The Latest
Let me know if links don't work. I'm not sure how long some of these things stay on various websites.
Past ramblings...5/29-9/29/5, 9/30-12/22/5, 12/22/5-3/23/6
5/13/6
I finally got 1740. Cute blonde at the pool.
5/11/6
This waste of time is pretty tough, and, as a hint, you have to look ahead to get anywhere. Use your mouse to click on a point from which to swing. No numbers worth posting, but 177, which is pretty pathetic. 198. I'll be back in a few more hours. 498. 536...and I blew it. 795 and I forgot to mention dad, you don't have to bash penguins in this one. 919. Something was growing in my fridge...had to take a break.
I hate it when people on TV have the same ringtone I do. I should expect it since it's the phone's default, but it's still a pain starting to get up until I realize it.
5/10/6
Michael Yon...just keep reading but the one I'm reading now is from 5/9.
5/9/6
I'm not sure which I despise more, tansy, sticks or strawberries, but I certainly spent enough time pulling, picking them up and picking them respectively. For those not familiar with tansy ragwort, it's a plant that eventually produces yellow flowers and I guess makes cows sick. I can't count how many of the damn plants I pulled and have no desire to do so. The battle against it never seemed to end, but I don't see much of it now when I go back, so maybe I did some good. It didn't end on the grandparent's farm...after Larry and Gail bought their place, Curt, Bob and I had another 17 acres to rid of the pest. I'm not positive, since we pulled most of it, but I think Larry eventually let us try a pesticide on it.
Just about every teenager, or even pre-teen, that grew up in Napavine during my era probably picked strawberries. Rose was the fastest picker I knew of and proved that a person could make money doing it, but I was more interested in goofing off and got fired every year...berry fights.
5/8/6
High School sports..the bane of us all. I was lucky enough to go to a small school...it allowed my small proportions to do OK. Where else could a guy who stood 5' 6" and weighed 130 when wet make all-conference at cornerback.? My athletic career was a mixed bag. I thought bigger than I was. My favorite track and field events were the high jump, long jump, shot put and javelin. If you noted my size...they didn't mix well. I didn't do badly and at one point in my life I came close to high-jumping my height, which is mildly impressive...for me, it is..
I grew up in Napavine, knew the same kids from day one and always thought I'd know them but disaster struck, not really, when I was a sophomore. We moved...not just moved, but moved to Rainier...kind of the dregs of HS athletics, or at least that was my impression and I didn't do anything to improve that perception with my initial efforts. My main perception of Rainier was getting knocked on my ass by Ron, later a friend, as a freshman QB sent in to try an extra point during a 60-14 Napavine win. He did his job well.
Napavine would live to kick my butt a few more times over the years as they went on to win the state 8-man football title the next season and had some pretty good athletes at the time. We didn't go down easy though. I remember the first game I played back there in basketball. Mike and I were pretty even as far as who should be starting and the coach decided that Mike would get Mossyrock and I'd get the Napavine game. It was kind of embarrassing, getting that loud of a cheer from an opposing crowd. I guess I had some endearing qualities. What brings me more pride though is the game in Rainier the next year...Napavine was clearly the superior team, but we were ahead after 3 quarters and although we eventually went down, the respect shown after the game by guys I used to play against as a kid was just as fun as a victory. It was kind of strange seeing our coach smile after a loss.
I used to call them matfaggots...then I became one. I was kind of naive because after the previous basketball season I was asked if I was going to play next season and honestly said no. I didn't realize at the time that I was voting on the coach, who was a very good coach. I'd finally realized that I wasn't going to get any taller than 5' 6" and that wrestling was a better venue for me. I did ok with it until I started wrestling guys who knew what they were doing. Then I got tied in knots. My old football coach from Napavine called me lazy but I don't think he knew I was wrestling....or playing baseball, two sports they didn't participate in at the time. I've written about baseball before and my inability to pitch reliably, but probably my most humiliating moment came with two strikes and a man on third...two outs. We were tied with Oakville at 6-6, I think, quite an achievement for a last minute, ragtag group of guys that we had become. I was, and still am somewhat, pretty quick, to the point where I'm amazed when someone points out how quick I am and figured that if I laid down a bunt that Rick could score from third should I make it to first. Three damn curveballs I never had a chance of hitting except in hindsight. It probably didn't help that some cute chick thought I had a nice ass....
5/7/6
Some of the crap email I get is tempting...
How would you like your own little trampy
slut that'll
take care of you at your beck and call? When you say,
"Go down on me!", she does it. When you say, "Bend over!",
she spreads her tight little cheeks wide just for you.
It only added to my fat, dumb and happy mood....after I deleted the thirty other emails that offer...well, you know.
And on another page, a description of whatever it is that the French do to themselves.
I was perusing a message board and the topic of the day was the song you were listening to the first time you fell in love. I pointed out that I didn't know and that it was a lie, but "Dancin' With Myself" immediately came to mind.
5/6/6
I'd specify a date but these are real posts from real people...so read them all. A lot of them come across as being from the left side of the spectrum, but they aren't the blatant liars of the Clinton/Kerry/Gore mold.
Sometimes I get tired of this...sometimes I don't. I often write a bunch of crap that just pops into my mind for no particular reason and probably makes no sense at all. Sometimes, and I think very rarely, I'll let you see the real me. It's not a pretty sight...then again, I wear glasses. I'm just saying this is both fun and a pain in the ass. When I have something to say I like it and when I happen to come across something I feel others should see, that's cool too. It's days like these that I wonder what the fuck I'm doing. Does it make a difference? Doubtful, but I'll keep trying, mainly because I want to make a difference. I'm not trying to tell anyone anything, just provide food for thought. I have no answers, hell, I don't even have the questions, but I do enjoy the search for both and humbly request that anyone that reads this does the same. As John Hiatt just said..."It just worked out that way".
I ordered my eventual bedroom stereo last night. A Candela tube preamp, a pair of Mono Extremes, some sort of awesome CD player and a pair of Loreleis in dark cherry. 6900 at a discount but it will be close to what I have now in my main room. I'm sending it to the parents for safekeeping and told Klaus to put a warning in the manual that it will implode if it even detects Eddie Rabbit CD's coming near it. He agreed with my assessment but has such good customer service that I doubt he'd ever say that publicly. All via Odyssey Audio...worth the price...or discount. It's worth calling him even if you don't buy anything.
Picking up sticks...sucks. There's no other way to describe it...it sucks. There are moments...like finding an arrowhead or something but for the most part it's just dusty, dirty work...fill up the scoop on the loader tractor, dump it, fill it again. I was kind of bummed when Grandpa cut down the trees because it took away one of the mysterious places that was fun to explore but it made him some money...a lot of big trees. What sticks with me most are the old split rail cedar fence pieces...I took a bunch of them up to our place in Rainier. the woods there were also a repository for old farm equipment that could no longer cut the mustard and currently is a repository for vehicles Bob doesn't like.
Just something I spent a few minutes on...
My name is Dick Stevens and I like my alias. It's not something I'm hiding behind as my email and web page are both available.
I personally feel that the biggest problem with US Rugby is an inability to focus. They're trying to do too much and in essence doing too little. I don't feel that the national office has a goal and if they do, it hasn't been articulated well. Pick something, whether it's the national team or youth and focus your efforts...or create teams to focus on separate goals, just don't keep wasting money on half-hearted, or ineffectual attempts to "do something". Pick a goal, let us give our input on how best to achieve it and go from there.
