The Miscellanist

A Beautiful Mind

Almost anything that I want to know now is readily available through Wikipedia, IMDB, or just plain old Google.  It makes me fear sometimes that I’m losing my memory because I don’t really need to rely on it.  I have to look up the names of characters in movies & TV shows that I regularly watch ALL THE TIME because I just can’t seem to remember them. 

Now that data is so easy to come by, sometimes I wonder if I’ve still got it.   A few weeks ago, I found out that I did.  I was trying to remember the name of a family that my mom used to provide daycare for.  Obviously, this is not in Wikipedia.   The two boys are adults by now & I was wondering what became of them.  They’re one of the few former daycare families that my mom isn’t still in contact with. 

I could remember the first names of their 3 kids.  But they’re pretty generic so it left me nothing to search for.  I mentioned my memory lapse to my parents & sister.   About a day later, my mom came up with the mother’s name.  And about a day after that, the father’s name & their last name came to me while I was driving down 6^th Avenue thinking about something totally unrelated.

Through google I was able to confirm that I had the correct names.

When it does actually work, I’m astonished at how the human brain operates, specifically my own.  Somewhere in the recesses of my mind was this obscure piece of data.  And for a span of 3 days while my mind was constantly working on the active thoughts at hand, somewhere on a back burner, it was working to bring this piece of data to light.

MET Gala

Last night was the big MET Fashion Gala.  This year’s honoree was Prada.  

This is a great event to wear something artistic & outlandish to.  So I can get behind the bold choices of Christina Ricci (Thakoon) and Florence Welch (Alexander McQueen).

Many designers wore Prada pieces including Diane Kruger, Milla Jovovich & Carey Mulligan.  While I don’t like the hair at the bottom, I love the color of Diane’s purple dress.  I also love that it’s lose fitting and sort of bohemian while still being formal.  Both Milla & Carey looked fabulous in Prada dresses that would not be appropriate for any other event.

I don’t know who Janelle Monae is, but I love this pantsuit.

I love Kristen Bell, but she is typically one of the worst red carpet dressers ever.  Since she looked so fabulous here (in Hilfiger), I thought it prudent to include her (who knows when I’ll get the chance again). 

I don’t think Dianna Agron is a very good actress, but she’s just beautiful.  And this green Carolina Herrerra, fabulous!

The best outfit of the night goes to Coco Rocha.  She wore this crazy outfit which she purchased at a Liz Taylor auction.  What a great tribute.  And I love that she totally sold out to this outfit.

Man vs. Sheet

In my ongoing attempt to chronicle all of the husband’s quirks, I give you man vs. sheet.

There are all sorts of “home” rules that women follow instinctively; whereas men question everything. 

The latest battle we’re fighting is:  Why do we need sheets?

I love sheets.  They’re soft & cool.  And they’re functional because they absorb all our gross night sweats.  If we didn’t use them, our bedding would be filthy & I don’t think it would be very comfortable

The husband can’t seem to appreciate the silky smoothness of the sheets.  He’s more offended by the top sheet than the bottom, often accusing it of attempted homicide.  “The sheet is suffocating me!!!”  He’s woken me up in the middle of the night to tell me this.

However, the husband exacts revenge almost daily as he kicks the sheets to the bottom of the bed underneath the covers once I get up in the morning.  This amounts to me having to basically re-make the bed every night. 

No amount of threats from me will dissuade him.  But this is a battle I will not lose.  Since logic won’t prevail, I keep thinking of a way to win.  Finally a few days ago, it came to me.

There’s little that the husband hates more than personification.  And it really bothers him that I have ascribed names & personalities to many of the things we own.  So last night, when he was telling me about the latest sheet saga, I said, “If the sheet can choke you then, “Humi” the humidifier can be our friend.”

I was met with a blank stare.

Problem. Solved.

…or so I thought.

I actually wrote this & was ready to post it when last night the husband hit me with a curveball. 

For those of you who don’t know us well, I need to give you some life-context.  I work from 7-4 & usually sleep between 10PM & 5:30AM.  The husband works from 9AM(ish) to 7PM(ish) & sleeps from 1AM to 8:45AM(ish).  Lately, he’s put in all sorts of extra hours on top of having Frisbee a couple of nights a week.  Some of those games don’t even start until 10PM so he just works until game time.

So clearly, we don’t cross paths often during the waking hours.  To remedy this, I often leave the husband a note when I go to bed at night.  These aren’t really love notes; they’re mostly to-do lists …though I try to keep it light & playful.

