Yuck

After many years of eating, I've finally decided that I just cannot appreciate the taste of two things: cannolis and chopped olives on pizza. Those who know me well know that I will eat just about anything. But after giving careful consideration to every type of food or animal part I've ever put in my mouth, these two foods do not bode well with me.

Cannolis - it's the ultra hard crunch of the shell and the whipped cream-like center that has me wanting to spit it out each time I take a bite

Chopped olives on pizza (not to be confused with whole olives) - something so darn nasty about dried up black olive pieces

Here I go

I can't believe that our now socialist country has come down to the President stepping in on issues as minor as local police enforcement. Last time I checked we still have an outrageous healthcare reform plan to fight about.

Situation: Harvard professor Gates arrives at his Cambridge home in an upscale neighborhood to find that he's locked out. Bangs door, struggles to get in. Neighbor calls police to report possible break in. Police arrives at home and asks for Gates' identification. Gates refuses and accuses officer of being a racist. Gates becomes irate and is arrested for disorderly conduct.

My conclusion: Arrest was unnecessary. But there's a bigger picture. Gates, an educated black man and professor of race relations, turned a non-issue into one of race by refusing to show his ID and made racial accusations when police officers were following standard protocol in response to a call. This behavior screams deep issues of entitlement and repression for Gates. Isn't that why affirmative action was born? Now bring in Mr. Obama's meddling because this has what to do with him???? Oh, I get it. Obama is a black man so he needs to stick up for his black people. Meanwhile, he's managed to discredit the entire Cambridge police department as well as law enforcement in the rest of our country. Why does a frustrated black man involved in a minor, albeit unnecessary, arrest become another excruciating evaluation of race in America, not to mention days of air time on CNN? Doesn't our President have bigger fish to fry right now? A recession to reverse? And doesn't his wife's new haircut deserve more mention?

The details if you care: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/us/politics/25gates.html?em

Rush Limbaugh vs. Sotomayor

What is up with Obama’s nominees?!

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said in 2001: “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”

Then, recently after Sotomayor broke her ankle, Limbaugh said: “I hope she can find a wise Latina doctor to set that ankle, as opposed to an average white doctor, because the wise Latina doctor has much richer experience with broken ankles.”

Don’t tell me that wasn’t clever and funny. Virtual high five to Rush. Say NO to playing the race AND sex card the same way you would say no to drugs.

Round 10000 goes to Rush.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

This was a recommendation from a friend. It’s a history lesson (at least for me), the answer to all unfortunate victims of A.D.D. and the quirkiest text since The Importance of Being Earnest (to me!), all in wrapped in one. I’m halfway through the book and find it a delight to read. Thank you, friend!

Don’t be intimidated by the strange title. I can barely say it myself.

Sushi, Beverly Hills style.

It’s an art what these sushi chefs do. A four-hour marathon of a meal at Urasawa ain’t a joke. This chef was a trooper.

Fresh wasabi root:

 

Caviarrrrrrrrrrrrr…could’ve licked that can dry.

Where the caviar went:

 

Silkiest tofu…in a sac. I don’t know what else to call it.

 

Cooking liver in the broth:

Seared Kobe beef fresh from Japan:

Even a slice of melon can look fancy. Them Japanese…

Best Chinese Food in the Pacific NW

Actually, it’s in Vancouver, BC but who wants to concede to the Canadians? If ever in the area, go to this restaurant for either dim sum or dinner. But come pick me up first on your way up.

Alaskan king crab steamed with loads of garlic and green onions:

Just a teaser for more food (and other) posts to come…

The best thing since sliced bread…

…is Whole Foods artisan bread! The classic French Loaf sourced from La Brea Bakery makes me weak in the knees. Piping hot, crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. The golden crust and sweet scent is, in my opinion, otherworldly. If I were down to my last two breaths, I would use one up to eat this bread. And when I make it to wherever my ancestors are after life on earth, I hope that they welcome me with freshly baked bread.

The baker at WF offered to bake one up for me when I couldn’t find a warm loaf. Man, would it be too greedy and spoiled to ask for this every time from now on?

The second this loaf of bread was in my hands, I was all over it. This is what it looked like by the time I got home:

 

Today was one of those fail-at-everything kind of days. Failed to buy the right curtains for the living room. Failed to find the right fabric at the fabric store to make my own curtains. Failed to find the right color to paint one living room wall in an attempt to brighten up the living room because I failed to find the right curtains to do the job. Failing bites. So I pulled into the Whole Foods on my way home for some comfort. And comfort I got. Mac and cheese and shepherd’s pie at the hot food bar. And this French bread. And I got to grind my own peanut butter. Ahhhhh. What retail therapy does for some is exactly what food therapy does for me. I went in somber and came out renewed!

Eating out of a (toilet) bowl

To poo or not to poo, that is the epicurean question in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Modern Toilet, a chain of toilet-themed restaurants, is raking in piles of dough serving Asian fare out of toilet bowls. Guys, I don’t make this stuff up. Sizzling soup and spaghetti served with a side of poop. Customers sit on toilet seats in a public restroom-like fantasyland. That is ingenuity beyond my wildest imagination. Why didn’t I come up with the idea of serving ice cream shaped like feces out of toilet bowls in a restaurant with urinals abound? 

By the time cool news like this makes it around to ME, I guarantee it is already old news. But I still TOTALLY want to check it out!

Say what?

Recently, I caught Jon saying things to me that didn't sound quite right but it was funny.

"Honey, you have the potential to be SO much cooler than you are now." (In reference to our extremely polarized views on movies)

"Sometimes I think you have some loose screws in your head." (I don't remember why he said this, but I had to laugh)

Win-win

A recent episode of Oprah got me thinkin' about compatibility and here's what I came up with:

I like doing laundry. And folding. And ironing, too. But I despise putting it all away. Jon happens to ONLY like putting clothes away and dislikes doing everything else.
Dude, I hit the jackpot. Wait a sec, maybe he did! ;)

I like to wash dishes by hand. But I despise loading the dishwasher because trying to make everything fit stresses me out. Jon happens to ONLY like loading the dishwasher.
Jackpot!

I prefer to vacuum. Jon prefers sprinkling the carpet powder before I vacuum.
Sweeeeeet.

I tend to leave my stuff all over the house - one of my biggest flaws. Jon can't stand seeing things out of place and cleans it all up.
Lucky me!