tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67162803721299638122024-03-05T07:54:53.988-08:00Purity and DangerOne must give style to one's character.Arya Snarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06788545435529814811noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-70232975056057949172011-10-22T19:44:00.000-07:002011-10-22T19:44:18.892-07:00#savethesharebros #OccupyGoogleReposting what <a href="http://unlikecomix.com/">@husbro</a> wrote on the <a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/reader/thread?tid=08e63a1af9829a1c&hl=en">Reader help forum</a>. <3<br />
<br />
Dear Google Humans,<br />
<br />
I respect and admire all of you folks who have constructed/maintained/<div dir="ltr"><wbr></wbr>improved GReader over the years that I have used it. That said I am saddened by the unwillingness to leave a functional beloved service alone, in favor of lumping its functions in with G+.<br />
<br />
I will illustrate the depth of my sadness with an anecdote. I have been married to a beautiful and wickedly intelligent woman for slightly less than a year. In a month I will be a father. I had the pleasure of first interacting with this amazing woman through your Google Reader service. I had moved away from my home state to attend graduate school at UT in Austin, about this same time my now wife moved to town. Even though we knew all the same people in Fayetteville, AR, we had never met. Cut to several years later, one degree heavier, and looking for a new place to live and another degree. I had been enamored of a young woman's 'shares' and comments, had avidly followed her posts and wistfully daydreamed about her from afar. We first met at a #sharebro event, scheduled and organized solely through reader might I add, which I attended over a holiday spent in NWA.<br />
<br />
This woman is perfect, smart, beautiful, well-read, has amazing taste, amongst many other virtues. I might never have met her, we might never have had crushes on each other had there been no GReader social connections. <br />
<br />
GReader is the only social media platform that I have ever liked. I joined friendster sometime in 2001, I think. I joined myspace a couple months later. I joined FB (hiss!) while it was still limited to college students. I had a LiveJournal, numerous blogs on social blogging sites, and have probably had profiles on a host of other sites that I do not now remember. So, I don't advance this opinion lightly. I love GReader, I'm married because of Greader, I have friends that I keep up with who live all over the US and in several places abroad because of GReader.<br />
<br />
Right now I just have a shadow of that on G+, I hate the fact that G+ is primarily social and not content-based. I don't care if I know someone or not, I follow people based on similar interests (measured by what they share), similar outlooks (based on what they share), and/or expertise above and beyond mine in any number of areas (also measured by what they share). The only thing I see in G+ is another fucking FB, myspace, friendster, LJ, Beebo, Twitter that I fucking ignore.<br />
<br />
I am 100% certain that even if someone at Google cares or commiserates with me that nothing will change. The priorities are kill all services to force all social interaction to occur on G+, which is sad because G+ is not successful or liked by anyone that I know, apart from people who just switched their status update site to G+ from facebook, and these are the exact people that I try so assiduously to avoid by using GReader. In fact, I hide/unfollow anyone who only shares notes that are self-referential. <br />
<br />
Basically, this is a panegyric. An elegy. A final funeral oration. A fuck you to those who want to kill something that works and try to build a Frankenstein's Monster that will probably choke to death on its own blood. Reader works as is, this move is just a sad attempt to jump-start an already failed Buzz 2.0.<br />
<br />
That's it, I'm done. If anyone cares I'm going to be trying to imagine how to delete G+.<br />
<br />
Best,<br />
Ramey</div>Arya Snarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06788545435529814811noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-52737435628080108782011-02-13T23:12:00.000-08:002011-02-13T23:21:15.968-08:00Happy Valentine's Day, Oscars Style<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8iSV87XsX9spSQgW38HVFqcr0B9aiZMQ1L15fVSEpN-G0h2jcosTFSR40XBZafBRg4jWBj4r_ne5IjgrLf4dA6YWNQ21NfY0zI5liBANBi5YrqKBbdO1tNW1qX5yXDgpHQscVL7objY/s1600/The+Kids+Are+All+Right.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8iSV87XsX9spSQgW38HVFqcr0B9aiZMQ1L15fVSEpN-G0h2jcosTFSR40XBZafBRg4jWBj4r_ne5IjgrLf4dA6YWNQ21NfY0zI5liBANBi5YrqKBbdO1tNW1qX5yXDgpHQscVL7objY/s400/The+Kids+Are+All+Right.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573441804014501250" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4YHkVk_N-oiBJ_KQO8lSwW4L5oX0BoeBBk7n96iS-M864bo3wsy2sHMBGp55cNhsFf1u3AeI2YfUMCTynBz1jYJ2IdGrPEBVvLxKpsRkT-cBXvUHaIIl-lq3rx-ILcxQVYLk90Vcq6jg/s1600/The+Fighter.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4YHkVk_N-oiBJ_KQO8lSwW4L5oX0BoeBBk7n96iS-M864bo3wsy2sHMBGp55cNhsFf1u3AeI2YfUMCTynBz1jYJ2IdGrPEBVvLxKpsRkT-cBXvUHaIIl-lq3rx-ILcxQVYLk90Vcq6jg/s400/The+Fighter.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573441720362449490" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWanIuwUnBJ2QjUtMHX2xYHL0oaIsPy3LrofrG3L_gxLLTVdrjCUJk_FX-TULa8xM3G4bQ7pJnvipYgNyqTEXRERp1-6db1kmXjRTdArsXxTYJbbeY9PW9N9_6CImkPzzFcfYdRWcpq-c/s1600/Black+Swan.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWanIuwUnBJ2QjUtMHX2xYHL0oaIsPy3LrofrG3L_gxLLTVdrjCUJk_FX-TULa8xM3G4bQ7pJnvipYgNyqTEXRERp1-6db1kmXjRTdArsXxTYJbbeY9PW9N9_6CImkPzzFcfYdRWcpq-c/s400/Black+Swan.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573441595355240354" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6tQkGlhjqqeAda1Yi58prVD8di-J1_alXm5wug33w05H0mMU89ZGMZIFVXHzecZDjKvApSSrRZVQiJfmdCqfhXUcmEDhKxuLIR_ghaeJyXEpaeK-0nGvnlIINljpgw2LgAsemFUodoI/s1600/127+Hours.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6tQkGlhjqqeAda1Yi58prVD8di-J1_alXm5wug33w05H0mMU89ZGMZIFVXHzecZDjKvApSSrRZVQiJfmdCqfhXUcmEDhKxuLIR_ghaeJyXEpaeK-0nGvnlIINljpgw2LgAsemFUodoI/s400/127+Hours.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573441515758739186" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjalII7a3t4ibZ-vVhaYvnXOc7NfLbZycVhfiwwSvA-pjIIOlMgar5-arNNkDCEmiKciOpOfMyA15FRElpJALB4i0jozSBnwvKw9M5-0MhcgMvz4ySOMPRdgKfTiYIyPC_ogqq2ymAeZPw/s1600/Inception.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjalII7a3t4ibZ-vVhaYvnXOc7NfLbZycVhfiwwSvA-pjIIOlMgar5-arNNkDCEmiKciOpOfMyA15FRElpJALB4i0jozSBnwvKw9M5-0MhcgMvz4ySOMPRdgKfTiYIyPC_ogqq2ymAeZPw/s400/Inception.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573441417127549602" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hXJzDvPztiTHet3GwwJkMwAuiIbNxU-QGjqdVlY1ap677N7i0l2HQAHCyVIVkyjtaKgVvepg8dbdDFtFapdUYjBiPaGMGzoEOiFkhTEKjTRL3TRRBg-TBYp3Jb9QGcu5kc-fxP1RUo4/s1600/The+Social+Network.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hXJzDvPztiTHet3GwwJkMwAuiIbNxU-QGjqdVlY1ap677N7i0l2HQAHCyVIVkyjtaKgVvepg8dbdDFtFapdUYjBiPaGMGzoEOiFkhTEKjTRL3TRRBg-TBYp3Jb9QGcu5kc-fxP1RUo4/s400/The+Social+Network.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573441280319375058" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqsekvUuwsI0fzBbSF7QrwbZRIkRH11sD1a6-zi8giRBQmkuCrwr7yPP_fOWA8ov3RfBqFBlbmOvY3Oc8W0BDaRl-CpEVb-sjUe35_GpvrRrTfoHzl7dsD3F358QZ4dPa1JSNRdwFZCWw/s1600/Toy+Story+3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqsekvUuwsI0fzBbSF7QrwbZRIkRH11sD1a6-zi8giRBQmkuCrwr7yPP_fOWA8ov3RfBqFBlbmOvY3Oc8W0BDaRl-CpEVb-sjUe35_GpvrRrTfoHzl7dsD3F358QZ4dPa1JSNRdwFZCWw/s400/Toy+Story+3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573441189491225794" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnZU7dID7oaT1rcOZkpwOoLW6ljJgrnyB2efd6ns1wrQtYyU9eL_JEeUvUCP2Dl0UdJFh7S6SEZT-Nvp5pIhV4_Yn3uyKpZVUJnmyzucv-0Lm9igoJWkox6GqRsPJn-pCHd7oH-ukiYj4/s1600/Winter%2527s+Bone.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnZU7dID7oaT1rcOZkpwOoLW6ljJgrnyB2efd6ns1wrQtYyU9eL_JEeUvUCP2Dl0UdJFh7S6SEZT-Nvp5pIhV4_Yn3uyKpZVUJnmyzucv-0Lm9igoJWkox6GqRsPJn-pCHd7oH-ukiYj4/s400/Winter%2527s+Bone.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573440648281269282" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqATePGoHMDu4YnDBtxNznSOIm_zsPFz54JZWgwY4-0lxSE268RL30NQmWm_p3ks5AScGXrC0jQrcumFs8P8HOO8MyGo7ZbjWeWB4_dJXj_TIvYowlH0YeIUvfqSufHV-w9_mYqm8W8Ag/s1600/True+Grit.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqATePGoHMDu4YnDBtxNznSOIm_zsPFz54JZWgwY4-0lxSE268RL30NQmWm_p3ks5AScGXrC0jQrcumFs8P8HOO8MyGo7ZbjWeWB4_dJXj_TIvYowlH0YeIUvfqSufHV-w9_mYqm8W8Ag/s400/True+Grit.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573440543323465954" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSc0J9ppURfY3H4yPg77Il1nHsaw3WZqxvUbeIHPFNZC8kLHJzBY088KGaMZFKNZKy_MgvvlryJ5xVe-qs_L9RxmJDfS8waMV1RdOr8fu8kqVgFnME4uJob_2z6uqaKYvHuqiTX_Hbdgw/s1600/The+King%2527s+Speech.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSc0J9ppURfY3H4yPg77Il1nHsaw3WZqxvUbeIHPFNZC8kLHJzBY088KGaMZFKNZKy_MgvvlryJ5xVe-qs_L9RxmJDfS8waMV1RdOr8fu8kqVgFnME4uJob_2z6uqaKYvHuqiTX_Hbdgw/s400/The+King%2527s+Speech.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573440162702292226" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-55376981270433236152011-02-09T06:57:00.000-08:002011-02-09T06:57:55.968-08:00Werner Herzog Reads The Master and Margarita<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxVITDWw5p7d94oKzcD7H-JcToKCOZTgZcmCzfvkG2F61lzF2pgu28-4tXThgH0lJY3Ya8p_FZGqRcfy_xMXg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyPYJuzljLRfYgJnqMwgPgF5GYjCqKgcVBkU7lzmsRD86OBhx3uH398CzMenwivUeBEzqjXsWswPlfgdrEmXQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Arya Snarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06788545435529814811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-14169244801362823212011-02-03T17:43:00.000-08:002011-02-03T17:43:00.712-08:00Warner Hurtzug Reads Things Fall Apart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwEXU6lZeO68roTcLvWJW2jqWnfmyj63ZaEM8Bsx4F-C3GTD_Fu1FJix2e0hwAlBmTrKnPau9ocu_f2CHcQgw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Arya Snarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06788545435529814811noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-34886214745183583522010-12-06T07:34:00.001-08:002010-12-06T07:36:40.679-08:00This happened.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs6cwsaZ2cUGpxMyH1kHm4woRDtbPLAbp-MiSy7KYSRitK0hw-38EOoGiEPVq1V3ADPFJUbFy3xlG5dzdxyt8Ba59q4qsJrCs5S6jAxoi4DAkzqxNEZl2c-iC5cImkG6zMTopHbRPY5gI/s1600/ilovelainegates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs6cwsaZ2cUGpxMyH1kHm4woRDtbPLAbp-MiSy7KYSRitK0hw-38EOoGiEPVq1V3ADPFJUbFy3xlG5dzdxyt8Ba59q4qsJrCs5S6jAxoi4DAkzqxNEZl2c-iC5cImkG6zMTopHbRPY5gI/s320/ilovelainegates.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Arya Snarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06788545435529814811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-15470982737704610042010-10-07T17:52:00.001-07:002011-10-22T15:34:15.180-07:00Google Reader<div style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">@bros<br /><br />When asked to read a five-minute essay about a social space for my Fieldwork and Ethnography seminar, this is what I came up with. (Keep in mind I was trying to explain it to people who have never heard of it.)<br /><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’m being followed by fifty-nine people. I’m following all of them, too; each relationship is more or less reciprocal. All of us routinely visit the bazaar-like space of Google Reader, an online community in the guise of an RSS aggregator. The point of an RSS aggregator is simple: bringing the diverse content of numerous blogs, news sources, and entertainment sites together in one place for convenient, personalized consumption. Google Reader takes this idea a step further by allowing each user to share especially interesting content with friends and to view and comment on content shared by others. As a result, the application is as much a form of social networking as it is a way to catch up on headlines, media reviews, and ridiculous pictures of cats. I started out by following only the content posted by real-life friends and acquaintances--my roommate, my boyfriend, my co-workers, and so on. However, after we commented on each other’s shares enough, we began to notice that friends of friends seemed to share our interests and make us laugh, too. It wasn’t long before my small list of friends grew to include not only friends of friends, but complete strangers. Among my “sharebros” (our term for people who follow each other), I can count a few of the internet hipster blogger elite, quite a few salespeople and writers, a number of musicians, and various academics who represent nearly all disciplines, ages, and regions. Many have become friends as a direct result of our finding common bonds through Reader--sometimes in the ways our research topics intersect, or in a basic shared love of food, fashion, or unusual humor.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Describing the actual experience of Reader is an elusive task, mainly because its contents represent myriad forms of authorship and appropriation that defy easy definition. The interface is simple enough: the source feeds a user subscribes to are listed by title on the left side of the screen, and the user can view a source’s content by clicking on its entry in the list. Immediately above the list of feeds is a list of people that a user follows. It is possible to view each sharebro’s “shares”</span><span style="font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">in the same way; clicking on a person’s name reveals everything he or she has chosen to post. Both the user list and the source list stay in one place; users can scroll through content in the main frame of the window. Whether content is from a blog or a friend, one has the option to “Like,” “Share,” or “Share with Note” on each post. If the post is from a sharebro, one can also add comments; however, “liking” or “resharing” someone else’s content is high praise. Socially speaking, it cements the bond of your shared interests and shows public approval of someone else’s choice.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When I browse Reader, there is comfort in familiar motion. My fingers somehow automatically know to press “J” if I want to read ahead, and “K” if I want to go back to something. Touching the smooth keys of my laptop in repeated, measured form is a kind of cyborg meditation; I’m not clearing my mind, but filling it and training for my day of processing and responding to information. It’s the perfect exercise to pair with drinking coffee. Although I read enough blogs that I rarely have time for them all, beginning my day with headlines, jokes, and camaraderie is soothing. I feel not only informed, but reassured. Staring at a screen before entering the world affirms that wherever I am, I am aware of what’s going on around me and I’m part of an easily accessible, familiar social network.<br /></span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />Users, at least among my Reader contacts, have one main trait in common: we spend a lot of time on the internet and we value very specific informational and cultural literacies. Although we differ on many points, there are some things most of us agree upon, like terminology. “#gg,” for example, stands for “grandma glance.” The term is derived from the Fabolous song “Not Give a Fuck,” in which the speaker claims to wear a throwback jersey “so old it’ll make your grandma glance” (RapGenius 2010). Basically, writing “#gg” on another person’s share is a diss, because it means everyone--even someone less hip to online culture, like a stereotypical grandma--has seen it. On the flip side, if someone awards you a series of plus signs in a comment, you’ve said something supremely witty. But Reader’s not just mindless novelty. Newness is important, but only because it presupposes existing, shared knowledge. We have inside jokes, like malaprops and one sharebro’s bizarre obsession with the JFK assassination. Avoiding a #gg is a bit about prestige, but it’s also about respecting our sharebros’ history together. As friends, we remember each other’s interests, and share things “@” each other with those interests in mind. For example, shares @ me might make fun of my fascination with LaToya Jackson, but they might also be vintage clothing ads that people know I will like, or even links to projects that might help inform my thesis research.</span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br />Most comments are friendly, even in the context of lively debate, and the right joke or insight can even earn new friends. The strange thing about debate on Reader is there’s not much attention to scale; we can fight just as earnestly and fiercely about Morrissey as we can about education reform. And it’s not always polite. Even though I am linked to people I see everyday “IRL” (in real life), I’m also connected to strangers with very different values--some of whom still see the internet as a somewhat anonymous space for recreational antagonism. At this point, most of us try to stay out of the most intense fights. A year ago today, most of us were involved in the worst flame war I’ve ever seen, and I was at the center of it. Unlike most debates, this had little to do with politics or tastes, and everything to do with an innocuous less-than-three-style heart. I’d written the heart on many especially cool shares, but some strangers--friends of my sharebro--said that writing things like that was pointless and irritating. (In this particular case, I had started a comment thread with the far less glamorous "Cooool," but my friend and roommate immediately followed with the ubiquitous heart.) Although lots of people hurried to our defense, the thread somehow devolved into mean-spirited comments about my appearance, and battle lines were drawn according to the old rap delineations of “East Coast,” “West Coast,” and “Dirty South.” People with real life connections stayed loyal to each other online, and a comment that seemed frivolous translated into a lot of IRL emotions. A weird side effect of this fight, though, was that a lot of strangers became friends. When the absurdity of the whole thing reached its logical limits, a guy from New York whom I didn’t know posted a picture of a heart flanked by a city skyline and American flags with the caption “10/7 Never Forget.” Those who either sympathized with me or were simply appalled by the length and intensity of such a trivial fight banded together. We just started making jokes again.</span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br />The diversity of Reader is both its triumph and its curse: we learn a lot, but we also fight over everything. Still, most of us would argue that our engagement is worth the payoffs. Users are able to share content from all over the internet, sometimes of their own creation, and they also can edit and reshape others’ content to be more concise or, occasionally, more funny or editorial. As consumers, we’re appropriating content in ways that amuse each other and critique the world we live in.</span></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br />While some shares are more serious than others, many of us have been able to translate our relationships into useful social connections and tangible public action. Our connections spill not only into other social media like Facebook and Twitter, but also into our real-world lives. During my last trip to New York, I met two sharebros for the first time. We spent a total of seven hours consuming pizza and beer and stories, and it felt like hanging out with any of my other friends. On other occasions, we’ve used Reader as a way to organize academic collaborations across the country, and even mount formal protests on a more local basis. The first ever Sharebro Census was taken a few months ago, and just this week, one guy used our user information to make a map of where we’re all located. Even though I still haven’t met many of my favorite online friends, our relationships are no less real than those I have with people I see in person every day. It’s possible, for instance, to miss people I’ve only ever chatted with. Ultimately, Reader is a highly creative medium for curation. It’s a way of proving one’s own cultural capital by blurring the distinctions between high and low culture, and it forces us to accept a weird brand of democracy. </span></span></div>Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-43883847583157107312010-05-26T09:11:00.000-07:002010-05-26T12:36:58.789-07:00Eclectic LadylandNo recipes or outfits today, but I feel compelled to share some awesome flotsam and jetsam I received from two of my favorite ladies, <a href="http://zugenia.livejournal.com/">Lady Z</a> and <a href="http://professortango.blogspot.com/">Professor Tango</a>. Both have been going on exciting international travels, and both sent me magical presents.<br /><br />The first package contained two books Lady Z picked up in London, complete with instructions that Laine and I use them to further the "ladification of the New World." Here they are:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ0RQjEYKBVcN7ZFDGYvAK1fREtwYhTnGEtTQU64h_6y1NyTxyJBy4Dg9nf5HGTr2dChyphenhyphentqxubnw7ffozj676sMVmUww4fDwA4v7VD-22tBdmG7mxuibRHqgCwcxb3pNi-6kCjy-cnKUw/s1600/IMG_0544.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ0RQjEYKBVcN7ZFDGYvAK1fREtwYhTnGEtTQU64h_6y1NyTxyJBy4Dg9nf5HGTr2dChyphenhyphentqxubnw7ffozj676sMVmUww4fDwA4v7VD-22tBdmG7mxuibRHqgCwcxb3pNi-6kCjy-cnKUw/s400/IMG_0544.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475631415729548018" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Recipes for High Class Cookery</span> is a pretty comprehensive guide to Edwardian cuisine. About half of these things sound delicious, and about half of them sound hilariously difficult and possibly inedible. In any case, it's now required reading for our cooking staff, and I have full faith in their ability to recognize what is #Lady and what is not. In any case, the styling on this book is gorgeous, and the contents are totally fascinating.<br /><br />If you know me at all, you know how much I love my thesis topic (fallout shelters); therefore, it should be no surprise that<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Advising the Householder on Protection against Nuclear Attack</span> has got me pretty excited. It's a little hardcover version of a 1963 British civil defense pamphlet, which was formerly known as <a href="http://www.atomica.co.uk/main.htm"><span style="font-style: italic;">Protect and Survive</span></a>. <span style="font-style: italic;">Protect and Survive</span> was also translated into a twenty-episode series of short films, which in turn spawned countless parodies and critiques.<br /><br />Here, for example, is what the Dubliners had to say:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/I2UpM8Ci_ao&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/I2UpM8Ci_ao&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The other package I got was from Professor Tango, who has been teaching elementary school in Korea since last fall. I wish my job resulted in photographs like this one:<br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeFP4L1p0v_lRQ-2vhj3k8cOf2IQcQFebyNwLLGsVHCy51ioW1OYDYOSGI0AM1TNsx7r_AeNd8kH-6SwB5X0GCDN4w8hXioGS3odPa1bdwf3eFPoKGmi5MNOJz2ijJt3squPnrC8Zqnw/s1600/13457_169884546719_556786719_3355388_5938947_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 343px; height: 458px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeFP4L1p0v_lRQ-2vhj3k8cOf2IQcQFebyNwLLGsVHCy51ioW1OYDYOSGI0AM1TNsx7r_AeNd8kH-6SwB5X0GCDN4w8hXioGS3odPa1bdwf3eFPoKGmi5MNOJz2ijJt3squPnrC8Zqnw/s400/13457_169884546719_556786719_3355388_5938947_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475637270554596706" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">#latfh...OH WAIT NO, THAT'S ADORABLE.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Anyway, the Professor proposed before she left that if people would send her English books, she would send awesome ephemera and treats. I started by sending her <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Slouching-Towards-Bethlehem-Essays-Classics/dp/0374531382/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274896328&sr=8-1">Slouching Towards Bethlehem</a> </span>and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Hard-Find-Other-Stories/dp/0156364654/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274896380&sr=1-1"><span style="font-style: italic;">A Good Man is Hard to Find</span></a>. In exchange, she sent me an amazing haul of insanity from Seoul and from her trip to Tokyo.