saturn floating

Finally, a barista that doesn't make the poor steaming milk scream in pain.
Velvet foam!

i have absolutely zero cause for optimism, and yet, i have a feeling that my break is just around the corner.

(not trying to effuse vagueness here ppl, it's just that talking about the nuts and bolts of job searching is so boring)

in more interesting news to me and no one else, i am currently collectively 516 pages into 3 books each consisting of 800 or more pages --

giles goat-boy
a drifting life (which may or may not count, since it's a graphic novel)
and 2666 which i am reading in conjunction with this group reading project

-- which certainly tops my previous record of being about two-thirds of the way through 3 different short story collections, but only amounting to about 1000 pages total.

i'm not sure where i picked up this ADHD reading habit, but it's getting kind of silly.

i see them, from time to time.

1 glass of wine - 1 pint of blood = cara, age 16, after 1 whole bottle of strawberry hill.

( and the result )

Bacon may have jumped the shark (not in my eyes, but whatevs), but pork
belly will always be cool. Always.

Pho stock boilin', fiery lemongrass garlic chili oil steepin', old rasputin
beer drinkin', KEXP catchin-uppin'.

here it is, the spreadsheet in all of its (nearly completed) nerdy glory, for all to enjoy:

what should i attempt next?

unfortunately, it doesn't look like google docs picks up all of the wonderful comments i have on the original word file. balls.

so, no surprise or anything, but i'm still working on my "resolutions" for twenty-ten. i'm not a resolution-making traditionalist, and i tend to shy away from the generalizations (be less of a crack whore, scrub behind the ears, wear socks with shoes) so it took me awhile to focus my energy on some sort of *project* i would like to attempt.

at first, i settled on a list of 12 cooking-related forays into enemy kitchen territory:

homemade ravioli with homemade ricotta cheese
julia child's recipe for french onion soup
whole roast duck
homemade tamales
some sort of offal
osmanthus sweet & sour pork
rabbit
whole fish baked in a salt crust
indian -- full meal with chutneys, raita, naan, etc
braised pork belly
my favorite greek dessert (tackle my fear of working with phyllo) - galactoboureko
homemade sausage

...and then i upped the ante. right now i'm staring at a half-completed spreadsheet of 52 cooking "challenges" with 52 distinctly different ethnic cuisines. at first it sounded daunting, but i was surprised to find out that i actually had to pare down my list. so far i have all 52 outlined, with all but 3 apportioned for either a specific recipe or a generalized theme. i've even done my best to sprinkle in desserts, or baking, and a few things that are more starters than entrees*. right now i am busy finding the right recipes, and copying and hyper-linking them into the spreadsheet. when i finish i will have to post it to show off all of its deliciously nerdy glory. :P

in the meantime, i am preparing for my first challenge this evening: catalan fish stew with tomato bread. i went to the korean market last nite and was excited to pick up shrimp (with heads!), lovely manila clams and even some spanish mackerel. i already have my homemade romesco (from when i was playing vegan) defrosted and awaiting its dinner fate.

* it really bothers me that we use the word entree in english to signify a main course, when really it is a smaller dish that precedes the main course. nitpicky, i know.

i'm one month into my 28th year and i've begun doing things very uncharacteristically cara (namely, gaming and reading graphic novels).

if this is how it begins, i'm excited to see how it ends. already i am 2/3 prepared to begin some serious canning, and if that's not bad enough, i am also officially guilty of creating a cat calendar. like, the 12 months of truman and bella kind of cat calendar.

i swear, i get cooler by the minute!

This diagram on the inside of the trunk of an Audi TT indicates how you and
a friend can conveniently and comfortably stow two full-sized golf bags.
Good to know?

115mph, in a parking lot, with no rpms.

I do the hocus pocus.