When Slanky and I got to work cleaning out the basement for the remodel it really hit home that we’ve kept a lot of junk around for a lot of years. I’ve been meaning to introduce a new blog category as a means of tackling my packrat sentimental tendencies. Here’s my first go at it.
Behold, the wedding bouquet.
Wedding Bouquet, almost 10 years old
As some of you may know, I have a thing for dried flowers. I don’t know why. I still have the dahlias my now deceased grandmother gave me from her garden on my first day of college. Slanky ruined a few when we moved and I nearly cried about it. Anyhow, I’ve kept my wedding bouquet around for almost 10 years and the really funny thing is I hated the way my bouquet turned out and so WHY DID I KEEP IT?? I don’t know. Insane. This topic has been rehashed so many times – this is for you, Slanky! – but I’ll say it again. I wanted lavender roses in my bouquet. They were pink. I was pissed. And now? You can’t even tell what color they were, originally. Yellow and brown? Red and pink? Who knows! For some sentimental reason I kept this thing around all these years. Before throwing it away I took a gazillion pictures of it.
Jonah thought it was kind of fun.
Old life/New life
In the end it wasn’t terribly emotionally hard to give these up and I think the cosmos was telling me something when I went to put them in the yard waste and had to pick out a bunch of wires all over the bouquet. Sneaky little thing.
And just for kicks, to make it look prettier than it actually ever was, here’s one from my phone.
Dried flowers in prettier colors than they ever were alive.
So there you have it. Need to throw something away that you’ve been attached to for a long time? Take a photo, write about it and then trash that sucka!
I’m loving cooking with our new grill, which is a new thing for me. Previously with our charcoal grill Slanky was the primary “controller of the flame” and did a lot of the cooking on it. Don’t get me wrong, the taste of the charcoal is totally yummy but I’m finding it so liberating to be able to go outside and turn the gas grill on and go! Also, for some reason I’m less leery about messing with our gas line than I am putting fire on coals. Go figure!
Anyway, the other day I grilled fava beans for us to peel at the table and toasted bread with tomato and a ricotta, blue cheese spread with some tomato and basil. All turned out well!
This picture was taken completely by mistake, while I was walking up the stairs with my phone. Anyway, I recently saw it on my phone again and thought I’d post. The entryway of the house is looking nice with the repainted stairs and when we keep it clean!!
Ok, so, cauliflower. Again.
I tried roasting it and it turned out really really good. We’ve been cooking a lot with Slanky’s new grill and so I thought I’d try grilling a few of the big pieces and making a foil tray for the small ones to roast in the grill as well. The ones I set on the open grill got a nice crisp but were drier than the foil ones so I think I’ll stick with the roasting rather than grilling method. Also since the roasting takes longer I think those pieces got a little more cooked through than the direct grilled ones. I’m glad I experimented though!
I made a very easy cauliflower soup that makes a great side dish, tastes really nice and looks really fancy when finished.
It’s a Mark Bittman express recipe that calls for a cauliflower bunch, steamed and blended with some of the cooking water, a bit of broth and some cream or half and half. For the finishing touch add some fancy oil, either truffle or a nice olive oil and a bit of herbs (here I used truffle oil and opal basil).
Musically, I don’t get out much these days. I’ll admit it. When we heard that The Dismemberment Plan joined up again to play a few shows in commemoration of the re-release of their album, Emergency & I we were totally there. Slanky made sure we had tickets far in advance and it was well worth it.
I know some of you probably wouldn’t like this band even if you’d actually heard of them. Isn’t musical taste an interesting thing? Think of a band you really love. Can you pinpoint exactly what it is you love about them? Instrumentation, lyrics, singing style… Or is it some unexplainable combination plus a few extras? For me, I’m not always sure. I think it might be something visceral that perhaps I should attempt to analyze further (especially considering I like to write and think about music) but for now I’m just going to go with it.
The Dismemberment Plan is one of those bands that definitely hits me on a level that I can’t quite explain. Here’s why. It’s not like Travis Morrison (the lead singer) has a fabulous voice. His voice is great but in terms of technical singing ability, not so much. They’ve got some songs that are just down-right loud and yelly and there are a lot of bands that I hate because of that. Some of Morrison’s lyrics are silly and sometimes no-point lyrics really annoy me. All that being said, The Dismemberment Plan is probably in my top 5 all time favorites list. Maybe it’s because it’s easy to see their arc clearly, with their less focused, raucous sounding earlier albums that moved on to Emergency & I, which has a little bit of silly, a little bit of yelly but also has a seriousness and melodic tone to finally Change, which shocked their most avid fans with its much more serious sound (and lack of harshness from their earlier work). That arc feels like an established story to me and I like that. Seeing their work as a whole, I also love love love Travis Morrison’s way with words. There are songs that totally speak to me in a way that nothing else does. Top the words with some strong guitar and a beat and you’ve made my day. I also appreciate their mix of musical genres. The Dismemberment Plan were early pioneers in the now common wave of mixing indie rock sounds with an R&B touch, using synthesizers and Morrison’s sing/talking. Especially within music, and I think I’ve even written about that on here before, I really see artist genius in the successful manipulation of musical styles.
