January gloom fogs my mood

I’m not sure if it is the steady diet of reading and watching journalists exploit the current economic crisis or just the normal gray skies, rare sun exposure, and rain of winter in the Pacific Northwest, but this has been one depressing January thus far.

 It is always a little sad to say good bye to the cheer and indulgence that surround holiday celebrations. But this somber mood is disappointing on so many levels, because like many voters seeking CHANGE, January 2009 was supposed to be the happiest moment of the decade. Last year for months, I day-dreamed and night-dreamed about a new direction for this country, filled with optimism for a fresh start. But, regardless of the new oath of office about to transpire–I cannot shake this cosmic doubt that change is not yet ripe for the taking. I wonder, do we have enough to influence the world to meet change half-way. Some part of me fears it may just linger our of our grasp for the next several years.

Headlines about the struggles in Iraq, Mumbai attacks, war in Gaza, layoffs, and recession fill papers and the 24-hour news cycle. Contrast these with the silliness of headlines about the Golden Globes and  newest film about to hit the theaters and you have a surreal mix of mental stimuli. I cannot open my hotmail inbox without seeing dozens of huge blowout sales and clearance e-mail marketing offers from assorted retailers-another reminder of the economic meltdown.

So I follow a wise quote:

“Today, give a stranger one of your smiles.  It might be the only sunshine he sees all day. ”    ~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Then we  can only hope that February shines with a bright spot of optimism that is just temporarily hidden under the layers of gloomy fog.

Remodel project catharsis

I’m three months deep into a remodel project on my house. I’m about to enter the almost done stage, but I don’t trust it. I won’t get my hopes up, not yet at least. 

You always hear stories of how people begin a project, expecting to spend a few weekends and weeknights to get it done–then six months and one special contractor later they actually complete the job. But, if you are overly arrogant like me, then you ignore the advice of wiser friends and begin your 600 square foot remodel with stupefying over optimism.

Ripping up baseboards, tearing our carpet, patching holes, spreading thin set mortar, laying tiles, cutting tiles to fit, repainting, grouting…sure sounds like a lot of work. But, because of my delusional eagerness after visiting Home Depot, reading DIY websites, and watching HGTV flip this house shows–I imagined the project going so much faster. Enter reality from stage left.

People who produce DIY shows and content should really feel bad about themselves. The 30-day project reduced to a 30-minute montage clip-show with sassy hosts wearing cute clothes sets unreal expectations for what you can really, truly, and actually do-yourself. A few hours too-many watching these faux-reality DIY shows gave me confidence that shrunk daily at each point where I had to lever tac-strips out of concrete with crow bars, or sit on my hands and knees and violently scrape vinyl-on-vinyl-on-vinyl 45-year old flooring up to make way for the new tile.

Not only can you not wear cute clothes while working on home-remodeling projects, but you also are tired, cranky, and have no social or entertainment life anymore.

I should point out that I’m not completely disappointed in the fruits of my labor-the cost-savings from DIY alone might be enough to justify the extra months the project has lagged on. Here is what I won’t miss when I’m finally done:

• Seemingly simple trips to Home Depot that result in $200-$300 cost
• Smell of dust and debris in my house
• Constant sweeping and vacuuming of aforementioned dust/debris
• Perfectly good PJ pants-turned-work-pants ruined with paint and tiling gunk
• Sore arm, neck, and knees

I’ll have to repost later with what I like about my remodel project-because right now, I’m a little sick of thinking about it….

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I cannot figure out how to have this blog RSS subscribe to that one….

Seattle needs good pizza

As a Pacific Northwest transplant, originally born and raised in the Chicago land suburbs, I have often contemplated how a gorgonzola, caramelized onion, pear-topped piece of bread can be classified as pizza. It never occurred to me that there were thousands of pizza fans who have never enjoyed a Chicago slice. Or, even more shocking, don’t even know what Chicago-style pizza is!

Given that I matriculate from a part of the country downright obsessed with pizza, I feel an obligation to explain real, serious pizza to Seattle. But how to do this? Apart from opening my own pizza place–which is highly unlikely for reasons too numerous to count, including and certainly not limited to my lack of culinary skills and financial backing–my deep desire to educate others as to the merits of truly good pizza currently manifests in irregular lectures to my local friends. Enter phase 2 of my plan: blogging.

So what is so special about pizza hailing from the Windy City:

There is nothing quite like the feeling of being completely full after just one slice of the golden deep-dish crust, cornmeal dusted, with cheese and spinach held in place under a chunky tomato sauce.  Mmmm.

There are hundreds upon hundreds of local pizzerias in the greater Chicago area–impossible to get bored.

Pizzerias make your pie to order and you sit, at a checkered table cloth, drinking pop from a red plastic cup for 45 minutes or more until it is delivered piping hot in a cast iron pan. If that does not seem nostalgic for a different, better time, then I don’t know what is.

Cutting and serving the pizza requires expert attention–you are not allowed to touch the first slices and the wait staff will give each person just one slice to dig into.

You must eat this pizza with a fork and knife-you can’t pick it up-it is sophisticated.

Don’t fret Seattle, there are ways to bring this straight to your doorstep. Order a frozen pizza for delivery out-of-state if you can’t make it to Chi-town to try for yourself: http://www.giordanos.com or http://www.tastesofchicago.com.  

Places I recommend if you manage to make it to the middle of our great nation, include: Giordano’s, Lou Malnati’s, Uno, Gino’s East. Maybe if I’m lucky one of these will expand out West.

