verbatim

Reverse Psychology?

The GPS system in Andy's car is called COMAND. Yes, with one "M." Isn't that so clever? I can only hope it's an acronym for something. Anyhow, when you fire it up, this is the first screen you see:

 

What on earth does this mean? Shouldn't it say "Caution: Using COMAND may divert your attention away from road & traffic"? Or am I missing something here?

Julie-ism of the Day

Julie never had a bathrobe before, but she recently declared that she wanted one, so we got one today at Target. She wore it all evening and announced, "A robe is like a blanket that follows you!"

Wanna Cookie?

I made a batch of cookies to bring to Thanksgiving, and they came out great. The photo, however? Not so much—it just looked like a big blob of brown stuff—so you'll have to take my word for it when I say that they were yummy and well worth making. When have I ever steered you wrong? (Meanwhile, I have got to learn some basic food photography tips.)

The recipe (clipped from the Globe, as I recall) said to use a heaping 2 Tbsp for each cookie, and that would yield "about 19" cookies. When I did that, I got something like 24 and still had some dough left over to add to the skimpier mounds, so I think that it would have to have been closer to an even 3 Tbsp in order to get 19. I don't think it matters all that much, as long as you space them out enough (if they're huge) and keep an eye on them so they don't burn on the edges (if they're not so huge).

Also, the recipe called for 13 oz. of chocolate. The Ghirardelli chocolate I favor comes in 4-oz. bars, so I had to dip into a fourth bar to get the requisite 13 oz. And you know what? I think 12 oz. would have been fine. Really. And you know that I am the high priestess of chocolate, so you can trust me on this. But if you're using a huge block of chocolate (good luck chopping!), by all means whip out the scale and go for 13 oz.

So, here's the recipe, and you'll just have to imagine how scrumptious they looked and tasted. Andy declared them "about as good as you could want from a chocolate-chunk oatmeal cookie."

Chocolate-Chunk Oatmeal Cookies

¾ cup flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp sea salt or kosher salt
11 Tbsp (1 stick + 3 Tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup + 3 Tbsp firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1⅓ cups quick-cooking (not instant) rolled oats
13 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small chunks

Heat oven to 325°. Line 2 baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together onto a sheet of waxed paper.

In electric mixer, cream the butter on medium-low speed for 3 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and beat for 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar and beat for 1 minute.

Blend in the egg and vanilla. Blend in the sifted ingredients, the oats, and then the chocolate chunks.

Put heaping 2-Tbsp mounds of dough on the baking sheets, leaving 2½" between them.

Bake for 16–18 minutes or until just set.

Let the cookies stand on the sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Thanksgiving I and II

Thanksgiving was lovely yesterday. As disappointed as I was to not be hosting this year, I actually got to relax and hang out with my relatives more than I usually do, and that was really nice. I am sorely missing out on all the leftovers today, though! I do so look forward to a bowl of stuffing and gravy for lunch on the day after Thanksgiving.

But ... I'll be getting my chance in December! Remember that D'Artagnan turkey I won? Well, I've decided to use it for a belated Thanksgiving feast for Andy's sister and kids when they come in from London in a few weeks. Isn't that a great idea? It'll be only 10 people total, so not as much work as usual—and the market won't be mobbed the day before, either, so it'll feel a little more leisurely.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Birds - Paul Weller
2. Passionate Kisses - Lucinda Williams  
3. Pay Me My Money Down (live) - Bruce Springsteen
4. Everybody Knows - Leonard Cohen
5. Song for Sonny Liston (live) - Mark Knopfler
6. Tessie - Dropkick Murphys 
7. No Depression - Uncle Tupelo
8. Boundary County - Eilen Jewell 
9. Broken Fingers - Sam Baker   
10. Sin City - Dead Ringer Band

Friday Fill-Ins

1. My stomach is wishing there were some leftovers awaiting me today for lunch.

2. Stuffing and gravy is what I ate the most of on Thursday.

3. The yard looks gross.

4. Home is where I'd rather be at any given time.

5. The smell of wet, rotting leaves reminds me of autumn.

6. An energy boost is what I need right now!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing at home, tomorrow my plans include starting to plan some activities for Julie's (very) belated birthday party on Thursday, and Sunday, I want to take Steph to the camp reunion—and hopefully see some of my old friends there!

Hell Hath Frozen Over

I did it. I joined Facebook. I don't know why, but I did it. I'm currently trying to figure out how to get my Twitter stream and blog feed to show up there automatically. Oy, what have I done?

Giving Thanks

I am thankful for my loving, happy family and our (generally) good health.

I am thankful for my comfortable home.

I am thankful for my friends, who support me and make me laugh.

I am thankful for peace in my corner of the planet.

I am thankful for all my cyber-pals, whose blogs—and comments on my blog—inspire me every day to think and to write.

Best wishes to all for a Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for my loving, happy family and our (generally) good health.

I am thankful for my comfortable home.

I am thankful for my friends, who support me and make me laugh.

I am thankful for peace in my corner of the planet.

I am thankful for all my cyber-pals, whose blogs—and comments on my blog—inspire me every day to think and to write.

Best wishes to all for a Happy Thanksgiving!

Mercy vs. Justice

Yesterday I mentioned that I lost about an hour of MBTI test-taking time over the choice of mercy vs. justice. I've been getting some great comments on that topic via email, so I thought I'd open it up here.

I honestly can't decide. Both concepts mean a great deal to me: Justice suggests fairness and choosing what's objectively right; mercy allows for compassion and case-by-case consideration. These are the sorts of things that keep me up at night.

How about you? Please chime in.