Like so many loves, it’s also a situation of right-place, right-time. For me, The Dismemberment Plan appeared in my life during my mid-20s when I was asking all of those usual questions, like, what am I doing with my life, am I making the right choices, am I a good person, what do I value about the people in my life, etc., and, while it didn’t help me really answer them, their music helped provide the energy and and emotional outlet to really look at those questions. Slanky and I went to both nights of their farewell shows here in Seattle (I believe some of you who read this also attended) and they still stand out as some of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Now when I listen to their music I feel a little bit like I can see my own arc. I’m more comfortable with myself, I feel as though some of my earlier “life questions” have been answered, I see that some questions never get answered and new ones always appear and that you never stop getting something out of music that you love.
Ok, enough of my blathering on and on. The show was spectacular! I won’t bore you with an actual rundown of what I thought of each song but, man, was it good! Their musicality has matured so much that even their rough yelly stuff had a polish to it. They were still fun and upbeat, not taking it too seriously, which is nice to see, given that they are just doing this little tour. They spent time tuning!! They played one of my absolute favorites as their second song and that made me SO happy! They changed up a few of the songs and I really liked the little tweaks. There was one song that I didn’t recognize and even though I’ve read over and over that they aren’t planning on making any new music a little part of me is hoping that they’ll be inspired to do some more things together. Slanky bought the vinyl re-release of Emergency & I and we’ve been playing it for the kids.
I’ve struggled to narrow down what tracks I should include here. I love so many!
What Do You Want Me to Say? Emergency & I, 1999
The first is probably one of their most well known songs, for good reason. It’s one of my favorites, might be my most favorite. I love the hard feel (probably my definition of the perfect amount of rock, strong guitar and drums, a tad bit of enthusiastic singing, i.e. yelling!) and the exasperated tone of the message. To me it perfectly voices the frustration of being in an impossible situation with someone. I also love the slight intrigue – the written lyrics in the album (both cd and new vinyl, I checked) are different than what he actually sings. I think the difference is a poignant one but it could just be a mistake. The main phrase, “What do you want me to say? What do you want me to do, to let you know that I do mean it?” is actually written as, “What do you want me to say? What do you want me to do, to let you know that I still love you.” To me, that’s a giveaway by the narrator/lyricist. He’s exasperated about what lengths he feels he has to go through to show his devotion. But then again, he switches “I still love you” to “I mean it” – he can’t even say the words out loud so you sort of get the sense that whomever he’s singing to has a reason to feel insecure. Kind of an unreliable narrator sort of situation. Anyway. I find it interesting.
(sorry, i’m going the easy route and linking to youtube because i’m lazy.)
I lost my membership card to the human race
So don’t forget the face
Because I know that I do belong here
Go down the checklist let’s see:
Feelings are good
Dishonesty is bad
And keeping it inside is worse still
You want a problem well I guess we got one now
I really don’t know how
There’s injuns over every goddamn hill
What do you want me to say?
What do you want me to do?
To let you know that I still love you?
What do you want me to say?
What do you want me to do?
To let you know that I still love you?
What do you want me to say, yeah?
I see it coming from a million miles away
What else can I say?
The only way you know I love you
And there’s no eye-to-eye just Moses on the mount
Or I’m in for the count
You need your man above or below you
I can not cry at will but I do wish I could
Cause it’d do you some good
When every joke I make is treason
There was a time when you could make me laugh at will
And you can do it still
But never is it for the right reasons, yeah
What do you want me to say?
What do you want me to do?
To let you know that I still love you?
What do you want me to say?
What do you want me to do?
To let you know that I still love you?
What do you want me to say, yeah?
Following Through Change, 2001
This second song is also one of my absolute favorites. When you hear the lyrics hopefully you won’t misunderstand why. Taken literally, the song seems pretty singular, as in a break-up situation or something. As you may already know, I haven’t experienced that sort of situation. This song speaks to me in a general me-against-forces-that-try-and-get-me-down sort of way. Though I think I feel less angst than my mid-20s self I still love the energy and power of this song.
It coulda been good
it coulda been something special
it may have had real potential
it never could show
It coulda been great
it could been something alright
but we never did keep it that tight
so whaddya know?
I get up at 5am I so don’t need those dreams that I used to have
It coulda been swell
it coulda been off the hook now
if we ever had what it took now
I haven’t a clue
I think it’s as well
we may have been on the right track
finding all the pieces we lack
but what can you do?
