Hand of Dog

The Undead Saint

2011-03-21T21:54:00.003-05:00

A brilliant gin martini recipe:

   3 parts Deaths Door Gin (substitute a good, straight-forward gin {Broker's, Beefeater})
   1 part Dry Vermouth (make sure you keep it properly)
   3/4 part St. Germain (possibly even less, 1/2 part maybe. I do not know a substitute for this.)

add a lemon twist.

This is a delicious, unique martini. It's the 'hi-booze' of a good martini without the 'hard-core alcoholic taste'.

An excellent birthday, or any day cocktail. You should totally try it.

Stillwater, MN - come for the food & drink, stay for the overpriced antiques

2011-01-28T14:37:00.001-06:00

We were convince (or coerced) by our dear friend JP to take the 20 minute ride north from our hotel in Hudson, WI to the quaint (in the etymological sense) town of Stillwater. The last time we'd been to town, last September, Jess had introduced us to a Pirate-themed bar (with no patience for "Talk Like a Pirate Day") but also to a ridiculously long line of late-summer traffic coming into town.

This time around Jess met us for a cocktail at the Dock Cafe, a place where his parents go for the occasional Manhattan. I followed suit (bourbon) as did JP (brandy) and Brooke had a well-made vodka martini. Very good cocktails, but the dinner was even better. If you ever have opportunity to eat in Stillwater, the Black & Blue Tuna is utterly perfect. Spicy, with some wasabi on the side if you want even a bit more, and a blue cheese sauce. The flavors are unusual together, but really quite nice.

After dinner we explored downtown in search of an after-dinner drink and settled, luckily for us, on MarX, a modern-looking restaurant with an interesting collection of boozes. Brooke ordered an Espresso Martini, which was serviceable. I asked the bartender what he could make with whiskey. He made me a Red Snapper which sounds awful, but is actually quite tasty (though it loses a lot of the flavor that makes you want to drink whiskey in the first place). It's a concoction of Crown Royale, Amaretto and a splash of cranberry juice.

I inquired about an interesting-looking bottle tucked away behind some of the cordials and was rewarded with a splash of a Hirsch Bourbon from Kentucky. It was delightful, smooth and sweet.

I asked the general manager about the art on the wall, some of which was local, but four framed paintings of which had come from Haiti. They had a typical Haitian brightness and the local art matched that flavor. We sampled one more 'experimental' cocktail that they were considering adding to the menu. It had rye whiskey, Drambuie, some honey and Bittercube Blackstrap Bitters (from Milwaukee!). The drink was topped with a anise floater, which hit the nose just as you were sipping, a very delightful cocktail. All in all, I'd highly recommend MarX as a place for cocktails and if the care with which they were crafted is any indication, I'm guessing the food is excellent there too.

The next morning I had occasion to return to Stillwater for breakfast, which I took at the River Oasis Café, just south of downtown on Highway 95. The place was interestingly laid out, with two café counters running alongside four booths with a narrow walkspace in between for the waitress to get to all the serving spaces with as few steps as possible. Now, William Least Heat Moon asserts in his worthwhile travel book Blue Highways that a town diner can be judged by the number of calendars hanging on the wall (if that's so, this place was not up to snuff), but I would instead count the number of local advertisements (for shows, sales, or other notices) and take that as an indication of the place's "down-hominess". Anyway, my egg sandwich, made-to-order, was delicious on a multi-grain toast and an adequate cup of coffee. The clientele was old and gossiping, as it should be at any local diner. A good last stop in a town that serves as a "small town getaway" for Minneapolis burghers.

On the Storage of Vermouth (and other things you weren't wondering)

2010-11-09T00:16:00.002-06:00

A year and a half ago we were imbibing at Bryant's and were informed that the reason they were so liberal in their usage of vermouth*^ was that they stored it properly, that is, refrigerated it. This revelation,

quite literally, changed the way we're drinking cocktails. No more the 'vermouth splash' (where you set some vermouth {on the rocks} in your martini glass while you're shaking your gin or vodka, then dump it out), no more vermouth spritzer (i seriously considered buying this product when it was in the "gold box" one time), rather we were once again enjoying the vermouth in our cocktails.

