It has come to my attention in several recent NYT columns that "No Problem" is apparently a hated phrase (e.g. the column by Stanley Fish here). I have always liked that phrase, I find that it says "I'll do it, you don't need to feel bad for asking, and your welcome" all in one go. I used it when I was a customer service person. Now I find that people hate it? What? Its kind of shocking. And I can't really think of a replacement I like. I find "Your welcome" a little prissy and overused for my own style. Perhaps "Sure!" But maybe the NYT readership is tone deaf and I should ignore them? Care to share your opinions on the matter?

I just ordered a new lap top. Upon completing the order, we discovered our gas tank is leaking. Not cool, universe. Not cool at all.

I love Martha Stewart. I just do. She is fabulous. I'm green with envy with regards to her lifestyle and talent (and hell, looks- my goodness, she doesn't look her age! She looks better than most 20 somethings). So I read her blog. And sometimes her puppy dogs blog, because it is amusing.

Yesterday she went to Sean "Diddy" Combs birthday party and took lots of pictures. I found this set of pictures she took/were taken of her really charming:
http://www.themarthablog.com/2009/11/partying-in-style-with-sean-diddy-combs.html

And this is also amusing: Coolio's new cookbook.

Still in a bit of a funk. Nothing from my list of complaints has really resolved itself, but at least my TA claimed I was taking his comments the wrong way. Fine. Any way he wants to back off is fine. As long as he backs off. Which he has seemed to.

And I got back from a short run before it rained, which is a blessing counted. I'm running again. I am defying my pained hips. It actually doesn't seem to be making them worse, so what the hell.

I need to write a lecture on colonialism this evening. I have about half of it done and am completely uninspired. Bleh.

Feeling a bit sad about Jeanne-Claude's death. She was 74, lived a very full life and it sounds like she died quickly. Its about as much as one could hope for, really. Still, its sad. I love her and Christo's art, in spite of having negative feelings about their reaction to the person being killed by one of their installations, overall I think its nothing short of brilliant.

Psst! Omaha! Check the art of this gal out: http://www.themta.com/lauraminer/
She's all about photographing food, sometimes in odd locations. Some of the food shots remind me of your close ups.

And on another food photo note, while I consider this (Ralph Goings' 2005 "Coffee and Donuts") to be a worthy photo, I do not consider it to be a $314,500 photo. And only taken in 2005? Come on. The art market seems as random as the stock market. Can y'all explain this one to me? ETA: Explained! Courtesy of nex0s Its not a photo, its a painting. Which makes the price make much more sense.



Did y'all hear there is water on the moon!? This is important. Google thinks its noteworthy enough for a Google logo. And it gives me hope I could actually be a terra former, which is like my secret dream job that doesn't exist.

This is a very cute site. Better than the People of Wallmart, more good natured and fun.

http://wafflepeople.com/

Home again home again and at loose ends for dinner. The hubby is trying out with a funk band this evening, so I was solo for dinner.

I just tried a new recipe yesterday from the Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook by Fuschia Dunlap. General Tsao's Chicken. It turned out well. So did the cream cheese wontons I made. I finally nailed the filling that I like so well at the Lotus in Mpls. Curry powder and a wee bit o' tomato paste. I had been missing the tomato paste. I am planning on making more things from the cookbook, the recipes are straight forward and the ingredients are easy to find at the Asian market. At first I thought that the recipes were too simple in the flavorings, but the order of operations in frying does seem to have a strong impact, and the steps she gives are different than the ones I would put things in, even if the ingredients are the same. One flavor combo I really like, and I never would have thought of this on my own, is frying bacon (just a wee bit) with tofu. It gives the tofu a great smokey flavor. Its weird though, the vegetables and the meat dishes seem really separate. I just go ahead and add veggies. I guess if I was a real Chinese chef I'd just be doing multiple courses (I've noticed this same phenomena in Indian cuisine as well...).

The upshot of all this is browsing through the cookbook gave me a notion for an eccentric dinner.

