So That Happened

You Say Goodbye and I Say Hell No

(Advisory: the following event occurred last September.  I've been deliberating as to whether I should share it, but concluded that it's too good a story to let slide.)

Monday nights you can find me at a pub where I lament how little we know about sports play trivia with my dear friends Caleb and Carrie.  During the course of the evening one man who was there with his co-workers caught my eye.  I had brought my knitting and was working on my project, and every time I looked up I noticed him looking at me.  I thought he was approachable-cute and seemed nice, so we kept making eye contact.  I even checked out his hand for a wedding ring; there wasn't one. 

Halfway through the match Approachable-Cute Guy and his co-worker got up to leave, and I fretted a bit because we hadn't spoken.  He walked by me and...nothing.  We did the smile-and-nod thing again, but no words were exchanged, and I was okay with that.  It was what it was - just a nice night of eye contact and flirting from afar - and I was fine.  I then told my friends about him (they couldn't see him from where they were sitting), how he just left, and how it was too bad we didn't talk to each other, because who knew what could have happened?

Minutes later our server handed me a note and said it was from a guy sitting at a table across the way.  I was immediately excited - this NEVER happens to me! 

And then I read it:

(Last name deleted to protect the creepy.)

Really?!  Exactly what kind of person did he think I was?  What kind of person was he to: 1) write me a note, 2) tell me he's MARRIED, and 3) tell me where he's staying?!  Did he really think I was going to meet him for a rendezvous?  Just, EW.

Sigh.  So that happened.

Roasted Sugar Snap Peas

I am a big fan of roasting vegetables.  It's a ridiculously simple way to prepare vegetables while giving them a texture and depth of flavor that steaming or boiling simply cannot impart.  Sure, roasting vegetables may take a little longer, but the end result is so very much worth it.  Using the Cook's Illustrated recipe for Roasted Green Beans (it's a subscription-only recipe - sorry! - but you can sign up for the 14-day trial) as my template (you can see one of my initial attempts of roasting these here), I've roasted several kinds with varying (but mostly positive) results.

Last week I tried roasting one of my favorite treats, sugar snap peas.

Pretty, no?  These came straight from my local farmers market.  I love eating sugar snap peas raw by just splitting them open and popping out the peas like candy.

Here they are halfway through the cooking process.  Yes, I took them out of the oven for this picture.  You can see how much water they have lost so far.

And here are the little guys after roasting.

Don't they look delicious?  Don't you want to dip them in wasabi mayonnaise and snack away?  Or, if you're like me, just eat them hot right off the baking sheet?  Ahem.

A Little Help Here?

In my overhaul of this blog, I updated my music and book lists on the right (because "Womanizer" isn't exactly a new song anymore) and went through my various categories on the left, renaming most of them so they sounded less twee.  (It was time.  Really.  I should have done it ages ago, to be honest.)  That said, I'm unsure why the category entitled "Travel" doesn't appear in said list.  Shouldn't it?  I only renamed it - I certainly didn't delete it, and I know all of the posts I tagged as "Travel" still exist because they can be found here.

Any advice as to what I should do other than refresh the page like a mad person?  Because that's what I've been doing and I hope it hasn't been in vain.

Addendum: As soon as I wrote and saved this post, the "Travel" category appeared like magic on the left.  Of COURSE it did.  Oh, well.  I'll leave this post up anyway as a testament to my impatience.

Facelift

After five years of the same old same old, I decided to give my blog a new look.  What do you think?  I kind of love it.  It's like a breath of fresh air, which is exactly what I needed. 

I wanted it to look my Posterous page (yes, I started one - is that like cheating on my blog?), which you can find here.  I may post things here, I may post things there.  Who knows?  I'll see where the wind takes me.

I Am Really Not Dead

I know, I know.  I said I wasn't dead.  When did I say that?  Oh, A YEAR AGO.

That is about to change.

I thought I'd pop back in here to tell anyone still listening (although I doubt it) that I plan to give this blog a firm re-boot.  I don't know how or what I will do just yet but I do want to make use of this space since I am paying for it.  Although my year-long absence may say otherwise, I really have missed writing here, so now's the time to get back on the horse.

That's it for now.  I may give this space a new name, I may not.  Who knows?  I will come back here, though, and much sooner than at this time next year.  Swear.

Thanks!

I'm Not Dead

In case anyone out there still cared, I am alive!  So much for my intent on blogging regularly.  It's funny how life happens.  It's not that I didn't want to write, but there has been a lot going on (some good, some bad - okay, more than a lot bad, sadly) and it has been easier for me to handle things by retreating a little.  I hope things get better because 2009 was supposed to be better than last year, dammit.

In other news, today is Ripley's second birthday!  Unbelievable.  I should have known she was entering her Terrible Twos when her two left tires blew out yesterday (a small accident that was totally my fault and no one else was hurt, thank goodness) and I ended up having to replace all four.  I hope she likes her gift.

Must. See. This. Play.

Okay, so who wants to take go with me to Dublin to see MacBecks?  

Seriously.  I'm not kidding.

The California Anti-Texting Bill

Just so we are all clear about what we in California can and cannot do in the car when it comes to texting:

SB 28 Senate Bill - Bill Analysis

Wow, I didn't know about not being able to READ text messages!  I am going to presume this means no writing while at stoplights as well.

Many thanks to Heathyr for the link!

New Week, New Topic

Yesterday's post received a lot of comments - thanks to everyone who put in their two cents.  I really enjoy hearing from you; I find it enlightening and challenging (in a good way).

I am working on a new side project which I will attach to this blog and make public soon, but right now I'm still sorting all the specifics out.  When I feel it is ready I will let you know.  Thanks.

Um, YEAH.

Did anyone else watch last night's 20/20 besides me?  If you did, WE MUST DISCUSS.  Where to begin?

Do we start with the orgasmic births?  How about the serial surrogates?  We of course can't forget the breast-feeding older children segment, but the one that sticks out in my mind the most is the one about the fake babies because y'all?  That was some CRAZY TV right there.  Just...WOW.