yoga, books, movies, tv & too many crime procedurals – not necesarily in that order
I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this before but I’m on a couple of email lists via the magazine website Real Simple. My favorites so far have been the recipes but it’s rare for me not to click through the emails now. They’ve done a good enough job with interesting (and relevant) content that it’s one of the only email newsletters I recommend.
The recipe email I got today was for Chicken Souvlaki. I don’t plan my meals a week at a time. It’s not that I’m a picky eater but sometimes you get a taste for something and then whatever you’d already planned doesn’t sound very good. Et cetera. What I do is stock staples regularly: chicken, ground beef, onions, potatoes, cilantro, parsley, lemons. I use coupons and sale papers, and keep an eye out for deals on additional things (crescent rolls in a can, boxed couscous, rice, yadda yadda). What that means is when I get an email like the Chicken Souvlaki one today, I can make a quick (and inexpensive) trip to the grocery to grab what I maybe don’t have on hand and then get cooking.
I first had souvlaki in Greece, on spring break during my semester in Italy. Martha Boomer and I sat in a tiny restaurant in the sun, only a couple of other people in the place, and I ate the most amazing Greek salad and souvlaki EVER. I’ve tried recreating it a dozen times but there must be something in the way they cooked the pork or how long they marinated it or something. While I’ve come CLOSE I’ve never managed to duplicate it.
This recipe was phenomenal. It used mostly things I had on hand – the only thing I was missing was dill so I didn’t bother running to the store. I substituted a pinch of dried cilantro and 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice. I also used Greek yogurt rather than just plain yogurt. Not perfect tzadziki sauce but pretty darn good. Because we live at high altitude, our cooking time is a little different. I browned the chicken well on both sides, pulled it out of the pan and cut it into much smaller pieces, and then returned it to the pan with the lid on. It turned out perfectly. I also didn’t put olives in the tomato salad as neither Husband nor I are huge olive fans.
The chicken had GREAT flavor and my half-assed tzadziki is a keeper. Because there’s just two of us, we have extra tomato salad and tzadziki so I’ll make more chicken on Friday so Husband can eat the leftovers for dinner.
Speaking of Italy, I spent some time this afternoon framing photos of the area where I spent that semester overseas. I also had some great pics of Rome and Venice that I’m in the process of printing for the dining room.
Tomorrow is another day off so I’m going to pack up some cookies and (hopefully) finish with the pictures. My hard drive cover arrived today, too, so that means Dead Toshiba Surgery!
Aside from the parts that were horrifying (Fergie + Mick Jagger, Paul Simon singing YOU CAN CALL ME AL out of ALL the songs he made, Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground sans Peppers) my overwhelming reaction has been, “OH. They’re not dead yet. Huh.”
I feel okay admitting this because Husband just said (while watching Paul Simon, David Crosby and Nash) “More guys who should be dead already.”
What’s terrible is the number of singers who don’t have the pipes they used to. Just because you USED to sing a song doesn’t mean you should keep trying to do it. Clearly.
Today was a little work followed by a massive amount of baking. G and I made four batches of cookie bars – all of which seem to have turned out fantastically. I also got a call from work asking if I’d like to pick up some more hours tomorrow (working 8 rather than 4) and then Husband and I settled in to watch Star Trek.
Man. That movie is JUST as good as it was in the theater and I still laughed out loud at all the funny parts. And it was still FUN to watch. We’ve got a couple of more in the queue (Angel of Death and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past). In other media news, finished the latest installment of Charlaine Harris’s Grave series and it was really really good. I”m hoping it isn’t the last.
I’m about a third of the way through East of Eden and enjoying it. I blame Mr. Farrah and his need to read Steinbeck aloud (with character voices) to our AP English class junior year for all my avoidance of Steinbeck since. I’m okay with blaming him since I know he didn’t care much for me, either. Also, CHARACTER VOICES. Ugh.
While Husband catches up on the Texas/Nebraska game, I’m going to read some more fiction. Photos and recipes from cookie day will be posted tomorrow.