<br /><br />For starters, there's this CD case:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqCmIVoHdcplWLY9MPoTM6DoK1AoglgHJ64rYAPx-7qNA4sKtGvjuo2cZppew6AYYPiEtlAuI2o85Gub_9but9uM0TRbfy-gXqnpCHSlpmvfxsLnv0NMmlymn8-kr_UaPFjM96JWaXCbM/s1600/IMG_0545.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqCmIVoHdcplWLY9MPoTM6DoK1AoglgHJ64rYAPx-7qNA4sKtGvjuo2cZppew6AYYPiEtlAuI2o85Gub_9but9uM0TRbfy-gXqnpCHSlpmvfxsLnv0NMmlymn8-kr_UaPFjM96JWaXCbM/s400/IMG_0545.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475638915095285826" border="0" /></a></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />And if you think the front is great, take a look at the back:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ6nRK1TzxIq_wYW6EetnfH3CrxTS_qfHkubwl7rxOVnXlDhVWvl5USnFWQ-Sqmgl7bxx2p0QeON2zvsL9SlHJGhl1PskSNhvtizPprkmO0tUxvVzah9QjEwJXbWMgkwI80sz7q7D04j4/s1600/IMG_0547.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ6nRK1TzxIq_wYW6EetnfH3CrxTS_qfHkubwl7rxOVnXlDhVWvl5USnFWQ-Sqmgl7bxx2p0QeON2zvsL9SlHJGhl1PskSNhvtizPprkmO0tUxvVzah9QjEwJXbWMgkwI80sz7q7D04j4/s400/IMG_0547.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475639381565219522" border="0" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">She captioned this one "GIRL U KNOW IT'S TRU."<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">She also sent me this banner from a Buddhist temple:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1N74_xB8csyvD0ib7hRUQETx3JoB8M7y84Yz9J-Md7K5jfKEWIgcfsr1OCEr9MbZ9ML3RjOXIoO5sKhPFyLebnUipmtCUifIJ9krOaNeZmovrlQdDtRaXALwwvTrcYhv2bVDcosD_xg/s1600/IMG_0549.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 413px; height: 573px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1N74_xB8csyvD0ib7hRUQETx3JoB8M7y84Yz9J-Md7K5jfKEWIgcfsr1OCEr9MbZ9ML3RjOXIoO5sKhPFyLebnUipmtCUifIJ9krOaNeZmovrlQdDtRaXALwwvTrcYhv2bVDcosD_xg/s400/IMG_0549.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475640042601704850" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">If any of you know Korean, and can tell me what this says (or at least that I've got it oriented correctly), I would be truly appreciative.<br /><br />Next, there's the candy:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VNoi_HlNpl_3lIVjxHdFdXCgzoEKBtrN0xUyGilzZao2db1xFyW0yInINHQYDc5Sx_tZRPPRVVUWwxV-W2qvKtv0lM9q6QTRrE-_h1bX87jjvsN5h660TMfgZuECXtLVoN8SL3RbFiA/s1600/IMG_0550.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 408px; height: 543px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VNoi_HlNpl_3lIVjxHdFdXCgzoEKBtrN0xUyGilzZao2db1xFyW0yInINHQYDc5Sx_tZRPPRVVUWwxV-W2qvKtv0lM9q6QTRrE-_h1bX87jjvsN5h660TMfgZuECXtLVoN8SL3RbFiA/s400/IMG_0550.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475640753328120146" border="0" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ohhhh, the candy.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">It's true that the little man in the suit with the sword is delightful, and it's true that these look delicious, and it's true that I am impressed that this bag is resealable. NOTHING, however, is truer than Laine's statement that one should never eat what one cannot identify. All signs (except the Japanese, which I cannot vouch for, nor can I find on the internets) point to this stuff being wonderful. My mouth, which is still in shock from the intense bitterness of these candies, begs to differ.<br /><br />Then there was this:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiCjAVUbwxLg1gIj1SKPxVMS8uzUOOap2620Ug193QWPBWLuEtzyR90jM8cc3ho_ZoTLqTlL-mBORb4kqja8O8uIClyigTUxi9FNqu-PacCbxL7_f0BVpLs0duWbQCyZqCCQUaqYOvtg/s1600/IMG_0551.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiCjAVUbwxLg1gIj1SKPxVMS8uzUOOap2620Ug193QWPBWLuEtzyR90jM8cc3ho_ZoTLqTlL-mBORb4kqja8O8uIClyigTUxi9FNqu-PacCbxL7_f0BVpLs0duWbQCyZqCCQUaqYOvtg/s400/IMG_0551.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475642374035697298" border="0" /></a></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sorry for the iPhone-quality photos.<br />The important thing here is that you know that this appears to be LADY-flavored.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The gum itself was a surprising color:<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUF-yWQvF1ni1FsG97rlMq61pYgJnWyO1x8bHQ-gDsQmN9KEpqxPbCJpas6aVK3MwQmPGgNjpD9MBihghhIZ5bXirfp4rEzClCyHaZYlISoHtTUZaO_ewccbAMR4moLHthKZ86OvOr02Q/s1600/IMG_0560.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUF-yWQvF1ni1FsG97rlMq61pYgJnWyO1x8bHQ-gDsQmN9KEpqxPbCJpas6aVK3MwQmPGgNjpD9MBihghhIZ5bXirfp4rEzClCyHaZYlISoHtTUZaO_ewccbAMR4moLHthKZ86OvOr02Q/s400/IMG_0560.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475642895706146882" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It tasted more or less like a mixture of saccharine and<br />roses, which I guess is characteristic of some ladies.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5l-0H1ftPmNpspxBRRjmN2mIA7piZ2vjEhHnjFUl8mB6n-iH65HH2eTwzBo2_4wE_rrE0rJcGK99GL3NCjDK51GOtH42_blT3wyAh4n8HzUxC88Q72ppvjvfFQLctI-KJLP-CRTlqqkc/s1600/the-notebook-poster1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 337px; height: 501px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5l-0H1ftPmNpspxBRRjmN2mIA7piZ2vjEhHnjFUl8mB6n-iH65HH2eTwzBo2_4wE_rrE0rJcGK99GL3NCjDK51GOtH42_blT3wyAh4n8HzUxC88Q72ppvjvfFQLctI-KJLP-CRTlqqkc/s400/the-notebook-poster1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475646339612730658" border="0" /></a>AND NO LESS UNSETTLING.<br />This requires a palate cleanser:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRydR3naGlLiBDxKD2063SeTjcB2mCMNPLY-e2mBtbg1LsZAD35jj2mL1TEuuFYgMcz-gWku3mPZZlymCciF4EiJUjPmWCBtceU80i7AA6iAiEmUNhI5padEYABxP6T3zuji4etj7CEuQ/s1600/regina-george-240x300.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 348px; height: 435px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRydR3naGlLiBDxKD2063SeTjcB2mCMNPLY-e2mBtbg1LsZAD35jj2mL1TEuuFYgMcz-gWku3mPZZlymCciF4EiJUjPmWCBtceU80i7AA6iAiEmUNhI5padEYABxP6T3zuji4etj7CEuQ/s400/regina-george-240x300.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475647781739496514" border="0" /></a>Much better.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The funniest and safest of the candies was this:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYG5HIRNmIvK8P1KRR7zJ0CFt7uV_TYfeWicn5M0Q-LELn8Mu88TLK_ljAXkv8M0Yqqz5UvPAMlt15ci1D_5GCg1ioAYvcp2XeEdKHgf0CWEuyrUsjDCbFVKP_ZldY2R-vwx6IwDAuiQ/s1600/IMG_0561.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYG5HIRNmIvK8P1KRR7zJ0CFt7uV_TYfeWicn5M0Q-LELn8Mu88TLK_ljAXkv8M0Yqqz5UvPAMlt15ci1D_5GCg1ioAYvcp2XeEdKHgf0CWEuyrUsjDCbFVKP_ZldY2R-vwx6IwDAuiQ/s400/IMG_0561.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475652625846773698" border="0" /></a>So, you know, I would recommend getting Crunky.<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And last, but certainly not least, postcards and stickers!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfkSTQfkEgXbBjNLl-0z2ktquH2B0Ghe0tQBm02NJ9ddRZ6wRoFb9VJ2e3AOavM9u70FQv617JCvjw_h8CVdVK0r5OCTr2__UrzbPqSwowGuBPtoS3mSyWdVXtYRQn9ugdf7dX5uK-Kc/s1600/IMG_0555.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 297px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibfkSTQfkEgXbBjNLl-0z2ktquH2B0Ghe0tQBm02NJ9ddRZ6wRoFb9VJ2e3AOavM9u70FQv617JCvjw_h8CVdVK0r5OCTr2__UrzbPqSwowGuBPtoS3mSyWdVXtYRQn9ugdf7dX5uK-Kc/s400/IMG_0555.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475648141121768210" border="0" /></a>Tokyo Cat is from Tokyo!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCp6zeJJyROBGaNumnGYby63LVxfF1GK7W7vlqIq3adA8cmI2rjnr3_BVHn_0b9Zf2fTa8mx35t2DKfKHhqi2LPMwdZvsGsy66j-l18HrKIprMGllJj7MpuTRJAFXROSA77BMuQ0e_ys/s1600/IMG_0553.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCp6zeJJyROBGaNumnGYby63LVxfF1GK7W7vlqIq3adA8cmI2rjnr3_BVHn_0b9Zf2fTa8mx35t2DKfKHhqi2LPMwdZvsGsy66j-l18HrKIprMGllJj7MpuTRJAFXROSA77BMuQ0e_ys/s400/IMG_0553.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475648780606606674" border="0" /></a>And Seoul is full of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfOACVCOJsM">Power Rangers</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVZ6P80-9D_i_Wm2Nou5FE7sd7Zs5rB-Edrg4p04i3ZQbOk-y_w9PFwGobgQZ2h4e3GyK7JqZuL13ZYF5j08sggyXy3r6S5dcc_rRQG8I4vJ2wwUiGPNuPm0xF5gX22UoE0CvpXwMFl6E/s1600/IMG_0554.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVZ6P80-9D_i_Wm2Nou5FE7sd7Zs5rB-Edrg4p04i3ZQbOk-y_w9PFwGobgQZ2h4e3GyK7JqZuL13ZYF5j08sggyXy3r6S5dcc_rRQG8I4vJ2wwUiGPNuPm0xF5gX22UoE0CvpXwMFl6E/s400/IMG_0554.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475649325958972114" border="0" /></a>This is confusing, but as good a time as any to think about that part<br />at the end of <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmkjNb3jiJc">Waiting for Guffman</a> where Corky St. Clair says "OW ARE OU?!"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMehJ6rzWCHu4O36QdDEEFa32jgK09zR9GVMNyXvSN2_LX5T9HmahQfY9Q5meGPt6zvx0SSTahJqtkHmAezZusWLA1I9qppoNqvdByoGT7OaryTRBvxA3XWVP70jKzePnt5ytG9VZ6ifU/s1600/IMG_0559.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMehJ6rzWCHu4O36QdDEEFa32jgK09zR9GVMNyXvSN2_LX5T9HmahQfY9Q5meGPt6zvx0SSTahJqtkHmAezZusWLA1I9qppoNqvdByoGT7OaryTRBvxA3XWVP70jKzePnt5ytG9VZ6ifU/s400/IMG_0559.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475652336306796898" border="0" /></a>Now THAT'S a bookmark.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">And best of all, this giant decal:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1SgSxkSZkp-WIeIF58nFFByD6qVaDNUtR0JBZAD7XTGf5GoVxhFb7eJFELCJLOsXYNTCV3QrUOE8TFeYp50T4xGSQBqQdZF0LgWdwUZhyVlvy-SjFIv8tFU42hflSZo0ULi6NRfxVZ88/s1600/IMG_0557.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1SgSxkSZkp-WIeIF58nFFByD6qVaDNUtR0JBZAD7XTGf5GoVxhFb7eJFELCJLOsXYNTCV3QrUOE8TFeYp50T4xGSQBqQdZF0LgWdwUZhyVlvy-SjFIv8tFU42hflSZo0ULi6NRfxVZ88/s400/IMG_0557.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475652941820057746" border="0" /></a></div>Again, sorry for the photo quality.<br />From left to right, top to bottom: Wonder Woman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman (?), The Rockford Files (?), Charlie's Angels, CHiPs, Fred Savage, Airwolf, The A-Team, The Greatest American Hero, MacGyver, V, The Facts of Life (?), V, Knight Rider (?), The Incredible Hulk, V, The Incredible Hulk, Knight Rider(?)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">This concludes today's jaunt through Eclectic Ladyland. Thanks for the awesome stuff!<br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-47330780505863770602010-05-24T08:38:00.000-07:002010-05-24T10:29:55.620-07:00The End (LOST Spoilers Ahead)I didn't start watching <span style="font-style: italic;">LOST</span> until we had an <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fayettevilleflyer/3233679303/">ice storm</a> about a year and a half ago and I had nothing else to do. I raced through the first season and immediately started watching season five with my friends and filled in the gaps as quickly as possible in what spare time I had. Since then, <span style="font-style: italic;">LOST </span>night has been an institution that usually involves a lot of heckling and homemade snack foods. Even though basically everyone in the free world (except for Shaun) agrees that the show has not achieved its former greatness in several years, the social traditions we've built around <span style="font-style: italic;">LOST</span> have kept us watching. As you might expect, last night's two-and-a-half-hour series finale was a pretty big deal.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Now it seems like the whole internet is in an argument between people who love the finale, people who h8 the finale, and people who are flailing their arms around going, "WHAT? I DON'T UNDERSTAND!" For me, all the finale proved was that Unitarians have a lot more patience for these angsty bitches than I do. It was like being hit in the face with a stained glass version of this:<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://zoecarnate.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/coexist.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 517px; height: 154px;" src="http://zoecarnate.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/coexist.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>and THEN being forced to endure Matthew Fox's crying face (© Claire Danes, 1994).<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">This wasn't SO surprising, but let's be real: <span style="font-style: italic;">LOST </span>is <a href="http://www.osv.com/tabid/7621/itemid/6384/Top-7-Catholic-moments-on-Lost.aspx">totally Catholic</a>. But not in the know-your-catechism, pious kind of way. (Mr. Eko was a testament to that.) It's Catholic in the drunk-on-guilt-and-maybe-liquor, apologetic kind of way, the kind of way that makes you <span style="font-style: italic;">hope</span> it's Purgatory and continues to intrigue you even though you can't really explain why. And the details! There's so many that they could NEVER all be explained, and frankly, a lot of people prefer it that way.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3BXApZf6VDq0X3bISl4syHuauhU7gP7ulLp2VtK_hNhhM5-Q3mwOQ-jupFwYea3MAqbABwB81x3M6Umt3bLS4J8i8l25ehIg_eGduOJ8PPf24SPggeDhRCL1GnFCOmcajcMKdSvPvmc/s1600/jacob.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3BXApZf6VDq0X3bISl4syHuauhU7gP7ulLp2VtK_hNhhM5-Q3mwOQ-jupFwYea3MAqbABwB81x3M6Umt3bLS4J8i8l25ehIg_eGduOJ8PPf24SPggeDhRCL1GnFCOmcajcMKdSvPvmc/s400/jacob.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474874686349720082" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Srsly.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">So, I'm okay with the ending. I didn't love it, but let's face it, it could have been MUCH worse. If I had had my way, it would have ended like this:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CP04mrrpG3w&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CP04mrrpG3w&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object><br /></div><br />And then Hurley and Lapidus would get high and laugh for two hours.<br />And then Ben would say something extra creepy:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:518736" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="configParams=vid%3D518736%26uri%3Dmgid%3Auma%3Avideo%3Amtv.com%3A518736" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" base="." height="319" width="512"></embed><div style="margin: 0pt; text-align: center; width: 500px; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://www.mtv.com/movies/trailer_park/" style="color: rgb(67, 156, 216);" target="_blank">Movie Trailers</a> - <a href="http://moviesblog.mtv.com/" style="color: rgb(67, 156, 216);" target="_blank">Movies Blog</a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Instead, it ended up being like this:<br /></div><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Qj0JDnQIZf0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Qj0JDnQIZf0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object><br /><br />My sixth-grade self was VERY surprised.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I hate Jack and Kate so much. SO MUCH.<br /><br />Anyway, we had snacks. Fish biscuits, fruit salsa and chocolate cake, all on white octagon Dharma-esque plates. Admittedly, the "fish biscuits" were more like <a href="http://www.americansweets.co.uk/ekmps/shops/statesidecandy/images/crackers-potato-chips-nuts-63-c.jpg">this</a> than <a href="http://www.kungfoodie.com/lost-fish-biscuit/">this</a>, but I love cheesy snack crackers, damn it.<br /><br />The salsa is one of my favorites, too.<br /><br /></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpSgCgMWLMJesq4_Ph2N-lqfpZPubxsc33PCYj7oLWi20RkdsJnHumq1zDzfuMabpvXyC11ibxHnsABDwTkoimSkzq8XbEbnvJcyPeip7L4BlX1RQjXalDxn-WH4zY5AgfQ944MS9ukj8/s1600/IMG_0540.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpSgCgMWLMJesq4_Ph2N-lqfpZPubxsc33PCYj7oLWi20RkdsJnHumq1zDzfuMabpvXyC11ibxHnsABDwTkoimSkzq8XbEbnvJcyPeip7L4BlX1RQjXalDxn-WH4zY5AgfQ944MS9ukj8/s400/IMG_0540.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474880901218519938" border="0" /></a>1/3 pineapple<br />1 large mango<br />1 orange<br />1/3 red onion<br />a LOT of cilantro<br />1/2 tsp Marie Sharp's Grapefruit Pulp Habañero Hot Sauce<br />(if you can't get Marie Sharp's, substitute regular habanero sauce and extra citrus)<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The cake was dedicated to our <span style="font-style: italic;">LOST</span>bros' H8K8 Consortium, which is one of the most fun aspects of our group viewings. It bears repeating, however, that Evangeline Lilly, before playing Kate, starred in quite a few Live Links commercials.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CZ6hIEqKR7A&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CZ6hIEqKR7A&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">To commemorate her acting history (because she has such a good acting face), I made this:<br /><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_bl6eT3H9DqeI-9ewUarIlcmoTTu_tjM7TNP8vgqrvillC_ytJxi4RlNKIkqmYsn-QDsJq2Se-734Ku8t2v4A7W6Mp8kLJD7MuFWoNa-hVGUipLEjUbScwMQl1T_4xU0dzGGKVklD9s/s1600/IMG_0541.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 519px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_bl6eT3H9DqeI-9ewUarIlcmoTTu_tjM7TNP8vgqrvillC_ytJxi4RlNKIkqmYsn-QDsJq2Se-734Ku8t2v4A7W6Mp8kLJD7MuFWoNa-hVGUipLEjUbScwMQl1T_4xU0dzGGKVklD9s/s400/IMG_0541.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474883683190003890" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I relied heavily on fondant here, because I H8 it almost as much as I H8K8.<br /></div><br />Anyway, here is the whole spread:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDd94Wgy9DBl8xy8SAzMe_p0YQfFK_QGl1dshcdrmK3SoFauifMMW6AtdFwiAdx8pQ0jZUZ1eufcNRnNp4b6cZJ6pw_9STgEtC2JxmJt_FxqXzcEZUV25tZyNCzLwgRtg__GhIndoDwsE/s1600/IMG_0539.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 515px; height: 384px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDd94Wgy9DBl8xy8SAzMe_p0YQfFK_QGl1dshcdrmK3SoFauifMMW6AtdFwiAdx8pQ0jZUZ1eufcNRnNp4b6cZJ6pw_9STgEtC2JxmJt_FxqXzcEZUV25tZyNCzLwgRtg__GhIndoDwsE/s400/IMG_0539.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474885285684867442" border="0" /></a></div><br />Here is Amy B displaying her intense K8H8:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcxE3_Lp8UxQtE2sotOJY9wsW5CsQ9VOD4Sn9EPYnrfLkDH_O3DfaJ7MOFGC62I7XkxZinBPITO2J-Pup0b1iVGRUiHklCD_cuscNfoKxNRGfV9CGeNSbjRMHjGJ_3RvVBVmwumZiK3yI/s1600/IMG_0543.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 343px; height: 428px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcxE3_Lp8UxQtE2sotOJY9wsW5CsQ9VOD4Sn9EPYnrfLkDH_O3DfaJ7MOFGC62I7XkxZinBPITO2J-Pup0b1iVGRUiHklCD_cuscNfoKxNRGfV9CGeNSbjRMHjGJ_3RvVBVmwumZiK3yI/s400/IMG_0543.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474885678263895234" border="0" /></a><br />And here's what I was wearing:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_zbzX1pVNx8SHrjArdIEQLzy96P0eINV_seZie94pzIPF6fXf_CSxPy3wA6WiStRG_VvxUunj7i07i3A9tvwrgcad3r9G2EeORzx0Rfkn_N3cIeetN27b5qgO-TdrHHyR9jL-iKQCGQ/s1600/IMG_0534.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 379px; height: 506px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_zbzX1pVNx8SHrjArdIEQLzy96P0eINV_seZie94pzIPF6fXf_CSxPy3wA6WiStRG_VvxUunj7i07i3A9tvwrgcad3r9G2EeORzx0Rfkn_N3cIeetN27b5qgO-TdrHHyR9jL-iKQCGQ/s400/IMG_0534.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474886025493033282" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dress: Carole Little Petites (part of an uber-90s skirt set stolen from Mom)<br />Glitter belt: Found it...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTRMzd10LezILifbwm1_c2mPrGJ7oBg0GG64oVMThjnuySbJoh5fSJ7t6V6Lwr_6-mh9RZ4pSDK3XMUyiE0GuAwTOmfR6-Xih9k59VGbsguhulUgZT5yEa1VdIsd9iL6Ld4Y9deMronY/s1600/IMG_0535.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 515px; height: 386px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTRMzd10LezILifbwm1_c2mPrGJ7oBg0GG64oVMThjnuySbJoh5fSJ7t6V6Lwr_6-mh9RZ4pSDK3XMUyiE0GuAwTOmfR6-Xih9k59VGbsguhulUgZT5yEa1VdIsd9iL6Ld4Y9deMronY/s400/IMG_0535.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474887447388979154" border="0" /></a>Earrings: Vintage, inherited from Great-Grandma Irene<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fEjdwIoK_cFsje3X3uXaYtn-DnaYygr8yixo9fyZcxQXH-mDy0H4b4nMLH3tk6OcvIyUHYqtHBEkX3kED7T99mIRJvC740f7y_ZAUcDeU8G_yIMXBsHCVbvP-llL4hjzz4Bu41NEqgk/s1600/IMG_0538.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 514px; height: 383px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fEjdwIoK_cFsje3X3uXaYtn-DnaYygr8yixo9fyZcxQXH-mDy0H4b4nMLH3tk6OcvIyUHYqtHBEkX3kED7T99mIRJvC740f7y_ZAUcDeU8G_yIMXBsHCVbvP-llL4hjzz4Bu41NEqgk/s400/IMG_0538.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474887729766660498" border="0" /></a>Shoes: Antonio Melani<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i43.tinypic.com/mws6qg.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 406px; height: 229px;" src="http://i43.tinypic.com/mws6qg.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>Deuces.<br /></div>Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-86591134636195947232010-05-09T10:15:00.000-07:002010-05-09T14:39:55.242-07:00The Top Ten Greatest Convenience Foods of the Modern AgeFirst of all, sorry things have been so slow around here, but finals week and the subsequent grade-a-thon chewed us up and spit us out, and now we're back. Although we focus on food and fashion, I like to think what sets this blog apart (aside from being at the mercy of the academic calendar) is a willingness to engage wholeheartedly with the lowbrow. Thus, this post is dedicated to that great staple of the school year's end, convenience food.*<br /><br />Don't get me wrong: there are many, many delicious, cheap, and easy** meals out there, but I've tried to narrow it down to the most comforting, tried-and-true favorites. I suspect Laine and I might disagree on several of these. But as far as I'm concerned, these are the Top Ten Greatest Convenience Foods of the Modern Age.***<br /><br />10) Michelina's Fettucine Alfredo<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/71/78/54/10/0071785410501_215X215.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 215px;" src="http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/71/78/54/10/0071785410501_215X215.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Okay, so it's not the best fettucine alfredo. But let's say you're in a hurry and you just want to eat something that is the perfect mix of comforting and maudlin--this is the appropriate dish. Make sure you put it in the microwave for a bit longer that the recommended cook time; this will ensure that the noodles are soft and that the edges are just golden brown and crunchy enough to be totally satisfying.<br /><br />9) Smucker's Uncrustables (Grape)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cdn.hip2save.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/smuckers90-42895_full.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 184px;" src="http://cdn.hip2save.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/smuckers90-42895_full.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />You might be thinking "It's sort of pathetic to purchase frozen PBJ. How fucking lazy are you?!" The answer is totally lazy. And I'll have you know that it's <span style="font-style: italic;">deliciously</span> pathetic. The beauty of these things is that you literally do nothing. You take them out of the freezer, put them into your bag, and by lunch time, they are room temperature. No sogginess, no gooey Ziploc bags--only tender, crustless magic that you can devour in four bites before the heinous student you have to meet with rushes into your office.<br /><br />8) El Monterey Taquitos (Chicken & Cheese, Flour Tortillas)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.viewpoints.com/images/review/2008/224/18/1218498422-04_full.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 237px; height: 207px;" src="http://www.viewpoints.com/images/review/2008/224/18/1218498422-04_full.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I can't remember who the patron saint of drunk college girls is (<a href="http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=341">St. Catherine of Alexandria</a>? <a href="http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=127">St. Jude</a>?), but if ever there were a good offering, this is it. Apparently these taquitos have an Award Winning Taste! I believe it. A friend insisted that we get these one Saturday, and I acquiesced. Ever since, I occasionally crave these, and on those occasions, NOTHING ELSE WILL DO.<br /><br />7) Maruchan Instant Lunch (Lime Chili Flavor with Shrimp)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/04/17/89/00/0004178900115_215X215.