Happy 76th

For those about to rawk...

... we salute you.

Om Mani Padme Hum.

The Other Royal Wedding

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Harris...

Oh ya, that's right.  Totally hijacked it!

The co-mutual adpotion has been a blessing.  May the rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock always be with you.  My soft kitty is your soft kitty.

Now pass the gravy and hug me!

I Blame Cath And Amy

Am back.  On Facebook.  Ugh.  I feel like I just handed over every shred of decency I have to Mark Zuckerberg and he is doing unspeakable things to it.  This better work better than it did last time girls!

Yes, I remember what I said about Facebook and all its co-conspirators last year.  I still stand by that.  I have even more arguments against it (planking, homicide due to wall posts and Farmville) now and, quite frankly speaking, cannot wait until the next thing comes along.  Oh sit down Justin "I just bought MySpace" Timberlake.  Best you will do is piss YouTube off.  This business of you trying to be an actor and trying to relive your Social Network days makes you look silly, cheesy, and deficient.  I digress...

Are we fighting yet, Amy?

As a precaution, I have created an account that is part my name, part not.  So if you want to add me as a friend, and if I think you will not stalk my life and irritate the fuck out of me with your narcissistic wannabe bullshit are worthy, I will add you.  You can email me privately for further information.

If I do not respond to your email or add request, I want you to give some really deep thought as to why I have not before you blast me about it and start calling me all the bitches under the sun in your news feed, status box, etc.  I mean really really deep thought.  And then choose my answer(s) from the following list that best apply to you (and they do):
a] I am not interested in your drama.
b] I am not interested in you stalking my life.
c] I really just tolerate you because I find myself in socialized situations where I am required to or I may loose my job.
d] You are a friendwhore, we are not now nor will we ever be friends, and I would not be caught dead on your friends list.
e] Your "join this club" invitations and all the other spam you posted on my wall last time I was on Facebook created so much spam I had to abandon a much loved email address.  Fuck off with the invites, I can join myself.
f] We may be related but that does not mean I like you or would consider you a "friend".
g] You bore me with your feeble and pathetic attempts to look cool.  If you really were as cool as you want me to think you are, if your life was as cool as you attempt to project onto me, you would understand that cool never ever tries.  Cool just is.

Blessed

I write only because
There is a voice within me
That will not be still.
~ Sylvia Plath

One More Try

Every once in a while I find a place, or a man, that I cannot seem to walk away from.  Giving these places (and men) another try has been, in some cases beneficial.  In other cases it has simply left a bad taste in my mouth.

Careit in Crestwood is one of those places.  I want to fall in love with Careit.  I love their story, their philosophy, and their menu.  I really really want to love this place.  I have visited Careit several times and I have to be honest when I say that while I do not want to walk away from it, Careit is only getting one more try.

Careit, we need to talk about seasoning and customer service.  Both are really hit and miss at your place and it is unfortunate that you have such great ingredients at your disposal but do not respect them or your customers enough to turn out the high quality food you have the potential to deliver.  The lack of consistency makes me skeptical.  So does the inability to get about 30% of your advertised menu items, regardless of what time of day I have been there.  At this point, all that is keeping me in the game is a great price point, a clean shop, and a few items from the menu I have not yet tried.

Be warned, Careit.  We may just have to break up, even if you have the world's best carrot cookies.  And we do not want that, do we?

Ratings:
Appearance: Clean but poorly lit.
Service: Hit and miss.  Some staff cannot help you enough, some cannot be bothered to acknowledge your presence.
Food: Home cooked and health conscious but just OK, 5.5/10
Overall rating: Will be back but only because there are other items on the menu I want to try

Chicken Pot Pie:
(A little note... again, I used my ghetto phone camera so be warned!)

The portion size on this pie is perfect for lunch.  The puff pastry topping wasn't all that flaky and to be honest, I suspect it may have been frozen; the taste and texture were a bit off.  I do love me some chicken pot pie but this one was a bit train wrecky.  The potatoes were undercooked, the chicken was scarce, and it was desperately underseasoned to the point where it screamed for sage and I will not even tell you how much salt and pepper I had to add.  Overall, 4/10.

