Happy Birthday to Me!

My little sister's boyfriend asked me last night if I'm the kind of person who celebrates my birthday for days at a time... Apparently, I am this year. What did we do?

Friday night, the Mr. took me to an Elvis Costello concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Bob Dylan was actually the headliner, but we went for Elvis, and he did not disappoint! Second row on the floor-- the man knows how to treat a lady.

Saturday night we met some friends at one of my favorite bars here in the city. Good food (even for vegetarians!), good and inexpensive beers, foosball, a jukebox with all the 80s music you could ask for. Good times!

And then today, my in-laws came in to the city for the Crafty Bastards fair. They brought me a great birthday prezzie-- the top box I've been wanting for my scooter. I bought a couple cute things for myself at Crafty Bastards, and then we went out for lunch in Adams Morgan... Very fun day.

All that, and I've made some crazy progress on my first sock! Short rows, turning the heel, selvedge stitches... all new techniques to me, but no problems whatsoever. All I have left is 5 inches of the foot and then the toe!

44 Clicks

1. What is the last alcoholic beverage you drank?
Stella Artois-- very tasty!

2. Who was the last person to send you a text message?
My dad. It was his first text message ever and it said, 'OK.'

3. Last time you went swimming in a pool?
A week and a half ago.

4. Are you happy?
Meh.

5. Where was the last place you went shopping?
Petco

6. Where do you live?
NE DC

7. Last thing you ate?
A bowl of tomato-okra soup.

8. Want to kick anyone's ass?
Yeah, that lady from the doctor's office who keeps harassing me about THEIR unpaid bill.

9. What time is it?
9:15 am

10. Do you have any expensive jewelry?
My engagement ring.

11. AIM or MSN?
Nah...

12. Who do you like?
I like my husband. Is that lame enough for you?

13. Do you watch the Olympics?
Errr, occasionally. I'm really a World Cup kind of girl.

14. Last restaurant you went to?
Franklin's.

15. Who was the last person to call you?
Bryan.

16. What's your zodiac sign?
Libra.

17. Where do you spend most of your money?
Probably H0me Depot.

18. Where does most of your family live?
Virginia

19. Are you an only child or do you have siblings?
Two sisters; one older, one younger.

20. Ever been called a hoe/slut?
Sure.

21. Ever been called a bitch?
Yup.

22. Did you ever collect Beanie Babies?
Hell no. Lame ass question.

23. Collect anything?
Beanie Babies, uhhhh, I mean, not really. I do have a growing collection of yarn. And I collect garbage, but only the non-stinky kind.

24. Myspace or Facebook?
Myspace, but I don't really care about that either.

25. Do you have T-mobile?
Why yes I do!

26. Last time you saw your parents?
Last week. And I'll see 'em again tonight.

27. Ever been to a wedding?
Yes.

28. Are you missing anyone at the moment?
My grandmother.

29. Did you take a nap today?
I only woke up a few hours ago, so no.

30. How many hours of sleep did you get last night?
Seven.

31. Do you support the troops?
Of course. Who says no to this question?

32. Could you handle being in the military?
Physically, maybe. Emotionally, probably not.

33. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Pizza B0lis (that's pretty much all the fast food we eat).

34. Do you own a camera phone?
Yes! And I know how to work it!

35. Last place you were at?
Work. Booooo.

36. What is your current wish?
That we had teleportation devices so that we didn't have to drive this morning, especially with that crazy dog.

37. Where do you wish you were right now?
Deep Creek Lake.

38. Do you have any regrets?
Yeah, a little thing called grad school.

39. How old are your parents?
56, both of 'em.

40. Favorite place to be?
The beach or the mountains.

41. Last voicemail you received?
Message from my piano student because I accidentally hung up on him.

42. Do you drunk dial?
Every once in a while.

43. Stupidest thing you ever did with your cell phone?
Dropped it in a B1endtec blender.

44. What did you do last night?
Made bread, made pizza from scratch, watched a shitty movie, drank beer with the Mr. Very exciting night, I know.

Go to the Green Festival. And eat pickles.

Seriously, go. If you live in DC, it'll be here in a few weeks. I think we're going both days (in fact, we postponed a little vacation because of the scheduling conflict). We had such a blast last year, and this year, my guy from our CSA will be speaking as one of the presenters. How cool is that?

Speaking of the CSA, we're going back out to the farm this Sunday. I am really not looking forward to the end of the growing season, which means cold weather and foreign fruits and vegetables. So we're trying to squeeze in some good time harvesting on the farm before that first frost. From my awesome farmers and in honor of my dad, who is this very moment fasting for Yom Kippur (and will break his fast with these pickles tomorrow night!), this recipe for half-sours:

Cucumbers
Sea Salt (1.25 Tbs. for 2.25 lbs. of cucumbers)
Canning jars & lids

Wash the cucumbers you are going to use. You can also let them rest for a few hours in nice cool spring water (not chlorinated!) so they are nice and juicy. Take a quart-size mason jar, sprinkle a half dozen peppercorns, same amount of coriander seeds, 2 bay leaves, half tea spoon of mustard seeds, and 3-4 peeled whole or halved cloves of garlic. You can also add a couple of sprigs of fresh dill leaves or flowers, or a half teaspoon of dill seeds. Pack the jar vertically with 3-4 large cucumbers, or 5-6 smaller ones. Pour over the cucumbers and herbs a salt-brine of 1 pint of water to 1.5 teaspoons of sea salt. Make sure the water just about covers the tops of the cucumbers, then cover the jar loosely with its lid, so that air can escape when fermentation begins. Throw a kitchen towel over the jar to keep them in the dark. You may hear a sizzling sound after a day or two – that’s a good sign that the fermentation has begun!
After 2-3 days, see if the color has started to change from bright green to a yellow-green. That means you can put your jar in the fridge to slow down the fermentation process and keep your pickles crunchy! Serve as an appetizer, or chop into a cucumber & tomato salad. Use the salty pickle juice as you would vinegar in a salad dressing or add a cup full to a soup or stew!

My Life as a Cartoon

If I were a Simpsons character, I think I'd be this girl.





I'd obviously be a music teacher and preach my vegetarianism and environmentalist propaganda, but Lisa has pretty much all that wrapped up already... I don't think there's a Simpsons character who rides a scooter yet-- maybe that can be my shtick!

Finished object

Another set of mitts.



Love these guys! I can't wait to drag my pair out and start wearing them again. This will definitely work nicely into my "Teensy Bit Funkier Style" motif that I've got going this year.

Return of the Stinkhorns

Earlier in the summer, I discovered a freakish crab-leg-looking thing growing in our garden. Mr. was very curious, and so he googled "alien chicken foot in my garden" and came up with a stinkhorn mushroom. Apparently, these things appear inexplicably (often in urban settings), attract flies, stink to high hell, and look like crab legs, chicken feet, octopus tentacles, or phallic figures.

Gross.
Gross.
Really gross.

Anyway, we dug it up, wrapped it in plastic bags, and threw it away. For months now, no sign-- but today I discovered another one, almost in the same place. Some of the literature we discovered said that once you've got them, they spread voraciously and they are notoriously difficult to get rid of, so I am quite nervous that they may come back again. I tried very carefully to dig up everything nearby, but I think I'm going to mulch that spot just to be sure.



This one is considerably less freakish than our first one, but had I left it for another day or two, I'm sure it would turn into alien spawn again.