The year that was, the year that will be b

It has been well over a year since my last post. So much has happened since then, and I'm certainly not the person now that I was. But that is fine and that is life.

I had so much fun during this year. And just because I didn't finish the blog, doesn't mean that I didn't finish the year strong. I pushed myself til the very end, doing something new everyday.

It was worth it alone for all the photos. Well over one thousand in one year.

I missed writing dearly. I am in no way a Writer with a capital W, but I do make the kids laugh every once in a while. That counts for quite a bit. The downside of this writing is having an audience. I know, woah is me, right? I should be so lucky to have people care.

It was wonderful and terrible at the same time. Bittersweet is the technical term I believe. I am such a deeply private person, it was scary to share that life with strangers.

Plus, I'd be lying if I said that he concept of big brother doesn't freak me out some.

In the beginning, I started this to hang onto my twenties, to make sure I went into my thirties dragging and kicking to the shit out of life. And I did that, and for that I am proud. Although I still strived for the new in 2009, I missed what I did in 2008.

So, where does this leave me? Starting all over again in 2010 - even if I am a little bit slow in the new year so far. To make it that much easier on me, I can do much of this on my iPhone, using apps like twitterific and iBlogger, keeping my ass out of my office chair as much as possible. Yay Jesus Phone!

Anywho, too much talking - not enough new-ing. Enough of the feelings and junk, on to the fun.

Day117 - Of cheeseballs and 10 spots

Saturday, April 26, 2008: Sean and Kim: Greencastle.


The past couple of days, we have been all over PA looking for parts for the truck. The few remaining bits that will make it move or pass inspection. Since we would be close to them, today we stayed over at Sean and Kim's. Like always, they were extremely awesome in there care of us.

We went to the local Food Lion in search of dinner, and Lucky Troy found a 10 spot on the ground. You would think he won the lottery he was so happy.




He of course handed it over to Kim for dinner. The same Plaza held a Goodwill and we stopped in. I found this pin which I am deeply in love with. It is so bright and happy. How can you be sad with this thing on?





I also found this bag. Wow. An argyle pleather bag. Lucky girl.





Then came dinner and a fashion show. Sean bought this outfit. It is fetching. He is missing leather sandals.





We had some Port Wine Cheeseball. Jess, I am sorry, but this was a little better than yours. I feel like I cheated on your cheeseball.





Then Sean made us these gigantic pork loin cheeseburgers. Wow, were they good. It was a bit of a trip to munch on a burger and have it be white - not red. Otherwise, just fantastic.




And yes, it was gigantic.




Later on that night we got into a fight about whether or not "The Punisher" sucks as a movie. It does. I'm not saying it's not entertaining, but it is bullshit. Grandma's Boy, on the other hand, was fantastic and I loved it. So, so funny. It was co-written and starred Nick Swordson (Terry, the gay rollerskater from Reno 911). What else do you need me to say to get you to watch?

Day27 - A peanut butter explosion!

Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008: Sunday Fun


The biggest reason for Gayle's visit was for her to work on the truck a little. I think everyone wants to say they helped out somehow, someway. And why wouldn't you, it's fucking gorgeous. And it's probably going to be the most rad thing we've done in a long, long time.

And, at this point, we could use all the help we can get to make Troy's goal of the end of March.


So Gayle and I sanded one of the front fenders. I've sanded before, and I've bitched about it in depth, but Gayle was a really good sport and she got a lot done in 2 hours.


Here is Gayle looking cute and serious.





This is before. The fenders are huge - easily 4 foot long and really awkward.





Hard at work:





What we accomplished in about 2 hours. She had to get back home so we called it quits. I will be left to tackle this sucker by myself.





I usually spend most of my time doing this:




I dance a lot. Also, that is the finished side that I started and Troy finished.



Later that night, I made these low-cal extremely peanut buttery cookies.




Really easy: 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup Splenda for baking and 1 egg. Makes 12 cookies at 180 calories each. I limit myself to one and that's fine. I think that they are probably a really good source of protein and, seeing how there is no flour or anything else really, it tastes like hardened peanut butter and nothing else. Very good.


