Chicago!

Conference time - I'm in Chicago with very little sleep and I keep forgetting to eat, there's so much stuff to do. I'm just about to go off and collect some more free stuff from exhibitors and then sit at a recruitment table and tell people how much they want to work for my library system. Then off to two party/receptions tonight.

Having a blast, wish you were here :)

Hiding in plain site

Sometimes the world can just get to you. It's nice to be able to lock yourself in your room and not come out for a while. Now you don't have to have a room to go to, you can bring your room with you. When you need a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, just disappear completely in your own little box.

Geeky fan moment

Bruce Campbell was at the library tonight. I was working, so I didn't get a chance to actually hear him talk, but I did snap a really crappy shot of him signing books on my way back from the washroom. There were about 400 people waiting for an autograph, so I couldn't get too close. Bruce is the splotch in dark blue posing with some other fans for someone else with a camera.

Shopping!

This has been a shopping weekend. First off I went to Franklin Mills with Liz and Sally on Saturday. We'd been joking that it was good thing that the stores were open 'til 9:30, but we never expected to stay that long. Well, I got home a bit before 11 pm. What a great mall. I believe that it is my favourite mall in the States so far. Lots of store, many of them outlets so they are really cheap. Plus they have a nice H&M, which is great - the one in Center City seems to specialize exclusively in urban slutwear. The suburban ones have a lot of great career-type clothes. There was much shopping, along with a long overdue Orange Julius break. Liz has been craving Orange Julius for a month or so.

I have also decided that the fact that I work late on Mondays is a very dangerous thing. I walk to work through some prime shopping territory and I can't help but window shop, which invariably leads to actual shopping. Today I walked in to work with a cute pink halter top and an amazingly marked down linen dress. I also did some shopping for my sister, who puts in Bath and Body Works requests whenever I'm about to fly home.

Variations on a theme

So, earlier this week I posted a great avocado tzatziki recipe. I got a call from my friend Liz tonight. She didn't have all the ingredients for it, so made some modifications. I made her version for dinner, and it's very yummy as well.

What she did:

double recipe
Instead of all lemon juice, use 1/2 lemon juice, 1/2 lime juice
cut all spices except salt and garlic (I still didn't put any salt in)
add 1 tsp curry powder (we both used madras curry powder)
She also used yoghurt instead of sour cream, like I did.

It's very good - I actually made 1/2 of her recipe as I only had one avocado left. The original recipe says it serves 8. Ha! It serves 3 at the most the way I eat it.

Okay, enough about food. Tomorrow I'm going to Franklin Mills, evidently the mecca of outlet shopping in Philadelphia. Everyone I talk to seems aghast that I've been in the city so long and haven't made it up there yet. Apparently it's like coming to Philly and not eating a cheesesteak.

Recipe sharing time

You know, I try not to be that person who sees a deal in the grocery store and buys whatever it is even though they have no idea what to do with it, but a week or so ago I was in Trader Joe's and found 4 avocados for really cheap. I usually never eat avocados at home. The only recipe I know that uses them is guacamole. But oh, how I craved those avocados. So of course I bought them, and they have been sitting in my fridge since then waiting for me to figure out what to do with them.

Well, yesterday I found a recipe for avocado tzatziki on allrecipes.com. I love tzatziki - the cucumber, the garlic (oh, the garlic) - yum! So I decided to try it and it was wonderful. Sally (who very kindly gave me fresh mint when I couldn't find it at three different grocery stores) came over and really liked it too.

Here it is (I used fat-free yoghurt instead of sour cream and didn't add any salt):

AVOCADO TZATZIKI

INGREDIENTS:

1 large avocado, peeled and pitted
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lemons, juiced
1/4 cup sour cream (optional)
1/2 cup chopped seeded cucumber
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl, combine the avocado, garlic, lemon juice, sour cream and cucumber. Mash with a fork until smooth. If your avocado is not quite ripe enough, you may wish to use a food processor. Season with red pepper flakes, cilantro, mint, salt and pepper, and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

The best t-shirt in the world!

I'm a devoted reader. Have been all my life. But until now I just couldn't find the right piece of apparel to announce to the world exactly how reading has informed my development and made me the woman I am today.

Now that all changes.

Introducing my new t-shirt: succinct, pithy, captures the essence of who I am, and most important - damn cute!



I'm so wearing this to work tomorrow!

I don't even like Star Wars that much, but...

How funny is this?


(no Jen, it's not an olive)

Science for your kitchen

Here's a handy guide for you, a periodic table of condiments.

Helpful and funny!

This is scary funny

Some guy decided to see if people actually check the signatures on the back of credit cards. Suprisingly (or not) many don't. What's really crazy about his whole project is how far from a signiture he was able to write on the receipt and still get away with it.

Check it out

Much better than writing your name on your food!

Ben and Jerry's has come out with a nifty new device called the Pint-Lock that with keep marauding midnight snackers (or dads with the munchies) out of your precious ice cream.

Foucault in haiku

In university I had a class in postmodern theory, and I came to the conclusion that many of these authors use really big words for no other reason than to a) show off how smart they are and how clever they are to have figured out how to use a thesaurus and b) make sure only other really smart people like themselves can understand their work. Of course, I tend to use a word other than smart to describe such people.

One of the new books that just came in to the library is Haiku U, a collection of 100 great books in haiku form. I was reading it and ran across a haiku of Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish, one of the texts we looked at in this class.

Here, in 17 syllables, courtesy of David M. Bader, is Foucault's Discipline and Punish:

Carceral discourse,

polyvalently deployed.

Hot air gently blows.

I knew this show was familiar...

More Lost goodness. Today Chris Rywelt uncovers the true meaning of Lost.

Someone is channeling me...

This was published today at Overdue Media.

"Lost" in a nutshell

I started watching Lost this season and really enjoyed it for the first little bit, then somewhere around the middle of the season I got bored with it. I didn't stop watching, but I wasn't as enthusiastic about it as I once was. I just finished watching the three episodes leading up to the finale (which is sitting on my Tivo, but I haven't seen it yet, so don't say anything!).

Anyway,I was going to rant a bit about the show, but Chris Rywelt at Teevee.org did it so well that I'm going to just point you in his direction.

Check out Lost on Lost.

Romance Novel Covers Redux

Way back in February I posted about a site that played around with romance covers. The site has now updated with a whole new batch of hilarious reader submitted takes on the traditional cover clinch.

Poetry appreciaton

I'm in the middle of weeding the Teen collection at the library, and I ran across a little book of poetry called "God Went To Beauty School."



God goes to beauty school, orders a couch from Pottery Barn, gets a dog, watches a movie, writes a fan letter - it's deceptively simple poetry. Even though it's from a mainly Christian perspective it really made me think (and smile).

It takes about ten minutes to read, so if you need a quick read, check out your library to see if they have it.

Chicago crime - mapped!

A bunch of us are off to Chcaco next month for a conference, and now we will know exactly what's going on crime-wise in the city. Some helpful people at chicagocrime.org have linked crime reports to Google Maps, so now we can see exactly what is happening where - always good to know what areas to avoid.

My new favourite snack food

Shara sent me an article about the chili mango, a beautiful, tasty, sweet and hot mango on a stick (if it's on a stick, I am predisposed to adoring it). A guy in the Italian Market sells them for a piddly $1.50 each, and I had my first one last Friday. I'm hooked!

More uses for a robot vacuum cleaner

I have a Roomba and use it for light cleaning. Some people use it for more exciting things, like child herding.