The Miscellanist

Ashley

It seems a bit pointless to advertise something on my blog since almost no one reads it, but I did want to share something.  My friend, Ashley, has come out with a new EP.  In terms of natural talent & commercial appeal, she’s probably the most talented musician I’ve ever met.  And she’s a great songwriter too.  I’m always surprised that she’s not at the very least writing for a big music label.

Anyway, her EP might be worth a listen or even a purchase.

I met Ashley when we worked together in SC.  She was a western transplant also having moved to SC from UT with her husband who was a helicopter pilot. 

One time at lunch, Ashley was complaining about her apartment, especially the noise.  I mentioned the fabulous Waddell Woods where I lived.  It was seriously the best townhome ever.  Two big bedrooms, two baths, 2 floors & a huge kitchen for only $525/month.

I knew at the time that Ashley was both a musician & a night owl.  But I wasn’t worried about making a recommendation because I thought if they did move, they’d end up in a different building.  Well, they ended up moving next door.  I actually got used to & even enjoyed the music coming from next door.

Ashley’s husband died tragically one Sunday morning in a helicopter accident.  I can remember so many details about that day.  Shortly after this, both Ashley & I left SC & returned to our respective western homes.

Ashley’s music continued to flourish & she has emerged stronger from tragedy.  She married again & has a son.

You can listen to the EP at: ashleygarbesmith.com

Project Runway All-Stars Week 4

Oops, I skipped week 3 & the fabulous Miss Piggy Challenge.  The first ranking in parenthesis is from week 2, the 2^nd from week 3.

Other than the swift timeline, this week’s challenge was a bit of a snooze.  The thing Project Runway producers don’t seem to understand is that a challenge with a shortened work time means nothing to the viewer:  the episode is the same length either way.  And if I’m going to spend an hour watching designers on TV, I’d rather see their best work which just can’t be achieved in 3 hours. 

1. Mondo (Week 2:1; Week 3:5) – Of course, this was my favorite.  I can’t believe it didn’t win.  It met all the criteria of the challenge & was a very tailored & inventive look.
2. Michael (4;1) – This challenged played to Michael’s strengths as a fast sewer & a strategic player.  I didn’t mind the dress but it felt like a costume or a fancy robe to me.  The thing that makes Michael so strong is that he’s so good at dissecting the competition & playing it to his strengths.  He’d never take on a project he didn’t think he could complete in the time frame.  In that way, he’s less of a creative mind that many of the other designers.  He’s probably one of only a few PR contestants ever that would make a good Survivor contestant too.
3. Austin (2;10) – This was a decent effort if not a bit boring.
4. Jerrell (5;6) – I feel like Jerrell’s target market is the warrior princess…unfortunately there aren’t many of those left.  This dress was interesting but way too short in the front.
5. Anthony (3;3) – I liked this a lot more than the judges did.
6. Kenley (8;4) – To me, way too simple & too childish for the challenge.
7. Rami (6;2) – For all his talent, Rami has the worst sense of color.  It was evident in his first season & even his runway show. 
8. Mila (5;8) – I can’t believe this was in the Top 3.  It looked like a tribute to the circulatory system.
9. April (11;9)  – Sure, it was way too short & she wasn’t smart enough to pick a design she could execute in 6 hours…but it wasn’t terrible which brings me to…
10. Kara (9;7) – I’m surprised she didn’t go home.  This was so amateur.

JC Penney’s is making big changes

Call me old fashioned, but I would really hate to see the traditional department stores fade away as many already have. 

JCP was certainly headed in that direction & recently made a big move by hiring Ron Johnson (formerly of Apple) as their CEO.  As expected, Johnson plans to usher in big changes.  Yesterday, the company explained their new philosophy on pricing.  Below are a few paragraphs from the DP article:

For years, Penney, like many other stores, has artificially propped up ticketed prices even as costs have come down slightly over the past decade. The intent: to make it look like shoppers are getting great discounts.

Last year, the company, which offered 590 sales events last year, had about 72 percent of its revenue come from merchandise that was discounted by 50 percent or more. That's more than double the overall retail industry average. According to an estimate by management consultant firm A.T. Kearney, a typical retailer sells between 40 and 45 percent of its inventory at a promotional price, up from 15 to 20 percent 10 years ago.