Close up of the yummy:






I know! The screen is just not giving them up. I keep on trying to reach in, but it's not budging.

Day23 - New rules to the same old game.

Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008: My kitchen: Pork Roast

This post isn't going to be very exciting. It's just food that was so-so. Maybe a 3/5, but Troy would probably disagree. 

This is a new recipe for pork loin. Here is a picture of me and Troy disagreeing on whether or not he should have taken the pork out of the oven first before he took it's temperature.

It's a good argument for sure - and I think we came away with a draw.


Here is the finished pork. It def. tasted good, but the was a little dry as pork is want to do. Very simple: 6 red potatoes, 1 cup of carrots, 1 onion cut into 6, 2 cloves garlic. Sprinkle with salt, pepper & italian seasoning and cook for 20 minutes at 350. Sprinkle pork chops (or where we fucked up - sliced pork loin) with same mixture of spices and cook for 15-20 minutes or until internal temp rises to 160 degrees.

It tasted good but was dry and not all of the veggies were soft and said pork was dry-ish.




Good looking but not the best. We'll get them next time kiddo.

Day22 - And then I came to the end

Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008: My Living Room: And Then We Came To The End

I finished this book called "And Then We Came To The End" today, it is the debut novel of writer Jonathen Ferris. I read about on gawker.com and I was immediately drawn to the book's setting in a Chicago ad agency. It took me about 6 months to get the book and actually sit down and read it. I'm very glad I did because it's now one of my favorite books, not only because of the subject matter but also because of the tone and depth.


And just look at the cover. How could you not be attracted - great art direction here:



If you click on the link here, you can get some background on the book as well as an except:

WE WERE FRACTIOUS AND overpaid. Our mornings lacked promise. At least those of us who smoked had something to look forward to at ten-fifteen. Most of us liked most everyone, a few of us hated specific individuals, one or two people loved everyone and everything. Those who loved everyone were unanimously reviled. We loved free bagels in the morning. They happened all too infrequently. Our benefits were astonishing in comprehensiveness and quality of care. Sometimes we questioned whether they were worth it. We thought moving to India might be better, or going back to nursing school. Doing something with the handicapped or working with our hands. No one ever acted on these impulses, despite their daily, sometimes hourly contractions. Instead we met in conference rooms to discuss the issues of the day.

Ordinarily jobs came in and we completed them in a timely and professional manner. Sometimes fuckups did occur. Printing errors, transposed numbers.Our business was advertising and details were important. If the third number after the second hyphen in a client's toll-free number was a six instead of an eight, and if it went to print like that, and showed up in Time magazine, no one reading the ad could call now and order today. No matter they could go to the website, we still had to eat the price of the ad. Is this boring you yet? It bored us every day.Our boredom was ongoing, a collective boredom, and it would never die because we would never die.

The basic plot of the book? Set in the turn of this century, ad agencies and corporate america started to feel the pinch from the implosion of dot.com boom. This book describes the ennui of everyday office life, creatives and lay-offs. A story that hits close to home regardin all three.

It was hard to get into the book at first, up until chapter 5, because of the narrative "we." Who is this "we?" I kept asking myself until I realized, as the character Benny describes, it is the zeitgeist of the office - the defining spirit or mood. We is "you and me" and the trick of the book is that by using "we" you become a character. It's easy to invest in their lives and personalities because they common among anyone with a day job.

The characters are well rounded and formed. They have clear personalities, without being stereotypes and I spent some of the book relating characters to people that I know. It is filled with the gossip that is present in every office. Also with the apathy that is often found there as well. He nailed it right on the head when he describes the superiority over all mankind that creatives (art directors, graphic designers, marketers, copy writers) feel when they create an ad campaign and the depression they sink to when they fail. He must have worked in an agency to get it that close.

I am so glad I stuck with it. The plot jumps back and forth over the span of a year and half for the majority with the epilogue bringing us into present day five years later. This is beautifully done. One by one co-workers are let go, planting the fear that your life will end and the question  of what will replace everything when you leave? The brilliant last paragraph binds the whole story together so neatly.

I'm sure that I'm not doing the book justice with this synopsis, so look here to find a more in depth read on it.  This is definitely a read for all my college/work friends.