The other night I left him this one (I’m not embellishing.  These are my exact words.  He can vet it.)

1. Please take the kitchen trash out…it stinks.
2. If you wad the sheets up in the bed again, I will beat you ♥

He happened to be home early last night.  I thanked him for heeding my note.  He chuckled & then dropped a bomb on me:  “I scanned your note & sent it to passiveaggressivenotes.com.”

Zinger!

I love Passive Aggressive Notes.  It is one of my favorite websites.  I always hoped I’d have something to add to the site, though I really anticipated being the victim rather than the aggressor.

Later, he admitted that he hadn’t actually gone through with submitting my note.

The Female Fan

Is the MLS really in any position to be picky about its fans?

Apparently.  MLS employee, Simon Borg, made the comment below on the MLS’s official weekly podcast.

“It's fine if you're a female and you want to be a super-fan. Clearly go for it, that's your choice. But there is something to be said for how appealing that might be to the other sex. Having a woman that's such a fan, like painting your face, tuning in to every podcast. I don't know how many males would be into that.

It's great that in Kansas City there are a lot of women in the stands, it's great, but for the guy who wants maybe a serious relationship... If you are following just casually, but if you're such a die-hard, I don't know, it comes a point that it is a bit of a turn-off.”

Where to begin?!?

Allow me first a digression.

If you really want to see a poorly run business in action, the MLS is a great place to start.  Last year I watched an interview with MLS Commissioner, Don Garber, in which he mostly talked about gardening how envious he was of other sports commissioners

“I’m so envious of the other commissioners (referring to other American sports), not just because they have great, valuable businesses, but also because they’re leading the sport and in many ways I’m just leading the league.”

The husband has all sorts of ideas about how the MLS could become a leader in the sport.  He’d make a better commissioner by Garber by a long-shot if for no other reasons than he would never publically make the kind of comment Garber made.

Anyway, back to Borg. 

Since my expectations for the MLS are so low, nothing surprises me.   Borg’s sentiment is not necessarily shocking except that he works for & represents the MLS.  Alienating fans should not be in the job description…ever. 

Certainly in sports, the default role for a woman is fan of a fan.  I would certainly fit into this category.  The husband loves soccer.  And I’ve come to appreciate it.  I often joke with the husband that I now speak the international language of soccer which is a great conversation starter with any foreigner.  I also really like a lot of the top US players.  They are so different from other US athletes even in terms of temperament & it fascinates me. 

Nacogdoches, Texas native (and former Furman Univ. player), Clint Dempsey, is having the best soccer season by a US player…ever.  But what I love about Clint is that he’s got the personality of a Dawson’s Creek character, brooding, angry & mysterious…not exactly the image of the all-American athletes we all love.

However, if the husband were to lose interest, I probably would too.

Still, there’s a small window of possibility that I could become a super-fan.  I’m sort of prone to obsession.  And I’ve done it before.  I’m a walking encyclopedia of 1990’s basketball knowledge.  Just try me. So if I were to become a super-soccer fan, I don’t think I should be judged for it, least of all by the very people who would most profit from my fandom.

I think USA sport associations have actually done a wonderful job of building the female fan basis especially in the past 10 years or so.  There are a lot of things that the NFL in particular does that helps support & grow its female fan base without even making it about gender.  In fact, I’m almost always impressed at the way the NFL runs its business. 

Borg, Garber & the entire MLS have a lot to learn about how to run their organization.  There seems to be a prevailing mindset in the organization that they’d rather be a secret boy’s club than a professional sporting powerhouse. 

Gender Benders

After the world’s longest human gestation, Jessica Simpson finally gave birth to Maxwell Drew Johnson.  Don’t let that name throw you off because lil Max is a girl.  I read about it on nameberry.com & they listed a number of other gender bending celeb baby girl names:  Arlo, Jagger, Judah, Hudson, Monroe & even James.

The thing is, these babies are real people that are going to have to live real lives with kooky names.  To an outsider, gender bending names might not seem like a big deal.  My sister has a name that on paper looks like a boy’s name.  It’s constantly causing confusion.  She was even put in the boy’s PE class one year in school.  And though it’s not a huge problem, things like this are a big deal to kids.  Further, in many ways, your name is your identity.  And when it’s attacked or mischaracterized, it feels personal.

So I don’t think Max has an easy road ahead of her.

