tap my glass

So i tried some sweet potato gnocchi. Pretty easy, cook some sweet potatos (i roasted although i’ve been told steaming is better), beat some flour in, knead, roll, cut, press, and boil. Pretty easy really. Perhaps as a product of thinking i’ve learned so much, thought there wouldn’t be enuf gluten in sweet potatos to warrant omitting eggs. So i used a 50/50 semolina and all purpose flour mix. Not a good idea.

The gnocchi, while well formed, not sticky, and cooked well, were far too chewy, thanks to the semolina. Next time, all purpose, all the way. The one bright note was the sauce. After a summer long hiatus on the straight up can based tomato sauce i haven’t forgotten anything, in fact have learned, and it was perfect. Simple, just onion, mushroom, and a roasted red pepper, oh and garlic and basil, dang, it was fab. The meal wasn’t horrible though, edible for sure, and next time it should be super provided i can get the proper consistency with just ap flour.

One additional note. I may or may not have mentioned to some of you that dry rieslings aren’t that super? I finished the bottle, and by the end, it was tasting pretty good - probably a horrible mix for the meal, but it went down just fine.

Our first and last love… self-love.

our love life will be happy and
armonious

Another 2 fortune pho day. The soop was super today. What is the significance of the last fortune being trimmed? Of course it is Your life, and it will be harmonious, but what if it isn’t? If it were earlier, i’d spend some time reading crap into this. But its not. I’ll take it for what it is, a bunch of words printed in some factory onto a little stick of paper meant to make people feel good. And they do.

Perception is incredibly powerful. I’ve been accusing myself of becoming a hypochondriac of late, but i’d like to think me being such a rational person that it’s impossible. Perhaps if i’d be more impressionable i would be… or mabye i am. Its too late to read anything into any of this.

In other news, in case i didn’t mention it, i now understand the casement window requirement. Its not for fire safety, its just general safety and liability. Having a door that leads from a second story dwelling to an unenclosed/unsafe space/area is bad. It should be replaced by a casement window that you can’t fall out, but can still easily escape from. Makes sense… i’m planning on the deck, but it’ll take some time. In the meantime i think a friend is moving in, he’ll be ‘cool’ with the caveats at a slightly discounted rent, and all will be well in the world. There will be one relatively large party to celebrate the quick month of novemeber when the whole house is mine. O yes.

Sometimes when i go for runs to pass the time i try to sing songs. Normally its the movie version of “when the tigers broke free” from the wall. Tonite it was “arnold lane” also from floyd but way older, i think syd sung it. I hardly remember the words… “arnold lane…. had a strange hobby. Collecting clothes, moonshine washing lineee. they suit him fine!… o arnold lane, its not the same, takes two to love…. two to love…. two to love… why can’t you seeee!!!” I don’t even know if those are right, and i’m certainly missing some.

Anyway i got home from my dart game a little disgruntled and needed to blow off some steam. Instead of buying cigarettes and chain smoking while drinking beer, i decided to go for a nice long run instead. I started through the experimental farm, which is a little spooky and unnerving alone after ten on a weekday. Once i got to the otherside of the locks i was greeted by 3 or 4 different groups of young folk smoking cheeba which was a much more welcome waft than tobacco smoke woulda been. I’m guessing carleton students res’s are right there.

Somewhere between bank and pretoria i started trying to sing arnold lane. As the above lyrical mishaps are evidence of, i didn’t get very far. That and i could hardly breath so singing just made running harder. I also made an obvious realization about balance. The reason i wanted a cigarette during crummy dart play was because i needed to regain my balance, with pleasure from a smoke. However, it would take balance away from health, making me feel shitty. To componsate for that, i might’ve decided to go for a run or do some yoga, but it’s so less satisfying when you have to fight plugged lung recepticals. However, because i didn’t want more imbalance, as i’m getting intolerant of it in my older age, i decide to forgo the smoke, go for the run, and hopefully feel all around better because of it. And i do/did.