I agree that there is an "American" aspect to being a rugby player and that it needs to be present in the coaching staff. He needn't be the head coach because I believe that, in general, foreign coaches offer more in the technical aspect of the game. In my perfect world, Tom would still be head coach with Tony Smeeth advising...with Dave and Dan kicking asses and taking names behind the scenes.
There are a lot of good soldiers out there, willing to fight for the sport. Use them, don't let personal or political insecurities chase them away.
I'd also like to thank Kurt for providing this forum and hope that some of the discussion makes its way to the ears of those that matter.
cheers,
Dick
5/5/6
A lot of this rings true, but we played smear the queer and I don't remember ever getting an "F". What happened? Greedy lawyers...overly legislative or overly medicated political representatives...
5/4/6
She had legs that never ended...does that evoke any memories? I regressed into wishing I was two years old tonight...not ashamed, just acknowledging that I'm somewhat of a pervert. I went down to the local markets to search for peppers and onions...anticipating an awesome omelette about now, but only found onions. I stopped at Franx on the way home and had a couple of ciders. Two attractive women came in with a kid, about the age of two. Both were about 5' 10" and one, the too skinny one, was obviously the mother. Fortunately the aunt(guess on my part) was tasked with walking him around and in her micro-mini, looked extremely good doing so. The perverted part(use your own judgment) is whether the kid, who did look a few times, enjoyed the view. I know I would have....
5/3/6
It just wasn't my morning...occasionally I'll get stopped by cops on the way to work so they can check my license and insurance, but this morning I had to take a breathalyzer. It was around 0430 so it's understandable especially considering that a driver I had just passed was pretty obviously impaired. It just made me a little late for work. I got dive bombed by the bird again...attack unsuccessful.
5/2/6
Craigslist was updated recently...good for a few laughs.
I'm really starting to dislike birds. Somewhat surprisingly, this is making me reconsider somewhat my low opinion of cats. There's a nest outside my door, up around the second floor and apparently their young have just hatched, which makes them a little loud, but not annoyingly so. There's also the small pile of crap, but it's easy to avoid. What bugs me is that I was dive-bombed on my way to the door the other day. I didn't notice really until I heard the flapping near my ears. At least they're not like the seagulls at Long Beach, the ones that dive bomb cars with their droppings. These guys mainly take their dumps right below their nest. I'm considering carrying a piece of cardboard above my head so if they attempt another strike they may get stuck and then I can consider something sadistic but they haven't pissed me off enough yet.
5/1/6
Michael Totten's got more about the mideast.
The NFL draft...it's become less fun, partly due to the time differential between here and there and partly because Squidly has an incredibly cute daughter now and she's apparently stealing his attention away from the Seahawks. His was one of the first "cool" websites I came across way back when the web was accessed very slowly. He lives back east but is a die hard 'Hawk fan. He's still around, just not as much. He normally hosts a chat room on his site where the nuts gather during the draft and on game day to see who can be the smartest ass and I couldn't stay up late enough this year. It was really kind of a predictable draft. Nothing for anyone to bitch about. Part of that is due to the fact that the Seahawks are a pretty complete team. It's nice that they are secure enough to be able to take high character guys even though they don't have the most gaudy stats. I'm hoping for another visit home during the playoffs.
I'm kind of lucky because the place in which I'm living has a marble/pseudo-marble floor. It has an off-white base color and brown to red streaks in it. It hides stains well. I just mopped it and discovered that a lot of those streaks weren't part of the tiles. Also, in case you were wondering, a person can cut themselves while washing a grater...fortunately I bumped into the side with the small blades.
4/29/6
Oh yeah, my stereo still kicks ass! I'm waiting for the NFL draft to start and am debating whether or not to let the current CD finish...
And, I just have to share this commercial I just saw. I have no idea who the company was I was laughing so hard. Picture caveman times, wearing animal skin and one individual finds a large, round, and apparently soft rock. He contemplates it awhile and begins to carve, eventually ending up with more or less a coin shape, about 6 feet tall and a foot wide standing on edge. He then drills a hole through the center and inserts a small log through the hole. Brilliant, you think, the wheel and axle! The next scene shows the potential wheel on its side with the axle still protruding up into the air. Shortly after this is a large crowd of caveguys watching a hot cavegirl dance around the pole. I tell you...we can't help it...it's in our genes.
I was just thinking about how I found this place. The place the photo is taken from...I'd been familiar with the object of the photo for quite awhile.
There's an old railroad grade(without tracks) that cuts off a corner ofthe farm. I'm hoping it's more than 5 acres so I can someday build on it, although even that may depend on zoning laws that seem to change constantly in Lewis county. A permanent lease, I guess you'd call it, was granted to whichever timber company built the railroad and I think it's now owned by Hampton.
It was a convenient way for hunters to access the hills and forest during hunting season and later, once they blocked off the main entry into the logging road network, a convenient way for those in the know to get in there. Bob used to 4-wheel in there all the time and once took me to an old homestead on Cedar Creek, I think, that I never guessed was there. It could have been Brim Creek, but I was pretty much lost at that point. It was pretty amazing the places he could take that truck, although he was smart enough to carry a winch just in case. We used it once. It sure beat the time in FL a couple of friends of mine took me, in classic 4WD trucks, jacked up and huge tires, down a gas pipeline near Crestview. I think we drove for three minutes before we were stuck. Craig walked back to get either a jack or Jerry and his truck while I chopped down small trees and cut them up in case he came back with a jack. He came back with both and of course Jerry got stuck trying to get to us so we used the jack and trees to get Craig out so we could tow Jerry out. We eventually made it and celebrated with many, many beers...a few laughs too.
Anyway, the logging roads in the hills above the railroad grade were a lot of fun for me. A great place to ride a motorcycle...one time I did come out on Brim Creek and hoped I had enough gas to make it back on surface roads because I didn't trust myself to find my way back on the logging ones.
You've probably seen some photos of the farm and Fenn's from a place that I used to take a six-pack and listen to Mariners games at. I love that valley and never tire of looking at it. It was just a place where they likely had a spar tree(not sure on the terminology) that overlooked both places. The trees are probably too high to see anything now.
On one of my visits home my uncle, Larry, mentioned that when he used to walk along the railroad grade hunting there was an apple tree somewhere that he thought had delicious apples. He may have been delirious from walking or hungry from packing a deer or elk out, but I decided to take a 4-wheeler for a look. I never found it, but once over there I noticed the pink tape they use to mark which trees to cut and which not and decided to walk around the edge. It was a bitch because parts were pretty steep. There's a fairly flat spot near the edge of the property line with Fenn's place that's part of the drainage for a minor creek, probably more accurately classified as a spring, that they used to use for watering their cows. Eventually it would become the site of the first Fort Colton, at least that I know about. On the way down from the top I came across a large flat section and started thinking that it might be big enough to build a place on. I asked Grandpa about buying it and in hindsight I should have realized that he'd more or less give it to me, but once I got to the edge and saw the view, I knew I had to have it.
