Smuggling

I am a smuggler.  Last night I crossed the border with New Glarus, 7 year old Cheddar, a belly full of grass feed beef that was an amazing cheeseburger from the Old Fashion in a previous life and a smile on my face put there by my friends Mike and Andy.  

Food I get to eat II

Dinner 
Steak sous-vide with shallots, red wine vinegar, oil and garlic.
A side of brown rice, cauliflower and lentils with turkey.

Add the good stuff...

Delicious.  The fat melts in my mouth.

Garfield Park Conservatory

Up close:

Vadim Repin

Vadim Repin played with Chicago Symphony Orchestra last week.  It was so good I thought I would share.

Chicago Symphony Center

Food I get to eat

I live with an amazing cook.  I eat really well, unless of course I have to fend for myself.  Left on my own I usually eat a handful of cereal, a piece a cheese, a couple of pickles and whatever else I can find to graze on.  

Thankfully I was not left to fend for myself.  Dinner tonight was stew, made from veal stock that was simmering on our stove all day yesterday.  The brown rice, black beans and hominy was left over from last night's build your own taco bar.  Goat and collard greens were added to the left overs and veal stock.  

I poured the wine myself.

ANTS!

 While living in Costa Rica I spent countless hours watching leaf cutter ants.  I first noticed a long green line on the sandy ground.  To my surprise the line was moving.  Closer inspection revealed ants carrying leaves.  As we followed the line we found the bush they were decimating.  It was really beautiful to watch.  Although the bush would probably disagree.

Now back in the States I spend countless of hours watching TV.  I think my countless hours are better spend watching ants.

MY PHOTOS

 Leaf cutter ants up close

Ants carrying their leaves down the tree

That green line is all ants carrying leaves

Let's see how long you watch.

Here is a cool video about leaf cutter Ants.

You still want more?

Fun with taxes

I saw this while I was preparing my taxes.

Lovely.

How about the weather?

The thing about weather is that everyone talks about it.

If there is a lull in the conversation, how do we fill it?  Weather.
If we are meeting someone for the first time, what usually comes up?  Weather.
What affects everyone? Weather

So, if there is a major life threatening storm coming all the media needs to do is what it does every day, update the 5 day forecast.  A lot of people will read it, more people will talk about it and eventually everyone will know.  In a 22 minute newscast 5 minutes does not need to be about weather.  The news in Egypt take up more time than a snowstorm.  Yes it is snowpocalypse.  Word will spread.  Snow happens every year.  Major storms have happened in most adults memories so they know how to react.  Major upheavel in Egypt happens less often than snowpocalypse.  Please report on it like it is snowpocalypse.

It's snowing

I hope we are able to communicate with the people in Egypt just how much snow we are getting.  I know they have a lot of unrest right now, but they need to be aware of snowpocalypse.  This storm better not disrupt our access to the Internet or other forms of communication.  If they do we need to march in the street to tell the snow they can't oppress us any more.  I sure hope Egypt supports us!

Indian Head Shake

Watch on full screen mode and pump up the volume.  Seriously.

Mushroom Hunting Door County Wisconsin 2010

Bluing Bolete

Words of wisdom from Mama Pony

Mama Pony:  "That's why you have a significant other, so you can throw them under the bus.  Then they can throw you.  It's a good relationship."

Anything?

I mean to say a lot of thing but I remain silent.

If I mean to say something but I don't does it mean anything?

Right Now

I'm typing right now.*

*This statement was true at the time but is probably not true as you are reading it.**

**Well actually if it is currently any day Monday through Friday between the hours of 7am and 5pm it quite possibly could be true.***

***Do you really care?****

****Deeply.

Bald is beautiful

Switching around the TV the other day, I came across my favorite show in high school, Star Trek The Next Generation.  I know.  I know.  I had a huge crash on Jean-Luc Picard.  God I loved him.  Yes that probably explains why I didn't date much in high school

This memory shook lose my childhood crush on.... 

Daddy Warbucks.   I watched Annie over and over again.  Which reminded me of my favorite movie from childhood, The Ten Commandments.  Staring my biggest crush of all...

Rameses II, Yul Brynner.  I would get so excited every Easter because I knew all 5 hours of The Ten Commandments would be on TV.  My unending consumption of peeps probably played a role in the heightened excitment I felt.

I guess it makes since I ended up with a bald man.  Man, I'm sure glad I turned out to be attracted to bald guys instead of old dudes. 

Funny? Yes.

See more

My Dad is funny

My parents are Republicans. 
I am not.

I texted my father on election night to tell him I voted for Mark Kirk, a Republican for the US Senate.
Here is my father's text back.

"Who is this?  Samantha if you've been abducted by aliens blink the North star twice at 8pm!  We'll find you no matter what.

We love you and we'll get you back no matter what the cost."

Life

Alive.
Live.  Live.  Live.  Live.  Live.  Live.  Live.
Day.  Day.  Day.   Day.  Day.  Live.  Live.
Day.  Day.  Day.   Day.  Day.  Day.  Live.
Day.  Day.  Day.   Day.  Day.  Day.  Day.
Dead.