It gives me an incentive to cook. Otherwise, there’s about a 99% likelihood that I would subsist on a rotation of Honey Nut Cheerios, Frosted Mini Wheats and Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch.
My new laptop continues to be amazing. Tomorrow I’m supposed to get the hard drive case that will allow me to transfer files from the old computer to the new. I’m kind of stoked about being able to dismantle the old laptop at work (when it’s slow) and Frankenstein it back to life.
Speaking of new things- I got some coupons in the mail this week so I picked up some Febreeze air fresheners. The reed diffuser (I got Willow Bloom or something like that) is pretty fantastic. Immediately effective and not overpowering. We’ll see if it actually lasts 60 days. The shaded luminaries are only supposed to be good for a week and – surprisingly – it’s the SHADE that is scented! I wasn’t expecting that.
I’ve found some great pictures of Italy that I’m going to print and hang around the house. There are some especially great ones around Macerata, where I spent a semester in college, that highlight pretty much everything I love about Italy- rolling hills, lush green acreage, amazing sunlight. The beauty there is second (I think) only to here. I haven’t seen a photo yet that adequately captures the quality of light up here. I’m not sure if it’s the altitude or lack of atmospheric interference but midnight here isn’t black and when the moon and stars are bright (almost always) the snow reflects the light back and makes the deepest part of night a kind of magical neither-here-nor-there color. In the daylight, the mountains are soft or sharp and when I drove down the hill the other day a very faint snowstorm made it all look like an impressionist work. Probably someday I will stop marveling at the beauty of this place with every turn, but not in the foreseeable future.
Last but not least, in the dooce community someone asked a question about ‘designer babies’ – the idea that you can choose genetic aspects of your offspring (lack of illnesses or specific traits). It takes almost no time at all for Godwin’s Law to come into play and then it’s all “Eugenics! Hitler!” Ironically, those were the exact same arguments that opponents used regarding In Vitro Fertilization – a practice now so commonplace that it is covered by some insurance companies.
While IVF was scandalous and groundbreaking and ultimately helpful to millions of people wanting to conceive, it opened the rabbit’s hole of the human genome. One of my professors was a part of the Human Genome Project, which we discussed in my medical ethics course. One of the most challenging things about medical science is the questions that it raises. IVF is a perfect example- a practice that many called an abomination which has since been accepted by society. We don’t know which answers will be socially palatable or which arms of research will be most successful. Doesn’t that mean we’ve got an obligation to at least put concerted thought and effort into the pros and cons of each before passing judgment?
One of the questions that we discusses was, provided that the government subsidizes genetic testing for all children and provides the option to eliminate birth defects or disease-causing genetic expression, if parents decide to have a child that has a disability – who bears the cost? After all, you’ve been given every opportunity to give your child the “best” (and the determination of ‘best’ in these circumstances was hotly debated) opportunities. If you deny that to your child, should the government be culpable for your choices and potentially having to provide treatment for preventable conditions?
You can’t use the “against nature” or “against God’s will” in these arguments because as statements they have been made irrelevant by the other medical advances our society embraces (caveat to Christian Scientists and others who opt out of any/all medical treatment). IVF, according to those “arguments” is against nature and god’s will. It’s an artificial process to achieve fertilization for people who are biologically incapable of doing so on their own. One could argue then that god provided these medical advances and therefore it is NOT in conflict with its “design”.
That’s not to say we don’t need oversight. We do. Lots of it. But more importantly we, as a society, need to talk about these issues in terms of pros and cons, actions and consequences, rather than “right” and “wrong.” The beauty of the United States is that everyone is entitled to their own interpretation of right and wrong. BELIEVING something is either right or wrong does nothing to convince – or create common ground for a dialogue – with someone who doesn’t believe the same way. Beliefs can’t be debated- outcomes can.
Med ethics was one of my favorite classes mostly because it was impossible for ANYONE to come to easy answers. We all know what WE think is right or wrong, but for each of those scenarios ANOTHER can be posed to put those same convictions in doubt. The best part of the class is that we weren’t allowed to cop out- you had to provide logic for your conclusions and beliefs didn’t count. Unfortunately those kinds of conversations – DEBATES – don’t lend themselves to soundbites or firestorm ratings, so we don’t see them on television (where they are arguably needed most). Hopefully as a culture we aren’t losing the ability to converse without condemnation. Problems don’t get solved by pointing fingers and calling names.