As to the name itself, I’m not opposed to masculine nicknames for girls.  Sam, Jo and the likes have been around for ages.  The only difference here is that Sam & Jo can fall back on their very female sounding given names of Samantha & Josephine.  Not so for Max.  And although I know several female “Drew”s, a more decisively feminine middle name like “Ann” (my sister’s middle name) would have helped.

Further, it’s the rare name that genders share equally.  “Taylor” is the only one I can think of.  And I think there are enough male “Maxwell”s to ensure that this name doesn’t switch teams.  That being said, I haven’t met a male Kendall or Allison in at least 20 years, so who knows?!?

Quotable Veronica

Here are a few of my favorite Veronica Mars quotes.

 

Dreams

Before I begin, I just want to mention that this is my 1200th post...not that anyone is counting.

I eluded to some mild depression about re-watching Veronica Mars in my previous post.  I neglected to mention that some late night hours may have contributed to said depression.  The truth is, I haven’t slept well in a few weeks.

And it all culminated in a very late night Veronica marathon last night.  The husband has been putting in a lot of night hours the last few months.  It’s rare that I’m not tired at bedtime, but I wasn’t.  So I moved the TV into the bedroom & watched Veronica Mars for a few hours without the husband there to pressure me into going to sleep.

The good news is that as I write this at 2:51PM, I’m too tired to work & far too tired to have a repeat late night.

The bad news is that I’ll probably revert to the thing that has kept my previous few nights sleepless:  nightmares.

There’s an annoyance I sense & cannot hide when someone starts to tell about the dream they had last night.  My dad does this all the time.  It’s irritating because it’s just a dream & I’d rather talk about things that actually happened.  Also, I’m jealous.  I rarely dream.  And when I do, I have about 5 reoccurring black & white dreams that I’ve had my whole life…and they’re sad & boring.  I rarely get fresh nocturnal material.

One of my most prolific reoccurring dreams is of me getting kidnapped in the United Supermarket parking lot in Vernon, Texas.   When I was a kid, this dream was so disturbing.  But even as a 34 year old, it still scares the bejesus out of me. And let me tell you, it is really hard to gain sympathy about a kidnapping dream as an adult.

There’s another where two frenemies from elementary school (Amanda & Sheila) push me off the roof of a tall building to my death.  This dream turned out to be very prophetic when we got to junior high.

Anyway, lately, I’ve been blessed/cursed with new dreams. But they're all about the husband…and they aren’t good.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I kept having nightmares about him.  He told me I need to wake him up (or call if he’s still at work) when this happens so he can reassure me which is very sweet and a little risky on his part considering how angry I am at him in the dreams.

One night last week I dreamed that he bought season tickets to the Broncos without telling me.  I was angry that he made such a major purchase without saying anything.  And I felt even worse when I learned that he bought only 1 ticket/game.  I was so hurt that he didn’t want to go the games with me so much that he didn’t risk getting a second ticket to bring a friend or his dad or brother with him.

And then later in the week, I dreamed that the husband left me for an indefinite time period “to find himself.”  This dream felt so realistic.  It was reminiscent of the real-life time shortly before our wedding that the husband when solo camping.  Though he was only gone for a few days & was very clear about where he was going & when he’d be back.   In the dream, he was headed out the woods & wouldn’t even tell me where.  His best friend knew where he was & wouldn’t tell me either. 

It was so sad.  I have this memory in the dream of him walking away with his backpack.  Actually, it looks a lot like a scene from the Hunger Games which is even more upsetting.

I don’t know where my family was in the midst of this melodrama, certainly not trying to make me feel better.  Do you ever resent people who don’t show up in your dreams for not being there when you need them?

Please share your dreams/nightmares in the comments. 

A Long Time Ago, We Used to Be Friends

The last few weeks I’ve been watching Veronica Mars on DVD in my free time.  I knew what would happen, but I did it anyway & now I’m completely depressed.  

I think most people get that sad feeling after finishing a really good book.  It kind of feels like a death…not your friends or family members…but of someone you liked but didn’t know all that well.  And you saw it coming, but for whatever reason, it still managed to catch you off guard.  Maybe it’s not a death.  Maybe it’s like a good friend moving away or something.  Anyway, you get the picture.

I feel deeply connected to Veronica Mars and the Gilmore Girls in a way that’s hard for me to articulate.   They are friends to me, personified in the same way I apply humanity to my humidifier or my favorite pillow.

