Blathering Heights

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to set Tofu Happening on Labor Day weekend because there was low attendance this go around -- and only after I bragged about it's growth!  BUT, we did have newcomers, which is always a goal of mine, and the food + company were terrific.  I laaaughed...

By my own admission, having a grilled cheese bar is cheating.  It is.  It's not a singular dish made with care, but an over-the-top crowd pleaser, that undermines everything.  (There's a DJ + song request analogy in here somewhere, but I digress.)  I wanted to pair it with Brittany's vegetable soup and you just can't beat a grilled cheese sandwich and soup.  Too, Leigh made the whole get up very classy by caramelizing onions, roasting poblanos, setting out homemade pesto...the works!  I would say that the worst part of the whole deal was the abundance of choice -- what combination of cheese, toppings, butter + bread would make my grilled cheese sandwich dreams come true?  All of the food was tops, but KMHD's dish was my favorite.  

ATM, Alan Disaster + Everett:

Photo by Brittany

Since our group was intimate, I'll name names.  From L to R:  Steven, KMHD, Brittany, ATM (bottom), Everett (top), Leigh, Ben, Amy (fore), Alan (back) & Robert.  Not shown: Clark



TC happened to be walking down the street, so there was no way he wasn't going to chow down with us:



You don't even need to be infected by toxoplasmosis to love Neighborhood Cat:

I am very grateful to Leigh + Robert for hosting.  They've got a rad house that is conducive to this kind of thing.  They've got THE best stoop.


So, I'm house sitting for my boss again.  He lives in a nice, but modest home in the Heights.  It's a different world, folks.  When I leave the confines of his home to take the dog on a walk or to run to the grocery store, I always have to answer the most asinine questions.  "What part of the Middle East are you from?" (That's a new one!)  "Are you the cook or the cleaner?"  "Are you for hire?"  In no way am I exaggerating.  It is impossible for me to conceal my annoyance and disdain.  In the Heights, I suppose it's fair to ask this kind of stupid shit?  In the mornings, you can see 'the help' getting off at the bus stop to work in these people's homes.  Anyway, yesterday I was at the grocer's digging through the bin of poblanos.  This woman taps me on the shoulder and says, "Ex-cuse me. How do you cook those?"  She said it really slow, first pointing to the pepper and then making hand gestures to imply cooking.  I told her that I was going to roast them, stuff them with rice, beans, other veg, cheese, and then bake them.  Did I actually detect disappointment from her?!!!  She simply replied "Oh" and eventually slithered away.  OR! People completely ignore me, which is fine.by.me.  So, that's that.  Another downside is that it's far from my own home and I actually get home sick.  BUT, it's not all bad.  I mean, Judge has a nice house.  There's a nice deck out back.  There's the big t.v. with a zillion channels, I'm welcome to everything and anything, I can have company over, and I get paid. 

An addendum: 

This video is so great and a perfect tie-in to the observations I've made about certain people in the Heights who choose to make comments at me.  KMHD and I have been talked to like this our whole lives.  It is tiresome and offensive, but no one seems to understand why that would be.  We chuckled at the video because everything in it has been said to us in real life.  Strangers, co-workers, acquaintances -- they don't see the harm.  In fact, if you rebuff any of their comments, you are a "bitch".  

Veggie laden pho from Pho Thahn My.  So colorful!



So, there's quite a few of us that own homes now.  And we all have projects that we'd like to undertake, with either time or money (or both) prohibiting progress.  Well, what if we did some sort of Amish barn raising system where we all go to each other's home and complete a project.  Is this even possible?  Obviously, you will have to pay for your own supplies and the project cannot be too ambitious.  For instance, we need help pulling some deep roots of these bushes that I'm certain are connected to the very depths of hell.  Or have a compost box built.  Or have our house and sidewalks power washed.  This sounds great in theory.  Yes?  


Need to sit down w a calendar and plan a camping trip.  It is officially time.