Word of the Day

I just took out neat looking cookbook called "Starting with ingredients: quintessential recipes for the way we really cook".



It looks really interesting because each chapter has recipes based on a different single ingredient. What really got me though, was that I realized that while I know what "quintessence" means, I did not know why it means what it does.

So, being a curious sort of librarian, I looked it up on the Online Etymology Dictionary and found out.

"quintessence
c.1430, in ancient and medieval philosophy, "pure essence, substance of which the heavenly bodies are composed," lit. "fifth essence," from M.Fr. quinte essence (14c.), from M.L. quinta essentia, from L. quinta, fem. of quintus "fifth" + essentia (see essence). Loan-translation of Gk. pempte ousia, the "ether" added by Aristotle to the four known elements (water, earth, fire, air) and said to permeate all things. Its extraction was one of the chief goals of alchemy. Sense of "purest essence" (of a situation, character, etc.) is first recorded 1570; quintessential (n.) is from 1899, in this sense."

Cool, huh?

Snark that makes me happy

I admit it - I like a good catty comment about sad sad fashion choices as much as the next shallow person. And that's why Go Fug Yourself warms the cockles of my bitchy little heart. They say everything I'm not witty enough to come up with on the spot, and they can bring the snark like nobody's business. Celebrities + bad fashion + snarky commentary = sheer hilarity.

For those who thought I was kidding...

When I was a kid there was a group called the Mini Pops. I have mentioned this a few times to friends here and no one has ever heard of them. I thought maybe they were a Canadian novelty act, but recently I did a bit of digging and found that they were actually from a UK TV show. Evidently their albums were very popular in Canada and they even went on tour there. I know I had at least two albums and played them incessantly.





You can even check out some of their fabulous vocal stylings!

The Story of ISBN-13

Once upon a time there was a lonely 1...

...and a lonely 3

One day their eyes met across a stretch of filing cabinet

They liked what they saw and went on a date...

...leaned in for a kiss...

And the rest is history!

Welcome to the world, ISBN-13!

(thanks to Jen for bringing me the most adorable ISBN-13 plush toy in the world from ALA Midwinter)

Finally cooking!

It's so easy to get really good food in my neighborhood, and I realized that it has been weeks since I've actually cooked something in my kitchen.

I decided that I'd start back into it easily and made a nice lamb dish in my crockpot this morning so we had food ready and waiting for us at Girl's Night tonight.

A few people have asked for the recipe, so I've scanned it in for you here. It's from the book "Not your mother's slow cooker cookbook" by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann. The only change I made is to use boneless lamb stew meat instead of lamb shanks. I also forgot to add salt and pepper and lemon zest at the end today, but it was still delicious.

I feel old

I was discussing Gardasil today with a colleague, and I am too old to get the vaccine. It's recommended for girls 9-26, so I can't be vaccinated against HPV. That sucks.

For Alex

It tastes like toasted coconut in liquid form, with little pieces of coconut meat floating in it.

Coconut overload

I've acquired a fondness for Roasted Coconut drink.

You can find it at Asian grocery stores, but lately whenever I go in I can't find the right type. Friday Micaela and I went for pho (at Viet Huong, which is delicious) and stopped in to the supermarket next door just to check. We found one dented can of the drink, but Micaela went on a mission to find more. I am now the proud owner of entire case of Roasted Coconut drink! Yay Micaela!

Snow!

'Tis the first snow of the year, and almost the first snow of the winter. We had a teeny flurry in December that melted as soon as it hit, but this looks like it might actually stay around for a few hours. Yay! Winter might actually be arriving (with a whimper)

Another reason I'm sleepy

Friends who call me at two in the morning.

I have a new rule effective immediately. If you are not in immediate physical distress or need to go to the hospital, do not call me after midnight. It's not polite.

Things that make Dena sleepy (part 126)

Staying up 'til 2 am playing with my new Sony Ericsson Walkman cell phone even though I needed to get up early for work this morning.

