Lets make a snack...

Being 33 so far means more dinner and more wine

2011-06-22T12:27:00.000-07:00

Is it dorky to blog about my birthday dinner? Is it absurd that my only birthday pictures are of food? Don't answer those. Instead, come along with me on a tour of my birthday meal from Moto, the restaurant famous for its chef's innovative and sometimes wild preparation and presentation of gourmet cuisine.

We sat down for a 10-course meal with wine pairings and over the course of three hours, enjoyed the following:

The menu. Yes - we enjoyed it. Mine was on a tortilla sheet with salsa.

The "Snowman" - tuna with sake lemon foam and sea salt eyes.

The "Rosebud" - pickled beets, frisee, rose petal, and something else I can't remember (this "something else I can't remember" will come up again, I assure you).

"Foraging" - Monte's second dish. Moss made of bread and truffles with asparagus. *

"Vichyssoise" - Halibut served with crispy shoestring potatoes, leeks sauteed in butter, blended potato leek soup, and parsley powder served from a pot of liquid nitrogen. *

Sushi Roll - rabbit loin, brussel sprouts, sesame and allspice aioli. I love this presentation. *

Monte's - Orange crab cake with lemon cream cheese, fennel, graham cracker crumbs and butternut squash ice cream. *

Seared Quail with sugared peanuts, corn powder, and cola and cranberry puree with edible cracker jack paper.

Rooster with cornbread puree, carrot tops, micro cabbage leaf and a sage emulsifier poured from a candle over the entire dish. *

Pork Belly, some kind of mushrooms (the menu currently says maitake, but I'm not sure that is what we had), red cabbage and mushroom puff

Blue cheese puree, pear something or other, apples and chamomile foam (excellent with the port). No picture. I guess I was having too much fun to stop and snap one!

Wintergreen Fluff with thyme infused pineapple and coconut powder. I couldn't eat this. I gave mine to Monte.

For dessert Monte had Earl Grey ice cream and crumble with chocolate mousse and greek yogurt.

For dessert I had cereal. Yup! Almond milk and cereal flakes with liquid nitrogen frozen raspberries. It was fantastic with the last two wines. I could start eating cereal if it was always served with an excellent cuvee and champagne.

We finished with a beaker of something or other (I thought I tasted cardamom in there) with a frozen corn packing peanut on top.

The food was fantastic. The wine was perfect. The presentation was so much fun. We got a tour of the kitchen and had a really memorable time. Then, because we're gluttonous, we went over to my favorite bar and got a burger and fries and ended the evening with a beautiful little surprise from the staff there:

I like being 33.

* indicates something I'm going to try to recreate. I'll link to the recipe, once I've figured one out.

Urgent AND Important

2011-06-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

I have been SO busy lately! I don't know - I guess it is end of the teaching year type of stuff that has kept me tied up. But I haven't had time to practice the piano. Or read. Or exercise. Or answer e-mails from friends. Or drink wine on my porch. Or any of the things that I would typically do on nice summer days.

And today - I finally cracked. Halfway through doing something that is both urgent and important, I started crafting. That's right. Making CRAFTS. With glue. And yarn. And even toothpicks. Here are the results:

A pretty dumb one: a sheep grazing in a jar.

A drawer and champagne cork jewelry box.

I'm particularly happy with how this one turned out.

And now I'd better finish my work and jump in the shower and head off to teach before anybody notices that I stopped for a morning. I hope nobody notices the marker I can't get off my fingers!

Flute and Piano

2011-05-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

Yellow Butterfly - by Hugo Wolf

performed by Erin Murphy and Aubrey Faith-Slaker

A Mother's Day Collection of Answering Machine Messages

2011-05-09T11:50:00.001-07:00

Not shells, not stamps, not coins, not shot glasses...... voices.
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Spring and Soirees

2011-05-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

Gershwin's Lullaby from Yesterday's Soiree

Cooking in Oaxaca

2011-04-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

Okay - after a week of gorging ourselves on Oaxacan cuisine, Megan and I decided to take a cooking class. At Casa Crespo, under the hilariously dour tutelage of Oscar, the owner, Megan, I and five others cooked and enjoyed an entire Oaxacan meal.

The class started with a leisurely coffee while we all decided what dishes most appealed to us. Once we decided, we all sauntered (There is no walking in Mexico - and definitely no brisk walking. Only ambling, sauntering, moseying, meandering and maybe a bit of strolling.) to the Sanchez Pascuas market to buy our ingredients. This was perhaps the most instructive part of the class.

Before even reaching the market, I learned:

soaking chiles in vinegar and water reduces the heat (spiciness)
avocado leaves can be used to flavor salsas and moles
tinga is the name for a dish composed of shredded meat, tomatoes, chipotle and onion
chipotle is dried or smoke jalapenos
the chocolate in Oaxaca has no milk in it. Just almonds and cinnamon.

Once in the market, Oscar took us on a tour and named and described the use for all the chiles we encountered. I must admit that the options at Whole Foods for chiles can't compete. Oscar mentioned that many of the uses for chiles are simply to add color to the food or salsa, and why would we need those chiles when we have Red #40?

Back at the restaurant, we rolled up our sleeves, donned our aprons, and got to work, first with making tortillas. I've tried it since at home, but was quite disappointed in the results without having a tortilla press to use. But, it was fun!

Then we started working on the almond mole, the stuffed chiles, and the quesadillas. Besides learning that everything is better if it is first blanched, soaked or roasted, we learned that..... (let me put my serious face on here)... "Puebla says by accident they created mole. This is not possible. It is a complicated process!" No no. Mole was invented in Oaxaca.

Anyway, after much snacking and much cooking, and five salsas, an avocado soup, chocolate ice cream, cucumber drinks and guacamole later, we were ready to take a break while everything cooked.

The meal was fantastic. The company was interesting. The instructor made me want to instigate trouble. And, recipes in hand, I am going to attempt them all here in Chicago. I'll return with links to the successes. This was one of the most memorable and lasting vacation activities I've ever had - I've shared the story and the pictures - I can't wait to share the tastes and the smells with you!

Food in Oaxaca

2011-04-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

One of the most interesting things about travel to me is tasting the local cuisine. On my recent trip to Mexico, I not only got to taste the cuisine, but I got to devour it. For the foodies out there, these are the highlights from what I enjoyed:

Enfrijoladas con pollo frito and Entomatadas with queso fresco, raw onions, and thinly cut red meat (tosajo).

El Tipico (an adorable breakfast place with a walled garden patio in back).

Consome de pollo (soup, beautifully presented, with rice, chicken, avocado, chilis and tomato). Crema de flor de calabaza (squash blossom soup with pumpkin seeds).

La Olla (a lovely place for dinner with several levels - the top terrace has a gorgeous view of the city)

Taco de ejotes con huevo (green beans and egg) and taco de cazon (shark).

Itanoni - a wonderful place with such an array of fabulous choices of tacos, tamales, quesadillas, juices etc. I'm definitely going back there!

Tetelas espirituosa - beans, sour cream, cheese, salsa, and hierba santa. SO GOOD.

Itanoni again. Couldn't help it.

Canelas (cheese wrapped in hierba santa).

La Biznaga. The open air ambience was so lovely here, that I forgot to take pictures of some of the most wonderful food both times we went here!

Chichilo with chicken, green beans, and nopal. Seven different moles in the background.

Los Pacos. A lovely, airy restaurant, that specializes in moles. I bought some to take back home with me and can't wait to recreate this meal (without the grasshoppers).

Carrot tinga tostada with lentil humus, sour cream, and Parmesan cheese.

La Jicara. A pretty new, and delicious restaurant adjacent to a fabulous bookstore.

Champurrado: a mixture of atole (a porridge-like drink made of masa) and frothed Oaxacan chocolate.

This was at a lovely little market in a church plaza. Look at that froth!!

Chille Rellenos. The spicy kind. Delicious. Sweet. Beautiful. At this point in the trip, I had stopped writing everything down! Casa Oaxaca. I think. A breezy, palatial restaurant with great service and a very interesting menu (try the shrimp cocktail).

Now, wasn't that colorful? I think these pictures, more than any others, represent Oaxaca to me.
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Creepiness in Oaxaca

2011-04-10T19:08:00.001-07:00

While the environment was lush, the buildings gorgeous, the people friendly, and the food amazing, there was a lot of creepiness I encountered on my recent trip to Mexico that I just have to share. I give you these examples:

Chapulines. Grasshoppers sauteed in garlic and oil. Only creepy when I was picking legs out of my teeth.

Agave plants. Very cool. Only creepy in that they look a bit of aliens that have descended from space in front of this Baroque church in order to hatch or suck our soil of nutrients.

A very tasty fruit called Granada China. Only creepy because it looks like a brain-slug and you eat it like you're doing a shot.


An art project? A mummy parade? I actually can't think of what's NOT creepy about this.

I heard that in places in Mexico, women wear live bejeweled bugs on their blouses as ornamentation and that there is actually a market for portraits done of your baby on Jesus's lap. And I'll leave the creepy image of the pornographic skeleton figures to your imagination.

Beauty in Oaxaca

2011-04-10T18:11:00.001-07:00


I recently visited my good friend Megan in Oaxaca.

The perfect vacation: relaxing, seeing the world, and catching up with a friend.

The churches and other Baroque era buildings were just gorgeous.

It doesn't take much to entertain me. Just walking around town and stopping in places on a whim was fantastic.

We did eat a lot. I mean - what are vacations for???

The scenery was gorgeous.

Did I mention that it was in the upper eighties while I was there?

Oaxaca was such a beautiful place to visit - with something for everyone. You should go!

I can't wait to go back.

Ugliness that is Commonplace in February

2011-02-17T10:27:00.001-07:00

Is anyone else cheering the nice weather? Is anyone else hoping that was the end of it? Bring on spring! The blizzard pics from the Trib were great, and everyone saw them. This however, is what February is mostly like. Dirty. Cold. Frozen. Cluttered.

Just enough shoveling to make a car-fort.

Free chairs!


If you put your name on your lawn furniture, everyone knows who to be mad at!


Don't even bother moving.

Doe... a dog

2011-02-10T21:54:00.002-07:00

Ribbon of Highways; Endless Driving Days

2010-12-02T10:06:00.001-07:00

Day One. 8:00am. Starting out heading west from Chicago.

After 1 hour: An old farmhouse west of the Chicago suburbs.

After 2 hours: Western Illinois.

After 3 hours: NPR and books on tape.

After 4 hours: Iowa.

After 5 hours: Lt. Organic Farm, serving fresh meals just off I-80.

After 6 hours: More Iowa.

After 7 hours: Iowa Wind Farms.

Just getting into Omaha. End of Day One.

Day Two: Heading West again!

After 1 hour: Nebraska.

After 2 hours: Nebraska.

After 3 hours: Kearney Nebraska.

After 4 hours: I'd eat meat from this farm.

After 5 hours: Or this one.

