On Friday, Mum dropped off some food from Seattle that my cousin My Tam sent home with her.  Why can't we get hand-crafted tofu w/ rice noodles & onions in it here?
Also, this tempeh we got was made to look/taste like meat; me & ATM were pretty sure we were eating flesh, warning KMHD (a "vegetarian") away from it, we were THAT convinced.  

Very tasty, om nom nom nom nom!  In the unlikely event that I ever own a pub, I will serve that tofu as a late nite bar snack.  It's so perfect!  You don't have to cook it & the only condiment you need is Sriracha.

How long has it been since I've been to Jon Thompson's parent's house?  10+ years by my estimate.  I had to type it into my GPS to locate it.  How pathetic is that?  I love going over there, it's so beautiful & amazing.  His mum is a master gardener; if you stepped into the back yard, you'd gasp.  I did!  Too, his folks have found & collected so many pretty things to fill the house with.  Lots of art.  Unfinished projects here and there, which proves that I will probably not finish everything ever & it's o.k.  We met there before having a fantastic dinner @ Layla's on Friday evening.  The night was cut short, no thanks to my damn tooth ache.  Got to see Shawn Miller!  I commented that I'm glad that I didn't have to wait until New Year's Eve to see him.  

Here's me & "Big Benjii"

Colln, KMHD:

J.T., Shawn & ATM:

Imagine dreading a Saturday.  I spent the morning chastising myself for being so negative and hard on my old man, but I felt I had good reason to expect the worst; he's let me & KMHD down numerous times.  Well, shame on me.  Our visit was nowhere near awful.  It bordered on being o.k., if not somewhat nice at times.  Highlight?  Taking him to 5tarbucks.  He's never been to one!  He's never heard of the place!  He said to me, "Well, this is a nice little place."  Hee!  That willfully ignorant S.O.B., I love him.

On Sunday, I spent the majority of the day in bed, no thanks to this excruciating toothache.  But, having poked around in there with my finger, I'm starting to believe that it's not THE bad tooth, but the one next to it.  Expletive!  Like I need this!  I've made my dental appointment for tomorrow, so, hopefully, this era of whining will end soon, Inshallah.

Looking forward to the weekend.  Without consulting any weather-predictions, I'm banking on the perfect Saturday.  We're gonna drag out ye olde grille & make grilled food.  We will be hosting my cousin from Ft. Smith, too.  Casual Saturday.

A) Do you have a dishwashing machine?  B)  Do you use it?  I've been wondering if it's time for us to start using ours.  Currently, it is being used as storage, but I've been worrying about wasting water.  "They" say that no matter how conservative you are, hand washing is wasteful whereas a machine uses less AND it uses the same amount every time.  I guess you'd have to be sure to do FULL loads to make it worth it, right?  That means that I'd have to get more dishes and utensils, right?  Advise me!

I'm demanding a very good day.

I'm goin' mad with this bad tooth of mine. I'm in pain, but this time it's different. Instead of soreness from tooth grindin', I feel that I may've breached a layer and it's a direct nerve pain. Do I need a new dentist? There are times when I'm just tempted to knock the damn thing out of my mouth by my own hand. I've already called the dentist, but I think I won't be able to get any relief until Monday. This means a steady diet of soft food, including and maybe limited to ICE CREAM.

I'm working a half-day; KMHD is treating me to Amruth. After that, we're headed to Conway so KMHD can look at some cars. She's been in the market for awhile now, but she's feelin' confident! If her mission is a success, I'll be driving her old car back. After that, I'm going on the longest walk in my neighborhood again. It's good for that. THEN, we are to phone Jon Thompson for some serious hanging out. Apparently he is house sitting for his folks, so this will be kickin' it, IN STYLE, his words. There's a pretty good chance we'll be having supper @ our beloved Layla's. This will be a good day/evening, Inshallah. This is great, it'll help me get my mindset right for tomorrow's visit with dad.

Little things

* ATM & Solo
* Adding rosemary to pizza dough makes it boss
* ATM brought home a copy of The Onion from D.C.
* My neighborhood
* Open windows
* Espresso Dopio
* Boss is away (hee)

If eating too much pho is wrong, I don't want to be right!