Crab and Roasted Pepper Quiche:

Again, the portion size is great for lunch.  While the quiche was dense, it still had a light sensibility to it.  The amount of crab and pepper was perfect for the size of the quiche.  The pastry was perfect but the quiche itself could have used a bit of salt and pepper at the very least.  Overall, 7/10.

While I will give Careit one more try, I will not be having the chicken pot pie.  I may go back to the mac and cheese as it was pretty good the last time I had it.  If you do chose to go, go early as the fresh items go fast and you will be left with really old rusting salads and beet hummus as your lunch options.  Bring a knife too because every time I have been to Careit, knives have not been available for take out food.

Happy Maple Leafs And Haw Dawgs

Let Go, Let Be

Because you refuse to answer when called on, because I know you lurk here…

I wanted to be kind and gracious.  I wanted to show that, in every way, I was taking the high road.  And while all of this remains true, I cannot deny that most of me now abhors you and not addressing it feels like part of me is polluted.

There have been a lot of disappointments over the last seven and half years.  I did all I could to stand by you, even when no one else in the world would.

This time, this latest disappointment, was the last one.  This time, you went too far.  The secrets and lies, the abandonment, are more than I can bear.  The emotional, physical, and financial cost was intolerable.  After so long, and so many sacrifices, I have accepted that you never intended to keep the promises you made.  I never thought you would choose to become a coward and a liar.  And after so many years, I can no longer make excuses for you.  The line has been crossed and I am finished wasting the prime of my life on empty promises and broken dreams.

You should know there is someone new in my life.  To be honest, he has been a part of my life for a while.  As soon as I let go of you, there was space for him.  I wish I had let go sooner than I did.  We take it day by day and I no longer feel the pressure to please someone who will never ever be satisfied.  He does not do things that make me weak and insecure.  He does not build me up so he can tear me down.  With him, I am assured, secure, and happy.  Most importantly, he has made it clear to me that I am safe, my happiness matters to him, and that we do not have to rush into making big decisions about our future.

That has been liberating.

Wordless Wednesday

Blessed

Thank you, Mr. I.T., for the laptop.  It is perfect and you exceeded all expectations.  You are awesome sauce and I am blessed to have you in my world.

And yes, Photoshop made that!

Wordless Wednesday

Blessed Farewell

I'd heard The Bruce Springsteen Band was nearby at a club called The Student Prince. A rainy, windy night it was, and when I opened the door the whole thing flew off its hinges and blew away down the street. The band were on stage, but staring at me framed in the doorway. And maybe that did make Bruce a little nervous because I just said, "I want to play with your band," and he said, "Sure, you do anything you want." ~ Clarence Clemons on how he met Bruce Springsteen and began playing with the E Street Band 

Blessed

Wordless Wednesday

I Should Have Packed A Lunch

The Lunchbox Diner.

(picture totally ripped off from Google Maps, street view)

I really really really wanted to love this place.  It is within walking distance to The Office (14413 115 Avenue) and I imagined myself power walking down there, grabbing my order to go and power walking back to the office.  I am pretty sure this is not ever going to happen.

Outside, this place has all the appeal a quirky diner should have.  Inside, it has all the disappointment a foodie's heart can hold.  Seriously, this place could use a Gordon Ramsey Kitchen Nightmare makeover... so much potential being wasted.

This diner is in a very unique spot (there is zero competition for blocks and blocks and blocks), but is wasting that potential by being caught in a time warp.  Or maybe time just stood still there.  Its hard to take a place seriously when the booths are in an eggplant vinyl.

Now, before you think I have thrown this place under the #121 bus that goes by it, relax.  I can say that the place is clean and the service is fast.  This, however, may be due to the fact that there were only four other people in the place and they had already been served.

Ratings:
Appearance: Clean but timeworn.
Service: Fast and friendly.
Food: Dated. Disappointed, 4/10
Overall rating: Will not be back.

Daily Special: Chicken fingers with fries and salad (9.50 + tax):
To be honest, the chicken fingers were the same chicken fingers that you get in every restaurant, even the specialty Mexican restaurants that get pissed off that you will not eat a taco but still want your business so they have them on the menu.  I have seen them served at Thai places too.  For really.  And to me, that is ten degrees of wrong but we can talk about that another time.  You cannot polish a turd and you cannot do anything sexy with chicken fingers.  That is legal.  Or morally acceptable.

