March 27, 2006 at 8:21 am
- after going through a tile and glass bit, a regular bit, and a masonry bit, i finally gave up trying to mount our knife strip with screws. thanks to scotch exterior mounting tape, our knives are now happily hanging on the wall. it looks a bit dangerous, but it’s a hell of a lot better than keeping them in a knife block or in a drawer.
- we tried this orange glo stuff on the floor of our back bedroom which is in serious need of refinishing, but it failed miserably. oh well, it was worth a shot.
- i finally got around to trying my caputo pizza flour, and it was worth every penny. this stuff is unlike anything i’ve ever worked with, all silky and puffy and smooth and stretchy and pillowy. i fired up the pizza stone, tossed a couple pies in, and watched them immediately puff up and get all nice and golden and charred. they came out a little thicker than i wanted, but otherwise, it was pretty kickass. crispy and slightly charred on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside. if i had known if would puff up like it did, i would have made them thinner, but there is always a next time. i started plotting where I can store a 50 pound bag of this flour, but i think that’s a bad idea. i could store it in the living room, right?
- the roof of my mouth isn completely burnt from eating it too soon. two days later, it still hurts. oops.
- my second, and yes, third attempt at making homemade mozzarella were again complete failures. what the hell am i doing wrong? am i using the wrong milk? not enough rennet? not cooking it long enough? too long? it hasn’t even been close yet. what’s my problem?
- we had dinner at dok bua with kirstin after about a year and a half without seeing her. and we finally saw a picture of her man, who we’ve yet to meet, and believed that he didn’t actually exist.
- i got a haircut. and it’s short. i woke up yesterday morning feeling like something was missing. even jon’s hair is longer than mine right now. don’t worry. i get it cut every three months, so it has plenty of time to grow out.
- we watched the full 2-hour pilot of knight rider on saturday. i completely forgot the entire premise of the show, how michael knight was actually a former undercover cop who had been shot in the face, left for dead, and then given plastic surgery and a new identity and given the mission to fight crime and injustice for a dying millionaire with a dream. i also found out that KITT, the name of the car, stands for “Knight Industries Two Thousand”. It was predictably cheesy and a bit ridiculous in the early-80’s way, but I couldn’t stop watching it.
Tags: 2006, topten
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March 19, 2006 at 8:29 pm
Tags: 2006, cooking, kitchen, pans, photos, pot, rack
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March 19, 2006 at 7:36 pm
- things appear to be back to normal. no more 16 hour days, more more working weekends, no more walking around in a mental fog. work is stupid.
- for those of you who have never had the opportunity to visit an ikea, let me tell you, you’re missing out on a special experience. of course, it’s chock full of inexpensive, highly designed, scandanavian furniture and and everything for the home, but it’s the strange experience of walking for hours through these model rooms and apartments, their weird cafe full of swedish meatballs and cinnamon buns, the and home depot like self-service furniture store-room that makes it a shopping experience unlike any other. the best time to go is during the week or early on the weekend when the crowds are at a minimum, but i guess the swarms are part of the experience as well. my favorite thing about the whole place was the shopping carriages. aren’t all shopping carriages the same? nope. these things go in any direction. backward, forwards, diagonally, and my favorite, sideways. i would go down tight aisles just to test out the maneuverability of the thing.
- the purpose of the ikea visit was two-fold: get curtains and curtain hardware for our sunroom, maybe find some cool lamps, and replace the potholder that susanne caught on fire last week. of course we found all of these things, but the real coup was out brand spanking new pot rack! since leaving our old one at our last place, and having no good place for a hanging one at our new place, we’ve thrown around various ideas of what to do. a pegboard was the original idea, but that quickly got replaced once all of my carpentry skills got used up on the medicine cabinet. our problem was that most wall racks are still big and would get in the way of our overhead lighting. a bar-style rack was the only option, and all of the ones we saw out there were too expensive, too small, or too close to the wall. the perfect solution was this one. these are actually two towel bars. but they’re sturdy, look good, and the perfect distance from the wall. we’re still holding my breath after some stud-finding issues, but so far, they’re still holding up. hooray for us!
- it’s been about a year since our last trip to matt murphy’s, and there have been some changes since last time. the most interesting one was the absence of guinness from the menu. an irish pub without guinness? yup. luckily, murphy’s irish stout was an excellent replacement, and i might even say was a welcome replacement. i know that’s blesphemous, but it’s a seriously tasty beer. everything else at the pub was up to snuff. the best fish and chips in town and a nice irish cheese platter were top-notch. i just love this place. it’s a friendly neighborhood pub that is everything that i assume a real irish pub is.
- speaking of guinness, can anyone explain how those crazy draught cans work? we got a few to celebrate st. patty’s day (you know how i’m really irish, right?), and they’re so fricking cool.
- on the drive home, a had this werid craving for hot fugde. weird, right? earlier in the week, there was a remembrance of the jello pudding pops of our youth. i don’t think i’ve had them in about 15 years, but on the way home from dinner it sounded really good. so we stopped and bought some. doesn’t exactly fit in with the rest of our eating philosophies, but sometimes, you just need to revert to your youth and indulge. they were exactly as i remember although now in smaller, popsicle-sized pops: a little icy at first, then nice and chocolatey and creamy and drippy and tasty. go out and get yours today!