Soaked rice noodles, two handfuls, drain when appropriate
Peanut oil, 3 tbs
A wee bit o' bacon
Handful of crushed pecans
1/4 cup frozen peas
Two dried red chilies, minced sans seeds
Quarter sized ginger slice, minced
Green onion, green parts, twee slices
Sauce: 1 teaspoon tomato paste, 1/2 teaspoon light soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce, capful of brown rice vinegar, 1/2 or less teaspoon brown sugar, 3 tablespoons water

Heat peanut oil on highish heat (which may need to be adjusted down as you go, but it should stay highish at least) add bacon and pecans, brown them up. Add chilies, 20 seconds. Add ginger, 20 more seconds. And peas, expect crazy oil spittings, let that go 20 seconds or until the spitting stops. Then add rice noodles, expect more spittings, wait till spittings subside make sure to keep them moving or they'll stick. Then add sauce. Wait till sauce cooks down (it will, fast) add onion and keep cooking till the noodles are as soft as you like em'. (you may have to really work and add a bit o' water or more peanut oil to keep the noodles from sticking to the pan). Eh voila!

A lot of folks on my friends list seem to be being dragged through it as of late, a lot of no fun being had by all. I'm sorry peeps. I myself am in a funk, but it isn't really an externally caused funk, for which I count my blessings.

I've been finding this song, "A Glorious Dawn" really soothing. Its far better without the video, just minimize the browser. Not that Carl isn't a handsome fellow, but really, better with no pictures. Yes, yes, its geekerific. Cope. It makes me sappy.
http://elbo.ws/video/zSgiXGELjbc/

Thanks everyone who came to our Gothic Luau Housewarming. I had a good time. I hope everyone else did too. Thanks to Joel for all the pre-party help and for wrangling the kabobs. And thanks to everyone who gave us thoughtful and pretty gifts.

I promptly got a cold after the party. Go figure. So I'm working at home today.

I made a nice eccentric lunch today- soup, because I'm sick.

Ze recipe:

One and one half cups water
A dab of better than bullion chicken flavor (miso would probably work)
One half cup coconut milk
Handful of frozen shrimp
3/4 cup chopped frozen spinach or other veggies
1/2 teaspoon red curry paste
1/2 teaspoon cardamon seeds
Small amount (about a quarter diameter grab) of angel hair pasta, broken up into inch sized strands
A dab of Indian style pickled ginger or hot sauce over the top

Add everything to a pot except the hot sauce. Warm up (it can boil) until the angel hair pasta gets soft enough (this will happen faster than you think). Then its done. Yum yum.

Damn lying tummy. I had a conversation with it this afternoon which went like this:

Me: We have to eat, tummy. What's it gonna be?
Tummy: I'm upset.
Me: I know, you've been upset all day. We still have to eat.
Tummy: No.
Me: Come on, tummy, be a sport. We have to eat.
Tummy: NACHOS!
Me: Tummy, are you off your rocker? Nachos? Really?
Tummy: Nachos nachos nachos. With sour cream.
Me: Tummy... you are fooling me.
Tummy: I'm an innocent tummy. I want nachos.
Me: Are you sure? Really sure? This isn't going to make you more upset?
Tummy: Give me nachos. Now.
Me: Ooookay, we'll get nachos to go and sit in the botanical garden.

Now the Tummy is upset. Big time. Stupid tummy. Why did I listen to it? Its like a bad two year old or something equally irrational.

I was sitting on my couch in utter lassitude, enjoying the view of rain and fall leaves. Then I started getting hungry. And I didn't know what to eat. I considered just getting a glass of wine and continuing my couch meditations. However, in an act of great fortitude, I foisted myself off the couch and into the kitchen for eccentric lunch making. Today's eccentric lunch recipe:

1 teaspoon bland oil (I used grapeseed) plus 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Some frozen veggies (about 3/4 cup, not packed) I used broccoli and peas
Four or more small frozen shrimp (optional)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 to 1/2 teaspoon Indian style pickled ginger (ginger/hot pepper/garlic powder would work fine - though I highly recommend the Indian style pickled ginger if you can find it, its a great condiment)
A smidge of Better than Bouillon chicken stock stuff (a dash of soy sauce would be an okay sub)
A scant 1/4 cup water
Handful of rice noodles

Heat up oil
Add veg and shrimp
When veg and shrimp are defrosted a bit, add tomato paste, boullion, pickled ginger
Stir up, and add rice noodles (if the rice noodles are not short, break them up)
Add enough water to get the rice noodles coated/not quite covered
Periodically stir and adjust water till the rice noodles are soft

Eat up! It was yummy.

I am debating applying for this editor of the food section job... even though there is not a snowballs- well, you know the phrase. I do think other folks on my friend's list might be interested in it as well, so here is a link to the advert about it.