The weekend of meat

This Sunday marked the first annual Martin Luther King Day Turducken Dinner. We all got together and purchased a turducken and had a lovely potluck turducken dinner Sunday night.

And just to keep the stereotypes going, the girls were in the kitchen cooking and the guys were playing football on the Xbox.
Much good food was made and had by all, including rosemary foccacia with blue cheese and honey, brussel spouts, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, cheesy corn (Karin will not give us the recipe for this, but has promised that upon her death we can ask her mom for it), green bean salad, tofurkey (for the vegetarians), homemade black forest cake, and bread pudding with whiskey sauce.

After eating so much that we could not move, I broke out my brand new Cranium game and proceeded to be soundly beaten by the unstoppable team of mAy and Gridley. Sebethis and I made a remarkable comeback late in the game, but were unable to overtake Team Smarty-pants.


The feasting did not stop there! Yesterday (on the actual MLK Day) we traipsed off to Fogo de Chao for all you can eat meat. Dee-licious! As you can see by Steve's face!

And now I should go on a diet for the rest of the year (except for Dining Days this week and Restaurant Week at the end of the month). But I won't. I know myself too well.

50 Book Challenge

So, it looks like some people are working on a challenge to read 50 books during the year. I laugh at such a paltry number, but it did get me to wondering how many books I actually do read. I'm going to keep track of all the books I read this year and you can follow along by visiting my book journal page, which I have also listed in my sidebar under "50 Book Challenge"

Life theme song

So, supposedly the number one song on the day of your 18th birthday is your life theme song. And I get:

Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-lot


And yay, my pretend boyfriend Jonathan Coulton has done a cover of my theme song!


Check your life theme song out here

Happy New Year!

Many many happenings in the past week or so, so hold on to your hats:

Christmas Karaoke - I had the traditional Christmas sleepover this year with Jen and Kim, and spent Christmas Day morning rocking out with Kim's brand spanking new karaoke machine. God, I suck at singing!

Saturday I screwed up my courage and went to Ansill, a restaurant specializing in the icky parts of animals, with Grimmgirl and her friend. They don't actually advertise that way, but that's what it is, pretty much. The ickiest stuff I tried: bone marrow and sweetbreads. The bone marrow was surprisingly yummy, and the sweetbreads were okay, but I didn't like the sauce they were in that much. I'd actually go back again. It was a day of foodiness, as that morning I went to a Korean grocery store with Micaela to shop for her New Year's blowout. I bought some delicious radish kimchee and marinated beef, she bought a ton of Bul-go-gi and spicy chicken.

Which leads me to the party. It was a nine o'clock do, so one would assume that people would have dinner before going, no? Anyway, here's some of the food that Micaela made:

Anyway, it was a fabulous party and we watched the fireworks from her rooftop and we all drank way too much and got home way too late.


New Year's Day was the second annual Corner Gas-athon, so I spent a lovely day lying on a couch watching 11 episodes of the show and eating leftovers. It was exhausting, I tell you!

And the big News of the Week:

Welcome to the world, baby Simon!

He looks just like his dad - Congratulations Alex and Janet!

A strange sense of melancholia

I'm feeling... strange. I just got back from seeing "The History Boys" with Sebethis, and I thought it was brilliant. Thought-provoking, uplifting and then... the ending. It wasn't bad, far from it. It was just that the whole movie had such a sense of hope and aspiration and dreams as the boys went through the preparations for taking their entrance exams for Oxford and Cambridge. And at the end (stop here if you don't want to know)...

...we find out how mundane their lives turn out to be. Even if they aren't mundane. Even though they did succeed, it felt like such a loss. Of the possibilities that are there while going to school. Of the potential futures. Of the subjunctive moments. I feel sad and as if I've lost something. I was choked up at the end not because of any one event, but because of the loss of something ephemeral and something that I felt very personally. And it's not that I'm unhappy because I'm definitely not. It's that there's part of me that I was that I'm never going to be again. There will always be possibility and moments, but those particular ones were a product of a very specific time and place, and they can't be relived, only reinterpreted.