For example, I’m not sure I can adequately describe how incredible it is to use a laptop with a FUNCTIONAL BATTERY. The last year-plus has been spent tethered to an outlet because the battery on my Toshiba was croaking its way to annihilation and wouldn’t hold a charge for more than 7 minutes. Every time I wanted to use my laptop, I had to scope out outlet locations which – let me tell you- are at a PREMIUM in places with free wifi. They are also rarely located CONVENIENTLY.
I say this as I am currently reclined on my sofa, dogosai on my feets, and no power cord in sight! It’s delightful! Liberating, even!
One of the great advancements that’s happened since my last computer purchase is an improvement in the touchpad to eliminate right and left clicks with an actual button. I can do both by tapping the touchpad and it’s GREAT. Don’t get me wrong- it’s definitely taking some getting used to but the new laptop is so far and away better than the old one that it makes me feel like I’ve been driving a Ford Model T for three years and just got a Jag.
The internets are all atwitter about Tiger Woods but it turns out I just don’t care. I’m more worried about when Chuck is going to return to Monday night TV.
Tonight I worked my first training shift and it was pretty great. I’m definitely going to enjoy work this holiday season.
In other internet news: troop levels in the Middle East. Here’s the thing. Back when Hils and Barack were just campaigning for the office of President and we were already embroiled in all this shit, I knew it was a bad idea to start promising troop withdrawal. You know why? Because ANYONE could see that there wasn’t a CHANCE we would be getting out SOON. And by ‘anyone’ I mean ‘people who don’t have access to national security information.’ Why did I say that? 1. Korea 2. Germany 3. Afghanistan
You can’t go into a country, dismantle its government, disrupt its infrastructure (such as it is) and then BAIL OUT. That’s not how it works. That’s pretty much NEVER been how it works. Ergo, there was no chance we’d be getting out early. My major bitch with this, by the way, was that in order to GET a job all the candidates LIED about this fact. They all knew there was no chance of it happening – hell, they all started backpedaling on it DURING the campaign. All I want is for people to be HONEST about it. Be STRAIGHT with people about the realities of the world. Maybe then the country would put on its Big Kid Pants and get a grip.
Oh. P.S. Dick Cheney, you can go straight to hell for saying you had nothing to do with the epic clusterfuck that you ACTUALLY STARTED in Afghanistan as a result of all this Iraq nonsense. Asshole. Hell might actually be too good for you.
And since I went on a political rant, here’s a moment of zen:
My new laptop has arrived and she is AMAZING. Lightning fast, new Windows platform, widescreen and supersweet touchpad. I adore it. I may never leave it alone, ever.
I’ve been adding back my favorite software: Filezilla, Zune, Calibre, LastPass and Skype are all safely onboard. All that remains is to resurrect the old hard drive and transfer the bits I want onto my new and dear toy.
Today was eventful, as I also started my new part-time job! I’m pretty excited about working extra hours over the holidays. Employee discounts don’t suck, either.
Tomorrow I’ll hopefully wrangle up some photos – of the house AND the laptop. In the meantime I’m going to keep tweaking the lappie while we watch Star Trek.
I’m feeling pretty good about Thanksgiving cooking!
Both pumpkin tortes are done (one for us, one for the club), the cranberry sauce is finished, and my apple pie is smelling delicious in the oven.
All that remains is, in a few hours, to brine the turkey and tear up bread for stuffing. That and clean the house. Heh. I’ve actually kept on top of the dishes as I was cooking so there hasn’t been TOO much damage done.
This year I’m thankful for good friends over long distances, new friends we enjoy sharing our home with, our family, our health and our jobs. Moving all this way could have been terribly lonely and, while it’s been lonely at times, we’ve got great folks who make up our ‘extended’ family – some of whom we’ve never even met. My life would be a very different thing were it not for the internet. I’m thankful for those who’ve chosen to share their pocket of it with me.