Can you guess what these ingredients are for?

Mmmmhmmm, it's for pho. Ya'll, I have a pho problem. I went to Saigon w Keiko, Rett & Collin LAST NITE, but it didn't stop me from making some for brunch today. ATM isn't the biggest fan of it & is still in D.C. anyway. I had the day off, so I figured today was the day to make it at home. I just REALLY wanted some.

Plate of fixins:

The result:

It was so close to being restaurant-good. I think I need to cut back on the fish sauce, it was a smidgen too salty. I asked KMHD to come over for lunch to test it for me, she recommended the same -- less salt. I didn't add any beef or tofu, but I think I'll use these live mushrooms next time:

Good day off, so far! We're having that kind of weather that affects people so profoundly; it's warm, sunny, springy and fresh. Of course all of the windows are open, I've gone on a little run/walk jaunt, I've swept the porch, and I've done a bit of housework and cooking. I really need to save energy to pick ATM up from the airport AND make homemade 'welcome-home' pizza.

Turns out our father will be here on Saturday. The good news is that it doesn't appear that he'll be staying the night. One day. I can do this. Plus, KMHD and ATM will be there. I really shouldn't be so negative! I'll work on it.

Weekend Update

I forget that when we have a liberal president, all of the hacks come out of the woodwork. We drove Mayumi to the Statehouse Convention so she could pick up her marathon registration package and there were protesters outside of the building taking advantage of the LR Marathon crowd. Their signs read "BLANK CHECK LINCOLN" or "BLANCHE LINCOLN, QUEEN OF SOCIALISM". They are so far off the mark, it's shameful. For those of you not familiar, Blanche Lincoln is one of Arkansas' U.S. senators. Now, I'm not a huge fan of the senator myself, but I wouldn't call her a socialist. UGH, I hate fear-mongering!  To me, it's harassment.  It's disgusting & rude. Also, to me, they really come off as not knowing what they're talking about. Too, if you're going to go after Blanche Lincoln, why not Mark Pryor, too? He is equally lame. I'm sooooo playing the sexism card here. Draw four & skip a turn. If I had the time (and the stones), I would've protested those protesters. It would involve cupcakes somehow.

Mayumi did quite well! So proud of her:

So, I've been tweeting more than I need to, but I'm just trying to get the hang of it. Pardon the transition.

Well, ATM is in Washington, D.C., so I'm a-takin' care of the homestead by myself. I was excited because I figured I could do "whatever I want", but I'm so busy, things don't feel different. The biggest difference is that I have more leg room in bed because SOLO sleeps on his side when he's away. Oh, I have noticed that I don't cook while he's gone. I'm hoping to correct that this evening because I am so tired of eating pita chips and hummus and peanut butter toast. Guh. Thankfully, this arrangement ends Wednesday evening.

On Saturday, me & KMHD made Mayumi a last-meal-before-the-marathon dinner. It was AWESOME! There was an egg scramble with corn & a whole package of Gimme Lean & some Monterey Jack cheese. We also had refried black beans & homemade corn tortillas. Top with cilantro & salsa and wash down with freshly juiced juice and GO TO TOWN. Yes, you DO wish you were there.

KMHD taught me how simple it was to make corn tortillas:




I gave General Change a grape tomato resulting in cute photos. I don't think he really liked it, but everytime I "threatened" to take it away, he'd quickly try to gobble it up. He ended up eating it.:

Eclipse Glasses/Velvet Kente on Friday:

This is a shot from the "stage". Too, it's my best photo of Zach, who is hard to get a good shot of otherwise:


Tomorrow eve, Jay Barth is kicking off his campaign. I'd like to go, but we'll file this under "We'll See". Maybe at Heather's birthday soiree this evening, I can score a date. BTW, Jay is running for Tracy Steele's position. Mr. Steele will be unable to run again due to term limits. It's good to get into and stay involved in local politics. I'm just sayin'.

Random end bits------------

I made a carrot cake & ATM actually ate some!  He is one of those non-sweet-tooth-havin' people.


Does anyone know how to make the shoes by the door less ugly?