Since that time, we've been enjoying martinis, old fashions, Manhattans (see right), and Rusty Nails (well, no, who drinks Rusty Nails...) with full vermouth-y-ness.

Even with this newfound appreciation for Vermouth, we've discovered an improvement (or at least a worthy variation) on the classic Manhattan (also works for an Old Fashioned). This cocktail is pilfered, then re-imagined, from the specials board at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, San Francisco (home of absurdly small rooms, and actually quite nice service).

Port Manhattan

3 Parts Bourbon
1 Part Port
1-2 dash bitters
maraschino cherry garnish

Shake bourbon, port, and bitters together over ice. Pour either over ice or up. Add cherry (it's good).

What this cocktail hits on is a soft sweetening of a classic 'drunk's drink'. Manhattan's are generally drinks for people who are serious about serious drinking, but who still want a pleasing flavor. This variation allows a wider audience to enjoy the same basic flavor or the Manhattan, but in a (marginally) sweeter form.

* Vermouth [ver-mooth]: –noun

an aromatized white wine which sorta tastes like ass. It may include flavors from herbs, roots, barks, bitters, and other flavorings have been steeped. Flavor is best captured in the description "an ape hair liquor".

^ Paideia Jack once drank dry vermouth straight out of our bottle when he crashed a cast party (circa Fall 1998, methinks). Shortly thereafter he absconded with Joel Miron's hatchet, Miron then chased him down the stairs, suggesting PJ ought to return said tool/weapon because it had been a gift from his parents. I think there was a moment where PJ wielded the parental gift against Miron, which he then took away from PJ, somehow.

Colon-Blow Chili

2009-10-14T17:30:00.005-05:00

Last night we made our favorite 5-day chili (or 7 day, depending on how you count) recipe, "Colon-Blow Chili". The CB Chili is great, because, once you've bought the ingredients, it only takes about 15 minutes to put together, and then you get about 5 days of enjoyment (followed by up to 2 days of, um, intestinal regret)...

- this recipe is based off of Cooking Light's October 2006 recipe, "Three-Bean Chili with Vegetables". I've added a few ingredients not in the original, and almost any ingredient can be substituted with your own personal tastes...

Colon Blow Chili

1 & 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped carrot (I use 2/3 carrot & 2/3 celery mixture)
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups water (actually, I use 3 cups water, one cup pilsner beer)
2 cups frozen whole-kernel corn
1 cup chopped red bell pepper (1 mid-sized pepper)
1 cup chopped zucchini (2 smallish zucchinis)
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
2 (16-ounce) cans pinto beans, drained
2 (16-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, mostly drained
1 (6-ounce) can "no-salt-added" tomato paste
1 & 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
1 & 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream

Preparation:

Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot,
and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in 4 cups water and next 12 ingredients
(through tomato paste); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25
minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in vinegar and chipotle and simmer
another 15-20 minutes or until carrot is tender. Top with cilantro,
cheese, and sour cream.

As said, this is a great meal that lasts you a good while. October seems, in fact, to be just about the perfect time for such a meal. In the past, I've used a wide variety of beans (1 can of Great Navy Beans in place of anything but the Black Beans - Leave the Black Beans is our popular choice), some faux-ground beef, shrimp, anything you like really. Stay warm & Enjoy.

Top, i dunno, 7...?

2009-08-13T20:56:00.003-05:00

This is a new feature for both this blog & Roman Numeral J (as well as, perhaps, the SeegerOlympics site). We're calling it "Top, i dunno, 7..." in which we will list our top 5 or so whatevers that we can think of...

