Birthday Presents and Miss Sass

Birthday Presents a photo by Debora Drower on Flickr.

I miss you, my sweet girl. Wish you were here to help me open my birthday presents. When I wear that doggy necklace, I think of you.

Foamy Ham

1. Endless Sea #2 - Marin Headlands, California, 2. Bean Hollow Surf #1 - San Mateo County, California, 3. Sun and Storm - Greywhale Cove, California, 4. Garrapata Surf #4 - Big Sur, California, 5. Swift's - 19501218 Life, 6. Mmmm, canned pressed ham!, 7. Swifts Party Recipe Ideas, 8. Wilson Ham

The excerpt is from the book, "A Winter's Tale," by Mark Helprin. This is my favorite book in the whole wide world. Love it. I remember the very moment my sister put it down, I grabbed it and it was love at first read. I love the descriptions Mark Helprin writes.

The foamy ham. That's the best description I can find to explain my brain fog. Thanks to my monthly hormone warfare, I am in a fog. It's a loud foamy ham in my head. It sizzles and it crashes over me. It's the waves and the foam and sand. I cannot focus, I can't reason, I cannot think. There will be no learning anything new today.

I've lost jobs because of how foggy I was. I tried explaining but it was of no avail. That's just how I get at this time. Sound the fog horns, because this ship will be lost for a while. I accidentally typed "lost" and "toast" and got loast. Yes, I am a lost, foggy, soggy, piece of toast. With a slice of ham.

But being inside all this foam and noise is nice. I'm in a cocoon. It's a small vacation from life. Sadly, It won't last and out of the fog the crabs will come out of hiding.

Dear Oscar...

"Dear Oscar, I was not able to sleep because of you last night and I was up all night long."

That's from the 1996 foreign film winner of the movie, "Kolya." The speech was by Jan Sverák who had a thick accent and made the word,"Oscar" sound like Oss Kar.

Dear Oskcar, every year, it's gotten worse. I feel I am unable to sleep because of you. I must see every movie nominated. In a movie theater.

I used to only watch the Oscar nominated best pictures. Then I added the actors, then the supporting actors. In 2008, I dragged a friend on Valentine's Day to the very bloody, "Apocalypto" I dubbed it my bloody valentine. It was up for three Oscars (Make up and two sound awards) but won none of them. That was a year I crossed nearly every movie off my Oscar check list. Dear Debora, that seems kinda obsessive.

This year has been different. I have had very little interest in seeing most of the movies. I only ended up seeing only these three Best Picture nominated movies:

"The King's Speech”
“Toy Story 3”
“True Grit”

I saw, The King's Speech,” only just last night and it was the best picture winner. Today, I watched online trailers of all the nominated movies. I loved the trailer of the animation short, "The Lost Thing" so I downloaded it. It was so sweet and wonderfully done. And it won!. While I didn't download the short live action film, "God of Love," it looked adorable and it won.

My intuition was really spot on telling what would be the best movies to watch. My movie ennui actually worked in my favor. I didn't spend an inordinate amount of time watching movies that didn't win anything. And much like the little known, "Kolya", I love it when a sweet little movie wins and there's a memorable speech.

Dear Oscar, thanks for giving the awards to movies I really thought should win, for some big wins, and some small ones. Now it's late and time to go to sleep.

Ground Hog Day

Deb, you already know this. You know it by heart. You love the movie, "Groundhog Day." You quote it all the time. You mention it to friends, you understand the parables it teaches.








How many times do you mention this scene:



You've been to Punxsutawney PA and bought the above cookbook for fun and laughs and to see it every day on your shelf.

Debora. It's Groundhog Day again. Will you walk through the puddle, walk around it or find a new street? Or are you doomed to wake up again to the haunting sounds of Sonny and Cher singing, "I got you, babe." Really. You know how it will go, how it will end up. Yeah, it's got you. It makes you sick.

When are you gonna cook that Groundhog?

