too.freaking.hot

It's hot. Too hot. Roasting hot. And, I even have a little window AC unit in my living room (but, I think it may be running out of juice or something), and I guess that takes the edge off a little, but still. Hot. I moved the fan in from my bedroom night before last upon Hurd's suggestion, and that helps a little. But, still. Hot! I had a big plan to do some cooking last night since I did a huge (payday-inspired) grocery shopping trip and got my CSA yesterday (sweet corn!, potatoes, green beans, onion, cucumber, parsley, dill, zucchini). But, I started sweating even putting my groceries away, so I ate leftovers and just pouted on the couch. That is, until Ellen texted me with a plan to go get some Rita's Italian Ice (complete with door-to-door pick-up service!). I've actually only had Rita's a few times (I know, that's like saying I don't care about the Steelers), and the last time had been several years ago. But, it was perfect and spot-hitting and awesome. I got a wild black cherry ice with chocolate custard (a Gelati). Oh, dang. Not only was it delicious (little bits of real cherries floating about), but it really acted as an instant internal air conditioner. Ellen even got goosebumps!

Oh my god. I just went to Rita's site to get the url to link it on the blog, and they have a hilariously cheesy theme song. Get thee to Rita's website now!

Okay, since I didn't do any cooking, here's something completely different. Since I cut off my cable a few months ago I've been leaning heavily on netflix (if you're a netflixer, too, let's be netflix friends!). And, then I just started requesting lots of dvds through the library, too. I've been renting all sorts of stuff, but my very favorites have been nature programs. Especially all the BBC ones that David Attenborough narrates (I want that job!). If you haven't seen the Planet Earth series, I urge you to see it asap. It's so, so, so amazing! As is The Blue Planet (all water stuff)--I'm working my way through that series now. And, last night I watched the first episode of Life In the Undergrowth--all about bugs. Such fascinating stuff! And, then I had a little moment of serendipity this morning when I stopped by the Uni-Mart (for cigarettes...ugh...), and saw this amazingly weird and beautiful moth. You can't tell in this picture (sorry for the quality, I took it on my cell phone), but it's huge--like, at least six inches across. I wanted to put something next to it for scale, but was afraid I'd scare it off. You also can't see how both fluffy and vibrant it was, but wow. Amazing. Probably the coolest bug I've ever seen in real life.


Okay, and back to food stuff, 'cause I'm starting to get hungry. I just bought a cheap little grill yesterday at Family Dollar for $9.99. I'm going to attempt to put it together tonight so I can grill some veggies, and maybe try a grilled pizza. My friend Schwatts has been all about the grilled pizzas, and I love this idea. And, Heidi has some tips here, too. I don't know if I'll get to it tonight or not (I have plans to visit one of my dog-sit dogs, Zeke!), but soon-soon-soon!

dirty dishes

I still have a giant pile of dirty dishes left over from the weekend. Guess how I'm dealing with that? If you guessed: "keep piling on more?", you would be coming correct. I will make a promise right here and right now to do at least two sinkfuls* after work, before I go out and meet my pals for a cocktail.

*I estimate that there are approximately 4.7 sinkfuls accumulated. That is the cruddy thing about not using the processed foodstuffs. Lotsa, lotsa dirty dishes. And, no dishwasher, and that is sad.

(I just lifted that image from google image; are you allowed to do that?)

Last night I did a little tiny bit of cooking. I made some comfort food in the form of fried potatoes. I love fried potatoes. You can add in all kinds of different things and spice them all kinds of different ways, and they always come out tasty.
I used some yellow new potatoes, onion, garlic, red bell pepper, toasted sesame oil, chipotle chili powder, cayenne, coarse sea salt & pepper and wilted some roughly chopped sorrel when I'd taken it off the heat. I didn't take a picture because I'd forgotten to recharge my camera batteries, but believe me when I say it was an attractive, colorful plate of goodness. (Haven't I earned your trust by now?)

You know what? Last month I tried some ketchup for the first time in a while, and thought it was nasty--tasted way too sweet and chemically. So, I thought that despite our life-long love affair that things were splitsville with us. But, last night I didn't feel like whipping up any sauces, so I tried some ketchup again, and it tasted just fine. Weird. Evidently we're now on-again, off-again.

I still have been gaining and losing the same g-d four pounds for a few weeks now. It is annoying! I am at what the kids' call a "diet plateau". You know what you need to do when you're at a diet plateau? Kick it up a notch. What I need to do is to remember to drink (at least) 8-10 glasses (8 oz) of water a day. For some reason I struggle with this. I also need to step up the exercise. I've been wanting to start taking yoga, but I keep spending all my disposable income on kitchen implements and ingredients. But, then I remembered that the Squirrel Hill library has free yoga classes. I just looked it up, and it's Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Right on. http://clpgh.org/dontmiss/eventlist.cfm?mode=search Plus, it's probably the right starting level for me. I went a few times years ago, and the class was mainly made up of older people, and my outta-shape, inflexible ass needs something geared towards older peeps.

I remember when I went years ago that sometimes people in the class would fall asleep and snore during the relaxation cool-down period. And, my roommate(at the time) and I would always die laughing, and try not to cackle out loud. And, then one day I was the person that fell asleep and snored.

When do the city pools open? I can't wait! Last year E-Dawg and I went almost every day, and it was glorious. I can't wait to do that again. In fact, I'm going to look up the goods right now, and share the juicy info with you, dear readers...
June 15th! Which is the day I get back from vacation. And, then the next day is Pride, but then? Pittsburgh public pools, watch out! I'm headed for you!
http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/parks/html/swimming_pools.html

What's your favorite city pool? I think I like Bloomfield the best. It's never very crowded, close, and has that cute mushroom-type sprinkler thing. And, is walking distance to a Crazy Mocha (http://crazymocha.com/). I also very much enjoy Riverview, too, though. And, Highland Park. But, not Schenley. Schenley is packed with kids, the lifeguards try to harsh your mellow, and I once hit my head really hard on the bottom of the pool when I was doing in-water flips. So, Schenley, sorry, you can suck it.

Also, here's a tip. Speaking of sucking it, just suck it up and buy a pool tag. I didn't last year because I didn't realize that I'd become addicted. It's only $30, and you can use it all year round (Oliver Bath House in the off-season). Do it. http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/parks/html/swimming_pools.html#pooltags

Another thing, if we go swimming together, you should challenge me to a water-walking contest from one side of the pool to the other. You will lose, but it'll still be fun for you to see how amazingly fast I can walk in water. Wow!

(note: that is not me in the photo, but that encapsulates how I feel after winning a water-walking contest).

I've been making a veggie wrap every day for lunch. This isn't the one from today, but it's from a few days ago, so you get the idea. A tortilla (from Reyna--the best! I wish they made whole wheat, too), rice I've doused with some type of sauce and let marinate in the fridge overnight (today is spicy ginger-sesame sauce), a bunch of veggies (today is cucumber, grated beets, carrots, green onions and sorrel. But, they're good with everything, and super easy to make if you've already prepped the veggies and have them in your fridge.


You know the one thing I miss from keeping my blog on myspace? It's how they had you put a little tag of what you were reading and/or listening to. So, I'm just going to add that in myself:

I am currently reading: No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July. Check out her website for this book. It's amazing. http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/

I am currently listening to an album by Nonstop Everything called Smoke Stacks. Nonstop Everything is a side project of this guy Ben from The Van Allen Belt (http://www.myspace.com/thevabelt). We're myspace friends. I've never met him, but I often go to the restaurant where he works, and he sometimes leaves me cds. Which is awesome. Thanks, Ben.