I'd be buying up all the candles and statuary and well, everything DL & Company have for sale. Good grief, yo. Waaaaant. And this candle set is just inexpensive enough to be in reach, but not unless I was good and drunk or something... dang, can't justify it. Still though...
http://www.dlcompany.com/catalog/assorted-gift-set-6-1-oz-candles

ETA: They have a cheaper line, but its not as pretty... I think perhaps I will gift a sampler to myself at some point:
http://www.modernalchemyco.com/catalog/modern-alchemy-gift-set-black

Three Ilex vomitoria (Yaupon holly) trees, one Mayhaw tree (Crataegus sp.- a kind of hawthorn), and several black berry bushes (Cherokee and Kiowa varieties- according to the USDA, those varieties are good for the area). I'm really excited about them. Yaupon holly is related to Ilex paraguensis, or Yerbe mate, and as such it has caffeine. If the world goes up in smoke and I have to subsist from my yard, I will at least have a caffeine source. The mayhaw is a really cute tree whose fruit are edible (in the way persimmons are, you have to cook them and sugar them but they are supposedly tasty). The black berries... I'm not sure about them, I couldn't figure out the perfect place to plant them. We'll see how they do. They were cheap, so worse case I get some more and try a different spot.

After I get my order of bulbs (I'm trying to keep most things I'm planting edible, but I can't resist bulbs) and stick them in the ground I'll be done with the planting for this season. Erg. I say that and then I remember I wanted to get a witchhazel in the ground if possible. Hm. Most likely done with planting, but if I find a good witchhazel that'll go in.

The next projects will be building some garden beds and fencing them, which is big, but the deadline is by the end of February, so I think it'll happen.

Ah. It is good to be Queen. At least that's how I felt, briefly, just now. I know I'm not the Queen. Don't worry I haven't gone barking mad. Yet.

I just spent my whole monthly lunch budget in one go at Lime and Basil but dang, so worth it. I love Vietnamese Coffee. If I am feeling groggy and out of it, bam! back in the game after a Vietnamese Coffee. I expect the bulk of my good mood comes from that coffee. And skeeving off work. And sitting in this plush chair in the honors student lounge (shh! I know I'm not supposed to be here, but they don't!) in front of a fire place with a fire in it on a cool day. So flipping nice. I need to hang out here more often.

I should go to the archeology colloquia in a few minutes. Boy howdy do I not want to. Bleh. I may skeeve it off too, and just work on my CV and research statement instead. And I have test regrades to review. And a syllabus to revise. Why, its a miracle, but that colloquia is suddenly looking rather fun. Sigh. I am scared that if I do go to the talk I'll fall asleep in it, which would be faux pas city.

Should I vote? Its local election early voting time here. I guess I'll need to re-register and figure out if I can still vote early on campus? Erg. Not sure I care enough. Even the local liberal paper, the Indy was like "All the Hillsborough candidates are fine or the elections aren't contested..." so it really feels silly to bother. If I was a Chapel Hill or Carrboro resident I'd probably bother.

I have lost my keys. And its pledge drive week on public radio. The loss of the keys is worse, obviously, but damn, insult to injury there NPR.

The only thing redeeming this day are the kittens playing across the street in view of my window.

I may lock myself out of the house and go on a walk anyway. Provided the hubby comes home, he can let me in. And he wonders why I've been so negative lately... its because I'm buried under an avalanche of petty problems. Like losing my keys.

Bleh.

So pretty out. Thank goodness my computer is still working. Blessings counted.

I just did the "Tony Tony Help Us Now!" evocation. I'm not Catholic, but I like that one. We'll see if it helps.

I'm really pissed off with my feline companions at the moment.

They (we suspect Engels) are pooping in studio and office rooms if we leave the door open. I don't know what's up with that, its only something he's done if he's ill and I don't think he is.

This morning the cats went on a tear, zipping around the house and crashing into things. Amusing when they were kittens, but they weigh 14 pounds and are large fellows now. And they managed to knock my laptop off the couch onto the floor. Something made a cracking noise, but it seems okay, so whew. It works, but suffice to say that the USB drive I just bought to back up my current projects and PDFs is being put to use right now.

And the cats are sooo neeedy. They will not leave me alone. Which is endearing, but I'm getting a bit sick of it. (this is the sort of thing that make me think perhaps children are not the best idea for me- if having cats jump on me is too needy how in the hell would I deal with a kid?)