Gobble Gobble

Hey, remember that organic turkey I won from D'Artagnan? Well, they were unable to hold off on shipping it until December per my request, but that's OK. When I got home from the first-grade breakfast party this morning, there was a note on my door that I'd missed my UPS delivery. I didn't know it was coming in the morning, and I didn't know it would need a signature. The note said they would try to deliver it tomorrow morning. Not knowing how it was packed or where it would be stored overnight, I called UPS and begged until someone agreed to deliver it today at 6pm. As it turned out, the guy came at 4pm, and I had just gotten home from dropping Pete at Hebrew school, so that was lucky! I thought maybe it would be packed in dry ice (I don't even really know what that is, but I still imagined it), but it was packed in a regular box lined with styrofoam pieces on all 6 sides, with a few ice packs thrown in. It definitely wouldn't have been ideal to leave it in a warehouse or on a truck all night like that, especially since it's rather mild (albeit quite rainy) out today. The box was marked "perishable" on the outside, but I don't know what that means to the UPS folks. So, phew, I'm glad I have it.

I called D'Artagnan to double-check that it was OK to put it in the freezer, and it is, so I did. (I love my full-size deep-freeze in the basement!) What really surprised me was how they pronounce "D'Artagnan." I'd always assumed it was en français, like "dahr-tah-NYAHN," but their recorded telephone greeting says it as if it rhymes with "R Canyon," with the accent on the "CAN." Ah well, a free organic bird by any other name still tastes as juicy. Or something like that.

What's Your Type?

About 15 years ago, when I worked full-time and had no kids, I was sent to a two-week management training thingy (where we learned important professional-sounding words like "thingy"). One of the exercises we did there was get our Myers-Briggs Type Indicator evaluated.

I love tests like that, although I remember obsessing over questions such as "Which word do you prefer: mercy or justice?" (I still tear my hair out over that one.) I also recall that the seminar leader had to remind us (editors, graphic designers, etc.) not to consider words as words, but rather as concepts. It seems that she had found out that some of my more typographically inclined colleagues were choosing words with an aesthetically pleasing array of ascenders and descenders! That still cracks me up.

Anyhow, I still have my report (packrat! packrat! packrat!) and I came out as an ENFP: "Warmly enthusiastic PLANNER OF CHANGE; imaginative, individualistic; pursues inspiration with impulsive energy; seeks to understand and inspire others." However, the scorer noted an "inconsistency between word pairs [I had written "business" above that] and phrases [I had written "personal" above that] on True/False scale." I think I recall that that meant I was "almost" an ENTP instead: "Inventive, anlytical PLANNER OF CHANGE; enthusiastic and independent; pursues inspiration with impulsive energy; seeks to understand and inspire others." I think both are pretty close to describing me.

Now, in this digital age, comes the Typealizer, which has analyzed my blog and determined that I am an in fact an ESFP: "REALISTIC ADAPTER in human relationships; friendly and easy with people, highly observant of their feelings and needs; oriented to practical first-hand experience." That seems quite accurate in terms of my blog, which is mostly about my personal life. If I kept a professional blog, perhaps the Typealizer would score me differently.

It's been more than 10 years since I worked in an office environment, but I still have this clever list of MBTI Prayers that was going around back then:

ISTJ: Lord help me to relax about insignificant details beginning tomorrow at 11:41.23 a.m. EST.

ISTP: God help me to consider people's feelings, even if most of them ARE hypersensitive.

ESTP: God help me to take responsibility for my own actions, even though they're usually NOT my fault.

ESTJ: God, help me to not try to RUN everything. But, if You need some help, just ask.

ISFJ: Lord, help me to be more laid back and help me to do it EXACTLY right.

ISFP: Lord, help me to stand up for my rights (if you don't mind my asking).

ESFP: God help me to take things more seriously, especially parties and dancing.

ESFJ: God give me patience, and I mean right NOW.

INFJ: Lord help me not be a perfectionist. (Did I spell that correctly?)

INFP: God, help me to finish everything I sta

ENFP: God, help me to keep my mind on one th—Look a bird!—ing at a time.

ENFJ: God help me to do only what I can and trust you for the rest. Do you mind putting that in writing?

INTJ: Lord keep me open to others' ideas, WRONG though they may be.

INTP: Lord help me be less independent, but let me do it my way.

ENTP: Lord help me follow established procedures today. On second thought, I'll settle for a few minutes.

ENTJ: Lord, help me slow downandnotrushthroughwhatIdo.

What's your MBTI? Is that test even still used in the business world?

Drives Day

I'm still walking on air from a charitable event I helped chair yesterday at the temple. In the past, we've had a winter outerwear drive for the homeless, then a toy drive for needy kids around Christmas-time, and finally a book drive in the spring for schools and libraries in underfunded areas. This year we decided to consolidate them all into one massive Drives Day, and to incorporate a family learning component into the event. It was all part of our Tikkun Olam ("repair the world") initiative.

All month we've been soliciting donations of new toys and gently used books and coats from the congregation, and the goods have been pouring in. Yesterday nearly 200 people (about 65 families) came together for an afternoon of working together for the greater community. First we divided the kids into age groups for a brief learning program and craft project. (For instance, the 8-year-olds learned about what it might be like to not be able to read important signs, then they made bookmarks to be donated with the books.)

Then we divided the families up to begin sorting through all the donations. We had hundreds of coats and toys and thousands of books. After sorting, everything was packed into boxes and bags for delivery by still more volunteers to our recipient organizations:

Children's coats went to Cradles to Crayons, women's coats went to the Women’s Lunch Place, and men's coats went to the St. Francis House.

The smallest toys were given to Project Smile to be distributed by police officers to children in traumatic situations; the large toys were divided between the Franciscan Hospital for Children and the Grow Clinic for Children.

The children's books went to the Potter Road School (our temple has a literacy partnership with them, where volunteers from our congregation help students learn to read). All other books were divided between the Morin Foundation, which provides books to schools and shelters, and More Than Words, a used bookstore that employs youth who are in the foster care system, are homeless, or have mental health or substance abuse issues. 

It was truly heart-warming to watch kids of all ages and their parents working together to make our world a brighter place. For me, it was most definitely a day of feeling grateful, for so many reasons.

Death and Taxes. Oh Yeah, and Reese's.