And it’s not like people that really love Batman or something because there will always be some new incarnation of your superhero to love.  But for me, I got one shot at Veronica & the Lorelais…and then it’s over….FOREVER.  There will be no movies, no reunion episodes, no comic books.

For me Veronica Mars triggers the biggest sting because it was prematurely cancelled after just 3 seasons.  So the story really is unfinished.  It’s even more depressing to think that if Veronica Mars had run for a long & full TV life of 6-8 seasons, it would still be over by now. 

The hardest thing about watching Veronica Mars now is that it feels so far away.  I will say that dialog-wise, the show stands the test of time pretty well.  And the stories are quite compelling (there’s an interesting article online claiming that the entire plot of The Killing is recycled Veronica Mars…but not having cable, I wouldn’t know.) Every time someone pulls out their dated cell phone on VM with the wierd, grayscale font, it hits me like a ton of bricks:  this show is old. 

I don’t think Veronica Mars is a perfect show.  I’m constantly thinking about how I would rewrite & improve it in my perfect universe. But I loved it all the same.  And it’s like a friend to me.

As faithful readers know, the husband’s proposal was a Veronica Mars themed caper mystery involving rescues, trespassing & solving clues to make my way to my would-be fiancé.  It was pretty great.  So maybe Veronica Mars can live on in some way.

What TV shows, movies or books are you most sentimental about?

50/50

This movie came up on my DVD queue a few weekends ago.  I didn’t expect to like this movie very much & doubted that I’d watch the whole thing.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that I love this movie. 

The movie is about a young man, Adam, in his 20s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who receives a shocking cancer diagnosis.

Cancer has affected my family so personally & so deeply that I’m not too tolerant of films that use disease as a tool rather than an experience.  And this was the most earnest film about cancer I’ve ever seen.  It’s no surprise considering that the story was partially based on the experience of screenwriter, Will Reiser.

It is Adam’s quirky best friend, Kyle (Seth Rogen) who helps his friend through the ordeal & provides most of the comic relief.  This is the first movie I’ve seen with Seth Rogen & I was quite cautious as these man movie indecencies really aren’t my thing.

And certainly, the dialogue is quite course.  But based on everything I hear in the hallways in my office, this is exactly how men in their 20s talk to one another.  It would actually be more sad & depressing to observe these obscenities if the cancer weren’t already so distractingly depressing.

Further, I didn’t find much of the “humor” a distraction from the story.  I found the movie to be one of the more beautiful & moving films I’ve seen recently.  I cried…twice.  And that’s a big deal for me.

There were several moments throughout the movie that reminded me of something that had actually happened in my life.

I’m so surprised that Joseph Gordon-Levitt didn’t receive any awards for his stellar performance

Great Expectations

Last week I watched PBS’s new 3-part adaptation of Great Expectations.  Plan to see a lot of Dickens this year as the world celebrates his 200^th birthday. 

Great Expectations is my father’s favorite book and definitely at the top of my list as well.  It is very hard to translate this complicated plot & the emotional weight of the book to film.  I doubt anyone will ever do it better than the 1989 miniseries adaptation starring Anthony Hopkins as Abel Magwitch.  Should one ever need to watch the film in alternative of reading the book, this is the definitive version which includes every character mentioned in the book and is almost 100% true to the plot.

I found the PBS adaptation worthy in some ways.  In terms of cinematography, it’s an improvement over the 1989.  And the role of Ms. Havisham is played to perfection by Gillian Anderson.  However, the series is much shorter.  In an attempt to edit for time, the makers of the film chose to eliminate most of the light-hearted material.  It’s a logical choice as the story is about 90% depressing.

But the downside is that all of my favorite characters & scenes ended up on the cutting room floor.

• Mr. Wopsle – He appears briefly in the book.  But the insight his character gives on the view of the theater at the time is interesting.  And he’s just hilarious.
• Biddy – Joe Gargery’s 2^nd wife is so sweet, kind and compassionate.  She’s a relief compared to the many harsh, nasty characters in the book.
• The Aged P – My favorite moment in the book is when Mr. Wemmick takes Pip to his house & introduces him to his deaf father who he calls “Aged P” or “Aged Parent.”  I call my dad this from time to time.  Mr Wemmick.  In fact, my entire professional philosophy is based on Mr. Wemmick.

No; the office is one thing, and private life is another. When I go into the office, I leave the Castle behind me, and when I come into the Castle, I leave the office behind me. If it’s not in any way disagreeable to you, you'll oblige me by doing the same. I don’t wish it professionally spoken about.

