Adventures in Gastronomy

I’ve never been a trendsetter, nor have I been much of a trend follower. In fact, I like to pride myself on bucking trends. I never fell for Britney Spears when the young whipper-snappers thought she was all the rage. I didn’t particularly care for Pulp Fiction when everybody else was raving about it.

But lately I’ve been digging edamame. I’d never heard of it until February of this year when I went to dinner at Wagamama with my friends, Ben, Brad, and Mark. Since then, I’ve always gotten it when I see it on a menu. Then, last weekend, I saw that they sold it (in bulk, of course) at Costco. WOO HOO!

So made some last night to go with dinner. It come in little bags so you can’t use a small portion and the rest remains protected in the freezer. However, I think I’ll need to learn portion control because I ate nearly the entire bag (sharing a few with Randy).

I’ve not done research, but I’m guessing it must be healthy. It is just soy beans after all…with nothing else on it except the salt I add to the surface. But, mmmm, is it good!

OK, it’s official. this must be my lamest post yet. I’m talking about beans (or is it a vegetable? a legume? a fruit?) Ugh.

October 7th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment

After two months of anticipation and close to a month of near daily stress (dealing with real estate brokers, mortgage brokers, lawyers, etc…) we’re finally settled into our new home.

And I gotta’ say, I love it! Despite having double the space, we’ve managed to fill it up nicely with only the need to purchase one additional item of furniture (some sort of table for the kitchen). What that says, to me, is that we must have been cramming way too much into our previous place.

It’s nice to be able to walk around the bed without fear of stubbing my toe. It’s nice to be able to use the bathroom without somebody else knocking on the door because they need to go. It’s nice not to hear neighbors above you walking around (since we have no upstairs neighbor now).

The place still isn’t 100% ready yet. So far we’ve managed to unpack completely and put up blinds. Tonight we’ll replace a light fixture with a ceiling fan and replace some towel racks. Then Randy’s father arrives on Thursday and will assist with painting. At that point, we should be done.

Oh, and the place is so quiet! I was afraid that being a townhouse would mean that we could hear our neighbors on either side (my parent’s place on the Cape is a similar style and you can hear neighbor’s climbing the stairs or watching TV). But we can’t hear a damn thing. In fact, on the first night we hadn’t unpacked my white noise machine yet and we both were laying there randomly chuckling because we found it too quiet.

Today was my first time commuting since the move and I clocked in at 20 minutes using my scooter. I managed to hit every major red light along Mass Ave, though (Arlington Center, Alewfie Brook Parkway, Porter Square, plus a few smaller ones). On a good day if I can miss even one of the big intersections, I suspect I can cut a few minutes off that time.

Oh, how could I post without at least one pessimistic topic? I was removing these horrible interior shudders the previous tenants had in the living room window when one of them fell off the wall and onto my toe. Now, 7 months ago while on vacation in Mexico, Randy’s Pepsi bottle fell onto my big toe nail and caused a bruise. It’s been there for seven months working its way up from the middle of the nail to the tip where I can finally cut it (probably) in the next week or so. Wouldn’t you know it, but this damn shudder fell on the exact same toe nail, but at the base. I’m probably going to have to go another year with a blackened toe nail…and I was so close to getting rid of the previous bruise!!!

Ok, ladies out there (or men who do drag or are metrosexual), do they sell nail polishes that are the color of nails? I don’t want transparent/glossy, but something that could possibly cover the bruise and make it not stand out like a sore thumb (or sore toe, for that matter).

October 6th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 6 Comments

I’ve always been impatient. I love planning things (moves, trips, etc…) but I hate once the planning is complete and all that’s left is the waiting.

And that’s pretty much been the boat Randy and I have been on for the past month or so. Complicating things is that I’m a bit rusty at moving.  Back in the day (my twenties) I would move once per year. There was one particularly hellish year when I moved four times as a result of a fire, a leak, and a landlord from hell.

But I became pretty darn skilled at moving as a result. I knew when to pack, what to pack, the best way to label things, and the most important thing for a frequent mover: HIRE MOVERS!

This time around, though, has been filled with complications that didn’t exist in moves past:

1 – the economy has tanked and banks are more strict. We had no trouble getting our approval, but it’s been a frustrating game of back-and-forth as they requested additional information (which, more often than not, they already had in their posession).

2 – the buyer of our current property has been having trouble getting a mortgage commitment from his bank. It was due two weeks ago and just came through last night…only hours before we had movers coming to pick up our stuff

3 – the current owners of the property we are buying have been renting the unit and the current tenants have been difficult to deal with in terms of getting into the property to take measurements. Toward the end, it took a full week to gain access (right as we approached the closing) so I began to question whether the tenants were actually planning on leaving or were going to squat and screw us over (because Massachusetts law stupidly protects the renter to extreme degrees).

There have been other little things, but it just seemed that all of the above issues should have been resolved early on, but weren’t resolved until hours or a day or two before moving (the scariest being whether the buyer of Randy’s place would actually be able to buy it after pulling the condo off the market for two months).