I realized that I never shared a photo of my trick-or-treaters this year—but at least I took the photos, unlike last Halloween. As you can see, we had all the bases covered in terms of death, with a Grim Reaper, an angel, and a devil:

Coin Stardom

It's that time of year again, when I schlep the giant jar of loose change to the CoinStar machine. As I hope you know, if you take your payment in the form of a gift card to Amazon, Starbucks, iTunes, etc., the counting fee is waived! Otherwise you have to pay a hefty 8.9%, and who wants that. But for the next few weeks, they're also running their annual promotion: If you cash in at least $40 worth of coins and take your payment in the form of a gift card, you get a coupon at the bottom of your receipt that you mail in for an additional free $10 gift card! Such a deal!

So, I had a big (maybe quart-size?) jar of pennies, nickels, and dimes and a bowl of quarters. (We used to save quarters separately for tolls, but now we both use the FastLane thingy, so we don't need to do that anymore.) The jar also contained 2 errant quarters, 7 Canadian dimes, 1 Canadian dollar coin, and 1 now-defunct New Hampshire toll token.

How much do you think I got? Hover your mouse here to see how much the jar contained and here to see how much the bowl contained. Talk about your "found money," eh? You get three guesses which gift card I chose, and the first two don't count. Time for some shopping....

Sunday Linky Love

1. Here's a logic puzzle allegedly created by Albert Einstein. It's fun and not all that hard to solve. For us geniuses, anyhow.

2. Speaking of puzzles, I've just learned that those fun Numbrix games in the Sunday Parade magazine are available online.

3. Go here to download some wonderful tracks from the 1969 Bob Dylan–Johnny Cash sessions.

4. Look at all the cute stuff at Perpetual Kid. What would you get if you could have one item for free?

Dare to Be Colorful

The lovely ladies at Mom Central sent me a coupon for a free* bottle of new Clorox 2 Stain Fighter & Color Booster. You know that I'm not very discriminating when it comes to doing laundry—I just throw everything in together and hope for the best. So this is a great idea, because it's a non-chlorine bleach that is meant to be used along with your regular detergent in each load of laundry. You can also use it to pre-treat really bad stains.

The stuff is concentrated, so you need only a small amount, and I was delighted to discover that it's also available in an unscented formula and is completely biodegradable. For more info, check out the Dare to Be Colorful site, where you can get your Clorox 2 questions answered—and upload photos of your family's "messiest moments."

In the meantime, I've been given 4 additional free* coupons to give away to you, my dear readers, so leave a comment here by midnight on Sunday, November 30, if you'd like to be entered to win one. The next morning I will randomly choose 4 winners. You'll need to provide a valid email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win, at which time I'll ask for your snail-mail address so I can send along the coupon. Good luck!

*Please note that the coupon goes up to only $6, and the Clorox 2 cost $7.49 at my market—$1.49 still seems like a pretty good deal to me, though!

Update 12/1/08: So I wrote all the entrants' names on slips of papers and put them in a bowl. Andy chose one ... and Dana wins! Steph chose one ... and Susan wins! Pete chose one ... and Deborah wins! Julie chose one ... and Lisa ones! Congrats to the winners; I'll be in touch via email to get your snail-mail addresses.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. Rain and Snow - The Be Good Tanyas
2. Shiny Happy People - R.E.M. & Kate Pearson 
3. Will It Go Round in Circles - Martin Sexton
4. She's Leaving Me Because She Really Wants To - Lyle Lovett
5. Lived in Bars - Cat Power
6. Songbird - Eva Cassidy 
7. Rudie Can't Fail - The Clash
8. The Last Train to Clarksville - The Monkees 
9. Dance Back from the Grave - Marc Cohn
10. I'm Losing You - The Temptations

Friday Fill-Ins

1. The last band I saw live was Martin Sexton's band, more than a year and a half ago. We're going to see him again in a couple of weeks.

2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is lunch the next day: a bowl of leftover stuffing topped with gravy.

3. My holiday shopping is limited to Hanukkah gifts for my kids.

4. Thoughts of sleeping in tomorrow morning fill my head.

5. I wish I could wear white or ivory—they're so versatile, but they make me just melt away.

6. Bagpipes sound glorious. (When I graduated from Wesleyan, we marched in to bagpipes and out to West African drumming. I think my parents are still shaking their heads in disbelief.)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a quiet evening at home, tomorrow my plans include catching up on errands and household stuff, and Sunday, I want to have a very successful Drives Day at the temple! (It's another big charitable event I'm involved in—we're collecting donations of books, toys, and outerwear to donate to local organizations.)

Package Deal

The other day Cory Doctorow had a piece over at Boing-Boing asking, "What do you call the shop on the corner?" A convenience store? A bodega? An off-license? Some of the comments brought back a funny memory.

I grew up in the 'burbs of Boston, where all liquor stores are known as "package stores." I don't know why, they just are. So we grew up referring to the place where you could buy beer as a "packy," as in "Let's make a packy run before the party."

I went to college in Connecticut, so although the New Yorkers and Californians looked at me funny, I could still get away with "package store" with all the other New Englanders. (I thought it was just as weird when they worried about getting "proofed" instead of "carded.") Then, when I got to London in my junior year, I continued to refer to the neighborhood liquor stores as "packies." What I didn't know was that many Londoners (at least in the '80s, I don't know about now) referred to those corner stores as Paki Shops, or Pakis, since so many were run by Pakistanis—and that this was not a nice term.

I had a boyfriend* in London, and it was quite a while until he finally confronted me about my casual usage of "packy," which he understood as "Paki"—and which he disapproved of and found thoroughly and curiously unlike me. It wasn't until that moment that we figured out that I was saying one thing and he was hearing another. Fascinating, and yet another example of Shaw's famous line about "two nations divided by a common language."

*Ah, the British boyfriend! Another funny story. First I sent home an aerogram (how analog!) saying, "Hey, Mom and Dad, guess what? I have a boyfriend, and he's even Jewish!" Before letting them bask too long in that pleasant news, I wrote again: "No, he's not a student, he's in fact a hairdresser." Oh well, still not awful. But then: "He's divorced." Ugh, not what they wanted to hear. And finally: "Did I mention that he's 12 years older than me? And his son is 12 years younger than me!" My poor parents.

I Got Shot at the Mall!

