some sort of incredibly loud menagerie, with things like stampeding antelopes and perhaps a handful of elephants. They are new to my building, and I miss the old, silent, above-me residents.
I think they now have chimpanzees jumping on some sort of trampoline. I can't be sure, but it's mighty loud.
One of the words that greatly pleases me is "misspellings." Blogger assures me that I have none.

For some reason, Bill has held off on posting on my eminent greatness as a girlfriend. I baked cinnamon bread yesterday, and, if I do say so myself, it tastes and looks just like real cinnamon bread. And, at the estimated cost of about $.50 a loaf, definitely trumps the cost of purchasing speciality bread at the grocery store. However, it is messy, and cleaning is Bill's job. Perhaps this is why he is not singing my praises to the moon or whatever.

Yes, my new hobby on my days off is "baking." It's not my preferred day off activity, as it's not as fun as drinking, shopping, etc, but it is more productive. And sadly, I have yet to acquire any friends in Los Angeles of the girl-persuasion, whom, let's be honest, are vastly preferable to friends of the heterogametic sex. Possibly this is the first time I have used the word heterogametic. I will continue to do so.

one of the things...

People from Los Angeles (by this I mean those that feel some sense of ownership in this bizarre city--which basically means anyone who has lived here longer than me) like to do this crazy bait and switch thing, where they ask you about your celebrity sightings and the joy you must take in their proximity, and then, when you express any interest at all in continuing the conversation, announce their total indifference to celebrity while recounting their own Julia Roberts sighting at Starbucks that very morning.

Of course, since virtually all of my readership lives outside of Los Angeles, I will now talk about all the celebrities I have thus far seen.

1. Guy who plays Uncle Vic on Queer as Folk.
2. Ed Begley, Jr (see a few posts ago).
   
3. Less-hot Doctor on Nip/Tuck (hotter than expected, to be sure).
4. Emily the crazy one on 90210 for one season (Christine Elise is her real name).
5. Thora Birch (on the red carpet at the AFI Film Festival).
6. Debbie Mazur (also at AFI).
7. Guy who plays John Abruzzi on Prison Break (in track pants, cheap slip-on sandals with socks, and a "Superlative Conspiracy" t-shirt). We had a passing-the-time at the check-out line conversation. I am glad that I did not make a joke about Whole Foods superlative turkeys, as I see now that Superlative Conspiracy is merely a brand.
   

In any case, I've just passed the two-month point with life in LA. So this is where I stand. The only celebrities I have recognized without assistance have been Emily from 90210 and Uncle Vic. I need to work on sharpening my eyes.

Progress

I made bagels. I'm not generally a baker, and I've never journeyed into the world of yeast, so this is a pretty big deal for me. They taste good, but don't look so pretty. I'll try again another day. They are topped with chives (from my garden), garlic, and pecorino.
Here they are:

Yes!

Congress is like, totally the Democrats' oyster. I hope they eat it raw.

Montana, cool now?

How flipping rad is it that Montana elected a musician/organic farmer to Senate?

I mean, sure, it will be like, slightly hilarious when Tester shows up for the first day with a banjo and buckwheat, but will be so much cooler than the guys who show up in sport coats and playing-it-safe Cole Haans.

It's about time you claimed your excessively large state as the kingdom of hipdom--after all, your ladies have been tucking their jeans into their boots for decades. So, Montana-- the new Vermont?

As expected, oblivious.

Today, I met my first celebrity.
As a part of my new position as "Marketing Assistant" at Whole Foods, I had the opportunity to attend a product expo, where I sampled about a million different organic products. Not only did I get a recycled wood fiber toothbrush, and a variety of new age beverages, and a whole half-pound of the divine La Tur cheese to take home, I also responded with dubious ambiguity to a celebrity's offer to demo his product in my store. To be fair, my dubiousness had nothing to do with the celebrity (whom I didn't recognize), or the product, merely my unwillingness to make a commitment as I am new to my position.

So anyway, I came home with my assortment of goodies (including some truly disgusting quinoa cookies that Bill liked, in a radical departure from his typical "more fat the better" mentality) and pointed out that the maker of "Begley's Best" looked familiar. Bill said that the name Ed Begley was familiar, so I did the whole Wikipedia thing, and alas, Ed Begley, Jr.

All the more ridiculous in my inability to recognize Mr. Begley is the fact that I have seen him in literally dozens of different shows. From Happy Days to Arrested Development, Six Feet Under to Seventh Heaven (yes, I occasionally...), Best in Show to The Smurfs, Ed Begley has been a part of my life for the past 25 years.

So, I'm sorry, Mr. Begley. Your product seems outstanding, and you were totally down-to-earth when you were offering to come to my store. I should have recognized you, and thus avoided speaking with you. And I loved you in This is Spinal Tap.