Now I see that these are cards we drew some time ago, so if you don’t know:
I can do it anywhere with anyone at anytime don’t you forget
this is my life and it’s going to be good, don’t you know
not a promise or a threat or an ultimatum, though I can do that too
I’m just telling you, I’ve got this life I’ve got to live
I’m just following through
I dishonor the past
being so loose with my time
I could stand accused of high crimes
in the court of the dead
and I could be next
on a page about to turn soon
so I’m movin’ my ass at high noon
you heard what I said
I could say I hope I’m not misread, but that’s all right
I’m quite OK with losing that fight
Today I baked two loaves of soda bread. After baking the first one I thought I’d try another recipe since I had everything out already. The first one is from Cook’s Illustrated and the second is a Mark Bittman recipe. There are some pretty major differences between the recipes and so I’m curious to taste both. The Cook’s Illustrated one gets pretty fussy about the ingredients, calling for low protein flour and cake flour, cream of tartar and sugar. Soda bread is something that’s been around for a long time, being made by Irish and non-Irish the world over, so a less complicated version (not that either is very complicated!) seemed like a good idea to try. Another major difference between the two is that the Cooks Illustrated version calls for butter both within the bread dough and melted on top. My guess is that the more complex recipe (CI) is going to win out for taste since what’s not to love about butter? But I’d imagine a lot of people make a simple one to go with soups and stews.
Pictured below are both loaves. Mark Bittman on the left and CI on the right. As you can see, the CI one looks a little more nicely browned.
A new application being sold on iTunes, “Confession: a Roman Catholic App,” cannot be used as a substitute for confession with a priest, the Vatican said Wednesday. The application was developed by American entrepreneurs with the help of two priests and the blessing of a bishop. It features a questionnaire of sins, and is promoted as a tool both to revive interest in confession and to help Catholics prepare for the sacrament. But some media reports cast the app as a “virtual priest” for Catholics who do not have time for church, prompting the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, to respond, “One cannot speak in any way of ‘confession by iPhone.’ ”
This highlights list marks my 5th year of attempting to sum up a year’s worth of life, and with that fact you’d think I’d be able to streamline this process, but no. Once again, I’m still thinking about these things even though we’ve already begun the new year. Should I take notes along the way so that I don’t just remember what happened in December? Hmmmm… It’s a thought.
Favorite Restaurant (or where we frequented most): Sadly, we slowed way down on our restaurant going activities this year. After Corbin was born an infant and a toddler really took the fun out of it for a while. Ok, I guess that’s not totally true. We just got lazy and exhausted so take-out seemed to work out much better on a lot of occasions. So, I think I’ll have to put in a subcategory here: Favorite Take-out (I’ll get to that later).
Restaurants, hmm, I guess I’ll venture to say Zayda Buddy’s since they are kid friendly and have interesting comfort food, not to mention a great bloody mary and tater tot Tuesday. What’s not to love? I think we went there a lot in 2010. Hint to thyself, the place that might make our list for 2011 is Zeeks Pizza. Your kids can get LOUD in there and no one notices and it’s a laid back place with serviceable pizza and a few decent beers on tap.
For take-out I’d have to go with the Lunchbox Laboratory, which just closed to move down to South Lake Union. It wasn’t something we could do all the time but it was definitely fun to indulge on their awesome burgers and shakes once in a while. It’s a real bummer that they are moving.
Top Album (not necessarily made in 2010 but what I listened to most frequently): We listened to a lot more music this year, which makes this category a tougher one to narrow down. I’ll go with The XX though. I listened to their first album consistently all year. It was especially good for calming music before bedtime.
Top 3 Books I read in 2010:The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins and the Millennium series by Stieg Larsson (sorry, lumping that together). Best Coffee Shop: El Diablo on Queen Anne. This place has been my go-to for coffee and morning naps for Corbin since Jonah began preschool. I’m scared that my days of lingering here are numbered because Corbin is on the move now. He doesn’t seem to like letting his mama sit sipping coffee while he hangs out. They have great mochas made with Mexican chocolate, one of the coffee dudes there is hilarious and a true foam artist and the atmosphere is totally comfy and quirky.
Favorite Movie: We still aren’t doing great on seeing movies, something we are going to change this year. That being said, I did get the chance to see the new Harry Potter (Deathly Hallows 1) and I thought it was really well done. I guess with that adaptation they had little opportunity to really Disney-wash it out since the book really contains no happy-go-lucky spirit but I thought the color palette was good and spot on for the mood of the story at this point.
Best thing about 2010: Obviously, the arrival of my baby boy, the baby bear, the boy who doesn’t sleep, the boy who is going to cause me a million little heart attacks in 2011.
Does anyone else miss the recent conversations feature from the old blog format (the right hand category that listed what was most recently commented on)? If it’s only me I won’t goad Slanky into fixing it but if other people miss it I’ll start my campaign.
