booker street: 4/1/05

i won i won!

my first ever ebay auctions!

reading is fundamental

i know this to be true, as reading regularly makes me feel smarter, wittier and, overall, more fulfilled. however, i have been in a literary slump lately and very discouraged at not finding a work of fiction that engages me. nothing, nada, zip. i can't seem to get engaged in anything. not even moby dick - which was recommded to me as a great and engaging read. it's even written in the first person which is almost a must for me. my copy of the whale is even illustrated!
what is my problem?
so last night i went to the local non-local bookstore to browse, hoping to find something intriguing. well - really i went to read the interview with britt daniel in the new filter mag. (holy crap he is the hottest man on the planet.) so i thought the least i could do is peruse the shelves. i have been pretty consumed lately with thoughts of gentrification, so i wandered over to the cultural studies section. well there was little that grabbed my attention regarding gentrification, but...there was this beautiful, shockingly white spine of a dust jacket stamped HIP: The History (link to local non-local bookstore referenced above). "hmmm," I thought to myself, "this looks interesting," and i grabbed it. the cover was even more strikingly beautiful and thus i opened it and found a very interesting table of contents. now i don't usually go buying hardcover books on just anything - only industrial photography and railroad history! - but this was a copy from the first printing of the first edition. not to mention gorgeous and timely. while i have been lamenting the use of the words hipster and hip recently i am certainly nonetheless intrigued by notions of hip and, by extension, subcultural manifestations of it. so what could i do - i had to buy it! i found myself utterly captivated by the preface! hallelujah - finally something to read.
on another reading related note: i have recently been reading/recording for RFB&D (recording for the blind and dyslexic). this week i have logged my first two hours. figures that the story i would randomly pick (without knowing it's subject) would be the most dirty and blush-causing short story printed in the Norton Anthology! in case you're intrigued, it's called Breasts and it is also available in this collection. holy crap! it's a good thing i am an iota (and really only an iota) more mature than a 7th grader or i would be paralysed by giggles. what must the blind or dyslexic listener be thinking when he or she is listening to stories such as these? lordy. i will forever be immortalised on cd as the reader of Breasts.

me me me

i have only had negative things to say lately and i don't feel like posting my nasty and negative thoughts is a productive use of a blog. so i will not post again until i have nice and/or inoffensive things to say.

toilets and cheesecake, take 2

my toilet leaks again but damn my cheesecake is good. one for two isn't too bad, i guess.
i will fix that toilet!

toilets and cheesecake

tonight is a night to remember.

it is the first time i have attempted to and successfully fixed a leaking toilet.
see what happens is after years of use the wax seal that binds the waste pipe to the toilet breaks. so you have to replace it. replacing it involves removing the toilet from the waste pipe (so that's what it looks and smells like!) cleaning the floor and toilet surfaces from any old wax - and other gunk! - and then putting a new wax ring and bolts in place around the waste pipe. then you carefully line the holes in the base of the toilet up with the bolts and gently set the toilet back in place. then you have someone who weighs a good bit - like a husband - sit on the toilet and rock gently back and forth to sqoosh the wax so that it fills up all the crevices in between it and the waste pipe. then you gently screw the lock washers onto the bolts. not too tight though, you might crack the porcelain!

tonight is also the night when i baked my first cheesecake.
first you wash your hands - just in case you had been fixing toilets earlier. then you follow this recipe:

Crumb Crust
2 cups finely ground graham crackers (about 30 squares)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
In a mixing bowl, combine the crust ingredients together with a fork until evenly moistened. Lightly coat the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray. Firmly press the mixture over the bottom and 1-inch up the sides on the pan, use your fingers or the smooth bottom of a glass. Refrigerate the crust while preparing the filling.

