A Festivus For The Rest Of Us

It's already that time of year, and somehow it always seems that I'm taken completely by surprise that it's Christmas. I'm heading up to visit my family for a week today and still can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I have, however, made my place look a bit festive for the holidays. Even though I am vehemently against the commercial and religious ideals of the holiday, I seem to fall into the cycle every year for the sake of tradition. Plus I do like having a Christmas tree and decorations around my place. It makes it feel a bit more homey and comfortable. I believe this impulse for Christmas decorations comes to me also from my parents, who always have the most lavish and beautiful Christmas decorations up for at least two months. My mother, who has mellowed considerably over the past few years, has always been unreasonably picky about her Christmas trees. Although they are always very beautiful, my father, sister and I were never really allowed to touch the tree or help decorate, and if we did, it was always under her strict supervision. The family tree, usually a concolor fir that smells like oranges, is typically loaded with clear lights and covered in crystals which makes it look like it's dripping with ice. Very pretty and show stopping no doubt, but not child friendly nor practical. To this end, we usually had a second tree in the other room which my sister and I could decorate anyway we wanted. Usually with tinsel, colored lights and old-school ornaments. My own tree at my place is just as delightfully tacky and pretty much suits me. It's a hodgepodge of representative ornaments, with the underlying theme or chili peppers. Most of the ornaments have a Latin American or Spanish theme, from the glass mariachi band, to the chilipeppers with faces saying "Feliz Navidad". It also has colored chili pepper lights, with the tree topper a large bunch of chilis. The newest addition this year is the bubble lights, which I was quite excited about. Also around my place I've put up my nutcrackers which are a mariachi band member and a bull fighter, my two favorite Christmas decorations, as well as wreaths made of old book pages, a different twist on Christmas decos. What are some of your holiday decorating traditions? Even though in a week it will be time to take it all down, it's nice to have your home feel festive for a little while.

TV And Sex Go Hand In Hand

My internet is finally fully functional again! I seem to have a problem with "the router staying connected to the internet" so sayeth the tech guy. Well, yeah, I get that. I'm not THAT big of a moron. But how do I KEEP it connected. Well, when this happened for the 4th time, I gave the old ISP techies a call as soon as I got home. He instructed me to type in a few commands, unplug a few things and recite the Greek alphabet backwards while logging on the the internet. I was just planning on a service request, so I hadn't yet turned my computer on for the day. When I did, while I was on the phone with the guy, for some reason, my internet magically connected and I momentarily felt like the world's biggest douche bag. This fellow, however, was quite nice to me and was very helpful. Unlike previous experiences with such people. I've been pretty fed up with this service provider, also the same one who provides the cable, because they have a complete monopoly over all the media connections in my apartment complex. I am unable to get, say Verizon or Adelphia for example. I MUST go with this small company. Which would be fine (especially because I doubt their tech guys would be willing to come out so often every time I can't find the "ON" button of my computer) except for the fact that they only provide basic cable, with no guide channel. This has chapped my ass for quite a while, because I pay a pretty good penny for basic, shitty cable. I know this sounds like a petty complaint, but I'm single, lazy and need digital recording, dammit. Since digital is out the questions for now, I decided to upgrade my package to include HBO and Showtime yesterday while on the phone. A complete impulse purchase, and one that I have never afforded myself before, and I'm not quite sure why. I simply can't wait to watch all the series and movies now that everyone talks about, and looks at me like an alien when I say I've never seen.

On an unrelated note. I heard a pre-teen singing Soulja Boy's song "Superman" the other day. I've liked this song for a while, and has been one of the inspirations to ease myself back into rap and hip-hop music. I am also a grown adult. I had heard the lyrics to "Superman" were a little inappropriate from a couple people, but never really listened to the words of the song until recently. (Who really listens to hip-hop lyrics that closely?) The lyrics seem harmless enough, although "super-soaking that ho" seems to be a popular refrain. Plus I'm always game for the occasional grotesque or racy lyric. I am also a grown adult. I didn't quite get the meaning behind "Supermaning the ho" until I did a little research. If you care to know what exactly he's talking about, check out the explanation on Urban Dictionary. It's pretty concise. It shocks me that I'm shocked by this in a song. I never used to bat an eye at these things. Am I reluctantly turning into the responsible adult I never said I would be? I think what I take the most issue with is the fact that I heard a 12 year old girl singing this song, clueless and peppy as could be. Maybe it's because I now work with this age group, maybe it's because I'm growing up, maybe it's because I actually do have morals somewhere inside me.