The increased discounting has been a vicious cycle that only feeds into shoppers' insatiable appetite for bigger and better discounts. In fact, whereas it took 38 percent off to get shoppers to buy 10 years ago, it now takes discounts of 60 percent, Johnson says.

Beginning immediately, JCP is reducing all prices by 40%.  This means that the same shirt I bought last year for $40 will now be tagged as $24.  In return, they’re offering fewer coupons & sales.  Instead of a complicated sales circular, they’ll send out bi-annual catalogs to loyal customers.

Here are a few other changes:

• Transition to whole dollar pricing instead of $14.99 & all that nonsense
• Offer month-long promos ---like all Christmas decoration will be on sale for the month of December
• Incorporate ideas from the Apple Store model like the Genius Bar
• Create more brand shops like their popular Sephora marketplaces.  Martha Stewart has already signed on to do some housewares lines…and was promptly sued by Macy’s for breach of contract.   So we’ll see how that turns out.

I’m a no nonsense shopper so this concept really appeals to me.  I hate the feeling of buying something & wondering if the next day it will go on sale or I’ll get a coupon in the mail.  This happens all the time with Ann Taylor Loft. 

25 Movies to See Before Oscar Night 2012

I was really spoiled by last year’s “25 Movies to See Before the Oscars” because so many were early releases, already available on DVD.  I’ve seen 17 of the 25 movies from the 2011 list.  

I don’t think the 2012 list is flawless in terms of representing the top 25 films.

Fortunately, only 1 film is unavailable for viewing in Denver.  And even more fortunately, it’s one of 2 films that I’m not interested in at all (We Need to Talk About Kevin & Shameless).

I’ve only seen 3 of the movies on the list:  Moneyball, The Help & The Ides of March.  All three are worth seeing. Instead of trying to work through all 25, I’ve created a priority list to see at some point this year.  And I’ve added 2 movies, Warrior & Margin Call, which received Oscar nods but didn’t make EW’s list.

Here’s the full list from EW:

Here is my priority list.

1. The Iron Lady
2. The Descendants
3. Midnight in Paris
4. Warrior
5. Margin Call
6. Drive
7. Beginners
8. Bridesmaids
9. The Artist
10. Hugo
11. My Week with Marilyn
12. War Horse
13. Young Adult
14. Albert Nobbs

Duped

I’m feeling a little duped by Paula Deen lately.  A few months ago, Paula admitted to Dr Oz that she smokes 1½ packs of cigarettes/day.  And then earlier this week, she announced that she’s had Type II diabetes for the past 3 years & is now a paid spokesperson for the drug company supplying her diabetes meds.

Paula came under fire last year from the outspoken Anthony Bourdain regarding the unhealthy foods she propagates & profits from promoting. Despite Bourdain’s obnoxious & very French critique, a lot of public figures in the food industry voiced concerns that Paula was doing more harm than good & failing to take responsibility for her actions.

Publically, she’s said:

• I’ve always encouraged moderation in eating.
• It’s [the TV show] for entertainment.
• I’m your cook not your doctor.  You have to be responsible for yourself.

I’m not a throw the baby out with the bathwater person when it comes to southern comfort foods because they’re some of my favorites.  What really bothers me is that Paula is unwilling to acknowledge that she’s an influential figure when it comes to food. 

A few weeks ago in the Denver Post, Tim Tebow said that, “All it takes for you to be a role model is for someone to be looking up to you.” He was saying that as an athlete, you can’t pretend not to be someone’s role model because it’s not your call.  People decide who they want to look up to.  And if you’re lucky enough to have people wanting to emulate you in some way, you’d better take that responsibility seriously.

Paula doesn’t & that’s not okay with me.  It’s not just that people look up to her.  She’s making a fortune.  Certainly, her fans are adults & not kids.  But how discouraging it is to see someone with so many resources at her disposal imply that diabetes isn’t worth changing her lifestyle over. 

With privilege comes responsibility & Paula needs to acknowledge her responsibility to her audience.

Serious Eats did an interesting post on this topic.  Here are their closing thoughts: 

 And any public figure who suffers from a disease but conceals it until the sponsorship check cashes—well, comes across as a clumsy self-promoter, at best, and a crass opportunist willing to turn even her own health into a marketing opportunity, at worst.