Filling
2 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 lemon, zest finely grated
1 pint sour cream
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese on low speed for 1 minute just until smooth and free of any lumps. Gradually add the sugar and beat until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue to slowly beat until combined. Stir in the vanilla and lemon zest. Blend in the sour cream. The batter should be well mixed but not overbeaten. Overbeating incorporates too much air and will cause the cake to puff when baking, then fall and crack when cooling. Pour filling into the crust-lined pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Set the pan on a large piece of aluminum foil and fold up the sides. This will prevent water from seeping into the seams of the springform pan. Carefully set the cake pan in a larger roasting pan. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until the water is about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan.

Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 45 minutes. The cheesecake should still jiggle, it will firm up after chilling. Be careful not to overcook! Do not do a toothpick test in the cake's center, this will make a crack. Loosen the cheesecake from the sides of the pan by running a thin metal spatula around the inside rim. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for at least 4 hours to set up. Demold and transfer to a cake plate. Slice the cheesecake with a thin, nonserrated knife that has been dipped in hot water and wiped dry after each cut.

Now I will enjoy the fruits of my labors.

just toolin around

abandoned fuel delivery truck

the same fuel storage tank

permanently closed fuel tanks in idyllic ivy va

today we went exploring. not really to any place we hadn't been before, but to places we'd already seen. we did take our cameras because it was such a lovely day. the light meter on my 30 year old s l r seems to be a bit temperamental so it's hard to know if my shots will come out. but the photos my hubby took with the digital camera (such as the one above) look fantastic.

this is my first attemp at using picasa. i don't know how friendly it really is...

irridiculous

as i was typing the word regardless in an email to my mother the *word* irregardless popped into my head. i reminded myself how much it irks me when someone uses it. irregardless is not a word! it's not (even though merriam webster says it is)! those who use it are incorrect!

this is my favorite definition of irregardless: "an erroneous redundancy for regardless."

i am also fond of this definition: "Do not use. The word is a mistaken fusion of irrespective and regardless."

update

i actually saw someone wearing a jesus is my homeboy t-shirt.
at the recycling center - on a sunday.
was she being ironic or observant?
hmmm, i wonder.

house of glass

since my urban archeology post yesterday, i have noticed how many little (and big) glass bottles i have around my house and my desk. i really love glass bottles as neat little objects. i have 5 differently shaped little jars and bottles in front of me right now. each has such perfect and imperfect details in shape and form. one had a single serving of pure maple syrup, one had a single serving of clover honey, one had pimentos, one was a big jar of wildflower honey, one was a bottle of *nest beer* from japan, and one is of unknown provenace as it was found in my yard. each has an opening of a different size - perfect for one daphne bud, many grape hyacinths, strands of philodendron, colored paper clips, bobby pins, binder clips, etc. little found bottles and jars help me keep my desk in order and my life contained.

urban archeology

i called this post urban archeology because last night i took inventory of all the cool(!) things i have thus far excavated from our yard.

a watch
various sizes of (rusty) knife blades
hedge shears (rusted open)
a (rusty) pitchfork
a (rusty) metal rake
various (rusty) metal rods
wire cutters (also rusted open)
yards of (rusty) wire mesh
heavy gauge chain (also rusty)
many tennis balls
a sardine tin
pottery shards
tons of glass shards
10 (or so) really cool glass (mostly old liquor) bottles and jars
studded leather cuff (not joking)

one of the bottles i found is now on my desk filled with grape hyacinths (muscari armeniacum) found scattered around the yard. they smell delicious.

i have always lamented that i had no idea about urban and industrial archeology when i was in college, else i would have pursued it. who needs a degree, i can excavate my own yard!
i spent most of the weekend in the yard, save for multiple trips back and forth to lowes and sundry other places.

