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Xmas-time picture post

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We had birds yesterday morning, much to the (wishful) gastronomical delight of the cats.

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And then the cooking began – aided by a bottle of Ruinart champagne…

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…and observed, of course, by the Smeageltrix.

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There were walnut and chocolate chip cookies.

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And then a delicious dinner of pork tenderloin medallions wrapped around apple-sage stuffing and accompanied by Boursin mashed potatoes and white asparagus.

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Oh, it a was so very good.

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And then it was time to open presents from my family. Clyde was very intrigued the cat gift. What is it?

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Some sort of weird tunnel. It makes such delightful crinkly sounds…but Rigel is skeptical. This will require further exploration.

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Merry Xmas!

A little pick me up

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Since I really need an excuse to think about it right now, I thought I’d post a few of the resort in Mexico where I will be in 17 days, the Iberostar Quetzal.

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Evidently, I'll be arriving via this gate.

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And presumably walking through these paths to my room.

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Before lounging the days away in this pool/bar.

Oh, yeah, did I mention the Mayan ruins at Tulum?

Oh, yeah, did I mention the Mayan ruins at Tulum?

Pretty freaking great. There are apparently monkeys that visit the balconies (Bella, you are getting a new friend) and a Japanese restaurant in the resort. Cave snorkeling, jungle hiking and a bar at the airport. Passport, take me away!

Pittsburgh Thanksgiving

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Well, it was fortuitous that our plans brought us to PIttsburgh this year, as my mom was imprisoned at Magee Women’s Hospital for the last 12 days. Instead of seeing only Kate’s family for Thanksgiving dinner, I was quite accidentally able to see my own family, too. Imagine that!

On our way back from the hospital – where mother received her release just moments later – we decided to stop on the top of Mt. Washington. In so doing, we found this amazing scene where the rain collided with the sun. And a lovely rainbow.

Recipe: black murder

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Dear Nick,

What are you drinking tonight?

Love & Kisses,

Internet

Well, Internet, tonight I’m having a “Black Murder.” It doesn’t lie. It was also the result of trying to use up some half bottles of liquor that have been living above the cabinets for months.

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I’d recommend, for the sake of not dying, doubling the Grenadine and adding a bit of sparkling water. Even then, you’re going to be sipping it, not guzzling, so settle in for a long night with this one.

Downhill for 100 miles

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Did you know that you can essentially plan on coasting the entire way from State College to Lancaster because it’s like 99% downhill? I do, because I just returned from a weekend at home with Kate.

The reason?

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Clarion’s Autumn Leaf Festival 2009, of course.

“Why go home for such a thing,” you are no doubt wondering. Well, my sister was crowned Miss Teen ALF and, despite the fact that she wore her crown the entire time we were home, we needed to see the spectacle of her in the Saturday parade.

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Squint hard, you can see her throwing candy off the back of a Sebring.

My mom – infinitely wise – reserved seats in the front row and brought along daiquiris.

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No idea why we never thought of this in high school.

And speaking of drinking, the drive home also afforded us a chance to hang out with both Dusty and Hoover. We went to Cozumel (in the Quality Inn) and saw Zombieland (during which the line “thank god for rednecks” got a round of applause from the locals.) It was stupendous, but not as much so as Dusty’s massive margarita:

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What’s for dinner?

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Well, tonight it was this:

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Baked salmon with rosemary (from the patio garden) and lemon, asparagus seared in sesame oil and rough-mashed redskin potatoes with parmesan cheese and garlic. Complimented by a vodka tonic with a twist of lemon and blackberries.

It was so fantastic that we had a visitor join our candlelit table moments later:

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She is not a very good table top dancer. And she nearly doused herself in vodka before walking past the flames. So much for romance…

3G?

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I spent yesterday evening in Philadelphia where I saw Ladytron and The Faint at the Trocadero Theatre. The show was excellent and dinner before at Penang on 10th Street in Chinatown (it was featured on Israel’s Top Chef, apparently) was even better (there was a Buddhist monk dining beside us!)

What’s more interesting is that, while looking up what rambutan fruit was, I decided I’d turn on my iPhone’s 3G. Normally, I leave it off as the Eastern Shore is the land that time forgot. Or so I thought – after arriving back, the little 3G indicator would not go away. A quick look at AT&T’s coverage map shows that the entirety of the Eastern Shore is 3G (where service is available, that is.) How neat!

Where was my memo on this one? “Dear Eastern Shore customers…”

回転寿司 (Kaiten-Zushi)

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On Tuesday night, Kate and I descended upon our nation’s capital to attend the 20th Anniversary Tour concert that Billy Corgan was putting on for what’s left of the Smashing Pumpkins (read: basically everyone has left except Billy Corgan and he may only be there bodily.) The show was rather “interesting” in a “let’s see what Billy will throw against a drum next” kind of way. He did make his band play the Watchmen trailer version of “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning,” which was probably worth the ticket cost right there.