Golden Globes 2012

I wasn’t overly excited by what I saw on the red carpet for last night’s Golden Globe awards show.  In fact, I thought a lot of people looked pretty bad.

I was able to find a few favorites.

• Emma Stone – I think the belt is kind of weird.  But the dress is unique & the colors are great for her red hair.  I loved the details on the shoulders
• Madeleine Stowe – How can she possibly be 53?
• Michelle Williams – I think the headband is a little silly looking for a grown person.  But it’s nice to see someone show up in a modest, serious dress.
• Octavia Spencer – This is such a great dress.   The color is perfect & the draping is just right.  The designer, Tadashi Shoji, is kind of amazing.
• Shailene Woodley – I had a hard time finding a picture where the intricate draping & beading was visible.  I wish she had some type of jewelry though.

My favorite dress was Claire Danes.  I thought it was a really unique look.  It did bother me a bit that the neckline had some weird pleats & the shoulder plackets didn’t quite meet the neckline

There were many, many bad looks to choose from.  Piper Perabo & Julie Bowen committed the cardinal sin of wearing flesh tones.  There’s really nothing redemptive about Piper’s look. 

Angelina Jolie’s dress had some interesting draping at the waist, but the color was too washed out.  And her skinniness made me uncomfortable.  And Natalie Portman’s side train just made her look shorter than she already is.  Poor Connie Britton.  I don’t know what she was thinking.

A whole host of women committed color crimes with poor yellow choices.  

Both Nicole Kidman & Reese Witherspoon wore painfully tight dresses.  I sort of like the details on Nicole’s dress but it’s just so tight.  And I don’t like the color.  How pretty would it be in a dark blue with those bronze beads?!?  Reese Witherspoon seems like such an uptight person, this carefree vixen look feels really inauthentic…like she’s trying to trick us into believing she’s barrels of fun.  The red is nice though.

Project Runway All-Stars Week 2

This was such a great challenge.

 Weekly rankings (with previous week's rank in (parenthesis)):

1.    Mondo (2) (this was my favorite look; it was really unexpected)

2.    Austin (4) (I loved the dress but I’m not sure it was the clear winner)

3.    Anthony (7) (this was lovely, dark and far beyond anything I thought he was capable of)

4.    Michael (10) (he really worked to his strengths.  It was alluring)

5.    Mila (9) (this was one of my favorites)

6.    Rami (1) (terrible color choice)

7.    Gordana (11) (I loved the concept.  I thought the execution & color needed some help)

8.    Kenley (6) (if the challenge was “little bo peep goes to the opera”, she would have won)

9.    Kara (3) (big fall from grace…but eveningwear really isn’t her thing)

10.    Jerell (5) (I’m concerned that he loved this ugly, ugly dress so much)

11.    April (8) (nothing about this was good)

12.    Sweet P (12) (good riddance)

Project Runway All-Stars Week 1

This week was the premiere of Project Runway All-Stars.  Judging by some of the contestants selected from previous season of Project Runway, I think they should have called it something else as quite a few are a bit mediocre.

Georgina Chapman & Isaac Mizrahi do a worth job of filling the judging shoes of Michael & Nina.  Obviously, there’s no one like Tim Gunn.  So it was wise of the show to go in a completely different direction with the mentor in the form of Joanna Coles of Maria Claire.  She’s a bit icy but was on target in her assessment of the designers.  Host, Angela Lindvall, has the most work to do.  She came off very stiff & insincere.  With all of the talented spokesmodels around these days, I’m surprised she got the gig.

As far as the contestants, I’m reasonably pleased with the designers.  It was no surprise to see Elisa go & expect to see Sweet P follow her shortly.

Here’s how I’d rank the designers at this point:

1. Rami (I expect either Mondo or Rami to win. Both put out great pieces tonight.  Since Rami won, he gets the #1 spot but it’s really a deadlock between the two in my mind.)
2. Mondo
3. Kara (Kara did really well in her season so I expect her to make a run for it.)
4. Austin (Austin has probably been the most commercially successful designer in this group.)
5. Jerell
6. Kenley
7. Anthony (Along with Michael, probably the least experienced with the most to prove, but I liked the dress he did for the challenge.)
8. April (April & Mila are both talented but have very limited range in their aesthetic. Boring!)
9. Mila
10. Michael
11. Gordana
12. Sweet P
13. Elisa

Christmas Vacation

This year, I took the week between Christmas & New Year’s off. 