In past winters, I've gotten my flu shot either at my own doctor's office or, more recently, at our pediatrician's office. This year, I planned to work in Charlestown the day Andy had a nurse coming in to give flu shots to all his employees. Unfortunately, the nurse had to cancel and reschedule for the next day—when I was unavailable.

I took Julie to the pediatrician for her 7-year-old well visit last week, at which time she got her own flu shot. I was disappointed to learn that they don't have enough for parents this year. I've never had a shot at my new primary care doctor's office, so I was kind of at a loss.

Then some kind, local soul on Twitter pointed me to the health and human services department site for Newton, and it just so happened that the Newton-Wellesley Hospital was giving out free flu shots at the Chestnut Hill Mall today! So, as much as I detest malls, off I went.

It was as easy as pie. I filled out a form, rolled up my sleeve, and that was the end of that. Oh, and then bought a black sweater at the J. Jill sale to make my arm feel better.

Tight Squeeze Ahead

Everyone I know is talking about tightening their belts a bit. I have friends who have lost their jobs, or who were already out of work and are now even more discouraged about finding a job, or who are working but have made big changes in their lifestyle either because of the recent economic downturn or in anticipation of a long, dry spell ahead.

I've always been a frugal sort. There are things I won't scrimp on, but I do as much as I can to save money without compromising quality. I clip coupons for the supermarket, take advantage of free-shipping offers when I shop online, buy on sale whenever possible, and pay my VISA bill in full each month to avoid finance charges.

I've lately been thinking about ways to save even more. I'm not ready to make any drastic changes—and, thankfully, we don't need to at the present—but it seems prudent to trim some fat now, just in case.

What about philanthropy? This is a tough one. Those in need are in even more need than ever before, but I don't feel as free with my charitable dollars as usual. I'm volunteering my time as much as possible, but I'm a little more stingy with my money these days.

How about you? Are you brown-bagging it for lunch? Letting magazine subscriptions run out? Buying generic or off-brand products? Visiting the library more often than Amazon.com? Exercising at home instead of at a gym? Planning a gift-free holiday season? What else?

Wiki Wednesday

Time to learn something!

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. Click on "Random article" in the left-hand sidebar box.
3. Post it!

I'm so very grateful that this is of just passing curiosity to me, and not information I need:

Formerly the Australian based Soulmates Technology, Match.com International is the largest international dating service in the world (by comScore Media Metrix 1/05). It currently runs in more than 13 languages. It has an alexa.com traffic ranking of about 140 (as of November 2006).

Match.com International services a number of companies sometimes under partner brands including MSN (under the name "MSN Dating and Personals"), AOL (under the name "[email protected]"), Yahoo, and many others. In the case of Yahoo, they provide their own Yahoo Personals search which competes with Match.com in the US, however in other countries such as the UK, Match.com International powers the online dating services for that region.

Soulmates Technology was founded by Martin Haynes and Daniel Haigh in early 1998 in Sydney Australia. It's rumored that they both met at the Cold Fusion User's Group meeting in Sydney and decided to build the site.

Soulmate's platform wasn't designed at first to be used as a dating website, but as a bridging software for traditional dating and meeting companies to pool their clients. Shortly after creating the platform, the site shifted goals to becoming a purely web based platform.

In April 2002, Soulmates Technology was purchased by IAC/InterActiveCorp (then TicketMaster) to become the international wing of their other personals business. The sale was for a little more than $23M US.

In early 2006, Match.com deiced to drop the Czech and Slovak based sites for reasons unknown, although its speculated that it was based on issues with internationalization and lack of users.

On October 2006, Match.com abandoned the original ColdFusion site and moved to version of the US site ported for international use based on ASP.NET. The site carried the branding of "the New Match.com" in many markets. At the time, it was one of the most heavily accessed ColdFusion websites in the world beating out both MySpace and Macromedia's sites according to alexa.com.

At first I thought that "international dating" would be awfully tricky logistically, but then I realized that they have different sites in countries all over the world.

Bag It

See this bag? I bet that you can't guess what it's made of. In fact, I bet that even if you were holding it in your hands, you couldn't guess what it's made of—at least not at first.

I'll give you some clues: The mostly light brown color is very typical. The feel of it reminded me of very lightweight, waterproof straw.

Give up? It's supermarket plastic bags, sliced into strips and crocheted! My sister's friend makes these bags (and other items, like yarmulkes and belts) for fun. She uses only the crinkly kind of plastic bags you get at the market, not the smooth kind from other types of stores. I just looked through my bag drawer (what?) and found a great big royal blue one I'm going to give her.

Boston Dot Com Slash Newton

Boston.com's first hyper-local site has finally launched—and a link to my post about the deer in my yard is front and center. (Well, it might not be there by the time you go look, but trust me.) No wonder I had so many hits today.... Well done, guys!

A Very Winny* November

I am unbelievably lucky lately. Remember those two Prizey drawings I won last week? Well, today I learned that I won a free D'Artagnan organic turkey from Serious Eats! Can you believe it? Since I lost dibs on Thanksgiving this year, I've asked whether I can take delivery after next week—even well into December—but will gladly accept it next week if necessary. I don't expect to go home with much in the way of leftovers on Turkey Day, so I would gladly make my own feast that weekend.

Is this a good time for me to buy a lottery ticket, mayhaps?

*Winny comes from Julie's description of her overscheduled classmate, with whom we were trying to schedule a playdate. Julie said, "It's hard 'cause she's so planny!"

More Comfort Food

According to Cover & Bake (a cookbook from the Cook's Illustrated folks), Chili Mac is a dish that "everyone" grew up with—except me. As far as I can tell, it's American Chop Suey (elbow macaroni with ground meat and tomato sauce) with the addition of chili powder and melted cheese on top.

I tried this recipe one night last week. The kids are still a little weirded out about casserole-style food where everything's touching everything else, but they deemed this "OK." I loved it and will spring it on them again.