Bob cleared it off in exchange for the timber, it still had some pretty old trees, and partly because he just likes driving the cat and starting big fires and then I went to work. I still had to clear out the small growth between the view I wanted and where I stood. I actually worked hard enough to not notice a fairly major earthquake not too far away, believe it or not. I still need to find a way to permanently get rid of the undergrowth on the slope down to the grade, as well as have Bob get rid of the trees along the grade that are growing to spoil the view...so thanks Larry, for the story about the apple tree. Also, thanks Tommie, whoever you are for letting me know that you have a camera and can't resist stripping.
4/28/6
I've probably linked to this or something similar, but good things are worth reading twice.
Those were surprisingly tasty! I was worried about the filling because I used corn meal instead of corn starch and it wouldn't dissolve fully. I added more sugar because I boiled it longer trying to get the meal dissolved. I think I should have added the food coloring because it wasn't very tasty looking. Here's the marinade, with soja inside of soy sauce and Crown Royal instead of whiskey, if indeed it's not whiskey. I also used allspice instead of Chinese 5-spice. It was pretty thick but after putting the meat in most of the solids went away and the remainder was about the consistency of water. Here's what the tenderloin looked like before. Here's after...I screwed up when cooking them because I was thinking 350 for the meat and 300 for the final product but since I was checking them regularly, I caught it before they were too done. It's also apparent there's an art to folding them that I didn't pick up in my first six efforts. After the fact, I think I realized what I did wrong, one thing of which was baking, another trying to make too many at once. I was taking too much space on the board trying to make six at once and got impatient...and hungry. A little overcooked, and unattractive, but I did eat two of them and the others are in the refrigerator for later.
This story doesn't disparage the current administration so you likely won't find it unless you look for the truth about things.
I'm slowly getting better at working with dough. When making the dough for the manapua I realized that in the past I've neglected the 3 tbsp. of water normally used for activating the yeast. I can't find regular yeast and am using the instant kind, which you just mix with the other ingredients and let it work. This batch feels better with the extra 3tbsp. This version is also a little different in that it calls for a few hours rising in the refrigerator. I normally just let it rise two or three times at room temperature. Another thing I might try with the next pizza is letting the dough rise after I've rolled it into shape. One of my complaints is that the crust is tough and I'm guessing that this will make it softer. I'm not sure if it will work with dough that's been refrigerated or frozen so if it works I'll probably have to fresh dough, which is kind of a pain. Anyway, the pork's cooking and the bread's rising...
I decided to bake these, mainly because I haven't used my steamer yet. The recipe tells me to put them in the steamer on wax paper and I haven't found any at the local stores. I wasn't sure if foil would be the same so I'll play it safe.
The pork's only been cooking for 20 minutes and it already smells good. This could be a fattening day.
4/27/6
The char siu is marinating. I went down to Jonny's, then Franx and I was surprised how dead it is. No one but waitresses and drinking taxi drivers in Jonny's and no one except for myself and Monica's husband in Franx. It doesn't look like a good tourist season for a city that pretty much depends on it. It used to be that Anthony and I could enjoy happy hour at the City Pride and not be able to count the kids being pushed in strollers that we wished we were the fathers of. I haven't been there this year, but if it's anything like this neck of the woods, they're hurting. There's a lot of older people, for whom the holiday in Cyprus is likely a tradition, but the younger folks aren't around yet. They were in years past.
I can't say that I blame people for not coming here. It's a nice place and does have a long and turbulent history, but sometimes poor beaches and old rocks don't cut it. From my perspective it's the lack of variety. The Germania is different, good jagerschnitzel, TGIF's tries hard but is a poor imitation of the original and most other pubs, whether of the English, Irish, Welsh, Scottish or Cypriot, are the same. Crappy frozen microwaved dishes that you can buy in the local supermarket.
Tonight I had a chili dog. They had a hot dog on the menu and they had jacket(baked) potato topped with chili con carne on the menu so I thought I'd see if they'd try the combo for me. They've done it before when I ordered Franx omelet with a salsa topping so I figured I'd get it. The omelet/salsa combo is pretty damn good! The chili dog wasn't. It was fair. Too much bread, two long and thin foot long dogs and some very bland chili. I didn't bother to ask for some shredded cheddar, but what was probably the worst was that they served it on a bed of lettuce. It would probably have been better with the french honey mustard vs. the English variety but...me and France...oh well. It's kind of sad because in the superficial way I've come to know these people I like them. A lot of places have spent a lot of money over the winter modifying their bars/restaurants so they comply with EU standards and I'm sure they could use a good season to pay for it but so far it's just not happening.
I'm finally trying to make manapua...slightly different ingredients, but close to the linked recipe. Photos sometime this weekend. This is perfect...note the author.
4/26/6
Wow, an article about a sports figure...didn't even cringe while reading it.
I guess I should have looked harder for wooden clothespins, although I'm sure they have their drawbacks too. I've been hanging them on a line in my upstairs hallway but decided to dry them outside today. So far, and it hasn't been windy, at least seven have snapped. A couple of them just from holding a single sock. If a year of sun can do that to plastic, my skin should be leather shortly...
4/25/6
An interesting pizza today, mainly because I thought I was going to run out of mozzarella. I decided to try some feta as the layer between the sauce and meat. It wasn't as strong as I thought it would be, noticeable but a little overpowered by the other flavors, chorizo, pepperoni, bacon and my remaining mozzarella. I also guess it's time to either clean the stone or let the grill burn for awhile. Something's burning while it cooks and the cheese almost looks sooty. I can't taste it, but it just doesn't look right.
4/24/6
Here's an interesting thread on a sports site I recently found...most of the other posters lean a bit farther to the left than I, as you'll note in their choices, but it's an interesting topic. Since I first posted my choices, I've reconsidered them several times but haven't changed them. I'm hairofthedawg if you don't already know my alter ego and if my choices bring a smile, please read further along for a brief explanation. Caution; If you venture into other threads on the site...well...they're not all as politically correct as this one is so far. Funny, but not always safe.
It seems to raining later in the year here than it normally does...could just be my memory, but usually the thunderstorms don't seem to make it to ground around now. It looked like it rained pretty good this morning and after a few hours of sun it's returned. Great big drops too! I was reading on the balcony and barely managed to get inside before being nailed by one.
4/22/6
I was just chatting with Roberta and she mentioned that she couldn't understand my attachment to music. You'd have to be here! It's not something I can articulate. It's like I can feel the fingers on the frets. I just sit here and smile stupidly....which, incidentally, isn't a strange state for me.
I've heard it before but I just reread some of the crap I post and if you ignore the typos, parts of it make sense. Too bad I'm listening to a song called "It's All Mixed Up" right now...otherwise I'd write something sensible. The Huskies play their spring game this afternoon and I can hardly wait for the opinions to make their way to Dawgman's message board. It's not that I usually feel the need to reply or comment but prior to the game I did. There was a post about the WSU coach's wife dying and of course you got the politically correct expressions of sympathy but one individual chose to speak the truth and say that he more or less didn't give a damn. He was attacked, quite predictably, but was he wrong? I had no inclination to express my sympathy although I obviously realized it was a sad occurrence. It's sad but it didn't affect me in any way whatsoever so why should I? More importantly, why should the guy who posted be attacked for calling people on their hypocritical political correctness? Life in a Democratic state, even though the first attackers were Coogs and Ducks...surprise, surprise. I thought it would have been Huskies...although they weren't far behind.
Apparently it's legal in the states too...an excellent roundup on the latest traitor...