Finally, on the home stretch, i saw some girls with candles in one of the glebe parks. I smiled, although it woulda been nice to see what they were talking about. However any sweaty dude approaching girls after 11 in a glebe park may be viewed as suspicious, but next time its less suspicious i should seize the opportunity.

Now, after shower, i’m sitting here eating feta cheese, peanuts, and yellow cherry tomatos to replinish some energy… i’m told you’re supposed to eat after you run. Running was tough as i had a belly full of creamy pasta and lots of gas, the latter of which is now mostly dispersed along the canal. Sometimes when i decide to just eat whats in the house its really bad for you. I think i went through a cup or 2 of table cream in my sauce tonite, which is like 50 grams of fat or something. O well. I did learn something, you need a sharp cheese for alfredo. Brie? Not gonna cut it. I also am learning roasting veggies is the way to go for peppers and zucchini’s.

Coherent much? Apparently not me today. I apologize for the lack of continuty but congratulate you if you made it this far!!! As a reward, try the all pizza diet (even though its kinda cheating, dude had smoothys for breakfast and only ate 6 slices a day).

I attended my 5 year homecoming celebration at queen’s u in kingston this past weekend. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but i sure got my nostalgia on.

I won’t bore with all the details, but it was fun. I never had much ’spirit’ while i was there, never even went out on homecoming weekend, so really didn’t know what to do. Luckily the buddy i went up with did. As can be seen by the image above, we did the obligatory football game, and the halftime ‘parade’ around the field. This is where all the various graduating classes, from 1935 to 2000’s gather in their group and walk around the track. All the students jump the fence and pile onto the field to bang their jackets to the ground in ceremonial fashion. The school’s got lots of traditions, most of which are alien and strange to me.

After the game we basically bar hopped till the wee hours. Queens’s pub, toucan, grizzly grill, brass, and finally aj’s. This would have been a semi-typical friday while attending school, minus the football game and expensive appetizers and beer. Being back at all these places, the brass most of all, reminded me i’m getting older. Not like thats a big secret, but it was one of the things that really hit home. I kept looking at peoples grad classes on their jackets and saying “in 10 years, thats me”. Or “in 20 years, i’m gonna look like that?!?!”. It was all a little unsettling…

The other thing that became incredibly clear is that when i was at school i didn’t ‘make the most of it’. Basically i had my head buried very deeply in a bag of weed, 99 cent movies, my first dedicated internet connection, and doing well at school. Its hard to have regrets because i had a great time and everything worked out, but i kinda feel like i should have *some* regrets. And i guess i do. If i had partied and gone nuts in my first year i probably wouldn’t of had nearly the success i did have while i was there… but dang, there was a lot of fun to be had for first years, and i missed out on all of if basically because i was shy and had no balls. And really, this tradition continues today… it was kind of an eye opener.

So i’ll be back in another five years, thats the suggested schedule. We’ll see if i’ve learned anything by then. Hopefully i will:
- not have a bald spot
- be in decent shape
- go for things i want, and not waste opportunities

Ok, so the ingredient of the week has to be: peanuts and/or peanut butter.

I only had an hour or so to chill, decided salad was the best bet. Wanted to try a new dressing, couldn’t find any decent peanut based dressings, and had a peanut craving (since the recent peanut butter soop). So i remembered an old recipe for a pasta with peanut butter sauce, but of course no quantities… i could’ve looked it up, but what fun is that??

I put about 1/4 cup of smooth pb, some soy sauce, some honey, some red wine vinegar, some sesame oil, a bit of water, and a pinch of cayenne (not enuf to make a dif, perhaps more next time). I also added some garlic and ginger powder, again, not enuf to make a diff. Dang, it was good dressing (i’m gonna cut up some apples and carrots and finish it off as a dip tomorrow)… bought some spinach and sprouts at boushys on the way home… then i added “what i had lying around” (ha! i love reading that in recipes, you can learn so much about people by what they have ‘lying around’… observe:) - a carrot, a shallot, some mushrooms, walnuts, pumpkin seeds (too salty but o well), almond slabs, a tomato, and some pepper. It was a damn good salad, and dang, i can eat a lot of salad. And i did.