Chili Mac

1 Tbsp salt
½ lb. elbow macaroni
3 Tbsp vegetable oil, divided use
1½ lb. ground turkey or ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped medium
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped medium
6 garlic cloves, pressed
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
1 (14½-oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (28-oz.) can tomato puree
1 Tbsp brown sugar
8 oz. Co-Jack (mixture of Colby and Jack) cheese, shredded

Heat oven to 400°. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a Dutch oven. Stir in salt and macaroni and cook until al dente, about 5 minutes. Just before it's done, dip your Pyrex measuring cup in and reserve ¾ cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta, transfer it to a bowl, and set aside. Don't bother washing the colander yet.

Wipe the Dutch oven dry and set over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp of the oil and heat until shimmering. Add the ground meat and cook, breaking up the pieces with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink and beginning to brown, 5–8 minutes. Drain the meat through the colander, discarding the fat, and set aside.

Add the remaining 2 Tbsp oil to the Dutch oven and return to medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the onion, red pepper, garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, about 7 minutes. 

Add the diced tomatoes and their juice, tomato puree, brown sugar, reserved pasta water, and drained meat; bring to a simmer. Lower heat and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, to allow the flavors to meld.

Stir in the cooked pasta and season with salt and pepper to taste. (I didn't bother with the seasoning, figuring–correctly—that the dish was already flavorful enough.) Pour into a 9x13" baking dish and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted and browned, about 15 minutes. Cool for 5–10 minutes before serving.

Oh Deer

I forgot to mention another good thing that happened yesterday—although I didn't actually witness it.

Our neighbors across the street, that "third set of grandparents" I've mentioned before, are the kind of elderly couple who do everything together. They go to the market together, they go to each other's doctor's appointments together, etc. And early every Saturday morning, they drive down the street to Rocco's salon, where Madeline has been getting her hair done for decades.

Madeline called yesterday afternoon to tell me that as they backed out of the driveway just before 7:00 am, Cosmo pointed in astonishment to our yard. A deer was standing right in the middle of our lawn! A real deer! With antlers and everything! Can you imagine? She thought about going back into her house to call me, but she worried that she'd wake us—and she had her appointment to get to.

I reminded her that some years ago, Andy had left the house very early one morning and saw a deer on their lawn, and another time he saw one crossing Washington Street right near the Newton-Wellesley Hospital. We think they must live on the golf course over there.

A Good Day

I woke up this morning after a restful night's sleep for a change! I recall waking up once during the night, but I was able to fall back to sleep easily—that's usually the hardest part for me.

The morning dawned rainy but warm (it's 7:30 pm now and still 67°!), so Pete's last soccer game was a go. After losing every single game this season, they won this final one–thanks to 5 goals scored by Pete! He was on top of the world, understandably.

This afternoon I finished up my current project, two days ahead of the deadline, which means that I am free tomorrow and Monday! And by "free," I mean available to hang out with my kids, catch up on household stuff and errands, and maybe even relax.

Right now I'm having a glass of wine and poking around on the Web. The kids ate earlier and are now having some Halloween candy. Andy's cooking our dinner. Life is good.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. These Days in an Open Book - Nanci Griffith
2. The Picture (live) - Loudon Wainwright III 
3. Sin City - Dead Ringer Band
4. I'm Watching My Heart - Vance Gilbert
5. In This Hole - Cat Power
6. Some Dark Holler - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band featuring Dwight Yoakam
7. Happiness (live) - Elliott Smith
8. Be Miner - the everybodyfields
9. The Weight (live) - The Band
10. Fourth Degree - Eilen Jewell

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Please feel free to leave a comment so I know you're out there.

2. When I have access to a baby's neck, I can't help sniffing it occasionally.

3. My favorite thing to cook is anything where you have to sauté a bunch of stuff in a pan. I like sautéing, what can I say?

4. A bag of salty snack food is something I can't get enough of.

5. That's the thing I love most about Halloween: leftover Twix bars.

6. A person who passes me on the street in our own neighborhood and doesn't even do the half-smile/almost-imperceptible-nod thing always makes me think to myself, what the heck?

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting a decent night's sleep (IhopeIhopeIhope), tomorrow my plans include the last soccer games of the season (although they'll probably be rained out), and Sunday, I want to get a lot of work done!

And the Winner Is...

...me!

I recently discovered Prizey, a blog that aggregates giveaways on other blogs. The majority of the loot is for pregnant women and moms of babies, but there's plenty of other stuff in there for the rest of us.

I first heard of Prizey maybe a week or two ago and I've already won two prizes! The first is a book from Oxford University Press on First Spanish Words. Although it's a little babyish for Steph, she just started taking Spanish in middle school and loves it, so I'm hoping she'll enjoy pumping up her vocabulary with this. If not, maybe Pete or Julie will want to dig in ahead of time. That prize was compliments of Gidget Loves Language.

Then, over at ParentSphere, I scored a Zivio Boom bluetooth headset! I normally scoff at people who walk around with those things in their ears, but this one looks way cool. I think I could maybe get used to it.

Many thanks to both of these site-owners for their generous prizes, and I recommend the rest of you head over to Prizey to get yourselves into the running.

Me, Your Listener

I had such a fun and fascinating morning! I was invited to tour the studios and offices of my local NPR affiliate, WBUR. My host and guide was social media dude Ken George. (You might recall that Ken is the one who gave me the keys to his blog so I can sneak in and tidy up his spelling a bit—for which I'm rewarded with all kinds of public radio swag. Talk about yer win-win.)

Wow. For my Bostonian readers: You know how when one show ends and another begins, there's that awesome deep voice that says something like, "Next up is On Point. Today Tom Ashbrook will be discussing..."? Well, it's Steve Brown, and I got to watch him doing that! They have the big mic and the engineer giving the hand signal for "3 - 2- 1" and everything. Really! Then I even got to see Tom Ashbrook doing On Point. Wow again. I saw the studios where a guest sometimes sits when, for instance, someone outside of WBUR (like Terry Gross) is interviewing a Bostonian via telephone. There was also lots of way-cool electronic equipment with lights and switches and dials. (It could've all been props to impress people like me, but it sure looked real.)

Ken and I talked quite a bit about social media stuff and how WBUR can make it work for their audience. (As a side note: It looks like I'm close to breaking down and joining Facebook. My intention has always been to be the last person on the planet to join, but we'll see about that....)

