Adventures in Gastronomy

I do love that song. It’s one of the very few songs I enjoy no matter who performs it (it’s rare that I like a remake of a song – the only few I can think of off the top of my head are Hazy Shade of Winter, by the Bangles, and American Pie, by Madonna). But Baby, It’s Cold Outside is brilliant no matter who sings it.

The first version I knew was the Dinah Shore version (with Buddy Clark). I remember thinking the song was so dirty for Dinah to be singing. Then there’s the Louis Armstrong Verve remix with Velma Middleton. More recently, I’m digging the campy Tom Jones and Cerys version.

But today’s post is about the actual temperature. BRRR! Baby, it IS cold outside. Winter hasn’t even begun yet and it’s in the teens…and we already have more snow this season than we did all of last winter.

Still, it didn’t stop the Annual Speedo Santa Run in Boston. Hundreds of men (and more and more women each year) wear their red and green speedos and run through the streets of Boston’s Back Bay. And this year I’ve noticed some folks in blue speedos representing the Jews! I love it (one even had an illuminated mannorah hat)! This took place on Saturday. By Sunday, Randy and I never left the apartment except to shovel the 8 inches of heavy, wet snow that fell.

After all of the parties (and Randy’s travels) it was kind of nice to do nothing and go nowhere. Today, he’s heading to Santa Fe so yesterday was his last chance for a lazy day until sometime in January. I hope he enjoyed it!

December 17th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 4 Comments

….how pretty our house looks with the snow and the Christmas lights. Randy took a bunch of photos last night with the snow covered trees and lights front porch…and then I left them at the house. I also left my cell phone there, too. I guess it wasn’t my morning.

But it sure was pretty out there yesterday! A nice (and light) heavy snow made everything so peaceful and pretty (well, unless you were one of the idiots who decided to drive to work yesterday knowing that a snow storm would strike hours before rush hour, in which case you were stuck in highway traffic until 9:30PM).

I’ve got to say, though, this does rather concern me. Boston gets snow annually. Multiple times annually. And despite this we couldn’t handle a simple, well-advertised bout of snow? (no winds, no flooding, no icing…just snow). What was the point of installing all of those “Evacuation Route” signs after 9/11 and Hurriance Katrina? It seems the signs are useless because in a real emergency (which yesterday was NOT), residents of the Boston area are shit out of luck.

For me, my 1.5 mile commute took an hour (more than double my normal commute) – but it wasn’t bad. A bit of walking, a bit of subwaying, a bit of busing).  I’m enjoying the snow again today (it’s still pretty, overall, especially with the sun shining). I suspect I’ll be tired of it by tomorrow, though. And now with an even bigger storm expected on Sunday (though mixed with rain), I think I’m ready for spring.

Or at least a trip to someplace warm.

December 14th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 4 Comments

There’s been a lot of hoopla recently over an addition to the suburban Natick Mall. The renovation was so extensive it even resulted in a foofy new name: The Natick Collection.

In addition to the added shops (all high end: Tiffany, Nodrstrom, Nieman Marcus, etc…) a residential component was incorporated. Yep, luxury condominiums are being built with direct access to the mall. I’d been curious to scope this redevelopment out and last night I had the perfect chance: I needed to pick up a gift for Randy and the only store in Massachusetts was, you guessed it, located near that mall. Excuse me, near the “collection.”

First off, this 17 mile journey took nearly an hour as a result of traffic (there is no train access). How people drive to work in this everyday is beyond me. WHY somebody would do this is an even better question. I mean, at least on a train you can relax and read. And don’t give me crap about how trains are always delayed and such. Even if the train is delayed, you can still sit in a climate controlled environment and read/rest. Besides, based on what I witnessed on a typical Wednesday (in perfect weather) you’re going to be delayed as a result of vehicular traffic, too.

OK – that’s not the point of this thread.

So, I arrived at the mall and parked in the new wing. It is nice, I’ll give you that. But with all of the swirling rooflines and white on-white (with occasional wood) color schemes, I can’t help but wonder how dated this will look in 10-15 years. I mean, I’m sure the people at the Liberty Tree Mall were impressed when that first opened, too. But this new wing is so different, that there isn’t much one can do to “update” it without completely removing the ceiling. It also doesn’t blend with the existing mall at all. The new wing is all curves and open spaces while the old wing still has the standard linear mall walkway with annoying kiosks in the middle. You can tell the new wing screams “affluence” (Tiffany, etc…), while the original mall screams “suburbia” (Sears, JC Penney, Spencers). There really is no successful transition.