In the meantime, I’ll keep making due with my husband’s homemade pizza (a fabulous recipe from my father-in-law) to fill the void in my heart and stomach.

When the spousal TV line up doesn’t stack up

There is seemingly no end to my husband’s criticism of my TV watching taste. “That is brain rot” and “Oh my God, why is your show so bad and suck so much…”– a few token gems I hear. But, “you’re killing brain cells,” has such a resonating quality, which though rarely used, makes it my favorite. Because I think I have excellent viewing habits, his commentary echoes a bit like the “you’ll shoot your eye out!” warning to Ralphie in A Christmas Story. To play my part, I heed his advice with the same amount of disregard as a ten year old boy with a BB gun.

Now his constant and steady stream of complaints normally results in one of two outcomes: I cannot focus on the show due to his whining and relinquish control of the remote (win for him); or he gives up and leaves the room allowing me to watch in peace (win for me). Neither are probably the most healthy interactions for our marriage (and honestly the reason we have two TVs in the first place is to make this a moot disagreement–but one TV set is bigger, so there is some reason to fight for domination over the larger screen). 

I am not completely innocent in this charade. I do share my disapproving thoughts on his love of all inappropriate cartoon humor (Simpson’s, South Park, Family Guy, Futurama, and the spectrum of Adult Swim: Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, Tom Goes to the Mayor, The Tim and Eric Show Awesome Job! etc.). He views these as ”intelligent” choices and I frequently feel like I’m married to a man with the very high brow taste of a 14-year-old boy.

The only shows my husband  and I can agree on to watch together are normally part of the comedy genre: The Daily Show, Colbert Report, The Office, etc. It is enjoyable and positive that we can find common ground. Plus, I finally figured out how to tune out football and baseball when he’s watching, so I can stay in the room and read or work on the computer. I heard somewhere that couples that spent time in the same room for their activities had a lower divorce rate. It seems strange that by sitting four feet away and completely ignoring him as he watches Sports Center, I could be doing something good for my marriage. Hey, in this day and age, I’ll take what I can get.

So, you might be wondering-what is there to dislike within my program selections? For consideration, I’ve summarized my viewing methods, criteria, and programs into this handy reference table.

Preferred viewing method	Watch live	DVR for later	See On Demand or via NetFlix
Criteria	Clever, intriguing plotWill forgive formulaic pattern if well written and well acted	Compelling story or contentDoesn’t require sequential watching to keep current Some parts irritate me and I like to fast-forward	BoredFree episodes online A friend told me to watch it
Shows	House, Lost	Prison Break, Dexter, Weeds, Countdown with Keith Olberman, The Rachel Maddow Show, Fringe, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles	Rome, Jericho, Men in Trees, re-runs of Dawson’s Creek, Oprah

Note: Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Heroes, October Road had peppered the previous line up. But, I’ve trimmed the list to make room for newer selections.

So there you go, I don’t feel like my TV watching behaviors warrant the ongoing skepticism and mockery of my husband, I could after all be much worse. But then again, so could he.

Affordable gifts for this holiday season

There is very little that thrills me more in life than deciding on the perfect gift for a friend, colleague, or family member. Perhaps it is because gift-giving has always been such a well planned, deeply thoughtful process for my mother. Or, because I love the idea that small presents given to aknowledge a relationship can mean as much  as or even more than costly exhibits of generosity.

So here are some of my favorite things to give this season, under $30.

http://thymes.com/ - Frasier fir candles (a perfect hostess present that brings a little fresh forest warmth inside, plus they have absolutely adorable packaging).

http://www.netflix.com – What’s better than entertainment delivered to your house (honestly, I cannot remember what my life was like pre-Nexflix).

https://secure.nrdconline.org/08/costarica_inhonor/ntd2W2JYqLSQs?source=tgl_crrf - Plant a rainforest tree in someone’s name for $10 each, the perfect green gift.

There’s certainly more–but I cannot give away all my gift ideas until I know what I’m buying my family and friends.  Happy shopping friends.

Stuff white people like hurts my feelings

If you’ve never heard of this blog–you must be living under a rock, inside a cave, buried underground. I pretty much have a daily reminder of the hilarious content on this site through the regular references and e-mail referrals my husband passes my way. It is funny stuff. Like did you know that white people like grammar, Facebook, the Onion, Netflix, microbreweries, marathons, and film festivals?  

So, why is it that this well written, slightly ridiculous site, which makes me chuckle out loud, can also simultaneously offend me?

Well, for starters it is possible for sarcasm to be a little too close to the truth. Like there are two things I wanted to do in the New Year: start a book club and learn a new language. However, a recent post on SWPL (#115 Promising to Learn a New Language) has now made me insecure of my former ambition to learn German or French on top of my non-fluent 8 years of high school/college Spanish. SWPL has not posted on book clubs yet, so one of my New Year resolutions can still be met, for now!

Also, the weather has turned colder of late and allowed me to bust out my vast and impressive collection of scarves, which I tend to wear throughout the day at work because it is cold. But, quick review of #97 Scarves, shows that I’m both illogical and strange in my stereotypical dressing behavior.

So, where do I go from here?  I can either ignore the site and pass on devouring the delicious humor, or I’m left to do the only logical thing I can: check SWPL prior to announcing my newest interest or goal to make sure I know whether I can be intentionally ironic. Maybe that will work. Cross your fingers they won’t criticize book clubs next.