Taking five

I'm working on a proper post, but I've been so busy today! I find myself a bit overwhelmed; I have so much to do, professionally & personally. I recently read that scientists believe that "old age" hits our brain at the ripe age of 27. Yikes. That totally compounds my fear of aging. It's not the getting older that I fret about, it's my ability to stay on top of things. It gets harder & harder! I look back at myself two or three years ago; it was hard to get things past me. Now, I struggle & have to write things down CONSTANTLY just to keep myself outta trouble and within' deadlines.

Too much to do and we don't make time for ourselves. We don't. Our weekdays/nights are booked. Our weekends are booked. It's enough to make me crazy.

Then again, I love being busy. I love planning things and having things to do. I haven't complained about being bored in a loooooong time now. Craziness.

Me & KMHD have been fretting about this weekend. Our father is supposedly visiting, but we don't know, we haven't heard from him. He is extremely difficult & erratic and I always get ultra-worried when it comes to him. I have no idea what the weekend holds. I hope things work out, Inshallah.

Rockin' Robin

So, I joined Twitter today around lunch time. I was noshing on my grilled cheese sandwich thinking about how weird & complex & hard the politics of approving friendships on Facebook is becoming. There are people I don't know (and people I sorta know) wanting to be my pal and I joined FB to escape the hilarity of Friendster-and-then-MySpace and to keep up with friends, but there's always e-mail, right? No? I am an exhibitionist after all. Yes, I want you to know what I'm doing right now and you will get to know me through my blog (better than you ever have in person), and, hey, look at my photos please! I've let the whole world (wide web) into my personal EVERYTHING, but I think it's time to close the gap a touch. I know, it makes no sense! I post online knowing the risks of being in a public arena. I guess I have an unspoken target audience. It's you and you and you! Even you, lurker! I'm thinking about quitting Facebook and moving up and over to tweet myself to the next new big thing.



In Friday the 13th news, I'm having a pretty good day. Thankfully, my clothes have not ripped & my shoes have not fallen apart. I got a long lunch which afforded me time to get myself an espresso (a.k.a. magic juice) before leisurely coming back to work. In less than an hour, I get to leave and begin my weekend.

TONITE: Eclipse Glasses & Velvet Kente
Dreamland Ballroom/Flag & Banner
$5



I've been missing Victor with an intensity lately. I love this picture. We were at Food Not Bombs and we ran out of forks. We laughed at eating spaghetti with knives. Also, there are man-boobs.

THIS WAS IT

Ha ha, check out these "beauts".

HB, ATM!

This past weekend, we went to Memphis to celebrate ATM's birthday. We met his dad & stepmum at Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous for ribs. I have to say that A) I prefer wet ribs to dry rub (Rendezvous has dry rub) and 2) that Little Rock's Whole Hog Cafe still rules it. They are definitely giving the Memphis BBQ scene a run for their money. I do like Rendezvous' atmosphere & the fact that it's located in a stinky alley in Memphis, but the ribs are just o.k. These words could be categorized as "fightin' words." We'll see!


After ribs, we went for some coffee. THEN, we went to the STAX museum. As usual, it was righteous. I always love looking at Tina Turner's stage outfit. She was/is tiny! It always takes me aback because of her big hair, her long legs & her larger-than-life persona. I also love looking at Isaac Hayes' car. It is flippin' gold-plated! R.I.P. Black Moses. I always get a sense of pride and a bit emotional when I go to the STAX Museum. STAX & their musicians always make me feel that we, as Southerners, have something, for better or for worse, that cannot be replicated or sold. Rufus Thomas talked about how Motown (Detroit) was great & produced greatness and was all well and good and those artists were generally accepted by everyone (READ: whites), but then you cross the Mason/Dixon line and these STAX bands & artists who had the 'thump schlump thump' (Je ne sais pas ) and they just did their own thing their own way without (Southern) America's approval. He says this with a sly smile and it makes my heart swell.

We didn't leave without hitting up the museum shop. I bought ATM a STAX coffee mug and myself a STAX pot holder.