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 215px;" src="http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/04/17/89/00/0004178900115_215X215.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So, it's cold outside, you have a stuffy nose, and you have seven pages to write before tomorrow? This little Styrofoam cup (with the addition of hot curry or cayenne pepper) will give you the strength to power through. It has the added bonus of costing less than thirty minutes of campus parking.<br /><br />6) Red Baron Deep Dish Singles (4 Cheese)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSn0VRSZ_dkVCo7TVbl04iLuVpzGqpTbnwD_wdDcocJXJUwjvpKB93wkw-0h2w5AazegMmYIYPQl2avQfNtjBsz-L8t_uKGZO-KlplqrIRXmZKNt1S-flNsHOPbd0QDcaBPEipTlT62IA/s1600/0007218063104_215X215.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSn0VRSZ_dkVCo7TVbl04iLuVpzGqpTbnwD_wdDcocJXJUwjvpKB93wkw-0h2w5AazegMmYIYPQl2avQfNtjBsz-L8t_uKGZO-KlplqrIRXmZKNt1S-flNsHOPbd0QDcaBPEipTlT62IA/s400/0007218063104_215X215.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469344515152194418" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />These are awesome. They taste like what those personal pan pizzas from your high school cafeteria would taste like if your school was trying to piss off Jamie Oliver <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-mYAoWu-O8">for being such a condescending little bitch</a> by making the pizzas even more delicious.**** Put the little cooking tray on a plate, or your microwave will be covered in melted cheese. Delicious, delicious melted cheese.<br /><br />5) Kashi Frozen Entrees Lemongrass Coconut Chicken<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://kashi.com/assets/images/products/kashi_entrees_lemongrass_coconut_chicken/hero.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 207px;" src="http://kashi.com/assets/images/products/kashi_entrees_lemongrass_coconut_chicken/hero.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />For the singular hippie type. Surprisingly convincing as an adequate, tasty meal, as long as you put it on a plate.<br /><br />4) Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/2422500650_48c7987dd2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 132px; height: 193px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/2422500650_48c7987dd2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Perhaps the most famous convenience food of all, and for good reason. Tomato soup and grilled cheese will never not make you feel better. Too lazy even to make grilled cheese? Throw a handful of Cheez-Its in your soup. Seriously, it's upsettingly amazing.<br /><br />3) Morningstar Farms Chik Patties Original<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.morningstarfarms.com/images/ServeImage.aspx?BID=78061&MD5=979b5608387b7c00e57b596b03861584&w=250"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 125px;" src="http://www.morningstarfarms.com/images/ServeImage.aspx?BID=78061&MD5=979b5608387b7c00e57b596b03861584&w=250" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Despite the truly horrible name, the conceptual offensiveness of imitation meat, and the <a href="http://www.wholehealthyliving.com/?p=1212">alarmist horror</a> of those who haven't Wikipedia'd hexane, these sandwich patties are truly delectable. Literally everyone I know, vegetarian or not, is totally thrilled whenever these appear at a cookout. They, too, have an Award Winning Taste.<br /><br />2) Stouffer's Macaroni and Cheese<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoI5V_gv5Y8YEGSkKdCE9fzjqUkOBE1_9eqgFX-AdsVMfu8agIGqQzFIqqxlonW2ZITQz-ZLsxII1596FfLPARNiwGuH8554RNjhyphenhyphenPb4pYZCkRu9eobQmzdIALP2rrBoXobd7bCciKUa0/s1600/ProductImage.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoI5V_gv5Y8YEGSkKdCE9fzjqUkOBE1_9eqgFX-AdsVMfu8agIGqQzFIqqxlonW2ZITQz-ZLsxII1596FfLPARNiwGuH8554RNjhyphenhyphenPb4pYZCkRu9eobQmzdIALP2rrBoXobd7bCciKUa0/s400/ProductImage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469355125147105186" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I don't know why they even bother advertising. Everyone knows this shit is good.<br /><br />1) Eggo Waffles (Homestyle)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.leggomyeggo.com/_res/i/product-images/hero-shots/waffles/Homestyle.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 432px; height: 292px;" src="http://www.leggomyeggo.com/_res/i/product-images/hero-shots/waffles/Homestyle.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />As <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMbtzalS3u8">Tina</a> would say, these are simply the best. When I was a little kid, my favorite part of the day was waking up at 5:30 AM, eating Eggo waffles, and watching <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20BZID081Vk">Jem</a> </span>reruns with my dad. I even sent away for an Eggosaurus watch. When I was in junior high, we had to do this project for math class that involved gridding off the box from some kind of food product and making a larger scale model. That's right: I drew and colored an ENTIRE Eggo box, and I enjoyed every second of it. When I had to take the Little Rock city bus to work the summer after high school, I ran out the door every single day with two Eggo waffles slathered with Nutella and peanut butter and stuck together like a sandwich. Whenever I go home, I eat these for breakfast with vanilla yogurt and fresh berries on top. I guess what I'm trying to say, Eggo, is thanks for all the memories.<br /><br />And for those of you who doubt the cultural importance of convenience foods, watch this:<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yFgVTUle_EM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yFgVTUle_EM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />*CAVEAT LECTOR:<br /></div>I'm well aware that people all over the internet have rants about nutrition, environmental degradation, classiness, and the emotional importance of sharing good food with people you love. While these rants are often justifiable, I am going to admit that I simply cannot muster the energy to care at this time of year. For those that want to judge or tell me that these foods can't compare to their homemade versions (duh), I encourage you to take three classes, teach three, attempt to have a social life, nurse a questionably healthy addiction to putting one's hair in complicated updos, and THEN make me a damned paella. There's a good chance that there are humans who do this, but I'm willing to admit my inferiority to them and/or their robot taskmasters.<br /><br />**I bet you thought I was going to say "your mom." But I won't, because it's Mothers' Day. Hi, Mom! <3<br /><br />***It occurs to me that "convenience foods" is a pretty general category. For the purposes of this list, I've tried to make things comparable by limiting myself to things that are acceptable as a meal. Also, I'm not advocating that you try to subsist on these things; I'm just saying that if you are a consenting adult, you should be allowed to choose what you put in your body, including some bullshit from the microwave on occasion.<br /><br />****I'm all for healthier foods in school cafeterias, and I'll leave blogging on food politics to Laine, who's better informed than I am. However, I'm convinced that it's possible to encourage positive change without resorting to namecalling and shaming tactics.Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-29001895358814282252010-04-19T19:02:00.000-07:002010-04-19T20:01:49.676-07:00Guest Post: Aprilween Capers and Crafts by Amy B<span style="font-style: italic;">This past weekend, Laine and I celebrated our favorite holiday of all, APRILWEEN! Here to talk you through the festivities is our dear friend, first guest blogger, and hostessss with the mostessss, Amy B. Here's what she sent us:</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4533389622_c78dd9a57d_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 578px; height: 433px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4050/4533389622_c78dd9a57d_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Raspberry-blackberry Champagne punch<br /></div><br />It all starts on my vacation to Portland, Oregon, on my way to the 24-Hour Church of Elvis.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4534949122_974c9e6e95_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 604px; height: 453px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4534949122_974c9e6e95_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I was wasting a few hours until a lunch date, and a strobe of pink and black caught my eye-- a Betsey Johnson boutique! I'd only touched a Betsey dress once at Dillard's, so to see a whole store of it, tangible and try-on-able, I was ecstatic. The saleslady was a little too good at her job, and when I told her I really didn't have a lot of money and was mostly day-dreaming, asked me if I had a camera so I could at least take away a picture of myself in my favorite dress.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4534944644_a2f5f6b793_o.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 453px; height: 604px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4534944644_a2f5f6b793_o.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The devil made me do it.<br /></div><br />She brought me more dresses, some awesome rhinestone bow-tie shoes to try them on with, and kept things light, and an hour later I was leaving all of my spending money with her and taking two awesome dresses (on sale!) with me.<br /><br />The problem with buying designer dresses is that 1) they need shoes and 2) someplace to wear them. I tried to remedy the situation while I was still in PDX, and bought a pair of vintage heels with silver/brown leaf applicques and small rhinestones. I haven't worn these yet, as they need some work done on the busted-out elastics.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4017/4536262654_845280e051_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 522px; height: 694px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4017/4536262654_845280e051_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Via some huge thrift shop on Division<br /></div><br />When I got back home, I scoured eBay for a used pair of the shoes I'd worn at the store. Fail! I cannot find that pair anywhere, even on the Betsey site. I did a quick search on eBay and found something better-- silver pumps with a clear plastic upper. (Someone referred to these as stripper heels, but I think they're more like bridesmaid shoes.) I trotted to Hobby Lobby and found both sequined trim and shiny silver fabric, as well as some white lace ribbon to match the blue dress.<br /><br />How to make a bow? I've been pretty averse to bows since I stopped wearing them in my hair, but Instructables had a <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-fabric-bow/" id="pzj6" title="pretty easy tutorial">pretty easy tutorial</a>. The sequined trim looked too much like a clown accessory, so I stuck with the silver, white lace, and some red satin left over from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinosaurhouse/3224072460/in/photostream/" id="ys.d" title="a strange charity craft project">a strange charity craft project</a>. And voila!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4519970166_9c9af46012_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 617px; height: 462px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4519970166_9c9af46012_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Betsey Johnson knock-offs a la Hobby Lobby<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2724/4536254024_3c1a8354e3_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 617px; height: 461px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2724/4536254024_3c1a8354e3_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Blue dress by Betsey Johnson and Lace shoes<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2518/4536256878_884e49f8fc_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 617px; height: 461px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2518/4536256878_884e49f8fc_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Close-up on shoes<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2788/4532500987_ef5fc512d7_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 616px; height: 460px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2788/4532500987_ef5fc512d7_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Cherry shoes!<br /></div><br />You'll notice the over-sized cherry-- that is an Aprilween product. I had to wear my pink Betsey dress somewhere, so a party in my own home seemed a safe bet. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?s=int&w=21263670%40N03&q=aprilween&m=text" id="es-m" title="Aprilween">Aprilween </a>is a tradition beloved by my husband Justin and Sam King. A month warmer than October, this means no coats over your beautiful costume. So as not to eclipse the dress, I choose to simply adorn myself with a cherry hat and go as a cupcake (or a strawberry sundae, if you please). I made red satin bows for the bridesmaid shoes and did a simple papier-maché job on a balloon. Other materials included a coat hanger, electrical tape, red glitter and elastic. Also quite a few layers of decoupage.<br /><br />From Portland, OR to Fayetteville, AR, it felt pretty perfect.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2773/4532536671_20b80dbcb4_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 618px; height: 461px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2773/4532536671_20b80dbcb4_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Pretty pretty please, with a cherry on top.<br /><br />Dress: Betsey Johnson<br />Shoes: Palovio with adornments by A. Brown<br />Earrings: Forever 21<br />Hat: A. Brown<br /></div><br />I am lucky to have friends who not only love costume parties, but the craft of costume-making and organizing. Case in point: the lovely Laine and Dolly of <a href="http://purityanddanger.blogspot.com/" id="f.jr" title="Purity and Danger">Purity and Danger</a> put together a spot-on group costume of the cast of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097493/" id="vwax" title="Heathers">Heathers</a>, including a whole set of croquet mallets, taper candle dynamite, lunchtime survey clipboard and two men in drag to complete the Heather triumvirate:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/4533230314_5eb613f99d_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 617px; height: 462px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/4533230314_5eb613f99d_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Veronica Sawyer and JD:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2714/4533237058_be7d3e9daf_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 623px; height: 466px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2714/4533237058_be7d3e9daf_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Heather Chandler:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2732/4532610999_4356b47f43_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 624px; height: 468px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2732/4532610999_4356b47f43_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Heather Duke :<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4533286434_a3cb58cf91_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 632px; height: 839px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4533286434_a3cb58cf91_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Heather McNamara:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4533239714_5ae25935e7_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 637px; height: 846px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4533239714_5ae25935e7_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Laine and Dolly were also the perpetrators of the Being Sam Kingovitch birthday theme that ran parallel to Aprilween:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2750/4532716047_9386be4b6c_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 648px; height: 484px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2750/4532716047_9386be4b6c_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I also made Justin's costume, The Call Center of Cthulhu, which we came up with jointly. Three colors of green felt, two colors of embroidery and a little elastic:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/4536205744_5c63ddebc1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/4536205744_5c63ddebc1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />and you get an Elder God who still doesn't know where to transfer your call:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4533216174_69641d4f97_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 644px; height: 482px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4533216174_69641d4f97_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />As for food, I spent the majority of my time crafting costumes and putting up streamers. We hit up Aldi for some cheap salty and sweets, and broke out the punch bowl for some raspberry-champagne goodness. The only fancy thing was the trifle, brought by Laine and Dolly [<span style="font-style: italic;">Eds.--And prepared by our friend Andrew, who can make magical treats out of thin air!</span>]<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2740/4533214182_19ed369a39_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 641px; height: 480px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2740/4533214182_19ed369a39_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4533147596_0ab8a1d7b9_b.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 638px; height: 476px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4533147596_0ab8a1d7b9_b.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>And muted streamers and balloons in honor of Sam King.<br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Thanks, Amy! This one goes out to you:<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XavK7i9ppe8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XavK7i9ppe8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div>Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-46395336827024549682010-04-13T06:22:00.000-07:002010-04-13T21:54:22.001-07:00Timeless Frost-ingThis past weekend, <a href="http://thedriveinspeakerbox.blogspot.com/">the guys</a> and I watched <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014809/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Until the Light Takes Us</span></a>, an awesome documentary about the aesthetics and infamy of Norwegian black metal. For those not in the know, this includes murders, church burnings, and making necklaces out of your dead friends. This includes, above all, being an EVIL MOTHERFUCKER (really NSFW, but crucial):<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZlKzlfqmzpQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZlKzlfqmzpQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Okay, so not like that. But it IS equally exciting. I kind of wish I'd seen the movie before we planned our film series on identity performance, or I would have insisted on its inclusion. According to the elaborate mythology surrounding black metal, these guys are basically committing hate crimes, but it seems to be more out of an escalating game of one-upsmanship more than any strongly-held ideology. I don't know enough about the history of metal (Laine is much more knowledgeable on this subject) to give this much other context, but I assure you that the film is worth your time.<br /><br /><a href="http://immortaluenanana.ytmnd.com/">Immortal</a> is one of the bands that, you know, didn't kill people. Although a few of their members have gotten in trouble after leaving the band, they (as far as I can tell) seem more involved in painting their faces than going around being dicks. Which brings us to Joel.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrrOo3HCGSs8GbegZq7KLEAER5LFb1zoMHZku0lgpRE-WLCfY6k6MdTFSLucGim0E9TVs-roSNIQ4BkhVO9_82FHJ-mXgAF_Dfda0-AZjdBw9w7AXvdWyRSMH1Mt0iYO7VTxengzryv0/s1600/15538_640840553437_20602830_37429584_309835_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrrOo3HCGSs8GbegZq7KLEAER5LFb1zoMHZku0lgpRE-WLCfY6k6MdTFSLucGim0E9TVs-roSNIQ4BkhVO9_82FHJ-mXgAF_Dfda0-AZjdBw9w7AXvdWyRSMH1Mt0iYO7VTxengzryv0/s400/15538_640840553437_20602830_37429584_309835_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459813157997106674" border="0" /></a></div><div>Today marks the birth of Freakin' Joel, my boyfriend's roommate and one of the most adorable people I know. To celebrate his existence, I made him a cake. Joel is fan of many things, but the three that spring to mind first are God, sandwiches, and metal. Of these, I thought the last would be the most fun to illustrate in confections. I've been wanting to try <a href="http://eyecandy.nanakaze.net/?p=313">this tutorial</a> for a while now, so I thought I would do my best at representing the guys of Immortal...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwUgWBo-QF-0YCNfxmJyKrVaQpHDfxxkNpVIJode-JuqugZgggmEXPjKy9jHLeLitbHOrKCa4DtwbQzO75gZoTARhF2jCnx89fku4y5Lf6SHUE0w4_ScT2evgiz9LB7y5rjd-BaaKqqYo/s1600/immortal-wallpaper07.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px; display: block; height: 300px; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459615551867037266" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwUgWBo-QF-0YCNfxmJyKrVaQpHDfxxkNpVIJode-JuqugZgggmEXPjKy9jHLeLitbHOrKCa4DtwbQzO75gZoTARhF2jCnx89fku4y5Lf6SHUE0w4_ScT2evgiz9LB7y5rjd-BaaKqqYo/s400/immortal-wallpaper07.jpg" border="0" /></a>...in chocolate.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">To achieve this, I melted three shades of chocolate (semisweet, semisweet+white, and white) and used them to trace a reversed version of the above image in three stages.<br /><br />Here is the image, topped with parchment and taped to a clipboard:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfOVj9P3lUO0MhWRpjNAqfIifVaVlaE3QgkhWOYTrtwFXW8KoPhya3TwqSeJsfFNDMNifaiWG1hnk1WdGEAFiQII9ATSfGTgPgCyMSQiaVT_A-IaGdtpDQmMwniMLhklU9z8FRyBP3Np8/s1600/IMG_6801.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfOVj9P3lUO0MhWRpjNAqfIifVaVlaE3QgkhWOYTrtwFXW8KoPhya3TwqSeJsfFNDMNifaiWG1hnk1WdGEAFiQII9ATSfGTgPgCyMSQiaVT_A-IaGdtpDQmMwniMLhklU9z8FRyBP3Np8/s400/IMG_6801.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459824723258546514" border="0" /></a>Here is Stage 1:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNekCNjHzcw3CG5Bzw-pMda8Qw5ta631KxGP7sccLKa4DeAhlnvmXRjirbVr0eDg0zaZt5nvQSMja0vnWmdM5TdfPETnkYyii_guGiOVP_TsT3xpz6PNg66B7rl5pa0WAw8rpS4V67Ieo/s1600/IMG_6806.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNekCNjHzcw3CG5Bzw-pMda8Qw5ta631KxGP7sccLKa4DeAhlnvmXRjirbVr0eDg0zaZt5nvQSMja0vnWmdM5TdfPETnkYyii_guGiOVP_TsT3xpz6PNg66B7rl5pa0WAw8rpS4V67Ieo/s400/IMG_6806.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459815356980948082" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;">While these were chilling in the freezer, I baked Joel's favorite, yellow cake. Then I moved on to Stage 2:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsRY8bD0AZZZKJ_WisTlJ-M77WPDYUpHRkhbFQ5eHqX0nqWCNVkXQ65RTIQ2IDqQKBvFPxzz6F8vvlgl_8Zdu29xgb6O_Jp1lH2YFJLBKAPA-W8Ur-D50eqEW5Hms6lOJNbGnHOd0uoM0/s1600/IMG_6809.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsRY8bD0AZZZKJ_WisTlJ-M77WPDYUpHRkhbFQ5eHqX0nqWCNVkXQ65RTIQ2IDqQKBvFPxzz6F8vvlgl_8Zdu29xgb6O_Jp1lH2YFJLBKAPA-W8Ur-D50eqEW5Hms6lOJNbGnHOd0uoM0/s400/IMG_6809.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459816255656588450" border="0" /></a></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />And after they'd had time to chill again, Stage 3:<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8M-Zd8U7xuPdQ9tyMymraZcYV-sTerDHQFTl-XY2Tx9PTfoAcA56dkjlQGUCp0_4tnuo_dYB9R0XyGmVtXtbzQ7VEkxXzKykdpwCGoOktu0kjkri9gVL_nJLKoY7OPKnI1bQRWwKfDo/s1600/IMG_6825.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH8M-Zd8U7xuPdQ9tyMymraZcYV-sTerDHQFTl-XY2Tx9PTfoAcA56dkjlQGUCp0_4tnuo_dYB9R0XyGmVtXtbzQ7VEkxXzKykdpwCGoOktu0kjkri9gVL_nJLKoY7OPKnI1bQRWwKfDo/s400/IMG_6825.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459817885334084258" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />While they were chilling one more time, I topped the cake with chocolate frosting, then made Shaun take pictures of my outfit. If you are going to bake a metal cake, it's important to wear attire that is practical and thematic. Here's what I picked:<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNu-GC6MQdDC-H826Wfq5PLUEaha9rOT1lIPaitBPYuuP_5G-5KgK6SAAiZOPTXJJDx95lAWYd80lUVMzkEmZPflbSnxqO3fRNJWRhzpjV_WECL7hj-3n8TczjcvAUbfS5I2wPPB_dmn4/s1600/IMG_6811.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 539px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNu-GC6MQdDC-H826Wfq5PLUEaha9rOT1lIPaitBPYuuP_5G-5KgK6SAAiZOPTXJJDx95lAWYd80lUVMzkEmZPflbSnxqO3fRNJWRhzpjV_WECL7hj-3n8TczjcvAUbfS5I2wPPB_dmn4/s400/IMG_6811.