The surprising highlight were the fries that had been seasoned perfectly with Lawry's seasoning salt, which I like but my partner in crime that day behaved as though someone had shit on her plate.

The most disappointing thing of all was the salad.  I opened the container up and was uber excited because, at first glance, it looked all fresh and full of yummy goodness.  Sadly, it was dying.  The meal was a take away and the cook had drowned the salad in dressing and only the parts that weren't drenched in ranch dressing survived.  Also, when one makes and/or serves a salad, the pieces should be bite sized, not a third of the romaine leaf.  Home Economics, eighth grade, just sayin'.

To be honest, it was a whole lot of meh and that makes me sad because this place has the potential to have lineups out the door and down the parking lot.  Which, perhaps, in its day, it did.

Ironically, a co-worker commented, "The Lunchbox?  Oh I haven't been there in fifteen years."  Do not worry your heart out.  Not a thing about the place has changed.

Random Sauce, Part Ten

I would die for you, but I won't die without you.
~~~~~
No loitering, only dancing.
~~~~~
I am dying to know how your mouth tastes.
~~~~~
You want to save me?  Who said I needed to be rescued?
~~~~~
Is it too late to ask Santa for a pet unicorn?
~~~~~

The Lady Is A Scamp

It has been a while, I know.  Sometimes life kicks you in the ass and you need to go away and recharge.

On Friday I was at the local Asian market and saw these really great tiger shrimp.  The kind of shrimp that make your head spin with ideas.  I bought a pound without even thinking about the fact that, while they were headless, they were still in their shell and had to be peeled and deveined.  I thought I would be able to talk Mr. I.T. into doing this for me because he's all manly and good with his hands, but even on the phone I heard him squirm.

Peeling and deveining shrimp is not as nasty as it sounds but a few tips:

-rinse the shrimp thoroughly in cold water first

-be sure to pull the legs off and work at opening the shell from the underside of the shrimp

-if you do not want to serve the shrimp with the tail on, remove it by pinching just above the tail where the meat starts and gently pull away from the body of the shrimp

VEGETABLE AND SHRIMP SCAMPI

Makes about 4 lunch sized portions.

Ingredients:

1 pound tiger shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 small red pepper, diced

1 small yellow pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 green onions, diced

2 c. fresh mushrooms, sliced thinly

1/2 c. dry white wine (can be substituted with chicken stock)

1 1/2 tsp. prepared mustard

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp. margarine

1/2 tsp. salt

freshly squeezed  juice from one lemon

1 lb. angel hair pasta, cooked

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated (optional)

Method:

-in a pan with high sides, heat oil on medium heat

-add shrimp to the pan and cook, stirring constantly until the shrimp is translucent and pink but not fully cooked

-remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside

-immediately return the pan to the stove and add peppers, garlic, onions, and mushrooms

-saute vegetables until they are sweating (Note: Add a couple dashes of salt to vegetables when you are sauteing them. This will draw out the water from the vegetables and helps to prevent them from scorching)

-add olive oil if necessary

-stir in the wine, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce, cooking over medium high heat for 3 to 4 minutes

-return the shrimp to the pan

-stir in the margarine, salt, and lemon juice and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, combining all ingredients thoroughly

-if you find the sauce reducing, add a few tablespoons of wine and a dash of Worcestershire sauce

-serve immediately on angel hair pasta

-top with grated Parmesan, if desired

This recipe is best served with fresh garden salad and crusty bread.

Happy Belated Birthday Kayleigh

May the rock, paper, scissors, lizard, and Spock be with you!  And your gravy too!

Put A Bag On This

Censorship sucks.  So do you, Barnes and Noble.

Not everyone "gets" art.  Not everyone "gets" Radiohead either but you are still a friend of mine.

Barnes and Noble, you are not my friends any more.  Oh, you will sell Maxim, Men's Fitness, and Muscles and Fitness, all showing covers full of boobies and nipples, but you want to treat this magazine cover like its porn and put a paper bag over it:

Alright.  So an "androgynous" man appears on Dossier's cover, made to look like a woman.  Am I the only person who saw the Adam's apple?  Am I the only one who saw that this is actually a man?

Barnes and Noble have had a Republican sized shit fit because this is a man with his boobies out and that man not only looks like a woman but kinda lives like one too.  Must.  Be.  Covered.  Up.