After parting ways with his dad & stepmother, me & ATM went to our room to relax and settle in. THEN, I went and bought a new pair of jeans. This is a first for me, to have more than one pair of jeans at the same time. THEN, he went record shopping at Goner Records. THEN, we had supper & bought snacks at Whole Foods. THEN, we stopped by a liquor store so I could buy ATM some scotch. THEN, we went back to the hotel & sat on the outdoor patio to enjoy awesome weather while sipping on drinks. There's nothing notable to mention after that.
Well, I have to post hotel room photos, right?



We didn't stick around town the next day, we high-tailed it back home to Little Rock. Upon arrival, we found that we would be whisked away to Haifa, Israel by way of this:


What an awesome gift! It's not even for me, it's ATM's birthday gift from his thoughtful mum! I think I love this gift as if it were mine. Heh. This is a meal kit to make homemade falafel and homemade harissa sauce. It comes with pre-measured dried goods (chickpeas) and pre-measured spices. It also comes with cooking tools like a falafel shaper & a tiny serving spoon for the harissa, amongst other things. We will have to provide the fresh ingredients, like parsley & lemon. The kit is offered by Destination Dinners. I really hope this kit works out, my first homemade falafel recipe turned out disasterous! Naturally, I will keep you posted.

On Tuesday evening, we gathered at Collin's to belatedly celebrate ATM's birthday -- I made a key lime pie & I made empanadas for the first time. They were good, but I feel they can be better. I'm liking this cooking things I've never eaten before. Anyway, empanadas. I used Bittman's recipe in How To Cook Everything Vegetarian. I may have to try it with curried potatoes & veggies which might technically make it a samosa?

So, have you been keeping up with the Jon Stewart v. Jim Cramer/CNBC saga? It's legendary. I love Jon Stewart. He's the kind of person that I say aloud, "I like him. I wonder if I can send him money." Maybe I should start doing tha to people I like. Hey _________________, I like you. You're makin' sense. Here's $5. Buy yourself a treat. Truly, AiLien.

I've not heard an update RE: the Victory Street space, but I've heard Eclipse Glasses speak about it as if it'll eventually happen. And speaking of Eclipse Glasses, they will be playing a show this Friday @ the Dreamland Ballroom. $5! At that regular show time.

Bittman Smitten

It's no secret that I worship the ground Mark Bittman treads on. If you want to have a peek at his personal pantry, look no further!


Says he:

I am a dry-goods fiend. I try to stock every whole grain and legume I like, a lot of nuts and dried fruit, and of course the usual stuff — pasta, jars of jam that people give me and I don’t eat, canned tomatoes, dried chiles (which I buy whenever I go to Mexico or the Southwest, in big quantities that take up more room than I have), chicken stock (which I no longer use but can’t throw out either), canned beans (pretty much the same), any cracker that I might find interesting etc. etc. etc.

This isn’t my entire “pantry,” but it’s 80 percent of it. The top shelf, which you can barely see (I couldn’t move back any further), is filled with chiles and empty jars, of which I’m very proud: They represent things I’ve actually consumed. [If you want to read the entire post, click here.]

If you enjoy cooking like me, you've probably watched some Ina Garten or Good Eats. They have formidable pantries that I can't even compete with. It's good to know that my favorite cook has a "real" and normal pantry.

Going there

(A post for fellow bloggers.)

Do you ever struggle with the dilemma of not being able to be whole & true on your blog? I have to do a great deal of self-censorship to maintain a level of civility, politeness and, well, just plain good manners.

What I mean is sometimes, my friends will do things that annoy or piss me off and I wanna write about it. I love them, but sometimes they fail to see how silly or bad or annoying or bitchy, etc. they come off as. Sometimes, I want to rail on my family. They drive me insane! Some days, I just feel MEAN. I don't want to give the impression that I'm nasty or petty or weird or angry, but, sometimes, I just wanna talk shit! There are some people who are fair game, amirite? Politicians & other public officials BEWARE.

I'm usually real private with my trash talking. I keep it between two certain people because they've never betrayed my dirty secrets. They let me rant and rave without judging me & I usually feel a lot better after going off on someone. Otherwise, I keep my opinions of others to myself.

It's general knowledge that you should be careful what you write on the Internet. It's forever, man! Chances are you may change your mind about something, which, you are entitled to do, but people don't forget meanness so easily. Too, maybe you didn't mean it in the first place. I guess you could delete the offending post, but, again, others will never forget.