It’s really worth reading all of chapter 25 which you can find here. That chapter is one of my favorite few pages in all of literature.  You can appreciate it even without knowing the full context of the book.  There were times in my life I'd read it so much that I could nearly quote most of chapter 25...though sadly, not now.

Anyway, the PBS miniseries may be worth your time.  However, it’s best as a supplement for reading the book.

French Kids Eat Everything

I’m a sucker for self-help books about problems I don’t have.  While looking around at Barnes & Noble a few weeks ago, I came across French Kids Eat Everything.  A play on the popular, French Women Don’t Get Fat, French Kids Eat Everything enlightens us Westerners on yet another problem the French don’t have:  picky eaters.

The book was written in memoir style as a Canadian mother (Karen Le Bullion) of 2 & her French husband relocated to Brittany, France for a year.  The whole experience was very enlightening for Karen as she discovered the social importance of food in France and attempted to transform her family into French eaters.

Participation in the public school lunch program in France is mandatory (with exceptions granted only at the request of a doctor for severe dietary restrictions).   The food is reasonably priced ($3-7/meal) with subsidies available for lower income families.  And the food is good.  Children are served a 4-course meal complete with a cheese course!  Below is a sample menu.  Karen posts a weekly French school lunch menu every week on her blog.

Karen was surprised to find that even outside of school, the French were raising an exceptional breed of eaters.  French kids are tidy, respectful & require very little attention or assistance at the table, often politely sitting through extravagant family dinners that rarely start before 8PM & extend well past midnight.  Most importantly, French kids don’t snack as the French in general don’t eat in their car, on the run, or anywhere except the table.  I was shocked when she pointed out that the average American child has between 4-7 snacks a day. 

Here are the French Food Rules Karen identifies in her book:

1. Parents:  You are in charge of food education.
2. Avoid emotional eating (no food rewards, pacifiers, bribes, etc.)
3. Parents schedule meals & menus. Kids eat what adults eat.  No short-order cooking.
4. Eat family meals together without distractions.
5. Eat your veggies.
6. You don’t have to like it, but you do have to taste it.
7. No snacking.  It’s okay to feel hungry between meals.
8. Slow food is happy food.
9. Eat mostly real food
10. Eating is joyful:  relax.

I found the book to be really enjoyable.  It motivated me to make mealtime even for just the two of us more charming & serene.  I bought a new tablecloth because the book said that the French never eat on an undressed table.

And it motivated me to be a more adventurous cook (The French consider it bad taste to prepare the same meal twice in a month).  Beet salad pops up a lot in the book.  It’s something the husband & I both enjoy.  And if we’re ever out to eat & there’s a beet salad on the menu, chances are high that one of us will order it.  But I’ve never even tried to recreate it at home.  That’s about to change.

Sweet Dixie's

In my never ending mission to try all of the food carts in Denver, I visited another recently, Sweet Dixie’s Soul Food Express.  SD’s is a new truck, started in the wake of their restaurant catching fire a few months back.  Based on my experience, the universe was sending them an omen that they shouldn’t have ignored.

Billed as southern soul food, Dixie’s menu was a mix of BBQ & Cajun dishes.  I was impressed to see that they had both a Texas and a North Carolina BBQ plate…with different coleslaws.

Sadly, the good news stopped there.  I didn’t find the BBQ to be smoked very successfully.  And neither slaws, BBQ sauces or the potato salad lived up to my expectations.

The worst offenders were the mac & cheese & sweet tea.

First, to the mac & cheese.  Southern food is an art & a science.  Growing up in a southern family, I’m used to having rich, comforting dishes like mac & cheese.   But I never recall these dishes feeling too heavy or that they were swimming in grease.   So many amateur southern cooks these days view the fat as the glory of the dish rather than a vehicle.  No amount of fat or grease will make up for poor flavor.

In the same way, the sweet tea was a victim of excess.  I’ve had all sorts of sweet tea.  But until I came to Colorado, I’ve never been served sweet tea that made me want to pull my teeth out.  I can think of another restaurant here that serves tea so offensively sweet that even half sweet-half unsweet tea is still too much for a discerning palate like mine.  Sadly, Dixie’s was a terrible offender.  I tasted like melted lollipops mixed with tea.  I poured my 16 oz glass into a liter of homemade unsweet tea & it was finally drinkable.

Sadly, I won’t be frequenting Sweet Dixie’s anymore. 

Feel free to call out other local restaurants that give Southern food a bad name.