Thanks, Ken, for a very generous peek into the workings of the station I've been listening to for 20+ years.

Wiki Wednesday

Time to learn something!

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. Click on "Random article" in the left-hand sidebar box.
3. Post it!

I got a mall in Asia:

Hougang Mall (Chinese: 后港购物坊), previously known as NTUC Hougang Mall, is a suburban shopping mall located in Hougang, Singapore. It is located near Hougang Central Bus Interchange, as well as Hougang MRT Station.

In 2006, the mall underwent renovation, which transformed part of the 2nd level of the mall, formerly occupied by NTUC FairPrice, into a food cluster. The mall is currently undergoing renovation works on its 5th level.

Anchor Tenants

• Cheng San Community Library
• Harvey Norman
• NTUC FairPrice
• Popular Bookstore

So there's a library, a bookstore, a department store, and a supermarket? Not a bad start.

Flatware Etiquette

When I was a junior in college, I went off to London to party study. The week before classes began, everyone in my program was shuttled off to stay with a family somewhere. I was up in the Midlands with a lovely family I feel sorry to have lost contact with. (If we'd had email in those days, I'm sure we'd still be in touch! In fact, I think I will do a little Googling after I write this post. You never know....)

The only child in the family was Jane, a girl of about 8. (That means she's about 34 now! Eek!) She was sweet and very bright. The first night that we all sat down to dinner, she watched with fascination as I cut my meat. I had no idea that there was any other way to handle a fork and knife than the way I'd been taught. It turns out that this is yet another American-only thing. For my foreign readers, here's how most Americans of a certain age were brought up to use our cutlery:

1. Hold knife in right hand and fork in left hand, tines pointed down (by which I mean that the back curved portion faces up).
2. Stab meat with fork and slice off a piece with knife.
So far, so good, right? Well, here's where we veer off from the rest of the world:
3. Put knife down on edge of plate.
4. Transfer fork to right hand, turning fork over so it's facing upward.
5. Shovel meat into food-hole.

Nowadays, I rarely use that method (although it's not unheard of); I nearly always use the Continental method, which begins the same as above, but then:
3. Keeping fork in left hand—and without turning fork over—daintily guide meat into food-hole.

I remember at that first dinner, Jane wanted to try my method, but her parents reminded her that she was having enough trouble doing it "the right way" and to just stick with that. They did indulge me, though, as I was just as wide-eyed as she to see people doing things so differently from how I'd learned. I recall vividly as I cut my meat and then began to turn my fork over, shovel-side up, the father shouted, "No!"

So that was the first of my many cultural explorations. (The second came later that night as I headed to my room, when the father said, "I'll knock  you up in the morning!" Yeah, right, just try it, buster! Oh, wait, OK, I get it.)

Movie Date

Saturday night Andy and I went on a date, our first in many moons (well, not counting our big anniversary dinner last month). The problem was, there weren't any movies that we were dying to see and that were playing at a convenient time/location to work in a dinner afterward too. We wouldn't have minded seeing "Body of Lies" or "Pride and Glory," but the logistics weren't right. We are eager to see the new Bond movie, but it hasn't opened yet. So, we ended up seeing a small, beautiful gem of a movie called "Frozen River." It won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize last year, and with good reason.

Melissa Leo, who is outstanding in this movie, plays Ray, a down-and-out resident of a small town in upstate New York, right on the Canadian border. As the movie opens, her husband has disappeared, "probably to Atlantic City," taking with him the money Ray had been saving to trade in their single-wide trailer for a double-wide. He also left her with their two sons to support on her salary as a part-time clerk at a dollar store.

Through chance events, Ray meets up with Lila (played by Misty Upham), who lives on the nearby Mohawk reservation. The two end up working together to make some cash smuggling illegal aliens across the border. Lila has all the connections, but Ray has the white face behind the wheel and will thus never get stopped by a state trooper.

Leo completely inhabits the role of Ray—this was truly one of the most compelling performances I've ever seen. Lila's character reminded me of Marilyn from "Northern Exposure"—she had that same flat, stoic delivery and carriage. It works, though, and the chemistry between the two characters works too. They are just two women who are willing to take desperate measures to keep their families together.

"Frozen River" had a very limited release and is probably going to disappear from theatres soon, but I strongly recommend you rent it as soon as it shows up on DVD.

Oh, and then we had dinner. Nice evening.

Barack Says...

Bits & Pieces from Around the Web

1. My latest article is up over at Foodie Mama. Mmm, steak.

2. I think this hilarious video was made just for my pleasure—in it, a rookie cop must defuse a bomb without using any figurative language.

3. Check out this slideshow of candid photos of the Obama family from election night. I got chills and teary eyes all over again.

4. While you're feeling misty, read Frank Rich's wonderful op-ed in today's Times.

5. This video comes to you from the Onion: "Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters to Realize How Empty Their Lives Are."

6. Here's another reason Texas scares me (except Austin).

7. And from Colorado, here's a political race I can really sink my teeth into.

Boston.com Goes Local

Yesterday I was invited to participate in a presentation/discussion from the folks at Boston.com. They're planning to launch a series of city-specific portals geared to the local communities served by the Boston Globe. Newton will be the first to roll out, and the site is expected to go live sometime next week.

They will not simply appropriate content from other sites; rather, they will provide links to news items (from the Globe, the Herald, the Tab, and elsewhere), blogs, home pages for local business and organizations, municipal information, arts and events calendars, real estate listings, and so on. In that respect, it will be very much like Boston.com itself, just on a local level. But there will be some differences—most notably, a wiki for users to create a database of information on anything and everything that pertains to the city.

The Boston.com folks are still not entirely sure how the blogging part of this site will work. For now they're planning to just link to local blogs that post city-specific content; there's talk of someday having a few people on board who blog specifically for the site. Very interesting indeed.

I met Chuck from the Garden City Blog at the meeting; I recognized him from his tiny avatar photo on Twitter.