I've known it was legal to be a dipshit in several European countries for awhile but just found confirmation that it's so in Britain, even if you're a judge.
Rereading yesterday's post I realized that I forgot the grand slam story. My pitching improved after the Boistfort debacle. I started the next game and despite numerous walks, I only allowed one hit to Rob, the opposing pitcher. Trouble was we couldn't get a hit off of him either. I think we won 1-0, which is rare in Little League, at least ours.
We had loaded the bases, the Onalaska/Napavine team and Jim had nearly hit his last shot out in loading the bases. I always liked playing with Onalaska because it seemed their bats were always better than ours, at least they had one this year that I really liked. I was standing there watching the new pitcher warming up and thinking that this guy is grooving them. I was glad because the earlier pitcher had a curve ball that I didn't like. I'm not sure how many pitches there were but I remember two of them. The first was foul, to the left and was probably the hardest I'd ever hit a ball...well beyond home run range. The second was over the fence in left field, the first home run I'd ever hit except for one in PeeWees that I got via errors on a groundball to short.
Babe Ruth was more of the same except that we moved before my last year. I was playing for what was kind of a combined Adna/Boistfort team and we were pretty good. My cousin Wade was a pretty good pitcher and the aforementioned Rob was as well. We went undefeated but it was kind of funny playing against Napavine, something I'd have to learn to do even more in the coming years. Roxy told me she didn't know who to cheer for when I was batting. That was nice of her. I didn't make the all-star team that year except as an alternate although I probably should have. I decided to blow off the last practice to hang out at the Napavine Funtime Festival and was selected as an alternate instead. It wasn't the last mistake I'd make. I just remembered my favorite part of that season...grandpa used to let me drive to practice and games illegally...
Couldn't help it...
4/21/6
Baseball...I enjoyed playing it. I don't remember much about PeeWee's other than Jeff getting hit by Tony first in the left, then the right thigh. I know I would have been checking to make sure I had my cup on before the next at bat or trying to borrow someone's. I made it to the majors when I was ten, which is good. I didn't hit much but that's mainly because I was pretty short and batted with an exaggerated squat that gave me next to no strike zone. It was pretty comical when we played Onalaska. Their first baseman was about six feet tall(age12) and we used to joke whenever I was on first base. It's not that I couldn't hit, I just didn't get many strikes. I remember the all-star games I got to play in...designated walker. The first time I got in was a blowout(we were winning) and of course I walked. We had a guy on third and the coach told me to take second on the walk. I slid in and saw the ball sailing into centerfield and the guy on third scoring so I got up and headed for third sliding in safely. I probably had a huge grin. Later, in a game in which we weren't doing so well I was interrupted mid-popsicle to pinch hit for someone. The coach got angry when I swung at a pitch over my head but, again, I walked...and was promptly pulled for a pinch-runner. My popsicle had melted.
The next season was pretty fun. Onalaska always won the league and we were usually second but we combined with them for our all-star team and we won. White Pass was normally the team to beat but we met them in the first round and won and ended up winning against them again in the final match. I remember that as being one of the first times I was really attracted to a girl. Waffle-stompers and she made her frayed cut-offs look very nice. I think she grew up to be someone I'd actually meet named Connie but never asked her. Somewhere during all of this, and it could have been next season was an incident with an umpire where I learned that being respectful and honest works both ways. I was catching Dave and he was having a bit of trouble finding the strike zone. Ray was the ump and after a close call where the ball was outside I hollered "c'mon Dave, your close, just keep puttin' it in there." Ray muttered a thanks the next time he knelt behind me. I was surprised, but it's one of those things that stick with a person.
The next season was memorable for mainly two reasons. I pitched for the first time and hit a grand slam in the all-star series. None of our pitchers could get the ball over the plate so I told the coach that at least I could do that. He put me in and I came pretty close to striking out the side over the next two innings. Rob, from the other team told me I had a pretty good fastball. I was just trying to throw strikes, and not always as successfully as I'd advertised to the coach. As an example, after my performance my coach decided to start me against Boistfort. I'm not sure what it was, maybe the look of fear on a kid I knew named Todd's face as I warmed up but I tried to hard and didn't get out of the first inning before being pulled. I didn't realize that I didn't have to throw it as hard as I could to be effective. I'd have the same problem later as a senior in HS. I could dominate in practice but put me in a game and the adrenaline destroyed me. I'm getting bored writing this so I can imagine how you feel....feeling the need to make another pizza.
4/20/6
Why does pizza have to be so damn messy...flour everywhere, sauce splatters when I forget to cover it simmering...oh well. Back to basics today and some strange mozzarella, came in a bag with liquid in it and once shredded was very sticky, tasty, but sticky, hard to sprinkle evenly. I think I should send this photo to the local Pizza Hut to show them what single pepperoni means...I order double..you can see the cheesy difference here. And it tasted pretty damn good!, added a quarter teaspoon of cayenne to the leftover sauce because I know pepperoni likes it.
Sometimes I think I like cooking more than eating...or maybe I like bragging about it on this page, but even though I've still got half of yesterday's creation in the fridge, I still want to cook another one. Have to make some more dough though.
But I thought it was the religion of peace...
Publius Pundit's always good...mainly for valuable news that the MSM doesn't think damages the president.
I found my keys! I guess(don't remember doing so) I took them outside at some point while I was making pizza yesterday and they were under a couple of potholders(dishrags according to Gayle) that I left out there.
Political correctness at work! C'mon people! It's gotta smell with your heads in there! Although I will admit that working with the AF has heightened my awareness of sexual harassment. A lot of women use it...and some are justified. I remember when Denise left here I sent her an email explaining how much I thought of her and why I hadn't acted on it. I called her ahead of time to see if she would be offended if I told her that my nickname for her was "happy butt", because it made me smile. Kind of ruined the sentiment of the email but...I was safe. I got a giggle out of her!
A lot of ifs but interesting thoughts on what happens if Iraqi politicians can't get their shit together.
Not a good morning...couldn't find my house keys. I must have relived yesterday 20 times in an effort to figure out where they are and 3 hours later...no luck. When I get home I clean out my pant's pockets and put everything on the counter...not there. I figured I would have stepped on them at some point as many times as I've walked around the place. Fortunately there wasn't anything going on at work for us today but I couldn't call Jerry to let him know what was up because my phone was out of money. I sent him a text message but when I didn't hear from him I sent him an email. He called me back laughing. I don't blame him.
It's about time!
Since I'd given up on finding them for the time being I was watching the Mariners' game via yahoo and a message board. Most of the commenters on the site are pretty pessimistic about the team and the topic of today's game thread was more or less that Carl Everett sucks and even if he plays well, he'll still suck. It was poetic justice that he hit a 3-run homer to win the game...even if it cost me a win in my fantasy baseball league. Speaking of which, the Swingin' Richards are still in first. I got off to a hot start with a bunch of players I wasn't familiar with(automatic draft) and haven't cooled off much. I did pick Felix Hernandez and Kenji Johjima from the M's, but haven't made many moves.
4/19/6
Unlike yesterday's link to a long post today's is more important, except to the guy who got his balls stuck. Michael Yon will get you thinking and he, along with Michael Totten, are two of the voices I most trust on how things are in the Middle East, at least that I read online. I gave on newspapers except for sports for the most part long ago.
