not a bad day...

Regardless of the late start I got on the day, I gotta say that it shaped up pretty well.

Started with the emails back and forth that look like will get me a good recommendation on a job with a company I've been thinking about for a while. Good, that.

And then the bikey shtuff... first of all, a big Thank You Hug to the collective staff of the Infrastructure Planning and Street Maintence (and whoever else) at the City of Ann Arbor for the updates to Packard Rd. Been a pain in the ass in many ways, the construction project to bolster infrastructure (water, etc.) for the SE corner of the city resulted in new pavement that includes (ta daa!) bike lanes. They went from 2 lanes each way to 1 each way with a shared turn lane, and Full Sized Bike Lanes. Which kicks ass. Happy taxpayer, I am. And really has very little effect on traffic flow, given the feeder streets to that section of Packard and usage patterns. I realize that this is only 1 mile or so of changes, but it's a step in the right direction. Oh yeah, and it's right outside MY house. Now if only Morgan and York would fix the damn neon sign. It's incredibly tacky to be in such disrepair, and it's not like they don't bank large amount of cash from their froofy booze-n-cheese business. Pony up for the maintenance bucks, guys. The asphalt road is showing you up, and it just lays there.

For those interested in urban planning and transportation alternatives, check out the Ann Arbor Non-Motorized Transportation Master Plan. It's a long slog through a long document, but brings up all kinds of interesting planning, safety, and usage pattern factoids.

Other bikey news. It was absolutely perfect weather. 60 miles run through Waterloo, no bonking. Nice.

Bikey chit chat: rolling through Waterloo I ran into up Brian (Sociology grad and part-time wrench slinger for Two Wheel Tango) and we rode back eastward together. Plenty of chance to chat, and while we were talking for most of the way, my sore shoulders and post-ride cough gave me the distinct impression that he would spank me big time in a higher-stakes ride. Talked about this and that... lamented the fact that the Bloomer Park Velodrome is so far away, but so so fun. Now where in Washtenaw county could we put one? I mean, there's gotta be at least a couple hundred people that would be interested, what with the thousands of bike folks on the Ypsi/AA/Saline/Dexter/Chelsea axis. I'd love to make a comment about how Brian, as a part-timer, does more for the cred of the shop than Dennis (owner) does with his Mr.-Grumpy-doesn't-seem-to-want-you-as-a-customer attitude, but I'm not negative like that. or am I?

So then it was a christening of my new pressure cooker with with some cow peas, bacon, garlic, and kale, and a smidge o' red red wine for the glass. Gotta tell you, I do make a damn good bean dish, if I may say so m'self. The one thing I just love about kale, other than it's apparent surface hydrophobia, is that it takes abuse like no other leafy green I know. You can cook the snot out of it (i.e., toss it in and forget about it for a while) and it just takes the punishment and comes out tasty and nicely textured. It must have a little bit of masochist in it.

So I'm gonna head out and see Eastern Promises tonight just to try to cap it off with a flourish. Viggo makes a good movie, David Cronenberg (History of Violence, Crash, eXistenZ, The Fly) does really good stuff, and Naomi Watts? Well even if she hadn't pulled me in and ripped me a new one in 21 Grams, she is so... meow. Mmm, pretty. Throw in some Russian Mob intrigue and some prison ink, and I'm ready to be entertained.

Bacon-palooza

I've had this idea rolling around in my head for some time, and I know there's support for it in some circles (and opposition in some), but how to make it work... just haven't got that figured yet.

So Bacon-palooza would be an adjunct to an existing party. A side stage. A party auxilliary. Half of a party. Not enough of an excuse for a party itself, but a significant contributor thereto. Basically, a festival of bacon. There's garlic festivals, no? Well what about that most delicious of crispy meat bits? Lots of people (non-vegs, of course) like bacon, and how often to you have an opportunity to celebrate the types of dishes that can "feature" bacon? There's gotta be a recipe for bacon pudding out there somewhere. And bacon chips and salsa. Or how about chips and bacon salsa?