Choose Life

I agree with the sign.  These people really should have read the sign.  If only they read the sign.

Seen in Shannon, IL.

Statistics

Statistics are meaningless until you are the statistic.

Sustainable

Um.  I think there might be a problem with our society when we need to put sustainable in front of words like farming and energy.  I would think everything we do should be sustainable.  I thought our children are our future.  If Michael Jackson was right wouldn't we want to leave this world atleast how we found it.  I would like to be a sustainable human being, but I don't know if that is possible anymore.

It is so wonderful how corporations hop from country to country seeking cheaper and cheaper labor.  I really appreciate it when the local labor force tries to form unions because of the horrible working conditions and the company fights it or leaves.  Um maybe we are all humans beings.  Yes your $5 t-shirt is awesome, but it cost a lot more than $5.  Someone who was working in a rural environment is now working in a factory for $5 a month, so you can buy an awesome shirt for $5.  That is not sustainable. 

Be a sustainable human

Night fishing by the fire

Still.  Silence.
Plop.
Crank.
Still.  Silence
Crackle.
Pop.
Still.  Silence.
Look at that Star.
That's a plane.
Still. Silence.
Whizzzzzz
Got one.
Crank.
Whizzzzzz
Catfish

Donuts

I love donuts and they love me.  People are always trying to tear us apart.  They don't know what it is like when it is just the two of us.  Donuts really care about me.  They make me feel so good.  People may tell me how bad donuts are for me, but I don't care.

"Donuts will give you a heart attack."
Not my donuts.

"Donuts will make you fat"
My donuts will still love me when I am fat.

"Donuts are just in it for your money."
Well I'm just in it for the donuts.

Pappy Van Winkle

I am spending some Sam Pony time with Pappy tonight. 

I don't know why I want to be a whiskey drinker but I do.  Maybe it's the 1/4 of my genes that originated from Gaelic Country screaming for attention.  Whisky comes from a Gaelic word meaning "water of life."  Who wouldn't want to drink the water of life?  Although I think I may need a new glass to live up to it's definition.  I'm thinking the holy grail from The Last Crusade.

Thankfully my parents were not whisky drinkers so I didn't have any bad experiences as a teenager.  My first real taste of whiskey came from my boyfriend offering me a sip of apple juice.  Hilarious, yes.  Tasty, no.  Since that first experience 5 years ago I have been slowly sipping whiskey. 

Like all of us I have been attaining tastes my whole life.  I acquired my taste for beer through a lot of hard work.  I started at the bottom with kegs and kegs of natural light.  My participation in rugby facilitated my love of beer.  It is tradition for the home team to throw a party after the game for the visitors.   These gatherings involved many boat races, flippy cups and rugby songs.  All of which are very fun and require a lot of beer.  Today I am certified beer snob with a city that supports my snobbery.

My taste for tea was acquire from a visit to a friend's tea garden in India.  My love of coffee was realized while living in Costa Rica for 3 months.  I would love to visit Ireland or Scotland, but I don't think that is in the cards anytime soon. 

I guess I will have to continue spending time with Pappy in Chicago.  I have learned that one classic ice cube (a perfect square) is Pappy's best friend.  I think kissing whiskey by a fire may accelerate my enjoyment of whisky, but that will have to wait until this winter.

Cheers.

Life Pollution

We are afraid and maybe we should be. Our economic growth may be based on fear. I am a strong believe that light pollution is a serious pollution. Stars are beautiful and scary at the same time. They are an unknown that reminds us how small we really are. It is a loss to our everyday life to not be able to see them illuminate in all their glory every night. I live in Chicago and to see the Milky Way a 2 hour car ride is necessary. I understand that crime lurks in darkness, but maybe a loss of human curiousity lurks in the light. Stars are beautiful. Let them shine. Crime occurs. Darkness probably does not cause crime.

My Favorite Things

People wearing funny costumes while being sad.

Mushroom Monday

Black Trumpets

Some type of blue mushrooms.

Coral Mushrooms

A Mother's Love

Opening my parent's refrigerator in front of my mother invariably leads to her listing off the contents for me.  I am pretty sure my mother is aware I am not blind, but we have never had this conversation.  A quick reaction to her list is absolutely necessary.  Otherwise, the contents of the freezer and surrounding cabinets will also be listed off.  Again, act quickly.  Grab an apple, hot dog, stick of butter, anything, and shove it in your mouth.  Otherwise, be prepared for a full discourse on her dislike of grocery shopping or "your father's" current eating habits.  You've been warned.

THINGS ARE GOING TO BE OKAY...

Or not.

Those are the two outcomes from millisecond to millisecond.  One is everyday life.  One changes everyday life in an instant.

I will make it through this intersection or not.
My Toaster Strudel will complete it's journey to my stomach or not.
I will be combined from the genes of two attractive, kind, rich individuals in a stable region of planet Earth or not.
All my activities will be successfully completed in the shower or not.

These deep thoughts are brought to you by Joan Didion's, The Year of Magical Thinking.  It's a heavy book that doesn't physically weigh very much.



I hope you complete all your activities in the shower today.