i am not keen to go to lowes, for many reasons: it’s far away, it’s really crowded, the employees are clueless, and, did i mention that it’s really crowded and far away. i would much rather patronize a local hardware store, of which there are at least three in CHO; two of them are in my ‘hood. so what is the problem, you ask? well the problem is that they are never open. the two in my hood close at 5 pm on weekdays, at 12 on saturdays, closed on sundays! fine, sundays i can understand - people need a day off and sunday is a great day to have off. but seriously, people, closing at 5 pm on weekdays and 12 on a saturday? on weekdays i can’t even get home from work and get a project started before 5. on saturdays they aren’t even giving me time to get up, get breakfast and begin my projects. how do i know what last minute additions i need by noon? what if i need an extra bag of soil at 2 pm? what if my shovel breaks? what if i want to buy a new drill? i simply say that i am being forced to patronize lowes! what choice do i have? i needed fasteners, hinges and a latch for my compost bin on saturday afternoon and on sunday i needed a large terra cotta pot and soil to transplant a rose bush. my hands are tied!

my revelation yesterday was that i was meant to live in my house on booker street. in case it hasn’t been clear in prior posts, I LOVE CLEMATIS. varieties of vines, in general, are my favorite garden plants, but clematis are one of my favorite of the vines. there are clematis ALL OVER our yard - i would venture to say that there are close to 50 different original plants, and each plant has tens of vines. the cary’s planted them everywhere, randomly. i can hardly keep up with them! i have some major transplanting to do!

i did transplant a rose bush - we have 5 or so - that was in the compost bin spot. it’s now on my porch. i hope it weathers the shock of transplanting.

i scream, you scream

it's no secret that i have a serious problem with ice cream. i need it far more frequently than any human should. as a result, i have tried almost all flavors and brands out there. just recently i tried reed's ginger ice cream and i now have a new favorite.

the flavor of this ice cream is shockingly creamy and only subtly tasting of ginger. the crystallized ginger is very mild, as well, as if the cream has mellowed it.
sublime.

i thought reed's ginger ale was the best i have ever tasted - and now i have ice cream too.
oh man.

com post

this is the compost bin i plan on building this weekend. i think i'll start off with a two bin construction and work my way up to three when needed. the construction seems deceptively easy. i imagine that building this type of bin could be very easy providing the pallets are in decent shape.

the sun has finally come out after a long day of clouds and chill. i can see that the two dogwoods in front of our porch will be pink! pink dogwoods are the prettiest!

flora pt. 2

time now for flora pt. 2, the cherry blossom time. the cherry trees all over town are completely bloomed out, like huge clouds of fluffy white goodness on dark brown/black trunks. i believe most of the cherries in town to be yoshino cherries. there are many trees in the vicinity of my house so many cars are now cloaked in the falling white petals of the blossoms. the bark of the cherries is remarkablesmooth and polished looking. often two cherries are top grafted together to make a more hardy tree with stronger roots. these usually end up looking like mops - completely unnatural.

the cherries bloom out before getting their leaves, thus the cloud comparison. this is unlike the flowering crab apples which grow leaves and flowers almost simultaneously. their color is just starting to show.

the apples are my favorites of the two, due to the variety and range of pink to red hues of the blooms and the combination of the blooms with the leaves. additionally the trunks and bark of the crab apples are very gnarly and twisted. i think these trees have much more personality than the cherries. they are certainly a lot more underrated than the cherries.

(i am not sure why i can't find an agricultural extension website for virginia gardens and varieties of plants. it seems a shame to highlight websites from other states.)