We're not talking about just a salad with hot bacon dressing or a bacon pizza, those are vegetable and bread dishes, with bacon on them. I'm looking for creativity here. Yes, cholesterol counts will skyrocket in the days and weeks after. But unless you've got one foot in the grave already, you'll be fine. And if you've got one foot in the grave already, shouldn't you be out getting some exercise and eating sensibly instead of reading stupid blargs on teh interwebs?


Why? Because everything tastes better with bacon... including bacon.

Halloween is coming up, and plenty of football-season party excuses... thoughts anyone?

(and as far as Maggie is concerned... she's been giving me the silent treatment for months now. If she's going to insult me, I'm not very likely to care about her feelings, now am I?)

Bacon-pa-looza

For some reason I got it in my head to soak and cook some black-eyed peas, but without a plan for a meal. So I find myself looking in Bittman, and find out that I need some slab bacon or other pork product... and off I go to the Kroger around the corner. What I find, and cannot seem to live without, is a spectrum of the salted pork products, which I find myself chuckling at when I got home. Sure, all the Vegans and Veggies will be horrified, but hopefully this is somehow set off by the recent delight I have found in tempeh. And if I ever need to defend myself against roving bands of veggies, I'm sure Matt, Jeff, Warren, and other bacon enthusiasts will back me up on the pork product issue.

As I'm slicing the fat off the salted pork, I can help but hear the line "richest creamiest fat in the world..." repeating over and over in my head.

While seeking out aformentioned pork products, I walk past this label, and double-triple-take ("as the vivacious feline makes her way into the delta of the alleyway" - 10 points and a slice of bacon to whoever can name the song without reaching for a search engine. Bonus points and a full breakfast if you know the whole song/poem) as I pass by this label. I swear the first time I saw it, it was Dirt Green Tea. "Now who the heck would want any of that?"

And then this afternoon in the bank parking lot, I walked over this sad little scene. This poor little pipe fitting, forever embedded in the asphalt, never to be a proper pipe fitting in the wild and woolly world out there. How very, very sad.

So yeah, that was my afternoon/evening.

Oh yeah, I got on the bike and went to crit practice. It was hot out. My fitness is lacking. I was slow, and fell off the back lots of times.

Let's not talk about it... mmmkay?

post-bonk Orange-gasm

What is it about oranges these days? I am obsessed. Some days, I have 4 or 5 of 'em. And when I eat them, it's not pretty. It's an orgy of sweet juicy orange pleasure. I can't imagine what I look like (an expression of crazed mania? a dark and predatory glare? glorious and thankful delight?) but I know that I don't know how I seem. All my attention is on the orange. And how quickly I can shuck the rind and get it stuffed into my pie-hole. Like pistachios - the rate-limiting step is the peeling more than anything.

Take today for example. I rode the Waterloo route this afternoon, and even though I took food and tried to eat smart on the way (yes, I've run out of gas on that route before), I still bonked and suffered the last 15 miles. But when I got home, eyes dry and burning, I was all about the oranges. 1 was good. 2 was better. 3 was damn fine. I had to stop myself because it tripped my "this might be a bad thing when it goes too easy and too quickly" sensor.

In other news - I was on the way back home on HRD and I passed what looked like the Tuesday AAVC group ride heading out. It was nice to see tons of folks out rollin' along, but I'm thinking that 30-35 people bunched up is not exactly a good way to go. Sure, take your space on the road and roll strong in traffic, but with that big of a group, on that 2-lane, no-shoulder/no-escape-route, potholed-and-cold-patched road? Safer to split up a bit, don't you think? When the bunch is 4-abreast in a random diamondy shape, when cars pass... maybe they're gunning it? Kinda makes it sketchy for whoever is riding on the left side, no? I'm just sayin'. Bigger than 20 people: maybe split it up. Now if only the route would change by 3 blocks to avoid that dude in Dexter who yells at everyone rolling through that stop sign. Or, maybe just change the route to avoid rolling through the stop sign to begin with? Call me crazy...

who in their right mind DOESN'T like goatcake?