Friday iPod Random Ten

1. The Mind Of Love - k.d. lang 
2. Everyday I Write The Book - Elvis Costello
3. Will the Circle Be Unbroken - Johnny Cash et al.
4. Angel From Montgomery - Susan Tedeschi    
5. Love Shack - B52's
6. Charley And Maureen (live) - Don White
7. Canned Goods (live) - Greg Brown
8. Big Road Blues - Paul Rishell
9. Crash Into Me (live) - Dave Matthews
10. Naked If I Want To - Cat Power 

Friday Fill-Ins

1. My blueprint for success includes a window that opens onto a brick wall. (Really—you don't go into publishing to get rich. But at least I like my work!)

2. Twizzlers was the last candy I ate.

3. The best facial moisturizer I've ever used is Origins' "Have a Nice Day" (but I don't splurge on it anymore, sob!).

4. After a day of working with words, doing a number puzzle like sudoku can be good therapy.

5. I'd like to tell you about my new President. (Sorry, can't help myself! I'm still high!)

6. Eagerness to learn is my strongest characteristic.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to temple for a special first-grade service, tomorrow my plans include going out to a movie (which one?) with Andy for the first time in ages, and Sunday, I want to get a lot of work done!

Calgon, Take Me Away!

Wow, this never happens, but I'm finding that I wish tomorrow weren't Friday, because I didn't get enough done this week!

I'm annoyed because my main contact at my biggest client left the company, but he assigned me one last project before he went. Turns out that the person who took his place wants something else entirely done with it, blahblahblah; long-story-short version is that I wasted about 15 hours (for which I'll get paid, but still). And of course they want it asap—doesn't everyone? This is the same client that got bought out a few months ago, and I am still waiting to be paid on an invoice from late June as well as another from mid-September (curiously enough, I did get paid for an invoice during the summer). Yesterday I think I finally found a live body in Accounts Payable who understands what's going on.

Speaking of which, I am still doing my best to understand my new bookkeeping responsibilities. I keep making maddeningly dumb mistakes, but I'm learning. I spend one day a week at Andy's office, but then I also put in several hours throughout the week at home, accessing the work computer remotely from our home computer. Which is really pretty cool, when you think about it.

On top of all that, I have a million and one other things going on, from meetings about charitable events to volunteer gigs at the school to things I promised various people (online and in real life) I'd do to all the errands and household stuff that keeps piling up.

One bittersweet piece of news is that I am not hosting Thanksgiving this year! My cousins have offered to "give me a break" this time around, although I really do enjoy preparing that big feast. So I'm disappointed but at the same time grateful that I don't have yet another big project to be worrying about this month. I better get some leftovers is all I can say!

Wiki Wednesday

Time to learn something!

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. Click on "Random article" in the left-hand sidebar box.
3. Post it!

I almost forgot to do this today, and how appropriate that I got a political entry:

Roy E. Furman (April 16, 1901 - May 18, 1977) was the Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania from 1955 to 1959.

Furman was born in Davidson, Greene County, Pennsylvania. He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1933 and served as the House Speaker in 1936. Furman served as Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania from January 1955 to 1959 during Governor Leader's administration. In 1958, Furman ran for the Democratic nomination for governor but was defeated by David Lawrence. Furman served on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission during Governor Lawrence's term. Furman retired to New Cumberland, Pennsylvania and died at the age of 76.

Never heard of him.

We Came This Close

I suggested to someone earlier that maybe Alaska will secede, and Sarah Palin can be their president. Good riddance!

Now hear this from Faux Fox news reporter Carl Cameron:

He had been told by unnamed sources -- and on the condition he not report the details during the campaign -- that Palin could not name all of the countries that are part of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

He did not mention which one (or ones) she whiffed on, but there are only three: Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

Nor, according to Cameron, was Palin aware that Africa is a continent.

And this, from Newsweek:

Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy.... One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband.... McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended.

Twitter Election Party

On Monday Steph got whacked in the wrist with a soccer ball in gym class and was really complaining about the pain. By Tuesday it was still swollen and painful, so after school I took her to the ER for an x-ray. In my gut, I felt pretty certain it wasn't broken, but of course I couldn't be sure. So we went and we waited. And we waited. And we waited some more. I was tweeting and web-surfing frantically from my iPhone, terrified I'd miss the early election returns coming in—or, at the very least, lots of clever repartee. I was imagining myself as Sally, squandering her big night in the Pumpkin Patch with Linus. Finally, after 4 hours, we were sent home with a wrist splint and an excuse note for gym class.

I immediately ran to my MacBook to followed the returns. I was clicking around among various websites—all the usual suspects, from CNN to 538 and everything in between—trying to find my groove. (You know how I feel about TV, so I didn't bother turning it on until the end, to watch the speeches.) But I quickly discovered that the place to be was Twitter. The news coming down my Twitter pipeline was more timely and accurate and link-filled than anything I could find on any one site. There was witty banter, sharp insights, incisive observations, and a whole lot of drinking going on in the Twitterverse last night.

I wish I had kept track of the best tweets that flew by last night, but I was too caught up in the moment. I did tweet Obama as soon as he won! (I had tweeted him on Monday to offer condolences on his grandmother's death, too.) Today I got this tweet from him—me and his other 118,377 Twitter followers, that is! Someone remarked that it will be interesting to get tweets from the White House next year.

In Other News

Today happens to be the day I'm featured on A Month of Stuff—this month is 30 Days of Food, so I jumped at the chance. Go check out my interview, won't you? It's a fun idea, and I'm looking forward to what "stuff" I can read about in the coming months.

Yes We Can! (Again! With Feeling!)

Wow, where to begin? Last night was just incredible! I'm still walking on air from the pure exhilaration of the experience. I trusted the polls (particularly as analyzed over at 538; see below), but I still worried about racism and about voter fraud, neither of which ended up mattering. Our country is hardly "over" its racist past, but my God, we've come a very long way. In today's Times, Thomas Friedman talks about the "Buffett Effect" (as opposed to the Bradley Effect), whereby the rich white country-club guys might have told each other they were all voting for McCain but then pulled the Obama lever once they were alone. (I also like to imagine housewives who said "McCain" to the pollsters when their redneck husbands were within earshot but exercised their right to choose Obama as soon as they got behind the curtain.) "The Civil War is over," Friedman says. "Let reconstruction begin." I heard reports of some voting "irregularities," but nothing that smacked of out-and-out fraud—and clearly not enough to prevent Obama from getting the votes he needed.

