April 24, 2006 at 8:21 am
- in my first full week of my 30’s, i got knocked out of commission with a pinched nerve in my neck. how did i do it? of all things, gardening. oh jeez. but in my defense, i was yanking out a monster stump that looked like medusa. i’ve also turned into one of those people who is happy to see rain so that my grass will grow.
- for all of you office fans, a few things to check out: finally, the dwight schrute bobblehead. buy yours today! also, kevin has a blog.
- thanks to a very nice gift, i now have a monster le creuset dutch oven. this thing weighs about 30 pounds when empty, and with food in it, it’s heavy enough to throw out your back. but it does some kickass braising.
- on friday, i watched wargames. what a fantastic movie. full of big bulky 80’s computers, cold war scariness, nuclear war morality lessons, and most importantly, the WOPR. i’ve named every one of my computers after this beast. yes, i’km a huge geek.
- another birthday dinner at sage in the north end. a little jewel of a restaurant, it doesn’t quite fit in with many of the other big, loud, brash italian eateries. a tiny room, more refined new american/italian food, and a much more calm dining experience. i love the fact that the bathroom is in the kitchen, and amazingly, the only person back there is the chef himself, all by himself. somehow, he is preparing every single dish that goes out. considering the quality, this is just incredible.
- ed levine’s pizza: a slice of heaven. this is the ultimate pizza guidebook for wherever you travel, and includes essays from some of the food world’s best. and somehow, he has a bigger obsession with chris bianco than i do.
- i bought a basketball last week. i don’t think i’ve played in about 10 years, but there’s a couple of courts down the street from us, and i think i’m going to try to school some middle schoolers on them. i just don’t want to be that old guy at the courts, the one who tries a little too hard, is a little too hairy, and a little too sweaty.
- i got my lawnmower up and running, despite a failed attempt at changing the oil. oh well. i added oil, filled up the gas tank, and hosed it off, and it seems to run nicely.
Tags: 2006, topten
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April 17, 2006 at 8:58 am
- thanks to everyone who made my birthday a very cool day. all of the bithday wishes and great gifts are much appreciated, and i now officially feel like an old man.
- i now have the last watch i will ever own, and pretty much the only one i’ve ever lusted after. i’m done.
- a new 50mm f/1.8D Lense is the one that i’ve wanted to get for a year now. a few experiments with it shows the potential for some great photos. i’ll take some this week.
- this is the greatest video game feat of all time. a re-enactment of game 6 of the 1986 world series using RBI baseball for nintendo synced with the tv broadcast audio of the actual game. just stunningly depressing. my bro had to go watch the 2004 world series DVD to cleanse himself after watching this.
- we took advantage of the belmont recreational facilities and played some tennis on saturday. i think this is the first time i’ve played in about 5 years, and the first time we’ve ever played together. despite her claims of being terrible, susanne has a wicked two-handed forehand and after her lessons, is going to be a force to be reckoned with.
- the yard projects have begun. after conversations with our upstairs neighbors, we have the green light to begin the transformation of our yard into the showpiece of the neighborhood. yeah, i think i’m going to turn into that guy who obsesses about his lawn. and coming soon (maybe), a brick patio. my back hurts just thinking about it.
- my birthday dinner at what is currently my favorite restaurant in town, craigie street bistrot. this is the perfect little neighborhood french restaurant of your dreams, and the chef is cooking stuff unlike anyone else around. just really incredible and unique ingredients and dishes that just make your jaw drop. when you can’t even figure out how he’s cooking things, you know you’re in a special place. i wish i could eat here every night. and as a special added bonus, we got to listen to matty in the morning complain that he didn’t get our table and then proceed to get bitched at by his wife the entire meal. poor matty. he may have the riches and the fame, but he still can’t eat a meal in peace.
- the rotisserie made its first appearance of the season, and an easter leg of lamb was it’s first happy victim. i can honestly say that it was the tastiest lamb i’ve ever made. stuffed and crusted with olives, garlic, lemon, chilis, rosemary, and olive oil, i did it slowly over low heat for about an hour and a half, and along with some braised baby artichokes made the perfect springtime meal.
- our annual easter brunch visit to baja fresh. you’d be surprised how busy it was. must be a bunch of fellow jews and hindus and buddhists enjoying their tacos and burritos.
- a love me some peeps.
- in case anyone was wondering, a half dozen oysters, chicken liver pate, tortilla chips, and a beer is not a good way to start a night. some of us have to learn it the hard way.
Tags: 2006, topten
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April 10, 2006 at 9:07 am
- i went on a run for the first time since january, and for the first time in our town since we moved. apparently, belmont is the “town of homes”, but it should be called the town of big fricking hills. seriously, the town is one big giant hill after the next, some so big that i felt like if i stopped moving my legs i’d start sliding back down the hill. but i got to see some really cool neighborhoods, views of the boston skyline, and a lot of houses that i’ll never be able to afford to buy.