The agony of being a cover model

How Did I End Up On The Cover Of This Romance Novel?

Last week at the supermarket, while shopping for my weekly supply of three dozen eggs and 12 pounds of mutton, I spotted a rack near the checkout...

Funny by itself, even funnier when you go to Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and read about the Duncan Larksthrush fanfic contest.

I used to know these...

I got hooked on the Geography Challange this week. Disgustingly, my highest score is 80%, and my average is around 50%. I might suck at it, but it's highly addictive.

How awesome is this?

I get a daily email newsletter called Shelf Awareness, and in today's edition was the following article. What a brilliant idea!

Weller's Readers in the Window
Cool idea of the day. Every afternoon through Christmas Eve, volunteer readers sit in the windows of Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore, Salt Lake City, Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

"Decorated like a living room, the window is warm and comes stocked with snacks and hot drinks," the paper wrote. "When the store set out criteria for the window, it asked for all kinds of families--however people defined the term. So far, readers who signed up range from teenage friends to couples on dates to a grandfather and his grandson. 'It's everyone,' said Jennifer Nielsen, who is in charge of decorating the store's windows and coordinating the readers' shifts. 'All the customers have loved it.' "

Most people read, silently or aloud, but some have played board games or chat. Friends and family of readers receive a discount on purchases while the readers are reading. Readers themselves receive a discount after their face time is up.

All better!

Everything is back on track and I'm no longer depressed (or very stressed). Yay! That was a bad six days I just had, and it was more than enough anxiety for one lifetime.

Now back to our regular programming:

Cute baby animals!

I have a acquired a food fairy

Yesterday at the end of the day there were two massive chocolate bars waiting on my desk. Today I step away from the department for five minutes and when I come back there is a slice of cherry cream cheese bread on my desk. A girl could get used to this...

I guess the upside to being awfully stressed and depressed is that people feel the need to feed me. They also do lovely things like arrange to have an adorable two-year-old pay me a cheer-up visit.

I'm trying not to be tiresome about everything that's going on so as not to become that whiny girl. Times like these make me realize what wonderful friends and family I have. Thank you everyone - I do love you all, and I'll try not to take advantage of your broad shoulders too often.

Oh, for goodness sake

Sometimes there just have to be common-sense limits, don't you think?

Lawmaker aims to allow the blind to hunt

Durian

Smells bad, bad for you

Sing it out!

I saw this on Neil Gaiman's blog right before Thanksgiving. I think it's fantastic!

After the hordes descended

Saturday was the big Thanksgiving Potluck/Leftover Party, and it was a smashing success. We had tons of food and about twenty people to eat it all. Check out the table near the end of the festivities:



I do so love that all my friends are total foodies!

When they get it wrong, they get it really wrong!

Part of my job is ordering paperback books for the library. To do that I use the Ingram iPage website. Today I was going through my booklist for the week and pulled up Linnea Sinclair's new book. Cool. I really like her (and if you like romance and science fiction you will too). As part of the promotional blurb, the page has info about the author. It says at the end "Fans can reach her through her website at www.starfreighter.com"

Um, no they can't. Because I, all innocent, went to that link. And instead of science fiction, I got "SUPER GAY COCKS!"

I'm not quite sure how much of an audience overlap there is between straight romantic science fiction and graphic gay porn, but I'm guessing that it might be small.

Why I love my friends, exhibit A

Conversation (almost verbatim) with Micaela on the phone at work tonight:

M: Remember the best turkey burger in the world I told you about?
D: Um
M: From Delaware. I brought you half.
D: What?
M: I ate half and saved you the other half. I'm bringing it to you right now
M: I'm right in front of the library. Bring napkins and come out and eat in the car.
D: I'll be right out!