Long story short, I’m comfortable now. The mortgage commitment was made last night, we did a walk-thru of the new place last night and the tenants are gone, the movers picked up our belongings this morning, and we are tentatively scheduled to pass papers on both properties in the morning.

Tentatively…I suppose there’s still some uncertainty (whether the buyer’s bank can process all of the paperwork at the last minute since they delayed things so much all along).

Fortunately, Randy’s father is coming up next week to help paint and do other miscellaneous small projects. And then to reward ourselves for all the stress we’ve been through, Randy and I are going to Puerto Rico for a (very) long weekend after that.

What I wouldn’t give to smell sunblock and salty air right now.

October 1st, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment

On my way to work this morning I had to pop by the Somerville Traffic Office to get a parking permit for our move next week (one week from today!). I tried doing this last week on Thursday night since they have evening hours on Thursday but the line was practically out the door.

The morning is a much better choice; there was just one person in line in front of me.

Anyway, after leaving their office I got on my scooter and headed to work. The quickest route brought me through Davis Square and I ended up sitting at a red light in front of the Somerville Theatre. More specifically, I was stopped next to the crepe place that is located on the ground floor of the Somerville Theatre.

Between the humidity (it’s always been humid when I’ve visited Paris), the scooter exhaust fumes (scooters are everywhere in Paris), the traffic noise (something else that’s ubiquitous in Paris), and the single row of tables and chairs against the wall of the creperie, it felt like I was in Paris.

Heck, even the angle of the light made me think of a Parisian morning. All that was missing was a quality pain au chocolat and the thump-thump-thump of rubber tires on the many (real and fake) cobblestone streets or crosswalks. Oh, and perhaps the ever present ambulance or police siren (which sound completely different than our own).

Anyway, it put me in a good mood. And I do have a nearly $300 credit voucher for Air France. HMMMMMM

September 24th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments

I bought some art this weekend at the South End Open Studios. We were at a (mostly) sculpture gallery and there were various pieces for $150 – $3,000. But way in the back corner was table with similar looking pieces for only $20. Now, I couldn’t tell the difference between the piece I purchased and a piece toward the front of the gallery. So, I opted to get the most bang for my buck and bought the largest piece on the table.

At the time, i was inrigued by it’s shape (overall it’s roundish, but it folds in on its self on one side and there’s an irregular hole off to the side…kinda’ like Mount Saint Helens) and I liked it’s bronze color.

Of course, After purchasing it and showing it to my parents (who looks completely digusted) my mother said “it looks like an ass.”

…and now all I see is a big sun-tanned butt.

Oh well, it’s art and you’ll all be jealous when Christie’s sells it at auction for millions in just a few years.

The rest of the weekend was spent playing cards with my parents, disassembling the bed I loaned my parents when I moved in with Randy (so we can bring it to our new place), and attempting an afternoon at the beach. It was quite lovely. The sun was shining, the beach was nearly empty…but the win was coming straight off the ocean dropping the temperature substantially. Meanwhile, we had some chocolate cookies in a bag and the chips were all melting because of the direct sun. If there was no breeze (or at least a slight breze)  the sun itself would have made it nice and toasty.

Oh well. We only lasted about an hour so it didn’t provide enough time for me to bronze my ass to match my art.

September 22nd, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments

I’ve done a damn good job at avoiding the gym over the summer (and have the belly to prove it). I think I’ve gone a total of three times since the end of May. That averages to about one day per month. Since my gym membership only costs me $4.63 per month (I get $150 back from my insurance company), I feel that it’s been a very reasonable expense. I mean, I wouldn’t want to be taking the gym for granted and using them for more than I pay, now would I?

But after work yesterday Randy dragged me to the gym. Truth be told, I was a bit grumpy before I arrived. I’d gone to CitiBank to close a checking account and they talked me into keeping it open by explaining that I’d lose my 50,000 “thank you points”  (a value of about $500.00).  So, I just withdrew the money (keeping the account active) and tried depositing the cash into Bank of America so I could use the money towards the closing of the condo.

But the freaking ATM is one of those “convenient” new ones that requires no envelopes. Convenient my ass. It just kept rejected the money. Then I’d re-insert and it would accept a few more, and reject a few more. After probably six attempts, fortunately with a very patient woman waiting behind me, I gave up and just deposited what it accepted and walked away with extra cash.

Then after the gym, Randy made me to go the Somerville Parking office to get a moving truck permit to park in front of the house (13 more days!). The line was almost out the door.

So, I was grumpy before the gym, but going sure didn’t help.

*Oh, and what’s particularly sad is that it took ages to find a “sporty” photo of me in my photo archives. The best I could do was me receiving skis for Christmas….28 years ago. I’m not even using them, I’m just looking at them with a “what the hell am I supposed to do with these?” look on my face. I wanted an Easy Bake oven, dammit.

September 18th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 4 Comments

In two weeks and two days from today, I will most likely be supervising the movers as they pick up all of our belongings. Despite my fairly frequent kvetching on here about the commute, the truth is I do like the current place (I said like, not love). It definitely feels homey. And it holds countless memories over the past three years (the first year while dating Randy and getting to know him, and the second two years while living to gether and…puke, gag…starting a life together). But it’s true!