Do they Know It's Xmas (Scary Version)

My band, Scary Numan, made this bit of holiday cheer. Enjoy!

You can find Scary Numan on MySpace (where you can hear more songs) and Facebook.

Where my spark is

I woke up at 4am this morning feeling alone and scared and started humming these lines from the song Spark:

"She's afraid of the light in the dark.
6.58 are you sure where my spark is?
Here... Here... Here..."

So I dialed up the video and thought it was beautiful.

I didn't know the story behind the song - it's actually about Tori having a miscarriage.

Her explanation of the video:

"You don't really know what's going to happen to her, but that's not the point. She's trusting her instincts in a way she never has before, she's finding something in herself she never knew even existed."

Maybe that's why I woke up humming the song and had to find all the meanings behind it. I need to trust my instincts and know what I did, what I'm doing is right. Am I sure where my spark is? Yes, no maybe so.

State Fair Day 12

X is a tough one. There is Pibb Xtra. Xantham gum - not gonna do it.


Y is for yogurt. James used to sell Annie's Frozen Yogurt at the fair. The booth is now long gone. The workers remain, we had a beer with them last night at Cafe Caribe.


Z is for Zeppoles. I remember when the deep fried twinkies and candy bars came out. The lines were crazy and the product - not that great.

State Fair Day 11

V is for Vegie Fries. Sorry, never had them. Why not just have the deep fried cheese curds or anything else. There is one place that makes a big salad. I love that - hidden in the Ball Park.

W is for Walleye. You can get Walleye (and other fish) a few different ways at the fair. Watch my favorite WCCO news anchor, Don, Shelby go fishing at the fair.

State Fair Day 10

S is for Scotch Egg. If you go to the original photo's page, a recipe for Scotch Eggs is there. I have one plain, with horseradish and maple syrup.



T is for Tom Thumb Mini donuts. The only donuts I eat and only at the MN State Fair. And only by the Ye Old Mill. Look at that design!

I am really stuck on the letter "U." No udon, Ugli fruit or even the Uncola, 7-up (to make your tummy ache better) Booo!

State Fair Day 9

Q is for Quesadilla. I was looking at places at the fair that sell them. Besides Quesadilla Junction and Tejas you can also get them at French Meadow Bakery and O'Gara's. French or Irish quesadillas. Yah, for sure. I was about to post a link to the Tejas restaurant and just found out it closed.


R is for Roast Sundae. Ok, it's full name is the Pot Roast Sundae - a new food last year that I really loved. I didn't want to double up on root beer. There are a ton of root beer stands.

State Fair Day 8

Oodles of noodles. Again, love the sign, never had the food. Maybe I should branch out?



P is for Pronto Pup. You can always get Pat to call out their old jingle, "Get yourself a Pronto Pup!" I'll do it if he's not there. P is also for Pizza - really bad thin pizza for James who grew up on 99 cent pizza. Our pizza came from the downtown Uno's. The original Uno's. I have very refined pizza tastes.

State Fair Day 7

M is for malt. Do you get it inside the Dairy building or outside the Cattle Barn. This is actually a picture of a Kiwanis Malt by the Fine Arts building. M is also for Milk. As in all the Milk you can drink. Back in the olden days, they'd pay you to drink the milk. Ha!






N is for Nitro Ice Cream. Love the neon but no thanks.

State Fair Day 6

K is for Key Lime Pie on a Stick. Had one long ago, not that great. It is local.








L is for Leinie Lodge. We saw some great music last year at the Leinie Lodge. The singer on stage was enjoying a Leinie's "ice tea" at 11 am. So I got James and I one. An "ice tea" for us at 11 am. Ha!

State Fair Day 5

I is for Icee. Never had one, but I like the design.

J is for John Deere Home Made Ice Cream. It looks and sounds cute, never had it.

State Fair Day 4

G is for German Root beer. If you google German Root beer it says most Germans hate root beer. Go figure

H is for Hot Dog. Not one of my favorite fair foods, I could get one at the store, so I don't really care.