I can’t even remember the last time I had a real Christmas vacation.  The last few years, I’ve taken off a day or two to recoup between the holidays…but that’s for sanity’s sake, not relaxation.

I never had much time off during college Christmas breaks because I worked as much as I could.  So I’m guessing it was high school.  The place where I had a part-time job I had my junior & senior years was closed between Christmas & New Year’s Day so I know I wasn’t working then.

Further, I’ve never taken a week off of work without going somewhere.  So I think this is literally the first time I’ve been home for an extended period of time since my unemployment during the summer of 2000.  So paired with excitement was a little anxiety about how I’d handle this much leisure.

There were highs & lows, but overall it went pretty well.  When it’s all said & done though I’m glad to have an occupation to come back to.

Here’s a few of the highlights in my week of leisure.

• Going to the mall.  

My sister & I went to the mall one day.  I can’t even remember the last time I walked a whole mall & just looked around without having a purpose.  I found some good deals.  The nephew came too which I was originally hesitant about.  But he was a real trooper.

• Going to the movies. 

The husband & I saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol & Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows.  I love going to the movies, especially at Christmas.  I used to go movies on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day before the husband came along.

• Stayed up later than the husband once. 

This has never happened before.  Anyone who knows my nocturnal husband knows what a big deal this is

• Took one big step closer to a functional sewing room.

I’ve been reorganizing my sewing room for months.  I’ve realized it’s going to be an endless journey, but I’m literally hours away from where I want it to be.

• Our-pad. 

The husband got an Ipad for Christmas from his company which I’ve fondly nicknamed “our-pad” and sometimes “my-pad” when the husband suggests I share it with him.

• Paper-be-gone.

I’m a serious magazine clipper.  I have hundreds of pages of clippings.  My organization system for the clippings deteriorated a few years ago into a disorganized drawer.  I made a ton of progress into getting it back to a working system & in the process found tons of things I’d been looking for.

• TV time.

I watched so much TV & loved it.  Against my will, I watched a lot of Burn Notice (the husband’s new obsession) which I don’t like at all.  He doesn’t like Modern Family.  So we’d negotiate our viewing schedule with Ipad time to balance out the inequities.

Christmas Baking

A conversation with the husband yesterday evening.

The scene:  Me sitting at the dining room table cutting up XL marshmallows with kitchen scissors.

• Husband:  What are you doing?
• Misc:  I have a problem.
• Husband:  What?
• Misc:  I can’t stop baking.

I love and loathe Christmas baking.  I look forward to it & enjoy it so much.  But inevitably, I bite off more than I can chew.  Last night, I was working on a new recipe which required colored mini marshmallows.  I couldn’t find any at several grocery stores.  Fortunately, I had bought a pack of huge (like 2x the size of normal s’more marshmallows) colored marshmallows at Easter. 

It felt like a real extravagant purchase at the time, but of course, now it’s paying off.  The only unfortunate thing is that my recipe requires mini marshmallows. So I’m cutting up the XL ones into small pieces…which is a lot harder than one might think.

Tonight, I’m going over to my in-laws to do some baking.  And then tomorrow I should finish with the colored marshmallow project and divinity which I always save for last.

Hopefully, at that point, I’ll be able to control myself & just let it go.

Christmas Presents

Shopping for Christmas presents can be really stressful.  It challenges everyone’s budget.  The stores are crowded.  And if your family is anything like mine, you’ve got lots of people to shop for.  The husband is a serious 11^th hour shopper.  So we’re always down to the wire these days.

When I start to experience the holiday stress, I have a few things I remind myself of including the most memorable Christmas present I ever received.

My granddad rarely bought me anything himself (other than a toy motorcycle helmet for my 5^th birthday…an odd gift for a girl); but the year after my grandmother passed away, he realized this (and many other burdens) was now on his shoulders.

I was only 10 at the time & my parents had warned me that granddad was an inexperienced shopper & we should just be grateful for whatever he gave us. So on Christmas morning I opened his gift to find:  a mirror & a few packs of Dentyne cinnamon gum. 

It’s something I can hardly think about without crying.  My granddad was so lost without my grandma, which was ironic because they famously did not get along very well.  And it was a meaningful gift because I felt like he really tried to come up with good gifts for us. 