Day18 - I can't find that turkey anywhere.

Friday, Jan. 18, 2008: The Ale House: Turkey in the Pumpkin Patch 

**This post is out of order because my memory is terrible!**

We went out for happy hour tonight with Sarah and Jess to the Ale House. I made the mistake of wearing a short sleeved shirt and sitting in the outside enclosed bar. Brrr! It's just nicer than sitting inside and when we arrived I was able to get a really good spot so I suffered although ever so slightly.

I had the Turkey in the Pumpkin Patch: Wheat bread, turkey, shredded pumpkin and some kind of cheese. It was outrageously good and I probably should have only eaten half the sandwich but I went for the whole thing. Who knew that raw pumpkin could be so tasty. 

I didn't take a picture of the sandwich because talking to my lovely friends was much more interesting/fun. I did find this picture when I googled it:

The sandwich was almost as good as the illustration. Almost.

Day21 - Do you think it's chili? I said Brr.

Monday, Jan. 21, 2008: My Kitchen: Fire roasted tomato chicken chili

It is cold outside. Crazy single digit cold. I hate leaving the house and I'm a total crybaby about it.

Nothing combats freezing toes and all-out body shivers more than chili. Well, maybe macaroni and cheese, but not by much.

This is the first time I've made chili from scratch - I usually just make white turkey chili from a little packet. I wasn't impressed with it, but Troy is in love with it and therefor he's been eating all of the leftovers. We served it with a little slice of dark honey wheat bread instead of crackers.

I just don't think that it was taste-y or hot enough. I would give it a 3/5. Troy says 5/5. The orange bits are shredded carrots. I've had a weakness for them since back in the day when we would get chicken quesadillas at the Bullfrog Brewery. Now I always put them in my quesadillas and chili - I think that it just add something: texture, taste, bulk and good memories. All of the above or any one.

The recipe goes so: 1 large chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 japaleno pepper diced and 1 lb of chicken cubes cooked over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes. Add 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes, kidney beans, chili powder salt and water. Simmer. Done. 

I skipped out on the cilantro because I'm not a fan of it and maybe that's what it was missing. It was also missing fire so I should have dumped some hot sauce or cayenne pepper. The jalapeno just didn't cut it, even though I left in the seeds.

At any rate, it was just as easy as making it the lazy way with pre-bought everything. I'm positive I'm not done beating this sad horse. Winter is far from over.

Day20 - I. Am. Not. Impressed.

Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008: My living room: 300

Our favorite undergrad Kyle had off on Monday, as did Troy, so we got together to eat food and watch the movie 300. Where to begin.

Part of the reason why I wanted to see this is because of the promos for "Meet the Spartans." I am unapologetically a fan of stupid comedies and the trailer for it falls directly under that. Being said, I do think the trailer ruined watching 300 because I constantly compared it back to the trailer. This all made for many giggles during most of the movie.

It is undoubtedly a good looking movie and I wish that I would have seen it in the theatre. The color was saturated and the art direction/attention to detail is amazing. The blood was fantastic!

But, the whole movie is about dudes without shirts and it is extremely homoerotic. I can see why it made so much money: straight males came for blood, most women and gays came for ripped fuel and everyone came for action.

I did not come for full frontal sex and boobies - but I got them.

I'm not into the bulging biceps and ripped abs. It gives me the creeps. And since we went to that burlesque show back in 2006, I can't really stand the site of boobs either.

Here is a trailer that you probably haven't seen before and might just put the movie into a different light..

Also, the story teller that narrates the movie distracted me the whole time. I couldn't place him for the life of me and wasn't until I looked him up on imdb.com and found that he is none other than David Wenham of Van Helsing fame. (I also like shitty horror/comedies and Van Helsing is a fav.) I don't know what this is going to mean for future viewings, but I'm sure that I will take in less seriously than I did this time.

Day17 - I'd steak my taco on it.

Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008: My Kitchen: Steak Tacos

Tonight we made steak tacos with homemade avocado salsa. I've never made avocado salsa before, and my only other venture with salsa was a disaster that I solely blame on cilantro.