State Fair Day 3

E is for Egg Coffee. Yes, egg coffee. I will sit at the counter and drink cup after cup of this stunning coffee. I know how to make it I just never do.




F is French Fries. I don't get it why some folks need Fair french fries. The stand is always crazy. This is the world's greatest sign.

F is also for Fudge Puppies. The Caramel Apple Puppies with apple baked in and covered with caramel is supposed to be pretty good.

State Fair Day 2

C is for corn and cheese. Which there is a ton at the fair. And now about the food! Zing! Corn dogs, roasted corn, popped corn, kettle corn. Cheese curds, cheese on a stick, bad cheese pizza (James' fave)

D is Dole Whip. WCCO News anchor, Amelia Santaniello raves about them. I've never had one. Maybe this year.

State Fair Day 1

I had an idea of doing a MN State Fair alphabet of fair foods. The collective unconscious (or the fair itself) beat me to it. I'm still gonna do it.

A - Apple. I love that you can get a fresh apple in the Agriculture Horticulture building west hall.





B - Bacon. There's this gorgeous chocolate bacon from Famous Daves and the Big Fat maple bacon. I hear there's even more bacon foods. Yum!

Dirty Knife Fight

I work in a really dirty office with a bunch of bachelor farmers (like the movie,"Brother's Keeper") There's clothes on the floor, yes really. Clothes. Food in the garbage cans and junk all over. Either I can do my work or clean up after these pigs. I used to try to do both but after 8 years, I've given up. I've offered many friends the job of cleaning up the place but it never works out. Family members of these friends are afraid their loved ones will get lost in the mess or be taken advantaged of so it never happens. My dear friend, Craig, (who somehow always ignores the hideous mess) came by the office. James' mom was in for a visit. Somehow we're all in one room talking. Craig needed some canned air. I reminded him of the time I tried talking to him on the phone while he sprayed canned air on his keyboard to clean it. James' mom (who gave up on the bachelor farmer's mess long ago) was incredulous. She asked Craig, "Do you clean your own desk?" Yeah - he replied. And she grabbed him, kissed him on the cheek and said emphatically, "I love you!" Then to placate her own son, kissed him as well. James was so served. He got sloppy seconds from his mom. Someone then needed a knife to open something, both James and Craig pull out their pocket knives. It's pocket knife vs a Swiss Army. Or knife vs knife plus tools. Or a double garage workshop vs a triple bay with a lift. Then they were arguing who had better tools. All because Craig cleans his own desk. And he won't work for Big Bell. I could be mean and mention that he's now toothless but I don't clean anything or carry (my big collection of) knives on me. So, I'm not going there.

Who wins? Me - the story has made me laugh for days.

Dreams

In my dreams last night, I was in NYC. I stumbled into some office and met this really fun girl. I told her about my band, we watched a few of the videos and she was so impressed, she added a link to Scary Numan on her company's cool web site. Later in the dream, I'm at a new job, here in MN. I walk out into the messy hallway to find the bathroom. There's an open door in the hallway that leads to an apartment that's decorated really fun. The girl waves me in. She shows off her Kobe Bryant/Gary Coleman special edition Mac. (What?) She's doodling around and shows me the company she works for and I see the Scary Numan link on her company web page. I realize it's the fun girl from NYC. I found her again! She introduces me to her friends, some of whom I met in NYC and I'm so excited. She lives here. She lives in the hallway of my boring job where it takes weeks to get paid because it's a Canadian company. I found her again, I found my old new fun friend. I woke up happy because I had found a kindred spirit but who is she? There's no hallway to another apartment at my job. I know, we dream in metaphors. I'm happy I have a new friend, but I'm sad because I don't know who or where she is.

In my dreams the next night, I find the fun girl again and she's talking about friends I have, both here and gone. I woke up missing the fun girl and some of my long gone friends.