Sandra Lee A'int Got Shit On Me

What I believe to be a result of heavy drinking all weekend and no sleep lowering my immunity, I've seem to come down with the flu in the past two days. Of course, working with little germ factories doesn't help either. So I've been popping the Vitamin C and Zicam in an effort to ward off the sickness. Because it's a super busy time of the semester I'm unable to take any time off this week, so needless to say I've been a miserable bitch at work, which is fun for everyone involved. I actually quoted the great sage Julia today when complaining to one of my colleagues "I can't stop bitching!". I am however feeling a bit better tonight and have regained some of my appetite.

Right before I got sick I made a very delicious pan of Stuffed Shells Florentine, which I had been unable to enjoy until this evening. And let me tell you, they were quite YUM-MO! I'm not quite sure what possessed me to make them, and I'm even more puzzled why I had all the ingredients chilling in my kitchen. I think my mother was a bit baffled also, because when I called her to ask her how to make them (which I do for almost everything I cook because I'm usually pretty clueless) she informed me that Sam's Club has excellent stuffed shells in the freezer section instead of giving the recipe.

In other recipe news, I decided to take Elisabeth's advice, and made an awesome meal last week. It was my spin on chicken Marsala with portabello and porccini mushrooms, aspargus and orecchiette pasta in a wine sauce with chicken. It was quite good, and pretty. And as any good chef will tell you, you eat with your eyes first! So I am trying to learn to cook my own gourmet meals, and not be at the mercy of other for a yum-mo meal.

The stray kitty has not been back. Or, that I have seen I guess I should say, since I did see kitty tracks in the snow on my porch yesterday, but no cat. This elates me, because, although I feel bad for the thing in this cold weather, I would not be able to handle it hanging and meowing at my place all the time.

Stray Cat Strut

As per Jen-nay's insightful comment "You're soooo over this blogging thing, right?", I must say that I am not over the blogging thing as much as I'm getting over the internet. I simply haven't found myself turning on my computer for days at a time lately, which is a strange difference from what previously could only be explained as a mild internet addiction. I could never spend an entire day with my computer in the room without checking my e-mail, replying on myspace or googling funny pictures to post. However, now it seems that cyberstalking and blog posts have taken a backseat to other things in my life. I do not want to give the wrong impression that my life has somehow turned more intriguing or busy, just in an internet slump I guess you could say. I would assume, that this too shall pass, and I'll be back on my blogging high horse in no time.

Tonight, when I stepped out on my porch to have a cigarette, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I realized a large black cat was circling my feet. I am by no means a cat person, but I do not hate them. This cat however creeped the shit out of me, and I ran back inside. I'm not sure if it was just the fact that it startled me so much or that I really don't like it, but that cat makes me feel pretty uncomfortable. After I closed my door it sat outside and meowed for a good half an hour. Now, this firstly annoyed me to no end and it came pretty close to driving me into a fury of insanity. But I do also have compassion, sometimes, and the meowing began to tug at my heart strings, and I have been fighting the urge to set some food on my porch for the stray. I do know that once I do that, it will be the beginning of the end, and eventually I will become a cat owner, which I do not want to become. I thought the cat had gone away after about an hour or so, but when I went back out I found him (or her, I didn't care to check) chilling on my porch chair. I'll keep you updated on the kitty drama.

I put up my Christmas tree this afternoon, which goes against my better judgment for many different reasons. For one, I don't believe in the miracle of Jesus, I also hate the corporate mind-fucking of Christmas, plus it's only December 2. But I'm a sucker for tradition and I think Christmas trees are pretty, so a chili pepper tree it is. Plus I got fun bubble lights to put on this year, and I was excited to see them in action. Stay tuned for pictures and more stories.