- i forgot to mention that after our ikea trip, we realized that it’s impossible to find s-hooks anywhere that would fit it correctly. so we had to drive all the way back the next day to get them. i was not a happy camper, but it had to be done. and after all of that, we almost walked out with the wrong hooks that actually didn’t fit it. i’m a dummy.
- we learned that our sunroom walls are actually made out of some sort of concrete. weird. please ignore the holes in our wall that we made before discovering that we needed to use a masonry drill bit to hang the stupid things.
- my first attempt at making fresh mutz was a complete and total disaster. the curd didn’t set right or long enough, so i was left with a bowlful of water curds. and yes, i’ll be trying again until i get it right.
- the dude who delivers my newspaper now tosses the paper directly onto our front porch. no more having to walk to the end of the front walk to get the paper on freezing cold mornings. yay!
- after 4 months, prison break returns tonight.
- AOL’s in2tv let’s you watch old tv shows on demand for free. i watched the pilot episode of welcome back kotter and the episode of growing pains with brad pitt. you can waste a whole lot of time with this site.
- if anyone missed my update from late last week, it’s right here.
Tags: 2006, topten
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March 9, 2006 at 12:49 pm
- working 11 days in a row isn’t fun. on the bright side, you can get a lot of work done with no one around. it’s also a good time to snoop through co-workers’ offices. just kidding.
- on the bright side, i didn’t have to cook, clean, do laundry, do grocery shopping, or think about my meals at all for a week. oh wait, i like doing that stuff. damn. i know i’ll figure out something positive from this experience.
- ooh, i get friday off, and a long weekend out of it. that’s a good thing.
- lesson learned: when telling your team, multiple levels of upper management, your partner company, and a multibillion dollar corporation who is preparing to spend tens of millions of dollars on your product something you claim as fact, make sure you’ve actually looked at it and confirmed it first. otherwise, you look like a gigantic jackass. welcome to my monday.
- i was called a monkey twice in the same week by different people. only one was a term of endearment.
- we’ve finally found a neighborhood pizza joint for those nights when i don’t feel like making dough two days in advance, making my own mutz, and firing up the oven (ok, i always feel like it, but don’t always have the time). belmont pizza will work just fine. not quite as good as armandos, but about 5 minutes closer.
- after about 5 years, i finally had some papa gino’s pizza. this was the pizza i grew up, when my bro had his first job (i think he lasted about a week), and the place where you went for birthday parties and they’d let the birthday boy go behind the counter and make his own pie. it was always my favorite pizza when i was a kid, and i still hold a special place for it in my belly. let me tell you, i still think it’s great. i know this sounds like blasphemy, but i think my brain is just wired that way and no amount of corporate snobbery can change it. it’s even better cold!
- i’m pretty sure that this thing comes with a free coronary. holy good god. it makes me sick just thinking about it.
- you know what helps solve a major customer issue late on a friday afternoon? a two beer going away lunch just before the sh*t hits the fan.
- i don’t know how i missed it, but this video of an autistic kid from Rochester, NY shooting the lights out in a game is one of the most amazing things i’ve ever seen.
- and the streak stays alive. i don’t think i’ve missed an update in the 8 years i’ve been doing this. ok, there was the week i was away on my honeymoon, but i was on the amalfi coast with limited internet access (used only to find out that they sox lost to the yankees in the 2003 ALCS) and much better things to do.
Tags: 2006, topten
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March 6, 2006 at 8:32 am
- this live-action version of the simpson’s intro is pretty incredible.
- you’ve never seen anyone so excited about a new vacuum cleaner. our house is very very clean right now. quite a difference 34 years makes in vacuum technology.
- the realization that various people on myspace.com and other sites are using my photos for their backgrounds. my favorite is people randomly linking to this photo.
- for the first time ever, i saw all of the oscar-nominated films before the actual ceremony.
- my car repair that i thought was going to cost me an arm and a leg ended up costing my only a couple hundred dollars thanks to ishkan. my car is just a little bitless ghetto this morning. now it just needs a serious wash and wax. oh, and i got to drive susanne’s car to work on friday. that is one smooth ride.
- you know what’s a tasty cereal? life. i think it might be my favorite cereal of all time.
- i’m going to attempt to make my own mootz this week. sounds easy, right? we’ll see.
- some guy named bill stopped my wife on the street and asked her out. one of those “i’ll kick myself if i don’t ask you, but i was watching you for the last block and was wondering if you’d have dinner with me.” well, the guy has balls to ask, right? yup, she’s still got it!
- at this point, it physically pains me to watch mtv’s the real world, yet some how i keep watching. i think it has something to do with that fact that i’ve seen every episode of every season since season 1 (with the exception of a good chunk of the vegas season which was just the most awful unwatchable thing ever). i realized in watching this season’s season premier that i’m a full 10 years older than some of the people on the show. how to hell did that happen? am i that mature or are these people just complete morons?
Tags: 2006, topten
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