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459820243536144290" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dress: Hand-made vintage<br /><div style="text-align: center;">Socks: Xhilaration<br />Shoes: Where via Urban Outfitters<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOvypFuu67IJWc9AgD-trdpwRtLuVzSu7A0TDdVhEV8OrG5gbJTixl1gOMgg4djp9hBtfLMv4hYmfde5egCYWaYqT3jO1N3FKF3D8RaCxyXATJjUm4wgt73247-gJT_1a66g6g6ZCyh4/s1600/IMG_6813.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 219px; height: 546px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOvypFuu67IJWc9AgD-trdpwRtLuVzSu7A0TDdVhEV8OrG5gbJTixl1gOMgg4djp9hBtfLMv4hYmfde5egCYWaYqT3jO1N3FKF3D8RaCxyXATJjUm4wgt73247-gJT_1a66g6g6ZCyh4/s400/IMG_6813.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459821113813142482" border="0" /></a>I can only wear this dress so often, for obvious reasons.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTE-P3VZUpo-VDRhTE_I5DQMiBUZvW3eTn_kCnDaBf7ZiZOERrNTCBkf_VBCMA5l7lig-pYgC1j1q5C4zOSi-AX8tFnbqWsr9D46Rd3Okav3BqnCpRlKpJ4QnOUNh7p83ZaokwDGTO3k/s1600/IMG_6819.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 393px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTE-P3VZUpo-VDRhTE_I5DQMiBUZvW3eTn_kCnDaBf7ZiZOERrNTCBkf_VBCMA5l7lig-pYgC1j1q5C4zOSi-AX8tFnbqWsr9D46Rd3Okav3BqnCpRlKpJ4QnOUNh7p83ZaokwDGTO3k/s400/IMG_6819.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459821549581536402" border="0" /></a>No one really knows what kind of creature this is supposed to be...<br /><br /></div></div></div></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL95dzv98SlhqGS9TqE9tgjHGWIJrpFmiB0btATLz2Suoy0L_BwK-43l2elf3IA0DsRhK_vlcKP7KIIdsboSTPBpp7tdbNkw-hOiqVkdLiLA5bjOzHgZcg6xxag9UsruvdvTRFml-QPyI/s1600/IMG_6821.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 322px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL95dzv98SlhqGS9TqE9tgjHGWIJrpFmiB0btATLz2Suoy0L_BwK-43l2elf3IA0DsRhK_vlcKP7KIIdsboSTPBpp7tdbNkw-hOiqVkdLiLA5bjOzHgZcg6xxag9UsruvdvTRFml-QPyI/s400/IMG_6821.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459821866146256786" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">...or why these pockets are here.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ENI7TiS8fFkdj1Wpf6cgilLTUM_a7sqPifr0X_aPq6hHlso0fefkt_8OE0B8DkHQgydpjE35M5yV4ttz5GZMHl5katdG0Vgz4tEgD68ZUaVfCZYr9kfW2xvVk6Ed0gxFK61pEBx5pvc/s1600/IMG_6818.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ENI7TiS8fFkdj1Wpf6cgilLTUM_a7sqPifr0X_aPq6hHlso0fefkt_8OE0B8DkHQgydpjE35M5yV4ttz5GZMHl5katdG0Vgz4tEgD68ZUaVfCZYr9kfW2xvVk6Ed0gxFK61pEBx5pvc/s400/IMG_6818.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459822759393465410" border="0" /></a>But, hey--take a look at these SHOES!<br />For the first time, there is a pair that fit my (giant) feet and not Laine's.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">I'm not trying to rub it in, but usually it's the<br />TOTALLY HEARTBREAKING other way around.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And then, the unveiling/flipping/placing on the cake!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQke_IrKENAZ-VQFGNHp74YZp8T8zXnXcmE9dQUVjsEE-H__Om1FxbO_3jw4vx3SfV8h52rZUbNwTjY0IZX-0218xcN4O3XNBVs0lCO7EwPyzMq90j081SfwO30hYYkqfKGnIcqxtSXaw/s1600/IMG_6834.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQke_IrKENAZ-VQFGNHp74YZp8T8zXnXcmE9dQUVjsEE-H__Om1FxbO_3jw4vx3SfV8h52rZUbNwTjY0IZX-0218xcN4O3XNBVs0lCO7EwPyzMq90j081SfwO30hYYkqfKGnIcqxtSXaw/s400/IMG_6834.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459819027921361986" border="0" /></a>Not too bad for a first effort, eh?</div></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">If I had the time or inclination to do this over again, I would probably add more white chocolate to the midtone color, and I would try to figure out some way to prevent the bleeding that happened between colors here. Still, I'm pretty happy with the final results, and I think the birthday boy was, too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimm0C8VQYQorbtZ-8_JG4pVYfYJVTj3f6ijvMRyppV31Sxbubj01zk-ILN0zOwpilpCsaiQGUsiXG9erBBTyCY5dic8nAY8fv-HnyQm7FEGGmuA5JLuvW6l8cliz4cMv7PZo5g83ptIgE/s1600/IMG_6835.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimm0C8VQYQorbtZ-8_JG4pVYfYJVTj3f6ijvMRyppV31Sxbubj01zk-ILN0zOwpilpCsaiQGUsiXG9erBBTyCY5dic8nAY8fv-HnyQm7FEGGmuA5JLuvW6l8cliz4cMv7PZo5g83ptIgE/s400/IMG_6835.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459828627153490002" border="0" /></a><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div>Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-74038180643130582752010-04-11T20:52:00.000-07:002011-01-26T21:46:02.312-08:00Spring Costumes, or Green to Match My SpleenSorry for the dearth of posts lately. Spring means school is insane. I'm panicking about finishing term papers. My students are panicking because they should have cared about their grades earlier in the semester. The literacy program for which I'm a co-director has a big final event in Helena. This year, however, I'm trying to finish a comprehensive film catalog of the anthro department's holdings and, last, but certainly not freaking least, I'm trying to finish my master's thesis. I generally "work well under pressure," but the words just aren't happening lately. I've never had a problem writing before. I can always just sit down and make it happen. Not so this time. I blame a lack of fiction in my life. I've always been an obsessive reader. Obsessive, literally. I've had boyfriends who were jealous of how much time I spent reading. I love books. I love the smell and the texture and the look of them - ordered neatly, piled up haphazardly, but mostly shelves upon shelves of them in used book stores! My favorite birthday present in recent memory is <a href="http://www.cbihateperfume.com/in-the-library.html">CB I Hate Perfume's "In the Library</a>," from Christian this past year. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cbihateperfume.com/assets/images/products/water/306WPBOTLIBRARY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.cbihateperfume.com/assets/images/products/water/306WPBOTLIBRARY.jpg" width="78" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="font-size: small;">It smells quite a lot like books, but sweeter and spicier. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you have ever wondered what I smell like, this is usually it. I smell good.</span> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">In any case, now I rarely read for fun. I read for a living, and my reading mostly consists of theory and ethnography. I love these - it's not as if I don't enjoy it. It's just that I rarely lose myself in narrative anymore, and this has profoundly affected the way that I think. I've lost something very important, and it's become detrimental to how I write. I need to figure out a balance.It's terribly ironic, because what I study concerns how narrative shapes identity. Should my grad school experience count as fieldwork, then? </div><div style="text-align: left;">Instead of reading in my spare time, I'd rather be trail running with my dog or gardening or anything where I can be outside moving. In fact, it's the gardening that's become my obsession lately. For the past three weekends, we've been working on a garden that we're sharing with our neighbor, <a href="http://waxingpoetic-gossiplifelove.blogspot.com/?spref=fb">Jenny</a> (who is one of my favorite people). Growing up in a fairly small south Arkansas town, I was lucky to be surrounded by home gardens. I grew up helping family members and neighbors care for them. I can't begin to count how many hours I've spent shelling peas and shucking corn. I've never started a garden from scratch, though. So, as it turns out, it's pretty damn labor intensive. Disclaimer here and a promise: I will not turn blog posts about my garden into soapbox posts about one of my subjects of study, food politics, social hierarchies, and moralizing. Yeah, yeah - the name of this very blog comes from Mary Douglas's famous work on just that, but this blog is for fun and not for things I do for a living. I have to think about social structures in relation to food politics for a living, and maybe I could do myself a favor, maybe make some contacts or something by writing about it here, but, like I said above - I need to figure out a balance. I need to read things that don't have to do with my work, and I need to write things that don't have to do with my work (or be in the format of my work! Look at all this stream of consciousness and "innovative" punctuation! Take that, Chicago Manual!!). I love my work, and I'm thankful that I even have the opportunity to do it - but, you know, balance and all. </div><div style="text-align: left;">SO, ok, here's the patch of lawn we started with, between our house and Jenny's house. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZu6sfprs7nrbu47B5POqW13pH1NSF3HcVe0aMwusVsF042LdXRq1x7-iXXomwG3C60nACxQx0WIzFWETPIj_FCZy6cpztNxSXJzwFvyFYahXbVfkYabSiXs5Jjp8mHcCKd0UtucDSCos/s400/Picture+627.jpg" width="400" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And here are some of the seedlings I started. Some of these are plants that are to be sown directly into the garden, but I thought I'd hedge my bets, since it's my first time 'n all. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbBWCxszecXzhuhPYM87Lsuyf-TQWeW3_GCO6ChXkQN_LKEpZ5oRwiqL8QahM95NmHQM5KX4aVax0-Tw0OyCSaYWjCK18L-EL8takaCPcvORgXYppPeFRkbB68zh_C-KQC68HvG7dK3gU/s400/Picture+721.jpg" width="267" /> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Li'l buddieeess!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZsi_BkQnpev_MmaqAW6GXHpYEPg_M6alhzPUUGwmFq_NvPaYVrer03dkCaQdSj_IzYxbhEz7_y6tpZENgDOSvBdWasLsAI1btVjTnvLHn8pznKzjK9o0rV4WkFVfI1geQGIv1SbBjKcM/s1600/Picture+754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZsi_BkQnpev_MmaqAW6GXHpYEPg_M6alhzPUUGwmFq_NvPaYVrer03dkCaQdSj_IzYxbhEz7_y6tpZENgDOSvBdWasLsAI1btVjTnvLHn8pznKzjK9o0rV4WkFVfI1geQGIv1SbBjKcM/s400/Picture+754.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tineh purple basil!</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Turns out that the transition from "piece of lawn" to "lush, hospitable garden plot" is a real pain in the ass. It took us two full (FULL) days of labor to just turn the soil about 6 - 8 inches deep, even with Dolly helping on the second day. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTxR8N3JQRjMVD4IClStwkqlVvaKx_pBbOEmLDKCaXamwAF0TQWl5Iqe0tcsw6yZqzUxiOe5ZVzN1NKPjANCORHR-MYKQpcWQ0gPWNpo_BuE5mqg0H6A_Eg8PQqJ88PDZ8VOUzfu8onA/s1600/Picture+712.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTxR8N3JQRjMVD4IClStwkqlVvaKx_pBbOEmLDKCaXamwAF0TQWl5Iqe0tcsw6yZqzUxiOe5ZVzN1NKPjANCORHR-MYKQpcWQ0gPWNpo_BuE5mqg0H6A_Eg8PQqJ88PDZ8VOUzfu8onA/s400/Picture+712.jpg" width="332" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">No, no, of course that's not my gardening outfit. We took this after we got back from the movie we treated ourselves to at the end of the weekend. Unfortunately, it was the new Clash of the Titans. It gets me all angry to think about it very much, so all I'll say is <a href="http://theabyssgazes.blogspot.com/2010/03/teal-and-orange-hollywood-please-stop.html">teal & orange</a> and <a href="http://www.rayharryhausen.com/index.php">Harryhausen</a> monsters > CGI monsters. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsWP_qWU06pZ9M9e-lvJfI939w6Cw3qUmuKg5J3lN1rkqOjlzs4apjbQGu1obtD7dT16GTtk3WO8V1ulnWgI4kSQMkqs7Um_oyJzWzxzRAXeoLZQYKtz0jvC88rdQJZeHTRhftyeXTRaw/s1600/Picture+719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsWP_qWU06pZ9M9e-lvJfI939w6Cw3qUmuKg5J3lN1rkqOjlzs4apjbQGu1obtD7dT16GTtk3WO8V1ulnWgI4kSQMkqs7Um_oyJzWzxzRAXeoLZQYKtz0jvC88rdQJZeHTRhftyeXTRaw/s640/Picture+719.jpg" width="364" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUG3i4tNJGvb1tlft-Phm-5GATFe0iwEup7DWsa0fSn2BC5guuM7LSM298N0dSlwsszoqEjRexR8bf-IyvlN7xt38JDgwv73wR0uG4fVgaAfWieIUvp_AsgaU8x5tzj2iWRFVM8R8_L0/s1600/Picture+737.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUG3i4tNJGvb1tlft-Phm-5GATFe0iwEup7DWsa0fSn2BC5guuM7LSM298N0dSlwsszoqEjRexR8bf-IyvlN7xt38JDgwv73wR0uG4fVgaAfWieIUvp_AsgaU8x5tzj2iWRFVM8R8_L0/s320/Picture+737.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Dress: Gift from Hannah Withers, owner of <a href="http://hstrial-littlebreadco.intuitwebsites.com/untitled1.html">Little Bread Co</a>. I should do a whole blog post about LBC sometime, because they are AWESOME. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Headband: <a href="http://www.dsvboutique.com/">Dark Star Visuals</a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Scarf: Target</div><div style="text-align: center;">Socks: <a href="http://www.sockdreams.com/_pages/index.php">Sock Dreams</a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Blue Velvet Boots Dr. Martens that have been through hell and high water (and a few obvious run-ins with some creative bleaching in college) with me since my sixteenth birthday</div><div style="text-align: center;">Carved bone earrings <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/sanfranblissco">SanFranBlissCo</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">All righty, so turning the soil was a one weekend, then composting and tilling was another. But first, lunch!</div><div style="text-align: left;">I recently did a spring lunch for some friends. The menu was salmon, asparagus, purple potatoes, and salad, with banana bread and blueberry sorbet for dessert. </div><div style="text-align: left;">I always aspire to some lovely mise en place photos a la <a href="http://www.antoniotahhan.com/">Tony Tahhan</a> or even <a href="http://luxirare.com/">Luxirare</a>. Realistically, though, I'm more interested in getting the food done than taking pics, and besides, our kitchen is tineh, tineh. My mise en place usually looks like this: </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-9JL2ZPUyCLO1QBGHC3R9IhAsXE9lHcFvX1_7T_YX7hW0__kFbsP2rDxXljWJzX3LTcifY5HMjXEf_1Lw1Pz6_p28j4Tvyvae6-cF-yLijB6uqbXtAyCecgR1G4xTvqrSNgNo9ngXus/s320/Picture+1082.jpg" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Not so aesthetically pleasing. But you know what? Even so, I'm good about getting things organized to come out at the same time, and that's the important part. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1U0BN7-WK4dSXuopurBD8Ac_t_4fXcijiL_1Nv1_D_JVjlf4kpAzGl6aO2xuEbECiVnAI_WUniIaygEt5zDztux3HzfMKlbiaznRJfiG0WQcBOoo4z_zzJLhalLorzwKw5KVchfH8IbI/s400/Picture+1092.jpg" width="275" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Blueberries, gruyere, and sparkling shiraz for an appetizer. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrelRClxlURF44ZfRueQdZyVVKpDsMFr2mK_LN_XBe7zwGagfKy5QMGHUAPDh8j9ZNnZOGJ3PmiS1kiuB48_rFwDFJgwCt96UAEmQYBdhiCEbiN-iGzgwWc3WfJGgO1eCjSiuk3MiNeFU/s1600/Picture+629.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrelRClxlURF44ZfRueQdZyVVKpDsMFr2mK_LN_XBe7zwGagfKy5QMGHUAPDh8j9ZNnZOGJ3PmiS1kiuB48_rFwDFJgwCt96UAEmQYBdhiCEbiN-iGzgwWc3WfJGgO1eCjSiuk3MiNeFU/s400/Picture+629.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Smashed purple & red potatoes with green onions, lemon zest, olive oil, salt & pepper. No recipe really, just season to taste. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioiCSyjnM1DhVUkdKX49I-3UB1l7-8FCaMQkCv57Qsnxgw73kGcZUpnxPtv9y6TciBdBW4bzkhs_kZJPz5R3shAp_Knz4XnsAYm64QoJG2O-qs8AcIz-D_OKNmVWLA5-hhs-iLr3AgeRs/s400/Picture+1095.jpg" width="400" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Spinach, rainbow chard, shallots, sunflower sprouts, dandelion greens, nasturtiums, roses, snapdragons. Lemon and olive oil to taste. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I didn't actually snap a pic of either the salmon or the asparagus before they got nommed, but here is a picture of salmon anyway. This is exactly what mine looked like, so you can pretend that I cooked it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGEoztZqxUW3_Kdrol8rPEijvkdSp7j8LDVBahDl2ALXWpa21zUHj1xtW0WyksBMzXF3fsY-5xRlTYxiVjeEcgy7oLZi9svaDdIHOLUJuyCS0ESq_-1pzP339u-m6hbLMjycmlFJAn7U/s320/salmonnom.jpg" width="187" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mix half a cup of Greek yogurt with 2 tbs finely chopped fresh dill, 2 tbs finely chopped fresh parsley, 2 tbs Dijon mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Spread over salmon fillets (we had four, but they were ginormous) and bake at 450 for anywhere from 8 - 20 minutes (depending on whether you're using fillets or a side of salmon). Garnish with dill sprigs & lemon. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Combine 2 cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter & 3/4 cup brown sugar. Stir in 2 eggs and 2 1/3 cups of overripe, mashed bananas. Stir in to dry mix til just moistened. I also added sliced almonds, and cinnamon & cardamom. Pour into greased 9x5 loaf pan and bake at 350 for about an hour. Have to admit that the blueberry sorbet is store-bought. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And here is my hostess costume.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtGojKyM9_V_Vo0kD3wYPecQCNz9-WUOaWOPpjZlRhYOeB8tOZK1JT-j60aBVSht-TqpVj1kFEYK7BLcPa3g3LeQzL_xVL5GQppO5HkZ4FUkeiqDK68na9atXrfFX0myYsgj1QpRhKQA/s1600/Picture+744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtGojKyM9_V_Vo0kD3wYPecQCNz9-WUOaWOPpjZlRhYOeB8tOZK1JT-j60aBVSht-TqpVj1kFEYK7BLcPa3g3LeQzL_xVL5GQppO5HkZ4FUkeiqDK68na9atXrfFX0myYsgj1QpRhKQA/s640/Picture+744.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Navy velvet blazer: J. Crew</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Green silk dress:<a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/idea2lifestyle"> Idea2Lifestyle</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Socks Sock Dreams</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Boots: Y-Not?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Belt: From Josh Meadows when we were in high school - I harassed him 'til he gave it to me. He also happens to be the same kind soul who lent us his time and his truck to get a rented tiller to our house. What a guy!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After lunch (and a nice break), we put about 560 lbs of compost on the garden and tilled it in. Again with the backbreaking labor. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0vyUucc3amuBQXB_FVoV35wgwJWh2kt7hsc1Zi3q_Xu_7aIoXpFYlgyZpOozZTQa-Kq3iPttTY7sBm_RvdL6ryTHX7YrOwhL8JO-kDlEHdJt0wqTfQEKlpB1do1DI_4W7N2guOL51YWY/s1600/Picture+1078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0vyUucc3amuBQXB_FVoV35wgwJWh2kt7hsc1Zi3q_Xu_7aIoXpFYlgyZpOozZTQa-Kq3iPttTY7sBm_RvdL6ryTHX7YrOwhL8JO-kDlEHdJt0wqTfQEKlpB1do1DI_4W7N2guOL51YWY/s400/Picture+1078.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We decided, upon my landlady Ana's advice, to go with beds instead of rows, and we finally got to the planting!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpEseSB5zmvGrxBLKN9f_rYPL_B4pNI2SLi3DYcJtxfcNGA9FqpOBWdI493aKUPMKloAsPhBU7IeYvGINqLaRqo8or6essfhJrvqQJVwlEjwOPEekp6uM467_in5noB1wPFeaWgBLL6Y/s1600/Picture+1084.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpEseSB5zmvGrxBLKN9f_rYPL_B4pNI2SLi3DYcJtxfcNGA9FqpOBWdI493aKUPMKloAsPhBU7IeYvGINqLaRqo8or6essfhJrvqQJVwlEjwOPEekp6uM467_in5noB1wPFeaWgBLL6Y/s400/Picture+1084.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="goog_1146128439"></span><span id="goog_1146128440"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEF80GWD3WyEchxvZzyYFt5p-WwMaWGwoZHlT03ujAITLlLMbNWaWqRgDFraFArpgRTqICPnc1Iq4f_oAFK-cbRuGIU1Rj54SpHl-ZkGeNMA8WJ5DbMWMvIFYHxCSDuQA5Gb4BktiumY/s1600/Picture+1086.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEF80GWD3WyEchxvZzyYFt5p-WwMaWGwoZHlT03ujAITLlLMbNWaWqRgDFraFArpgRTqICPnc1Iq4f_oAFK-cbRuGIU1Rj54SpHl-ZkGeNMA8WJ5DbMWMvIFYHxCSDuQA5Gb4BktiumY/s320/Picture+1086.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">My li'l buddies goin' in the ground! I hope they make it!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEXEcJrWyEs0m9QAx95TvqJ-5yP6JIGa4uuwNjCx0f3yhizsdQm5a3Fon-5qBSbhw6faVnVV5kWJkEhqb3HX_WkjDHjO6KW67JSmFoskfoa8Aaf-dkWSyVRoIyndxIpbQiaumDXGj-8FM/s1600/Picture+1088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEXEcJrWyEs0m9QAx95TvqJ-5yP6JIGa4uuwNjCx0f3yhizsdQm5a3Fon-5qBSbhw6faVnVV5kWJkEhqb3HX_WkjDHjO6KW67JSmFoskfoa8Aaf-dkWSyVRoIyndxIpbQiaumDXGj-8FM/s640/Picture+1088.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
Kind of looks like we've been hiding bodies. But there are not really people in there. The real inventory is: </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Broccoli</div><div style="text-align: center;">Artichoke</div><div style="text-align: center;">Brussels sprouts</div><div style="text-align: center;">Okra</div><div style="text-align: center;">Lettuce </div><div style="text-align: center;">Spinach</div><div style="text-align: center;">Straightneck squash</div><div style="text-align: center;">Zucchini</div><div style="text-align: center;">Green beans</div><div style="text-align: center;">Tomatoes</div><div style="text-align: center;">Purple carrots</div><div style="text-align: center;">French breakfast radishes</div><div style="text-align: center;">Purple potatoes</div><div style="text-align: center;">Purple onions </div><div style="text-align: center;">Rhubarb</div><div style="text-align: center;">Asparagus</div><div style="text-align: center;">Raspberries</div><div style="text-align: center;">Blueberries</div><div style="text-align: center;">Rosemary</div><div style="text-align: center;">Kentucky Colonel mint</div><div style="text-align: center;">Peppermint</div><div style="text-align: center;">Calendula </div><div style="text-align: center;">Lavender</div><div style="text-align: center;">Marjoram</div><div style="text-align: center;">Lemon balm</div><div style="text-align: center;">Oregano</div><div style="text-align: center;">Thyme</div><div style="text-align: center;">Chamomile</div><div style="text-align: center;">Jalapenos</div><div style="text-align: center;">Bell peppers</div><div style="text-align: center;">Banana peppers</div><div style="text-align: center;">Basil</div><div style="text-align: center;">Purple basil</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXzrlSMfTPIAD0Q5R-HuM173oFQoxgdmZ2PAKQnpt_I2KtsTN5rmExD3xmI_J93rETnOAJAXbjw-Cy7vg7MlpGokCOwa1RFznW3p4_0zO12ot6OkUPverLHFi0oWExjTPgkxeXRHu3dk/s400/Picture+739.jpg" width="288" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Aaaand back to struggling with thesis writing. But what a lovely place to do it. It's nice to have a dog who's so supportive. It's nice to have a pyromaniac boyfriend (who also does things like help me cook, clean, and plant a garden from scratch). It's nice, too, to have a roommate who'll make me <a href="http://purityanddanger.blogspot.com/2010/04/gin-for-everyone.html">pink drinks</a> and mow the lawn, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4MqTCIDKhU">even when the bees attack her in the face</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Oh! The "green to match my spleen" thing is something that Zorak said on old episode of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0706084/">Space Ghost</a>. I think of that quote every time I wear that green dress. " I want green to match my spleen."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Arya Snarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06788545435529814811noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-55278058072138419582010-04-04T20:42:00.000-07:002010-04-04T23:48:37.823-07:00Gin for Everyone!My dear friend <a href="http://zugenia.livejournal.com/">Lady Z</a> and I have collaborated on many mottoes, but here is the most salient one for this post:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Gin for summer, whiskey for winter,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> And beer for all the time.<br /><br /></span>I've been enjoying whiskey and some good dark beers for a few months now, but the motto's about to come full circle. Although it is not yet summer, we are in Arkansas, where it IS officially the beginning of outdoor drinks season. To celebrate, Laine and I decided to use this weekend to explore the culinary possibilities of our favorite outdoor liquor, gin. Gin is an acquired taste, to be sure, but it is a friend to everyone from Winston Churchill to Snoop Dogg. (Note: James Bond is known for popularizing the term "shaken, not stirred" in reference to martinis, but I will not sully the name of gin with this madness, as he was probably drinking <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaken,_not_stirred#Why_shaken.2C_not_stirred.3F">either crappy vodka or a badly mixed drink</a>. Click through for an explanation and bonus <span style="font-style: italic;">West Wing</span> content!)