But the component I don’t get is the condos. I’m all for new urbanism. I’m all for mixed-use development where people can live without the need for a car. Hell, I think I feel more strongly about such things than any of my friends. Any sort of development that reduces the need for more automobiles is smart-development.

Or so I thought.

Nouvelle at Natick (the name for the condo portion) is weird. I mean, I can understand city dwellers wanting to live above/attached to a mall. For example, there are residences at Boston’s Prudential Center and Copley Place shopping malls. I’d love to live in such a location. You have easy access to the mall, plus you’re in the heart of EVERYTHING the city has to offer (Back Bay, South End, shops, restaurants, parks, supermarket). Hell, even suburban ones (like Mashpee Commons, designed as a small village with streets, shops, post office…even a church) can be successful.

If you lived at the Natick Mall (I mean, the Natick Collection) you’d have access to….

…a suburban mall.

There is no supermarket attached. There are no pedestrian streets around you. There is no onsite train service to offices or the city. It’s surrounded by parking and a million other strip malls. And a recent article in the Boston blog had a future tenant raving about her ability to watch the traffic on the Mass Turnpike. Wait…that’s a selling point?

December 13th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 11 Comments

Those of you who know Randy are fully aware that he’s a thrifty shopaholic. He scours the internet for deals, he purchases items only when on sale, and he returns 90% of the gifts you buy for him.

Well, it’s getting worse. Now he’s returning gifts he’s bought for you! I swear! And I think he dwells on this shit 24/7 because he’s on a business trip and called me last night. During the call he said that he’s planning on returning a few gifts he’s bought for people already. I recall him doing this last year, too (to me), and then regretting the decision while we were opening gifts.

Hell, a few days ago he even returned wrapping paper to the store (and we could use some more, ahem).

Oh well, at least he’s cute. I have to say that now especially since everybody is saying we look alike. By calling him cute, it means I’m cute, too! At least, that’s how my low self-esteem and twisted little mind works

December 12th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment

The writer’s strike only started a month or so ago but I’m already feeling the effects. With Randy traveling so much over the past month, the DVR was filling up quickly every week with all of the shows we recorded. But last week we noticed about half as many shows being recorded. And so far this week it’s recorded only two (which we watched last night immediately after recording).

This is bad. I may have to find other activities to entertain myself with like…gasp….reading. Or interacting socially with other people.

OH NO – what barbaric world has this writer’s strike brought upon us?

December 11th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 7 Comments

What a weekend! It all started Friday when Randy, Pete, Chris, and I went to the Ramrod Centre for the Performing Arts to see “Silent Night of the Lambs.” It was quite funny and campy…and in the end Randy and I even sat on Santa’s lap for a photo (above). Don’t you love his face mask?  You justcan’t trust those cannibals, can you? After dinner we ate a late dinner at Burton’s, in the Fenway.

On Saturday, Randy and I did a bit of Christmas shopping (though, we ended up coming home with more items for ourselves than for our loved ones) before hosting a birthday party for our friend, Zach. I think 23 people ended up attending so by the end of the evening (and with Randy’s jetlag) we were quite exhausted.

To make up for it, we never left the house until nearly 4PM on Sunday. Now THAT’S what a weekend is all about. After a quick trip to the gym, we attending a Christmas party hosting by our friends, Ben and Brad. More good times, good cheer, good music, and good company.

This rounded out a pretty nice weekend. Well, aside from waking up to an entire city covered in a glossy and smooth sheet of ice.

December 10th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments

I picked Randy up from the airport after work yesterday. His flight from Tokyo even got in early. Last night we did what we do best: eat, watch TV, and sleep. I even cooked him dinner! Well, I baked a frozen pizza and microwaved frozen vegetables. But I did it all by myself!

Tonight we’re off to see the current Ryan Landry play: Silent Night of the Lambs. Tomorrow we’re hosting a birthday party for a friend, and on Sunday we’re set to attend a holiday party at my friend’s, Ben and Brad’s, place.

As scheduled, he is set to be home for only another four nights before flying off to Austin. However, there’s a chance that trip may be canceled and I’ll have a full week with him before he flies to New Mexico the following Monday.

Gee, I hope I don’t get sick of him.