After 6 hours, clouds seem exciting.

After 7 hours: Getting into Colorado.

After 8 hours: zzzzz

After 9 hours: Colorado.

After 10 hours: Rocky Mountains / Pikes Peak / Colorado Springs

2010-11-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

One of the the things that I love about Chicago is that it has history that you can see. That might sound a little silly since it is definitely not one of the oldest cities I've spent time in, but I once lived in Dallas, and everything there is new - things don't get a chance to get old there. The architecture is one of the best visible histories of Chicago and the view of the details on many of these old buildings is especially good from the el. Recently though, on an episode of Chicago Tonight, I saw a clip on ghost signs in Chicago. These are mostly painted advertisements on the sides of brick buildings that have withstood our harsh winters and now remain up, faded, and no longer advertising anything one can buy.

As an excuse to spend the last beautiful day of the season out enjoying the weather, I traipsed down to the loop to check out some of these signs that were featured in the program and to look for some others that I might not have seen before. Here are a few of my favorites:

A very cool sign, Lyon and Healy used to deal with "everything known in music" since they opened in Chicago in 1864. Now, however, they only make harps. I see this sign every time I go to work!

This sign, for the Harmony Cafeteria, is in an alley just off of Wabash. Obviously it was in use before the building next door was erected. There were three of these cafeterias around Chicago and the following picture is a postcard I found online advertising the cafeteria.

The building that holds this Harmony Cafeteria sign was erected in 1881 and designed by Louis Sullivan. Today though, I had to peer down the alley and squeeze past a truck in order to get the partial picture you see here.

The Century Building, at 202 State street once housed Romas Restaurant, which became Adam's in 1975. It sounds like this restaurant was around the area since the beginning of the century - possibly closed for a while during World War II, moved a couple of times, and is remembered here in this pretty cool sign! Apparently the building once held the tallest electric light restaurant sign, which spelled "Roma's Restaurant."

I found this sign on the Southeast corner of Van Buren and Wells. It looks like it says Kling Bros and Co, Klingmade, and Mackinaw coats. Can you see it? I found a mention of Kling Bros in a list of "manufacturers of union-labeled garments" in a 1903 edition of The Caledonian. How fun!

This one was also fun, on the side of a building at 302 South Wells. It looks like it says "Perfect Soda Cracker" on top, and pictured here, "Uneeda," "biscuit" and the Nabisco sign. In 1890, American Biscuit Company set up headquarters in Chicago. In 1910, the company had a huge factory in Chicago to handle it's "uneeda" brand of goods. Now we know it as Kraft, in the North suburbs. Here is a link to an excellent blog with pictures of Uneeda Biscuit signs that help make this one more readable.

There are more. All over Chicago. Some easily readable, some almost faded completely. And I must admit, I had a wonderful time, walking around with my eyes squinted down alleys and up the sides of buildings and my gaze on a past that is slowly fading.
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This Season at the Lyric (so far)

2010-11-11T12:18:00.001-07:00

I love going to the opera. I got hooked on it in grad school and try to go to a couple every year. I find that opera is a touchy subject with most people I. For those of you who don't like going to the opera, I have prepared a little chart here to help change your mind. For those of you who DO like the opera, skip the chart and read on!

There. Now that we know that it is definitely worth it to go to an opera, let's talk about the operas that are currently out this season!

I have seen two of the several operas out this season so far and they couldn't have been more different! The first one was Macbeth by Verdi. As expected, it was over the top in drama, it was pretty depressing, full of madness (thank you Shakespeare) and the music was lush and memorable. There were only three singing parts and no tenor at all (yay!). The soprano who played Lady Macbeth completely stole the show. The sets and the costuming were great with simple, yet effective symbolism that would have made Shakespeare proud.

A Midsummer Night's Dream couldn't have been more different! There are so many characters in this story, so many scenes, and so much going on that it only made sense to throw in an entire children's chorus and a dog! Britten is a 20th century composer, so the music may not be what you expect to hear in opera if you aren't that familiar with it (there are some great cello parts). In fact, I saw several people walk out before intermission! However, Britten is hilarious in the ways that he plays with our musical expectations and everyone involved in the show was fabulous. The actor who played Puck had the audience laughing aloud!

The other operas out this season are Carmen (who wouldn't want to hear the Toreador's Song again??),

a Masked Ball (Verdi is always great for a stunning and moving opera experience), The Girl of the Golden West (Puccini is quintessential opera. Italian. You'll love it.), Lohengrin (Wagner. Oh boy. I've never seen any Wagner live. Who wants to go with me?), and Hercules (as much as I'd like to see a Handel opera, this one has a modern take to it that doesn't thrill me).

the only one I wouldn't recommend is The Mikado. It is a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta and I personally find their work to combine the least likable characteristics of an opera with the least likable characteristics of a musical. Stay home. Go to a sporting event. Play a video game. OR..... go to the opera and enjoy it and prove me wrong!

Proust was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer

2010-10-03T21:38:00.001-07:00

This book caught my eye multiple times in the book store (yes, I still go to book stores) and I didn't pick it up because I feared it would be meandering and oversimplified like some of Malcolm Gladwell's books. But, upon seeing it on a friends' shelf when i was without book (!), I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did!

While Lehrer gave many simplified examples for several of his arguments, or while he attributed too much to single people [see article from Slate], I didn't mind and found it to be easy reading while giving the reader enough to ponder.

The idea of this books is that many of the advancements made in neuroscience can be shown in example in the philosophies of artist long before science proved them (or even tried to prove them).

Some of my favorite chapters are:

The Essence of Taste, which talked about the discovery of umami and its pared down amino acid, L-glutamate, by Kikunae Ikeda, the savory cooking style of August Escoffier, and the finding of the exact receptors on the tongue for this particular taste in 2000. Fascinating. It also made me hungry.
The Method of Memory, which discusses how faulty our memory is, how the act of remembering changes our memories, and how Marcel Proust philosophized on this very subject in his "fiction."
The Source of Music, which discusses our mind's plasticity, especially when it comes to sound, the corticofugal network (awesome), which continually alters what patterns our sensory cells respond to, and Stravinsky's experiment of these very phenomena with his Rite of Spring.
AND The Emergent Self, which discusses teh quest of neuroscientists to find the self in the contradictory mess of our short-term memory, the "neural corelate of consciousness" (NCC for short - c'mon - really??) and Virginia Woolf's experiments with demonstrating these functions and the self's elusiveness in her literature.

This book is touted as a work that demonstrates how art trumps science, but I really see it as showing two sides of the same coin and how related the two really are. Read this book and let me know what you think!
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Another dinner with the neighbors

2010-08-25T06:49:00.000-07:00

Because our neighbors are just the sweetest couple, and it isn't as much fun to cook for only oneself, we had another festive dinner last night. The theme this time was Indian food. Now, I don't know what region I was cooking from, or if I was serving up a gallimaufry of dishes from unspecified areas, but I think I had the spices and the music right. And to this all-American crowd it wouldn't make a difference.

The Menu

Dal

Sauvignon Blanc

Vegetable Samosa Pot Pie

Spinach and Potatoes

Naan

Raita

Zinfandel

Mango Lassi

While the meal was good, it was the costuming that was tip top! I can't imagine what the people across the street must think!

Thank You Card for Megan

2010-08-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

Well! Six and a half years ago I sent a thank-you card to my friend Megan, and I just found out that she never got it! Because sending her one now would be lame, and because I can't just let this go, I have prepared a more public and more poetic thank-you than the original one was.

It goes like this......

Do you like your new s'mores maker?

"Yes, I do!" said Aubrey Faith-Slaker

We use it when we're mountain biking

We use it when we're going hiking!

We use it with the coolest fellows

We can't get enough of those marshmallows!

We use it with our dinner guests

Especially when we're dining out west!

We take it with us on road trips

The chocolate and crackers go straight to our hips!

We used it with our new friend Joel

It's great because we don't need coal!

We use it first thing in the morning

We even follow the safety warning!

We use it when we're out of doors

We use it whenever we really want s'mores!

Though we didn't thank you, please don't be miffed

We really love our wedding gift!

Thanks!

Love, Aubrey and Monte

OPB & J, a quick review of a new restaurant

2010-08-18T12:47:00.003-07:00

Nah nah nah nah nah! My lunch was better than your lunch!

I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

What? And I have the audacity to claim that my lunch was better?

Yes, I do.

This afternoon I tried out a new restaurant in town (Colorado Springs). It is called OPB&J for Organic Peanut Butter and Jelly. And all they make are sandwiches. It is an exercise in quick decision making when you're standing there at the counter - I imagine your sandwich could turn out really awful if you tried hard enough!

First you choose your bread. They had herbed, whole wheat, white, rye, sourdough and four different gluten-free options. Then you choose your peanut butter. Dark chocolate, molasses, Thai ginger, Chunky, and more that I couldn't even rest my eyes on because the next thing to choose is your jelly! Strawberry rhubarb, raspberry, ginger pear, and here is where my mind goes blank. Apparently, there are hundreds of combos to be made from the fresh, homemade (the peanut butter is in house and the bread is from a local bakery) ingredients. Available to add to each sandwich are fresh produce options - watercress, strawberries, chopped peppers, nuts.

Anyway, I got herbed gluten-free bread topped with Thai ginger peanut butter, ginger pear jelly, and watercress.

My husband got dark chocolate peanut butter with strawberry rhubarb jelly.

Each sandwich was accompanied by a carrot and a celery stick and wrapped in brown paper.

Cute. Smart. Delicious.
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Diner avec les voisins

2010-08-17T18:56:00.009-07:00

I'm only moments in Colorado and am already looking for extravagent ways of entertaining myself and the people around me. Tonight, to the crooning of Edith Piaf, Leo Ferre and Maurice Chevalier I shared a delicious dinner with my husband and neighbors (who are cool enough to have come in costume).

The Menu

Truffle and Goat Cheese Flatbread

Kir

Tuna Nicoise Salad

Strawberries soaked in Cointreau

Cointreau

Lavender Creme Brulee

Lavender Gin and Tonic

We listened to classic French music, ate with gusto, and had great conversation, occasionally marked by shouts of "Vive la France!" and "I surrender!" from my husband's end of the table.

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P.S. If you make this meal, save some of the mushrooms and with leftover mushrooms, arugula, and goat cheese you can make a great egg white omelet, since you'll have six egg whites leftover from the creme brulee! Delicious.
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The Elegance of the Hedgehog

2010-08-12T08:04:00.004-07:00

Unfortunately, the title of my blog isn't something creative that I came up with on my own. It is the name of a book. Luckily though, it is an excellent book! I couldn't put this book down and I already want to read it again.

In a typical upscale apartment building on a prosaic fashionable street in Paris amongst the vapid elite live two notably interesting people. At first glance, one wouldn't notice anything exceptional about either of these characters - and one probably wouldn't notice anything exceptional with a second glance. However, under further scrutiny, it might be noticed that these two characters are much more interesting and much less conventional than their stereotype suggests.

A concierge who understands philosophy and loves art masquerades as merely a concierge - and a little girl who is surprisingly insightful about both the importance and the triviality of much of what the adults around her are consumed with hides her concern and derision behind the fact that she is just a little girl.

However, these highly regarded characteristics are not hard to hide at all when nobody ever looks for them.

Read this book.

In other news: Bill O'Reilly doesn't like the fact that Jennifer Aniston thinks it is okay for single women to have children; Montessori School of Dentistry let's students discover their own root canal procedures (that's a lie - an Onion headline that I couldn't resist); Facebook is being urged to add "panic" buttons to all its pages by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP for short); and President Obama says the biggest threat to U.S. security is the possibility of terrorists obtaining a nuclear weapon. Go figure.

I gave her lots of love.... and was usually pretty good about lockin' her up

2010-08-01T15:17:00.003-07:00

Did I tell you that I got a new bike?! No?? I can't believe I forgot!

It took me a while to get around to the idea of a new bike after my last one had been stolen, and while there is great pride to be felt in walking everywhere if you can, there is a little bit of something (I'd say ease?) about getting there quicker on two wheels.

My new vintage (can those words really go next to eachother?) 3 speed cruiser came to me via Craigslist and grew up in the north suburbs with a good family.

Adele, as she is called, has opened up new worlds to me. So far I have learned:

that cruisers are for cruising - not for velocity (though two wheels are faster than two feet)
that Green street exists, and it gets you from the North 500s to the South 300s in no time!
that Karyn's on Green is open and I must go there
that dashing out to meet friends at a pub is easy when you don't have to deal with parking, sobriety or public transportation
that buses can't catch me
that everyone forgives you for what your hair looks like when you're carrying a helmet
that there is something called retro urban chic and I may have stumbled upon it
that on a bike, you have neither the safety of a walker nor of an automobile driver, but you have the freedom of both (as long as a cop isn't watching you)
playing the piano for 28 years doesn't make you coordinated enough to eat an ice cream cone and ride a bike OR text and ride a bike BUT you can go ahead and imagine that five-part fugue in your head as long as you pedal to the beat

Happy Summertime!

Suzerain (play a guessing game with me!)

2010-07-22T08:39:00.003-07:00

Okay guys - word of the week: suzerain!

It is either:

suzerain (n) - an object that contains indentations, notches, or battlements

suzerain (n) - a style of buffet plates that can currently be found at Crate and Barrel

suzerain (n) - a nation that controls another nations international affairs allowing it domestic independence

suzerain (n) - none of the above, in which case, you must supply your own answer.
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The Poisonwood Bible

2010-06-04T10:05:00.005-07:00

I just finished reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, which takes place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the time leading up to and following the political crisis - with Belgium, Congo Independence, and its desperate history under the name of Zaire. I really enjoy stories told from multiple perspectives and this one is told from the perspectives of Kingsolver's five main characters - the wife and four daughters of a misguided and staunchly dogmatic (is that redundant?) missionary.

I find Kinsolver's writing to be so thoughtful and poignant. I also find her characters to be believable even in such a foreign setting, as they grapple with their own weaknesses and day-to-day worries. I thought this was a fabulous book - a well-told story that created a picture of a world so remote and so different, yet filled with people we tend to encounter every day in any setting. I think the most dominant impression I'm left with is her message that you can learn something from everyone you meet.

I particularly enjoyed learning so much about the Congo, though after finishing this book, seeing that it was published in 1998 and knowing that war broke out in that same year in the Congo I feel, Herman Wouk-style, that Kingsolver needs to give us the second installment.

Just for fun, pictured on the left is an okapi. These animals came up in the novel and I have encountered many people who don't know what they are. They are closest in relation to the giraffe and are natives of Africa.
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Sundays, Spring, Soirees, Samosas, Singers.

2010-05-17T12:51:00.004-07:00

Some beautiful music by Couperin, for flute and piano:

Forlane
La Bandoline
Canaries
Les Calotins et les Calotines

Matisse Exhibit

2010-04-08T08:21:00.008-07:00

If you're looking for something cultural to do in Chicago this spring (as if finding something were difficult!), go to the Art Institute and see the Matisse exhibit! The exhibit is free, very well done, and displays Matisse's works between the years of 1913 and 1917.

This particular period was a time of upheaval in France, and Matisse's works show a lot of change as he developed his own modern technique. Matisse was very concerned with the process of construction in his artwork, reworking and layering his canvases, producing extensive series on the same subject. One of the ways of being able to completely focus on the construction, was to use a monochromatic palette - many of his pieces from this time period are dominated by blues and greys.

A large part of the exhibit displayed his printmaking - etchings and monotypes. These were of friends and relatives - all full of expression; each with that recognizable Matisse-style eye.

During the most difficult part of the war, in 1916, Matisse returned to earlier themes that he was able to rework and return to during the tumultuous time that took his concerns elsewhere. His reworking of his pieces might seem at first to be a little obsessive but Matisse insisted that “One should be able to rework a masterpiece at least once, to be very sure that one has not fallen victim—to one’s nerves or to fate.”

The exhibit contained many examples of his sculpture as well, including his famous "Back" series. The second in the series is pictured here.

If just the exhibit isn't enough to entice you, on Thursday, April 15th at 6pm, there is a concert at the Institute of French music in synch with the spirit of Matisse's works featuring pieces by Poulenc, Ibert and Defaye. If music isn't your thing, on April 18th at 3pm at the Art Institute, there is a Matisse-inspired cooking class, which teaches recipes from the significant areas where he worked! How fabulous!

My favorite painting from the exhibit was the "Branch of Lilacs" pictured here.

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Deep Dish Pizza at High Altitude!

2010-03-21T12:50:00.003-07:00

It is possible. It works. It is not a myth! Deep dish pizza DOES exist for those outside of Chicago! You just have to have a mixer with a dough hook, four hours with nothing else going on, and endless patience. Here is the proof:

In other news: Thousands of Chicagoans ran the Shamrock Shuffle this morning in crappy weather (icy rain and snow, which the race officials only deemed "less than ideal"); the health-care-bill vote is today, which will probably end up just being one vote in a series of votes making this whole attempt a joke; and Kansas lost against West Virginia yesterday!
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Go See Avenue Q

2010-03-16T21:50:00.004-07:00

I saw the musical Avenue Q this evening and was diverted by the wit, engaged in the music and thoroughly impressed by the talent of the singers/puppeteers. Avenue Q is described (in a number very much like Skid Row) as being the cheap neighborhood where you live while you're figuring it all out and waiting for your dreams to come true. Before I continue, let me just disclose that the show is a bit raunchy (think puppet sex). (Okay. Now stop thinking puppet sex.)

A cast of characters (mostly puppets) going through what might be called a Quarter-Life-Crisis host comedy in a Sesame Street-like world, where counting lessons (five night stands vs. one-night-stands) and vocabulary lessons (schadenfreunde) are the interludes between story and singing/dancing numbers. My favorite numbers were "Everyone Is A Little Bit Racist," "Internet is for Porn," and "The More you Love Someone, The More you Want to Kill Them."

Focusing on a recent college graduate with a B.A. in english who is facing the reality of finding his place in a world that doesn't have a meal plan or a faculty advisor, the show traces hardships, friendships, relationships (I feel like there should be another ship here) as they grow or are accepted (all with uncouthe jokes and fabulous puppeteering).

As far as I could tell, the wholesome evangelical people of Colorado Springs were tolerant of the quip about Republicans, supported the born-again-Christian puppet, and were not offended by Ernie outing Bert as gay. Wait. Not Bert and Ernie. Anyway, what I learned: Everybody is a little bit unsatisfied, It sucks to be me/you, You save money in the long run by buying beer in bulk, and everything in life is only for NOW. So, hang in there?

A Dance to the Music of Time: First Movement

2010-02-22T14:55:00.005-07:00

Through much of the beginning of this book, I kept thinking of Proust and his introverted, neurotic narrator. I think that is because it is hard to get a good handle on Powell's narrator, Jenkins - and his naivete in viewing the rest of the characters and musings on the ways of the world are so much like Proust's narrator, whose name escapes me at the moment. This book though, had a lot more action to it (not hard), and the narrator was MUCH less depressing.

The story begins in a boys preparatory school in England, where four teenage boys are in a loosely-formed friendship based on circumstance. Upon graduating and entering the literary world (as novelists, critics, politicians, etc) the four let go of their friendship only encountering eachother in the small world that is London's literary sphere.

Taking place between the two World Wars, much of the focus of this book is on relationships (not just romantic) and their tenuousness as well as their significance in how we mark the passing of time.

It took me a long time to read this book, but I finished the last quarter of it in two days. It gave me a great picture of England in the 1920s.
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Spare Room/Tigger

2010-02-17T22:38:00.001-07:00

My kitchen table is where you want to be!

2010-02-17T12:19:00.003-07:00

I just got back from a shopping adventure at The Spice House and I can't wait to start cooking!

I picked up some mustard (it is going to be great for making dressing for a tuna nicoise salad), some white truffle salt (to fancy-up a baked potato), three different types of dried mushrooms, dried sage (I'm making mushroom sage ravioli), dried bell pepper (for the Cuban red beans and rice), chilis (for the alu roti, once I learn how to make my own ghee), himalayan pink salt, basil, and dried lemongrass (for the noodle soup).

Tonight though, it is sweet potato latkes (with some new maple sugar) and squash ravioli. Dinner is at seven.

In other news: Ice skating is at 9:15pm at McFetridge - the amateur kind, not the Olympic kind - I can now skate backwards, foolishly; Volkswagon has a new car that is supposed to get a whopping 170 miles to the gallon; Elephants might be able to count; And King Tut was killed by Malaria.

(I'm also REALLY excited about making some goat cheese.)
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Kreisleriana, Op. 16, Movement 2

2010-01-09T19:44:00.007-07:00

Okay, so in the spirit of sharing and listening (my New Year's resolutions - sort of), here is a small clip of a recent performance of mine, along with what I wrote about it in the program notes.

Kreisleriana, Op. 16, Movement 2, performed by me, November, 2009

Romantic music (music written between 1820 and 1900, generally) tends to emphasize melody with warmth and expressiveness and with something of a searching, restless quality. The music of Schumann is an excellent example of these qualities as his compositions are known for having a moody nature - varying suddenly and wildly between exuberance and deep depression.

Until 1840, Schumann wrote almost exclusively piano music. Written in the 30s, Kreisleriana was based on a character by E.T.A. Hoffmann. A literary experiment, Hofmann tried to depict a novel written by both a philosopher of sorts and his housecat! Schumann, being the son of a book dealer and publisher and grew up with a thorough knowledge of literature, which he maintained an interest in throughout his life. Though titles for his pieces usually didn’t come to him until after he had finished composing them, Schumann purposefully determined to translate Hoffmann’s character into music with this experiment in eight movements.

The first three of these eight I played on a recent concert. In this one, the second movement, listen for the dramatic changes in character, evidence of the extreme uses of the piano in the romantic period, and those portions of the pieces that might represent the philosopher, and those that might represent his cat.

Again, for those who may think this post is copyright infringement:

Schumann has been dead for over a century, Monte approved my use of his photo, the performance is ME, and the original performance was free and open to the public. Considering all of that, please enjoy the performance of a piece I intend to always keep in my repertoire.

- Aubrey

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-31T00:20:00.004-07:00

As 2009 comes to a close, I'd like to offer this image to delight you:

Pictured above is family that traveled all the way out to Colorado for Christmas this year. By snowmobile! I hope it was worth their while - we went on brewery tours, did some hiking and ate and celebrated all week.
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Sundays at Sherwood

2009-11-22T14:14:00.005-07:00

Click to listen to:

Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 4, Aubrey and Chris
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Picture taken by April Faith-Slaker
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For those who may think this post is copyright infringement:
Brahms has been dead for over a century, April approved my use of her photo, the performance is ME and a friend, who also approves this post, and the original performance was free and open to the public. Considering all of that, please enjoy one of my favorite performances.
- Aubrey

November

2009-11-02T14:29:00.001-07:00

Diamond Fever

2009-11-02T12:33:00.011-07:00

I could go for a diamond or two today..... maybe a yellow diamond. Square or princess cut, surrounded by smaller, white diamonds, in a palladium setting. You know. If you're in the area/the market/or just want to make me smile. Hahahaha. ?

Recently I went to a very educational and extravagant exhibit at the Field Museum on diamonds. It was fascinating and beautiful and we ended up spending hours in the exhibit.

Did you know........

Diamonds repel water?
Diamonds are better heat conductors than copper?
Diamonds are carried to Earth's surface by magma?

Now you do! To learn more about diamonds, check out the Field Museum's overview of the exhibit, which is running until March 28th.

My personal favorites were:

The Incomparable Diamond: 407 carat golden-colored kite-shaped diamond, found in the 1980's by a young girl in the Congo who was playing in a pile of rubble.

The Milky Way 2000 Collar: designed by Dieter Huebner, it contains 2,000 diamonds totallying 67.96 carats.

A pink diamond ring designed by Christian Tse. This isn't the same one, but it is almost as fabulous!

Other wonderful parts of the exhibit were Catherine the Great's necklace, sold by the Russian Government in 1926; a huge diamond given by a czar to some child upon growing her first baby tooth; the Mirage World Peace Egg; and this gecko brooch made of 1, 524 green diamonds (62.16 carats) designed by Stefan Hemmerle in 2001.

Welcome Winter!

2009-10-16T11:15:00.003-07:00

It is nearly twenty degrees colder than it should be at this time of year. I’m staying cheerful these days by watching Madmen, preparing for performing a faculty concert in November, and baking!

Pictured below are the fabulous chocolates that I try to get every time I’m in Omaha, Nebraska. They are so good that I’m working on making my OWN Rosemary Chocolate and Lavender-Vanilla Chocolate recipes. I started with making my own extracts. I still have leftovers from my first batches and I need tasters! Stop by and try them out! I’ll be trying to get them perfect by Thanksgiving!

Chicago Wildlife

2009-10-16T10:54:00.003-07:00

In other news: Cool apps are no longer only for the elite; It hailed in WestTown today; And Chicago NPR has almost reached its fall pledge drive goal.

My First Camping Trip

2009-09-02T10:24:00.007-07:00

This past weekend, I was taken on my very first camping trip. I was privileged to go with experienced campers who (as I found out - to my delight) don't rough it at all - even though we didn't use any of the premade campgrounds. We had everything we needed to enjoy a very comfortable time. There were so many aspects of it that I loved (the view, hiking, the fire, the coziness, the fresh air) and only one that I didn't (I'm planning on getting better at camp sleeping in the future).

The road to camping......

With our friends, Doug and Liz, we drove from Fort Collins (after sampling some excellent (Dark Knight HBA) and not-so-excellent (Belgian Style Kriek Ale) beer at Coopersmith's Pub the night before) to the Poudre Canyon for some scenic and idyllic camping. We followed the Poudre River along until we started heading up into the mountainous forest to find a campsite. We passed people hiking, fishing, swimming, and lazing around in tubes in the river. While the boys were chopping wood, Liz, Curry and I went on a mini-hike (mini because the altitude was bothering me). I wish I had taken pictures, but with a dog attached to one hand, and a beer in the other, over uneven terrain, I had no easy way to document it.

Satisfied with the site and the setup - it is time to get the cooler out!

Found it!

The four of us passed the evening playing a board game (The Alhambra - check it out!), cooking dinner (potatoes and onions, chicken with zucchini and couscous, and bread with rosemary), roasting marshmallows, and catching up.

Then came the real fun: sleeping. In a tiny two-person tent, broad shouldered Monte, restless and wanting to be indoors Curry, and claustrophobic me tried to pass a comfortable night. Every time I felt too confined and had to unzip the tent to get some air, Curry got up to try to find a more comfortable spot; every time Monte fell asleep and started snoring, he woke me up; every time I elbowed Monte to stop snoring, he woke up; every time an animal made noise, Curry stepped on both of us and woke us up. Thankfully, morning finally arrived (I woke up wedged in between the two inflatable mats we had under our sleeping bags) and we got up to have tea and read while the sun slowly started to warm the forest.

"Good morning! Did you sleep well?"

It is the end of the summer and time to get back to school. Starbucks Coffee is already serving Pumpkin Spice Lattes and winter is just around the corner. I'm so glad I got to spend a weekend outside like this and can't wait to do it again next summer!

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Letters to Sartre

2009-08-27T14:55:00.005-07:00

Letters are so funny. Especially when you can only access one side of the correspondence. One of the things I love about reading letters is that you get a particular picture of the writer and the reader that one wouldn't get if the story had been told as just that - A STORY.

I read this book most nights before bed - one letter at a time for nearly a year and am feeling a little of a loss. I think I'm going to miss DeBeauvoir!

These letters gave me a very good picture of Paris during World War II and even Chicago and Hollywood in the 1950. And this couple - DeBeauvoir and Sartre knew everybody! So, the letters are riddled with names of famous philosophers, artists, musicians and politicians.

In other news: Hold onto your appendix - it may be necessary afterall!; Trees around the world are colonising new territories in response to higher temperatures; Lindsay Lohan robbed her own house; it is back to school time!

It's all happening at the zoo

2009-08-25T12:46:00.003-07:00

Trying New Things (or the sibling adventure)

2009-08-18T11:50:00.005-07:00

Even though I've been hiking, been to the beach, seen concerts, gone to museums, met new people, and am going to be doing some traveling soon, my newest adventure took place at a chain restaurant in Westmont, Illinois.

After taking Sibling #2 to his new dorm for the year, I returned to the Chicago area and stopped by to see my family and say, "bye," to Sibling #3, who was packing to leave the next day, and see how Sibling #4 was preparing to leave for her first year in college. (Sibling #5 is moving into his new dorm as I type and Sibling #1 has a few weeks before she will settle into her school-year residence.) And YET...... that isn't the adventure I'm here to blog about!

Ahem.......

Have you ever had oysters? I hadn't. That shortcoming has recently been remedied:

My oysters. Oh! And some battered and fried alligator. I forgot! I hadn't had that before either!

This is, apparently, how it is done.

And since no blog is complete without a picture of what I had for dinner:

Hazelnut crusted tilapia and green beans. A new recipe for me to play with.

Stay tuned for pictures of my composting worms!

[The above numbering order of my siblings is not representative of when they left for college. Nor is it representative of how much I love them. It is merely their birth order after me. I apologize for any confusion.]

All the Boys I Know

2009-08-14T20:06:00.002-07:00

What's a glute?!

2009-07-08T19:46:00.005-07:00

Early morning after a rough night of bad dreams..... cheez-its and chocolate mousse for breakfast.... throwing my phone in the washing machine and not realizing it until it was too late.... tater tots and gin and tonics for dinner.... driving for over four hours today.... up to my ankles in mud.... a day in nature.... warm, dry and clean clothes - and also a warm, dry, and clean puppy....

Here is one of the the highpoints:

For much better photos that give a better idea of what we actually experienced, check out my sister's blog.
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In other news: There IS no other news.
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Sunday Soiree

2009-07-05T17:42:00.005-07:00

In the spirit of the Fourth of July, several of my musician friends came over for a soiree of sorts. The program included Brahms, Amy Beach, Bach, Henry Martin, Faure, some jazzy musical theater pieces and a flashy Romanian piece by ?????? (Otilia - please fill in the blank!).

It was festive and dorky and I was so excited to hear my piano played so beautifully today. I recorded everyone, but without being given their permission, I'll only include my playing here.

This is the opening of a Schumann piece titled Kreisleriana, which is based on a very strange book by E.T.A. Hoffmann.

Kreisleriana opening

A slightly more typical and festive way of celebrating the Fourth of July is with a picnic near the beach:

The above photos were taken by my sister April.

Four Seasons in Rome

2009-06-21T13:38:00.004-07:00

I read the perfect book recently. Four Seasons in Rome is an eloquent account of an author's experience living in Rome for a year with newborn twins and a book-writing project. Anthony Doerr got to experience fatherhood in a foreign country - where experiencing something as little as going to the grocer can seem alien.

The book alternates between stories of raising newborns and impressions of Rome. My favorite was when many months into the trip, when needing to communicate, Doerr found that most of his vocabulary had to do with where Romans he met could find a double stroller such as the one he brought with him from the states.

In other news: A Polish Catholic monk publishes a book providing married couples a theological and practical guide to spicing up their sex lives; Goldie Hawn thinks Kate Hudson needs to stop dating and settle down; And Ted Kennedy is going to be given honorary knighthood in recognition for his work as peace advocate in Northern Ireland.

Mother's Day

2009-05-23T10:35:00.002-07:00

On Mother’s Day this year, my family not only celebrated our appreciation of our mothers (yes, plural), but we also celebrated spring. With gifts of flowers and other things that will sprout, a quick trip to the cemetery to bring flowers to past-mothers, and a bout with crazy Chicago traffic, followed by a meal of everything delicious that is currently in season– it was spring at its finest.

Just days before Mother’s Day, my local grocer sent me an e-mail to let me know that not only were they selling pies for Mother’s Day (three cheers for strawberry rhubarb pie with an oatmeal streusel!), but they had gotten in fresh morels. Now I KNOW that much of the enticement in morel season is the foraging for them – but here in Chicago, the little grass I DO encounter outside of my yard is frequented by pet owners and I wouldn’t eat anything I found there, even if I were so lucky as to spot a morel. Plus, some morels are poisonous. I don’t recommend serving THOSE on Mother’s Day.

Alas – I don’t have pictures of any of the people who I celebrated with on Mother’s Day, but of course I DO have a picture of the food. Below is my first serving of Angel Hair Pasta with Morels and Asparagus. I recommend it with good bread, a little parmesan cheese, a couple of bottles of wine and a strawberry-rhubarb pie. Quick – it is all still in season!

Botanic Gardens

2009-05-10T18:12:00.003-07:00

Ahhhhhhhh - Spring. Ahhhhhhhh – environments carefully manicured to make Chicagoans feel as if they are a part of nature. Ahhhhhh – too much sun!

This past Friday, Otilia and I went up to the Botanic Gardens in Glencoe for most of the day. We walked the whole thing – more than once, sat and had a snack in an orchard, wrote postcards in an English garden and a Japanese pagoda, and ambled along enjoying the colors, the warmth and the peace.

Fringe tulips – aren’t they fabulous?! They look like CLOTH!

This would be okay in my front yard.

I came home with a mini-rose plant of my own and a mini-sunburn to mark the first bit of Vitamin D I have gotten in a while!

In other news: Many people are unaware that alcohol contains calories, pandas show a preference for artificial sweeteners, Paris Hilton takes Amanda Bynes' ex to Japan, and Happy Mother's Day to all three of my mothers!

Cello and Piano

2009-04-03T12:33:00.006-07:00

Really now. What is better after a long day than good sushi, a bottle of wine and sightreading Chopin with your sister?

All of the above while messing with my new recording device.

There you have it: A bit of Chopin.

I'm completely neurotic - why didn't anyone tell me?

2009-02-26T10:14:00.004-07:00

Here it is - the end of February. Have those of you who made New Year's Resolutions stuck to them? Were any of them major changes to be made? Starting a healthier lifestyle? Spending more time with your family? Saving money? Well, studies show that over the age of 30, our personalities are pretty fixed and these changes are much harder to make.

Regardless of individual personality, according to an article I read in Scientific American Mind, as the years pass, our eagerness for novel experiences and our stimulation by the world outside our personal and professional arenas diminish. It is thought that this was to help stabilize families for child-rearing. For those of you who are uncomfortable with this idea - fear not! After age 60, when it is no longer essential to maintain that stability, that openness to new experiences that was squelched for procreating purposes reemerges and our personalities become more malleable again! We're free to travel the world! Change careers! Become a hobo! Take piano lessons! ;)

To see where you fall on the Big Five Personality Traits, (with openness being the one that begins to decline in your late 20s) take the free test here. I still scored pretty high in openness (76%), was pretty average in conscientiousness (69%) and extraversion (50%), but scored a mere 1% for agreeability and a whopping 90% under the label "neurotic." C'mon! Get to know me! I'm great!

In other news: The problems with the economy have driven diners to go to great lengths to avoid paying for their truffles; goldfish can navigate mazes much the same way rats can (though under water); and be careful what you post on facebook - it isn't really private (did anyone ever think it was?)!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

2009-02-16T21:20:00.002-07:00

Hesitant to pick up this book for all the hype around it, I heard a clip of an NPR interview with Barbara Kingsolver about a year ago and was charmed. I found a used hardcover copy in my local communist bookstore and snatched it up! I can't imagine why anyone would get rid of it! Communists.

This book turned out to be great - and I was able to make it last a full eight months! Since Barbara Kingsolver and her family set their local eating experiment to last one year, she divided the book up by growing season - one chapter a month. It was so nice to read about what was in season as it occurred and to find recipes for cooking what I was getting in my weekly produce box.

The family's experiences with farming, written humorously by Barbara Kingsolver, the helpful research providing links to local food sources and the benefits personally, economically and socially of sustainable living written by her husband, Steven Hopp, and the seasonal recipes included by their daughter, Camille, made the book a really interesting read. They were not self-righteous about their experiment, nor were they out of touch with the situations of us more urban dwellers without a family farm at hand.

I was particulary fond of Barbara's accounts of trying to have a second generation of turkeys when the ability to mate had virtually been bred out of these animals. Not that it matters, as they rarely live long enough to mate.

I have decided to keep this book for the helpful links, the seasonal recipes, which I have already tried, and the growing tips in case I ever decide to go searching for mushrooms in a forest presere or grow asparagus in my apartment's little front yard.

Garfield Park Conservatory

2009-02-08T12:56:00.003-07:00

The other day, anxious for spring and not able to wait the few days for warmer weather, my friend Otilia and I went to Garfield Park to lift our squashed winter spirits in the warmth and humidity of its greenhouses.

Otilia, in the fern house.

Me, still indecisive about a haircut, and some azaleas.

Inspiration for my next haircut.

Bananas. All I could think of was caramelizing them with lime.

Spring is just around the corner!

Buddha, Picasso, and Mini-Muffins

2009-01-23T20:28:00.010-07:00

Today I puttered down to the Art Institute to mark my day off with something interesting. It is currently under construction so many galleries are closed. This got me off my familiar beaten path and looking at things in new light.

I first wandered through an exhibit of the photography of Yousuf Karsh. He took portraits of many famous people and the gallery was full of recognizable faces, like Clark Gable, Queen Elizabeth II, and Kurt Vonnegut. What was much more interesting were the faces of people I knew, but wouldn't recognize.

Carl Sandburg

Pablo Picasso, 1954

There were several others that I wanted to capture, but I got yelled at for taking pictures.

Wandering around the rest of the museum, avoiding the droves of children on field trips, I ended up tracing the changes in the presentations of Buddha as Buddhism traveled from India to China to North Korea and Japan.

On the left are depictions of the life of Buddha from India in the 10th century. In India, it seemed Buddha depictions referred to one entity.

Below is a seated Bosatsu from Japan. A Bosatsu is just below a fully enlightened Buddha and acted as an intermediary. Seems a little more complicated.

Further into the Asian exhibits I found all sorts of different complications in figures that appeared to me as just Buddha symbols. Pictured below is a Bodhisattva, which is a merciful deity that helps to guide men to salvation. They are portrayed as more humanistic, reachable and less formal than the Buddha would be. See how the hand is open and the left foot is reaching down from the pedestal? There you have it. More humanistic.

The last "Buddha" picture is actually of a Kannon from Japan during the Kamakura period around 1300. A Kannon is a bodhisattva of compassion. Though I think this one looks a little bored, they are supposed to be eager to help mankind!

I wandered around the rest of the museum, bought a coloring book and some postcards, and came home to make some cherry-orange corn muffins to get me through the weekend of dropping temperatures we're facing. Stay warm!

In other news: Magpies join the elite group of animals that can recognize their own reflection; People actually feel colder when they're lonely and lonelier when they're colder; And winter just isn't over YET.
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Makeover Wednesday

2009-01-13T12:05:00.004-07:00

Somebody recently told me I should grow my hair long. While that would mean less frequent trips to the salon, it would also mean more care. And I'm not sure I'm a long-hair kind of person! In the spirit of down-to-earth, valid and meaningful research, I went to Daily Makeover to find out.

Here is what I came up with:

Thank goodness it isn't the eighties anymore and I don't have to wear light pink lipstick!

This is my Ashlee Simpson hairstyle. The eyemakeup was fun to try and I don't have to worry about trying to scrub it off!

My Barbie doll look!

This is my witness protection program look.

So - what do you think - should I go with any of the above styles?

Happy New Year

2009-01-06T11:00:00.004-07:00

Usually I take some time to reflect on the year that just ended and rarely do I make New Year's resolutions. But, I have been hearing everywhere recently that it is time for a change. So here goes: Goodbye 2008!

In 2009 I resolve to:

Hang out with friends regularly
Play more at the piano
Get through the winter by cooking something beautiful every week.

Pictured below is my first experiment with resolution number three. It is called a Sunlight Souffle, and it was delicious.

So, friends..... wanna come over and hang out for my next delicious creation? I'll provide the yumminess, you trek through the cold to get here! Fair deal?

In other news: Russian gas giant Gazprom has accused Ukraine of stealing gas meant for other European countries; Coral growth in the Great Barrier Reef is at its slowest rate ever due to the increased acidity of seawater; Jennifer Love Hewitt just became single; And to avoid getting the flu this year, I am going to eat.

Other People's Creativity

2008-12-29T20:20:00.003-07:00

cheep cheep!

2008-12-19T19:09:00.003-07:00

Eggnog ice cream and red wine? THUMBS UP.

Pumpkin ice cream and red wine? Not great at all. Really. But, not so horrible that I have stopped eating either one of them.

Cheers!

Staycation 2008

2008-12-17T20:45:00.007-07:00

Times are tough, money is tight, and my family is HERE. So instead of escaping to someplace tropical to sip pina coladas on a beach, I remained in an urban environment, snug in the comforts of home, sipping hot tea in my pajamas. That's right. I have been on staycation.

I spent most of my time at home.
Playing with my dog,
Taking baths,
Drinking tea,
Wandering around childhood places,
Spending time with family,
Goofing around,
Eating sumptuous meals,
Playing in the snow,
Wearing funny hats,
Celebrating,
and sleeping in.

And of course, for those of you who do travel, don't forget to send me a postcard!

Flowering Tea and Needle Sculpture

2008-11-20T09:54:00.005-07:00

To make sure this day didn't blend with all the others, I started my morning with a beautiful flowering green tea:

and then watched this incredible video:

I'm amazed by some of the things people do with their lives!

In other news: Australia's Navy has been given two months off for Christmas; homeschooling is great if you're Louisa May Alcott and get lessons from Thoreau, Emerson and Hawthorne; And movie buffs are agog over the new James Bond movie - here are some do's and don'ts on the James Bond lifestyle.

Booooo!!!!!

2008-11-10T09:11:00.004-07:00

I think booing is crass. Many of John McCain's supporters booed during his concession speech last Tuesday. Even though they were booing his praise of Barack Obama, it couldn't have been comfortable for him to stand there as it happened. Why would people be so mean-spirited and rude? When did this become acceptable?

Booing has a long tradition in entertainment arena. A friend of mine who does poetry readings explained to me the system of hissing, booing, and snapping that the audience uses to let a reading-poet know how he has offended them. By as long ago as the 6th century B.C., this type of audience participation was commonplace at the annual Festival of Dionysia in Athens where playwrights would compete.

A system of booing was also used in ancient Rome during gladiator games and I have read that it even helped determine whether a competitor survived or not. How grim! How aggressive! Surely we don't want to behave the same way today!

It wasn't until the 19th century that the word, "booo," came into English use. And since, it has become quite common in sports to comment on an unfair call or unsportsmanlike behavior by the other team. It is true, booing is often over-used, especially by mean-spirited kids. And that is what I think of when I hear booing such as I heard on election night. Nobody was being unfair to John McCain up there. The timing was wrong. If a supporter wanted to boo, the time was when the election results were determined. Not when John McCain was giving a speech that must have been hard enough to deliver. There was no beer and hotdog devouring on bleachers, and the offenders were not teenagers - I just can't imagine what would bring that out in a person.

But now I have gotten carried away. What I really came online to share were a couple of pictures from the rally in Grant Park on Tuesday. Most of them didn't turn out. But, I was there and I have never seen Chicago in such a state. I hope the Olympic games stay away!

In other news: Ethiopian wolves are dying out fast - as few as 500 still survive today; President Bush and President-elect Obama have their first White House meeting today while both teams hastily try to make a war-time-economic-crisis transition go smoothly; Even Rachel Wood breaks up with Marilyn Manson; And octopuses are smarter than you may think!

Greenland

2008-10-23T09:03:00.004-07:00

I’m baaaaaaack!!!

I have actually been back for weeks – forgive me.

I took a vacation. Some of you with more sorority-like hipness know it as a vacay.

Knowing my distaste for cold weather, with winter approaching, one might assume I went someplace to gather those last few rays of warmth – to bake my bones a bit in preparation for the dismal grey of Chicago’s winter season. HAH! Gotcha! Instead, I took a freezing military plane up to the northern part of Greenland (700 miles north of the Arctic Circle) where I got to experience my first snow of the season; wear a down coat, tights under my jeans and all the typical winter trimmings; and visit my husband who is stationed up there with the Air Force.

Monte and I climbed a bit of a mountain, which was a little scary not for the height, but for the loose rock that continually slipped from beneath us as we climbed.

Greenland has no squirrels. Nor any brown bunnies, centipedes or children. I did see huge arctic hares, ravens and arctic foxes. Pictured below is a brown fox. A day after I arrived it started snowing and the foxes started shedding their summer coat for a white one to keep them hidden in the snow.

The base is pretty utilitarian (ugly) with all the buildings looking like metal shacks and you would never know that building 105 is a cozy dorm and that building 2 something something (how quickly I get rid of useless information!) has a bar, the best karaoke I have ever been to, and a very nice restaurant inside. The one below might be the post office. Or maybe a dorm. Or the community center? I have no idea. Snow is not a good landmark.

When we weren’t out trying to make the most of my trip

we were indoors relaxing – reading, cooking, playing board games and rearranging furniture. For more on how interesting Greenland is, you can check out Monte’s blog. For more about Thule Air Station (where it is currently twelve degrees with a windchill of -4, and there remains only about four hours of sunlight), you can check out their official site here.

I’m back in Chicago and in the swing of things – I just turned on the heat in my apartment yesterday and can’t wait for Thanksgiving – scalloped pumpkin anyone?

Where Else Would I Be?

2008-09-21T15:09:00.002-07:00

Confederates in the Attic

2008-09-20T19:35:00.002-07:00

In an attempt to bond with my husband I read the book Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz. I just finished tonight and enjoyed it.

I found it to be an honest and curious look into how the Civil War has shaped the South - what real memories and consequences there were as well as what iconic ideas have been latched onto. Horwitz travels through fifteen pertinent southern states interviewing an interesting collection of people (each with their own vehement opinion) to report on relevant stories of prejudice and obsession and a certain way of life that continues to separate the North from the South to this day.

While the book made me really feel how close in history the Civil War actually occurred, it also shocked me when it led me to understand that this far-off, long-ago time of bloody heroism is still so present in so many different ways for so many people.

Next week I'm in Greenland, but for now it is all mango yogurt smoothies for me!

Enjoy the weekend! And if you'd rather not, go ahead and take the ABC News Match-O-Matic quiz to see which of the presidential nominees' politics you align with most. I came out split almost down the middle with only one more check in the Obama column.

Got a ticket for my destination

2008-09-10T16:22:00.007-07:00

We can finally put that age-old (generation-old?) question to rest. In what part of the country do you use the term 'sneakers,' and in what part do you use the term 'tennis shoes' or 'gym shoes?'

Nah. I'm just kidding! Most of my readers are adults! We don't care about THAT! The real question is where do we use 'soda,' where do we use 'pop,' and where do we inexplicably use 'coke?'

Here is your answer:

And for those of you that are adult-enough to not be able to see this clearly, you'll be happy to know that the term 'martini' is (ab)used the same way in all parts of the country.

The Accidental Purple Dinner

2008-09-02T18:34:00.005-07:00

Someone I don't know posted a blog a while back about a food/photography experiment of eating only one color food per day. I thought of this creative consumer tonight as I sat down to my mostly purple dinner.

Beets, blue mashed potatoes and wine. Not bad! Not a lot of protein, but at least it satisfied me!

In other news: It is hurricane season (no!); As it turns out, it is NOT more stressful to be rich than it is to be poor (see article); Wooden pencils are probably better for the environment than mechanical pencils; and Lindsay Lohan has thoughts on politics.

Dragons, Unicorns and Mermaids, Oh My!

2008-08-28T14:46:00.005-07:00

Another vacation day in Chicago. I went to the Field Museum to see their exhibit on Mythic Creatures. This exhibit was SO COOL.

Covering the well-known creatures like dragons and unicorns to lesser known and cultural-specific creatures, the exhibit showed their origins, told their stories, and gave me a sense of where they belonged in history.

This is called a Bunyip. It is an Australian man-eating swamp monster that has since been softened into a well-known children's book creature.

Unicorns, for hundreds of years were thought to be actual animals and what I found fascinating was reading Marco Polo's description around 1300 of a unicorn he finally encountered. Having only heard descriptions, he was dismayed to find them to be stocky, lumbering, thick skinned and hairy and not at all the gentle animal that would lay its head in a maiden's lap! Natural historians believe he must have encountered a Sumatran Rhinoceros. The horns believed to belong to unicorns were often the tusks of male narwhals (Arctic whales).

Part of the exhibit was looking at fossils and seeing how easily one could imagine some of the more fantastic creatures when seeing some of the bones of less-fantastic (though just as hard to imagine) creatures laid out on display.

The picture of a Griffin, whose body frame corresponds quite nicely to fossil remains of the Protoceratops.

Below Left - the Rhinoceros skull thought by many years to have been the skull of the dragon that terrorized the town of Klagenfurt, Austria. A statue replica can still be seen in the town center.

Below Right - the skull of a dwarf elephant. The sinus cavity that leads to the trunk in the center of the skull was thought to have been where the Cyclops's eye was.

In addition to seeing many artistic depictions of mythical creatures, the exhibit had Greek coins depicting griffins from between 495 and 350 BC, Greek coins depicting a Pegasus from between 650 and 510 BC and Coins from all over Europe with pictures of dragons on them from between 600 and 1995 AD!

Seeing and reading about how all these creatures came to be believed in or used in story telling was fascinating. The only two things that disturbed me at all were the Giant Squids (there are Colossal Squids too!) and the Aepyornis, a half-ton bird that lived in Madagascar. One doesn't need to use any imagination to be enthralled by the pretty implausible constitutions of these monsters!

For a pretty complete tour of the exhibit, if you can't make it downtown before it leaves on Tuesday, click here.

A Day at the Park

2008-08-25T19:43:00.004-07:00

Peanut Butter and Jelly, a Bag of Chips, and a Fruit Rollup

2008-08-20T10:19:00.003-07:00

It is that time of year! The days are starting to get shorter, school supplies are one of the biggest commodities, and Labor Day is just around the corner! Like many of us, I am struggling to make the most of it - forcing myself to enjoy every last minute - anxious to make it last.

Calm is all nature as a resting wheel.....

Complacent fictions were they, yet the same.....

Days undefiled by luxury or sloth....

In other news: Birds in France, not having gotten the memo about climate change, aren't migrating quickly enough to satisfy their needs worry top French ornithologists; The most recent discovery of a bigfoot turned out to be another hoax - a rubber gorilla suit in ice; And a wild dolphin is apparently teaching other members of her group to walk on their tails, a behavior usually seen only after training in captivity.

Frank Lloyd Wright

2008-08-15T19:26:00.003-07:00

"Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities." - Frank Lloyd Wright.

Other notable things he left us:

A friend and I took a tour of his home and studio today. What an eccentric man! He built his house wired for electricity, though it didn't come to the area for another two years; he used optical illusions to make space look larger (a balcony had decorative bands placed closer and closer together so from the ground the space above looked larger); and he built his grand piano into a wall so as to maintain the feel and action of a grand, without taking up the space in the room.

As you can see, it was a beautiful day.

In other news: Teachers in one district of Texas will be allowed to carry concealed guns to school; Two US men say they have found the body of a Bigfoot; and Olympic viewers are clogging exercise equipment help lines by trying to get their machinery set to keep pace with Olympians while they watch them on TV.

A Day Off in Chicago

2008-08-08T18:47:00.005-07:00

Despite the exorbitant entry fee for the Shedd Aquarium, I visited today, along with tons of loud-mouthed children and foreign tourists. It was really cool - and really gross - and quite creepy.......

A Dwarf Caiman. Falls under the category of "creepy."

A River Otter - my favorite. Definitely under the "cool" category.

Giant Japanese Spider Crabs. Spectacular. Then creepy when you think about them running around your kitchen at night.

I have no name for this turtle. He was just so funny looking!

Strawberry Anemones in the foreground, a California Moray in the background. Gross.

The tank in the middle of the Aquarium - you can see a shark, a sting ray and Waldo. Enjoy.

In other news: Tobacco may help treat cancer; the 37th Francophone Scrabble World Championships are taking place in Senegal this week; and completely unexpectedly, Lindsay Lohan wears see-through shirts.

Things to Celebrate

2008-08-02T08:06:00.001-07:00

Someone Has Found It

2008-07-24T11:14:00.003-07:00

Within a Budding Grove

2008-07-13T21:09:00.003-07:00

In the people-watching summer months, I find the intricate and pained musings in Proust's novels to be especially enjoyable.

In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower is a story of relationships from the view of a tormented adolescent. In two parts, (focusing also on two distinct women), it gives an exhaustive representation of Paris and the Normandy seaside that I really enjoyed. With familiarity now with the same narrator that took us through Swann's Way, the reader is used to the paralyzing thoughts and neurotic behavior as a baseline for the slow-moving story.

As the narrator says, "In the confusion of existence, it is seldom that a joy is promptly paired with the desire that longed for it." While I do believe at this point the narrator was speaking of his first love, or rather his desire for her, that theme was carried through the whole book and might remind you of much in the first novel. Often despondent, the narrator concludes, "... those who know love and those who enjoy life are not the same people."

One of the narrator's acquaintances says to him, "There is no such thing as a man, however clever he may be, who has never at some time in his youth uttered towards, or even led a life, that he would not prefer to see expunged from memory. He should not find this absolutely a matter for regret, as he cannot be sure he would ever have become as wise as he is... had he not traversed all the silly or detestable incarnations that are bound to precede that final one." While sometimes laughing at and sometimes empathizing with the narrator, I see how well his words may ring true.

Chasing Down that Lazy Summer Day

2008-07-13T15:24:00.001-07:00

A Blog Just to Blog

2008-07-07T20:33:00.005-07:00

Hello. I'm still here. I forgot to tell you - I turned 30!

