Everyone should read Maira Kalman's illustrated column for The New York Times.
Her latest is a tribute to our 16th president. It's so brilliant and lovely that I had to share.
Friday, February 27, 2009
in love with a. lincoln (and m. kalman)
Everyone should read Maira Kalman's illustrated column for The New York Times.
Her latest is a tribute to our 16th president. It's so brilliant and lovely that I had to share.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
rock bottom?
Here's what the Republican Party has been up to since it lost the election.
Gave the RNC chairmanship to a guy who thinks that government creates work and not jobs.
Considered giving the RNC chairmanship to a guy who thought it would be funny to send committee members copies of a CD containing the song"Barack the Magic Negro" . . .
. . . and to another guy who just recently resigned his 12-year membership in a whites-only country club.
And now, they got Kenneth from 30 Rock to explain that the current government can't help us through this economic crisis by using as an example the failures of his own party after Hurricane Katrina (transcript here). Also, that the government shouldn't spend money on monitoring volcanoes (along with other measures to prevent natural disasters) or imaginary high speed rail projects from Las Vegas to Disneyland.
And Karl Rove thought he was creating a permanent Republican majority.
Gave the RNC chairmanship to a guy who thinks that government creates work and not jobs.
Considered giving the RNC chairmanship to a guy who thought it would be funny to send committee members copies of a CD containing the song"Barack the Magic Negro" . . .
. . . and to another guy who just recently resigned his 12-year membership in a whites-only country club.
And now, they got Kenneth from 30 Rock to explain that the current government can't help us through this economic crisis by using as an example the failures of his own party after Hurricane Katrina (transcript here). Also, that the government shouldn't spend money on monitoring volcanoes (along with other measures to prevent natural disasters) or imaginary high speed rail projects from Las Vegas to Disneyland.
And Karl Rove thought he was creating a permanent Republican majority.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
frozen ants
There always seems to be an influx of ants in the house after it rains, and it's been raining here quite a bit. A couple of weeks ago, I came home from work and noticed that I was walking all over a trail of ants coming in and out of our trash can in the kitchen. Shudder. I bleached the heck out of everything and have tried to make sure that nothing remotely edible is left in the trash, which seemed to work nicely—no ants ever since.
Then yesterday night, I found them in the freezer.
THE FREEZER. WTF?
Not the pantry, which is like unsealed food paradise, but the freezer. There were piles of them in there. It looks like they might've gotten in through somewhere near the door and made it about two inches in before freezing to death. It was disgusting. But we bleached and wiped them away and hoped for the best.
This morning I opened the freezer and lo and behold, another frozen ant graveyard.
So why the freezer expeditions? You'd think that maybe they'd eventually realize, hey, no one is coming out of there. Maybe we shouldn't go in and warn everyone else of the potential danger. Or maybe that's the problem: they're hard-wired to follow each other, so they keep on following each other inside the freezer and by the time they figure out that it's not the best idea, it's too late. No one survives to tell the tale to the rest of the brigade. But whatever—I'm not an entomologist, just someone who wants the crazy ants out of her freezer. Any ideas on how to stop them?
Then yesterday night, I found them in the freezer.
THE FREEZER. WTF?
Not the pantry, which is like unsealed food paradise, but the freezer. There were piles of them in there. It looks like they might've gotten in through somewhere near the door and made it about two inches in before freezing to death. It was disgusting. But we bleached and wiped them away and hoped for the best.
This morning I opened the freezer and lo and behold, another frozen ant graveyard.
So why the freezer expeditions? You'd think that maybe they'd eventually realize, hey, no one is coming out of there. Maybe we shouldn't go in and warn everyone else of the potential danger. Or maybe that's the problem: they're hard-wired to follow each other, so they keep on following each other inside the freezer and by the time they figure out that it's not the best idea, it's too late. No one survives to tell the tale to the rest of the brigade. But whatever—I'm not an entomologist, just someone who wants the crazy ants out of her freezer. Any ideas on how to stop them?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Fortune Cookie Say:
The other day we went to eat Chinese food and were surprised at the lack of variety in the fortunes we received. My fortune said: "All your hard work will pay off." Lauren’s fortune said: "Your hard work is about to pay off." And plus they didn’t even have lucky numbers, so how am I supposed to get my MegaMillions now? After the disappointment, Lauren remembered that I used to keep my fortunes in my wallet. Here’s a sample of my past fortunes. I believe all these came from The Rice King in Provo.