The salsa is avocado, red onion, tomatoes, garlic and a lot of lime. For the first time I did not "bash and chop" the garlic - I used a little grater to finely grate the garlic and I think that made a difference in the over all taste and texture. Finally, something Rachel Ray and I can agree on. 

Also, I liked eating raw onion. Something is definitely wrong with me this year… the Melissa of old would not eat anything crunchy, let alone and onion and, gasp, green beans from a few nights before. This newness thing is affecting me in profound and psychologically deep ways.

I forgot to marinate the steak in lime and garlic, so I just squeezed some on top of it after is was cooked and resting. Just as good. The whole dinner smelled just like Mad Mex and there is nothing wrong with that.

I think the final calorie count was around 380. Overall, I would give it a 5/5. Troy was bummed because his avocado was hard, but I both like the taste and hard texture of it. Although I did swallow a whole piece of avocado and nearly freaked the hell out. Yummy none the less. Oh, and devastatingly beautiful.

Week 1 - 01/01/07 - Too many "52 Weeks of Newness"

Week 1 - 01/01/07

To start off the "52 Weeks of Newness", I crammed much into last weekend. Technically these didn't all occur in 2007, but they did help kick off my gay experiment.

Friday, 12/29/06, Khybar, Philly PA: Electric 6 show.
Many firsts including:

First Jeremy Fish show. Sadly from outside - steaming the glass up with my breath. The gallery was closed.

First Khybar visit. Although I swear that I have been there before, Troy assures me that it is not the fact. He's probably right, my memory is crap. The bar was Philly hipster cool. In Old City so it's probably older than jesus. Drunk hipster/yuppies that kept screaming Tiger Woods and pulling my hair. I snapped at the one and almost made him cry. Also, pushed bitch from the hipster/yuppie group down and stepped over her body during a semi-mosh moment. That made me feel better.

First Electric 6 show. Dick Valentine is way creepy in person and a truly awkward dancer. Kept doing this weird thing with his arms like he was Dick "I'm not a crook" Nixon, but in a dance way. Most of the band was cool and posed for pics with my sister, Tre. She was happy.


Saturday, 12/30/06, my living room: Out of Reach Steven Segal

I KNOW. I made it to 28 never having seen a Steven Segal movie. I totally got tricked into it after watching a marathon of Law and Order and foolishly not turning the tv off fast enough. Sucker. I couldn't look away. It is a truly bad, bad movie BUT still not as bad as Pushing Tin. Not as good as Walker Texas Ranger but close.

Sunday - Monday, 12/31 - 1/1/07: Brewery, State College: Lowjack with Midnight Love Ensemble

First Brewery visit. I likened the whole night to this - it was like I went home and caught up with some buddies from high school. Your buddy knows this really great party at Joe's house in his basement. You recognize people but only vaguely. You wonder what the fuck your doing there but you end up having a good time, talking to the few people that you actually remember. THAT is exactly what it was like.

This was what I like to call the White Person Diversity Festival. Eclectic whites from all social/sexual classes. No two were alike. If I was a sociologist, I could have written my thesis, no problem.

My eyes burned all night from the smoke. I'm guessing that there is smoke down there from the last century. Some people were really gross, but the bartenders were cool and the music was good. Dennis from Lowjack has that thing that makes you want to watch him. It wasn't a panty-peeler for me but he totally made the other band look like douchebags. (Not that hard actually.)

Monday, 1/1/07: my kitchen: Egg McMuffins and Pork and Saurkraut

For Xmas, I got loads of stuff for the kitchen from just about everybody. My step-dad bought me the super-awesome-screw-you-Sheetz Muffin Maker. IT ROCKS! It takes about 3 minutes to toast the muffin, cook the ham and egg and slap it altogether. I made them for Troy, Jason and myself. It was a success. That's 4 bucks that I can call my own on weekend morning.

I also unwrapped a new crock pot on Christmas. (Thanks Aunt Anna May!!!) It cooked my New Year's pork and saurkraut perfectly. So deliciously ethnic.

That's it. Nothing else new this week other than starting this blog. It's so personal it creeps me out. But chances that you go this far with me babbling on unfunnily are slim.