Other than that i played poker tonite and lost a whole bunch of money but had a good time with my friends. Some times i wonder why i bother, other times i know its cause its fun. This is only half of one of those times.

I think i need to do some research into flour and bonding agents. I tried to make some sweet potato gnocchi tonite. Decided to try sans gluten with some gluten-free hempseed flour i had. Also tried my previous no-egg recipe… i’m sure any semi-educated cook could tell me this is doomed to fail. What is there in this mix that will hold the cooked potato/flour mixture together… NOTHING!!! I think you need gluten. Or eggs. I don’t know what gluten is, but i should probably find out. The sweet potato, my fav food du jour, needs to be worked into one of my other favorite recipes, gnocchi. Homemade gnocchi, while time consuming and precarious, is incredible.

Luckily i bought some storebought pasta this past weekend… fettucelle. Its basically fettucinni perhaps missing a mm or 2. Did my first tomato based sauce of the ’season’ - today, being the last day of summer (o how i will miss they), couldn’t be a better time to usher in the comfort canned tomato based sauce. Remember though, table cream (18% i think) is no substitute for whipping cream (35%). If you’s be adding it to add that fattening flavourful kick, and you want to call someting “roseh”, use the good shite will ya? Speaking of which, are there any cream substitutes that don’t involve dairy? This has got me thinking i can alleviate recent tummy woes with a dietary change… why do i drink what is naturally intended for calfs anyways? Marketing? Culture? Mom? I’m old enough now, i should be able to figure out why i “drink milk, love life”.

And then afterwards in a nutshelll….. ate, watched family guy, friend came over, went to clocktower, played with plastascene(sp), watched strange creatures come to life, eyed strangers inquisically to no avail, walked a friend home through centertown ghettos (ya right!), played a game of pool, organized future dart meetings, learned that the mill restaurant has decent waiters but the prime rib’s too expensive for them to know what it tastes like, and finally, spent the last pint of beer on a cab ride home after walking thru a pool of water in the entraceway hall…. phew. Its amazing how you can think so little happenned but have so much to blab about. I could say so much more, but will refrain for the time being. Nice people were met and talked too, for this and recent anti-shy actions i am grateful, it was a terrific day.

“Your love life will be happy and
harmonious.”

“In youth and beauty wisdom is rare.”

2 fortunes for lunchtime pho is great. Both arrrrrrrr so true - the latter ensures i be not too arrogant and self swabbin, and the former tells of the riches to plunder through a life nobly led. Arrrrr.

Eat your mighty sweet potatos like this, just don’t miss the 1/2 juice of the lemon else you get the naughty scurvy.

Recipe (not mine) is here.

I was lucky enough attend the eagerly awaited sigur ros show last nite. Phenominal! I really should’ve written about it last nite like i said, but o well… hopefully i can capture some of the feeling.

Showed up at the bronson centre much later than i originally wanted, about 6:50. The line was around the corner, and then some… hence, our seats were not the greatest. The venue was small, cozy, and hot. I sweated profusely through much of the show until the doors at the back were opened to allow some breeziness. A small price to pay.

The opening act was some bizarro iclandic band (was it amilia or something?) that played a multitude of musical devices ranging from glasses to a saw. It was something to see, but only caught my attention for a few moments. My friend that accompanied me was more impressed with them than the main act… i shared no such feelings.

Sigur ros went on probably around 9. They had this white screen in front of the stage that produced this nifty shadowy effect, very dramatic. They opened with the first track of their new album, takk. It was amazing. I’ve only listened to the album since it came out last tuesday, but guess i’ve heard it enough to know where songs were coming from.

The lead singer absolutely blew me away. This pic here is him playing his guitar, with, as he did for the majority of the show, a bow. His voice just went so deep into my soul. For the first little while before he started singing i was worried i’d ruin the experience for myself. I’m used to listening to these guys almost as part of a religous experience whilst i do yoga - its as close as i get these days days to a religous experience. I thought if it didn’t pull through, or if it sounded different or worse, or worse of all, if i realized these folks are just a bunch of dudes, probably younger than myself, that the experience would be ruined. This was not the case. I of course did realize the final point, but i got over it as i experienced breathtaking results of what creative people are capable of, most notably having me well up during the opening track to () which was played half way through the set. I took a video of that to get some of the sound, it doesn’t do it justice, and it *still* makes the goosebumps i had all nite return. Damn, it was incredible.