Ohhhhh, how provocative.

We have never seen this before.

No.  The world never had a Boy George or a Pete Burns, right?  Middle America better crawl back up its own ass to save itself.  It does not want to get any of this androgyny stuff all over it.  Because that would suck. And it would also mean we are no longer living in the 1950's.

Skye Parrott, Dossier's co-founder and creative director spoke to Jezebel.com, stating:

               "We knew that this cover presented a very strong,

                androgynous image, and that could make some

                some people uncomfortable.  That's partly why

                we chose it.  I guess it made some people pretty

                uncomfortable."

                                

You know what made me pretty uncomfortable?  Mariah with her tits out on Ok! Magazine.  The very same Ok! Magazine Barnes and Noble stocks.  It made me want to projectile vomit.  Now, her husband type's hands are covering the nipply parts, but what say you, Barnes and Noble, to all the man cleavage and nips on the cover of Muscle and Fitness?  Androgyny, bad.  Steroids, good?  Mariah, still relevant?

Pull your head out, Barnes and Noble.  You are suffocating yourself.

If you, as an adult, don't know the difference between art, porn, and trash, then I cannot help you.  If you refuse to teach the children in your life the difference and instead prefer censorship to education, I cannot help you.

More Andrej Pejic for your viewing pleasure...

Happy Vesak

Blessed

Coolest Bachelor Pad Ever

When I was a kid, my gran used to threaten to make me sleep in the bathtub if I was bad.  Which was often.  Imagine telling your guests that their bed is the tub.

Wordless Wednesday

You'll Probably Need A Tissue For This

The Last Post

Read it.  Then hug someone you love.  Then hug everyone you love.

Blessed

Wordless Wednesday

Apathy Sucks

It's election day here in Canada and if you are Canadian, I expect you to get off your ass and vote.  I do not care who you vote for (I do but I cannot stop you from making the mistake of voting Liberal or Conservative), just vote.  Exercise your right to vote; that act is as important as who you support in an election.  Between 1998 and 2008, the voter turnout in this country has nosedived.  In 1998, Elections Canada reported 75.3% of the eligible voting public turned out to vote.  In 2008, that number declined to 58.8%.

Shame, shame Canada.

You are lucky enough to live in the best country in the world and you have an obligation to keep it that way.  Sure, I know, politicians suck.  So don't vote for the politician.  Vote for the person who best represents you and reflects your opinions on the topics being tossed about in this election.

What Strombo says to you kids in school rocking the vote easily applies to every other facet of Canadian society:



Our boyfriend George further breaks Canadian politics down for us:




Who wants to keep showing up to the campfire without matches?

And if you still do not think voting is important, that your voice is not important, do not forget the Canadian Suffragette movement.  Nellie McClung, Emily Murphy, and the rest of the Famous Five went to battle not only so you ladies could have the right to vote, but so that you would be considered a "person".  (British common law circa 1876 stated, "Women are persons in matters of pains and penalties, but are not persons in matters of rights and privileges."  It would be 1929 before The Famous Five saw that law changed under the "Person's Case".)



Your voice counts.  Fill out a ballot so you will be heard.

Blessed

She Ain't Pretty, She Just Looks That Way

I am on a quest.

I am chasing food in Edmonton.

I am looking for local restaurants that are the best kept secrets Edmonton has to offer.  You can keep your Olive Garden's and your Keg's.  After the lobster I had while cruising a lagoon in Cancun, Red Lobster can bite me.

I am looking for that little hole in the wall that everyone in the neighbourhood raves about.  Your suggestions are not only welcome, they will be tried and tested.

Yesterday, it was lunch at Bucas and Pastas in the West End.  If you can find the West Division police detachment, you will be directly across the street from Bucas.

You can find their site, complete with menu, here.

The restaurant itself is located in a strip mall and it has about 10 tables, if you are interested in staying for your meal. I would suggest getting there early as the seating looks a bit cramped; we were there around 12:30, which in Edmonton is prime lunch time, and all the tables were full and there was a long line at the counter.