I also think I'm mastering the art of transferring the pizza from the paddle to the stone. I've torn a couple of crusts by using a spatula to assist the slide, mainly because the toppings were falling off while I waited for the pizza to slide off. It's a little bit scary when the the pizza is close to the size of the stone but I just have to get some forward motion going and pull the paddle out from under it.
Damn, I didn't know I was reading a gay book. After trying to figure out what was making ripples in the pool, seeing small birds taking drinks from it and realizing that this sort of strange behavior was either part of their mating ritual or the effects of chlorinated water, I returned to my book and the center section fell out...broke...back.
Normal size photos. Pizza of the day...Hawaiian. It was good, even though I forgot the cayenne in the sauce. I noticed it but I'm not sure if it would contrast with the pineapple the same way it does with my rib glaze. I also think I should put the pineapple on near the end of cooking especially if I try my next experiment...provided I can find the fresh pineapple. I tried to remove as much of the juice as I could and it didn't soften the crust like I was worried it would. The rolling pin works great although I had to put flour on it because this batch of dough was a little sticky. The ad for the pin said it was made of silicon and I expected something harder, but having played with couple of fake breasts I should have realized that it's very versatile. I still can't make a round crust but that's likely a matter of practice. I should just let the camera autofocus, point and shoot.
Would everyone please quit violating my PayPal and Chase accounts? They're getting a complex. Also, I was just informed that I could make millions with my revitalized sledgehammer of love.
Wretchard expresses something I've been thinking for awhile far better than I could. I'm not speaking of this particular example, but the Democrats in general.
4/18/6
Michael Totten's got another installment up.
They finally finished filling the pool today. Why it took so long I don't know except that they used only one garden hose for the most part. Future pizzas will be made and shaped on and with these(large photo just because this camera is awesome in that mode), which I got in the mail today. The only bitch will be cleaning the cutting board in my tiny sink. Now I just have to remember to buy some more mozzarella.
I found this photo, along with several other hilarious ones, at various points in this thread about a poor guy who managed to get his balls stuck between the wooden slats of a chair. He's stuck there in front of his computer and asking people on this website for ideas. It's a long thread but pretty funny so remove any beverages from the immediate vicinity and enjoy...unless you enjoy spewing liquid on your monitor.
4/16/6
So anyway, the river flows pretty straight...(large photo)for now. Grandpa's rip rap he put on one quickly eroding corner has worked pretty well but it's only a matter of time. The section in the is moving to the west and heading for Sepp Creek, I think. You can see it here. That's Cedar creek coming in from the right and Sepp running in from the south and then the west. One year Grandma took us over to view the remnants of a flood. I think a bunch of debris had got blocked up behind a beaver dam, or a series of them and it flooded pretty good. I was amazed at the time anyway.
Another thing a kid on a farm quickly becomes used to is manure. It seems like you're always scraping it or walking in it. That was the first job I really remember doing on the farm other than giving the cows grain...scraping the barnyard. Depending on who was driving, either Bob or I would step on the clutch and the other would shift. We were pretty little. Everything eventually got pushed into a lagoon pit where it sat and fermented until it spread on the fields.
You can imagine some of the fun that kids can have around a large pit of...manure. I don't remember how old I was but my feet were pretty small and the boots I wore didn't go that high. I was trying to see how far out I could walk into the pit. It sloped down and I took one step too far. Of course I moved my other foot as well and soon had two boots slowly filling with...manure. Another time Bob and I were out there shooting birds with our bb guns. Grandpa didn't like bird...manure on the side of the barn. I also remember trying to shoot the bull in the balls but I never hit him and in hindsight am glad I didn't. Anyway, in the summer the pit crusted over as it dried and I discovered that you could stand on it near the edge. I don't remember the specifics, but there was a contest between Bob and I and I somehow convinced him to be the first to see who could walk farther across it. He didn't make it very far, but fortunately didn't sink in very far either. Shoveling manure...and I consider them the good old days.
We didn't spend all our time on the farm. We lived in Napavine and there are a lot of memories from there as well. For the longest time in kindergarten I could only tie my shoes with one bow. I think I just needed longer strings. There was also the sandbox and bi-weekly crew cuts with Grandpa. There was a lot of sand spilled and some of these were occasion for a refill. Diana, Harvey and David were the neighborhood kids. Baseball games in the back yard...I can't count the cuts I got from retrieving the ball from the pampas grass. Mr. Heinrich made his rounds to work the dirt in everyone's garden with his little tractor. Bob and I probably tried to convince him that we could drive it for him but if we did, we weren't successful.
Harvey was different. He had a paper route, selling Grit magazine, more of a paper, went barefoot and you knew he was around because he always whistled. He once won a bet with our shop teacher about whether he could whistle the theme from The Rockford Files. Last time I saw him he was in his Navy uniform.
4/15/6
I should have realized this earlier, but with the way my stereo sounds and the way my pizza tastes...I could quickly become very rotund. More as I roll around to it...
What I remember...my first, or earliest, memory is of a piece of a train I couldn't find. I think it was a coal car. We were living in a house on Howard Detering's property and moving from there to Chehalis and I couldn't find it. I guess I didn't find it because it doesn't register with me later on. I'm not sure exactly when it was but I also remember picking pie cherries from a tree there from Grandpa's truckbed. Howard was an enigma for a young kid, kind of a legend with his long, multicolored beard. I spent a bit of time watching him saw lumber for my Grandpa but probably didn't say much to him because I was pretty shy and like I said, he was hard to figure out. Later in his life he built sort of an observatory, meaning a windowed room on top of his house.
The South Fork of the Chehalis River is kind of a meandering animal and you can see the remnants of its wandering in the numerous low spots in the fields. There's the section of the farm we call the island and at one time is was an island. Even I remember the low sections of it being called the slough. That was back when people that grew peas had to have their own machines to remove the peas from the pods. It was probably explained to me at one point how it actually worked but I don't remember. They're still parked in a field on Fenn's place if you want to take a look. It's a little easier to explain if I contrast it with modern methods...now they cut the pea vines in a manner similar to cutting hay and the combines come along and process them...peas come out. Back then, they'd still cut them but the vines had to be transported to the combines for processing. I remember big metal square things under the output collecting the peas. Now they remind me of strawberries, tasty, but after you've worked with them enough, you kind of get sick of them.
Before I wandered off on the pea tangent, I was kind of getting at a rumor that Howard had run his D-9 cat down the river and straightened the channel. It could be and based on what I've seen of the river it makes sense. I wish I had been there back then because it must have taken a lot of work to route Cedar Creek the way it runs now. It looks to me like the confluence of Cedar Creek and the river was more or less a swamp at one time.
I also remember digging the ditches for the plastic pipe with holes in it that drained the swampy land across the road. The results almost formed a permanent creek....Dick Creek... where they drained. It runs down through Fenn's place but I've never followed it to the river. It wasn't fun and in the winter it's still a swamp, but it's useful land.
What else about the early years? After we moved to Chehalis I remember walking on a neighbor's hose like it was a balance beam and failing to balance on a bee...neighbors across the street that moved to South Bend or Raymond? The bee sting was a bitch, but that's part of being a kid. I'm not sure if my dad bowled then or not, but that's another thing I remember fondly, watching him bowl. I learned how to keep score at an early age and I think the first ball I rolled that hit the pins knocked six of them down.
