Random

• Steven Raichlen is an awesome grillmaster, but his show Primal Grill is a little sad. We still watch it. His food is amazing, but he might be better at writing cookbooks than starring in cooking shows.

• I'm reading a new graphic novel, Bad Habits, which Sly B surprised me with last week. It's an autobiographical story by Cristy Road about addiction and getting clean, and sexuality and figuring out who you are. I'm about half-way through, and it's awesome.

• We watched The Darjeeling Limited last weekend and loved it. Pick it up if you are in the mood for a quirky, smart film. It's the story of three bizarre brothers who are damaged by their relationships with each other and their parents. It's about making the choice to live your life.

• I have another month-old blog called Volunteer for Freedom. It's something I'm working on.
  

Now for something more uplifting

Okay, my rant was necessary this morning. Now, I feel good. Here's the good news:

• Sly B and I get a 3-day weekend all to ourselves.

• I am working on my second 14er ESB of the evening. ESB stands for "extra special bitter" and it is teh yum.

• I love Jack Mangan's Deadpan community. Love it.

• I watered the plants, flowers, and roses in the front yard this evening. We are working on a pretty well-established landscape. We're old. It has it's benefits.

• I'm listening to Lord of Chaos, book 6 in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. We got them all off of audible.com and I'm really enjoying them. Sly B is on Book 10, and thinks it's the weakest.
  

• I picked a small bowl full of peas tonight. They are to die for.

• We're going to eat our weekly rice bowls (with fish, asparagus, pinto beans, and hot sauce) while watching another Eureka episode. We really like the show, and recommend it to anyone who likes good scifi and comedy.

• Tomorrow is the last day in a short work week. Best news I've heard all day.
  

Tuesday Random

I'm having too much fun to blog tonight! Right now I am:

• Listening to Galactica Watercooler, THE BEST damn BSG podcast out there. Sly B and I agree with Audra: Where's the Statue of Liberty? Don't they have phones?
• Making shrimp fried rice.
• Drinking a lovely AVERY brew, I don't know what because I already threw out the bottle and am too lazy to go look in the fridge.
• Watching Sly B water the garden. Hot mama. Nice yard.
  

*Sigh* Life is good.

Tuesday

Sheesh, what a day at work. The douchebag/non-douchebag ratio continues to swing in exactly the wrong direction. "Deathstar" may be too cool of a moniker for that fuckin' place. There's nothing to be done for it except to leave work at work and enjoy my evening.

Here I wait for Sly B, with leftover ribs in the oven. It's chilly here today and the fire is burning, so the oven is a nice addition. I'll add to that leftover baked beans, leftover bbq potato chips, and leftover corn on the cob (the frozen variety). I'm sipping (gulping) at a Newcastle, and listening to Buffy Between the Lines.

I'm reading Fool Moon, book 2 of the Dresden Files. This is my second copy, as I left the first one on the plane from Vegas. Jim Butcher spins a very fun tale. Harry Dresden is hot for a guy.

I have on deck a new issue of the Angel comic, a new Firefly comic (the last of the trilogy), and a new Hellboy comic. I think I'll finish the Dresden book before I leap into these.

Okay, going to kick off the shoes and get comfortable (with another Newcastle, no doubt).

Yum

• O'Dell's Brewery Levity Ale - 9 outta 10 nipples
  

• 4,3,2,1 dry rub on spareribs (roasted in the oven because we couldn't light the frackin' grill)

• Grounds for Change coffee

• Full Sail Brewery LTD #1 - 10 outta 10 nipples
  

• Planting cold-weather seeds: radishes, beets, peas, and carrots

• Watching Season 3 of The Wire on DVD

• Listening to Sly B practice

Put On Your Teeth, Grandma's Makin' Cream o Wheat!

I talked to my mom this morning. My grandpa has been sick, so I always start off our conversations asking her, "How's Grandpa?" Today she said, "He just got up a few minutes ago. He's on his way to the bathroom now, so he can put on his teeth to eat some Cream o Wheat." Me: "Woah. Who made the Cream o Wheat? How big are the lumps?

Seriously, if you need to put on teeth to eat Cream o Wheat, either ya didn't make it right, or it's been sitting out too long. (Ok, unless there's toast involved...which in this case, there was.)

Random Thoughts and Irritations

Sly B and I had a great weekend with her family. Some of my favorite parts of the weekend:

• Dinky the dog and his fabulous sweaters
  

• Sly B's Auntie asking if I had big ole inflated boobs, the answer to which is absolutely "yes"
  

• Posole for breakfast

• Christmas empanadas to bring home

• Being treated equal to all the other couples there -- it was a rare space with zero heteronormativity and was fabulous. I want that all the time, everywhere
  

Then we came home and had to go to work today. Some of the things that have me pretty, pretttttty, preeeeeetttttttyyyy good and irritated tonight:

• Superdelegates. What the fuck is a superdelegate, and why do their votes weigh more than ours? This is the part of party politics that really burns my ass
  

• A transgender second grader in Denver has a bunch of parents all panty-wadded. Message to Dave M.: Dude, these are 6 year olds. Look me in the eye and tell me you aren't thinking of anal sex when you panic over this issue. Who's the perv?
  