<br /><br />Many interesting savory possibilities came to mind--most notably, our friend Cell Member's idea to coat some whitefish in a gimlet-inspired marinade. In the interest of time, however, we decided to stick to drinks and desserts. None of the ideas below is particularly hard to execute, but I've tried to lay this out in a graded scale of sorts so you can replicate as you wish according to your inclinations and the amount of time that you have.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grade I (Easy):</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pink Gin</span><br />I love most gin drinks, to be honest, but for me nothing tops a good ol' Pink Gin. Maybe it's because I am a huge fan of bitter flavors, or maybe it's because most of <a href="http://purityanddanger.blogspot.com/2010/03/selvage-ethnography-fashion-in-fray.html">the places I've been</a> were at some point taken over by Britain, but whatever the cause, I'm sold.<br /><br />My favorite version of this is, admittedly, not as manly as the traditional one, which is less diluted. Still, this one gets the job done, and it tastes a lot better. Here's what I usually do:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Danger</span><br />Dispense 7 drops of bitters into the center of the bottom of a glass, then rotate the glass upside down, then sideways so the glass is coated. The traditional choice--and my preference--is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angostura_bitters">Angostura bitters</a>. The name Angostura comes from a town in Venezuela, although today the bitters are produced in Trinidad and Tobago. They were originally sold as a tonic, then eventually used to mask the taste of quinine in tonic water, which colonialists used to prevent malaria. (BTW, malaria prophylaxis is a pretty good excuse to get wasted if you are in any place tropical.) Anyway, I digress: there's a shortage of Angostura bitters right now because of a factory flood. For this project I used Peychaud's, which were originally produced by a Haitian apothecary who lived in New Orleans. The result was a little fruitier and sweeter than what I normally drink, but it was still delicious.<br /><br />Next, add two shots of good gin. I tend to go with Tanqueray London Dry, Boodles, or Bombay Sapphire; these can all be gotten for somewhere around $20 per 750 ml, and all are are quite easy to drink. For everything in this post, I used Bombay Sapphire, because we thought the botanical notes in it would be nice for sweets.<br /><br />Finally, top with tonic water--use about two parts tonic to one part gin, or just fill up your glass.<br /><br />Stir, then sip daintily like a good imperialist.<br /><br />Here is my White Colonial Vampire Housewife Costume:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYOxYr6hmBqA2AzAXrjzWgiJ7fN_5ys_s4pwpNgmVPgcRU2GCuCb5afZJ2VRX_aMB-vsLVE0ApeIKlFl6ZCCwDnPWSFdV3uoSOT8bttIdO-cWIoLut99eceiEVMYfdizLCNYZv7iT6QVM/s1600/IMG_6275.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 269px; height: 517px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYOxYr6hmBqA2AzAXrjzWgiJ7fN_5ys_s4pwpNgmVPgcRU2GCuCb5afZJ2VRX_aMB-vsLVE0ApeIKlFl6ZCCwDnPWSFdV3uoSOT8bttIdO-cWIoLut99eceiEVMYfdizLCNYZv7iT6QVM/s400/IMG_6275.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456523790160754066" border="0" /></a>Shirt: French Connection, hand-me-down<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ribbon: Found<br />Bermuda Shorts: Banana Republic<br />Socks: Xhilaration<br />Shoes: Capezio<br /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Purity</span><br />If, like Laine, you simply cannot abide the taste of bitters, this drink can be made in a slightly girlier format: simply substitute Cherry Kijafa for the bitters. Alternatively, you can sub cranberry juice and grenadine to make a Ruby Tuesday.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCtCLtX7qL_tBPZlQiy_ssHV_WvP2GxgjDCtp5vYuWadzi_KhQZtq7b2q-Oev8CEXRf22a-RbMC3U9luOiLfDEgtLAki491DAGjNsnFMMIoLtihmYFZ7urU90ggSSj0slkt3zwyCOetEY/s1600/IMG_6415.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCtCLtX7qL_tBPZlQiy_ssHV_WvP2GxgjDCtp5vYuWadzi_KhQZtq7b2q-Oev8CEXRf22a-RbMC3U9luOiLfDEgtLAki491DAGjNsnFMMIoLtihmYFZ7urU90ggSSj0slkt3zwyCOetEY/s400/IMG_6415.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456513448811250306" border="0" /></a>From left: Purity, Precious Moments Chapel shot glass (via Anne and Chris), Danger<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grade II (Intermediate): Gin and Juice Granita<br /><br /></span>This dessert is perfect for when it's hot out and you've got a little time to spare. It's basically a dressed-up snowcone for grown-ups.<br /><br />Here's what you'll need for the granita itself:<br /><br />3 ruby red grapefruit<br />1 lemon<br />1/8 c sugar<br /><br />Before you do anything else, peel one whole grapefruit VERY thinly. Avoid as much pith as possible. Place the zest (the stuff you're removing) on plate; you'll need it later. Thinly peeling a grapefruit is a lot more difficult than it sounds. My strategy is to tilt the side that I'm working on at a steep upward angle; that way, there's less opportunity to bear down on the pith. You're going to need a small, sharp knife and some awesome grapefruit peeling music. For this task, I recommend my friend Derek's Vintage Soul Mix, which can be gotten <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?tgdennnjkvn">here</a>.<br /><br />When you're done, you should be looking at something a bit like this:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCtgvCMO3ljZO-oa_D23ok9twyQGIeW86iVVerD59R_5b2gTJFvlgj_-vahWga_205WAvm6BQoxeaObVTQ-NJAoQOlhhpWzw0mGzCqc24fC9X173kvNrgDjtUxpFmzrw6Nkz0vc5B6xPU/s1600/IMG_6314.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 414px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCtgvCMO3ljZO-oa_D23ok9twyQGIeW86iVVerD59R_5b2gTJFvlgj_-vahWga_205WAvm6BQoxeaObVTQ-NJAoQOlhhpWzw0mGzCqc24fC9X173kvNrgDjtUxpFmzrw6Nkz0vc5B6xPU/s400/IMG_6314.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456516752323370722" border="0" /></a></div><br />After you've accomplished this, juice all three grapefruit and the lemon. Strain the juice to remove residual pulp, and pour it into a big glass bowl. Next, mix in 1/8 c sugar until it is well-blended. Put the bowl in the freezer and let it sit for 45-60 minutes. Stir well with a whisk once every hour for another 3-4 hours. (Around the last hour, put a few glasses or bowls in the freezer, too, so it won't melt immediately after you serve it.) The ultimate goal is to have something that is fairly snow-like in consistency; by the end it should also be sort of granular.<br /><br />Now, for the finishing touch: a nice caramelized garnish. Find that plate of grapefruit rind you set aside earlier. Slice the ring into very thin strips; it should be as close to julienne as you can muster.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR_3DVW6dATwgbfDqIfPS7ZmqdlBL0yCfg-20wEN1lbfUHeJGsVVfyWqyeIKAJX3folilQOLbvtkb7FX1HlHbk0qZ6QgDFurF0BUpeBdPPOKRyjFmzapqUGSpK25BGItcgjDhzIC6xPuU/s1600/IMG_6317.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR_3DVW6dATwgbfDqIfPS7ZmqdlBL0yCfg-20wEN1lbfUHeJGsVVfyWqyeIKAJX3folilQOLbvtkb7FX1HlHbk0qZ6QgDFurF0BUpeBdPPOKRyjFmzapqUGSpK25BGItcgjDhzIC6xPuU/s400/IMG_6317.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456518642612721330" border="0" /></a><br />Next, dissolve 4 tbsp of sugar in 4 tbsp in a skillet over medium heat. Once the sugar and water are adequately mixed, add the strips of grapefruit rind.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigESYERfEbEUbh0e_8hCjrRw88OjZlRisDvF7nDVl12SYjC3IalBNtKiwAvLKhcBttEbot4jmDMdazFW0p2Xx1ahXeOIsCc9vdnOOvdJABUZ9V45H1T8kkHpDQ_WnCkk0SYL8VuDnAT9o/s1600/IMG_6319.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigESYERfEbEUbh0e_8hCjrRw88OjZlRisDvF7nDVl12SYjC3IalBNtKiwAvLKhcBttEbot4jmDMdazFW0p2Xx1ahXeOIsCc9vdnOOvdJABUZ9V45H1T8kkHpDQ_WnCkk0SYL8VuDnAT9o/s400/IMG_6319.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456520529483381266" border="0" /></a><br />Allow the sugar mixture to bubble and reduce until all you see is rind. This should take about 15-20 minutes. When the rind is ready, it will be translucent, flexible, and covered with a light brown coating. Also, it will be hot. Really hot. No matter how delicious it looks, do not touch it or I assure you, you will be sorry. If you'd prefer a softer final product, remove the rind a bit sooner--just make sure it's translucent. Use a fork to transfer the rind to a piece of parchment paper rolled out on a pan or cutting board, and let the pieces cool. Once they're cool, seal them in an airtight container until you're ready for dessert.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSj_lvIszPia4hoBlAlOm3-oL19rfa3nkvlEgXRCIZFjZoTQgqczqxmvh5UAxkmH50dNM2FKwTiQzw1siY2ToMNSYRlvUk2l4HaUkyoOCOnQ-IRGaivnEtOHfTuH64QjEUlRVtl3Mxefg/s1600/IMG_6322.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSj_lvIszPia4hoBlAlOm3-oL19rfa3nkvlEgXRCIZFjZoTQgqczqxmvh5UAxkmH50dNM2FKwTiQzw1siY2ToMNSYRlvUk2l4HaUkyoOCOnQ-IRGaivnEtOHfTuH64QjEUlRVtl3Mxefg/s400/IMG_6322.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456521438522676898" border="0" /></a><br />Once the granita has chilled and become the right consistency, spoon it carefully into chilled glasses or bowls. Pour in about a shot of gin (or not, I guess, if you have children or other people who want to ruin the party) for each serving. Garnish with your carmelized grapefruit rind, and voila:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2M47NB2_omNPn7qj0m_Y36pFDZUpaNa6gosZ5hTb2EK8NnfESTh_Xb1OluZO8OQNDNpNOTQJISY9zAgNGp_e1ZUfK076YHKF1i-3CtBHvEgosF-QEHmxvdFm6XYDotnv11tXlvru2gI/s1600/IMG_6419.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2M47NB2_omNPn7qj0m_Y36pFDZUpaNa6gosZ5hTb2EK8NnfESTh_Xb1OluZO8OQNDNpNOTQJISY9zAgNGp_e1ZUfK076YHKF1i-3CtBHvEgosF-QEHmxvdFm6XYDotnv11tXlvru2gI/s400/IMG_6419.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456522993230194258" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grade III (Advanced): Gin and Tonic Almond Cake with White Chocolate Ganache<br /></span><br />This is for when you're feeling fancy, you've got quite a bit of time on your hands, and you've got plenty of people to feed.<br /><br />Here's what you'll need:<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Cake:</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span>1 box angel food cake mix<br />(Yes. Because I'd rather pay a buck than try to mess with getting ANYTHING this fine without making a big mess.)<br />1 1/2 tsp almond extract<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Soaking Solution:<br /></span>1/3 c lime juice<br />1/3 c simple syrup<br />(You can make this really easily by heating sugar and water as shown above; just take it off the stove about when you'd put the grapefruit rind in it in the last recipe.)<br />2/3 c gin<br />1 1/3 c tonic<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ganache:</span><br />9 oz white chocolate baking chips<br />1/2 pint heavy whipping cream<br />2 oz sliced almonds<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span><br />Mix together the cake batter as described on the box; this will entail adding some water. Stir in the almond extract, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">follow the instructions to the letter</span>. I'm not kidding. Normally I'm all for experimentation, but an angel food cake is serious business. Our angel food pan was a little smaller than the size the mix I had called for, so I didn't fill it all the way up. This kind of thing is really important, because angel food cakes are prone to puffing up and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-sALU_hveA">menacing New York</a> if you aren't super careful.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span>While the cake is baking, mix together all the ingredients<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></span>listed under Soaking Syrup and chill the resulting liquid.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span></span></span>Your angel food cake, meanwhile, is in your oven plotting against you.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> No matter how tempting it seems, do not remove it until it fits the instruction descriptions exactly. </span>I don't care how golden brown and cracked it is; if the top is remotely sticky, LEAVE IT BE. Seriously, go grade papers or something. You really, REALLY don't want to have to deal an undercooked angel food cake.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijWKSWSwdVZtfvWkh8PsML_Yhsf3S9NfgVchuvpgEKRlMOu_zaJ8hMZaXWsr7rMg40HYyxvmtrTOvp72jnYpe0NuKXYcSFosetr6e1WNAbQfxPyuzTxE-BJjkupbrtbrayHqTp5zXAkCI/s1600/IMG_6270.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijWKSWSwdVZtfvWkh8PsML_Yhsf3S9NfgVchuvpgEKRlMOu_zaJ8hMZaXWsr7rMg40HYyxvmtrTOvp72jnYpe0NuKXYcSFosetr6e1WNAbQfxPyuzTxE-BJjkupbrtbrayHqTp5zXAkCI/s400/IMG_6270.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456535067615350786" border="0" /></a><br />Once the cake is baked, it's going to have to cool a bit before you can cut it out of the pan. Still, don't let it get <span style="font-style: italic;">too </span>cool, because you want it to soak up as much liquor as possible.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></span>Once you're able to get at the thing, gently brush all surfaces of the cake with the soaking syrup. Use the remaining syrup to drench the cake, first from the bottom, then from the top. This will involve some careful, strategic flipping.<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span><br />While the cake is getting good and soaked, melt the white chocolate chips. You can do this in a double-boiler (if you're Classy), in an improvised set-up using a small pot and a big pot with some water in it (if you're Crafty), or in a microwave in 20-30 second bursts between stirs (if you're Lady). When that's done, heat the cream to its scalding point--medium heat on your stove will usually do the job. Turn off the burner and immediately blend the melted white chocolate with the cream until the mixture is glossy. Drizzle the resulting ganache as artfully as possible over your now-boozy cake, and sprinkle sliced almonds over the top before it cools. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span><span><span>Here's what mine looked like:</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigej5doL13DG2qSJKWAyr0566Z3AlMeYyxtiNEvDkWqoGQ1KV0YvmXWRjoFB8xFChqBlxcZRTvb-iOlpyNNqzgcWnprps2R_NvZubYAGqIVMIj0tJk0TYMPr_FwpQbGd7fBgwtnckZe5U/s1600/IMG_6272.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigej5doL13DG2qSJKWAyr0566Z3AlMeYyxtiNEvDkWqoGQ1KV0YvmXWRjoFB8xFChqBlxcZRTvb-iOlpyNNqzgcWnprps2R_NvZubYAGqIVMIj0tJk0TYMPr_FwpQbGd7fBgwtnckZe5U/s400/IMG_6272.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456535672634793138" border="0" /></a>At last, a meeting of both NOM and NONK!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And here's what I wore for our Paschal Gin Celebration:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHyS7EyfMWo3URsBncZjkT0yY7EtK1-Byu8059vpqfi78K8fvEm44WlTmleimzR_7CYqGEaGGeD2hnO_Pl9B5LuzJC6t8X-txOTXXHFV86txlA4x4o_kqNVgQaTCf68fHUPTkji4BbJ8o/s1600/IMG_6363.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 301px; height: 442px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHyS7EyfMWo3URsBncZjkT0yY7EtK1-Byu8059vpqfi78K8fvEm44WlTmleimzR_7CYqGEaGGeD2hnO_Pl9B5LuzJC6t8X-txOTXXHFV86txlA4x4o_kqNVgQaTCf68fHUPTkji4BbJ8o/s400/IMG_6363.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5456536915722991010" border="0" /></a>Dress: Calvin Klein, via TJ Maxx<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">White Fishnets: Hue<br />Shoes: Mudd<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And now it's late, so I suppose I'll let Bessie round things out:<br /><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/l6BdDhrKKSo&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/l6BdDhrKKSo&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-72219201319747264162010-03-26T08:28:00.000-07:002010-03-26T11:07:18.251-07:00Selvage Ethnography: Fashion in the FrayOne thing fashion bloggers never seem to talk about is function. There's the Teacher Costume blogs, of course, and all sorts of Rescued Clothes and Work Outfits, but what about clothes that have to look good AND put up with a lot of wear? And what do you do when the wear is just a little too much? This post is my first attempt to step in that direction--toward Pretty Clothes That Survive.<br /><br />Once upon a time I was buying clothes for fieldwork in Belize. My Belize wardrobe consisted of cheap shirts and my two trusty pairs of <a href="http://www.bananarepublic.com/">Banana Republic</a> bermudas (two pairs, in khaki and black, long-since dubbed my Jungle Pants) that have made it around the world and back more times than is probably fair to them. The key in finding clothes for the kind of work I was doing was to find some balance between Oh Lawd, It's So Hot I'm Melting and For the Love of God, Have Some Shame! If you're trying to convince people to let you interview their children, it's not like you can just wander around the beach in your <a href="http://www.djmick.co.uk/girls/gallery-of-celebs-in-daisy-dukes/">Daisy Dukes</a>.<br /><br />My fashion inspiration in all of this was a line from Julia Alvarez's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Garcia-Girls-Accents-Contemporary-Fiction/dp/0452268060"><span style="font-style: italic;">How the García Girls Lost Their Accents</span></a>:<br /><br />"Yolanda sees herself as they will, shabby in a black cotton skirt and jersey top, sandals on her feet, her wild black hair held back with a hair band. Like a missionary, her cousins will say, like one of those Peace Corps girls who have let themselves go so as to do dubious good in the world."<br /><br />In other words, I decided to keep dressing up. While it's obviously important to be aware of the complex aesthetics (and, often, economic inequalities) of a postcolonial space, I decided that dressing too far down--something many of my American friends in Belize seemed awfully prone to--would be disrespectful to the people I'd be working with. So, in the spirit of professionalism, I was determined not to be one of these girls. Since I was seeking the help of consultants ranging from upper-level educational administration to Rastafari craftspeople, the challenge was to find clothes that were breathable, modest, and passable as businesslike without being extravagant. Ready-to-wear was surprisingly accomodating that summer, but my most prized piece was a lovely last hurrah from Isaac Mizrahi for Target (RIP), a pink 100% cotton shirtdress with sturdy pockets. Pockets, it should be noted, are DEEPLY important in all things--and a rare commodity in women's clothing.<br /><br />Here's a shot of me looking rather ghostly in it:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2it05-9o_mou6OpjAP-6ah6WP5rvF1IA_6Ti61NcnZeU_micqGM6AetPGVcM1KGaVQqfhZfPTMGJG89aE26bIeWYZEYFWQU-ry4B6dvqX8lhyphenhyphenVi2P5wyIv4JHLwy0NxE8moIUW3GT4Ak/s1600/-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2it05-9o_mou6OpjAP-6ah6WP5rvF1IA_6Ti61NcnZeU_micqGM6AetPGVcM1KGaVQqfhZfPTMGJG89aE26bIeWYZEYFWQU-ry4B6dvqX8lhyphenhyphenVi2P5wyIv4JHLwy0NxE8moIUW3GT4Ak/s400/-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452975562240901762" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Unfortunately, the combination of rainy season and a hand-dyed bag I bought for carrying my notebooks got the better of the dress. The strap of the bag was deep blue, and it seemed that the back of my dress would also be deep blue forever. However, I loved the dress so much that I couldn't make myself get rid of it, even two years later in a fairly unwearable state.<br /><br />I found the dress again when undertaking the Great Bedroom Excavation of 2010--which, by the way, I have demurred from blogging because it's going to have to happen in stages. Lots of stages. This is what it looked like:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXGj-TVizeySawkTx7_rGQiuyFRLOdh6jL7qPAwhnS5Klr2l2o2_ILEJkqwQ_h3s6LugPjQW9WnAt_L_lJ__upiyScR2lCkgadj1zgv9eNr0l-YunVYj3e5hLmYv_NhozGHdHCrZWbcQ/s1600/IMG_6214.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXGj-TVizeySawkTx7_rGQiuyFRLOdh6jL7qPAwhnS5Klr2l2o2_ILEJkqwQ_h3s6LugPjQW9WnAt_L_lJ__upiyScR2lCkgadj1zgv9eNr0l-YunVYj3e5hLmYv_NhozGHdHCrZWbcQ/s400/IMG_6214.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452984804637906402" border="0" /></a><br />And here is why I stopped wearing it:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKg_LXTIh69cT4mmuD3wFOrSEw0szEg0Rp2DqgbAsHPyBVHlCCYf3qQr_AALljbiihkDeEFcjLUYO0ussANT2j4s_rnfyYeuy9obkbI3drAIjKFw_sGcbvGI0mlTOu9_Ot7kRiYH-8h8/s1600/IMG_6217.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 377px; height: 251px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKg_LXTIh69cT4mmuD3wFOrSEw0szEg0Rp2DqgbAsHPyBVHlCCYf3qQr_AALljbiihkDeEFcjLUYO0ussANT2j4s_rnfyYeuy9obkbI3drAIjKFw_sGcbvGI0mlTOu9_Ot7kRiYH-8h8/s400/IMG_6217.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452985486547864114" border="0" /></a><br />I decided that it was time to put it back into the rotation, so I went to the grocery store and picked up a package of <a href="http://www.ritdye.com/Fabric+Treatments.28.51.7.49.lasso">RIT Color Remover</a> and two packages of <a href="http://www.ritdye.com/Powders.28.51.6.37.lasso">RIT Navy Blue powder dye</a>. (Navy Blue just seemed the obvious choice, given the color of the stain, and I figured that the Color Remover would help the final color look more even.)<br /><br />I don't usually dye things. I am clumsy enough that I tend to avoid chemicals, and Laine and I do not have a functional washing machine. But this was personal. So as not to ruin any of our good cooking pots, I heated about three quarts of water in a stainless steel tureen on the stove, then put on some gloves and poured the water into our cast-off recycling bin with the packet of Color Remover. Then I threw the dress into the bin and stirred it with a big stick for about ten minutes.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46q8Hly62z2-pWjIXLG6onFXAeINrZBNTjUW-chXntHlAbq5-nW4q1mrii1ALL3S9ttGZzSvxw-QsOG2ZzWMl-hExaCbM8hEMOfSeQ6fy4D7SxLO1OPg-hG-zX5EjY7Kuq9f78MKQMnw/s1600/IMG_6218.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46q8Hly62z2-pWjIXLG6onFXAeINrZBNTjUW-chXntHlAbq5-nW4q1mrii1ALL3S9ttGZzSvxw-QsOG2ZzWMl-hExaCbM8hEMOfSeQ6fy4D7SxLO1OPg-hG-zX5EjY7Kuq9f78MKQMnw/s400/IMG_6218.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452989572819008354" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Most of the color actually faded within the first few minutes.<br />Chemistry is awesome!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Then the dress looked like this:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdgBWTFdROxa64FXtp4kyfxJ3307x_0qqNJH_7lfK00O5MLNoURvx42pUNxjIJJD8hUMC4KqOnDj-c2ih4xZBaLr_0hsAEEyBjElDWZPLbKXznV7dPgt7BXdwDmKhNZWkCsXY9Iu0CI4/s1600/IMG_6219.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwdgBWTFdROxa64FXtp4kyfxJ3307x_0qqNJH_7lfK00O5MLNoURvx42pUNxjIJJD8hUMC4KqOnDj-c2ih4xZBaLr_0hsAEEyBjElDWZPLbKXznV7dPgt7BXdwDmKhNZWkCsXY9Iu0CI4/s400/IMG_6219.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452990332529198594" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was actually pretty in love with the desaturated peach color, but Mizrahi's penchant for bright orange things still quite literally showed through. I thought it would look pretty silly to have giant orange blobs on my thighs, so I kept going with the Navy Blue dye. After I rinsed out the dress, I basically repeated the process shown above, but this time instead of Color Remover I added both packets of dye, a cup of table salt, and about a tablespoon of <a href="http://www.forevernew.com/">Forever New</a>.<br /><br />The end result was surprisingly good:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3YAK1bOQwB2C9mpmlUKTY3dXTo_ObfaM4bS1bp-0PD_Tt4AJkxc_WnPZW2r7SfBl2p2hxP1s5VExvSXG7hhU1xDqO5coZA6FCqWydS7x7Gkzd9TH7VJSfUDoWpHLys6D93hReCGCO8lI/s1600/IMG_6223.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3YAK1bOQwB2C9mpmlUKTY3dXTo_ObfaM4bS1bp-0PD_Tt4AJkxc_WnPZW2r7SfBl2p2hxP1s5VExvSXG7hhU1xDqO5coZA6FCqWydS7x7Gkzd9TH7VJSfUDoWpHLys6D93hReCGCO8lI/s400/IMG_6223.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452992013738300898" border="0" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I rinsed it out as best I could (outside, of course), then let it dry on this branch overnight. The next day, I ran it through Shaun's washing machine (thanks!) and dryer. The final color is a nice purpleish blue. To test its colorfastness and to demonstrate my commitment to Pretty Clothes That Survive I incorporated it into my Chilly Weather Rainy Day Adventure Costume:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBS98IAYYlwOeACUL08MsZSRIImokgBCJ3Ysvvp3gH1jWOu6d2OHhR3_TFo9_VxEAeqaN4BYoJG2YVKNfr6IP8zYqtq2U1hfU1GW3jc5mpQx94OQn7PsdeDECQ_E6RF8Ly5Jm-oVw5358/s1600/IMG_6232.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 550px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBS98IAYYlwOeACUL08MsZSRIImokgBCJ3Ysvvp3gH1jWOu6d2OHhR3_TFo9_VxEAeqaN4BYoJG2YVKNfr6IP8zYqtq2U1hfU1GW3jc5mpQx94OQn7PsdeDECQ_E6RF8Ly5Jm-oVw5358/s400/IMG_6232.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452995605177787234" border="0" /></a>Two miles and lots of mud later...<br /><br />Dress: Isaac Mizrahi for <a href="http://www.target.com/Womens-Clothing-Women/b/ref=nav_t_spc_1_inc_1_0/192-1828953-9956701?ie=UTF8&node=3692501">Target</a>, dyed with RIT<br />Tights: Cynthia Rowland, via <a href="http://www.gilt.com/sale/women">Gilt </a><br />Pashmina: Gift<br />Blazer: <a href="http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/division.do?cid=5155&kwid=1&sem=false">Old Navy</a>, stolen from Shaun<br />Socks: <a href="http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=5299">Old Navy</a>, stolen from Shaun<br />Shoes: <a href="http://www.dmusastore.com/">Dr. Martens</a>, stolen from Shaun<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Over all, I would call this project a success. Two points of advice, however:<br /><br />A) Don't use two packets of dye unless you want to be rinsing your garment for a VERY long time.<br /><br />B) Follow the directions and use rubber gloves. I thought I could get away with using vinyl ones, but now my hands are sort of violet-colored. At least I'm matching.<br /><br />And now, a nonsensical but vaguely relevant musical interlude!<br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6Mh6hK8mEIw&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6Mh6hK8mEIw&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div>Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-57626403352101417232010-03-23T15:50:00.000-07:002010-03-23T15:53:13.990-07:00Y'ALL! PHIL CHAMBLISS!That title sums up everything that's going on in my head right now. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QucUIZp19Y">PHIL CHAMBLISS</a> IS ON TEH INTERWEBZ!!! I generally try to keep my posts here connected to clothing and food, but this epic news is a necessary exception.<br />