- we’ve got a strange habit of making everything from scratch. it started with batches of tomato sauce, then moved on to ice cream and pizza dough. yesterday, we discovered that if you whip cream long enough and add salt, it turns into butter. yes, we made our own butter from the ridiculously thick and rich cream from cooper’s hilltop farm, and it’s sooooo tasty.
- i celebrate a biggish birthday this week. it starts with a 3 and ends with a oh. a lot of people have a tough time with this one, but i’m just not feeling it. i don’t feel old (ok, my body is sore a lot more than it used to be and i spend my weekends working on the house and can’t really sleep later than 8am anymore and i get excited about landscaping…) and in a lot of ways, i still act like a goofy teenager, and don’t plan on changing that. i still like to ride the shopping cart around the parking lot, i keep growing my hair long, i like to wear funky sneakers and jeans every day, and i think it’s hilarious to put the words “my balls” in front of every sentence. hopefully, that never changes. 30 is like the new 21, but without the shot, terrible hangover and unexplained head injuries.
- we spent sunday cleaning out out basement. ok, that’s not a fun thing, but i got to use my new circular saw. that thing is really scary, and really good. i went through a big pile or wood and scrap in no time. and i still have all of my fingers and toes.
- i also bought some cement to use to fill in some holes in the basement floor before we paint it. god, that’s just a disaster waiting to happen. stay tuned for when i accidentally cement my hand to the floor.
- for a couple of years, we’ve been buying a sel de la terre baguette from formaggio, and it’s consistently been the best around. recently, the man who started the bakery there, michael rhodes, went out on his own and opened a shop in framingham. wisely, the folks at formaggio decided to replace all of their SDLT stuff with B&R’s stuff. slightly different, but still great, it’s nice to see them supporting the local artisans. we’ll happily keep buying them every week. plus, if you’re lucky, you’ll see michael drop them off himself, completely covered in flour.
- our final attempt at making mutz was a complete bust. we’ve finally given up. really. it just plain doesn’t work. we can’t figure out what we’re doing wrong, but we’ve wasted too many gallons of milk to keep trying. oh well.
Tags: 2006, topten
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April 3, 2006 at 8:39 am
- the annual Cleaning of the Grill. I use my grill about 9 months out of the year, and over the course of the year, the gunk buildup gets pretty nasty. a couple of minutes left on high with the lid closed will ignite the built-up grease in a black-smoke producing inferno. a good scrub down, chipping away all of the gunk, cleaning everything with degreaser, replacing my flavorizer bars, and nice long burn-off, and it’s as good as new. this grill will last me a long time. of course, i proceeded to run out of gas while cooking chicken later in the day. figures.
- a visit to whip city for a surprise birthday breakfast. an interesting thing to name your city after.
- yes, i made pizza again this weekend. a slightly modified recipe seemed to not work when i woke up on satuday morning, so a quick 10-minute batch made at 7:30 in the morning, left in the fridge all day, and taken out to proof for a few hours before using it, turned out to create my best pies ever. ever. for the first time ever, i can’t really find a single thing to complain about it. the only difference was that i cut the dough into four pieces instead of three, so the crust was nice and thin and crispy. we did a sonny boy (finocchiona and olives), a rosa (red onion, pistacchios, red onion, parmesan), and a white clam (littleneck clams, garlic, oregano, crushed red pepper, parm, olive oil). of course, our friends called us from bar bianco while waiting for their table at the pizzeria. for once, i wasn’t that jealous.
- we spent a bunch of time cleaning up the yard yesterday. the yard needs some serious work, and i have a feeling we’ll be spending a lot of weekends getting it in shape. we have big plans, but we’ll see how much we end up doing. there will definitely be an herb garden, possibly a brick patio, and hopefully, some lighting installed. plus ripping up a lot of what’s already there and replacing it with new plants and bushes. yes, i’m an old man.
- we ordered chairs for the sunroom. they’re “pesto” colored, so they should work well along with our dill-pickle dining room.
- today is my dad’s birthday. happy birthday dickie!
- today is opening day, along with the start of fantasy baseball season. if you remember last season, i spent about 5 months in first place without making any trades or transactions. i have high hopes for this year.
- we fixed all of the doors in our house that wouldn’t stay open or would continually try to open. let’s just say i can shim with the best of them.
- there were no mutz attempts this weekend. although milk from coopers hilltop dairy farm will have us ready for our next attempt this week.
- we still miss udupi bhavan, but dakshin is an excellent replacement. especially their version of little pockets of heaven.
Tags: 2006, topten
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