*By the way, I distinctly remember my parents having this exact statue as part of our holiday decor when I was growing up. Creepy isn't it?

It's Ribbleicious

Some days, usually at a random time, I get the urge to do something domesticated. Today was one such day. On whim I decided to make a pot of chicken soup. Chicken "Ribble" soup to be specific. I'm not exactly sure what the real term for ribbles is, (I've called it that since I was young) but it is simply balls of dough in the soup instead of noodles. It was something my grandmother made frequently and became a sort of family tradition. However, several member of my family, my sister in particular, are repulsed by the ribbles for an unknown reason.

I've never really made soup before and definately never ribbles. I think it was quite a success and gave me warm reminiscent feeling on this chilly and dreary day.

My method was far from "mom and grandma traditional". My mother is somewhat of a purist in her cooking, (and a damn fine cook I might add) and gave me the recipe which included making broth and using cheese cloth to make an herb sachet. I opted out of the sachet. In fact, I'm quite sure my mother would have a small fit if she knew I used store bought chicken broth and chicken breasts instead of a whole roaster chicken. To me, whole chickens always looked like babies being cooked and it freaks me out. Not to mention picking the carcass of a chicken is, to me, one of the most vile things. I did however make the "ribbles" from scratch. Although, I took a more modern spin on the dough and added some spices and herbs to make them a bit more interesting.

One hour, 3 smoke alarm triggers and a messy kitchen later I had a great bowl of soup. I'm pretty proud of the way it turned out, but now have to figure out what to do with the two extra gallons of soup I have for one person. Soup anyone?

Pun-kin Carving Part Deux

I was going to wait and let this one be a surprise, but it turned out to be such a masterpiece I couldn't keep it to myself until then.

I really had no idea I was such a punk-in artiste!

This Is What I Do When I Don't Have To Work On A Thursday Afternoon:

Move Over Martha...

I feel as though I've had quite a productive day today, and that's not a feeling I get too often. So, I'm blogging that. This evening, I rearranged my spare room. As you know, I get on a kick, and I won't let it die. I'm pretty pleased with the new arrangement, but I'm sure it will change. I also returned a pair of pants that don't fit, and bought 2 new CDs, which excites me since I haven't bought a new CD since BMG music club. I got "Sliver" by Nirvana which is a collection of demos of all their famous songs, and "OK Computer" by Radiohead which contains their best song in my opinion "Karma Police". Then I made some kick-ass jambalaya with andoullie and chicken, read through some old magazines and then made cookies! I'm such a domestic goddess tonight. And on top of that, today I taught a cool class about Salvador Dali and why you would have to be on drugs to create and do some of the things he did. All in all I feel pretty good about my day, which is good because I have an entire day of meetings to look forward to tomorrow.

To Wii or Not To Wii, And Other Weekend Quandaries

This weekend, my good friend Shelby came down to visit. Upon her arrival we decided I should buy a Nintendo Wii. I couldn't warrant shelling out the $250 for something I know I would never use (even though we went to three different stores and looked at them, and I have ranted about how much I would love to have one). So we went to Mad Mex, had three "Big Azz" margaritas and stumbled home to put a pretty decent dent into our bottle of Southern Comfort.

This morning, Shelb and I carried out my traditional Sunday ritual by getting something to eat and shopping. It was an uneventful shopping trip, and came home empty handed. So, after she left, I decided I just hadn't spent enough money this weekend, and headed out to buy a futon couch for my spare room (which, by the way, I have made pretty good progress in cleaning out). A few hours, one bloody finger and many "FUUUCK"s later, voila, the new and improved spare room/office/sitting room/parlor:

I think it might be a little big for the room's current arrangement of desk, file cabinet and bookshelf. But I'm pretty confident that with a little rearranging it will work. I did promise an update of the room, so let's take a look at a before pic, shall we?
New dilema in my apartment, my sliding glass door in the living room doesn't lock anymore. I think this may be a little too much for Handy Andy, so I guess the real handy man will have to come take a look at that. And hopefully do something about the nice hole in my screen door a guest put there last weekend. Ok, thanks!