dissonance

Fireworks

"If you think about it, if the 4th of July never happened, we might not have ever met!"

"I think you can say that about a lot of things."

"... well, it's still a thing."

"It's a thing. Happy 4th of July."

*kiss*

My creative expression cannot be confined to 140 charac

Things that are too long for Twitting but too short to justify their own blog entries:

• Blur was pretty fantastic. I am pleased I knew 4 of their songs: Song 2 (duh), Beetlebum (Thanks, Rockband!), Parkside, and Girls and Boys.  Thanks, John, for the tickets! Also, are you not pleased I did not steal your line and made a blog post about, "Blursday"?

• I seriously can't tolerate heat anymore.  They call 90 degrees a heat wave here and I was like a wilted lily for a week.  Although, I have enjoyed going to the neighborhood pub for a wine in their backyard at sunset. Finally the heatwave broke this morning and the familiar protection and cover of grey skies are back. 

• Went to dentist this morning. Good news: No cavities!  To quote, "Your teeth are good".  Bad news: The sensitivity is because my gums are receding and I need special toothpaste. Not Sensodyne but like prescription toothpaste.  To quote, "Your teeth are good. Except for those gums."  Although I'm so relieved I don't have cavities, now I feel self-conscious about my gums and am worried I look like the Cryptkeeper and NO ONE TOLD ME BECAUSE THEY THINK THIS IS MY NORMAL SMILE.

• Going to the dog races tonight.  A bit conflicted about this.  On the one hand it should be fun. On the other hand I feel sorry for the dogs, like I feel sorry for horses at the racetrack.  The only solution seems to be to drink my conscience away.  Or maybe adopt a greyhound one day.

• Swine flu has broken into work.  Workplace Resources have passed out hand sanitisers.  I think in addition to this, they should put signs in the bathroom that say, "If you don't wash your hands you are a disgusting freak filthy manky bastard. Ask yourself, are you a disgusting freak filthy manky bastard? Have a nice day Cheers." (had to edit that to translate for British)

Maybe more cynical than horrible

I just returned from a "Congratulations you're getting married" casual work gathering for a co-worker and for f sake I hope they don't do that to me.

Don't get me wrong, it was "nice". People chipped in and got her a card, a coffee mug, an orchid and a set of champagne glasses.

I'm honestly happy for her. She's a really nice person and a smart colleague. We've even had some chats about her wedding planning (In Italy with less than 3 months!!)

But outside of work I have zero contact with her. I don't even remember ever meeting her fiance. It just seemed like good intentions executed with an awkward gesture and I kind of want my 10 minutes back.

I can't seem to articulate why it bothers me so much.  Is it just one of those things you just do as a civilized society?

And now I'm all paranoid that I am just a horrible person.

A startling confession and a new start

I was talking to Angie this past weekend on our way to town (reminds me, IOU another Paris post) and I came to a rather liberating realization:

I am not a jeans kind of girl.

Ahh!  It feels so good to just admit it out loud! In cyberspace...

Remember when jeans were like all.the.rage?  They still are. But I remember being completely obsessed with finding the perfect pair of Citizens of Humanity, or Seven for All Mankind, or Joe's, or Blue Cults or whatever $150+ range that Gwenyth Paltrow was strutting down SoHo with.

But you know what? I'm too short. I'm too short and too curvy and they just don't feel good to me.  They're cold in the mornings, nip me in all the wrong places, you can't see my cute shoes and let me tell you nothing makes you feel fatter faster than seam lines running down your thighs.

I almost feel like a traitor to fashion, particularly with my shopping roots from SoCal, but I just don't need that kind of... attitude from a pair of pants.

So there you go.  This weekend I am having a Jeans Exodus and all but three pairs are going in the donation box.  Yes, I'm still holding onto 3 because I'm not living like a caveman with pelts and I admit some jeans have their place in the wardrobe. Jeans will now operate on a "one in, one out" system.

Everything else is getting chucked. I'm too ashamed to tell you the number of other pairs that have been suffering from years of languishing in the closet but let's just say I am potentially making a small sorority of thrifty fashionistas very happy.

So what kind of girl am I then?  Pretty much anything else! Dresses and skirts and trousers and shorts and leggings, oooh yeah leggings! Just not jeans.