And she even got the timing right - just as I was about to go on my break.

Much as she would protest the characterization, Micaela is one of the nicest, most generous people I know.

Jingle hell

I stopped on the way to work to pick up a wrap today and inadvertantly stepped into the beginning of Christmas hell. The radio statio playing in the deli was B-101, which is now all-christmas music, all the time! until Christmas day. And it's not even Thanksgiving yet! Argh!

On a happier note, I finally used the gift certificate some of my wonderful friends got me and went for an aromatherapy relaxation massage at Terme di Aroma. I've never had a massage that wasn't dep tissue/therapeutic before, so I was stunned to realize that massages don't have to hurt!

So true!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Philadelphia
The South
The Inland North
The Northeast
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Zombie Singalong! (...or, this is the week that was)

Tuesday I had an unfortunate peanut brittle accident. Don't ask - it was embarrassing and my finger still hurts.

Wednesday I had an evening of consolation drinking and greasy food with a friend who got bad news.

Thursday was Girl's Night - Indian food from Lovash (yum) and the first episode of Project Catwalk (the British version of Project Runway)

Friday I'm pretty sure I did something, but I don't remember.

Saturday I joined Sebethis going out to Ardmore to see Jonathan Coulton, my new singer/songwriter boyfriend. It was a great show, and he ended with an audience participation zombie song, so we ended the set singing "All we want to do is eat your brains!" Sebethis was ecstatic, as she is a HUGE zombie fan. Here she is squeaking with pleasure because she gets to sing about zombies:

And Ninja Stan, I remembered you - I have an autographed cd for you!

Little and Big

Yesterday I spotted my first Smart Car in Philly. I've seen them in Canada a lot, but this is my first American sighting. I wasn't the only one intrigued. Every person passing by stopped and checked it out. The guy in the picture was all but lifting the hood to see what made it tick. I think they're adorable - they look like little shoes, and I think I could probably pick one up and put it in my pocket. Plus, parking would be a breeze!



On a size-related note, my friend and I went into Famous 4th Street Deli today and saw the largest apple turnovers I've ever seen. Witness her amazement:



She bought one for her boyfriend, so I'm waiting to hear if size is any indication of quality.

*UPDATE* Apparently in this case size is an indication of quality. Carl says the turnover is delicious (and I figure they've got a week's worth of dessert now, so it's economical as well)

Sometimes packagers can go slightly overboard

I bought an adorable little Bodum teacup and infuser from Amazon. This is it:


Notice how small and delicate it is. The little box measures 3.5” by 4.5” by 3.5”

Now, take a look at what it came shipped in:



Yes, that’s two Amazon boxes, a sheet of heavy duty bubble wrap, and so much of the airpack packing filler that I could strangle a horse with it. You have to wonder sometimes. And on a related note, my much larger Bodum tea press came in a freakishly small Amazon box.

Things left unfinished

Today I started reading a book and after one chapter decided to put it down. I do not feel guilty about it at all. This is a big statement, since I've always been the type of person that finshed whatever she started reading. I always felt that I make a commitment to a book, and must see it though. It's only recently that I'm coming to realize that it's okay to put a book down without finishing it. It doesn't happen very often, but when I just can't get into a book there's no shame in stopping. Actually, I think I need a twelve-step program.


Anyway, I tried to start BreakupBabe today at lunch. I lasted until page 19.

That's worse than the other book I couldn't finish this month, Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose. And that one's for book club. I'm bringing the movie version as my contribution to Book Club, as I couldn't get past page 52 in the book.

New obsession

Thank you to Bruno Gridley, who mentioned Jonathan Coulton in a livejournal post. I've fallen insanely in love with him, as have all the friends I've played his stuff for. You gotta love a guy who can write a delicate and beautiful ballad to both the mad scientist on Skullcrusher Mountain as well as IKEA


He's playing a show out in Ardmore on December 16. Some of us are already planning to go and see him, so if you're interested, drop me a line.

p.s. thank you Grimmgirl, for introducing me to the joys of orange-mango mohitos at Copa!