The reason it's a 'top 7' is that we'll only list the top 5 or so, but are sure to be missing or forgetting some and we want to be able to leave room for our (or your) additions:

So, for now, it's

Top 7 (or so) Movies:

Joel:

1. Good Will Hunting
2. Say Anything
3. Dave
4. The Princess Bride
5.

(some that i'm thinking of putting on the list but can't quite let myself are I Love you, Man, Notting Hill, and Mickey Blue Eyes)

Brooke:

1.
2. Love Actually
3. Gone With the Wind
4.Pretty in Pink (?)
5. Benny & Joon

(some brooke said that she wouldn't/couldn't add are Babe & Mickey Blue Eyes - evidently, we really love that movie)

It's hard to say what a "favorite" is. Is it a movie you've seen a lot or is it something that sticks with you, or is it an "important" movie. Favorites are a very sticky thing... as i've said.

the Perfect Cosmopolitan

2009-03-19T19:15:00.003-05:00

I think i've finally figured out the perfect cosmo, ladies...

After some experimentation, i've now gotten the perfect formulation down... Make as follows:

the Perfect Cosmopolitan

2 parts vodka (somewhat good)
1 part Grand Marnier (Patron Citronge is a good, cheaper substitute)
1 part lime juice
1 part cranberry (actually, slightly less .75 part or so)

place a slice of lemon peel in a martini glass. Shake ingredients all together (in a shaker). Strain into the martini glass.

This is, i think, the best rendition i've put together... Better even than the one i've lost on the back side of a business card. Try it out & let me know how it works for you... Sex & the City Cosmos can eat their heart out...

The Almond Joy Martini

2008-11-11T20:00:00.003-06:00

We've discovered a new candy-like martini, that actually tastes good:

The Almond Joy Martini

1 oz. Coconut Flavored Rum
1 oz. Chocolate Flavored Liqueur*
1 oz. Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
1 oz. Vodka
2-4 oz. Cream, Half & Half, Milk (to taste)

Shake over ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a Cholive (if available, alternately, use shredded coconut)

We found the recipe by searching for 'booze drinks that taste like candy'. Don't you just love google?

Overall, the drink is sweet without being painfully sweet. Too often, the chocolate martini family stumbles into the genre of cocktails for people who don't really like cocktails. This one drinks a bit smoother and tastes a bit more like a true martini (particularly if you minimize the cream allotment)...

* Use Godiva or Creme de Cacao, or experiment with any sort of sweet liqueur like Frangelico or Kahlua

For Love or the Game

2006-06-17T09:05:00.000-05:00

The 2006 FIFA World Cup is entering its second week, with the United States' second game coming up this afternoon and i am embedded in its coverage. This year, more than most, my soccer intake is challenged. Unfortunately, during World Cup time i most resemble a deadbeat couch potato. With wedding-related tasks always waiting to be done & beautiful days wasting outside, there is no end to the cries of "come on...come on" from soccer naysayers, trying to lure me away from the games.

Today, just two short hours after the US - Italy kickoff i have to be at a wedding. Generally this is precisely the time that games are ending, so the question arises, do i tivo the last couple minutes? How late can you walk into a wedding? If its excused by a really important soccer match? Again, unworldly that they are, to most people there is no issue here, but for me, the answers are not readily apparent.

During the 2002 World Cup these issues were not there, because the games were on at like 4am, so i just cut back on sleeping hours and seemed sleepy, but available. Before that i was still "a college kid" so could just waste away summer days over the summer. But wait, i can still claim to be a college kid for the summer, so all seems forgivable. I hear brooke calling & Portugal seems to have this one wrapped up...

Schools Out For Summer

2006-06-02T09:29:00.000-05:00

My summer vacation starts today. Just like most years, this year I will be summering in lovely Wisconsin. Or Illinois. I get very confused where I am sometimes. Anyway, I enjoy the more moderate temperatures of southern Wisconsin, to the hot Nebraska summers, which sometimes make me sweaty. Also, Nebraska's grass tends to wilt and die and turn brown by mid-June, so I'm looking forward to some good lawn-chomping opportunities coming up.

Here is a picture of some of the grass that I will be eating soon.

Well, I have to pack up my cage and get ready to go. Hope you all enjoy your summer vacations as much as I plan to.