At this point, I've talked myself out of wanting to talk shit on my blog, but I'll always have those days where I could really give so & so a piece of my mind.

I wish I was one of those people known for being brutally honest and can get away with it because it's to be expected, you know?

How do you deal, folks?

This should be a topic for an official Arkansas Blogger Convention. (Alannah!)

Fayetteville, 28 Feb 2009

Eclipse Glasses played a show in Fayetteville at the Smoke & Barrel. I went along for the ride.

I don't know why I get so excited when I run into pals on the highway. About an hour into our trip, we saw Collin & Zach.

What you can't really see in the photo is the falling snow.

This picture is good for so many reasons. There's the flyer for the show, that's a good shot of Collin & there's an orb. Spooky!


After unloading the equipment, we went to Jonathan's to say hello. From there, we were supposed to meet Alannah & Dave for pho, but the roads turned icy & ATM wanted to stay close to the venue instead of driving around, so we had to settle for hanging out on Dickson to eat & loiter until the show started. We parked, went to the Dickson St. bookstore for a spell, then ate at Jose's, this bogus Tex-Mex restaurant right next to Smoke & Barrel. As I type this, I sit here shaking my head with a total look of disgust on my face. That food was so damned gross. I was offended by it. It was no wonder that when Collin asked us where we ate and we told him "Jose's", he just pointed and laughed at us. We totally deserved it. Never again. After eating, we went back to Smoke & Barrel to score a table. I ran into Heather first thing. And it wasn't long before others showed up, too.

I love this photo. Everyone looks as tired as I felt.

Here's ATM 'splainin' stuff to Alannah & Dave:

Zach & Kyle played that one game with the ships while Lorenza gave me this look:

There was no taking a good photo of any of the bands.  The stage was hilariously tiny and the crowds prevented me from getting a decent angle.  Here's Zach from The Good Fear:

Eclipse Glasses:


At the end of their set, it had already been a really long night for me. Alannah & Dave were hosting us for the night. They took off a touch early, so they could score some late night snacks. How awesome is that?! I was/am such a grateful guest, believe. After the band loaded up, we FINALLY get to take it easy at Alannah's home. It was such a relief! I was beyond tired. I was sad that we had a yucky dinner and had to hang out at a bar for 5+ hours. After snacking & looking at grody/hilarious German disco records (OMG, photos soon), we crashed really hard. It's been a real long time that I've gone to bed at 3:something. We fell asleep in a teenage girl's room; she was away at a sleepover & we got to use her bed. The last thing I saw before I succumbed to zzz's was two Fall Out Boy posters. It was really cute, I'm certain I was smiling. Too, I was stoked that we had brunch to look forward to.

Here's Chicklet reclaiming her bed:

Here's Lucy, praying that I drop my entire plate of food:

And behold! My entire plate of food:

Yes, it was as good as it looked and then some! Eggs benedict w/ smoked salmon & spinach with a side of baked sweet potatoes with olive oil, S & P, fresh sage & rosemary. Hot damn, that meal is haunting me. It was all washed down with endless cups of pressed coffee & mimosas. If you ever get the opportunity to eat Alannah food, by all means, get some. Lord.

Other guests at the brunch:



Some greats:


After eating the perfect meal, it wasn't long before we just went back to Little Rock.

Despite the wonky weather & the endless wait, we had a good time, especially at our thoughtful hostess'sss's house. Thank you, Alannah for everything!

I don't know how to incorporate my story about how when we saw Collin & Zach on the interstate, we pulled over in Russellville to chat and I ended having to go the restroom REALLY BAD and ended up being a bear in the woods --ahem -- so I'll just leave that bit out.

Makin' supper:

Ta-da:

Remember, lemon slices are key.

Mayumi got me two furoshiki cloths from Japan and I finally get to use them! Unfortunately, these aren't the kind that I can give away. Here is one in action, acting as a two-bottle wine carrier:


Introducing our newest family member, the feral Hot Dog!


He doesn't know it yet, but he's going to get fixed and maybe get a little bit of medical attention. He's real cute & loyal. He just sits on our porch listening for our footsteps. He seems to know which door we will be coming out of.

I can't wait to be in Fayetteville!