Fortune cookie knows me so well.
So true.
The only fortune I've ever seen that reads like a eulogy.
Maybe not the most far-fetched fortune to receive in Provo but it seemed far-fetched for a person like me. I wrote the date of 2/5/05 on the back and we were married on 10/22/05.
Fortune cookie knows me so well.
So true.
The only fortune I've ever seen that reads like a eulogy.
Maybe not the most far-fetched fortune to receive in Provo but it seemed far-fetched for a person like me. I wrote the date of 2/5/05 on the back and we were married on 10/22/05.
Friday, February 20, 2009
bon voyage, conan
Slate on Conan O'Brien:
I'm sure you're wondering what kind of parents would allow their impressionable child to stay up well past midnight to watch a show featuring such illustrious characters as Pimpbot5000 (the classic stylings of a 1950s robot combined with the dynamic flair of a 1970s street pimp) and the masturbating bear (which is exactly what it sounds like). But I adored Conan's wacky sense of humor and self-deprecating style; when I wasn't wanting to be a forensic pathologist like Dana Scully, I wanted to be a comedy writer in New York City like Conan. The Scully thing obviously didn't work out and neither did the New York City comedy thing . . . but I got the writer part down so maybe I'm not a total failure after all.
To no one's surprise, the highlight of my youth did not involve getting asked out to the prom by the most popular guy in school or making the varsity cheerleading squad, but driving up to New York with my best friends to attend a Late Night taping. Hilary Swank was the first guest and Conan would say her last name like a dolphin. Swa-a-a-ank.
All this reminiscing because tonight, after 16 years at Late Night, Conan will say goodbye to Studio 6A in 30 Rockefeller Plaza and head west to take over The Tonight Show. It'll be bittersweet for sure—I'm a little sad and kind of nervous about the move, but at the very least it guarantees a vast improvement over the mediocrity that is Jay Leno's Tonight Show (don't even get me started on NBC giving Leno a 10 PM show—the best thing about Conan's leap to the 11:30 slot was supposed to be me not having to suffer through the last few minutes of Leno while waiting for Conan to start).
And speaking of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, don't let 30 Rock go the way of Arrested Development—watch that show!
Anyway, I'll be watching Conan tonight and wishing him the best when he starts his new show on June 1.
I'm one of those fans, a member of the demographic most likely to view Conan with love and affection: people who reached late-night-TV-watching age at around the same time Conan's show started getting good, around 1995 or so. If you're like me, you started watching Conan regularly at around age 13 or 14, and continued as a highly regular viewer for the next eight or nine years, your loyal fandom enabled by the fact that, as a teenager and then a college student, you had no problem staying up until 12:40 every night.That could've been written by me, except I was probably about 12 when I started watching Conan—back when he was a total unknown and cancellation was seemingly inevitable. But the show got better, the critics turned around, and I'm glad I stuck around to see him get through the dark days.
I'm sure you're wondering what kind of parents would allow their impressionable child to stay up well past midnight to watch a show featuring such illustrious characters as Pimpbot5000 (the classic stylings of a 1950s robot combined with the dynamic flair of a 1970s street pimp) and the masturbating bear (which is exactly what it sounds like). But I adored Conan's wacky sense of humor and self-deprecating style; when I wasn't wanting to be a forensic pathologist like Dana Scully, I wanted to be a comedy writer in New York City like Conan. The Scully thing obviously didn't work out and neither did the New York City comedy thing . . . but I got the writer part down so maybe I'm not a total failure after all.
To no one's surprise, the highlight of my youth did not involve getting asked out to the prom by the most popular guy in school or making the varsity cheerleading squad, but driving up to New York with my best friends to attend a Late Night taping. Hilary Swank was the first guest and Conan would say her last name like a dolphin. Swa-a-a-ank.
