pursed and furrowed

that described my lips and brow as the lady at the coffee shop gave me her timid 2 cents about why she served my iced doppio in a 8 oz instead of 12 oz like she said she would. so i questioned it, of course. she replies:
"are you going to milk in it?"
(is that any of her business? i might just put a bit of hydrocodone in it, too. what's it to her? she might call the cops. this is, after all, a christian coffee shop [now there's a subject for future discussion])
"just a bit of half & half" (as i am on a breve kick this summer)
"okay, cause then we would usually charge you for a latte. just to let me know."
(didn't she see me counting out nickels to pay for this out of obligation for using their wireless service?) and (duh. the extra cost is why i asked for a doppio on the rocks. again, i only use a little half & half.)
"well the lattes are too strong" (full of milk i mean)
latte infers the heating of milk, yes? when you pour 2 shots of espresso on ice and add 2%, how can that be considered a latte? allow me to paste from the dictionary website maintained by none other than Princeton University (if we can't trust them, who can we trust?)
latte n : strong espresso coffee with a topping of frothed steamed milk
ha! at what point does the pouring of everyday (non-organic and 2% i might add) milk from a jug constitute a latte?
seems to me the extra price of a latte results from the energy spent in heating said milk under a potentially dangerous situation (every had a steam burn? ouch?) and that is clearly not what would have happened here. clearly she would add a bit of said "jug milk" to my doppio and ice. cause i know she wouldn't have heated the milk and then added to the espresso. would she have? heated then cooled milk? hm.
there's so much to learn about the barista's life. so much.

ode to a greasy urn

aside from the profound maiming potential of a standard garbage disposal, consider the convenience of said appliance. then, further consider life and regular kitchen goings on without the use of such a machine.

is the picture painted a bleak one?

it should be.

the standard disposal (as seen here... i like that it's called a badger. a rather viscious toothy mammal.) is used for only one purpose, yet its spectrum of application is worth stewing over. common knowledge is its purpose to grind nasties up well enough so the household plumbing doesn’t require the sucking snake of purification. the diposal’s execution... during the clean-up of meals, the riddance of peels and skins (except of course of particularly sinewy material in which case you would mourn the day of their sacrifice to the pit as you will surely cause its very bane), the scrapping of spoiled and otherwise inedible foods (by the by, if you leave your standard cheese sauce made from a roux that has been combined with cheddar and a dash of cayenne and paprika, you will find a cultivation of disturbing pools of magenta substance), and of course, the drainage of dishwasher ickies ...is wonderful, resplendent, nay, even pulchritudinous.

however, any machine use is machine wear. i heard that so brilliantly stated during an informational video on gasoline and diesel engines in a small machine technology class i subbed for last month, (which was a nightmare i am quite beholden to forget).

when this appliance becomes defunct it is one thing to deftly and thoroughly scrape food items into the trash can (which necessitates more frequent removal of this bin’s contents to the dumpster than normal… but happily this is not my job). but it is another thing entirely to watch the month’s decrepit protoplasm and remains seep up into the sink in a swirling cyclone of putrescence leaving its particles and slag for the world to see and smell after the liquid has slowly ebbed away.

Let it snow...

It snowed today and it may snow tomorrow. But the people of the Pacific Northwest are not of the same stuff as New England. A dusting of 2 inches and the schools shut down. Pathetic. But it's for the best. B couldn't even get to school in Portland cause there was 2 accidents on the bridge. People don't know how to drive in this stuff.

cuando tengo que comer una hamburguesa

there are many advantages of not dining out:

• save scratch
• know what's in yr grub
• don't get ill from potential gorging
  
• using yr own bathroom
• avoiding inflated prices
• eat in peace
• no annoying doggy bags to feel obligated to eat out of as seen here
  

these are things i must remind myself of when i crave a juicy cheeseburger and frothy soda.

forget gore-tex

monday, we went to the Seattle zoo. forget the space needle. this was the best zoo i've ever visited. it was raining and cold. we saw maybe fifty other visitors. it was a perfect day.
the whole place is laid out like a system of trails cutting through the wilderness. each trail head indicates entrance to another area of the world. southeast asian, african sahara...
my favorite was the pacific northwest trail. there was a pair of brown bears sleeping on their sides, their front paws propped against each other like a dreamy dance. streams bubble over rocks and pools of water teeming with salmon. a beautiful herd of elk roamed the expansive enclosure. eery white-grey wolves stood silent following us with their eyes. it was the most pristine and authentic representation of an environment i've seen.
here's perfect weather-proofing: the incessant rain rolling off one of the two bald eagles' feathered backs.

karrotesuppe
let's discuss delicious vegetarian options for dinner, supper, or even a very hearty (and maybe desperate and creative) breakfast. this soup is great even as a gespacho. no kidding, even picky kids (or husbands for that matter) will likely enjoy this bowl. soooo easy as well. 50 min. tops. ready?
1. sweat like, 3-4 chopped shallots in a bit of olive oil
2. add 6-8 peeled and coined carrots and 2 T sherry/white wine
3. add a pinch of nutmeg and toss to coat and mingle the flavors
4. add 4 cups of veggie broth ( i love Better than Bouillon)
5. salt and pepper
6. bring to boil and simmer for 30-40 min.
7. skim any scum
8. blend till smooth with 1 cup milk
grub! tastes great with cracked pepper on top.

one day this last spring, we discovered a rather unusual remedy for the incessant meowing of our dear feline. Benny (short for Benhamin. not Benjamin which means son of my right hand. Benhamin meaning son of my pain) is part siamese and therefore quite verbal. we were trying to relax after our intense days working for the good of education and electrians respectively. Benny was reprimanding us for leaving him for the day and the furball wouldn't shut it.
we enjoined two of my lovely husband's recently unsheathed not-so-lovely smelling socks and every so gently, however snuggly, tied them around Benny's neck. silence and tranquility followed.
i'd like to know the chemical properties of a sweaty sock. there couldn't be any harm in attempts at marketing such a successful barbituate.

winter (norm) breakage

everything i've ever heard about the pacific nw is that it's terribly dreary and damp raining all the time and cultivating feelings of self-worthlessness and meloncholy rooted solely the inability to metabolize calcium due to vitamin D deficiency. so... i come to sunny cali for xmas. i leave the clear sunny in-the-20s degree diapason then characterizing southern wash. and come here.

redding. "oh it will be in the 60s" is anticipated and i don't doubt this news reflecting back to the sunburn i received for thanksgiving.

we arrived amidst rain and have had but one day of reprieve since. nor cal i scoff you. you who yields 110 degree summers and forest fires attempting rivalry to hell itself. you who mocks the pac nw and then dumps its very surplus on refugees from therein. yv not seen the last of me...

here's the steelhead quilt
i made for my dad.
lookit! the red one is spawning!

squirrel watching

there are no black cats...

only cat-shaped holes in the universe