"I've still got $12 left"

2006-05-28T09:52:00.000-05:00

Last night we went to downtown Chicago & took a lovely boat cruise sponsored by the UChicago MAPH program. Unlimited drinks & tasty little finger-food on the 3-hour trip up and down the Chicago river and out into Lake Michigan. The lake was a little choppy, so that part of the trip was abbreviated, due, i think in part, to the dance party located on an elevated level on top of the boat. Every time we hit a bump in the lake the entire dancing crowd was tossed starboard & then suddenly back the other way (aft? lee? head?). But at the end of the night we'd only lost 2 MAPHers to the drink, so it was well worth it. At one point, we pulled up parallel to another large cruise ship with music & dancing (though, they had disco lights) and it seemed our two boats would have to compete in a dance-off.

After the cruise was over & we'd all stopped begging the bartenders to pour us 'just one more' drink ("we won't tell anyone") we debarked and headed up north in a couple taxis to a club called Berlin, which had been described as "a gay dance club, except for Saturdays." At first this seemed very apt, as there was pretty much nobody there. We soon left the barren bar (but managed to get hand-stamps... mark of shame for Sunday morning) and tried to go to Sheffields, but were turned away by the massive line of people waiting to get in outside. So we went to a karaoke bar down the street & had a sweetsweet drink. We returned to a reviving Berlin & danced a bit, but were tired, drunk, and hungry, so we went off in search of the Gay Donkey, a late-night Mexican food place, but were once again unable to find it. Oh so aggrevating.

Brooke pointed out that Joel never takes her to 'cool places' in Chicago, which he reserves for everyone else. Joel lamely countered with 'cruise?' but the night was degressing quickly. We hopped a taxi home & crashed. All in all a fun evening. Images should be forthcoming. Joel backwardly took photos with an actual film camera...

Don't Know much about Algebra.

2006-05-23T02:44:00.000-05:00

Hey Hey Hey. Mission Accomplished. Major academic operations at UChi have ended, and i will soon be coming home... Yeah right.

But the thesis is over. Bitches. I handed in my 3 copies today, and just as i was handing them in Nate & Lissa arrived in town to help me get drunk in celebration.

We got some free beer & french fries on Eirik, then moved on to grab a bite to eat @ Shiroi Hana, my favorite sushi place in the whole wide world. Then on to Sheffields, a somewhat cool bar, with good beer (Czechvar in a mug), a pinball machine & a photo booth. Monkeys that we are, we needed to use the photo booth (then Nathan & i played a couple games of pinball while we waited the 7 minutes for photo development.

After Sheffields, we walked by Wrigley Field in search of food & good times and, while we were unable to locate the Gay Donkey, we did find a somewhat suitable replacement for 1am Mexican food. Free chips & salsa, but the burro was decidedly straight.

As you can see, i wear my sunglasses at night... but only so i can look like a jerk. Brooke refers to my new sunglasses as 'jerk sunglasses' in that they instantly make me look like (and i will argue act like) a complete jerk as soon as i put them on.

Happy Birthday Davin!

2006-05-18T11:13:00.000-05:00

It's our nephew Davin's 1st birthday today! And since he hasn't got around to getting an email address yet we're posting our birthday wishes here at Hand of Dog. This picture of Davin (left) is back when he was a little kid. Just a few months old. Good looking kid, and a vision in horizontal stripes.

Being an aunt (pronounced aunt) & uncle is a pretty sweet gig. We get to hang out, sometimes babysit & bolt when things start going south. Joel has really missed being around Jen & Tim & Kylie & Davin this year & the last time he came to visit he couldn't believe how much Davin had changed. But he's very much looking forward to his return to 'Drunkle Joel' duties.

Division of Intellectual Labels

2006-05-15T12:43:00.000-05:00

or, Crisis on Infinite Blogs

I have been plagued by doubt because of an innocent comment by Miron, and have been noodling a mission statement of sorts for posting my entries on my various blogs. Because i dove headfirst into the blogosphere & started two blogs simultaneously, my solution has been, basically, to post in whichever blog felt a bit lacking in recent entries. Unless i was writing specifically about zombies, or specifically about me & Brooke, i would just try to keep both fairly recent so as not to lose readership. Plus, Hand of Dog is maintained by Brooke, Gilbertson & myself, so i figured, once we got into the swing of things, this blog would be the more productive ones, but somebody (i won't name names here) seems a bit trepidatious to step fully into the blogging pool. I try to encourage her, or it, by writing moderate to sub-par blogs, in hopes that they will be convinced to actually make this blog interesting by submitting... but thus far, with limited success.