• A silly twit at work intends to micromanage me
  

It's my home alone Monday, and I've got some stuff to check out on the DVR tonight. I'm going to watch Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Lost (even though I know those bastards time it so the last 2 minutes are cut off for DVR recorders -- do you fart knockers really think that'll make us watch it live???), and maybe another episode of my newest d.o.c., Celebrity Rehab.

Random Thoughts

Just things distracting me today:

• Ew! Pink eye!! Don't touch me!!

• I'm reading Lord Foul's Bane, Book 1 in the Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever trilogy by Stephen R. Donaldson. It's a fun and unique universe (with a Lord of the Rings quest) so far, with a really hateful anti-hero with some unique qualities. I'm sure I'll write a review when I finish.

• We are absolutely loving Curb Your Enthusiasm on DVD. I didn't know this until recently, but I am illegally gay married to L.D.'s lesbian doppleganger. If you haven't watched this show, do yourself a favor and add Season 1 to your Netflix queue. Last night, we saw the one where L.D. stabbed Ben Stiller in the eye with a chicken skewer. You know what that made me think of? Ew! Pink eye! Don't touch me!!!

• We got Michael Moore's Sicko in the mail from Netflix tonight. I'm looking forward to it.

• I've got another friend hooked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer!! Just sent her Season 2. Bwahahahaha. Joss Whedon is now HER master too . . .

• I'm roasting lemon pepper chicken and a head of garlic (to mix into the quinoa along with roasted red peppers out of the jar) tonight. I like to roast chicken on Wednesdays because Sly B doesn't get home until about 7:00, and I have time to ROAST. Last week, I had a complete failure on getting the damn whole chicken to cook all the way through. Tonight, fuck it, we bought thighs.
  

• Cats snore. Loud.

• I ordered Sly B a TRULY geektastic, but utilitarian, gift from an Australian company called Toy Webb. On Monday, a package from Toy Webb was waiting for me. They screwed up the order, and what arrived is exponentially more geeky than what I originally ordered. They accidentally sent me an Lavitz Slambert action figure from The Legend of Dragoon. I think she kinda likes it, but it ain't what I ordered!!

And with that, I bid you all a good night. I smell roasting garlic.

Ah, for the love of Lard

EssBee and I spent this past Saturday with my mom and her parents rural, eastern Colorado. Sure, their well wasn't working so there was no water until early afternoon, but there was so much to make up for it: my Auntie from Mississippi blasting in the house and exclaiming, "I have mustard in my Coochie!", hearing stories about my family way back when, getting a bit of mama time in, and most of all the FOOD!

Grandma has a tin canister right by the stove where she pours the bacon grease after making bacon. It is the only things she uses for frying and recipes that need some kind of fat. Lunch was a big pot of Posole (a type of soup with hominy, pork, onions, and red chile). My mom made it for us (cuz it's one of our favorite dishes and EssBee and I are spoiled, stinky-rotten by our families). Grandma could not believe that a person could eat just a bowl of soup, so she fried up some potatoes. RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE!! I've fried many potatoes in my life, but they never taste like hers. Why? Bacon lard. Dinner was fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and "peas, onions, and gravy". The potatoes had a full stick of real butter. The chicken was breaded and fried - in bacon grease! The peas were a new thing for me. Grandma made gravy with bacon grease and flour and onions and then poured a couple cans of peas in it. It was all absolutely amazing. I didn't even mention the pies (yes, plural pie). Pumpkin, and another new taste experience for me - prune pie! Needless to say, we ate our week's worth of Points in a 6-hour period. Know what, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Has anyone truly researched the sin of bacon grease? I mean, my grandma's mom lived to 96 and her grandma to 99.

Meanwhile, we're back to salads and high-fiber cereal and dreaming of our next visit to Grandma's. You've never tasted tortillas until you've tasted them made with bacon lard.

Ah, Zucchini

We garden a bit, and since we live in Colorado grow zucchini. If you've ever grown it, you know that it is abundant. By the end of August, you hate the stuff. I'm always looking for new ways to cook it.

Last night, we tried a new 10-minute recipe that I found linked from Evo Terra's blog, and I'm here to tell ya it was great! If you've got spare summer squash, try it:

• 1 or 2 medium zucchini

• 3-4 cloves of garlic (and I threw in about 5 scallions because I had them and they were fading)

• 1-2T of decent olive oil

• a small hand full of fresh herbs (we used basil & oregano)

• Salt & Pepper

• Parmesan cheese

In a skillet, heat the oil. Add the garlic for a minute, then saute the zucchini until slightly tender. Add the herbs. Toss with pasta, sprinkle parmesan on top.