The potential of this band is just ridiculous. They are just men and women of course, but they evoke such strong emotions in me. And purely from the sound, as i have no idea what any of the music is ‘about’ as i don’t understand the lyrics. Perhaps it’s easier for me to find meaning or purpose in the music if there is no painting with words, just of sounds by the vocals. The vocals are the most important part of this music too, sounds coming out of this guys gold plated lungs capable of making me (and perhaps others) cry. So irrational, so illogical, and i wouldn’t change it for the world.

The visual effects were also very nice. This final picture, while blurry and crappy, shows the ‘birds’. It was just a light projection painting a scene of birds on a wire. They would slowly fly away, and slowly return again. This was the final pre-encore song they did, and after all was said and done all the birds flew away. It was breathtaking.

I don’t think i should ever try to look up the lyrics, or want to delve any more into these folks lives. I like it the way they are as demi-god producers of sound that can bring about emotions and feelings and moods that i am so grateful for yet feel is fragile.

Blah blah blah, ok, i guess some of the feelings came back…

Anyways, they played quite a bit off their new album, but lots of old stuff too. They came out for one encore song, and two encore bows. I was surprised by the crowd, early 20’s at best… i was not surprised by the 30$ t-shirts that barely had anything on em. Seen this too many times to be disillusioned, also too blown away to care, and can easily excuse on record company or managerial greed.

After the show we had drinks at the oak. 3 beers and a yag in about an hour, and really, all it did was take the edge off. O, and a few smokes (damnit, i don’t care!!!). It was a great evening and i felt great all day today. I go see them every nite this week if they were in town, thats for damn sure.

… but i guess there wasn’t that many. Everything always seems more monumental at 1:30 am when the music is loud, and you’re surrounded by people losing one inhibition after the other.

“If it was me, and i was out with you and your girlfriend, i’d be all over all of that”. Or something like that. Ya right, i would be too. I was out with a friend, his gf, and a bunch of her friends as it was one of their bdays. The opportunity to go out with a bunch of anonymous hot girls is something you regret passing by, so you rarely do. However, game plans are a necessity, as are balls, and confidence, and really, personality is something you can probably leave at home. I didn’t bring much except a snazzy shirt… what did i say - “or the death of me will lie in the mirrors that dress me”?? I gotta listen to myself more.

Anyway, it was a fun nite, there was this ubersexy girl playing pool… wowy zowy, she was something else, but i’ve no idea what she’s really like as she was a) dressed up a bit and b) intoxicated. For all i know shes ultra repressed and uptight and wears jogging pants to work (i seriously doubt the last one, but excuses are easier when paired with unattractive imagry).

I woke up today, and stayed in bed till 11 or so, tossing and turning, trying to guage the hangover. Not too bad really. I then, of course, had to have a yoga bout with the new sigur ros album - the concert is tomorrow!!!!! Super kickass pigeon today by the way, mabye if i get bold at some point i’ll start setting up my camera and taking pictures of myself, get all narcissistic or something (as if i’m not already).

Its 9:07, why am i not on my way to work? I ask you, the people, to tell me why. I am hungover, tired, and slightly annoyed, and really, don’t give a shit if i’m late for work today. Lately, I normally don’t leave the house before this time anyways, but the act of writing this shows my utter spite for showing up at my ‘normal’ time today. It was a late(r) nite of high drama at a ‘friendly’ cash game last nite. While at times quite nasty, it turned out to be lots of fun by the end of it, all shookup, but no one got hurt.

So the answer really, is you, the people - it is for you that i am not at work. I’m writing, to tell you, the people, of these hard truths about my life that just couldn’t wait until they were glossy and sugar coated as they would be if recounted tonite. I bid you all a fine friday.