I spoke with my dad last night and he told me that Bob's girlfriend Donna had done something with the windows in the barn, putting old photos in them in some manner. He mentioned one that really rang a bell...a photo of Bob, Ed Rose and I frolicking with Lassie's pups. Lucky dogs were those that lived at the farm...what we didn't eat...they did. They got a lot of eggs until I learned to enjoy them but it was mainly pancakes and waffles. I miss Grandma's strawberry jam...among other things. She usually kept dinner leftovers for the people. Burnt beans, smothered pork chops...I'm surprised I was so skinny as a kid. I remember one time a friend of my mom's came over for dinner and mixed his peas and potatoes...I thought it was the best invention ever...totally delicious. I'll keep going with this when I feel like it...hope it's not too boring.
Although it could be because it's Saturday, whatever they did to my website is nice...takes just a few seconds to upload an update instead of 15 minutes. Half the time I'd be waiting for the directory listing to load and then when I remembered to check it, the connection had died.
No mozzarella, at least that I could read, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to try a Hawaiian pizza. I did get the pineapple.
Simon's back in the UK but has a list of links to the current inhabitants of the Halley research station in Antarctica. I enjoy them...maybe you will.
4/14/6
My sourdough starter didn't work and I even gave it a couple of days to see if I got the sour smell. It's supposed to be bubbly and frothy too. Guess I'll have to try that one again. I did use instant yeast, but I've read about others using it too so that shouldn't be the problem. The latest batch of dough is a little sticky, but as long as I flatten it out with lots of flour on the board, it cooks up pretty good. It's a little hard right after cooking but the next morning, or afternoon, as pizza often does, is a lot better.
Toppings, cheese and about to be devoured.
Sorry about that, but they put up a bunch of new emoticons at a message board I frequent and they've been used in all sorts of combinations to make jokes about other school and I just went with the rudest combination I could find. I'm still playing with pizza dough and went to the other extreme this time, just a little too sticky. I'm getting there but still enjoying the results regardless.
4/13/6
I'm feeling kinky tonight.
Another time killer...I was hoping for a little more after winning...oh well.
More from Michael Totten's trip back to Iraq. Fascinating stuff and if you enjoy it, hit his tip jar.
4/11/6
And now Italy moves toward the lunatic fringe, which, although a great song, isn't a place I'll ever choose to dwell, IMHO of course.
I used to laugh at the French, but now I sort of feel sorry for them. Weak leaders and a lack of intelligence in the citizenry...it's probably laziness but I rarely err on the positive side when it concerns that nation.
Michael Totten is back in Iraq and as always, it's an interesting tale.
This story brought tears to my eyes, but I'm pretty much a die-hard Husky fan.
4/10/6
Sometimes I hear a song that describes so perfectly what I want to say to someone that it scares me that someone else had that exact thought. They sing it better than I do as well. It just worked out that way.
I have to admit, with a bit of pride, that this ended up tasting pretty damn good. The crust wasn't perfect but I watched it a lot more closely today and it didn't burn. I think I'm ready to take another 1/3 cup of flour out of the recipe and make a large batch of dough so I can freeze some. The sauce is excellent although I wonder whether it will work with bacon and pineapple. It's a little spicy but I'm looking forward to the contrast with the pineapple...that's just me. Aside from the effect it will have on my waistline, or lack of, this is a lot of fun...send me ideas for toppings!
I'm pretty sure I've written about this before on one of the past pages I didn't save so if you've heard the story, too bad, this page is for my benefit as well.
I was reading this guy's site, mainly because I was one of many that offered him advice on purchasing a firearm and it reminded me of one of the best guys I've worked with. He was a system engineer which kind of means he had the big picture and I helped him paint it. His position was a lot more stressful than mine and occasionally he felt the need to relieve this stress. He had various methods...driving fast...I remember driving from the Antelope Valley to LA on highway 14, and I didn't drive too slowly myself. I left awhile before he did and after a bit I hear a honk and see a wave as he flew by me.
Anyway, another method was shooting...there was a range a couple of blocks away and we went there a few times and had a blast.(pun intended) I suggested to Mr. Mustard, from the website that he and his wife find a place like this before they bought guns. It gives you a chance to try several and find one that's comfortable.
One of the projects Ben and I worked on was at an antenna test range. I stayed up there but some of the guys drove up every day. They didn't show up until around nine so I had a couple of hours to either be productive or not. Despite the fact that several novice Japanese skydivers had nearly impaled themselves on our vertically polarized log periodic antenna, I decided to take a dive myself. I quickly went through the five static line dives and this qualified me for the first free fall, with an instructor. If you've ever listened to Mark and Brian, this is at the same place that Brian skydives, or used to. Everything was cool, but I hadn't unlocked the truck we worked out of and on my way down I saw Ben waiting outside watching me come down. I had a big grin as I waved on the way back to the hangar to drop off the gear and almost convinced him to try it.
4/9/6
Let me try this again. I deinstalled my internet security stuff and am just relying on a hardware firewall but that should be ok.
Here's this version of dough, which is better, but probably still has too much flour. It was a lot easier to work with though, although I still had issues with temperature. As you just saw, I still cant make a circle. I think I need to let it sit a bit longer to get a stable temperature. This adventure started with a trip to the local supermarket, which reminded me of Korea. Supermarkets in both places are glorified 7-11's and in this case they didn't have any tomato sauce, only paste. I needed some of that too, but that forced me to use peeled tomatoes instead. Not a problem, just a little more chunky sauce. It's still pretty tasty although I need to adjust the cayenne still...or maybe cook it longer. One good thing about the so-called supermarket was the discovery of some chorizo, which I added to my topping list. I find it every once in awhile and it makes a decent substitute for bacon on a cheeseburger...not perfect, but decent. Here's the product shortly before the grill, with a bit more cheese. The yellow speckles are corn flour which sometimes allows the pizza to slide off the paddle and onto the stone and when you don't burn it, adds some flavor to the crust. Shortly before eating and it's even better the next day.
4/8/6
My latest escapades in pizza making won't make it to the web tonight. I was just about done with downloading and editing the photos and linking stuff when I got a blue screen of death. I'm debating whether to switch security programs again. It was an improvement over yesterday although still needs some work.
4/7/6
Not bad but the dough needs some work. I didn't burn it, but it was still hard, rather than crispy. I do have the sauce down as long as I cook it twice. I guess that mellows the cayenne a bit. Anyway, here's a recap of the past couple of days with photos...normal size photos.
It started out with me cleaning the kitchen and arranging my spices. Here's halfway through the process. I threw away quite a few bottles and it looks a lot better now. On to the pizza...the dough was supposed to be a smooth ball which I could never achieve...practice...hopefully it's with the mix rather than technique. The other photos didn't come out due to the batteries being low, but the dough rose nicely but even after beating it down and letting it rise again. Here's the stone on the first day...new...and here...well, I'll show it the next day with the pizza on it. Here's the dough from the first day. It would have been good had I not burnt it, well after today's version, maybe it wouldn't have but I can't tell a difference in the way I made it so who knows? The photo of the burnt crust looks bad for some reason other than the appearance of the pizza so I'll skip to today's. Guess I should have used the flash inside...those didn't come out. Here's where I started using it....toppings. Sauce and the first layer of cheese...and finally with the top layer of cheese. I think I should have used more. I did pay attention to the temperature this time. I adjusted it down a bit. Should have used the flash, but here's a view of the finished product and the aftermath on the stone from yesterday's burn.