Also:

1. My dog had a fight with my rat.

2. I started cooking again.

3. I started running again (no pic - that would be weird).

4. I have been very busy working. Click HERE for proof.

5. And a giraffe licked my camera.

In other news: The Eighties are Back!

.

I am OFFENDED

2008-05-16T17:23:00.002-07:00

I am sitting in a cafe in Chicago. A man in a Hawaiian shirt is singing opera, sometimes to the tune of Music Box Dancer, sometimes not - about the WWE. I hate open mic-night poetry readings (sorry Michelle!). I would have included a picture but I didn't want to gawk.

Mediocrity

2008-05-02T08:04:00.004-07:00

Today is one of those glorious days with rain and thunder and a day off of work. It is DARK at 10am. I LOVE it.

I have been sitting on an exciting story for two weeks now, not having the time to blog, and kind of liking the privilege of exclusive knowledge. But let me tell you how exciting tax day was this year!

As usual, I filed early, sent my stuff certified mail and have already received a small refund. I'm on top of that kind of thing. However, on April 15th (a Tuesday, I'll always remember) I was having a painting party at my new apartment (oh yeah - I've moved). One of my friends came over and was telling us about his rotten day - how he seemed to have the anti-Midas touch. Late into the evening, he mentioned that he had yet to pay his taxes. !!!!! I don't do that kind of non-conformity. So, after finishing the kitchen wall, we put his bike in the back of my van and headed downtown to a post office that was touted as being open until midnight that night.

It was a quarter to midnight and anybody downtown that late on a Tuesday night is usually up to no good. I wish I could convey our astounded reactions to the bustle we encountered in approaching the post office. We were busy looking at addresses so we wouldn't pass it and suddenly found ourselves in the midst of a mysterious and desperate traffic jam. Routed to the side by police, I rolled down my window only to have a member of the special forces of the United States Post Office hold out a sack to me and ask for my taxes. Quickly slapping extra stamps on the envelopes, we shoved them out the window only then seeing that we were near the post office. Being pushed and prodded forward by frantic last minute tax payers and workers determined to keep things orderly, we found ourselves on Lake Shore Drive a mere eight minutes later dazed by the whole event. I really feel like I experienced tax day this year! I know that next year I'll pay early, as I always do, but at midnight on the 15th, I'll know what is out there and I can go to bed smugly knowing what I'm missing.

In other news: A man in India plans on being lifted by a helicopter by his ponytail; IronMan came out this weekend and I hear it is ******* awesome; I heard NPR do a bit on Grand Theft Auto IV yesterday, and many of the show's callers were similarly eloquent; and this Saturday is the Kentucky Derby (to find out how much racehorses pee, click here).

Cheap GPS

2008-04-18T19:39:00.001-07:00

Teaching people lessons the hard way.

Four Piano Blues

2008-03-24T20:54:00.002-07:00

I love it when you can say to a little girl, "You're so sparkly today," and she takes it as a compliment instead of an observation and says, "Thanks!"

The Barber of Seville

2008-03-15T17:59:00.005-07:00

Recently I was gifted a ticket to the Lyric Opera. I rearranged all my plans, dug out something nice to wear, and enjoyed the Barber of Seville more than I ever have - or ever thought I would.

I was surprised and diverted by the production (by John Conway), which juxtaposed the artwork of Magritte with the surrealistic layers of the opera. With each level of disguise and intrigue there lay another interesting aspect of the surrealist's art in the set (by John Conklin) and costume design. Rather than sticking to a traditional production or trying to spice it up with an unsuccessful modern-day setting like some so often do, this production was a huge success!
What I also loved about this particular performance was that the singers were given certain leeway as they would have been in Rossini's day which filled the performance with the sort of musical jokes that would have been typical when the opera was first written but that apply to the audience today!

My favorite scene was the overture opening the second act. Rather than have nothing occurring on stage while the orchestra played, an acting out of a rainy day was taking place. Of course, the backdrop was the famous painting of Magritte's with the men in the bowler hats.

Hidden in the costumes and the set (such as the inside of the umbrella containing the blue sky) were treasures of artwork and music. (That last sentence sounded stupid but I'm having a hard time writing about art.)

I look forward to my next opera opportunity. Goodnight.

I really do have actual things to blog about....

2008-02-29T07:50:00.003-07:00

http://xkcd.com/

Ground Pepper

2008-02-17T21:24:00.002-07:00

Word of the Month

2008-02-15T20:24:00.002-07:00

What do you think sesquipedalianism means? I'll give you a hint. It either means:

a. sesquipedalianism (n). - given to taking too many steps to reach a conclusion

OR

b. sesquipedalianism (n). - the habit of using long and overly fancy words

OR

c. sesquipedalianism (n). - a malady common to shoeless horses.

Meaningful Relationships

2008-02-14T22:05:00.003-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T21:53:00.004-07:00

Books I Fear I'll Never Finish

2008-02-11T09:42:00.001-07:00

1. The Castle in the Forest by Norman Mailer
2. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
3. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
4. Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee
5. Loukom by Calixthe Beyala
6. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
7. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Am I missing out?

Sure plays a mean pinball

2008-02-02T21:44:00.000-07:00

Things that were good about today:

1. My students at the Suzuki-Orff school gave their first piano performance today and they did a beautiful job!

2. I enjoyed Oscar Levant playing Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance and a scene in which Fred Astaire did a fabulous dance making it look as if his tap shoes were controlling his legs in the movie The Barclays of Broadway.

3. I learned how to build a fire.

In other news: The official groundhog proclaimed that we will have six more weeks of winter; the movie Tommy is so weird (I think I might have nightmares); China is having the worst snow storms they have experienced in over 50 years; and tomorrow is apparently the Superbowl.

Maps

2008-01-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I went to a much anticipated exhibit at the Field Museum on Maps. It was one of the most fascinating exhibits I have seen in a long time!

Some of the most interesting maps were the ancient maps showing shorelines for merchant ships; A New York to Paris flight plan from 1927; A few Medieval and Renaissance Christian World Maps (so many maps depicted unusual world centers); The sketchbook from a Confederate topographer; Maps done by Jefferson, Washington and Lincoln. (Jefferson's map proposed the boundaries for 14 new states); A map of Cholera deaths in London as people tried to figure out the source; The Land of Oz; The Hundred Acre Wood; and a pictoral travel guide from Chicago to Lake Geneva from 1905.

For those of you who aren't in the Chicago area, you can see some of the exhibit here.

In other news: violence reportedly stopped in the Baghdad area due to surprising snowfall that many hadn't seen their entire lives; A pair of twins, separated at birth, met later in life and got married; and the FBI has had several wire taps disconnected for failure to pay the bills.

The People of Sparks

2008-01-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

For Christmas, I was given several books. I have just finished the first of them. Before you become impressed, know that it was a children's book. The People of Sparks is an adorable book about a community of people that has been living underground for generations restarting on a vast and empty earth after some mysterious great disaster that almost wiped out humankind. This is the sequel to The City of Ember, which I think I enjoyed even more.

As always, children's books are full lessons that ought to shape our malleable personalities and from this book I learned that it is best to give people the benefit of the doubt AND one shouldn't be led by other people's moral compasses AND that friendship is precious.

In other news: The US AirForce has made itself useful by dropping a much needed engine part down to a British stuck-frozen fishing ship in the Antarctic; low-energy lightbulbs contain small amounts of mercury, which could be dangerous; Britney Spears is back all over the news putting Lindsay Lohan at number two for ridiculous attention getting activities; and the Chicago Tribune published an excellent article on Sarkozy that really gives you a feel for the lives of the upper echelons of society.

Of All The Years That Have Been, This Was One Of Them

2007-12-28T20:58:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year Everybody!

I'd like to pause from my quiet and comfort on this cozy winter day off of work to reflect on the year just past and give thanks that it is over. 2007 was a tumultuous year. I think it was a year of disaster and scandal and inane distraction. It was also the year that aired the last new episode of The Gilmore Girls.

With the democrats in control of congress, Lindsay Lohan was finally sent to rehab, a troop surge stabilized certain areas of Iraq, and nobody, not even General Petraeus knows definitively how to proceed. OJ Simpson resurfaced in another embarrassing, illegal and immoral incident and astronaut Lisa Nowak gave the space program something to be proud of while giving young girls everywhere something to aspire toward in a strange soap-opera story that rivals any fiction out there.

The label, "made in China," no longer consoles us with visions of dollars well spent and a booming third world economy dancing in our heads and dog food is now unsafe for even dogs to consume. Utah had a mining tragedy and Minnesota had a bridge collapse; February was cold and August was hot.

There was some sort of dispute over an American Idol contestant named Sanjaya that I didn't follow, but the noise about it was so strong I thought it needed to be mentioned here. Jim and Pam finally hooked up and somehow The Office is still funny. This summer's blockbuster hits were all riding on the successes of years past as Pirates of the Caribbean, Bourne, Shrek and Spiderman gave us their threequels.

Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize, Tony Blair stepped down as England's Prime Minister after a decade of service, and Alberto Gonzales trumped all by hanging onto his job for longer than the story was entertaining. There is babel about possible steroid use in baseball, lewd behavior in men's restrooms has finally reached the highest echelons of society, and Harry Potter survived all seven of his creator's books.

Osama bin Laden is still apparently alive and well, the Iran nuclear issue is "now closed," it is predicted that as many as 2 million home owners may lose their homes in the next few years, and leggings are back "in." Britney Spears attempted a comeback performance but we were all too consumed this year by Anna Nicole Smith's untimely death to make proper fun of the pop star.

Author Kurt Vonnegut died, as did Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti and Russian political leader Boris Yeltsin. Virginia Tech was victim to the worst shooting rampage in U.S. history, Barry Bonds hit his 756th home run, and adventurer Steven Fossett went missing in September. I didn't even know the world still had honest-to-goodness adventurers anymore. I thought they were all playing video games or engaging in adventure-like lifestyles on Second Life.

The dollar lost value in 2007, campaigning for the 2008 presidential election has long since been underway, Gardisil now protects against HPV, and the iphone and white sunglasses are in style. Last year I gave thanks to the notice that Americans were finally paying to their own responsibility in the world and this year, as Americans have taken more of that responsibility on themselves as individuals, LED lights have become more popular.

Despite the blatant idiocy displayed by the Miss Teen USA contestant from South Carolina, more Americans seem to be paying attention to the rest of the world. After a long stint of isolationism by the general public, the faraway countries that used to effect us so little have now at least taken solid form in our periphery. I think we will be forced this year to revamp our ideas about the rest of the world and hope that they start to do the same about us because it doesn't seem like we can afford for them (the rest of the world) to continue harboring this unfortunate and not inaccurate idea of us (Americans). Here. I'll start the revamping with this tidbit. Both Paris and Berlin ended 2007 by banning all smoking in city cafes. I'm not sure it isn't a joke though.