His Name is Teal

In the last 6 months, I’ve started to feel old; not just older, but like an old person.  I notice this primarily at work because we’ve hired a bunch of new people in the last year that are in their mid-20’s. It’s not that I feel ancient or that we have nothing in common. But more & more often I find myself turning my nose up a bit or responding with a “Seriously?” in my head.  They say stupid stuff, listen to music really loud and are super-optimistic (more on that in a moment).

Today, it struck again.  Not good 8AM on a Monday.  One of the young guys was going around introducing an even younger guy who is starting today.  His name is “Teal”. 

Of course, my mind went where everyone’s mind goes & silently pondered, “What kind of a name is that?”

It’s a pretty judgmental & hypocritical thought coming from someone with a name as unusual as mine.

No man in my ½ generation would be crazy enough to be named a color.  And here’s this goofy kid.  I imagined that he was from a well-connected family & gets over-promoted in no time.  In 5 years, Teal is my boss.  My boss is teal!!! 

I got so mad.  And then I realized that aside from his name, I’d made everything else up.

Back to the super-optimism.  So this weekend, I went to see the Hunger Games (Yes, I cheated on the family members who I committed to see it with later.  I will go with you later, but it turns out that delayed gratification just isn’t my thing.)

Anyway, there were about 10 previews including one for the new Spiderman with Andrew Garfield from the Social Network & Emma Stone from The Help, playing the roles of Peter & Gwen.  They take over from Tobey Maguire & Kirsten Dunst who were the film series’ previous leads. 

Spiderman is such a successful franchise.  And the casting decisions are not taken lightly.  In a way, I think the actors represent something about their peers.  Tobey & Kirsten represent something completely different than Andrew & Emma.

Andrew & Emma are so all-American, so fun, and so obliviously optimistic (the last part is what annoys me so much about the “kids” in my office.)  Tobey & Kirsten are these introspective, brooding, alternative-minded elitists.  I totally identify with their unjustifiable pessimism. 

I’m not sure what it is that makes me profoundly sad or what makes people 10 years younger than me so carelessly optimistic.   And I wonder if it will mean anything or if our moods will age into a happy medium where people named “Teal” have a shot at being taken seriously...but not too seriously.

Romney's Favorite Meal

Today I was surprised to find that Mitt Romney & I finally agree on something.  The NYT reported that for his 65^th birthday Mitt wanted to have his favorite meal:  mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, carrots and Ann Romney’s meatloaf cakes.  Sadly, he had to delay the indulgence due to the demands of the campaign trail.

I was so surprised to read this. It’s a shocking choice for someone from Romney’s upper class New England roots.  For me, it’s a more predictable choice.  I even blogged a few years ago about meatloaf being my favorite meal.

Is anyone prepared to join me & Romney?  What’s your favorite meal?

Survivor

Strange things always happen when the tribes are divided by gender.  This season has been no exception.

There have been plenty of tribes in the past who have strategically thrown a challenge in order to vote off a tribe member.  And while it has most often proved to be a regretful decision for those tribes, at the very least, it was a decision that they put some thought into.

What happened on Thursday was a nasty combination of bullying & stupidity.  The decision was illogical because at its very core, the tribe didn’t have consensus on who to vote off with Colton harboring an inexplicable grudge against Bill while Tarzan thought it was Lief’s time to go.  And the reasons for voting off either didn’t seem too strong to me.

The season has been paradoxical in so many ways none the least of which is Jay, the southern model, who despite sounding the dumbest has proven to be the voice of reason on the male tribe.  And last night he produced one of the greatest “I meant to say’s” ever.  When presented with the idea of giving up immunity, Jay declared in his thick southern accent, “I’m bum-puzzled.”  Frankly, I almost like the way it sounds & what it communicates over “bumfuzzled”. 

In the end, Bill got the boot.  It was an ugly episode.  A few weeks ago, I was so ashamed of the female tribe.  Now I think the men are even more shameful.  All of the men are either weaklings, bullies or chauvinists.  It’s unsettling to watch.

It appears that the tribes will be shook up in this week’s episode.  From the preview, I think this is how the tribes will shake out:

Orange	Yellow
Colton	Jay
Lief	Michael
Jonas	Troy
Tarzan	Chelsea
Monica	Kat
Christina	Kim
Alicia	Sabrina

It appears that Yellow may have the stronger tribe & may have won the first immunity.  The switch up bodes well for some of my favorite contestants:  Sabrina, Kim, Jay & Monica.