I'm starting to think kitty prozac is the answer. Or another animal in the house so they can be distracted by it. Boredom may be playing a role here.

Okay, I'm not. But you knew that. I still like my new LJ icon. Thanks Reuters photographer dude (Luke MacGregor) for snapping such a nice shot and the NYT for putting it up.

Our mail is now arriving. I was about to get very desperate about it. Thankfully I don't have to now. I did manage to burn myself on a torqued screw pretty badly while assembling the mailbox. Good grief. But having mail is worth my sore finger.

Finished doing data entry and compiling test grades for my class today. Another perfect curve, with a B- average. Perfect. I'm so good at writing tests. Its probably my best teaching skill and the only one I'm really proud of.

I must measure and hang things this weekend. Like a toilet paper holder. This house is beyond ridiculous at the moment. Boxes must be denuded of their contents and pitched, as well. And I should build shelves.

We are having trouble with our cat, Engels. He is pooping and peeing out of the box. I think it may be because I'm spending a lot more time out of the house and he is having separation anxiety. Or the move has just made him bats. Sigh. Regardless, we are having to keep the cats out of carpeted areas until this phase (I'm erring on the bright side and assuming its a phase) blows over.

I love fall. I hope everyone gets to enjoy some nice fall smells and colors this weekend.

I've been trying to come up with non-profit sorts of ideas. I figure, okay, academia isn't providing me with a full time home, and neither is CRM, maybe I should think about starting something. I listened to a talk that the founder of the "Save the Highline" project in NYC gave, and I went, huh, maybe I could do something. But what? So I'm pondering.

One direction is using native plants for food gardens in the Piedmont. So designing food gardens for peoples yards and setting them up. I'm actually not that into this one, because I need to work on some things (experiments in my own yard, etc.) and concepts before I jump into it. But I've had a couple of people suggest that I should do this, so I figure its worth pondering. Its on the stove top.

And today, I was listening to The Story, which normally sucks but today Mr. Gordon had a Native American man who was working on changing his tribes diet by restore Native foodways and it was actually interesting. And there was an article in the NYT on Jamie Oliver working to change an obese town's diet. So I was thinking about this and I thought, hm, the a large barrier to success is these situations is that people don't actually know how to cook. And it shouldn't have to be Jamie Oliver telling people how, it should be people in each others kitchens. So what about setting up a mentor-ship program? Matching people who have confidence in their cooking skills with people who need or want to improve their diets but don't have skills. Perhaps providing a 50 buck food check for them to go grocery shopping and make 5 meals. And maybe some tutoring on nutrition to make sure the mentors actually have a sensible background.

Anyway, so those are a couple of things I'm pondering. I hope I'll add to that list. Simmer simmer... we'll see what cooks, if anything.

[Edited to switch out NGO for non-profit, which is really what I meant... oops]

They are going to end Gourmet magazine.

I didn't realize Conde Nast owned both Bon Appetit and Gourmet. Damn conglomerations. Sigh. Gourmet wasn't my favorite foodie magazine, by a long shot, but it had its place. It was especially good at highlighting new restaurants. I got a few good recipes from them. And it had such a long history. Its a shame for Americana.

Well, adieu Gourmet.

On Halloween, Sat. Oct 31st. Its going to be a gothic luau housewarming. We'll be sending out e-vites to the locals soonish.

The hubinator is in charge of this, but he is ill. He thinks he has swine flu. I think the jury is out on that one. But regardless, he's ill so no formal e-vites. I wanted to post though in a "save the date" sort of way.

I seriously hope we make a better dent in these boxes by then. Holy crap is this getting tedious. And the kitchen... is not designed well. I think the cupboards were created by people who expected folks to live on microwave dinners. It needs some help. And we need to hang the gutters. And get the dryer electricity hooked up, with the hubinator sick we didn't get to that today. Aaargh. Everything in my existence is taking about twice the time I would have anticipated it should take.

I have a job application due at the end of the month, which I'm dreading. This means I should really get the article I have in the pipeline submitted so I can list it as "submitted" on the application. Bleh. I don't even want this job, but it'll be good preparation for the application to the job I do want which is is due in December. Its terrible that there are really only two academic jobs I've seen that I feel I match up with. I really need to push my CRM possibilities, but even that probably won't help. Sigh. I'm trying not to think of seeking retail seasonal employment in a little while... but its probably the responsible thing at the moment.