In more personal news, I am now living in and around Chicago, have taken up jogging, drink no more or less than I did last year, and am devoting this next year to learning as much as I can. My husband is moving to Greenland where he can witness global warming first hand while continuing to help the military machine function as we need it to. My puppy is now two years old, I am reading and practicing the piano, and am completely disengaged from pop culture - I still have not seen a single episode of Lost. I have learned how much can change in a mere year and have high hopes for 2008.

The Thirteenth Tale

2007-12-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

I recently read the book The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. This book is a gothic-style story for the book lover. On the one hand it feels a bit cliche because of the nature of the story, and on the other hand, it is charming for its allusions to classic gothic novels.

The heroine of this book, Margaret Lea is a biographer who has been chosen to write the biography of one of the most enjoyed authors of the time - Vida Winter. Everyone has a story - yet nobody knows Ms. Winter's. In a ridiculously large mansion on the outskirts of civilization with only the mysterious novelist, a butler, a housekeeper, a hidden inhabitant and the ghosts of Ms. Winter's tales to keep her company, Margaret sets out to hear and discover Ms. Winter's tragic story.

It was a quick and fun read, which I found to be perfect for this time of year.

In other news: The Stained Glass, in Evanston, right by the el, is a great place to get a delicious meal and a fabulous glass of wine (I recommend the escargot); Oscar Peterson, the famous jazz pianist has died at the age of 82; A man sends Christmas cards to his friends months after his death; and Lindsay Lohan's father is offering spiritual advice to the Spears family in their time of embarrassment. Heh.

A Bowl of Hot Chili

2007-12-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

Apparently we might not have to worry so much about polar bears with our current global warming situation. I feel that by saying this, I might be grossly simplifying the article I just read, but I was having trouble concentrating because Bill O'Reilly is currently calling Helen Thomas a pinhead on TV.

North Korea sent an invitation in August to the New York Philharmonic and the orchestra has accepted. They are to play a concert there in February. Who could imagine a cultural exchange of this sort between our country and theirs?!

There are five hundred billion billion ways to arrange the pieces on a board in a game of checkers according to Popular Science Magazine.

And according to Harry Porterfield of ABC News, a certain someone in my family is someone you should know!

Globe Trotting

2007-12-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

Are you tired of the same old? Are you in your twenties or thirties and feel as if you have only done what is expected of you? Have you ever dreamed of getting away to live a different life just for a while?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, you might want to keep the following in mind:

In sunny, picturesque Colorado Springs lies a house - a home, in fact. One with three bedrooms, a spacious kitchen, a two car garage, a fenced in back yard, and new floors. It also comes with adorable neighbors, a charming pink door, and a spot of sunshine that falls across the livingroom and kitchen just so. This house is available for rent (furnished or unfurnished) this January for a little over a year.

If you can see yourself taking that time to see another part of the country, to explore the pleasures of hiking, skiing and climbing and to invigorate yourself with fresh air and over three hundred days of sunshine, let me know! I'd love to give you the opportunity!

The Holidays

2007-12-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

No people, no food; just a pretty table.

In other news: A satirical musical based on Jerry Springer's talk show exists and has since January of 2005, though I'm only learning about it today; Condoleeza Rice is in Ethiopia to discuss some of the largest conflicts in Africa right now and none of the region's leaders are going to be there; and teaching four year olds to play Christmas music on the piano takes away from the joy of the season just a little bit!

Quincey

2007-11-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

Quincey, February 18, 1998 - November 22, 2007

The Good Stuff

2007-11-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I drank way above my means. Thanksgiving Day errands took me both to Sam's Wine and to Binny's looking for various items to add that little bit of kick to today's meal. I thought these errands would be quick, but upon entering the first store, I was waylaid by a representative of Macallan's. Polite and informative, and generous with his pouring, we ended up talking for quite a bit. (Talking = drinking.)

I got to try the Macallan 17, 18, and 21 years. Mmmmmmmmm. The 18 year was probably the most interesting, though not my favorite. It was a lot sweeter because it is kept in both sherry and bourbon barrels. Though I'm not usually a fan of the bourbon taste, I've never found anything wrong with a Macallan scotch! The 18 was smoky, with a strong nose, a very sweet finish. I thought it was strong and steady in its development.

The 21 year had a very strong opening to it, and aside from its sweetness, had a crisp, fresh taste to it and a very long finish. Similar to the 21, the 17 had a sweet nose that was candy and floral, a smooth palate, and a quick finish (I tend to like the ones that linger). So, THAT was a successful trip!

Next we went to Binny's looking for the perfect scotch tasting glass and hoping to pick up some beer (New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado is now shipping more of their beers across the Mississippi so Chicagoans can now enjoy more than just Fat Tire). But waylaid again we were! This time by a representative of the Speyside Distillery. And boy, did he have some treats for us! The first that I tried was the Speyside Single. Better than I thought it would be, it was sweet, opened up quite a bit with a few drops of water, and this one is kosher too! The Speyside rep also had several bottles from the Scott's Selection, which I must say - were fabulous.

The Scott's Ardmore 1977 at first was very Laphroagy (medicinal and peaty), but with a drop or two of water, it turned out to have a much more interesting taste and finish than the nastiness I expected. And though I cannot find links or pictures, I swear the following two exist and are well worth the money spent on them (unless of course, you're diligently saving up for gas and food and other things like that). Scott's Longmorn Glenlivet 1968 is hereby the best scotch I have ever tasted. It was smooth, yet sharp, had a long strong, citrusy finish - almond, nutmeg and sherry. A close second was the Scott's Longmorn Glenlivet 1971, though very different, tasting of marzipan and grass, it too was complex and wonderful.

Now however, it is Thanksgiving, and I must be off to shower, help with potatoes and put my pies back in the oven. This year it is apple spelt and cranberry apple with a whole wheat crust. I hope everyone enjoys their holiday with family!

Los Pajaros

2007-11-15T22:50:00.000-07:00

This evening I took my Dad to see The Birds - a play done by Hell in a Handbag Productions and loosely based on Alfred Hitchcock's movie by the same name. I hadn't been to a play in a long long time and this one was one of the most entertaining evenings I have had in ages.

The screenplay was clever - an incredibly original psychological drama which incorporates scenes from the movie as well as a "behind the scenes" story for a fast paced, hilarious and all around creepy play. Though the play was written so well, it is the actors and actresses that really made the evening spectacular. With musical numbers, high energy, and a perfect setting (the coach house of an old mansion on Sheridan Road) I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

The other night I tried a new scotch. Dalmore 12 year. My Dad got it for his birthday and shared a bit with me. What really stood out to me about this particular scotch was its saltiness. It smelled like crackers, had a strong sweet and salty taste and a very long finish. I think it would go very well with Indian food, and I know it goes very well with Pinot Noir.

In other news: It is actually the law to put your right hand over your heart during the National Anthem - it isn't really news because it has been the case since 1942; Britney Spears runs over another foot; and I'm sick. How many of you get flu shots? And for how many of you does your place of work provide them for you? Just curious. I have over 60 students - what do you think my chances of getting the flu are this year?

Scotch Review

2007-11-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

It has been ages since I last blogged about the varieties of scotch I have tried. You are likely to think I had stopped drinking! Well, let me catch you up.

A lucky bottle I bought and just recently finished (thanks Dad) was the Balvenie double wood 12 year. I enjoyed this scotch as a dessert often enough and found it to be very sweet, with a spicy and citrusy taste and a short, tingly, warming and nutty finish. For its price, it is a really great buy!

To replace my newly polished off bottle of Balvenie, I purchased a bottle of Cragganmore, 12 year. This also is a hit (thank goodness - since I bought the bottle!) though I think it is quite different. It is a speyside so it tends to have a taste of foliage that I find in most speysides. This time, it reminds me of palm trees. It isn't as warming as many of the scotches I like but the taste develops slowly in your mouth. I think it is also minty and has a very long finish.

I was lucky enough to get to also try a Macallan, Cask Strength. Now cask strength means that the whiskey hasn't been diluted at all and is often times more potent than the regular stuff. You might choose to dilute it a bit yourself since some whiskeys open up in taste with a little water. I however, chose not to. It was the right decision because this Macallan was butterscotchy, snickerdoodley, syruppy and intense. Yum!

There have definitely been others that I have tried, but these are some of the highlights, and more unusual buys that I wanted to share. To all the scotch drinkers out there - Cheers! - and if anybody has a bottle of Rosebank, I'm dying to try it and they're very hard to find!

In other news: According to an English study, giving children drugs for ADHD works no better than doing nothing in the long-term; tons of fuel oil leak into the Black Sea as a Russian tanker is torn in half in a storm that sinks four other ships; Paris Hilton filed a lawsuit against Hallmark for using her likeness on a greeting card without her permission; and you can download free audiobooks to your computer, mp3 player or ipod from LibraVox!

For a Long Time, I Used to Go to Bed Early

2007-10-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

Goodmorning. I know that isn't one word, but I can't seem to help it. I've been up for over an hour and haven't spoken to anyone. My bedroom door is still closed. Curry and I are having a quiet Sunday morning after a rather taxing day yesterday. I wonder how long I can keep up this muted rejuvenation? Probably only until I open my door.

Tilt your head to the left.

Above, is a picture I took at the Smith Museum of Stained Glass at Navy Pier.

Now you may straighten your head.

Above, is a feast I shared at the Ethiopian Diamond on Broadway in Chicago. I love this place. We had lamb, beef and chicken, spinach, collard greens, cabbage, carrots, salad, beef sambusas, and red lentils. Get the red lentils if you go. They're my favorite.

There is no other news today; I haven't left my room.

Consumer Advice

2007-10-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

In lieu of blogging about my gorgeous trip to the Morton Arboretum, or the stained glass Museum at Navy Pier, or the Murray Perahia concert I went to last Sunday, I'm going to share a few items out there that give me a bit of delight (I might come back some day and tell you about my above mentioned adventures).

First however, I'd like to share with you my delight with Kashi Frozen Meals. I just had the lemongrass coconut chicken with quinoa. It has 18g of protein and 7g of fiber and tastes terrific! And only four minutes in the microwave? Score!

Also, not new to the market, but new to me is the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner. Not only is it so very cool for cleaning your shower for you, but it has its own domain name! How hip is that?! [Warning - according to my step-mom, you should not open the shower door or curtain while the shower cleaner is operating.]

And in the spirit of being helpful, here is a link for how best to use Halloween candy.

In other news: Doll-housing crisis set to worsen, mean older brother says (the onion), while Sales of existing US homes fell by 8% in September, the biggest decline in 16 years; Britney Spears is a model parent; Twenty One candidates in Columbia for positions such as governor, mayor, regional assembly members and municipal officials have been murdered in attacks along the campaign trail; And the Museum of Broken Relationships is a hit in Berlin!

Behind the Scenes

2007-10-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

Al Gore and the UN climate control panel have won the Nobel Peace Prize. Do you think we should start taking them seriously?