What’s more interesting than the show was our location and restaurant opportunities it provided. Because Tuesday was a national holiday, I was able to park us right at 17th St. and C, basically on top of the DAR Constitution Hall. From there, it was a short walk to Wasabi, a Japanese restaurant – with sushi on a conveyor belt. I think it’s been since high school when I saw an Alanis Morissette video featuring conveyor belt sushi – or Kaiten – that I’ve wanted to try this. And I was not in the least bit disappointed.

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We did discover something: our taste in sushi is expensive. We racked up a $43 bill in only 15 minutes by unconsciously choosing the most pricey items (denoted by plate color.) Oops!

Pins & Needles

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For awhile now I’ve been quietly dealing with a nihilistic quality in the very core of myself. Maybe I was consciously aware of its presence and maybe I wasn’t, at least not entirely. This little voice deep down inside has been there, always causing me to negate the value of things I really want to hold valuable. For example, I may think “Man, that is a truly beautiful Mercedes…the lines, the color, the presentation of the design language!” but my personal Nietzche will then counter with “Think of the resources depleted to build it and the money required to buy it…it’s destroying the world! How dare you care!” I get really, really excited about art and design and purpose-built beauty – but then find myself feeling guilty because of the impracticality of these things, or the attention they may draw away from what I perceive to be bigger concerns.

Of course, some things fall outside of this sphere. Love, friendship, family, humor, sadness, sex, achievement and learning are just a few “pure” elements that cannot fall victim to my analytical dissection. They do, though, occasionally get lost in the silt clouds as I muddy the waters with near-constant mental struggles.

How sad, right? How utterly ridiculous…how arrogant to think that it’s my sworn duty to worry about “the BIG picture” at all times.

Well, enough is enough. I can’t be rid of my nihilism – indeed, I think it’s probably one of my most important characteristics, one that creates a tension that’s extraordinarily valuable for viewing my world – but I can decide that some things are worthy of passionate exploration, devotion and interest. I think I’m going to start listing these things as they come to me and I’m not going to allow myself to question them.

Today’s items that matter are:

  • “the future” – as thought of by people who believe in rocket packs and jet cars
  • German automobiles
  • sustainability in the realm of the environment and the economy (not separable anyway)
  • games
  • the technology that confounds and defies what we expect – even when Apple is being evil
  • the sense of calm that comes from cleaning my apartment
  • a new pair of shoes
  • traveling someplace new and exploring on foot, in no particular direction, just because I want to
  • the first steps into a museum that I’ve never visited before
  • painting, even when I’m crap at it
  • listening to a new album and finding the hidden lyrical gems that will make me smile every time I hear them
  • designing something that’s wholly mine – and being a pain in the ass to protect it
  • spending the whole morning in bed and then eating a totally pancake-filled breakfast and drinking way too much coffee
  • watching an Almodóvar film and marveling at the wicked plot twists and character quirks
  • a straight row of just-planted grapes – or even a crooked one

Since I’m at work, I should probably stop and, you know…work. But, this list had to come out this morning while it was still fresh and felt important.

Frankly, I feel better already. 🙂

A very good weekend, indeed.

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I just saw Dusty off, on his way home from a totally excellent visit to Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Well, that’s how I’d describe it, anyway…I hope he’d tend to agree. This weekend was the Lit House’s “Literature at the Margins Festival” featuring two webcomics, Jeph Jacques and Aaron Diaz, as well as the H.P. Lovecraft scholar, S.T. Joshi and a local science fiction author, Peter Heck. It was two days of readings, panel discussions and general geekery. Very fun, overall, though poor Kate had to work herself silly to help the students pull everything off. But, we all did get to hang out with the honored guests on Friday evening and she made it over to spend time with us last night after the events. Dusty picked a rather excellent three days to spend here, as far as there actually being things to do in town goes.

When not listening to smart people talk about their incredibly clever lives and works, we spent our time eating huge amounts of Mexican food, drinking lots of the Easter-appropriate Awesomer Than Jesus cocktails and listening to excellent music. Dusty discovered he loves “Xavier: Renegade Angel” and I rediscovered how fantastic Hard ‘n Phirm really is. We played a bit of Mass Effect (read, I played) this morning while Dusty alternated between napping and reading his first few pages of “Transmetropolitan.” Then it was time for Easter dinner with Tara (aka: Shannon) and Kate. I experimented with making a vegetarian moussaka…and was told it actually turned out quite well. This impresses me because it was a complete leap of culinary faith.

And then, just like that, the weekend was over. Dusty departed, Kate went to get some groceries (maybe…if the store is open) and Tara went back to her own tiger cat. So here I sit, in the dark because I’m too lazy to reach two feet to turn on the office light, listening to MGMT and drinking my second cup of coffee. But, it was a great last couple of days and makes me look forward to the next time I have a visitor! Dusty, you may bring yourself back anytime you so desire. Hoover, you are next!