December 7th, 2007
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A report was released yesterday indicating that the United States has recently reversed a 14 year trend of declining teen pregnancies. Gee, you don’t suppose that has to do with the Bush administrations implementation of abstinence-only sex-education now, do you? (or should I say, LACK of sex-education)?

Yeah, yeah, Bush has been president for 7 years so why didn’t this happen sooner? Well, from what I recall, it took a few years for the program to be put into place. Then if you consider sex education is begun around the 6th grade, then 6th graders 4 years ago are now juniors in high school.

I suspected this would happen years ago and now my prediction has become a reality. And, to be honest, it saddens me. This means more abortions, more children up for adoption, more ill-equipt teen mothers, and most-likely more people needing social services. Brilliant plan, Bush!

December 6th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment

Things are going great with Randy so there’s nothing to write about there (besides, he’s been out of town practically for the past month – how could we be fighting?). This has to do with a book I sold on Amazon.com Marketplace.

The book was called “Bitter With Baggage Seeks Same”. Some creative person/people took photos of little baby chicks in various poses with various backdrops and props and made them all bitter, jaded folks seeking relationships. It was cute, but not something I needed to keep. I put it up for sale on Amazon (along with 20 or so other books).

Well, I’ve been selling these books since I moved in October and they’ve all been bought buy the same person I’ve been shipping them to. This book, however, was purchased by a man in Spokane, WA, yet he is having me ship it to a woman in the same town.

There are various scenarios running through my head – none of which (in my mind) will make the recipient a happy camper:

1 – This woman rejected this man’s advances, so he’s sending this book to be cruel
2 – This woman dated this man and they broke up unpleasantly, so he’s sending this book to be cruel
3 – This man is a stalker, so he’s sending this book to be cruel (notice a patter here?)
4 – This woman is unaware she upset this man, so he’s sending this book to be cruel

I can’t think of any other plausible reasons…unless she’s his fag-hag and they have an ironic friendship with similar senses of humor. Maybe it’s the that. Otherwise, I think I may have contributed to something horrible.

I know, I know – the photo isn’t of a chick…but how many chick photos do you have in your photo collection? Be thankful I even had a bird!

December 5th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments

BRRRRR! Winter has arrived early in Boston. The ground is covered in a layer of snow and the temperature this morning was 18 degrees (with a windchill of 1 degree) when I left for work this morning. But I can deal with that.

My problem was that the heat stopped working two nights ago and I couldn’t figure out why. Before I went to bed on Sunday night I noticed that the thermostat was programmed to 66 degrees and it was 65 degrees in the house. Why didn’t it turn on?

I went to bed only to wake up and find that it was now 57 degrees in the house. WTF? Randy is in Tokyo so I couldn’t easily contact him if I needed to contact the gas company or HVAC contractor. So I went to work and left Randy a voicemail, a text message, and an email, and an instant message. I wanted to have all of my bases covered since I don’t think his phone accepts incoming calls when he’s in Japan….and I don’t think it notifies him when a voicemail or text message arrives (though he can view them if he checks).

Well, I got home from work yesterday and the house was at 53 degrees….and because of the 14 hour time difference in Japan, I’d not hear from Randy yet. I wrapped myself in a blanket, turned on the laptop, and huddled on the sofa.

Randy called when he woke up (it was 7:30AM for him, 5:30PM for me). Apparently, the radiator ran out of water and I needed to fill it. This is all foreign to me – I’ve never had radiator heat before (it’s always been forced hot air). Anyway, it was an easy fix and Randy provided me warmth on a cold winter’s night…from 6,000+ miles away.

But this whole time-zone change is a huge problem. The four time zones within the U.S. are fairly easy to contend with. Hell, even the 5-6 hour difference between here and Europe isn’t bad. But I think 14 hours is probably the worst possible configuration. Not only is the other person on an opposite schedule (morning for them is night for you), but the only hours that you’re both available to speak are commuting hours. If he’s waking up at 7:00AM, that’s 5:00PM for me and I’m commuting. By the time he’s done showering and getting ready for his business meetings, I’m home from my commute and he’s gone to work.

Similarly, when I wake up in the morning and am able to chat a bit before work (8:00AM for me), it’s 10:00PM for him and he’s finishing up his business dinners and prepping for bed. The ideal time for us to talk is always when neither of us is available. Oh well, he arrives back here on Thursday afternoon (which would be Friday for him in Japan). UGH.

December 4th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments