The Mystical Adventures of the Faux-eonix

That old book smell...

Watching Jesus Camp reminds me again how scary I found The Handmaid's Tale.

Someone built a mock-up of the Berlin Wall in the main hall of my building.

On Thursday, the Governor's Office announced that Governor Patrick is considering closing the State Library of Massachusetts as a cost-saving measure. This closure will have a monumental impact on the cultural heritage of the Commonwealth.

Click here to help save the state library and our cultural heritage.

Pass it along.

For those of you with nothing to do this Friday, join us down in Providence for a Halloween Iron Pour.

Click on Events.

Email me if you want to arrange carpooling.

My new iPod nano takes video, plays the radio and has a built in pedometer that works when it's off.

All that and it's wafer thin?

Is this what living in the future looks like?

Bathroom Managed.

Finally.

I spoke with a woman today whose son is allergic to eggs, dairy, corn, soy, nightshades, onions, garlic, shellfish and gluten.

She can't purchase anything store bought because most things contain corn, and if they don't, they jack the prices up so high as to make it ridiculous. She even makes her own baking soda.

Anyway, I thought it was interesting. She was saying that she used to love to cook, but now it just feels like such a chore. She was telling me that she and her husband cried for weeks after they found out about all the allergies their son had. She said that she had always hoped to be able to raise a child who would enjoy food, but instead, she has a child who is picky and allergic to everything.

The whole conversation made me sad.

This whole going to the gym early every morning is actually kind of fun.

Who knew?

Contact me offline if you'd like to join me on October 24th for some Autumn Fun!

I'm planning on going to the Maize Maze and hopefully some apple picking nearby.

Interested, you know how to find me.

I went out at lunch time to run an errand for work and as I was pulling back into the parking lot, The Ocean Breathes Salty came on the radio.

I just sat down at my desk and realized the song that was playing from my iTunes was The Ocean Breathes Salty.

Weird, right?

Fuck Nashville.
Nobody there knows how to behave at a show.

It is not appropriate to stare at a band while they are playing with your arms crossed across your chest looking disdainfully at the band performing for their supper.

Instead, they should do what Bostonians do and make the band feel loved and welcomed. They ARE loved and welcomed.

I had an awesome time at the Yeah Yeah Yeah's show with tenillypo last night. Karen O is sooooo awesome. Bouncing around on the stage with her moccasins and diaper outfit. Occasionally pulling out yet another kimono like thingie. She came out for the encore with a pink wrap around her head and face that lit up.

In other news, I finished Persuasion last night.
Two things.
1. I think she uses the word Persuade, Persuasion, Persuaded, etc close to 40 times. I wonder if that means something. ;)
2. Is it horrible that for most of the novel I was saying to myself, oh Anne, you're going to be a widow very soon because Captain Wentworth is very likely to die in the upcoming Second Napoleonic War?

I hate when I do bad things.

My friend Laurie has entered a contest to win 5 Angora goats.

Will you help her out?

You don't need to register, just vote.

Thanks.

Edit: linky

I need something to read! I just finished reading some diarrhea written by Anne Rice about a stupid group of "witches" and an evil super being/spirit. Seriously woman, you are part of the reason the world needs editors. Honestly, your agent should have told you it was shite.

Ugh, the damn thing took me FOREVER to read. I think it took me longer to read than than it took me to read War and Peace AND Anna Karenina. Both of which were vastly superior books, but dense none the less.

Anyway, I've read the the complete Dune, Harry Potter, His Dark Materials and Ender's Game series' recently so some of my fall back books need a break. I'm thinking of breaking out some Murakami or possibly some Rushdie, but I feel like I want something else. I just don't know what.

Perhaps I should re-read some Jane Austen. I was never into her when I was younger, but perhaps...I don't know.

Suggestions are welcome. Tonight though, I may be Waiting for Godot.

Why is writing the first sentence so fucking hard?

Yo P-Dawg, what up?

This week we received:

1 Eggplant
1/4 lb Salad Mix
2 Asian Pears
1 bunch basil
1 lb squash
1 lb Carrots
3 heads Garlic
1 lb Potato
1 bunch radish

We didn't do much cooking last week, so we did some make up this week. I took a trip out to a farm earlier this week and we got a dozen (extremely tasty) eggs and two lambs heads. Peter will do some experimenting.

This past weekend was our camping trip. We ended up not going camping (rain and all) and decided instead to cook foods at home. Peter made a berry and peach compote for breakfast one morning. All from local farm stuff. He served some bacon he cured (not from Stillman's) and his awesome pancakes.

Peter made some dough earlier this week and make swiss chard and artichoke pizza with garlic and caramelized onions. It was soooo tasty. I brought the leftovers for lunch at work. My co-worker begged me for more. :)

Peter also froze some basil. Not pesto, just basil and olive oil.

He did a bunch of prep for squash and kohlrabi empanadas. I think we're having those tonight.

I made a beef stew with onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots (all farm share) and stew beef from Stillman's. I made the roux with a beer from the fridge.

That's about it, or at least all I can think of for now. See you next week. :)

Peter thinks it looks like a crop circle on her head.

Okay, so I just finished reading Pride & Prejudice & Zombies and OMG, did I love it.
Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I am not a huge Austen fan. I mean, she's good, don't get me wrong, but I've never had the love affair with her work that many of my friends have.

This book was funny, clever and totally respectful of the original work. Elizabeth is a strong willed lady trained in the deadly arts, as are her 4 sisters. Darcy is also a master sword's man, Darcy's aunt Lady Catherine is the greatest zombie killer in England. It's just clever.

The sword skills the characters have are all from training in the Orient. Japan is the preferred locale for training with China being viewed as lower class. This led me to start thinking that someone should write a history of the world based on the idea of zombies walking the earth beginning in the early 19th century. The characters have dojo's in their homes, eat sushi and it just led me to think about how different our present would be.

Anyway, it was really good and you should totally read it because it's fun.