All this reminiscing because tonight, after 16 years at Late Night, Conan will say goodbye to Studio 6A in 30 Rockefeller Plaza and head west to take over The Tonight Show. It'll be bittersweet for sure—I'm a little sad and kind of nervous about the move, but at the very least it guarantees a vast improvement over the mediocrity that is Jay Leno's Tonight Show (don't even get me started on NBC giving Leno a 10 PM show—the best thing about Conan's leap to the 11:30 slot was supposed to be me not having to suffer through the last few minutes of Leno while waiting for Conan to start).
And speaking of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, don't let 30 Rock go the way of Arrested Development—watch that show!
Anyway, I'll be watching Conan tonight and wishing him the best when he starts his new show on June 1.
Monday, February 16, 2009
pipián verde
I've been dreaming of this dish since I had it at the Red Iguana last summer, so I was very happy to find this recipe from the July 1997 issue of Gourmet magazine, which to me looks and tastes very similar to the real thing. You adventurous eaters should definitely give it a try.
Pipián verde is basically a green mole that gets its distinctive flavor and nutty texture from ground pumpkin seeds. It's probably not the prettiest dish in the world, but it is so, so good—deep, layered flavors that finish off with a nice heat.
The long number of ingredients may make the recipe seem a bit complicated, but it wasn't too bad at all. I think it would be even easier to prepare over the course of two days: make the chicken the first day and the sauce the next.
The recipe says to use a spice grinder to grind up all the spices and seeds. I just threw everything into my food processor, which did the trick.
TJ mixed up a batch of homemade corn tortillas to go with it. He's pretty good at that.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
22 love songs
Is it weird that I really like Valentine's Day? I may appear all emotionless and cynical on the outside, but I've always had a soft spot for Valentine's Day even though it seems like I should hate it for being a huge monument to commercialism and because I never had a date on that day.
But I have good memories of decorating shoe boxes with pink construction paper and red sparkly stickers in elementary school. The lids had slots where classmates could slip in valentines. And how can I not like the opportunity to make pink-frosted cupcakes or heart-shaped sugar cookies? I guess like most holidays, I'm mostly in it for the crafts and the food.
And the music! Naturally, I made a Valentine's Day mix for TJ and had some fun with Illustrator to make the artwork for it.
I really like this compilation. I think it turned out just the way I wanted: happy, funny, and a little wistful or sad. Let me comment on a couple that I thought were particularly appropriate to include for TJ:
Soltero - "Communist Love Song"
from Science Will Figure You Out
The Submarines - "You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie"
from Honeysuckle Weeks
I'll post the entire playlist in the comments for anyone interested in checking it out.
What song would you include in a mix for your one true love?
But I have good memories of decorating shoe boxes with pink construction paper and red sparkly stickers in elementary school. The lids had slots where classmates could slip in valentines. And how can I not like the opportunity to make pink-frosted cupcakes or heart-shaped sugar cookies? I guess like most holidays, I'm mostly in it for the crafts and the food.
And the music! Naturally, I made a Valentine's Day mix for TJ and had some fun with Illustrator to make the artwork for it.
I really like this compilation. I think it turned out just the way I wanted: happy, funny, and a little wistful or sad. Let me comment on a couple that I thought were particularly appropriate to include for TJ:
Soltero - "Communist Love Song"
from Science Will Figure You Out
If you're ever less than certainCommunism as an analogy for love? Obviously the perfect choice for a Valentine's Day mix for my favorite leftist.
I will be your Iron Curtain
I will be your Berlin Wall
And I will never fall
The Submarines - "You, Me, and the Bourgeoisie"
from Honeysuckle Weeks
Plastic bottles, imported waterLove is all you need, right? What's not to like about anti-consumerist sentiment wrapped up a bright, sugary pop song. . . that is being used in a commercial to sell iPhones. Oh, the irony.
Cars we drive wherever we want to
Clothes we buy, it's sweatshop labor
Drugs from corporate enablers
We're not living the good life
Unless we're fighting the good fight
You and me just trying to get it right
Love can free us from all excess
from our deepest debt
'Cause when our hearts are full we need much less
I'll post the entire playlist in the comments for anyone interested in checking it out.
What song would you include in a mix for your one true love?
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