...worries for another day!

As reported by the fine poeple at Zap2it, Fraggle Rock is going to be a movie!


Let the Music Play, indeed!

Book of the week

Brent (Dork Lord extraordinaire) showed me a book by Minister Faust called Coyote Kings of the Space Age Bachelor Pad

This is a completely cool book full of magic and sci-fi geeks and drug dealers and pop-culture and satire and other good stuff like that and it's set in Edmonton (yay!) I took it out of the library (yes, Philadelphia has it) and finally got around to reading it. This is a book with tons of character. There are many different characters telling the story, each with their own voice and dialect and rhythm and style. The words are like music - I found myself reading parts aloud just to hear the sound of the story. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes interesting uses of language and kick-ass urban fantasy.

Exciting new developments

It's been quiet here but busy in the real world lo these many days. My folks were in town for a visit and we had a great time, shopping and AIDS walking and sailing and picking apples and meeting my friends and such.

But the most exciting news is that I think I'm starting a new religion. Yes, I have been suffering from nausea for the last four days and I think I will attribute it to morning sickness. Immaculate Conception has reappeared in the world (or, depending on your theology, appeared for the first time) and I will become the mother of a new religion. I'm taking applications for acolytes and assorted devoted followers now, so get in while the getting's good!

Of course, I could just have a flu, but that's so boring.

On an added note - if this is what morning sickness actually is like, it sucks!

Bringing in the big guns

Having suffered one mouse invasion this year so far (and the score is Dena-6, Mice-probably still breeding like, well, mice), I'm being proactive right now with the help of Grimmgirl and her two strapping lads, Will and Jake. Will is the biggest (not fat, big) cat I've seen in a long time, and Jake is probably big too, he just looks normal size next to Will. They are the friendliest cats in the world, and are amazingly tolerant of Grimmgirl's abundant affection for them. Anyway, they came over for a visit last night and we had a lovely time urging them to rub against everything.

Owning a cat plusses: something to snuggle, keeps mice away, more fun to watch than TV
Owning a Cat minuses: litter boxes, car hair, being responsible for a living thing, half-chewed mice
Borrowing a Cat ( or two) = The best of both worlds!

They'll be coming over tomorrow for Girl's Night as well, and will be horribly spoiled by my friends who are already planning to bring catnip and toys for them. And hopefully the mice will be suitably scared so they don't come visiting when my folks are in town.

White and nerdy

I don't know what it is about "Weird Al" Yankovic, but I've loved him since the eighties. He has a new song and video, and I pretty much fell out of my chair laughing when I saw it.

Buy a friend a book!

I just discovered this lovely event today when playing around on Shiny Shiny. What a great idea! Four times a year BAFAB encourages you to buy a friend a book for no good reason, just because.

My problem: too many friends, not enough cash. I'll think of something!

Food that gives you pause

I'm on a food theme, it seems. Today Micaela was craving pho, so three of us headed out to Vietnam Palace for lunch. I wasn't hungry because I had had a large breakfast of leftover Thai chicken with cashews, so I started looking at the interesting drinks section of the menu. They have some really neat drinks, but I wasn't up for durian drink (durian smells like old sweaty mouldy socks, and that's me being polite). Right below that, though, was a listing for avocado milkshake. I like avocado, and I like milkshakes. Sounds kind of weird to put them together, but why not give it a shot?

You can't really see it in the picture, but it's a lovely pale pale green shade.


A weird concept, but in practice a truly delicious experience. The shake was extra creamy and tasted just like avocado, but sweeter. It was mild and delicate and I wish I had known about this during the summer. I'd definitely order it again. Actually, when I got home I dug out my ice cream cookbook and found a recipe for avocado ice cream, which I'm totally going to try.

food onna stick!