In honor of spring thaw, Stacey had a little shindig yesterday that I was really sorry to miss the beginning of. Why? Not the scavenger hunt, since my style of scavenger hunt is the city-wide version. Not the dancing - I'm not so much with the dancing - I'm more of a twitcher.

But mostly, I'm so sad to have missed the Goatcake while it was still intact. Who doesn't like sculpted cakes with blood-sacrifice neo-pagan symbology? I mean sheesh, yah gotta be a baby-eatin'-commie or somethin' to not like that.

I don't bake much, but next potluck I go to, I'm bringin' artfood, dammit. Rye-crisp Taj Mahal with Hommus reflecting pool? Maybe a Feta cheese Venus De Milo? Or perhaps something a little more modern?

And if the pot of coffee I just finished has its way with my nervous system, my mind is going to start dreaming up animatronic light-and-sound-show edible beverage fountains.

livin' large? .... livin' huuuuge

A Confession: I swear, I don't know shit about wine. It's easy to know I like something when I taste it. Alternately: "I can't tell you what art (or pornography) is, but I know it when I see it." When I'm it comes to picking out a bottle based on information on the outside of it, I'm completely hopeless. But not as much today as I was on Monday.

Yesterday, G came over with some wine and we had a little mini tasting party. 4 wines, 4 cheeses, good conversation, music loud enough that the neighbor knocked at the door (but I swear officer, it wasn't very loud). It is quite a fine experience to have multiple wines side by side to compare back and forth, to figure out what you like and don't like. Bop back and forth across the mini-spectrum, try them with food or not... Yes, I realize this is not a new thing. "Wine People" have tasting parties all the time, I guess. New for me then. What I *did* find out though is that it seems I really like big, young, woody Zinfandels from Cline Cellars. Damn that was some goodness. Looking at their other offerings, I'm definitely going to have to try the Big Break Zinfandel too. Bring on the power. Bring on the 800lb. gorilla of wine, that shoulders its way through and says "oh yeah, wanna make somethin' of it? well, do ya?"

Oh, and cheese? Well, get me some o' that 18 month gouda, or the salty stinky cheese, and I'll be putty in your hands. Goat cheese? Yup, some o' that too - even if it happens to resemble a twinkie in the photo.

the problem, as I see it

Today was yet another disappointing sandwich at Zingerman's. I'm pretty far up on my high horse, and this is the last time I will rant about it. But I'm going all-out, with graphic assistance and everything.

Zingerman's Deli, as I've heard it described: "good food, mediocre service, mercenary prices" has a problem in their sandwich department. For the past 10 years, as the prices have increased 40% (the $13 sandwich of today is exactly the same as what you used to get for $9), they STILL can't get sandwich assembly right.

Take Exhibit #1:


Sure, the ingredients are tasty, but the softball-shaped blob of meat in the middle of the sandwich? It's impossible to manage without it sliding out the maw of the bread with the coleslaw or mayo or mustard greasing the way. Needless to say, that after negotiating this sliced-meat speedbump, you're left with plenty of meatless bread.

Not only the flavor, but the texture of the sandwich is uneven. When you have a ham and cheese, do you want a bite of ham and then a bite of cheese? No. You want a bite of ham AND cheese at the same time. And before you respond "oh, you're just being picky... quit whining and just enjoy the food" - well, with the hype that Zingerman's puts out there, and the ridiculous prices they are charging, one would reasonably expect to get an Exceptional Sandwich, not an exercise in aggravation.