Chopped 2012

My sister & her husband did a rematch of their Chopped Challenge for Valentine's Day.  To help prevent a tie, they came up with 3 judging categories with 5 points that could be awarded for each category:  Taste, Appearance, Creativity.  And they had the added challenge of cooking for 4:  myself, the husband and my parents.

Sadly, I was dispossessed of my judging sheet so I can't report to you exactly what the scores were.  I did learn a bit through the process.  Being in charge of the secret ingredients, I have a lot of control about how the meal goes.  I tried a bit of a different approach this year, thinking that the chefs would respond in a way that I anticipated.  Of course, they suprised me by going in a completely different direction which is what makes the challenge so great. 

I will say that my food choices weren't as solid as last year's.  Still, the chefs rose to the occassion.

 

Appetizer:  Ramen Noodles, Pecan Pumpkin Butter, Bacon

The idea for this course began with the Pumpkin Butter.  My dad had bought me some from Williams-Sonoma at Thanksgiving & it needed to be eaten.  I had wanted all along to incorporate Ramen into the challenge.  It's such an easy thing to cook. And there's a lot of flexibility --the noodles don't even need to be cooked.  And I know of several recipes that use the seasoning packs in Ramen for something completely different like salad dressing.  

I thought this course would be a challenging way to determine if truly, anything tastes better with bacon.

This was the best course for both chefs, and the best dish overall from my sister.  She made a hearty noodles soup.  The pumpkin butter & bacon made it so savory & she wisely added potatoes.

The BIL went on a more creative path, creating an Asian inspired peanut noodle dish which was also very excellent.  

The real weakness of the appetizer was that it was so hearty, it was difficult to be hungry for 2 more courses.

 

Entree:  Steak, Scallops, Tortilla, Bok Choy, Banana

I thought having surf, turf, Asian & Mexican ingredients would open up all kinds of possibilities from the chefs.  Instead, I think it handicapped them a bit.  Last year, I chose a single protein & pretty much all the vegetables were predetermined by my menu.  I thought by having more variety would lead them on really different paths.

I try to include at least one ingredient that I know neither chef is familiar with.  I suspected that neither had much experience with scallops or bok choy.  It was probably a mistake to use both.

Both chefs ended up making steak, banana & bok choy wraps with the scallop on the side.  Although they were seasoned quite differently, it was a bit of a disappointment.  And I felt as though I had let them down a bit with my menu selection.  In my head, I had envisioned them adding other vegetables like corn and perhaps creating a salad with the steak, bok choy & banana.  I also anticipated some creative treatments with the tortilla:  fried or baked crispy.

Anyway, in the end, we all fell victim to my menu selection.

 

Dessert: Dried Apricot, Yogurt, Funfetti Cake Mix

The main difference between this year & last year's Chopped was that my sister & BIL had an active toddler on the loose.  Before dessert was even cooked, it was past his bedtime & I think both parents were already pretty exhausted.

Both ended up making a funfetti pancake of sorts.  My sister creatively made an Indian inspired Lassi to accompany it.  Again, I was betrayed by my expectations.  I've heard of people making cookies from the funfetti mix as well as cake batter smoothies & kind of hoped for somethink un-cake-like.  Oh well, both were excellent.  And it's nice to know of a pancake substitute when I'm in a pinch.  Though I can't imagine not having pancake ingredients but having funfetti on hand?!?

 

In the end, my sister narrowly won the challenge (mostly on the strength of her appetizer).  They're both planning a 2013 rematch.  I think I've learned a few more things that will improve next year's menu selection.

 

 

Static

Growing up, we never had cable TV.  And we didn’t watch too much TV either.  I was always excited to visit my grandparents because they had cable & it was so fun to have so many choices on what to watch.

I got cable for the first time after college & have had it ever since.  Everyone that knows me knows that I love TV.     

However, the husband & I have noticed, especially in the last few years, that TV has been doing us more harm than good.  It makes us lazy & unproductive.  When things are rough, it’s kind of an escapist’s crutch.  I can tune in & zone out all of my real problems.   And when the husband isn’t home, it’s my companion.

So today, we turned off the TV.  We cancelled all our TV services & I’m not even sure I could figure out how to get the network stations.

I’m a little afraid of the silence that I know will greet me when I get home.  And I’m going to be sad the next time my sister says, “Did you see ___ on The Chew this week?”  And I won’t have seen it.

