Don't You Know by Jan Hammer Group

Slow jam.

All the bitch that's fit to print

This Saturday.

Debra

If you know Sarah Russell, ask for a live performance (preferably over some Zankou Chicken).

You blew that one, too

NYMag has a brief interview with Bill Maher. I like it almost as much as the look on Zach Galifianakis' face in that picture.

Ode to stranger with bike pump

Your fixie is pink and green
Your English is poor
But we speak the universal language: bike pump
You thought only my back tire needed air
You were wrong
Why were you taking tire tubes out of the dumpster?
I will never know
Regardless, I thank you.

School on Wheels

The LAT has a piece on School on Wheels, an organization I used to volunteer for. My students only showed up for their tutoring sessions about 50% of the time; maybe I would have been better off donating money.

Please watch this

everybody dance!

Carrot salad and chard and white bean soup

I added pasta and some extra vegetables to this soup, and was very pleased. It is like a minestrone, was tasty, healthy, and should freeze well for future consumption.

I was less thrilled with this carrot salad. My personal preference is on the savory side of the spectrum, and this salad was nice, but too sweet for me. Others might enjoy it. Next time, I will use this recipe (note: buy harissa).

Macarons at home?

I wonder if I could do this recipe justice. I might have to take a stab and see what happens, using memories of Pierre Herme as inspiration.

Lasagna on NYE

I rang in the last full night of 2010 with three types of lasagna (all from Epicurious):

• Sausage, Cheese, and Basil
• Mushroom and zucchini (no red sauce)
• Red pepper and spinach (subbed spinach for the broccoli in recipe)

The mushroom lasagna created the most crowd reaction. It is hard to find vegetarian recipes that satisfy meat-eaters, so I was impressed with the results, despite the fact that the recipe is pretty time consuming and led to a mini-breakdown on my part. I avoided a problem I experienced with my previous white lasagna endeavor (too dry) by leaving the cooked noodles in water until arranging the lasagna. The bechamel is also tremendously buttery, which helped keep it moist as well.

The other lasagnas were tasty and pretty easy. I would make all of them again, probably saving the mushroom recipe for special occasions or days when I have a lot of free time and don't mind pulsing two pounds of white mushrooms in a food processor.

Explorer: Science of Cats

This National Geographic series is compelling for the title alone. They blew it in the photo section; most of the pictures are of hairless cats. Next time, they should use Lewis Catberger as their catmodel. See headshot below. Kthxbai.

Where to?

New year, new thoughts about how climate change will irrevocable change my way of life, especially considering that I live in Southern California, "the first dying canary in the coalmine" due to increasing drought conditions.

So ... France? Vancouver? I bet Detroit will be ready for a renaissance in a few decades.

Chicken liver

"It's not 15.8" inches, the record set in 1889, "but it's not chicken liver either."

It has been raining a lot, indeed.

Awkward Pregnancy Photos

There are no words. Thank you Daryn.

Breakfast of Champions

Missing a michelada. Other than that, no complaints.

Mean Girls in the White House

Thanks for the find, Jenny. I would like to see a Clueless variation.

Pot smoking makes a comeback among teenagers

Did it ever go away?

Support and Guidance

Sometimes, when I am sad and missing my dad, I think about how lucky I am that I have so much to miss about him. Other people have lunatic dads who are probably better off gone. For example, actress Thora Birch, who was recently fired due to her dad's behavior:

"Mr. Birch, formerly an actor in pornographic films who is now Ms. Birch’s manager, had attended most rehearsals to provide support and guidance for his daughter. At one point during Thursday’s rehearsal, Mr. Birch confronted an actor who had been working on a scene with Ms. Birch."

Formerly a porn star! NBD.

If there were decent Hannukah songs I would post them

But there aren't!



Ray Charles version of That Spirit of Christmas


Ray LaMontagne version

Tear Town: Other people must go there too

I don't like reading sad articles at my desk and crying over them, but I do it anyway. I must not be the only person with this problem; otherwise, there would be fewer articles like this about a young mother's death as chronicled by Facebook, or maybe less pieces written by recent widows about their husband's final days.

Related: Are Joyce Carol Oates and Joan Didion friends? Did JCO go to JD with questions about how to write about a dead husband?

If you want to learn more about being a widow, or you just want to cry for a while, please listen to this Talk of the Nation interview.

I tried to find a nice cat picture to lighten the mood, but it is a futile task.