It's all like whatever - Bread salad

I haven't done a food post in ages but now that summer's here I thought I'd share this super easy recipe that's perfect for warm evenings. It's a bit of chopping in the beginning but then it's all like whatever for the rest of it.

 

Bread salad with Roasted vegetables

Ingredients:

- A stale baguette (I roughly tore it to thirds and left it on top of the bread bin for like two days.)
- Vegetables: Go with any veggies that roast well.  Suggestions - bell peppers (anything but green) red onions, yellow onions, zucchini or other squash, asparagus, even a bit of finely minced chili pepper will be good.  Amounts depend on how many people you feed.  I ended up with about 4 full cups of chopped veg and the two of us ate like pigs.
- A couple cloves of garlic minced
- Cubed pancetta
- Italian parsley ("flat leafed")
- Some balsamic vinegar
- Some red wine vinegar (optional)
- Some olive oil
- Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Turn on the grill in your oven. Move the rack to the top or as near as possible where you can fit a roasting pan underneath it.
2. Roughly tear up your bread into bit sized pieces.
3. Put the bread pieces into the roasting pan and put under the grill.  You want to toast them. Let them get light brown and then mix them around so they get evenly browned.
4. Transfer the toasted pieces to a bowl. It's ok if there's crumbs left in the roasting pan, yum!
5. Chop up all your veg to about 1-2 inch pieces, basically bite sized.
6. Throw the veg, pancetta, and minced garlic into the roasting pan and lightly coat with with olive oil. Drizzle half as much balsamic vinegar (you can add more later).  Salt and Pepper.  Mix around with your hands and pop it under the grill.
7. Let the veggies well, roast.  You might want to pull it out occasionally to mix the veg around so that it cooks evenly.  You want them to get browned but not burned.  Obviously.
8. Take the roasting pan out of the oven and add the reserved bread pieces.
9. Add chopped parsley and mix it all about.  Add some drops of red wine vinegar if you got it.
10. Enjoy while basking in the evening sun.

Optional variations:
- Tablespoon or so of capers will add a tangy kick, add them to the roasting veg for the last 2 mins
- Grated parmesan on top right before serving is always welcome
- Also great as a side with creamy soup, like carrot or tomato

School looks cool again

This weekend I started looking into courses offered at the local adult learning centre (which turns out to be a 10 minute walk from home) and man I wish I thought of this sooner! I always thought they just had classes like ESL or The Internet for Beginners.  I mean, they have those too but so much more!

I've missed out on the Spring semester but I've totally got my eye on these for the fall semester starting in September:

• Easy Indian Cookery
• Calligraphy (for invitations!)
• Scottish Country Dancing All Abilities (should be handy for the wedding)
• Flowers on a Budget for a Wedding
• Bouquets for Bridesmaids (amazing how many wedding focused classes they have)
• Garment Making All Levels
• Good Food on a Shoestring
• Pattern Cutting and Sewing for Beginners
• Upholstery All Abilities
• Dance Fitness Fusion
• Pilates
• Cookery for Men (Craig might find this fun)
• Mediterranean Wine Cruise (seriously, why haven't I found this centre sooner?)

I hope my interest lasts til registration starts up again.

Hot in herre, therre, everywherre, ugh.

England has been going through something of a warm spell recently.  It's been unreasonably hot in the bedroom and we've kept a window open for the last few weeks.  Last night Craig even opened TWO windows, a controversial move.  As a person with a uh, significant wool collection it is highly controversial to be inviting moths into the house and just emphasizes how desperately hot it's been.

The thing is, it's not THAT hot.  If I think this is hot, I would probably just give up living if I were somewhere like South Africa or India.  I think I've just become a total wimp when it comes to heat.  I was never much of a fan  of hot sunny days (yes, I lived in San Diego for over 8 years) and now that I've been living in an area notorious for lack of sunshine I've built this intolerance.

It's not just in my head either.  I've actually begun to totally break out in a rash if I stay out in the sun too long or if it's too hot.  I know, there goes any chance of becoming a swimsuit model in Bali.

It's even melting my brain.  I just remembered I'm supposed to be writing a Paris Part Deux write up. Oops.  I guess I'll do that tomorrow or is it enough if I told you it was tres spectacular?