Harumph, family

For those of you that do not know my younger brother, Nathan, and do not read his blog...I will share with you his reply to my question about what he might like for Christmas:

"knowledge, recordings of argentine folklore (that's music), a book you'd think I'd like or graffiti, things vampire related, a knife of the maximum legal size.""you may teach me a difficult skill you have in lieu of a present.but you graduated from liberal arts college so I am not sure you have any."

Anyway, now you see how hard my life is. Also, I've been sick since I posted about toilet seat covers... the revenge of the germs?

$3.99 I'm going out of my mind.

A few weeks ago I did two things in the wine aisle of Whole Foods that I try never to do: buy wines that cost less than $7 (because then you can't just grab something from the rack to take to a friend's house) and buy wines because the label is cute (because that's embarrassing).

But this label was so cute, and not cute like penguins! Just a tiny smidge of tasteful cuteness that suggests a real wine for real grown-ups.

See?

And, it's $3.99. However, you probably don't think it's cute, and Bill already said it tastes "interesting."

See also my messy counter? Stop judging. I swear the wine is good.

Holidays!

I don't like this late Thanksgiving, it makes the rest too cluttered. Only a few weeks, for instance, to buy Candy Cane Joe-Joes.

My coming weekends are full, and I don't know when I will find the time to make cookies, or for elaborate truffle-making projects like last year. Which is probably for the best, because though my truffles were tasty, they were not especially attractive (fine motor skills are not my forte), nor were they cheaper than the store-bought kind.

Yes, I am distressed because there is simply not enough time for holiday eating* this year. What of it?


*Please note, I did spend a full 40 minutes at the gym today, exercising. That must buy me several pounds of stilton and chocolate.

Against Toilet Seat Covers

I do not believe that toilet seat covers do anything, save soothe the neuroses of germ-a-phobes, create unnecessary waste, and perhaps clog toilets.

When I hear the rustle made by these immaterial materials, I think unkind thoughts about your evident disregard for the earth, your sexual proclivities, and your mental capabilities.

Did you miss the day in the 3rd grade when we talked about how itty-bitty bacteria is? Do you think paper you can see through keeps your bits safe? Would you consider wrapping a dick in tissue paper to be a step up from going bareback? If you are surrounded by ants, do you think putting up a chain link fence might help keep them away? Do you hate trees, or perhaps your plumber?

The answer, my friends, is "no." No to substituting a colander for a goldfish bowl and no to toilet seat covers.

November 5th, 2008

The day Ruth spent sitting at her desk, getting teary-eyed while reading about old black people who voted for Obama.

Public transit, why suck so hard?

I don't want to own a car. I currently own a totaled car that will someday soon turn into a check from an insurance company.

Bill has a perfectly nice car, a flexible schedule, and a kind heart. I have a perfectly nice carpool to work several days a week, and an interest in living without a car.

After experiencing the wonders of Philly Car Share with Margaret last year, I thought, oh, maybe there is a car just a few blocks away from me that I can grab from time to time. Alas, LA does not have a similar program save an unhelpful zipcar program through the universities.

I then rethought the bus or bike route to work. Bicycling frightens me as I'd have to ride down a strip of high traffic, bike-laneless road before arriving to work, plus I don't want to be sloppy or smelly at work (anymore than I am now, anyway).

I could take two buses to work, but that would take me nearly two hours.

My best idea so far? Ride bike 3 miles, take bus 45 minutes.

I live, by the way, just 7 miles from work.

Yikes!

Smell

Someone I used to know in grade school recently sent me a friend request on Facebook today, and, upon seeing his name, I instantly recalled how he smelled-- wrong, sweet, different, pungent.

Kind of amazing, as I haven't thought of him for a decade plus, and I didn't care for him at all when I knew him. Obviously he wasn't my favorite classmate, being so smelly and all.

Of course I accepted his friend request, because he was good-natured and besides, I was probably mean to him. Accepting his friend request is my ticket to redemption.

Jury Duty!

I've lived in LA for over two years, voted in numerous elections, and hadn't been called for Jury Duty. Plus, my employer pays unlimited Jury Duty, so it's really no skin off my back.