So, being the sort of guy who tends to live in the past and only remember the good things, I suspect a few years from now I’ll look back on living in Somerville as a positive experience (which it was overall). But I suspect I’ll forget about:

two or so years ago when a fire alarm would randomly go off every 1o minutes all day and all night. Since the beeping was a single beep, we could never track it down. Weeks later I finally discovered it in the basement stairwell.

living across the street from obnoxious (are there any other kind?)  college kids. The current lot, who moved in this month, just might be the worst so far.

the goddamn commute..which, truth be told, was always up hill both ways in the snow. Seriously….at least from December through March. Somerville is hilly outside Davis Square.

the upstairs neighbors (who we really do like). The husband chatting on his cell phone on our front porch (by the living room window) or running up and down the stairs in his man-clogs when he gets home from work after midnight. And, more recently, their inlaw family visiting from England with their 2 year old running constantly back and forth day and night for two weeks. Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump….thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

Yes, I’m sure those things will all become distant memories.

September 15th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment

So, yesterday was September 9, 2009 (or, 09/09/09). It also happened to be my three year anniversary with Randy (well, look at that, three times three is also nine). Anyway, we didn’t exactly celebrate in a traditional way;

We met with an attorney to draft our wills, power of attorney, health care proxy, etc…. Nothing says romance like talking about death. Still now that we’re going to own property together and, let’s face it, we’re not getting any younger, this is a logical thing to do. In fact, I should have had one drafted years ago.

We are getting an amazing deal, though. I called around and the cheapest lawyer I could find was $800 per person (one was even $1,100 per person). But through Harvard (another benefit of working here) we’re getting all of our estate planning documents drafted for only $300 each.

Oh, back to our anniversary, so then Randy got presented with a huge project and our evening was spent with him in the spare bedroom working and me catching up with things on the DVR (and playing on the internet, of course).

On the plus side, we’re both considering our trip to Ptown last weekend as the real anniversary celebration…and what a great trip it was! And we’re hoping to make up for last night’s lack or romance by going out to dinner tonight instead.

Oh, and we’re moving out three weeks from today. EEK!

September 10th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments

Randy and I did a last-minute trip to Provincetown for the Labor Day weekend and I have to say it was the most relaxed and enjoyable Ptown trip I’ve had in years.

We made it down in time for Friday night’s weekly art gallery walk. It wasn’t intentional, but we were walking around looking for dinner (after having not eaten anything since lunch time) and stumbled upon our first gallery. What’s this? Free wine and cheese? Why, sure!

Next thing you know, we’ve hit about 6-10 galleries, each with more and more wine. It was now about 10PM and we still hadn’t eaten anything but cheese, crackers, and a moist funfetti cake. Needless to say, the wine kicked in full force on our empty stomaches. Still, neither of us was that hungry, so instead of spending $20+ per person on a mediocre dinner, we simply got slices of pizza and retired to the guesthouse where we capped the evening off in the hot tub.

On Saturday we headed to the beach (of course), then did some strolling about town before getting Thai food for dinner. More walking ensued, then the evening ended again with us in a hot tub (this time joined by one of the owners, who also happened to be a bit drunk).

Oh, I should mention that upon making the reservation at the guesthouse I discovered that the owners were both from my home town (one, in fact, was from my village). We all graduated from the same high school and even knew some of the same people. But the reunions came to a quick end once the high school yearbook came out and Randy’s patience wore thin.

On Sunday we skipped the beach and ended up purchasing a bit of art for our new condo. We drove back leisurely by popping into various National Seashore beaches in Truro…even stopping by the Highland Light (my first time there).

We also stopped by our friend, Jeff’s, pondside place in Pembroke for a bit of a barbecue before finally getting home around 10PM.

I don’t think I could have asked for a better Labor Day.

September 8th, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment

I’m beginning to wonder if I should rename this website “Karl’s Weekly Blog since it seems that’s become the new frequency with which I update. I do hope time hasn’t run its course on this site because it has been enjoyable for me (and therapeutic).

There have just been so many distractions lately between summer travel, work (busy with annual reports), dogsitting, friends visiting from out of town, and biggest of all, planning for our move (we close in 30 days).

Though, with all of that going on you’d think i’d have oodles to write about. Perhaps I do, but it’s all just exhausted me to the point that I don’t feel like I can compose coherent thoughts about everything. At least, not in a witty way.

But maybe that’s just what I need to do… use this distraction to give me a break from the rest, and to take advantage of its therapeutic escapist benefits?

…or not.

Anyway, Randy and I had a fun/busy weekend. Friends came over Friday night and introduced us to two new games (Modern Art and Wits and Wagers). We loved the latter so much that Randy had us run to Target on Saturday so we could introduce it to more friends Saturday night. On Sunday we decided to go for a relaxing day (FINALLY!) and drove up to Rockport to walk around and enjoy the sites.  Ahhhhh.

September 2nd, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: Comments Off on What’s In a Name?