I think the distinction between the blogs will clear up a bit once summer is here and i don't spend most of my waking hours silent & alone in my room thinking about zombies. A clear distinction is there, i can feel it, because it's not quite like i said before, that i just randomly choose which blog to post on based on when the last post was, because, the two blogs have slightly different flavors (Roman Numeral J tastes more like a gimlet), not to mention our ill-fated liveJournal blog, which is only kept up because otherwise the majority of my internet friends would completely ignore me. (On this last blog i mostly post things like the current contents of my fridge).

I aspire to a slightly less structured version of J.D.'s blog, where entries that fall under various categories can appear in multiple blog categories, but alas, i fear my new friend Blogger will not allow it without too much effort every time i want to doubly classify an entry. So, for now, all i can do is muddle along, trying to slowly clear up what i'm saying & where i'm saying it as i go along.

Now... where do i put this?

the sky is falling after all...

2006-05-11T01:03:00.000-05:00

I went to see Mission Impossible: III tonight (somehow brooke & i didn't get a chance to see it when i was in Omaha) and it really puts things in perspective, you know. Sure, my problems seem rough - horse shows, zombies, smelling like soup - but at least Philip Seymour Hoffman isn't threatening to shoot my fiance. Some people have real troubles in this world, people like Tom Cruise.

I wore flip-flops today, which usually makes me feel better (citing Gilk's concept of 'flip-flop wearing feels like permanent vacation), but when i got back from the movie, it was raining & now my heels are really dirty... Plus i lost my prime parking space.

Yes, well... now i'm all fretty & must wait till morning to have a peanut butter sandwich to make myself feel better. Cheerio.

G-Storm

2006-05-08T21:44:00.000-05:00

Joel & Brooke are watching some TV with me on the couch. It's very thunder-stormy outside. Smelling them when they came in, I can tell they were eating sushi this evening. Probably at that new "blue" place I've heard about. Joel's leaving tomorrow morning, back to Chicago. That's too bad, but we'll see him again sorta soon. It was nice having him around for the weekend.

I enjoy a good stormy evening in Nebraska, but I can never see the storm from our house. My cage offers a poor perspective on the windows, but even when i'm on the couch, there is too much overhang & houses too close to get a good look. A pity, really, as I love a good storm.

I hope you all enjoy some good spring storms. Sometimes I think it'd be nice to hang out outside, munch on the grass and watch the stars come out, but then I remember that there are birds out there. But it would be fun to go out and enjoy some rain-smelling air & cool grass. This weekend featured a lot of good lawn-eating opportunities.

I could go for a carrot. Or some celery. Anybody got some vegetables?

Wine & Wild Animals...

2006-05-07T09:43:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, after a trip to the farmer's market, we bought some styling new sunglasses & headed over to the zoo on a suddenly cloudy, chill Saturday afternoon. We renewed our zoo membership, which we love, because it allows us to go to the zoo in short bursts, without feeling like "we have to get our money's worth" every time... We saw the sun bear, who was begging for the graham crackers that some punk kid kept throwing at him & watched the polar bears put on a pretty good show... Have you ever noticed that polar bears are very neurotic, slightly obsessive compulsive bears? Every time we see them, it seems like one of them is caught in an endlessly repeating loop of activity, swimming the same path over & over again. It's a little disconcerting

Later, we went downtown to La Buvette, had a bottle of wine & later went out to Chris & Ben & Jake's place, where many large hunks of meat were being grilled & many a beer consumed... And we once again met Doug Flood for the first time... Good times had by all.

We also heard from Dave & Carolyn... Congratulations, guys! We love you. All in all it was a pretty good day, capped off with a trip to the Homy Inn for some more beer & some gummy peanuts.