Finally, my summons came yesterday.

I. literally. cannot. wait.

I have been smiling all day about the fun I will have. I know, apparently I might not even have to go in. You are "on call" for a week. And even if I go in, I might not get picked.

If I get picked (aka win), I promise you, County of Los Angeles, that I will be the best juror EVER. And in the meantime, I hope to enjoy at least a day at the downtown courthouse, catching up on my reading and heading to Little Tokyo for lunch.

Autumn!

Today is the first day of Fall. Not only does that mean I will be less likely to find the outdoor temperature unsatisfactory, it means that it is almost time for my most favorite of snacks:

Candy Cane Joe Joe's from Trader Joe's. Minty cookie, I love you.

Sarah Palin

Every time I read something about Sarah Palin (which has been rare in the past week or two-- I'm officially over her), I think to myself "...is bringing the LOLZ." And then I wonder if I've understood that internet expression properly.

And even though I've been officially over Maureen Dowd for several years, I've found myself reading her column again as of late.

But tell me, these quotes from Dowd's column yesterday are surely bringing the lolz:

1) "The latest news from Alaska is that the governor keeps a tanning bed in the Juneau mansion. As The Los Angeles Times pointed out, when Palin declared May 2007 Skin Cancer Awareness Month in Alaska, the press release explained that skin cancer was caused by 'the sun and from tanning beds.'"

2) "I talked to a Wal-Mart mom, Betty Necas, 39, wearing sweatpants and tattoos on her wrists. She said she’s never voted, and was a teenage mom 'like Bristol.' She likes Sarah because she’s “down home” but said Obama 'gives me the creeps. Nothing to do with the fact that he’s black. He just seems snotty, and he looks weaselly.'"

Chocolate Souffle

It is my assertion that the Chocolate Souffle is the greatest dessert of all time. The textural pleasure: molten center meets toothy crust. Rich bittersweet chocolate, unblemished by flour. It is a dream come to life in chocolate.

drrrrrrrrrrama

Ahh, apparently we moved in next to the sort of bachelor who leaves the oven on and takes off for the evening, which causes the smoke alarm to start going off at 10:30.

Said bachelor also leaves his door slightly ajar, which allows Bill to walk on in and unplug the aforementioned smoke alarm. Leaves girlfriend on the couch to wonder if this is all just a little bit too weird and if the north side of the building was perhaps the safer (saner?) side.

New apartment!

Bill and I have, after a summer of searching, moved into a two-bedroom apartment in our current building!

Stay tuned for exciting blog posts about the hunt for a file cabinet and the joys of two bathrooms.

Busy

The past few months have been pretty insanely busy.

I will tell you what I've done for the last few weekends:

Vegas
Peru
Peru
Dad visit
Dad visit
Friend visit
4th of July weekend in LA, party-central
Cousin wedding in Nebraska
Friend visit
Brother graduation in Kansas City

Also, our fridge broke while I was in Peru, so now we are living out of a friend's old dorm fridge.
And, Bill & I both have colds.
And, Bill started at USC today.

Now, I am watching the Hills (thanks, Netflix!) with no plans to stop.

Machu Picchu!

Well, folks, the rumors are true: Machu Picchu is awesome.

Incans must have been short people with absolutely amazing asses, as that place is STEEP.

Peru!

I am arrived. I had the worst airplane food ever, courtesy Copa Airlines, I visited the Panamanian airport, trekked across an endless airport parking lot in Lima following the guy who purported to be my ride to the hostel (he was, after all), I wandered the fancy limeño neighborhood of Miraflores in which I am staying, returned to the hostel, made friends with a Dutch girl traveling solo, ate dinner at a crappy Italian place with said Dutch girl (no wooden shoes, folks), and then returned to my hostel, took a surprisingly pleasant hostel shower, and then stubbed my toe so hart it broke the skin!

Anyway, now I am going to read my book and prepare for bed. Upon awaking tomorrow, Veronica and Margaret will be arrived to my hostel and I will hopefully convince them to go to a chifa with me, which is a Peruvian Chinese restaurant!

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.