Waiting for the dishes to dry so I thought I'd pass along some useful French phrases..
Time to try again with the pizza. I couldn't believe the store I went to didn't have a rolling pin so I'll just struggle with my hands until the one I ordered gets here. I guess you could consider working the dough exercise...like my wrists and forearms need any more...camera's charged so I'll wait and post photos after this effort.
4/6/6
This guy's hauling his self-described fat ass around the track at Husky Stadium to help victims of diabetes. Help him/them out!
That was certainly a tasty failed experiment! I have to charge my camera batteries before I can post any photos.
My next purchase is a rolling pin. I was supposed to divide the dough into 4 pieces for 4 8" pizzas. I was going to divide it in 2 and make one 12 today and another tomorrow, but I couldn't get the dough from half to make much more than an 8 so I added the other half and got 12 out of it. I could tell it was going to be thick but couldn't do much more with my hands/fists.
I fried some mushrooms and peppers and started the sauce, which turned out great except I put too much cayenne in it. A can of tomato sauce, 4 teaspoons of paste and a bit of basil, oregano, salt and pepper. I added the cayenne on my own and next time will only use 1/4 teaspoon. It smelled like a really good spaghetti sauce.
The pepperoni was better than I thought. When I bought it, it said salami with pepperoni and I wasn't sure what I was getting. The saleslady gave me a strange look too because I wanted the whole salami and didn't want it sliced...oh well.
So, I put on the sauce, some mozzarella...side point about mozzarella...I used some pre-shredded but I also saw some that felt like it was in the bag with liquid. I've never noticed what it looks like pre-ready-to-eat and that surprised me bit...then the pepperoni, the veggies and more cheese.
I should have flattened the dough on something other than my pizza paddle because the corn flour I put on it just got pressed into the dough and made it a bitch to get the thing off the paddle and onto the stone. I finally got it there. Somewhere I got the idea that I was supposed to put corn flour on the stone too and all that did was burn.
Which leads to what made it a failed experiment...I got the stone too hot. Everything I've read says get the oven as hot as you can, but I guess 700 degrees in a grill is too hot. At first I thought the smoke was from burning corn flour, but soon discovered the truth. There wasn't much I could do because I really wanted to test the sauce and topping so I let the bottom burn until the top cooked. I tried a couple of bites with the burned bottom and it wasn't horrid, but I soon cut the top part off, yes, it was as thick as I thought it was going to be, and enjoyed the rest. It would have been a decent crust without the burn. Try again tomorrow!
I cleaned my kitchen just so I could make a mess again. Really it's not too bad though. I got a couple of spice rack and threw away a whole bunch of stuff I never use. It looks a little more organized. Then I set to making my first pizza. I was right...working with dough sucks. It was supposed to end up in a smooth ball, but I had no luck with making it smooth. Hopefully the yeast will take care of that for me. That was another problem...all the yeast I found over here was instant active, the type that doesn't require a water and sugar starter. I just added to a partial mix of flour and water and mixed it, then added the final cup of flour. We'll see, but I'm not optimistic. Anyway, it's rising now and in a couple of hours I'll give it a shot. Photos to follow, although maybe not today.
4/5/6
Contrast my day with Michael Yon's. We've been to some similar places and share similar views about them and several other things. Back to my day...I tried to fill out and print a form to ship something back to the states but both printers in the shop refused to print an acrobat document. I finally found one in a different shop that worked but what took an hour and a half should have taken 20 minutes. Normal work stuff for awhile, trying to avoid the occasional shower. I picked up my steamer from the post office and went in search of the guy who would actually ship our stuff, but he was gone. Everything was going fine so I headed home, unpacked the boxes and read about pizza recipes among other things. I also watched it rain pretty hard for awhile...while standing in it. No Cypriot has ever commented on me doing that, but I've gotten some looks. Now it's TV, some reading and bed...repeat...what a life!
4/4/6
After searching the web for a bit, the rain looks like it's coming back, I discovered that people grill pizza. They looked pretty good but also require a lot of attention to avoid burning the dough. So I searched for someone who used their stone in the grill and apparently quite a few people have tried it successfully. I would have tried it eventually because it makes sense...my grill gets pretty damn hot when I sear my steaks and heat is what it takes. You're supposed to heat the stone for quite awhile so I'll probably need more gas bottles too.
On to recipes...I doubt you'll see one that doesn't include pepperoni, but should I try mustard as the initial layer of sauce, nothing heavy, just enough to taste? The Domino's in Korea had one like this and I loved it. Part of the trouble is that a lot of the recipes I want to try contain specialty ingredients I'm not sure I can find here...so you'll be getting requests to go shopping for tomato sauces.
I got my pizza stone and the big spatula today. Of course it's too big for my oven. I was worried about but there's a marble worker that has a shop near Jeff's house that should be able to cut a chunk off for me. It's been raining most of the day and I was a little surprised that work went smoothly with the lightning nearby. It's sunny now so I'm going to get a couple of rays at least.
4/2/6
There's actually a decent heavyweight fight on...it's been awhile. Neither fighter looks to be in shape but they're both giving it all they have. Laymon Brewster and Sergei Likovich...not sure on the spelling.
More credit card news...I guess they believe me and have removed the fraudulent charges from my account. Still, a bit of strangeness as I ordered a book for a friend who's planning a trip to Polynesia and I didn't receive an email confirmation. I checked my account at amazon and it showed that someone ordered an i-pod that was billed to my address. Not my credit card, just my address.
4/1/6
Note the date...I'm quitting my job and moving to France to join the whining Muslims and French so I can give up my right to live an intelligent life.
Jack Clark presents his side of the story of the UW/Cal rugby match here. What he doesn't realize is that the IRB says that closer scrums are safer, although not all agree.
3/30/6
During the course of my afternoon tour of the internet I found a few things that made me laugh out loud. The first was a sports blog, themightymjd. He/they provide witty remarks about sports and are pretty good. If you make it far enough down the page you'll find a link to this and that. If you're a guy and have masturbated you'll either laugh or cry.
3/29/6
That was a disappointment. I thought we were closer to the path of totality, but all I saw was maybe 70%. Not much observed...birds got a little quiet, a couple of cats got horny and my nipples got hard.
I'm on my way out to check out the eclipse. I'm not doing anything to view it other than observing the animals' reactions. I'll be one of them, not looking at the corona, but catching its rays and reading in the dark.
3/28/6
Strange happenings in Pac-10 rugby...Cal, seemingly the perennial national champions recently visited UW, who is having an average year. Cal's coach is Jack Clark, who is very prominent in US rugby circles, and I mean "very", was booted from the game and took his team with him. There are varying opinions on exactly what happened, but Cal was up 5-0 and one of their players broke up a UW ruck and a penalty was called because he left his feet to do so. I wasn't there. Others say that it was the third incident of Clark venturing on the field to share his opinion. Either way, the coach should not be talking to the ref. When I played, that was the team captain's job and talk was kept to a minimum. That's how it should be, but back when I played a lot, I really didn't know enough about the rules to want to complain. It sounds pretty childish on both their parts, but the ref is right.
I just found out there's an eclipse tomorrow and it should be pretty close to total. If I have enough time to figure out how to do it safely I'll try to photograph it. Damn, like I worried, I should have bought a tripod...oh well. I'll enjoy it anyway.