Cinco De Mayo

2006-05-05T17:11:00.000-05:00

We'd like to congratulate Mexico (150 years too late) on their victory over France... in some battle or another... Way to go, amigos. We three amigos are sitting on the back lawn of the Martha House, enjoying Margaritas and chips & salsa (and grass, but not the mind-altering sort), basking in the Omaha sun, & listening to Mexican polka on the radio.

We hope you all find a wonderful way to celebrate your 5ths of May... Joel made the trip in this morning from Chicago & we are awaiting the arrival of a Wisconsin contingent destined for further merriment. Tonight we're heading to the Dundee Dell hoping to enjoy some fine scotch & even finer deep fried pickles (a lesser-known Mexican delicacy).

We'll keep you updated on Gilbertson's progress at becoming a guineaPigLawnMower... He's good. Feliz quesadilla a tí!

Lawn Party!

2006-05-04T20:32:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody.

I'm pleased to be a part of the blogging community with Joel & Brooke. It's a great way for us to keep in touch with our friends.

Just wanted to say a brief hello & say that I'm looking forward to Joel's visit. I think it's going to pretty nice this weekend & I'd just like to suggest some quality time sitting out on the lawn munching on some grass... Or drinking margaritas, whatever.

Anyway. Travel safe everybody. DaveT, looking forward to seeing you...

Expectorate the Expected

2006-05-04T11:19:00.000-05:00

I am a huge fan of 'anticipation'. I much prefer the moment when something is about to happen to the moment when it actually happens... I am by far not the first to think of this phenomenon... Jerry Seinfeld has a bit about 'the ride to the movies' generally being better than the movie itself. Questions of 'are we going to get there ontime?' & 'will the movie be good?' Everyone's excited...

I'm getting on a plane tomorrow morning to go to Omaha & man i'm excited. Which is, of course, not to say that i won't enjoy it when i'm actually there - i don't mean that the actual moment is not fun, just that expectation, anticipation, is great. Not knowing what all we'll do when i get to town (Brooke's taking a "no-questions-asked" day off from school), Cinco De Mayo, scotch at the Dell, what all's going to happen, it's so exciting!

The moment right before the moment, i love it. How will it all turn out. I guess it's sort of like watching tv-on-DVD. I'm borrowing Lost Season 1 from Eric & Bethany & if there's a cliff-hanger at the end of an episode, it's OK, it's cool, i can just watch the next episode... Maybe i have to change DVDs, but it's there, in just a few moments. I've long been a proponent of watching tv shows on DVD, but maybe there is something to that week in between... I suppose i could create it artificially, only allowing myself to watch one episode every other day or something, but that would be artificial anticipation... anticipation i could end at any time... Hm.

I guess i can't figure it all out today... Just thought i'd try and share my antici...pation

el sicko

2006-05-02T01:08:00.002-05:00

Well, Brooke & i both enjoyed sick days on opposing sides of the midwest today, kind of... I had no class (if you can imagine that), but cancelled a meeting & she had "liquid food poisoning" & both of us drove home today... I also successfully frittered away most of my time at home, ultimately doing very little work at all... So i'll call it my solidarity sick day in support of the May Day Off protests, because remember... if we lived in a different country, we'd all be immigrants, unless you're currently an immigrant and the different country you lived in in my hypothetical situation happened to be your actual country. Don't forget.

So, i will totter off to bed now, continuing my support on into the night, not having done much of any of the work i need to do, but i do hope that the Mexican girls who work in the Classics Cafe are back tomorrow, because i'm really going to need that mocha latté.

postScript
anyone kno(w) how to say 'spangled' en español?

The first time...