But I’m looking forward to the chance to focus on some things that I really want to do with my time.  For now, we’re considering this just a cable fast & we’ll see how we feel about continuing after a few months.

Never fear, I will be keeping up with my favorite shows online.  Most are available between 1 & 7 days after the original airing.  So please, don’t spoil anything for me!  .

And just a head’s up:  Somebody with AMC is going to have to invite me over to watch The Walking Dead & Mad Men.

The Oscars 2012: The Partiers

Here are some of the partygoers who didn’t attend the Oscars.

Jennifer Westfeldt – The v-neck is too deep.  But I love, love the purple velvet.

Venus Williams – Not everyone could wear these bright colors together.  She looked fabulous to me.

Victoria Beckham – She’s not a tall woman.  But the way this dress is cut with the high waist & the platform heels she clearly must be wearing make her appear so statuesque.  It’s her own design & she’s really proving that she belongs in fashion.

Sophia Coppola – I’m not a big pantsuit person, but I liked this. 

Olga Kurylenko (Georges Hobeika) – I had to look her up.  I guess she’s a former Bond girl?  Anyway, I LOVE this dress.

Alison Janney – What a great, fun dress.  Another successful use of stripes by a cast member of The Help.

Minnie Driver – She usually looks nutty, but this dress is great.  The neckline would be flattering on lots of women.

The Oscars 2012: Part III

Rooney Mara (Givenchy):  It takes more than acting well to win an Oscar.  It’s a game & it’s very political.  The artists kind of need to sell themselves & the image they’re trying to portray to win.  I haven’t seen Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  But based on what I’ve heard of her performance, she had a legit shot at winning.  Unfortunately, she (likely under the advisement of her director, David Fincher & his studio cronies) didn’t play the game very well.  And I’m puzzled. 

Here’s a picture of Rooney before GwtDT.  She’s totally the sweet, innocent girl next door.  She transformed herself to play Lisbeth Salander.  It’s a winning recipe for an Oscar.  I can’t even begin to list all of the actresses who have won the award for going “ugly” (Charlize Theron, Hilary Swank & Halle Berry to name a few).  But in a puzzling move, Rooney has spent the award season in character.   She’s this dark, scary, goth princess.  And to me, it ruined her chances of winning.  If she came into this award season with her hair dyed back to her natural color, put in some hair extensions, gained 10 lbs., got some sunlight & wore some bright, happy dresses, I think she could have won. And they say fashion doesn’t matter! It goes without saying that I think this dress is terrible & ill-fitting.  

 Kristen Wiig (J Mendel):  I do not understand why Kristen is so obsessed with the color “dirty.”  I don’t watch SNL & only know about her from this awards season.  Perhaps she’s talented but she comes off as aloof & elitist.  And she is obviously color blind.

Sandra Bullock (Marchesa):  I’m not a big Marchesa fan so I’m already biased.  I this this dress has potential but the gold applique looks like a disease attacking her loins.

Berenice Bejo (Elie Saab):  I’m so disappointed.  What a fashion miss.  The color is awful.  Her hair is worse.

The Oscars 2012: Before & After

This post is dedicated to a few actresses who changed between the awards & after-parties.

Cameron Diaz (Gucci):  I guess it means I’m aging too if Cameron Diaz looks old.  Kudos to her for working hard to stay in shape but I think having such defined muscles makes her look old & unfeminine.  I never like anything she wears so it’s no surprise that I don’t like either of these.  For someone who is in such great shape, there’s no need to have clothes tailored within inches of her life.  If she wore something that fit rather than being skin tight she wouldn’t have the underarm bulge in the dirty color dress & she wouldn’t have all the puckering in the orange one.

JLo (Zuhair Murad):  It’s funny that Cameron & JLo presented together because they both came off as kind of past their prime.  I did like the striping on JLo’s award show dress.  But the tightness & plunging v-necks just felt overdone & tired.

Shailene Woodley (Valentino/Proenza Schoeler):  I like that she moves to the beat of her own drummer.  And I like that a 20 year old is confident enough to wear modest, comfortable clothes & not trying to sell herself as the princess or starlet that she clearly isn’t.

Emma Stone (Giambattista Valli/Chanel):  I loved the red dress.  I thought it looked easy & comfortable & the high waist made her seem so statuesque.  The party dress is a bit cra cra.  It’s puzzling because it doesn’t seem nearly as comfy.  Who would feel comfortable partying & dancing wrapped tightly in black toilet paper?