The mirror was one of the simple, plastic ones you can get at Walgreens or somewhere like that.  It had a blue handle.  And I managed to keep it for 10ish years without breaking it.   

Whenever I start to get stressed, I think about all of the simple things about Christmas that are the sources of so much joy.

What is a Snood?

As a follow up to my thought provoking Toboggan post, I now muse on a new fashion topic: 

What is a snood?

I first heard the term in White Christmas & had no idea what it meant.  Here’s the exchange if you aren’t fortunate enough to know this movie by heart:

• Phil Davis: [Buying train tickets] Uh, I don't seem to have any cash.
• Bob Wallace: Where'd you leave that? In your snood?

I later discovered that it’s an old-fashioned term for a hair net…not exactly what we’d consider a modern day you-work-in-foodservice hair net, but more of the ornate, macramé variety that ladies with up-dos wore in “olden times” like these.

 

I didn’t think about it much until in the recent JCrew catalog, I saw this which they’re calling snoods.

 

So now “snood” means infinity scarf.  How did we get here?

In searching on JCrew’s website for the photo, I came across this:  the toboggan snood!  I think my mind is blown.

Family Pictures

Because I’m not very photogenic, I sort of eschew the whole notion of posed pictures.   However, I’m really interested in the history of picture taking, particularly family pictures.

Family pictures started to become popular maybe 100-150 years ago I guess.  I have a great oval framed photo of my grandmother & her little brother at his christening in 1910.  For a long time, family photos had a real specific look like the one I have of my grandmother:  black & white (obviously), formal & somber.

Nowadays everyone jokes at how silly it is that no one smiled in pictures in the “olden days.”

In the 80’s it was popular to take a family photo in matching or identical outfits with a scenic canvas backdrop in the background.  We’ve all made fun of those.

Sometimes I wonder what things “the future” will mock about us.  Crazy family photos has to make that list.

With the holidays upon us, I’m receiving lots of pictures.  I’ve seen so many family pictures out in an open field with people sitting on plush, indoor chairs.  I even got one last year where the parents were standing out on a dirt road & the kids were sitting on a dresser next to them…weird.  I also probably have half a dozen photos from people where they’re standing next to a railroad.  What’s with that?

People are so obsessed with taking editorial photos these days.  Frankly, I think it’s silly already.  Some of that sort of stuff is best left to the professionals in magazines.  It would be different if these people were trying to take an ironic photo like the old west dress up photos you can take at tourist spots.  But these people are being totally earnest about their photo featuring a vintage, decorative armchair sitting on the back of a covered wagon under a weeping willow tree.

The Other 80%

I watched Limitless on Netflix this week.  I knew I wouldn’t like the movie because I can only accept the Alias version of Bradley Cooper.  So this fast-thinking, cool guy in Limitless seems like a phony to me.

The movie is okay I guess.  I’d heard good things about it so I thought it would be better than it actually was.  The premise of the movie is that this down on his luck guy comes upon this drug, NZT, which allows you to access the elusive & unused 80% of your brain power.

It’s a great concept.  But I sort of wonder if the character qualities the other 80% of the brain unleashed for this guy in the movie are legit.  According to the movie, your brain at 100% capability would lead you to experience the following:

• Unparalleled charisma
• Lethal hand-to-hand combat skills
• Desire to be neat, clean & fashionable
• Ravenous materialism
• Heightened sexual prowess
• Timely déjà vu

And most surprising, this newfound ability would prompt you to go into politics.

To me, all of these things are the dumb things that the 20% of your brain already want.  I’d be more interest to discover that instead of this loud, flashy existence, the other 80% might lead one somewhere quiet, introspective and quite opposite than the direction your 20% thinks one should be going.

Hiding Food

So my dad is kind of a compulsive eater.  I can’t stand in judgment of anyone because I have food issues of my own.  But I’ve never been the type of person who could polish off half a cake or something without realizing it.  I’m more of a hoarder.  For example, I still have 1.5 boxes of Girls Scout cookies from last January that I’ve been slowly & methodically working my way through all year.

Growing up, my food tendencies really clashed with my dad’s because some foods just weren’t safe to leave out.  So I got used to hiding food from my dad.  I learned this from my mom. And now that I look back, it really stinks that we were always hiding food from the person who was paying for it. 