2006-04-28T08:57:00.000-05:00

Ok...I decided today was the day. After much pressure from Joel and others I am going to finally write an official blog entry. My hesitance to write down my thoughts and ideas comes from the fear that whatever I write will become so permanent. If you just say something and then later someone says to you, "I can't believe you said that." You can always just deny it and say, "I never said that." But when you write it down there will always be proof somewhere out there that you did indeed say that....You know what I mean?
On to another topic...Gilbertson. He would like you to know that he recently got an e-mail account, and that if you should get an e-mail from carrotsrgood, you should open it. He's very excited about it. He wants to start a chain e-mail where everybody sends vegetables to each other, and if everyone does what they are supposed to, they'll end up with a year's supply of veggies.
I know Joel mentioned in an earlier entry that he was worried that this could blog could just become a forum for us to harass each other about wedding details, but I'm more concerned that this blog could get me fired. As I sit here trying to think of something funny or interesting to talk about, I always think of stories about my students. They're hilarious...but maybe this is not the place to share these stories. One story that keeps running through my head is about a student who just decided to blurt out the word "wiener" the other day in class. The student didn't scream or shout it, just matter of factly said the word "wiener" a couple of times. I really kind of wanted to laugh, but instead I had to ask him to leave the room. Sometimes it's tricky being a teacher.

Is that so wrong?

2006-04-25T23:45:00.000-05:00

Is it strange to want to talk to your Guinea Pig on the phone? I mean, people talk at their infant children when they go away on business or whatever it is business-type people do... & those are infants. Gilbertson is at least a twenty-something (look @ that punky hair) adolescent, who loves long walks on the lawn, the occasional organic carrot & a nice warm bath on occasion - is that so wrong...

No, but seriously... when Brooke & i talk on the phone, frequently i'll ask to speak to Gilbertson (or she'll just put him on) and i wonder if that's strange... If it is... i'm ok with that, just need to know if i'm in sort of the certifiable camp, or just the 'that's a bit odd' group (which i can live with... as long as nobody turns me in)...

On a side-note... Brooke has mentioned that she is a bit hesitant in posting to this blog... as "she doesn't know what to say"... so, by way of encouragement, i'm posting some non-sensical conversation & hope to post some entries from both of us, when we're on the phone or something... but do encourage her to post, either here, or when you talk to her... as, well, as i already have one crappy blog & surely don't need to be the only one coming up with material for this one...

A musing

2006-04-23T11:54:00.000-05:00

I'm curious to see what this blog will be like... I guess, in an ideal blog-world it will be comprised of random insights of loving long distance, putting together a wedding (for the first few months at least) and daily happenings...
Or, perhaps it will serve as brooke & my passive-aggressive gripe box, where we alternately post about things we did, perceived inflections on the phone that were particularly aggrivating, basically an e-comment box on our relationship... Maybe that would be more entertaining, but i think we'll try to avoid that (at least for as long as possible)...

So, i'll try and make a sort of start, then. Shane & Andy came down to Chicago last night & we all went to the Project Object show at Martyr's in (?)Lakeview(?) (I'm bad with Chicago neighborhoods that aren't "Hyde Park" or "Downtown"). Really fun show, they play Frank Zappa music & while they didn't play "Bobby Brown Goes Down" I did get to hear a lot of Zappa music i knew & just as much i wish i knew...
Today (see how this is like a blog), i failed to go to the Twins/White Sox game - i was even planning to go when i got up, but just couldn't kick myself into gear to get there... ah well, the Twins have dropped two in a row to the Sox & haven't looked good this season... Maybe i'll start the 'there's always next year' mantra already...

We're On!

2006-04-21T23:24:00.000-05:00

*Note: This is from a previous post at another, crappier blog* (originally published 6 April 2006, 11:30pm)
I did not puke today.
Brooke and i have decided to take a step (albeit a baby step) into the oughts. We're starting a blog, from a bar (where else). We come to you this evening from Suds in Beloit, Wisconsin. We're very excited to be trying this new format of life transmission - we'll see how it goes (Brigette has no comment, except to say "i don't like blogs").

I know that so often folks try start their blogs with grand hopes and fizzle, flood-like into a vast verbal vomiting that turns out to be of no interest to anybody (not talking about anybody in particular here, mind you) except for the writer & those with cushy office jobs.

And yes, this is likely what we, too, will fall into, but for now, let me sign off and not even try to say anything of substance today... thus not even aspiring to anything (so we can't fail).