Monday, August 25, 2008

Live blogging the DNC (a not really political commentary)

Note: we were going to watch the convention on CNN, but they have an applause meter, and it annoyed J too much.

9:38pm The commentator (maybe it was David Brooks?) on PBS just called it the Osama campaign, not the Obama campaign. I think I am now going to have to live-blog the DNC.

- Maria Shriver looks like she wants to stop clapping, but can't due to the fact that they flash to her every three seconds. I feel for her. I hate clapping for too long (though I do love clapping rhythmically).

9:45: Interview with Kennedy's alternate delegate in 1980. She can barely hear the questions, and behind her is a girl texting on her blackberry. Let me just note, the delegate from 1980 is wearing an awesome zebra jacket. She's rocking. Much better dressed than the other women being interviewed (her first convention) who looks really uptight.

9:49: Peniel Joseph from Brandeis University is pretty cute. Best looking guy by far on this panel about Ted Kennedy.

10:16: The PBS commentator says mis-ur-a whereas the Senator from Missouri says Miss-ur-e. I wonder which one is right...

10:18: Ah, the PBS commentators took care of it. They said that there are two pronunciations.

10:26: Barak made Michelle date him by buying her ice cream. That's so sweet.

10:28: Michelle Obama's family is very good looking. She looks exactly like her mother too- Barak is a lucky man. She's also an excellent speaker.

10:46: J noticed that Joe Biden has sharks on his tie. Hmm....

10:48: How do all the people that only moments ago had Kennedy signs now have Michelle signs? I wonder how many signs these people have. Hmm... I wonder how sustainable this convention is. Do they recycle these signs? Are they made out of post-consumer materials? What kind of a world is it that America's Next Top Model is "green", but I'm not sure that the DNC is?

10:57: Sasha, Obama's daughter is adorable. She loooooves the microphone.

11:01: We switch to the Daily Show which (as it turns out) doesn't cover the convention until tomorrow. Oh well!



















Thursday, August 21, 2008

If everybody else were to jump off of the empire state building, would you do it too?

Probably not. But seeing how the new thing to do on your blog seems to be showing off your Yearbook Yourself photo, I might have to jump on that bandwagon...

This is the best one, and it is the one in which I look most like my mother. There was an artist's rendition of her in my home growing up, which, minus the glasses, this looks creepily like...


Sunday, August 17, 2008

Think Globally

...Act Locally.

Today I took a much anticipated trip to my local Farmer's Market. Almost every Sunday I mean to go, and nearly every Sunday something comes up. The fact that I have a real Farmer's Market within a two block radius of my apartment is something that comforts me after I read The Omnivore's Dilemma and realize that yet again I missed the sign up date for my local CSA. Yet the fact that I take such little advantage of it does bother me.
Within the past year since I've moved to this neighborhood, the Farmer's Market has improved tenfold. A few more vendors have shown up, including an amazing fish monger and a couple more vegetable vendors. This morning I convinced my husband to take a walk over with me to pick up some groceries and breakfast to start our Sunday. Due to this visit (with our adorable new puppy, Cayman), I developed a meal based around seasonal, local foods (plus picked up some local eggs). It was delicious.
My meal tonight consisted of pan seared local scallops dressed with local sweet corn salsa (local tomatoes, canned black beans). As a side note, it is interesting to note that "sweet corn" is what we normally eat. The corn that you usually see out your car window driving down the road is "feed corn". That is fed to steer and other livestock, not to humans- it's harder, tougher and less "sweet" (though my "farmer's daughter" aunt told me once that she thinks that it would probably be pretty edible when it's young). As a friend of mine found out too late, farmers usually grow sweet corn closer to their homes, which makes it much harder to filch on road trips (shout out to JJ!).
On the side, I prepared fingerling potatoes, and snap peas from Fresh Direct (which is my love because it means that I no longer have to drag my butt to the store or groceries up flights of stairs; and my husband gets all the seltzer his heart desires). The entire meal felt really light and fresh. The scallops had a nice buttery crust while remaining sweet, and the salsa tasted crisp and bright. I'm hoping it will be a bit more complex tomorrow after the flavors have a chance to "marry" a bit more.
We also shared a great bottle of wine, which was one of a trio that I bought for my husband for our second anniversary. It is a mixed red from Napa Valley called "The Prisoner" out of Orin Swift Cellars. I felt it smelled vaguely of cinnamon and wood with a lightly oak-y blueberry and cherry taste. It had a dry-ish ending and a beautiful deep red color. The other two wines will be drunk through the course of our marriage (one at 5 years and one at 7 years), and if they're as good as this wine, I'm greatly looking forward to them.

As a side note, our puppy remains the cutest that we have ever seen. It's hard to believe that it's only been a week since he's been in our lives. I am beginning to fear we will be the most obnoxious parents. Today we headed over to Astoria Park with him. There's a dog-run by Shore Towers that he got to hang out in, and the rest of the time was spent lazing around/running on the "great lawn" area. We had a few visitors, did some crosswords, and generally had a great afternoon. As far as Sundays go, this was a great one to almost-end my summer on.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Good Advice

Today I passed the scrolling billboard in front of Yankee Stadium. On game days, it gives information about, well, the Yankees. The rest of the time, I assume they sell the space to various companies to make a buck. As we passed by this evening, the message I read was:

"Always wear a life jacket"

to which my immediate response was: Always? I'm in a car! It just doesn't seem necessary.

We can only hope there was additional information that was given after we passed by to make that life advice a little more specific.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Puppy!

Meet Cayman, our new 6 month old puppy! Need I say more?

Cute ears

bent ear


pretty eyes

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Everybody Loves a Clown

...just not necessarily on the subway.

The other day I was on my way home from a day of grad school and Shake Shack deliciousness when my peaceful subway ride home while reading The Other Boleyn Girl (which has since graduated to my Netflix queue) was interrupted by an onslaught of clowns.

Yes, clowns.

At the 34th Street station, around 12 clowns came on to my car, along with a variety of clown accompaniments. One clown had a hula-hoop. One had a children's riding toy that looked like a fire truck. They all were in full clown regalia, including wigs and makeup. And they all talked in what were possibly the most annoying voices possible. It turns out clowns do not speak like normal people- they talk in high, squeaky voices that are incredibly grating.

The good thing about clowns is that they are pretty funny. Every stop when people got on the train, they said "hi!" and waved. They rode the fire truck down the center aisle of the train. They got random people on the train to hula hoop. They danced. They sang.

The thing is, I am both a jaded New Yorker and a wide-eyed optimist. Because of that, I was torn between ignoring the clowns and cracking up over them. I half read my book, straight faced and half watched them in growing disbelief. These clowns were all in my age range. Yet they kept this squeaky voiced routine up for 9 subway stops, and two boroughs. When they finally got out in Queens, the woman next to me commented that now they could go scare children.


 
Subscribe in a reader