5 am and other musings

i am awakened at 5 am almost every morning. this is certainly the result of two external factors and perhaps one internal factor. the two external factors are that our neighbor across the street leaves for work at 5 am and roars up the street as if in a hurry to get there. maybe he’s late, or maybe he’s really pissed that he has to leave for work so early! the other external factor is far more pleasant and i will never complain of it. my dear, sweetest kitty, paisley, only wants to be loved at 5 am. she kneads and purrs herself up from the foot of the bed all the way to my pillow in search of sweet caresses. these i am more than happy to give her. she really only needs about 5 minutes of love, so i could potentially fall back asleep easily, but usually i don’t. this leads me to believe there may be something internally that is encouraging me to rise at 5. it usually takes me at least an hour to fall back asleep. during that hour my mind is sharp and i come up with so many smart ideas. but it’s hard to wrestle myself from the bed - it’s so snuggly - so i eventually fall back to sleep and then i’m out until at least 8. when i wake at 8 i feel like crap. this leads me to believe that i should really only allow myself 6 hours of sleep a night - rather than the 8-9 hours to which i have grown more accustomed. if only i could get out of bed at 5. it’s really not the waking that is hard to do (except at 8am), it’s the getting out of bed. would a ready pot of coffee help? what would i do between 5 and 8? perhaps i should subscribe to the paper? maybe once i start commuting, i could really get a jump on the day? perhaps when the sun rises earlier i could sit in the garden.

speaking of the garden, and by extension it’s revenge, my poison ivy is only slowly fading. i do think that yesterday was the last of the new spots, so hopefully it will all begin to clear up. i still can’t identify the vine in the garden so i’m faced with a weekend of yard work covered from head to toe. this does not excite me!

i am excited about building a compost bin, though!

the cherry trees are in full flower now and the apples are beginning to leaf out and bud up. i’m due for flora pt. 2 and hope to get to it this afternoon!
i tried to post an earlier iteration of this on blogger about 5 minutes ago and it ate it. it’s unfortunate that blogger is really sapping any motivation to blog lately. i did just notice the recover post button - is that new, i wonder?

ugh, part 2

i just wrote a very positive review of the flora i witnessed on the drive north through the shenandoah valley, but blogger ate it. having made the rounds of blogs i like today i see that i am not the only one struggling with this cruel mistress.

i am, more than likely though, the only one with raging poison ivy.

ugh.

poc-OH-NO was right! What a shitty weekend.

on the 6 hour drive, poison ivy maifested itself all over my face and body. the garden's revenge i suppose.

the "woodlands spa and resort" was really a highrise hotel in the middle of the ugliest landscape i have ever seen. not only was there no heart-shaped jacuzzi, there wasn't even a bath tub in our room.

it poured all weekend, so much so that the ugly ugly town was threatened by weakening levies.

it was freezing all weekend, and, on the drive home, the rain turned to snow.

families are insane.

i like superstitions

today is april fool's day, of course you know. but did you know...

that all april fool's pranks must be carried out before noon or they will bring bad luck to the prankster. and, if you, the fool, don't respond to being fooled then you will have bad luck. (oh, so that explains it!)

also, it is warned that a man who marries on april fool's day will be *ruled* by his wife. man, that's some bad luck. but a child born on april 1 will have good luck throughout life, except in gambling. go figure.

media is now the primary prankster on april 1. read about some recent media hoaxes here.

poc-oh-no, really?

when i told friends that i was off to the poconos for the weekend, they all snickered and asked "does your room have a heart-shaped jacuzzi?" i thought, "what... are you kidding?" upon further research however, i have discovered that indeed, it's true. i quote from the insiders' guide to the poconos mountains: "Honeymooners and couples will find romantic hideaways with heart-shaped tubs and Jacuzzis." crazy! well i suppose that's why hubby's uncle is getting married there - it couldn't possibly be that it's beautiful and close to home for him. no matter, i am looking forward to getting away for the weekend - to a region i have never seen before. it will be fun, heart-shaped tub and all.

booker street

4.27.2005

i won i won!

reading is fundamental

4.26.2005

me me me

4.19.2005

toilets and cheesecake, take 2

4.18.2005

toilets and cheesecake

4.16.2005

just toolin around

4.13.2005

irridiculous

update

4.12.2005

house of glass

4.11.2005

urban archeology

4.08.2005

i scream, you scream

com post

flora pt. 2

5 am and other musings

4.04.2005

ugh, part 2

ugh.

4.01.2005

i like superstitions

poc-oh-no, really?

About Me

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