I went ahead and bought a steamer to make manapua. The link's to the recipe I'll be using. I thought about baking them, but I'm pretty sure the one's I enjoyed back then were steamed. It should be useful with lot of other foods too.
3/27/6
Not to be xenophobic, but...
The people that grow the peppers that make cayenne are going to love me. I found an irresistible kielbasa in the store this morning and this afternoon made an extra-large hot dog. Only to find...a damn cat eyeing it ravenously as I did exactly what it wanted to do. I just hope I'm not building up their immunity or distaste for cayenne pepper.
3/26 post makes sense to me.
Lots of food for thought on immigration.
3/26/6
I'll shut up now...maybe...good stuff
Guess I'll keep this up all night, which means about three more hours...."since I met you, I'm a stranger to myself." Ring true for anyone? Eyes big as basketballs?
Or "Time for Letting Go" if breaking up...at least I/she could forget about it in the guitar work...maybe it's my stereo...haha
Lots of perspectives on German-American relations here.
What I wouldn't give to be with a woman I loved listening to "Baby It's Tonight" by Jude Cole. Fantastic...and where are you? Rosie?...nah...just doesn't work.
Just listening to music over and over...trying to find the hidden things that amuse someone as easily amused as I am. Some of them are amazing once you find them....and worth it. Oh yeah, thanks Chuck for the wet t-shirt contest email.
Happy birthday Gail! I know I'm a day early but sometimes it's better for me to do things when I'm thinking about them than to forget.
Nothing to say about this yet, if ever, but it's worth a read. I got another Jude Cole CD today. I like just about everything he's written and if you come across one, check it out.
I hope you get as hungry as I did reading this. I may have to delay my manapua experiment...working with dough again though...yuk...(30 minutes later)I just ordered a pizza stone...
3/25/6
I guess I should always write in the morning(my time). Things upload a lot faster.
Well, I'm not going to apologize for writing backwards...you should be used to it by now, but that really was a fantastic effort by the Huskies(both teams). Man, that has to hurt, but I thank the team for a great season. There were some posts on a message board that said that UW got screwed and I can understand fans feeling that way but I replied by saying that I was more proud than angry. When Brandon went out there was a drop off, but the other guys stuck with what many consider the best team in the nation. Dumb mistakes were made by both teams but in such an intense game mistakes should be expected and I saw fewer than I would expect from a young team, especially one that had so many players with 4 fouls. The overtime period was disappointing but also enjoyable as I finally saw Brockman become assertive on the offensive side of the game. He's done the dirty work quietly for the most part this season, but stepped up when needed. the future is bright.
Down 5 but Appleby with a 3, and then a steal...and damn, a turnover...Roy fouls out. Thank you Brandon...great player and you'll acquit yourself well in the pros. Down 4 now with 11 and that's it. Great effort guys...couldn't ask for more.
Still the same but UConn has the ball and is shooting two....24 seconds left. UConn up 3 with a minute left. More young players need to learn the hook shot.
Shit, Dentmon's out on a call I didn't see. Burmeister in, who is another threat from 3-point land. Brockman's really stepped up offensively in OT. Missed a goaltending call...obvious on the replay...UW should be up instead of down one.
Thank you Jon Brockman...twice! I'm glad I cut my hair off again...nothing to pull...80-78...11 seconds left with UConn shooting a free throw. 80-79, Roy at the line...should be money...first one's in...yes 82-79...now tied...into OT with both Jensen and Jones fouled out.
damn, UConn with a 3, up by two but Dentmon's at the line for two free throws...21 seconds left. First one's in...yes, up by 4.
Jamaal Williams has missed some questionable shots today and overall has played a great game...that said...the 3-pointer he just made was huge...still a questionable shot, but huge...up by 6 with 1:16 left.
Make that 5 starters...up by 3 with 4 and a half left.
Ouch...4 starters with 4, but at least Jensen's foul counted as Boone missed both free throws...up by four now, close to 7 left.
Tied...glad I don't have a mirror to watch the gray set in.
Damn, lots of hustle but 3 starters on the bench with 4 fouls...game's seesawing back and forth with 9 minutes left. Keeping it close with Roy on the bench...can't ask for more.
How quickly things change...Roy picked up 2 fouls at once and is on the bench for awhile. Games still tied but UW needs the momentum back.
51-43 early in the second half...not much happening, but tough defense on both sides. UW came to play, that's for sure. I'm not dismissing Connecticut, just biased. Long way to go and a few more gray hairs...that was a wicked(good) play by Roy and Dentmon.
So far so good...UW's up 45-40 at the half. They've been up as much as 10 and have looked pretty good but have a little foul trouble, which is part of the reason the game is as close as it is. Second half should be fun...let's hope it's enjoyable.
3/24/6
I gave up after making 18. This guy's taking his new bride on a camping/road trip for their honeymoon and is soliciting ideas...please pass any along. Another time killer...13.157...16.938...and then I get a .298...18.735...so far. There are a lot more not worth mentioning, although even these may be considered worthy of that distinction.
There have been a lot of sirens around here lately. I hope they're not looking for me. I got my new credit card today but haven't used it yet. I'm never sure I remember the PIN and don't carry the sheet around with me. At least this one came with a PIN. I also received the paperwork from those investigating and sent that back.
Got some strange mail in my Cypriot mailbox...a bill for sewerage, which I understood to be for sewer use. It had the name of the lady that owns the place on it but was addressed to the wrong apartment. I didn't notice that until I opened it. It was for around 380 pounds(about $800) and it looked like she either hadn't been receiving the bills or was ignoring them because it went back to 2001. I took it in with me when I paid my rent and Helen said she'd have Yiannis look at it. He said it was for taxes...not my job to pay those, thankfully. This year has been a bummer financially so far, part of it my own doing, and, really, worth it. I had a great time on my vacation(my credit cards help to prove that.), a larger than expected tax bill and a few fairly substantial year-end expenses associated with living in this complex.
One thing sort of interesting about my visit to the rental agency happened when I asked Helen about the protests in Belarus. She's fairly young and I expected her to side with the protesters, especially since she left the country to get married here. I have no idea about why she really left and maybe her family's connected or something, but she said the protesters were crazy. Then I avoided political discussion like we're supposed to over here.
3/23/6
How can anyone listen to that piano on the first song of John Hiatt's "Best of" and not love the sound? The song's called "Have a Little Faith in Me"....it's worth a listen, not specifically the song but the opening piano and my favorite three songs.
This sounds kind of stupid to me but it's a fact. I can sit here and enjoy listening to the same songs over and over. The next question is whether it's the music or the system. I lean toward the former but I have an ego as I'm sure the designer of my stereo does. Smiling...regardless.
Still listening...and enjoying but I'm back to the first one I heard...."A View from 3rd St." They take a couple of listens to get back in the groove. there's a lot to miss.
And the first thing I find is that the lunatic fringe, sorry Tom, I don't like disparaging a great title to a great song, can't even get the most basic things right.
Time to start over. When I get annoyed at the time it takes the page to load...just enjoying Jude Cole. It's peaceful and pretty and makes me wish I could talk a certain girl into visiting so we could enjoy it together. Kenny G plays sax on some of his tracks so I at least have a chance...at least I've heard chicks dig him although I don't. I'm willing to make small sacrifices.