Do yourself a favour and study the menu.  Pour over it before you get there.  Make sure you know EXACTLY what you want when you get to the counter. There's a bit of a Soup Nazi vibe from the staff, especially Mumma working the line; she wants to keep things moving and the sooner you pay, the sooner she can make money off someone else. I can respect that, but it is best if you know what sauce you want or she will decide for you.

The daily lunch special (which comes in at a very reasonable $8.95) was chicken and prosciutto cannelloni with your choice of salad; I went with the creamy dill:

Forgive the pictures.  The cam on my phone sucks a bag of you know whats.  And lunch was a take away, so the food had been slapped in containers and tossed about on the way back to the office.

Believe me, it tasted miles better than it looks.

Ratings:
Appearance:  Clean and quaint.
Service:  Be ready or be roughed up a little.  Things go fast so be prepared.
Food:  Home cooked Italian. Very good, 7.5/10
Overall rating: Will be back.

Chicken and prosciutto cannelloni:
I'm not entirely sure my cannelloni had prosciutto in it.  I was definitely missing the saltiness that comes from that kind of ham and I found the filling lacking somewhat in seasoning but it was hearty and combined well with the pomodoro sauce.  The pasta was done perfectly and just the right amount of cheese was baked on.  It was a bit messy to eat, mostly because it was in a take away container, but the small sized portion was the perfect amount of pasta for a lunch.  Overall, 7/10.

Creamy dill salad:
I could very easily become friends with this salad.  I would have preferred more dill and less carrots but that is a personal preference and not a knock against the salad itself.  If you are a fan of salads that do not contain lettuce, this is a safe and yummy choice; it was simply cauliflower, broccoli, red peppers, carrots, and creamy dill dressing.  Overall, 8/10.

I did not have dessert as it was lunch and I do not usually have dessert with lunch.  That being said, next time, I will have death by chocolate!

So This Sofa Walks Up To Me And Says Let's Hump

So here is the deal... some of you kids need to settle down.  I know I owe you Cancun pics and tales of days spent chasing food and lazing on the beach.  I apologize.  We all have stuff going on and mine is going on in a lot of different ways.


Part of the reason I have not been blogging much this month is because I was in Mexico for the first part of it and I very quickly became very used to being lazy.  I was throwing ones at Mexicans like they were strippers and they were more than happy to do my bidding.  I heard a lot of "It would be my pleasure, my Princess."  Turns out, in Canada, I cannot get a single person to even pour me a coffee for a dollar let alone write this blog.  Ya'll could learn a lot about customer service from the Mexicans.  Like how to be grateful for your spoiled lives and how to make sure I never see the bottom of an empty coffee cup.


Just sayin', not hatin'.


As well, are some health issues going on too.  My iron levels are not where they should be and a suspected thyroid problem is a lot less than suspect and beginning to become a huge problem.  Most nights, I am making sweet love to La Sofa by 7:00 because I am exhausted and do not have the energy to be witty.


So, until I get that stuff sorted out, posting will be irregular.  Like me.


PS:  Wore a bathing suit in public.  Every day I was there.  For really.  Well except for the last day but that is only because we were supposed to be at the airport and flying home in the afternoon and did not leave until well after midnight.  I even had a wardrobe malfunction while wearing a tankini.  Seriously.  Some of you may need brain bleach after you see this (and guess what... I no longer care if you do), but I knew most of you would not believe it so here it is:

Not So Wordless Wednesday

Happy 7th Birthday Miss Madison... may you always have the luck of the Irish on your side!

Blessed

Sigh No More Captain

Love it will not betray you
Dismay or enslave you, it will set  you free
Be more like the man you were made to be


There is a design, an alignment, a cry
Of my heart to see
The beauty of love as it was made to be

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Theravada New Year

Blessed

I am myself made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions. ~ Augusten Burroughs

Wordless Wednesday

Welcome Back Welcome Back Welcome Back

After a broken plane, a ten hour flight delay, a day off to recoup from the Ativan and turbulence, we are back.

Went into The Office today and this is what I found...

There really is no place like home.

Now which one of you buggers is ordering more sticky notes?

Blessed

Find purpose.  The means will follow. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Nothing But Net

Surf And Turf

You Say Market, I Say Mercado

Wordless Wednesday

Just Xellin'

Ola

Blessed

On hiatus... I'll enjoy Mexico for all of us.