Because everything's better on a stick, even a heart attack!

Twins?

I think I now understand why people keep stopping my sister and me and asking if we're twins. I never got it before seeing these pictures.

Cheesy eighties fun!

I've been watching Celebrity Duets, and am now in full-on eighties flashback heaven. Watch the first 2:50 of this video and just try not to sing along! I'm beginning to really love Hal Sparks. And Dennis Deyoung of Styx makes me smile.

Aw, cute!

It's a baby panda infestation!

My not-so-new obsession

For the past few months I've been hooked on a fun and productive new activity. I started bookswapping, which fulfulls my desire to get rid of the stuff that's been sitting around the apartment, lets me know that it's going to someone who really wants it, and gives me the chance to get something in return.

I started out on (not just for paperbacks).

Then I discovered .

And now has started up and I'm using all three.

In the past few weeks Librarything, on which I've catalogued my entire collection, started integrating with swap sites.

It's fun, it's addictive, and it's a wonderful way to recycle books! If you want to join up (and give me valuable referral points), drop me a line and I'll refer you.

Avast, me hearties!

It's the Annual "Talk Like A Pirate Day" today, so a big "YARRRR!" to you all!

Book title of the week

Ways to my heart

If you are an author - especially a really cool author like Christopher Moore - and you are promoting your new book (in stores Jan 2007), what better way to a girl's heart than a bag of candy hearts? Yeah, I'm buying.



Thanks to Tess who went to the NAIBA tradeshow this weekend and brought back loot for me, including signed Eloisa James books.

HoYay!

Is it wrong that I think this is hot?

Not safe for work or young'uns. Mom and dad, protect your innocence.



Wait for it to load, it's worth it!

And one thing not to be happy about

Nights where you spend more time trying to fall asleep instead of actually sleeping. I don't remember actually sleeping at all last night, just hours of lying in bed telling myself that I'd better get tired, dammit.
I am one cranky librarian this morning, let me tell you!

Things to be happy about

1. I had a great vacation with my sister - 10 days, and with the exception of 1 hour I think we spent every single minute in each other's company. And it was fine!
2. Seeing "The Drowsy Chaperone" in New York
3. Finally buying the painting that I've been eyeing on the wall of Dessert for the last few months. My first real post-university art purchase. I love it, it makes me happy just looking at it!
4. Going hiking in the Wissahickon
5. Having space in my bedroom again now that the air mattress is gone.
6. Discovering the joys of Marshalls with Micaela.
7. Buying a fabulous pair of blue Clarks shoes at Ross for under $20.
8. Getting tickets for "The 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee" for when it comes to Philly next month
9. Restaurant week!
10. The weather has broken and it's actually comfortable outside now.

The Case of the Alcoholic Mouse

Last night was girl's night, which was a blast. Pizza, Project Runway, and wildly inappropriate talk about animals, republicans, and babies. About halfway through the evening Jen jumped up on her chair, cookie in hand, and went all girlie about seeing a mouse. Philly mice are incredibly bold. This one (the first I've seen in almost a year) was on my kitchen counter trying to move a bottlecap from a mudslide. So not only do I have mice again, I have alcoholic mice. It's amazing how blase I have become about mice and creepy crawlies living in Philly. If this happened a few years ago, I'd be up on the chair next to Jen. Last night I just wandered over to the kitchen and chased the mouse away. It reappeared later on near everyone's shoes, so that pretty much put an end to the night, but since it was really late and everyone had to work the next day, that was fine. One of the reasons I wasn't freaking out was because I have a rat zapper, which I pulled out and reset last night after everyone was gone and I bleached my counter. This morning, one dead mouse. I'll keep the zapper on for the next little while just in case there were more than one of them.

Oh yeah, and my new VCR came yesterday as well, so now I just have to find time again to watch my tapes.