Even now, if I’m at my parents & I’m hungry, I’ll look for stashed goodies in the pots & pans cabinet or in the guest bedroom closet.

Last night, I overheard a conversation between my parents & it brought back memories of the old days:

•     Dad:  Sue, these are the worst cookies I’ve ever tasted.  Don’t ever buy these things again! 
•     Mom:  Those are [the-nephew-who-is-not-named-Neil’s] teething biscuits.

Sometimes the willingness to eat anything doesn’t always pay off.  And by the way, almost all food for toddlers tastes terrible. Why is this?

Toboggan

Until recently, I thought this was a toboggan & that every time someone was talking about a toboggan, this is what they were talking about.

I can’t believe it took me 30+ years to discover that this  is actually what is commonly referred to as a toboggan.  I would have called it a sled.

This  is a trapper’s hat.

Does anybody use the term toboggan to describe headwear (other than me)?  Yes, the Canadians apparently do.  But they mean a hat that looks more like this

Time

My dad told me once that the illusion of time moving faster as we age is mathematically explained.  Each day of our lives represents a smaller portion of our total life as each day passes.  So for a 3-year old, today is 1/1,095^th of their life.  For a 30-year old it’s 1/10,957^th (give or take depending on leap years).

This makes a lot of sense.  For a child, a single day is a larger portion of their total life than that same day is for an adult. 

When I was younger, summers seemed to go on forever.  And by the time August rolled around, I was ready to get on with it & go back to school.  Nowadays, I blink & the summer is over.

I was thinking about this because yesterday I said to myself, “I can’t believe it’s snowing already.”  I actually took a vacation day on Tuesday to finish cleanup work on my garden before it snowed again.  As recently as a few years ago, I felt like there was sort of a calm month or so that bridged the gap between the end of summer & fall.  I shouldn’t be surprised that it’s snowing in early November.  And I shouldn’t be surprised that it’s already November.  Yesterday literally could have been Labor Day for me this year & I’m not even sure what happened in the meantime.

Do you ever feel this way?

Halloween

I had two epic Halloween years before we moved to Denver.  That move marked the end of Halloween for us (I was in kindergarten) as we went to a church that didn’t acknowledge the holiday.

I feel much worse about it for my sister who never got a proper Halloween.

On my first Halloween, I went trick or treating with my grandpa (my mom’s dad) in their town which was about 30 miles from our farm.  Since it was a larger town, it was much more conducive to door to door treating.  I dressed as Casper the Friendly Ghost with one of those plastic masks that strap around the head that don’t seem to be as popular anymore. 

Anyway, my grandpa was kind of famous lover of free things which I’ve blogged about before.  I think a lot of this was due to his growing up during the Depression and thus going hungry & living out of a tent most of his young life.

So he obviously loved the idea of free candy.  I don’t know exactly how long it was, but we trick or treated for HOURS.  Every so often, he would empty part of my candy into a sack in the car because he thought it would cause people to be more generous…and it worked like a charm!

The next year, mom made me a Smurfette costume.  It was kind of fabulous.  I don’t remember trick or treating, but I do remember going to a Halloween party at our church.  They had all kinds of booths & things kind of like a carnival.  I distinctly remember going to one of those where you put a fishing rod over a wall & then some hidden person behind there attaches a prize to your hook.

Having been fishing a lot at that point in my life, I was dubious about the time it would take to fish at this booth & the lucrativeness of what I could catch.  But I tried it anyway.  I cannot tell you how shocked I was that within seconds of casting, I came up with a stuffed animal.  Of course, I had no idea about the mystery person behind the wall. 

It was such a big moment for me that it kept my interest in fishing piqued for a few more years before I finally succumbed to the boredom of it all & gave up.

Back to that first Halloween trip, the Casper one, I actually made a few stops in my hometown before hitting up Vernon:  to my grandparents there and a few family friends.  One of the stops was to the home of Willard Traweek who worked on the farm for my granddad. 

He’s one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met which says a lot considering I knew him when I was so little.  He had no children & had been a widower for a long time.  He was told a few days in advance that I’d be stopping by to trick or treat & that he should be prepared.

He ended up buying me a doll that came in a cradle.  He bought it at Gentry’s which will be of interest to the few readers who have been lucky (or unlucky) enough to set foot in there.  Afterwards, everyone kind of made fun of Willard for getting me a doll rather than candy.  And from his response, it was clear he had really wrestled over what to do about the whole Halloween ordeal not having much experience with kids.