Are you hearing this Ari? Probably not. Chances are that you don't give a shit because you're too busy stacking up all the cash you're making off of these disappointments of meat on bread. When you can fix "the sandwich problem" I'll come back, but until then, you've lost my business.

random notable stuff :
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Non-Thanksgiving food note: ever tried Peppadews? Next time you're in a grocery store, have a look and see if they have an olive bar/antipasto selection. Not hot at all - pickled and sweet. Almost like the gherkin of the pepper family - give 'em a try.
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Mobile PET/CT/MRI facilities? How cool is that? Take a gagillion dollar device based on anti-matter (you know, positrons) and put it on a trailer so that it can be taken to places that can't afford to have one installed.

more cheating on day 5

ok, I cheated. Here at Panera as I park and take up valuable lunchtime table space with laptop, I cheated and have had a cup of coffee. Not because I was jonesing... just because it's habit. For what it's worth, I'm ok with this, and don't think of it as a fundamental flaw in my character. Make me wonder then - why did I feel compelled to confess it? Ah, me.

coffeeless: day 4 (a little bit cheating, a little bit rock-n-roll)

I'd love to say something profound about this coffee experiment I'm doing on myself - either the agony of withdrawl or the ecstatic clarity of caffeine sobriety. The truth is far more mundane. I haven't noticed much. I still have chunks of time when I'm incredibly distractable from one thing to the next, and with no caffeine.

I'll admit to a little bit of cheating - a couple days ago I grew tired of herbal tea and had a single cup of Irish Breakfast, and I'm having one today too. If that's cheating, then I'll just have to bear the consequences. In the meantime, my coffee grinder is hopefully not getting lonely or bored as it gets a much needed rest this week.

coffeeless: day2

So far, so good. Monday was a coffee-free day that went without incident. While I was a little sleepy (more likely due to not sleeping well the night before) and did in fact nap at one point, I'd like to think I was more coherent. Really, I swear, this'll be a good thing for a week... right? I figure the worst thing that could happen on Day 8 is that the sudden infusion of the first cup of coffee will cause my brain to burst and my heart to explode, leaving quivering, jittery blobs of meat, skin, and hair all over the floor.

current lack of attention span

It's really starting to bug me, this lack of attention span I've got going on. It seems that I can't help be distracted by this, that, or the other thing so much that something requiring more than 10 minutes of concentration while sitting in one place is unlikely to happen. (hell, it just happened right there - mind wandering off to the "hmm... where to go hang out this afternoon?")
But you know, I think it has a simple source - the fact that I drink many cups of coffee each day. So in the tried-and-true technique of experimentation on one's self, I think I'll drop the morning pot-o'-coffee for a week. "How about switching to decaf?" nahhh, can't stand the taste. "Maybe reducing intake? Only one cup per day?" I'm not that fond of half-measures.

Zingermans out of control

I rarely go to Zingerman's these days, mostly because of what I'm about to bitch and complain about, but I decided to stop by... they've got free Wi-Fi, and instead of sitting around the house, I can sit around at a public place. So anyway, they (Zingerman's) have lost their friggin' minds. Sandwiches now averaging $12, coffee gone up to $2.50, and I swear, if that sandwich shows up and the sliced meat is all balled up in the center, I'm going to have a Furious Embollism. The only good explanations I can come up with are that either they have become a tourist trap (like the baseball field charging you $7.00 for a hot dog), or one of the owners has an expensive drug habit and is using the sandwich business to fund it. Best quote to describe the ZingPrice phenomenon...
"Zingermans: good food, bad service, mercenary prices"

Doritos

Needing a crunchy snack, I tried the new Fiery Habanero flavor, hopeful that I'd be at least a little satisfied in my Joy of Spice. But no, they are neither fiery, nor habanero flavored. Not exactly surprising, but just thought I would set the record straight.

wishful snacking

how is it that, not a hour after putting away the groceries, I open the fridge in that "stare into the fridge and imagine a snack into existence" type of stare... as if there would magically be something in there that I hadn't seen or put in there only an hour ago. Is it my wishful thinking, or crappy memory that invents the improbable pre-prepared surprise snack?