The first time I ever saw any of Chambliss's work was at a screening for the first DVD to accompany the <a href="http://www.oxfordamerican.org/">Oxford American</a> Southern film issue. Chambliss's work was included thanks to Derek Jenkins (Derek, where/are you blogging these days?), and, since then, Derek has been the only source I knew of for any of Chambliss's films. Apparently somewhat of a recluse, Chambliss lives in Camden, Arkansas (a 30 minute drive from my own hometown of El Dorado), and his films have been hard to get hold of. Now, as Derek posted on Google Reader earlier today, some of Chambliss's clips have shown up on youtube, courtesy of Chambliss himself.<br />
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<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1wslxXT0CUw&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1wslxXT0CUw&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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Keep an eye on this. Phil Chambliss is a genius! I'm hoping to somehow get hold of The Hatchet Man.Arya Snarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06788545435529814811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-29855482104213456502010-03-23T13:57:00.000-07:002011-01-26T21:47:32.327-08:00空港服For the first weekend of spring break, <a href="http://comp.uark.edu/~croos/about.html">Christian</a> and I took a last minute trip to Dallas to see my friends Philip & Shea. I miss both of them terribly since they've moved back to Dallas, and <a href="http://airfarewatchdog.com/">airfarewatchdog.com</a> recently posted a $75 round trip Tulsa-Dallas fare. If you haven't subscribed to your nearby airports' feeds via that site, do so immediately! Our plane was delayed, and we had to go through some <a href="http://purityanddanger.blogspot.com/2010/03/spring-breakin-snowed-in-with-boys.html">nasty weather</a> getting out of Tulsa. I'm almost certain that Christian ended up with some fingertip-shaped bruises on his knee from me gripping it through all the turbulence. To be quite honest, I'm terrified of flying, which is probably why I love it so much. I'm kind of a masochist like that.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0IUbufKSOjAsEFEW74MKdtNFKksWmGcZnCVEzikMDMCV6mLJltEBfe4HcPhHXtZbpR00oNW7GV43GghUhrXuJpTrUeGlMl_58X_ENZydFmI5D-lpEii99vrvw5AsX6NW0pyCajnzKs9k/s1600-h/Picture+625.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0IUbufKSOjAsEFEW74MKdtNFKksWmGcZnCVEzikMDMCV6mLJltEBfe4HcPhHXtZbpR00oNW7GV43GghUhrXuJpTrUeGlMl_58X_ENZydFmI5D-lpEii99vrvw5AsX6NW0pyCajnzKs9k/s640/Picture+625.jpg" width="299" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Airplane costume #1: (notice how nice the weather was before we left Fayetteville? <a href="http://purityanddanger.blogspot.com/2010/03/liminal-weather-costume-or-marmoset.html">Sneaky</a>)</div><div style="text-align: center;">Sweater: F21</div><div style="text-align: center;">Skirt: <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/whatcirca">WhatCirca Vintage</a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Boots: Blowfish </div><div style="text-align: center;">Necklace: Vintage via my mom</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">There is little photographic evidence of the actual Dallas adventure. It consisted of amazing food, museums, and, of course, cute cats!!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Georgia, the newest addition to Philip & Shea's household: </div><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1eGShx4fRbVYziZaFPcj8JLyPyj7dfSkKFjZsciTHGwLbDO98WWoRX6YdqDGjBg_1HPeYPiJqOCSbadR6ZnH-BJh6gBT3fph56Or46DQac_4SNX1eW_vEG5U8cYUaxvIXMqs8-8_1OjM/s1600-h/favoritethings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzlTxmjE9Y5f6aEXFuDdO1c10oyqq0W7M60bisWnJIRjIP1aZxuU04jwax651pOjmJmIKxSjmp4-jmRsSp8-A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe> </a><br />
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The return trip went much more smoothly:<br />
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</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1eGShx4fRbVYziZaFPcj8JLyPyj7dfSkKFjZsciTHGwLbDO98WWoRX6YdqDGjBg_1HPeYPiJqOCSbadR6ZnH-BJh6gBT3fph56Or46DQac_4SNX1eW_vEG5U8cYUaxvIXMqs8-8_1OjM/s1600-h/favoritethings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1eGShx4fRbVYziZaFPcj8JLyPyj7dfSkKFjZsciTHGwLbDO98WWoRX6YdqDGjBg_1HPeYPiJqOCSbadR6ZnH-BJh6gBT3fph56Or46DQac_4SNX1eW_vEG5U8cYUaxvIXMqs8-8_1OjM/s400/favoritethings.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Recipe for a moment of perfect happiness: </div><div style="text-align: center;">1 cheap flight</div><div style="text-align: center;">1 tiny bag of peanuts (tiny food!!)</div><div style="text-align: center;">1 Cormac McCarthy novel</div><div style="text-align: center;">1 Jack & coke</div><div style="text-align: center;">0 turbulence<br />
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<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=s-QzccStux4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=blood+meridian&hl=en&ei=phqpS5ObL6auNdPfvK4B&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false">Blood Meridian</a> actually reminded us that the last time we'd been to Tulsa was to see <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/">The Road</a> over Christmas break. Now, I love (LOVE) Cormac McCarthy. I love how spare his writing is. Strangely, I love the same thing about <a href="http://www.murakami.ch/main_7.html">Murakami Haruki</a>. This similarity may, however, be an effect of not reading Murakami in Japanese. It's one of my life goals to read kanji well enough to read <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=sC5mAAAAMAAJ&q=the+wind-up+bird+chronicle&dq=the+wind-up+bird+chronicle&hl=en&ei=2hypS_WpGqHSNITr8bcB&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAA">The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle</a> the way that Murakami wrote it. Not to mention <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=6y7zQwAACAAJ&dq=1q84&hl=en&ei=Ex2pS4-7FZW4NqW_8JgB&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA">1Q84</a>. When will they release an English translation already?! Absolute torture. <br />
Anyway, McCarthy never overwrites, and I never thought that a film adaptation of any of his novels would be possible. The Coen brothers, however, proved me so very wrong with <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477348/">No Country for Old Men.</a> That film worked because it was, like McCarthy's writing, stark and full of silence. The film adaptation of The Road was just the opposite - completely overwrought. Christian hadn't read <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=JHpEzx0BpHMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+road&hl=en&ei=bx6pS-W8H6GwNKylvdEB&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false">the novel</a> when we saw the film, and I wish I could remember how I'd explained my distaste at the time. Something about how McCarthy doesn't get in the way of his language or imagery. But the film adaptation tried to grab hold of , pin down, and explain events and emotions that should have been left alone to speak for themselves. And sniveling, annoying child actor was sniveling and annoying. Anyway, I'm obviously no film critic. I'm sure I'll think of a better way to say it at 3am. Back to frivolous things. <br />
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Airplane costume #2 (Sorry for the crap image quality - I left my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital-Rebel-XT-f3-5-5-6/dp/B0007QKN22">Rebel</a> with Dolly & only had my iPhone)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6K55tt6SfpE/S6kfqJKzpnI/AAAAAAAAAVc/wdlbATQfuDk/s1600-h/hikouki.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6K55tt6SfpE/S6kfqJKzpnI/AAAAAAAAAVc/wdlbATQfuDk/s640/hikouki.jpg" width="289" /></a></div>Dress: Target<br />
Velvet blazer: Banana Republic<br />
Shoes: Target (slip-ons are SO necessary for airport security lines)<br />
Backpack: <a href="http://www.nelsonleathercompany.com/home.php">Nelson's Leather</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6K55tt6SfpE/S6khLAus8RI/AAAAAAAAAVk/Bc7OzImGARo/s1600-h/hikoukifuku.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6K55tt6SfpE/S6khLAus8RI/AAAAAAAAAVk/Bc7OzImGARo/s640/hikoukifuku.jpg" width="344" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Obi-style belt: <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/loobyloucrafts">LoobyLou Crafts </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6K55tt6SfpE/S6kma-rkLwI/AAAAAAAAAVs/fduIASpDPFU/s1600-h/obiwan2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6K55tt6SfpE/S6kma-rkLwI/AAAAAAAAAVs/fduIASpDPFU/s320/obiwan2.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lastly, I checked a bag. This is a rare occurrence. Here is said bag (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7sybH2xlB0">wrapped in plastic</a>):</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh3fBpLqVxe8RlTQzF-Rjwyc9cFVjgLb2viKlG3C71Zg3FEW00xWvAWCgP1J6WquHmAbHbelNhc7et3HxFm3KRzv0g8IZyIC9S77tlD7aQ-Zm6XA4lI1Mk3C5f3JT7WgJE3cmuIDwipQA/s1600-h/securityrisk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh3fBpLqVxe8RlTQzF-Rjwyc9cFVjgLb2viKlG3C71Zg3FEW00xWvAWCgP1J6WquHmAbHbelNhc7et3HxFm3KRzv0g8IZyIC9S77tlD7aQ-Zm6XA4lI1Mk3C5f3JT7WgJE3cmuIDwipQA/s320/securityrisk.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">The surrounding circumstances will have to remain a mystery for now. I'll only say that it has something to do with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fufu">fufu</a>. <br />
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</div>Arya Snarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06788545435529814811noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-42199294914461388802010-03-21T19:09:00.000-07:002010-03-22T09:31:48.708-07:00Spring Breakin' 2: Electric BlizzardlooSo, remember how I said Chiba loves snow? Well, we woke up to a foot of it this morning, and she rejoiced:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://gickr.com/results4/anim_0ebbebfe-9e6a-fd34-cd54-8d2b8f90a974.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 323px;" src="http://gickr.com/results4/anim_0ebbebfe-9e6a-fd34-cd54-8d2b8f90a974.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>There was so much snow, she actually had to eat her way across the yard!<br />She also enjoys leaping to catch snowballs in the air, wringing their necks, then eating them.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">When you're from Arkansas, the first thing you learn about playing in the snow is how to be efficient. In other words, when you're building a snowman, you are trained to get EVERY BIT OF SNOW on your parents' property. (If you've only got an inch or two, you've got to make it count!) As a result, most kids have really grassy snowmen. Today, we were spoiled. We used our skills to amass a really tall pile of snow, and then were at a loss as to what to do with it. Good scholars that we are, <a href="http://theglowisgone.com/">Phillip</a> and I decided to turn it into a giant portrait of Karl Marx:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_oTlM0r0ZkT_3fd3iCsI495vKVWzN0U6mgPBu93m9oEKPD6GhDPK6azVzjfROMIs_MvsJEwmWDvRNDO2MWv3v_BrdxS2dOIpIIUmCCxR-HAC1Eqa6YDh_s_0d2SB3if-wR65VAX-fiIY/s1600-h/IMG_6150.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 282px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_oTlM0r0ZkT_3fd3iCsI495vKVWzN0U6mgPBu93m9oEKPD6GhDPK6azVzjfROMIs_MvsJEwmWDvRNDO2MWv3v_BrdxS2dOIpIIUmCCxR-HAC1Eqa6YDh_s_0d2SB3if-wR65VAX-fiIY/s400/IMG_6150.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451276341929386962" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLO1pKkilnfW-J2ol6MOwCnXpt_tdxkPn_BgR0uVHm5qUD0Om4g0M8Ey7u_e-d6xgB-tn_3-yqtRgQJsGNmUomLQ6V4TLH3GBc_H5f1WbLPOxkF3r1AT6FGqqyvG-dJFIvMyn2dYNvcIg/s1600-h/karl_marx-thumb.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 276px; height: 372px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLO1pKkilnfW-J2ol6MOwCnXpt_tdxkPn_BgR0uVHm5qUD0Om4g0M8Ey7u_e-d6xgB-tn_3-yqtRgQJsGNmUomLQ6V4TLH3GBc_H5f1WbLPOxkF3r1AT6FGqqyvG-dJFIvMyn2dYNvcIg/s400/karl_marx-thumb.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451277063562138082" border="0" /></a></div></div>Snow Marx has a bit of a fro, but all things considered, I think we did a pretty good job.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Here's a close up:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_AuLuTQ2QVk0PXrqrKN7kKyjJOMSBzYk55fwSJ9hcZb2ocf8Y2uhQGsh01pIUK4IkSLH3VaCy0uxmzQrrxrWiDzFgFt3HsK6GvbsegjCjaaqQMoJB8aHOx8aMPAPmVkIVFTzFrC85jM/s1600-h/IMG_6135.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_AuLuTQ2QVk0PXrqrKN7kKyjJOMSBzYk55fwSJ9hcZb2ocf8Y2uhQGsh01pIUK4IkSLH3VaCy0uxmzQrrxrWiDzFgFt3HsK6GvbsegjCjaaqQMoJB8aHOx8aMPAPmVkIVFTzFrC85jM/s400/IMG_6135.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451277806766340322" border="0" /></a>The detail was kind of hard to see, so we decided to do his<br />eyes, mouth, and hair with charcoal and ashes from the grill.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We also thought we should document our snow-sculpting outfits.<br /><br />Here's Shaun:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxwNrUlE-c71Q1qwZ4TyPbFwr5W5aOZI7OpuAqVi1MCf-kM5de6S6PqM8DPl_wbaHZ-_tcHqvOp9kNjyDc_CVJxtoIO4qD4IzxktaSDiL7lAXwIAAK2f0jAFSPwH5gOWnuBUH6ATNtNVM/s1600-h/IMG_6129.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 545px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxwNrUlE-c71Q1qwZ4TyPbFwr5W5aOZI7OpuAqVi1MCf-kM5de6S6PqM8DPl_wbaHZ-_tcHqvOp9kNjyDc_CVJxtoIO4qD4IzxktaSDiL7lAXwIAAK2f0jAFSPwH5gOWnuBUH6ATNtNVM/s400/IMG_6129.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451278430773112178" border="0" /></a>Yes, that <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxQa8VL8bUg">Cobra Commander</a> coat. And a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbEBErvW-Uc">Mork</a> shirt.<br />Shaun's weather gear comes straight from his box of old Halloween costumes.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Here's Phillip:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0zqhfwZLcaDOl-n2R0PL_QxFDY85ITEwCDgmoDZQRyDIMNnjylW2TxVsBwVxlO5VDwe-N0hxYhMY2zk9ascqaCllwRoURhOg8Vxv2ZuBBoEnhwsTYTyMlrGF1ony28o5JWLy1Y-dD58w/s1600-h/IMG_6153.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 231px; height: 485px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0zqhfwZLcaDOl-n2R0PL_QxFDY85ITEwCDgmoDZQRyDIMNnjylW2TxVsBwVxlO5VDwe-N0hxYhMY2zk9ascqaCllwRoURhOg8Vxv2ZuBBoEnhwsTYTyMlrGF1ony28o5JWLy1Y-dD58w/s400/IMG_6153.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451279794124599090" border="0" /></a>Phil went a little more traditional with a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvuO15tw_4U">Mighty Ducks in South Central</a> sort of look.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And here's me:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhjKN6KAFQEy5YgzAiocPIrIoJz3G3kouE_XqIQNeEDkxgJGd7PKFMmtMHrdrcECIIu2jofUHZkxZ0wU5icy2rELT3M8MV_WvVpW40k3gUs8Xsrg4fdWQA7ZTrXHuTEr3NqankqqpFv_8/s1600-h/IMG_6158.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 508px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhjKN6KAFQEy5YgzAiocPIrIoJz3G3kouE_XqIQNeEDkxgJGd7PKFMmtMHrdrcECIIu2jofUHZkxZ0wU5icy2rELT3M8MV_WvVpW40k3gUs8Xsrg4fdWQA7ZTrXHuTEr3NqankqqpFv_8/s400/IMG_6158.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451282261888985122" border="0" /></a></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">I did not purchase any part of this outfit.<br /><br />Pashmina: Gift from my friend Juliet's trip to Spain<br />Wolf shirt: Purchased by my BFF <a href="http://www.mayaru.com/">Maya</a> at an auto show near my mom's house<br />Trenchcoat: Vintage Sears, gift from my friend Audrey<br />Cookie-Monster-molested-me jeans: Levi's, stolen from Shaun<br />Cowboy boots: Found on the side of the road (really!)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Joel was too cool to bother with a snow outfit.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDBXe9jTmN_4MLslppUEE2svEE7ew6rZP0sPEr32CvsO4W0jniv5ou83I8cYqn90ga2-OOaxtiT048gfxCRXziVtFnVSe7O998LXmgz8TxN-KUxrew9978dZY_K5cSgYpwCDCRKBxuQJs/s1600-h/IMG_6145.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDBXe9jTmN_4MLslppUEE2svEE7ew6rZP0sPEr32CvsO4W0jniv5ou83I8cYqn90ga2-OOaxtiT048gfxCRXziVtFnVSe7O998LXmgz8TxN-KUxrew9978dZY_K5cSgYpwCDCRKBxuQJs/s400/IMG_6145.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451284249871273986" border="0" /></a>He watched <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/76543/heavy-metal-in-baghdad"><span style="font-style: italic;">Heavy Metal in Baghdad</span></a> instead.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The neighbors made some awesome snowstuff, too:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjusql8IGupu9N7iBfBgjGE1IMVo1CCwht8jhyXWmXRWMhVmaaZoNCFBiOq4oAVnxLHcxMI-f52bdJ7fPgDjGhHdS3eLHfy7H3o4kh7FffEn65Ta9bd0WT3uMtib13WLEJDSQMIsbIEonE/s1600-h/IMG_6170.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjusql8IGupu9N7iBfBgjGE1IMVo1CCwht8jhyXWmXRWMhVmaaZoNCFBiOq4oAVnxLHcxMI-f52bdJ7fPgDjGhHdS3eLHfy7H3o4kh7FffEn65Ta9bd0WT3uMtib13WLEJDSQMIsbIEonE/s400/IMG_6170.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451303169947910402" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHSzR4blfyRH3D3x09pDBEnpzssK2gvUnrSfKnvWaNZwfU_Xzk2JUcF45RFIVEUYr1HmL44ofB5W_WReFLyf4WdZo1OzfYHuVsXRFSKx_fp-CSeOCNwdO5cQ1RPi3dLAreD2hJMc-AKM/s1600-h/IMG_6173.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHSzR4blfyRH3D3x09pDBEnpzssK2gvUnrSfKnvWaNZwfU_Xzk2JUcF45RFIVEUYr1HmL44ofB5W_WReFLyf4WdZo1OzfYHuVsXRFSKx_fp-CSeOCNwdO5cQ1RPi3dLAreD2hJMc-AKM/s400/IMG_6173.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451303411028947666" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;">After a series of epic frustrations (getting trapped in my driveway after the city vehicles threw snow behind Shaun's car, misaligning Shaun's car even after shoveling out our driveway, having our purchases withheld at Wal-Mart, etc.), we decided it was necessary to devour lots of baked goods.<br /><br />Since I promised my friend <a href="http://auntieshe-she.blogspot.com/">Auntie She-She</a> some scones almost two months ago, I decided to finally make good on that. (It doesn't hurt that scones and tea are magical on a snowy day like today.)<br /><br />A few years ago, when I started experimenting with scones, I happened upon <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Worlds-Best-Scones-From-Scotland-to-the-Savoy-to-the-US/Detail.aspx">this</a> recipe. As much as I like just messing around and letting the <a href="http://purityanddanger.blogspot.com/2010/03/food-fetishism-cake-vs-pie.html">alchemy</a> happen, the scones that I made using that recipe were good enough to make me do it by the book almost every time.<br /><br />Still, an important caveat before we get started. Ever since a horrible experience with <a href="http://www.thechocolatereview.net/2007/04/04/starburst-fruit-chews/">British Starbursts</a>, my already minimal patience for currants has been diminishing. What's a girl to use instead? CHERRIES. I cannot adequately convey how great cherries are in scones. Scones themselves are not meant to be sweet, so choosing the right fruit is really important. Cherries are complex! They are sweet enough to make it clear that scones are part of breakfast, tea, or dessert, but they have a tart kick to them that kills me every time. If you simply <span style="font-style: italic;">must</span> use currants, I will not judge you. But really, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyvzfgxY0kc">extenuating circumstances</a> aside, cherries will not let you down.<br /><br />Here's what all you'll need for a batch:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUkygMWweKhW3Mp-GGizmDvEWUD6AFabUMs6uyTTbvxrvbGmrYXg-stWgFCM_ZMCaw2q9av2Rh3zAT2CvdS-5yrwDhyphenhyphen90VilQN4Dg7K-jhiLjeZTk_U64lSEbuMOPP8jSeKyMUvsO_Dg/s1600-h/IMG_6179.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUkygMWweKhW3Mp-GGizmDvEWUD6AFabUMs6uyTTbvxrvbGmrYXg-stWgFCM_ZMCaw2q9av2Rh3zAT2CvdS-5yrwDhyphenhyphen90VilQN4Dg7K-jhiLjeZTk_U64lSEbuMOPP8jSeKyMUvsO_Dg/s400/IMG_6179.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451289562411502898" border="0" /></a>FOR DOUGH:<br />1 3/4 c all-purpose flour<br />4 tsp baking powder<br />1/4 c white sugar<br />1/8 tsp salt<br />5 tbsp unsalted butter<br />1/2 c dried cherries<br />1/2 c milk<br />1/4 c sour cream<br />(the most magical ingredient in baking, as far as I'm concerned)<br /><br />FOR EGG WASH:<br />1 large egg<br />1 tbsp milk</div></div></div></div> </div></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Here's the dough in progress:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HB9rYln5kPAr7XB5KKNQa_x73Hq9TeRIA10dv8VO-D_iDRrT-FruC6kVxyTSB5c691O7kFDnQaEOy_f-4paiRC2BAZlk26SXlb4NRtpHyBNQOz6UIx5AnDdG4R_0LoUUOWA5XaK2asA/s1600-h/IMG_6186.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3HB9rYln5kPAr7XB5KKNQa_x73Hq9TeRIA10dv8VO-D_iDRrT-FruC6kVxyTSB5c691O7kFDnQaEOy_f-4paiRC2BAZlk26SXlb4NRtpHyBNQOz6UIx5AnDdG4R_0LoUUOWA5XaK2asA/s400/IMG_6186.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451291076358022786" border="0" /></a>This stuff can be really hard to work with at first, so be sure<br />a) to keep the butter pretty clumpy and<br />b) not to overwork the dough, as tempting as it is.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The trick is to just grab as much as you can and mush it together, honestly. Once you do that, it binds like a charm.<br /><br />Here's what the scones ought to look like right before they go in the oven:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggePpX0PYX6S0fuDSuSyU8ycsdGfrYpeWbe4fZ2h7hgf-e4jUtsrP-pr1HNnWYOKWrl2bkkP76JAcccnoYnaXkMYlN61v5v0z29y7hfeySDW2MjmYu0m4o80XANZ9LRRRQnmKIkTd3eqA/s1600-h/IMG_6191.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggePpX0PYX6S0fuDSuSyU8ycsdGfrYpeWbe4fZ2h7hgf-e4jUtsrP-pr1HNnWYOKWrl2bkkP76JAcccnoYnaXkMYlN61v5v0z29y7hfeySDW2MjmYu0m4o80XANZ9LRRRQnmKIkTd3eqA/s400/IMG_6191.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451294615460967474" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And here's what they ought to look like right after you take them out:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWKNtqhTzf-WyFz4SV3Sse37Lpkogbd_hfE8raEmhhomRDWmtS_A2vsI4DGJk5rm3NfV7Y-idie83YlCYSstT_MDzKfVcmtNhGhuDd2-XMebi0Frn1I5hQ2kXibJCTn1b-Twu1TK95Yo/s1600-h/IMG_6199.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 232px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWKNtqhTzf-WyFz4SV3Sse37Lpkogbd_hfE8raEmhhomRDWmtS_A2vsI4DGJk5rm3NfV7Y-idie83YlCYSstT_MDzKfVcmtNhGhuDd2-XMebi0Frn1I5hQ2kXibJCTn1b-Twu1TK95Yo/s400/IMG_6199.