Friday, April 1, 2011

Random Weekend Food Pictures

My phone has been bulking up this weekend with food pictures. Not sure why (wink), so I thought I'd dump a few here. Even though the new Windows phone takes some decent snaps, it still gets referred to as SWP (Stupid Windows Phone).

Carnitas tostadas at home for dinner. I prepared, L assembled. Deliciouso!


The "make your own" sunrise special at a tried and true greasy spoon. Yep, that's just my meal. "Pour some syrup on meeeeee"


Not just any bento box, but amazing tempura with ultra thin batter, enhancing the veg not covering it up. Oh and the appetizer? Deep fried tofu (no picture, sorry). Sounds creepy, but with a nifty Japanese name like "Agedashi Tofu", it tasted wonderful!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Renée Fleming in "Capriccio"

Renée gets another lovely review (read it here). This time for the Met performance of "Capriccio"
"Ms. Fleming, looking radiant, brought verbal crispness and coy charm to the Countess’s conversational singing but grabbed every chance to let her voice bloom in the fleeting melodic bits."

(picture: Renée Fleming and Joseph Kaiser)

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Parking Meter

Even if her name is Rita, some meter maid isn't going to be very lovely after seeing this!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Please Don't Pick Flowers

Okay, okay! I won't pick your stupid, non-existent flowers! Dumbass!

Van Morrison "Saint Dominic's Preview"

In my old car I had a radio and a cassette player that I loved. I used to make mix-tapes and every once in a while would buy a used full-length tape. This Van Morrison album was one of my favorites.

"Jackie Wilson Said" was the hit, but I often found "I Will Be There" far more sentimental and closer to my heart.

The highlight of the album was the stream of consciousness "Listen to the Lion" and "Almost Independence Day," both of which could have belonged on the "Astral Weeks" album. Every time these came on, I would have to keep driving once at my destination. Didn't seem right to cut off Van during one of his trances (even if it was on a recording). And clocking in at 10 minutes plus, the songs would keep me in my own head space (hmm, maybe shouldn't have been driving, ha!)

"Saint Dominic's Preview" was another terrific track. Recorded here in 1979. The audio is a bit out of sync to the vocals, but it's great fun to watch and listen.

Farmer's Market

Sunday morning started with a grump: me. Having breakfast and not enough coffee, I left the house for some produce joy. Yes it's only produce, but to me, it's an outing. It's an adventure. What will I find? Who will I see? I didn't have anything or anyone in mind but decided to "take along" some friends and kept texting them along the way. I'm sure getting my texts was annoying on a Sunday morning (as evidence by little to no responses). Don't people usually sleep in? Or at the very least, keep their electronics turned off? No matter, the pest here marched on.

Oh man, look at the flowers. All that loveliness for about $5 to $7 a bunch. I didn't buy this week since we had a still-fresh bouquet at home. Is too many flowers possible? I thought maybe. As a kid my dad would bring home mountain apples. I didn't want to eat them because they were ugly and not pretty like the apples in the supermarkets. Just as with most things, I heard his voice, "They may be ugly, but they're the best tasting apples around." I took his advice recently and now buy these funny looking Fuji beauties every week. Holy cow, they're the envy of my lunch box! Swiss chard - not my favorite. My crazy lesbian neighbors gave us some once (I think they just wanted free citrus from us actually). I added garlic, herbs, and the like and they were still bitter. Had them in a restaurant too; better, but still not my thing. However, on this day, I couldn't help but take a picture. Oh look, a rainbow! Just spotted the former mayor. Hi Mayor Fargo!

Just spotted the hideous toad of a judge we fired. Um...duck.

Hmm, lots of gays-with-kids here today. Is there a rally?

The crazy Hmong farmer was selling these beautiful greens. All of her produces was well-marked, "Kale $1", "Carrots $1", but these greens only had a picture. I asked what they were and in her best non-native-English said they were a spinach hybrid. Wanting to know "hybrid with what" I decided to just buy it. Turns out, they're sweet, tasty, and perfect in stir-fry. See, you never know what you'll find in the deep end! Tomatoes? This time of year? Well, not only is the farmer totally hot (I visit his shrine every week), but his stuff is actually quite good. He grows these lovelies in a green house this early in the season. They're no heirlooms, but miles better than the watery stones they call tomatoes in the grocery store. Thanks Mr. Hottie. Got home 2 hours later and unloaded my bounty, which included artisan bread, turnips, broccoli, asparagus (thank god for the Delta!), and some lettuce (again, bless those gifted Hmong gardeners). My colon will be happy! Until next week...

Whiskey Lullaby

No words from me could express such sorrow.