I still can't really believe it's happened. I must have tweeted and IM'd "Pinch me!" a dozen times last night. I did manage to keep my eyes open long enough to watch Obama's victory speech, and I was rewarded with a moving, poetic confirmation of why I supported him—and why he won. My favorite line was this: "This victory alone is not the change we seek—it is only the chance for us to make that change." I know that this afterglow won't last forever, but I'm basking in it for as long as I can.

I loved seeing Michelle and the girls up there with him, and especially the way he acknowledged them—and even promised the girls a puppy.

Did you notice that when Obama mentioned McCain, the crowd politely applauded and even cheered, whereas when McCain mentioned Obama in his concession speech, the crowd booed? Disgraceful behavior, and I was glad to see McCain shush them. Oh, and for the record, the McCain who gave that speech last night? He could've really given Obama a run for his money. He would've stuck to his convictions on all the issues, acted respectfully toward his opponent, and made an intelligent and responsible choice for running-mate. He must know now that selling his soul not only didn't work, but it was no way to live. He actually looked relieved last night. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, looked ready to cry, and I've since read that she expected to be able to speak but was not allowed to. Puh-leeze! I have a feeling I know where she's going to end up: as the next Rush Limbaugh, a rabid right-wing talk-show host with an adoring fan base of hate-spewing, intolerant rednecks. <shudder>

Anyhow. There will also be reason to celebrate in Congress come January, regardless of how those last few counts/recounts go (c'mon, Al Franken, you can do it!). Liddy Dole? Out! John Sununu? Out! Yer all out, out, out.

And you know who is totally amazing? Nate Silver at 538. He pretty much nailed the entire election down to the decimal point—president and senators. I really, really don't get statistics at all, but thank heavens he does. Checking in at 538 a bazillion times a day is going to be a hard habit to break.

Now for the bad stuff: How can this country elect a black President and still not let people marry whomever they happen to fall in love with? I am so very disappointed in Florida and Arizona voters (although you expect that sort of stuff to happen there), but I am truly shocked and appalled at California. What a bizarre place that is, where voters agree to protect chickens from being caged but won't allow a gay couple to get married. Well, it took the Massachusetts Supreme Court to make it happen here; I hope my friends in California will similarly prevail. And I don't know what to say about Arkansas voters deciding that gay couples can't adopt—what is wrong with these people?

But speaking of Massachusetts, did I mention that all my votes came true? I mean, sure, re-electing John Kerry and Barney Frank is no big feat, but we dumped that horrible Question 1 designed to abolish the state income tax, decriminalized possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana, and abolished greyhound racing.

Hey, maybe the Obamas want to adopt a greyhound for the White House?

Yes We Can!

I'm euphoric. I'm crying. I can't believe it.

Even if you don't normally click on links, please check out this one. It needs to be seen full-size.

McCain just gave a very gracious concession speech. I'm trying to stay awake for Obama's victory speech, but I am really tired.

Count Me In

I just voted! There was no wait at all at my polling place, and I even ran into a few friends there at the same time.

My hand was shaking so badly that I couldn't hold my iPhone still enough to get a decent photo:

Don't forget to vote! Don't leave it to someone else! Every vote really does count; read Miguelina's cautionary tale if you don't believe me.

Frazzled Pre-Election Thoughts

I can't seem to write a coherent post today. I've started and deleted at least 5 or 6. I am thoroughly eaten up by this election.

So.

I am heartbroken that Obama's grandma died today, just one day before he will likely (please-oh-please-oh-please) be elected president. Oh, the injustice of life! I'm not sure I believe in Heaven, but I do like to imagine her looking down on her extraordinary grandson tomorrow night, and grinning from ear to ear.

Now guess what, there are other elections of note around this great country of ours. The Democrats are in line to acquire quite a few Senate seats from the Republicans—certainly New Hampshire (So no-no, Su-nu-nu), New Mexico, Virginia, Alaska (sorry, Ted-o!), and Colorado—and hopefully North Carolina (take that, you awful Liddy Dole!) and Oregon and maybe, just maybe, even Minnesota (go, Al Franken!).

I am sincerely hoping that California's evil Proposition 8 goes down in flames. Let people marry whomever they love—is that such a radical thought?

We have an icky ballot question here in Massachusetts, too—some idiots want to abolish the state income tax. And then what? Oh, just make cuts all over the place (such as ... schools!) and raise property taxes big-time, that's what. If you're thinking of voting YES just to "send a message," please read this op-ed from the New York Times. And I quote: "Many Massachusetts voters have said they want to approve the proposal to send a message that they are dissatisfied with the Legislature. Surely they could find a less destructive way to communicate."

I'm obviously voting NO on Question 1, and YES on Question 2 (decriminalizing possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana), and YES on Question 3 (getting rid of those god-awful greyhound race tracks—I'm sorry about the people who will lose their jobs, but not as sorry as I am about those poor dogs).

Oh yeah, and John Kerry and Barney Frank, like there's any question about them.

See you all on election day! I wonder if I'll sleep tonight.

PESD

I'm feeling so very frazzled by this election that I've coined (on Twitter) a new entry for the DSM: Pre-Election Stress Disorder. I've even suggested that this whole election polling business is funded by the pharmaceutical companies who make blood pressure meds. (It could happen.)

All of the polls show Obama clearly in the lead. All of the articles, analyses, maps, statistics, endorsements, and op-eds unequivocably name him The Winner on Tuesday.

But I can't rest.

What if?

What if the racists come out of their closets? What if the Undecideds all go for McCain? What if the touch-screen machines are rigged? What if the first-time voters are turned away from their polling places for unlawful reasons? What if we have to suffer through another 4 years of god-awful policies and arrogant law-making? What if Sarah Palin ever sets foot in the White House? Oh. My. God. I am not going to make it through these next 48 hours.