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451296003355944578" border="0" /></a><br />And here's what they ought to look like right before you eat them:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DqChOFhj5gOApTUCZ6_I9PT5C2_UtclrtvzNZ0s9Kc_Lvzu3h4nnH-1INk1XnbpQTrjNFCbOYkCuuEQOn4zO0PdSIvJkV16jZb_DXm6t-Sl27mqddV9_v7_XGK1O-pVQPmuzizGE770/s1600-h/IMG_6206.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DqChOFhj5gOApTUCZ6_I9PT5C2_UtclrtvzNZ0s9Kc_Lvzu3h4nnH-1INk1XnbpQTrjNFCbOYkCuuEQOn4zO0PdSIvJkV16jZb_DXm6t-Sl27mqddV9_v7_XGK1O-pVQPmuzizGE770/s400/IMG_6206.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451297016630573666" border="0" /></a></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Tea is really necessary with these.<br />Today we had Earl Grey, but Vanilla Rooibos is pretty awesome, too.<br />I also highly recommend slicing a scone in half and slathering it with cherry preserves.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And, because I promised more insane (weather-inappropriate) but mood-maintaining Spring Breakin' costumes, here is what I wore to make scones:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKE4f2eSxijOcEbJH6tm3iHMeAV5FQQMeqKRZSQNG8WiryqHOwwYQdyFeP8neJfBNO1hBO0bVb6YgEsacFH75eD-QE8cemygeq-I2lTvBwRhmanL3R5wyTw94ZFAbYaCKPVy0MZXaVXSo/s1600-h/IMG_6210.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 592px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKE4f2eSxijOcEbJH6tm3iHMeAV5FQQMeqKRZSQNG8WiryqHOwwYQdyFeP8neJfBNO1hBO0bVb6YgEsacFH75eD-QE8cemygeq-I2lTvBwRhmanL3R5wyTw94ZFAbYaCKPVy0MZXaVXSo/s400/IMG_6210.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451298441869000098" border="0" /></a></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjY4Rg7VyNs-zkINRaFHEYG7ZlPejQmmhltPS2W4PpSDoG7TpnqPM-FhqfOhPmJWSlW9458HBBm1hClWOY2NtuBOsLTMD3ReXR_gBO8jqMm1RNL75n6qruVW9gxX4_fspEA5v-D9cfBvQ/s1600-h/IMG_6213.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 245px; height: 624px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjY4Rg7VyNs-zkINRaFHEYG7ZlPejQmmhltPS2W4PpSDoG7TpnqPM-FhqfOhPmJWSlW9458HBBm1hClWOY2NtuBOsLTMD3ReXR_gBO8jqMm1RNL75n6qruVW9gxX4_fspEA5v-D9cfBvQ/s400/IMG_6213.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451299814545273378" border="0" /></a></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dress: Pomare<br />Socks: Stolen from Shaun, who owns only argyles (seriously)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And with that, I wish you good night. Stay tuned for The Great Bedroom Excavation of 2010!<br /></div></div>Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-42938464663214324912010-03-20T20:52:00.000-07:002010-03-22T09:31:58.489-07:00Spring Breakin': Snowed in with BoysSpring break is upon us! Alas, although it was 70 degrees yesterday, we now have several inches of snow, and, as the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN7LW0Y00kE">old song</a> goes, it's showing no sign of stopping. First day of spring, my ass.<br /><br />Anyway, since Laine is out of town for the weekend, I took our <a href="http://hipsterpuppies.tumblr.com/">Hipster Puppy</a>, Sonny Chiba Las Vegas, to hang out with my boyfriend, Shaun, at his house. This has proven to be an exciting undertaking, especially given Chiba's boundless enthusiasm with regard to snow. In this respect, she is a better Southerner than any of the rest of us.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs269.ash1/19641_657453026907_20620410_37973145_4702342_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 453px; height: 604px;" src="http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs269.ash1/19641_657453026907_20620410_37973145_4702342_n.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">No, really.<br /></div><br />Also, there's Shaun's roommate, Joel. Below I have attempted to summarize Joel's personality in Blingee format:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyNjkxNDM*NjU1NjImcHQ9MTI2OTE*MzQ3ODc*MyZwPTYyNTEmZD1jb2RlYm94Jmc9MSZvPTU*Yzg5ZjBmMDNiMTQ*/ZGM5OTc2NGExZjVhNGNkNTMw.gif" border="0" height="0" width="0" /> <a href="http://blingee.com/blingee/view/109130017-Joel"><img alt="Joel" src="http://image.blingee.com/images17/content/output/000/000/000/681/605474103_1538781.gif" title="Joel" border="0" height="305" width="400" /></a><br />Joel has become one of Chiba's favorite people, for obvious reasons.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">There's also <a href="http://theglowisgone.com/">Phillip</a>, who has begun mimicking Chiba's every move. The likenesses are striking!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vDZD7wW_1CIw15MY2LVMsBSScTUhy-k7AZDdmRDNqJH2UMgh-RHDQ8P3ulROD8ggCRXbBp1FMLF7X_SH1l7tHO-VLrYJcdp5w8p-SbyyzBoL6P4yfZ_ht-kQuqlAP5juNNo0dq4zQiQ/s1600-h/IMG_6064.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4vDZD7wW_1CIw15MY2LVMsBSScTUhy-k7AZDdmRDNqJH2UMgh-RHDQ8P3ulROD8ggCRXbBp1FMLF7X_SH1l7tHO-VLrYJcdp5w8p-SbyyzBoL6P4yfZ_ht-kQuqlAP5juNNo0dq4zQiQ/s400/IMG_6064.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450933844539482146" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQrKtw3xoWz8GrKgCVw-Bw2mVFVS22s2TPImAYIZSdBr4eDTmdNVKspl9l6v8DYGfHqaUUGFoeIrxHAddRRUGVNY9jfvRLNRcov89cplJwOZeGTHwiZ9BCxSszc8Zfv4HQfPeDO6dwYc/s1600-h/IMG_6070.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 357px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQrKtw3xoWz8GrKgCVw-Bw2mVFVS22s2TPImAYIZSdBr4eDTmdNVKspl9l6v8DYGfHqaUUGFoeIrxHAddRRUGVNY9jfvRLNRcov89cplJwOZeGTHwiZ9BCxSszc8Zfv4HQfPeDO6dwYc/s400/IMG_6070.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450934384626375490" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgecbWjubgEN12ICZF164EyOpf3YqE82bf2gShvjR-D-FXDS-luPuKGEZb-BqRuk6JxYJPcNGOdtOtW7LBy9esfkxRNy2uu9aKHHrfzaJneAkv3z96cbrImnO7HuDfEBHfDS3BU28pac/s1600-h/IMG_6066.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgecbWjubgEN12ICZF164EyOpf3YqE82bf2gShvjR-D-FXDS-luPuKGEZb-BqRuk6JxYJPcNGOdtOtW7LBy9esfkxRNy2uu9aKHHrfzaJneAkv3z96cbrImnO7HuDfEBHfDS3BU28pac/s400/IMG_6066.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450934753473593282" border="0" /></a><br />Amidst all this excitement, we all were still able to restrain ourselves long enough to watch what may well be the greatest movie...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.dvd-3rab.com/home/images/products/463517.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 500px;" src="http://www.dvd-3rab.com/home/images/products/463517.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>that can bear the banner "Sci-Fi Original."<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">What <span style="font-style: italic;">Ice Spiders</span> lacked in coherence and plausibility, it more than made up for with copious bro-speak and insane costume choices. Also, it was totally appropriate for this godawful weather.<br /><br />While waiting to replenish our movie stash, we decided to cook an epic, vegetarian-friendly feast. Since Laine picked some spring onions while it was warm out, I decided to use them for a gigantic stir fry and some scallion pancakes. Scallion pancakes, it should be noted, are a HUGE point of contention between me and my homeland. Short of making them for oneself, they are nearly impossible to find in Chinese restaurants below the Mason-Dixon line. If you have ever eaten a scallion pancake, then you realize that this is totally fucking insane. I mean, it's not like we don't like <a href="http://purityanddanger.blogspot.com/2010/03/deep-fried-hot-chocolate-cupcakes.html">fried things</a>. For those of you in similar situations, observe.<br /><br /><a href="http://appetiteforchina.com/recipes/chinese-scallion-pancakes-photo-photo-recipe">This</a> recipe is basically how I make scallion pancakes, but I use more flour (you definitely want thick dough for these) and I usually make them a little smaller so they cook faster. And, on this occasion we blew off the store-bought green onions in favor of...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMnpF0gI-B6q2aOjJDNNC8GVQnU2w2xsyby-2PdY2Nz3no-onSQLZ9o6keEsoH7bSuyl0eHEpxAVLaJ17XaSCvPZeYd3Pe2UW_M-1fopszNbEOLRpuo5WpYrhc4nAD0UX2cAYJOtkXDs/s1600-h/wyld_stallyns_front.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVMnpF0gI-B6q2aOjJDNNC8GVQnU2w2xsyby-2PdY2Nz3no-onSQLZ9o6keEsoH7bSuyl0eHEpxAVLaJ17XaSCvPZeYd3Pe2UW_M-1fopszNbEOLRpuo5WpYrhc4nAD0UX2cAYJOtkXDs/s400/wyld_stallyns_front.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450940264064934498" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyS9Qy570wY">Excellent!</a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />So, we started with all this stuff:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVTqE_CGyjDCr5C8rkBFXuYLJ7wlIHR55CzL0G9jR7RThKmFKNGj3Zt2jHZKraujUAFPX0ryoe9zDtuqnM-TIr1Y4bCRaeevDTL7RbRj0cKaUwBLvTykVrrmS-2HTDgBVWMDyJb_GeIg8/s1600-h/IMG_6091.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVTqE_CGyjDCr5C8rkBFXuYLJ7wlIHR55CzL0G9jR7RThKmFKNGj3Zt2jHZKraujUAFPX0ryoe9zDtuqnM-TIr1Y4bCRaeevDTL7RbRj0cKaUwBLvTykVrrmS-2HTDgBVWMDyJb_GeIg8/s400/IMG_6091.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450941277188318114" border="0" /></a><br />2 c all-purpose flour<br />1 tsp yeast+1 tsp sugar in 1/2 c warm water<br />1 tsp salt<br />2 tbsp vegetable oil<br />a whole mess of (soaked, scrubbed, and minced) WYLD SKALLYNS<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We put 1 c flour in a bowl with the yeastysugarywater and stirred it until blended. Then we put the other 1 c flour in another bowl with the salt, the vegetable oil, and another 1/2 c warm water, and mixed that up, too. (We still had to add a few pinches of flour to get the stuff to bind right.) Next, we mashed both doughs together and let the newly-formed giant gob of dough rest for about half an hour. When we came back, the dough was much nicer, so we rolled it out, spiraled it into a log, and cut said log into 1-inch slices. We mushed those slices into circles, rubbed some oil on them, and sprinkled them with more WYLD SKALLYNS than you could possibly imagine. We pinwheeled the circles up to mix the SKALLYNS in, then mashed them flat again before pan-frying them on medium-high heat. Ultimately, they looked like this:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5WYcXuY12h8WOx_hJoUDwxgh1exwFvTku55G7XG-EQiMJZC5AzY5QxuJMwF49xRqIeuEb-JobZqEU-9vNCk4qcn0E6N8raU3DmxmIWMBSQyrDhoW7G0WVVmbWHesQxYZ5cLriFPWst0/s1600-h/IMG_6111.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5WYcXuY12h8WOx_hJoUDwxgh1exwFvTku55G7XG-EQiMJZC5AzY5QxuJMwF49xRqIeuEb-JobZqEU-9vNCk4qcn0E6N8raU3DmxmIWMBSQyrDhoW7G0WVVmbWHesQxYZ5cLriFPWst0/s400/IMG_6111.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450944170178099874" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">If you eat these (and you really, really should), it is imperative that<br />you dunk them in vast amounts of <a href="http://www.bragg.com/products/la.html">Bragg's Liquid Aminos</a>. It's the law!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">For the stir fry, Shaun used <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/fried-rice-recipe/index.html">this</a> recipe. This time, we substituted seitan for meat, used green bell peppers instead of peas, put in WAY more garlic, and used baby shiitakes instead of regular shiitakes. Oh yeah, and WYLD SKALLYNS!<br /><br /></div></div></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjil0xvTWA6aDoUkgqtF1qB5RMHnmAEtgMXZzYPmt2vSJxnPVoU1FgWLNDlyG3kY76U-UzCWftvffZzGHsBx-g2wRGTdw9Ur1V159GKiMzHElnxThmBzNQYBpFM2IAheykVa17oz78hgvM/s1600-h/IMG_6088.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjil0xvTWA6aDoUkgqtF1qB5RMHnmAEtgMXZzYPmt2vSJxnPVoU1FgWLNDlyG3kY76U-UzCWftvffZzGHsBx-g2wRGTdw9Ur1V159GKiMzHElnxThmBzNQYBpFM2IAheykVa17oz78hgvM/s400/IMG_6088.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450945197625591426" border="0" /></a>11 baby shiitake mushrooms, plumped in water<br />(this keeps them from absorbing too much oil)<br />3 tbsp peanut oil<br />2 large eggs, lightly beaten with a pinch of kosher salt<br />1/4 c minced carrot<br />1/4 c WYLD SKALLYNS, minced<br />3 large cloves garlic, minced<br />pinch red chile flakes<br />1 tsp minced peeled fresh ginger<br />2 tbsp soy sauce (Bragg's would work here, too!)<br />1 tsp toasted sesame oil<br />3 c long-grain rice<br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">1 c cubed seitan, marinated 1 hr in Bragg's Liquid Aminos and honey<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Here's the work in progress:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghd9mWcOWpkgGUk6EWQTX3ljbpNxshUMR7STp8NanOKry3lgKQ-ecNSRil1Kg4wKmxWes-GOGf_oHqOKQCc_GTHlPzt1pbcMfWZiwFW2OXPurYrI3l-RMoXCUMOKUyFwlWxEVm_mflmlU/s1600-h/IMG_6092.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghd9mWcOWpkgGUk6EWQTX3ljbpNxshUMR7STp8NanOKry3lgKQ-ecNSRil1Kg4wKmxWes-GOGf_oHqOKQCc_GTHlPzt1pbcMfWZiwFW2OXPurYrI3l-RMoXCUMOKUyFwlWxEVm_mflmlU/s400/IMG_6092.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450948626903708834" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFcMN1GDLrWUmOhpoMjhrDY5v8k48YXFcrMp4U-nahpJCSlDJFkpT9OuJQwtVmDVE06O8K1SPeRvaHZwp2XxgTEdWk62R3_H6vzq8QwJkvWoNhIEPX9-SicJtJbcm2ABOGUZECjCigEY/s1600-h/IMG_6093.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 309px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFcMN1GDLrWUmOhpoMjhrDY5v8k48YXFcrMp4U-nahpJCSlDJFkpT9OuJQwtVmDVE06O8K1SPeRvaHZwp2XxgTEdWk62R3_H6vzq8QwJkvWoNhIEPX9-SicJtJbcm2ABOGUZECjCigEY/s400/IMG_6093.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450948356121420626" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjdcVW92Ge4FNCkFRG6KD3DpcIPEKuBz1WMAj1KuX4_MSS8wvBHnmW-DAnpMhZa_X24QpWpQ-AMJlZi2YxCkV5BbJ6yJjnVkv0zCTUnhzMA8FNGgR_h0qVUjSy8TWj_YUUt2nfBseoLI/s1600-h/IMG_6099.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjdcVW92Ge4FNCkFRG6KD3DpcIPEKuBz1WMAj1KuX4_MSS8wvBHnmW-DAnpMhZa_X24QpWpQ-AMJlZi2YxCkV5BbJ6yJjnVkv0zCTUnhzMA8FNGgR_h0qVUjSy8TWj_YUUt2nfBseoLI/s400/IMG_6099.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450949025226693314" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And ready to eat!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt49gwz6Vr8Kd7XmbX0eWwu166OImPTUzuHo1EvAH2DNFDdRBzCVglE7EWwEJ0c5vCjV9jmuxF9XlaPuEciJYFzFxXxIKsDr2jEQqX6Hqzl5yuKwLNq4S9zclqCqtpH-wfUzpI7dd9v6I/s1600-h/IMG_6105.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 281px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt49gwz6Vr8Kd7XmbX0eWwu166OImPTUzuHo1EvAH2DNFDdRBzCVglE7EWwEJ0c5vCjV9jmuxF9XlaPuEciJYFzFxXxIKsDr2jEQqX6Hqzl5yuKwLNq4S9zclqCqtpH-wfUzpI7dd9v6I/s400/IMG_6105.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450949407797187794" border="0" /></a></div></div></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Spring break is great for a lot of reasons, but getting to cook leisurely is one of the best.<br /><br /></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Hkbk5_plPkBkpSbY7qqpuhYCfKfW05rZQUvDI-Yrw5jCzPzyBr29bVijmhB6q3Lmu6UN3lexukQwa29cLsYS7BWQeqvmcI1dt9iYrIWbchHxwfoT1CApOtJ7sotDUPlsM12epcpCYyM/s1600-h/IMG_6096.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Hkbk5_plPkBkpSbY7qqpuhYCfKfW05rZQUvDI-Yrw5jCzPzyBr29bVijmhB6q3Lmu6UN3lexukQwa29cLsYS7BWQeqvmcI1dt9iYrIWbchHxwfoT1CApOtJ7sotDUPlsM12epcpCYyM/s400/IMG_6096.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450950341785925298" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Particularly if you're able to use this as an excuse to threaten those around you with a rolling pin.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Another great thing is that I get to wear outfits that are just not okay for work--or, in this case, most social situations. Today, for example, I wore one of my favorite dresses. It is so garish and psychedelic that is has been known to rob people of their vision. Chiba, however, is impervious to its powers:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Hkbk5_plPkBkpSbY7qqpuhYCfKfW05rZQUvDI-Yrw5jCzPzyBr29bVijmhB6q3Lmu6UN3lexukQwa29cLsYS7BWQeqvmcI1dt9iYrIWbchHxwfoT1CApOtJ7sotDUPlsM12epcpCYyM/s1600-h/IMG_6096.JPG"><br /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemUCzRzc0RVwhdhngTBhWCis_bwNRHyTELUN-F16wxGz8F3IZJjzlkZJ4d2TeEWZqrzTQwr6eaVhS5j1ZCyogOLbbyrxB2ytuT5hj922hF2G70Q6XJmx2m_JpaHoKJyWLhYIurKRIQ8c/s1600-h/IMG_6118.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 378px; height: 596px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemUCzRzc0RVwhdhngTBhWCis_bwNRHyTELUN-F16wxGz8F3IZJjzlkZJ4d2TeEWZqrzTQwr6eaVhS5j1ZCyogOLbbyrxB2ytuT5hj922hF2G70Q6XJmx2m_JpaHoKJyWLhYIurKRIQ8c/s400/IMG_6118.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450951562665654066" border="0" /></a></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dress: Dynasty, via Cheap Thrills<br />Belt: Stolen from Shaun<br />Socks: Mossimo<br />Shoes: Mudd<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">But, hey, there's a lot of scary dresses in my closet, and there's a whole week of Spring Breakin' ahead of us! Stay tuned for our next installment:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFL0a_SwBsAfcyNwWEUKlzK8aGbKWt6ZBYYzB91BDGseHTZ4X50HR0w-ARFpLEsD2Xzs70fEcRnbrNFqXZwrXwaETzjjUd-oElkCbCwu7A8arWq2GJaaMP_PAfAiyPgecxaKmM7VDU5w/s1600-h/springbreakin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 305px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFL0a_SwBsAfcyNwWEUKlzK8aGbKWt6ZBYYzB91BDGseHTZ4X50HR0w-ARFpLEsD2Xzs70fEcRnbrNFqXZwrXwaETzjjUd-oElkCbCwu7A8arWq2GJaaMP_PAfAiyPgecxaKmM7VDU5w/s400/springbreakin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450952660312036514" border="0" /></a></div><br /></div></div>Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-26725645302787067212010-03-20T10:35:00.000-07:002010-03-20T10:35:58.277-07:00Food Fetishism: Cake vs. PieThere was an epic debate on Google Reader this week on whether cake or pie is better. My stance is that the ideal cake defeats the ideal pie, with the caveat that pie is easier to pull off. You can order a pie just about anywhere, and it will be edible. Cake, however, is alchemy. Combine disparate elements, apply heat, and you end up with something magical that is more than the sum of its parts. With so many steps and so much science to the art of baking, it's easy to screw up in myriad ways. You can end up with something too dry, too sweet, with too much frosting or not enough. Not to mention, cakes are so versatile - you can even make them look like other food! In fact, there will be another post later about Food That Looks Like Other Food (I'm kind of obsessed with it). <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.yilingcakes.com.sg/index.html"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3NUj-g7d4YRcQdu_sZFp3tDN9Gq754s_EgnZUR27-BUwR6yj1IDpe9UkF7LBiiqEcibwU9EyAxhxngqtl0q8p0ucF8vCnyY4fC0iC-4O7FLO6tX4LrlD9Nl819cWlrbjWADq0Onuhi6Y/s400/yiling.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
And please, could there ever be a show called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_of_Cakes">Ace of Pies</a>? No, don't even play. <br />
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Here's what really settled it for me, though:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hILqMGb2u2w&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hILqMGb2u2w&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;">#yourargumentisinvalid</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">After seeing that video yesterday, I was inspired to make a LOST mm . . . cake! for our weekly LOSTnite. I basically improvised and made a kitchen sink cake - thus Blueberry Buttermilk Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Sort-of-Ganachey Frosting. It turned out very nicely - very moist and not too sweet. The frosting was the best part. Don't judge the decorating - I didn't have any fondant on hand and had to use whipped cream. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKL1qkYEH1PfT1MD__H7VIu0W4uB7xEK8ypskt8fK-QQ4FeA-WahZTWmg7rOUlLz64Lka043DfhNLM9_q7es601z5JMSH1ln7MQpicCq70NXjdb1Q4J6q_vqzSdJGMIUQVdIZJ5dSuSEk/s1600-h/photo(11).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKL1qkYEH1PfT1MD__H7VIu0W4uB7xEK8ypskt8fK-QQ4FeA-WahZTWmg7rOUlLz64Lka043DfhNLM9_q7es601z5JMSH1ln7MQpicCq70NXjdb1Q4J6q_vqzSdJGMIUQVdIZJ5dSuSEk/s320/photo(11).JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">For the cake: </div><div style="text-align: center;">2 c flour</div><div style="text-align: center;">1 3/4 c sugar</div><div style="text-align: center;">1/2 c buttermilk</div><div style="text-align: center;">2 sticks unsalted butter</div><div style="text-align: center;">4tbsp cocoa</div><div style="text-align: center;">1 c water</div><div style="text-align: center;">2 eggs</div><div style="text-align: center;">1/2 bag of frozen blueberries (or fresh when they're in season) </div><div style="text-align: center;">cinnamon to taste</div><div style="text-align: center;">1 tsp vanilla extract</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Combine the flour & sugar. Boil water, butter, & cocoa in a sauce pan, then add to dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients (careful not to scramble your eggs in the hot cocoa!). Pour into an 8x8 pan, & bake at 375 for about half an hour. I always test to see if it's done VERY often - I'm paranoid about dry cakes!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Now for the "sort-of-ganachey" frosting. This part was really made up, and all measurements are approximate. I used the last of my cocoa in the cake, so I grabbed a chocolate bar. I didn't have any heavy cream on hand, so I used buttermilk. The texture was a little too liquidy, so I added just a touch of confectioner's sugar. I added the mayo as an emulsifier, as per <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Eats-Early-Alton-Brown/dp/1584797959">Alton Brown</a>'s suggestion. Sounds gross, but you can't taste it at all, and it's much easier than using eggs. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">1 bar of Ghirardelli extra dark chocolate</div><div style="text-align: center;">Handful of Hershey's cinnamon chips</div><div style="text-align: center;">About 1/2 c buttermilk</div><div style="text-align: center;">Mayonnaise as needed</div><div style="text-align: center;">Enough confectioner's sugar to stiffen the mixture (not much!)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>Arya Snarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06788545435529814811noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-30677163321227637782010-03-16T21:16:00.000-07:002010-03-17T04:15:08.725-07:00Searching for Toucan SamToday, my five teammates and I gave a presentation about our collective ability to find cereal. Seriously. Long story short, I am the lone cultural anthropologist in a landscape archaeology class, and each of four teams in the class competed to find the most cereal (pre-scattered all over campus by our instructor) using fancy archaeological survey methods. I helped my team as well as I could every step of the way, but today I got to showcase one of my strongest and silliest skills: making sweet PowerPoint slides.<br /><br />I feel that this turned out to be pretty important, given the general brownness of most of our data:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNoSGw2frHUfC_A_OFiD2LfB7IFId8NDCS2gtSV-UYkN0XNRvTSZ-15m-r_7KO_G0WoBE5sDbB4VqOE1p279r7rgs8qFaXYpU70NlpVO2P0IoJBijE3UnvOcJcs72L6PKtPy6hfLodfpM/s1600-h/completecropped.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 378px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNoSGw2frHUfC_A_OFiD2LfB7IFId8NDCS2gtSV-UYkN0XNRvTSZ-15m-r_7KO_G0WoBE5sDbB4VqOE1p279r7rgs8qFaXYpU70NlpVO2P0IoJBijE3UnvOcJcs72L6PKtPy6hfLodfpM/s400/completecropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449455363475092194" border="0" /></a>The shape of our survey area (outlined in red) has been consistently <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlYZbvmgx8E">amusing</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The actual survey part happened a week ago. For our purposes, Cheerios, Froot Loops, and Cocoa Puffs represented different cultural periods. But I found an anomalous site in one of my team's transects!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-MGlErs_3JF9eH2E_C0jTdRNjNrDhHIbEons2ekCkeHNk0VDtqOLlMpRFZa8lKuGMPc7Y_9lCQYJMxpOm7QuSBOux6l_MbzljD9poRLF-cRMJg4wxuk5e93YlBJVPQ6yQzRlUrP1-WI/s1600-h/IMG_0286circled.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-MGlErs_3JF9eH2E_C0jTdRNjNrDhHIbEons2ekCkeHNk0VDtqOLlMpRFZa8lKuGMPc7Y_9lCQYJMxpOm7QuSBOux6l_MbzljD9poRLF-cRMJg4wxuk5e93YlBJVPQ6yQzRlUrP1-WI/s400/IMG_0286circled.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449456239327076498" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">One of the Lost Tribes of Pretzrael?!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The landscape itself also needed some analogies; sidewalks were supposed to be charted as rivers.