Roadkill Rooster

About a year ago, I decided to convert primarily to farm-raised & organic meats.  I haven’t blogged about it much because I’m not militant about it.  I’m not going to give you a condescending face if you serve me a burger from King Soopers’ meat dept.  But I began to feel, particularly when it comes to beef & chicken, that we should make better choices.  And I feel even more fortunate that we can afford to make those better choices…because organic meat is not cheap.

I was lucky enough to buy a ¼ cow from my sister-in-law’s family right here in Lafayette, CO.  I have all the ground beef I could want, but when I need beef cuts that I’ve already run out of (like Asian cooking staple: flank steak) or chicken, I head to Marczyk’s Fine Food.  This specialty grocery store on 17^th & Clarkson is also an old-fashioned butcher shop.

They have a lot of great stuff but one of my favorite things is their Roadkill Rooster.  It’s a semi-deboned marinated whole chicken.  It’s cut so it lies perfectly flat which is great for grilling & baking.  At $5.99/lb, it’s not cheap.   But to me, it’s a small price to pay to avoid the whole deboning debacle.

My local King Soopers doesn’t offer enough organic chicken so I rarely even look for it there.  And I only get organic chicken from Whole Foods in a pinch.  I find their breast cuts to be really sloppy, often with fat & dark meat on the underside.  And for what I’m paying, it’s not worth it.  If I can’t make it to Marczyk’s, I like Vitamin Cottage’s pre-packaged chicken, mostly from Boulder Natural Meats.

Marczyk’s offers other pre-marinated meats & they have great cut steaks.  They also sell produce from local gardeners.  It’s hard to pass up their desserts or their premade burritos & sandwiches.  And in Trader Joe’s fashion, they have an adjoining wine shop.

Marczyk’s also carries a couple of brands we’re obsessed with:

1. Boylan’s Rootbeer – This is the husband’s fav
2. Noosa – This Australian style yogurt made right here in Bellvue, Colorado at Morning Fresh Dairy is AMAZING.  It’s available nationwide but few stores carry the full line.  If you’re not already addicted, you should try it.  Seriously, it’s like ice cream.
3. Savory Spice Shop – They carry some of their more popular spices & blends.
4. Peppadew – South African piquant red peppers.  Yet another indication that a culturally influential style maker secretly reads this blog.  Because as soon as I started talking about them after my South African vacation, they’ve been slowly cropping up on menus.

(I personally don't feel that organic pork or turkey products are a necessary investment.  For seafood, I go to an honest to goodness fishmonger.)

The Walking Dead - Season 2 Begins

This Sunday marked the second episode of season 2 of The Walking Dead (AMC).  The show has already been renewed for a 3^rd season.  So if you’re not already hooked, now’s the time to join in.

I’ve never watched any zombie shows or movies before so this is my first zombie experience.  I fast-forward through a lot of the gory stuff & the intense you’re-about-to-be-surprise-attacked scenes.  But overall, I like a lot of things about the show.

One thing I’m ambivalent about is the slow pace of the show.  It took FOREVER for Rick to be united with his family in season 1.  And now I feel like the Sophie & Carl dramas are going to play out all season along with the bizarre love triangle which I’m so over.  After last week’s ep, I fully expected Sophie to materialize this episode.  But they hardly even mentioned her this time.

I think WD has done a good job of capturing some aspects of post-apocalyptic life:  lack of communication, signs of looting, rapture-esque scenes with cars, etc. abruptly stopped in the middle of the highway.  However, I’d like to see more. 

Readers, please contribute to the list below.

Terrible Side Effects of a Zombie Apocalypse

1. Zoo animals roam free
2. Overgrown weeds everywhere – This really annoys me about The Walking Dead.  It would take just a few months for the weed situation to get out of control.  WD’s world still looks very neat & clean…aside from the walkers.
3. Sewage, trash & waste nightmare – With a total infrastructure collapse, I’d expect at least one person to remark, “Wow, it really stinks nowadays.”   And with that in mind, where are Rick & the crew getting potable water from?

If you watch the show, which of the main characters do you predict will get zombie-fied this season?  Who would you like to see cross over to the other side?