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZGq1tcsZqFwjGavtInnIgJps0RgUkzlnjYaVo1f8G2WasTahMkxFQAGRCrky7_Z3BSZ3wgLI2oEEDMQr5D-Bvk0fyV_hrz7AKhy5Yjw2Q2lJNntZ-mKrbY_XHGVNekftKRO6Rod-51s/s1600-h/Transect+1dcropped.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 285px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZGq1tcsZqFwjGavtInnIgJps0RgUkzlnjYaVo1f8G2WasTahMkxFQAGRCrky7_Z3BSZ3wgLI2oEEDMQr5D-Bvk0fyV_hrz7AKhy5Yjw2Q2lJNntZ-mKrbY_XHGVNekftKRO6Rod-51s/s400/Transect+1dcropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449457025767135106" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I Tried to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oregon_Trail_%28video_game%29">Ford the River</a>, and My Oxen Died<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Alas, when I was putting together our results and conclusions into our final product, a teammate demurred from having his picture included in the presentation. In a pinch for some graphic hilarity, I scrambled to colorize the image of the famous archaeologist our team was named after. The result? TERROR (that I obviously included in our deeply professional discussion of findings).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxtVo8i7UILZQnLqvSl1kGRQgxdZ_xbGkM_hT1AxoQ8dxBpVMG5LJ4TsZeV35Hef2enKDtpVidu_9WP9TOtP4IkCvzzDzTrW-gEmnl1Jc97OL0h3k64xB_eKEu7YxbEBG_sz3rx05WEIE/s1600-h/neoncherrycropped.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 362px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxtVo8i7UILZQnLqvSl1kGRQgxdZ_xbGkM_hT1AxoQ8dxBpVMG5LJ4TsZeV35Hef2enKDtpVidu_9WP9TOtP4IkCvzzDzTrW-gEmnl1Jc97OL0h3k64xB_eKEu7YxbEBG_sz3rx05WEIE/s400/neoncherrycropped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449459886232479058" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Like some unholy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_man">Green Man</a>-esque union of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_of_Oz_%28character%29">Oscar Diggs</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.R._Bob_Dobbs">J.R. "Bob" Dobbs</a>!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Oh, right, and here's what I wore today:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2FDdwn6uBEvMYwG-vCosT_Rjr10D3eXnlTaCRz7ZzmpR5ZmbnCaixLEbKKMedWdRlv4EtB_gYlziYemVCpLd9dJex7qWYWDymiF55e8rEQDNjpkIr3T8FVoxphlRe22rh5C1RPH-YXl4/s1600-h/IMG_0363.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 530px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2FDdwn6uBEvMYwG-vCosT_Rjr10D3eXnlTaCRz7ZzmpR5ZmbnCaixLEbKKMedWdRlv4EtB_gYlziYemVCpLd9dJex7qWYWDymiF55e8rEQDNjpkIr3T8FVoxphlRe22rh5C1RPH-YXl4/s400/IMG_0363.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449461016294057458" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Tank top: Mossimo<br />Cardigan: F21<br />Skirt: Vintage, via Cheap Thrills<br />Charcoal tights: <a href="http://www.gilt.com/sale/women">Gilt</a><br />Yellow tights: <a href="http://www.asos.com/">ASOS</a><br />Shoes: Capezio<br />Earrings: Inherited<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Can you tell I like to layer tights? I really, really do. They're warmer that way, and it does really interesting things with color.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvm2GjVnODc1J4_MPwD1MgkeuqPSStJzte1mgl4n6HtOSH1OalIGZuHFK16cZEFNM0MJGriVsMR7w59yH52XFarvI4hVuvWMXOf3fefeMrjtA4Qo9vpjw1YGHLb92yrC_x3NsEoquK8dM/s1600-h/IMG_0365.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvm2GjVnODc1J4_MPwD1MgkeuqPSStJzte1mgl4n6HtOSH1OalIGZuHFK16cZEFNM0MJGriVsMR7w59yH52XFarvI4hVuvWMXOf3fefeMrjtA4Qo9vpjw1YGHLb92yrC_x3NsEoquK8dM/s400/IMG_0365.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449462155547678354" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Extreme close-up!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3Xa_gk0-CKgYeLQxHQnSIJErYhSvCLgCF8shS7oaQYJzjRlqJnWKLpN0P_OZoUfoHvMJoqMhh8gQDgEDQfxLdwcPEdn4PigGrdMw5vIqMtxgiBRbdjhcvt3s_NH_v-4Q_KDuxo6Vm0g/s1600-h/IMG_0367.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 318px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3Xa_gk0-CKgYeLQxHQnSIJErYhSvCLgCF8shS7oaQYJzjRlqJnWKLpN0P_OZoUfoHvMJoqMhh8gQDgEDQfxLdwcPEdn4PigGrdMw5vIqMtxgiBRbdjhcvt3s_NH_v-4Q_KDuxo6Vm0g/s400/IMG_0367.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449462373638084114" border="0" /></a>Probably my favorite earrings from my great-grandmother's vast collection of costume jewelry.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/images/Records%20Page/disc-toucansam.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 437px; height: 448px;" src="http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/images/Records%20Page/disc-toucansam.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>Overall, I'd say it was generally a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Froot_Loops">Froot Loop</a> kind of day.<br />(Click through, dear readers, for important Froot Loop trivia!)<br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></div>Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-73662313067890242722010-03-16T17:00:00.000-07:002010-03-16T19:49:37.615-07:00Commodity Fetishism: Lydia Courteille<div style="text-align: center;">My friend Andrew, with whom I share a <a href="http://www.anthrosource.net/Abstract.aspx?issn=0094-0496&volume=12&issue=4&doubleissueno=0&article=276232&suppno=0&jstor=False">spirit pig</a>, recently turned me onto <a href="http://www.lydiacourteille.com/index_fr.html">Lydia Courteille: </a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyBeFcpME-h72UH8b-PFPY94hs0G6Rl543oGMNVyR-qxqKY5etHpw7H8_9rpkLqOphQAQVGp_xdNGulPCDhWoLnh0wnAQbRBpA1_AE1xEgh6Ka-vW9weaICRiEyhc5wJX52ONV2Dy21s/s1600-h/lydia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyBeFcpME-h72UH8b-PFPY94hs0G6Rl543oGMNVyR-qxqKY5etHpw7H8_9rpkLqOphQAQVGp_xdNGulPCDhWoLnh0wnAQbRBpA1_AE1xEgh6Ka-vW9weaICRiEyhc5wJX52ONV2Dy21s/s320/lydia.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilsT9d2zFmvt3UfwmOr4HehvUP6yJSOEeEglWmzEHnOL9FrXp2gt3mKVdcK9xmM0jwjLJWElZUGsPrzL2Bn9Y_Uammsn2BXHhCVY0CZQ_TPQXqSJIiYXh96-cP-Iy510uKcDfkgKugkTo/s1600-h/lydiac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilsT9d2zFmvt3UfwmOr4HehvUP6yJSOEeEglWmzEHnOL9FrXp2gt3mKVdcK9xmM0jwjLJWElZUGsPrzL2Bn9Y_Uammsn2BXHhCVY0CZQ_TPQXqSJIiYXh96-cP-Iy510uKcDfkgKugkTo/s320/lydiac.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV2Ow6luVHa59WUj5bHXMM-257S-UlJTLlZVigIxRvROHEdKA3vBgozXAl1rtHBHNaaLEDet_pWR5kEul2l5Wq8dKZCTUF8up5-n31Gh7DNbyZF7wCw-_FWod_njnP-TT3kemzHNgjtQI/s1600-h/lydiaco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV2Ow6luVHa59WUj5bHXMM-257S-UlJTLlZVigIxRvROHEdKA3vBgozXAl1rtHBHNaaLEDet_pWR5kEul2l5Wq8dKZCTUF8up5-n31Gh7DNbyZF7wCw-_FWod_njnP-TT3kemzHNgjtQI/s320/lydiaco.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7kitouo6JvrZd3r15cJAc3mosy2HApFdVaHslp_tCpBoIU_8T3nfKTFZAalHZ47KxpHE_QRC9Xr_ob5_6s4CWqJ9Jxz7SeL5M6KW7FuTd_jaQ9fjN3rFBgv5P2uVnVGSWhYe3AKeCTE/s1600-h/lydia+chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7kitouo6JvrZd3r15cJAc3mosy2HApFdVaHslp_tCpBoIU_8T3nfKTFZAalHZ47KxpHE_QRC9Xr_ob5_6s4CWqJ9Jxz7SeL5M6KW7FuTd_jaQ9fjN3rFBgv5P2uVnVGSWhYe3AKeCTE/s640/lydia+chart.jpg" width="504" /></a></div><br />
So, if you've got an extra $20,000 lying around . . .</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span id="goog_1268783471400"></span><span id="goog_1268783471401"></span></div>Arya Snarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06788545435529814811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-83073934262580158102010-03-15T08:51:00.000-07:002010-03-15T11:40:28.299-07:00In the Cubicle, or What Arnold SaidIt's a dreary Monday, and our only recourse is to go toward the color. Since we both teach today, the "Danger" in Purity and Danger is basically limited to our accessories (Laine: and our :s #sassmouth). But, first, a tour.<br /><br />Welcome to our cubicle.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1QJvNnooXtFXiDZEdc8y_jfmUKLNrW0zx_X2GwOT_T0eYYxWFKKMEeFxFckkenpVBRcqCi6d6w399oOvhTvuH8GIei0vIVqNu10RqaTMKbLRsScKAeFZeUxVJUPbXJdS_NoDI67ZY7Wo/s1600-h/IMG_0358.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448892960956848242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1QJvNnooXtFXiDZEdc8y_jfmUKLNrW0zx_X2GwOT_T0eYYxWFKKMEeFxFckkenpVBRcqCi6d6w399oOvhTvuH8GIei0vIVqNu10RqaTMKbLRsScKAeFZeUxVJUPbXJdS_NoDI67ZY7Wo/s400/IMG_0358.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 316px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" border="0" /></a><br />There's "Ursula and the Seven Octopi," commissioned by Laine from the lovely and talented <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joelle/87100577509">Joëlle</a>...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXMgw0nr34ypdjgQtkRQ_SB-S4Gmsnl9YjsScxmgaKrBpgvc37L860A0_8Cm9XGBSYAup_kiNhBAKrcFLtplrwXq28tCd5wzOf-JqVXFL42E2JJ5WrS4u3lACD7O_Wo7A-6DtVQTCa-8/s1600-h/IMG_0360.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448893329733509394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXMgw0nr34ypdjgQtkRQ_SB-S4Gmsnl9YjsScxmgaKrBpgvc37L860A0_8Cm9XGBSYAup_kiNhBAKrcFLtplrwXq28tCd5wzOf-JqVXFL42E2JJ5WrS4u3lACD7O_Wo7A-6DtVQTCa-8/s400/IMG_0360.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; text-align: center; width: 300px;" border="0" /></a>A foxy picture of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karmapa">Karmapa</a> with sweet Photoshop action...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2n8dWiBPjoHHKbICpc7ct01vZdk-cAn6upD9kXe71exIXIMr5baRfyoYH_iAm1K2P3NOCgCOwDHOpx9IcwTUOeERPULPMbF8PjEbCvCjUTKFTvu9Fho6k5YLlEaCZUbgKDlS2AQ_QqRo/s1600-h/IMG_0361.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448894305365615730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2n8dWiBPjoHHKbICpc7ct01vZdk-cAn6upD9kXe71exIXIMr5baRfyoYH_iAm1K2P3NOCgCOwDHOpx9IcwTUOeERPULPMbF8PjEbCvCjUTKFTvu9Fho6k5YLlEaCZUbgKDlS2AQ_QqRo/s400/IMG_0361.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" border="0" /></a>Our emergency food stash...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0kAtwsrIW9M6l037xAr5UxtrsdpYqRdCzGJhhBVdhTk-IIUXCjkROqOyRGpirnefVZ2E0RpJa2uh35GRFoULrdlL5Yyv3PWiD5_Vg1S20q1kHMxSaORw7Sy37vznFFV1KYSMh05DvQ8/s1600-h/IMG_0041.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448894701555025714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0kAtwsrIW9M6l037xAr5UxtrsdpYqRdCzGJhhBVdhTk-IIUXCjkROqOyRGpirnefVZ2E0RpJa2uh35GRFoULrdlL5Yyv3PWiD5_Vg1S20q1kHMxSaORw7Sy37vznFFV1KYSMh05DvQ8/s400/IMG_0041.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 307px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" border="0" /></a>Some inspirational <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRQEdYf3rd8">words</a>...<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjCziJuFIG57kuPU2oJzPMvBoN9_oqWaQiRENGO6WHLWWCqfp20O-3U-rkJ9Q1QIQo2MthJjD24w6YtJhAs3O50vGGIPG_lqH7i-1hCEeIc7uH0K8IeUhnPMj5jN0iv9eiYMMTmTpgCCQ/s1600-h/IMG_0359.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448894497281850690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjCziJuFIG57kuPU2oJzPMvBoN9_oqWaQiRENGO6WHLWWCqfp20O-3U-rkJ9Q1QIQo2MthJjD24w6YtJhAs3O50vGGIPG_lqH7i-1hCEeIc7uH0K8IeUhnPMj5jN0iv9eiYMMTmTpgCCQ/s400/IMG_0359.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" border="0" /></a>And our mission statement.<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Due to the time change, the dreariness, and the general Monday-ness of things, the cubicle is a less happy place than usual. I would characterize my general demeanor today as in keeping with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi0xFSiqPeA">every guttural noise Arnold Schwarzenegger has ever made</a>.<br /><br />My outfit today is pretty much the sartorial equivalent of the lecture I just gave: colorful, content-wise, and generally coordinated, but definitely not my best.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjrNMvwK7Gf4G66uGmRr3Z5yIW6UkhK65LTdJBriTkolz4czvkH-eh0a1QR3wwjshI2s0NnWExKiIawU4jpaNheB0dGKusHj5pUtIhP0F4_5dY-Peuyy2EtUQwIHoDzEhU641mMohl2cA/s1600-h/IMG_0347.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 257px; height: 425px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjrNMvwK7Gf4G66uGmRr3Z5yIW6UkhK65LTdJBriTkolz4czvkH-eh0a1QR3wwjshI2s0NnWExKiIawU4jpaNheB0dGKusHj5pUtIhP0F4_5dY-Peuyy2EtUQwIHoDzEhU641mMohl2cA/s400/IMG_0347.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448921318418614194" border="0" /></a>Shirt: White Stag, hand-me-down<br />Corduroy Pants: Banana Republic<br />Socks: Xhilaration<br />Shoes: Mudd<br />Necklace: some corner store in Belize<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHmLAZYeKS8Rxhdma55OJ67XAexcq9jN_j_7-IBEnxb2czw5fJ392uQQXz5hNxIKJRkmJoynVtaL5vfvXoE6hBV5xPfsoPYjGHYxBFJlucqcenfHTlm4FfbQJ_l-NN6VdVtg8UFnoyIM/s1600-h/IMG_0349.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHmLAZYeKS8Rxhdma55OJ67XAexcq9jN_j_7-IBEnxb2czw5fJ392uQQXz5hNxIKJRkmJoynVtaL5vfvXoE6hBV5xPfsoPYjGHYxBFJlucqcenfHTlm4FfbQJ_l-NN6VdVtg8UFnoyIM/s400/IMG_0349.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448923146882602002" border="0" /></a>This pose makes me look like I have the feet of a baby goat. Oh well, that's <a href="http://alexandermcqueenlive.showstudio.com/">fashionable</a>, right?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43hfH0YO2aPiijcb0bmPA0bxvzT-zldSwb98IUG6z53SjLFLvjynhAlVZIhDJHLwzO22f-qHgc5nVwFuHX8-VunjR6uNjagrdbqGnQLfPwseKWY2Dfa83_CprHRZ98Ec6HL4diOYSAz0/s1600-h/IMG_0350.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh43hfH0YO2aPiijcb0bmPA0bxvzT-zldSwb98IUG6z53SjLFLvjynhAlVZIhDJHLwzO22f-qHgc5nVwFuHX8-VunjR6uNjagrdbqGnQLfPwseKWY2Dfa83_CprHRZ98Ec6HL4diOYSAz0/s400/IMG_0350.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448924514646850002" border="0" /></a>This is totally a mom shirt, but I love it anyway. Maybe it's because I got it from my actual mom?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3x7CKOTcS8g9tDZ81oyV_xtAPS3CRqIWRqE6EA1a5z9E4Tq9l4BFAnbPvgI0PZIVyxf97afS4FENK0UimJQo1s5Ed8CXI1OmqCoe1nUNp__blrRarXfl6aUsJX7PjB6zW0T9IzQGNP3o/s1600-h/IMG_0362.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3x7CKOTcS8g9tDZ81oyV_xtAPS3CRqIWRqE6EA1a5z9E4Tq9l4BFAnbPvgI0PZIVyxf97afS4FENK0UimJQo1s5Ed8CXI1OmqCoe1nUNp__blrRarXfl6aUsJX7PjB6zW0T9IzQGNP3o/s400/IMG_0362.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448925799954144818" border="0" /></a>It's this blurry in real life, I swear; it's a hologram!<br />I got it while I was doing fieldwork in Belize.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Now, dear readers, I must go read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mimesis-Alterity-Particular-History-Senses/dp/0415906873/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268677053&sr=8-1">this</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Realm-Diamond-Queen-Lowenhaupt-Tsing/dp/0691000514/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268677098&sr=1-1">this</a>, tutor some people, grade a million papers, and construct a PowerPoint about looking for cereal (seriously--more to follow). You know what they say...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpU89l_yjQnlrHTwoneMl23ICLS9iigKUhyphenhyphenDKkiTesLwBZA-iFlcn493Vjd2ViDY98SN2uxMess7XgNWy-dNDlWGA7cajwqbGZGAchVP886YsWJsZh9xvMmUrG2qwcnSkYf85oVscAYtI/s1600-h/Arnold_Schwarzenegger_Conan_01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpU89l_yjQnlrHTwoneMl23ICLS9iigKUhyphenhyphenDKkiTesLwBZA-iFlcn493Vjd2ViDY98SN2uxMess7XgNWy-dNDlWGA7cajwqbGZGAchVP886YsWJsZh9xvMmUrG2qwcnSkYf85oVscAYtI/s400/Arnold_Schwarzenegger_Conan_01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448930072506277698" border="0" /></a></div></div></div></div></div>Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-58040486211057462672010-03-13T15:16:00.000-08:002010-03-13T18:20:30.187-08:00Deep-Fried Hot Chocolate CupcakesFor Bo's birthday.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5IVHyG8RaDF1IXzrX7CKhJeci9sOV_rdS2D61Fvc6YNPMxEJrSBq9ig_y_E4A4T9wUjaMvcr2fSD0iuruu-bouhBV1WaRCPkSET0bLXdTuUg2ZT5T4J-x8Dp-4jmv2-jgLOhG8ZcBcYg/s1600-h/Picture+441.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5IVHyG8RaDF1IXzrX7CKhJeci9sOV_rdS2D61Fvc6YNPMxEJrSBq9ig_y_E4A4T9wUjaMvcr2fSD0iuruu-bouhBV1WaRCPkSET0bLXdTuUg2ZT5T4J-x8Dp-4jmv2-jgLOhG8ZcBcYg/s400/Picture+441.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448267503137691138" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We made the cupcakes the day before using a regular mix and adding cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and cayenne pepper (you know, cos it's "hot" chocolate).<br /><br /><br /><br />We dunked the cupcakes in buttermilk (or chocolate pudding for a few) then dredged them in tempura mix with cocoa, cinnamon and cayenne.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSr6ElEf8OifPppjCjiDh2FOKjtiw5uAGFFvM4AIepuOEuMU8Ze6t5ordjhW9b1BxcIx78E4ZNhu-PTiz1H9IDI202Pl4Sj33oDmxv9NbRJlM4ZVvUFhCef319KAnQj6NiSWvi7cbNy8s/s1600-h/Picture+438.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSr6ElEf8OifPppjCjiDh2FOKjtiw5uAGFFvM4AIepuOEuMU8Ze6t5ordjhW9b1BxcIx78E4ZNhu-PTiz1H9IDI202Pl4Sj33oDmxv9NbRJlM4ZVvUFhCef319KAnQj6NiSWvi7cbNy8s/s400/Picture+438.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448261532053637938" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzntHjDU7EcAT-wHnoQZJC-Hq03kp46iIsbERCMzIEcWX4L5tBgc5Pg0NMVUGR09E-ed-Uuzx0ETbgkbS3x9y9NVt7Tm62frQXrpCSE2xFo6T4UHAod7X0fgZOz5eDKSnRCrmhS9WHD_A/s1600-h/Picture+443.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzntHjDU7EcAT-wHnoQZJC-Hq03kp46iIsbERCMzIEcWX4L5tBgc5Pg0NMVUGR09E-ed-Uuzx0ETbgkbS3x9y9NVt7Tm62frQXrpCSE2xFo6T4UHAod7X0fgZOz5eDKSnRCrmhS9WHD_A/s400/Picture+443.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448266347218839858" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Then the nomming commenced. And it was good.<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8qoT3gkKeN82XmbVXMQsYBLGIhdA_GM6OdEaC76iJnEUBEStUWJaCg43AYuN_dXLBt41qTs5hdsANSkv6MR9mrXvH9WGkR9vatDHmGwRK-AR4FcqD64DzAiFOaIhu11b-PvzZH-0D3I/s1600-h/Picture+452.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY8qoT3gkKeN82XmbVXMQsYBLGIhdA_GM6OdEaC76iJnEUBEStUWJaCg43AYuN_dXLBt41qTs5hdsANSkv6MR9mrXvH9WGkR9vatDHmGwRK-AR4FcqD64DzAiFOaIhu11b-PvzZH-0D3I/s400/Picture+452.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448296917383325314" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRQ1HorQAtgeY4FrK9qRkyRl-oTEfmlxnsKq6-XEe9bRZ-HothOCR5bKIgW9PSgAFDNAYHf4lh3IyqdBDT8_un2rN85buWrUxcrEHYXb6DxhvdAkucTULsUXiAtpKHIStRF3zNT9o8dk/s1600-h/Picture+470.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 246px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRQ1HorQAtgeY4FrK9qRkyRl-oTEfmlxnsKq6-XEe9bRZ-HothOCR5bKIgW9PSgAFDNAYHf4lh3IyqdBDT8_un2rN85buWrUxcrEHYXb6DxhvdAkucTULsUXiAtpKHIStRF3zNT9o8dk/s400/Picture+470.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448300716637027858" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6K55tt6SfpE/S5xGpzaDt7I/AAAAAAAAAQA/cr9gqHyFtEg/s1600-h/Picture+473.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 305px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_6K55tt6SfpE/S5xGpzaDt7I/AAAAAAAAAQA/cr9gqHyFtEg/s400/Picture+473.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448307333199542194" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Apron: <a href="http://www.southernfoodways.com/">Southern Foodways Alliance</a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Mug: <a href="http://www.flanneryoconnorhome.org/">Flannery O'Connor's Savannah home</a> (Yes, the one where the backwards-walking chicken lived)<br /><br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTmmzfG_808FSrb7EOk3xtnxou34WU-rmeXapzAyDgPtZXLP2BR9x0I6c1E6epwT52gzoNo0MuaBc77uischc0zlBZevFLPs5Eilj_kDwVszUoMYZY-stHWFWbQdU4hPGK0fpFkuQtVZQ/s1600-h/Picture+472.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTmmzfG_808FSrb7EOk3xtnxou34WU-rmeXapzAyDgPtZXLP2BR9x0I6c1E6epwT52gzoNo0MuaBc77uischc0zlBZevFLPs5Eilj_kDwVszUoMYZY-stHWFWbQdU4hPGK0fpFkuQtVZQ/s400/Picture+472.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448298043007143842" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihlWDB1AHWeFNdUUuEmvxgg3FF43ai4ma6vqhwCDmN2xAbO99h0OuESJqaeS4Bbfu-olsHxYifADkbykjqnnwq8rj_8exemfBZqO4eGKHRVaZN4ei-mP1_YK7OpZ_KBlD7byncHLA0RyY/s1600-h/Picture+478.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihlWDB1AHWeFNdUUuEmvxgg3FF43ai4ma6vqhwCDmN2xAbO99h0OuESJqaeS4Bbfu-olsHxYifADkbykjqnnwq8rj_8exemfBZqO4eGKHRVaZN4ei-mP1_YK7OpZ_KBlD7byncHLA0RyY/s400/Picture+478.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448298051164145970" border="0" /></a><br />Chiba was pouting over not getting any cupcakes, so we gave her a hat. She's quite fashionable, and may actually end up as our weekend blogger.<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxHj4WrtzwrVPR6D9SWEDmrJ7DUIUYagZiWB5aLybzXfQm9qSDgR83rheDbNylpQIY1m73KFZ7kkmG4bgZ1tSHDGohHLYYfGenU5Z0upv7AhIHaKy9ELSOB0PrrWGdrO0KMcR1Lc60boo/s1600-h/Picture+494.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxHj4WrtzwrVPR6D9SWEDmrJ7DUIUYagZiWB5aLybzXfQm9qSDgR83rheDbNylpQIY1m73KFZ7kkmG4bgZ1tSHDGohHLYYfGenU5Z0upv7AhIHaKy9ELSOB0PrrWGdrO0KMcR1Lc60boo/s400/Picture+494.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448301293433147330" border="0" /></a><br /><br />We borrowed the fryer from Bo and only had it for the weekend, so we made the best of it with beignets for breakfast the next morning.<br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bjWkl62T-pHmlUeXDLpS_NpeAi6RS5d3SpBVbfhachz4KWDdSIfSb5qzw0LW5xS3qAkFX65IDhumBiuvtIltS1O4APchQHd2fbbB1quULXUnyug6W02GAlApG3olFuWlTZKKJf4SsNw/s1600-h/Picture+500.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2bjWkl62T-pHmlUeXDLpS_NpeAi6RS5d3SpBVbfhachz4KWDdSIfSb5qzw0LW5xS3qAkFX65IDhumBiuvtIltS1O4APchQHd2fbbB1quULXUnyug6W02GAlApG3olFuWlTZKKJf4SsNw/s400/Picture+500.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448304936038165298" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Mmmmmmaple bacon and beignets nom nom nom<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-zfSVKS1iAsbJX9Ky7jQnIWpZijqwghVDdyX60GoFxFB-YnJTEFJQeVVccwCcM2H_x39XxVkY64qIf-uY1TAsFoAwP7hole7mDnUF7EMzMmZpq4oQlo5KMK3p8oXK0eDvEitHkyTwxA/s1600-h/Picture+502.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-zfSVKS1iAsbJX9Ky7jQnIWpZijqwghVDdyX60GoFxFB-YnJTEFJQeVVccwCcM2H_x39XxVkY64qIf-uY1TAsFoAwP7hole7mDnUF7EMzMmZpq4oQlo5KMK3p8oXK0eDvEitHkyTwxA/s400/Picture+502.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448304944012356786" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgVttnkrfaaTlGkqa8NetStbvcsHr5LWIgNuCEs_qXSVtVgDNu8iorrt-DskXhXEV5ShMhz2-YH5DJvvQnCFX1f-T0WJHGd6EyEC8ajB4wOnn1-uitbpNtzqjFmHeyZfQXquCMCVsD3Q/s1600-h/Picture+503.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgVttnkrfaaTlGkqa8NetStbvcsHr5LWIgNuCEs_qXSVtVgDNu8iorrt-DskXhXEV5ShMhz2-YH5DJvvQnCFX1f-T0WJHGd6EyEC8ajB4wOnn1-uitbpNtzqjFmHeyZfQXquCMCVsD3Q/s400/Picture+503.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448304948799889202" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jFxIbNiIZCXsVIoDZlLOc34_cn5JR2p-3Xu_duxqq351BpbdW8rLuUIl_FRYZEZCYuP0ZgY7rJ7Ei-eylNKB5PdspGzDoJ0cJj5OF9kAk_-bTFyZdaaP2u9Mwcpr_xbPi35ulGAvDzc/s1600-h/Picture+504.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8jFxIbNiIZCXsVIoDZlLOc34_cn5JR2p-3Xu_duxqq351BpbdW8rLuUIl_FRYZEZCYuP0ZgY7rJ7Ei-eylNKB5PdspGzDoJ0cJj5OF9kAk_-bTFyZdaaP2u9Mwcpr_xbPi35ulGAvDzc/s400/Picture+504.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448304956230542994" border="0" /></a><br />This made me want to invest in a fryer, but it's probably for the best if I don't.<br /></div>Arya Snarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06788545435529814811noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6716280372129963812.post-33402590070238839652010-03-12T15:36:00.001-08:002010-03-12T15:43:47.262-08:00Friday Teaching<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuxCjk9r1Z0LkXNNZ4w8B396U2R3qk9QFONUn86QXqyjwCehIWllwDxw_7oeOVZ-2eyfeQbqJE4nc7s8XdT7Nr8qEKQJyev4lPvXR1ntE0uHCuvDYCYB6HXN7xLnTbhStrltEXbCDV5JI/s1600-h/Picture+411.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 429px; height: 640px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuxCjk9r1Z0LkXNNZ4w8B396U2R3qk9QFONUn86QXqyjwCehIWllwDxw_7oeOVZ-2eyfeQbqJE4nc7s8XdT7Nr8qEKQJyev4lPvXR1ntE0uHCuvDYCYB6HXN7xLnTbhStrltEXbCDV5JI/s400/Picture+411.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447895652255780674" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Shirt: </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Land's End<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Jeans: </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Tahari, thrifted<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Socks: </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Old Navy<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >Shoes: </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />Capezio<br /></span></span>Dollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10764462226252066076noreply@blogger.com0