Who cares?

It has of course dawned on me that nobody will ever really dig in and read my blogs unless I finally succumb to the voices in my head and take my Glock to the nearest local clocktower or high school to do some damage.

As if.

I'm just ridiculously mild-mannered, ala Clark Kent. I have never had to fight physically, even if swordplay is my deep-seated dream desire. I wish I was a master with a blade, but I'm not, and have never even handled one. Maybe "someday" I'll take a fencing class -- but it will mean that I have figured out how to just swallow my pride and look like a total asshole novice, someting I've never been really comfortable with. But swords! That's cool enough to maybe figure out how to do it.

My Christmas present from Marty was a Glock 26 9 mm. It's springtime, and I have yet to load it, let alone fire it. I keep it hidden in my grandma's sewing bench. Is that girly or what? But I love the sheer idea of becoming a competent and comfortable marksman.

When I was a kid, I used to LOVE archery at CYO summer camp in Sonoma. I was actually pretty good at hitting those bulls-eyes. The closest I've come to that in my adult life has been archery when half-bagged at the American Legion, playing darts. I hate darts, I think they're utterly boring (hence the half-baggery). And I haven't even done that in years.

When I opened my brand-new, shiny black pistol case, I read through every scrap of paper that came with the heavy metal. Right then on Xmas morning, I started dreaming of becoming a crack pistol sharpshooter, winning competitions and just getting all-rouind GOOD with the thing.

Rifles have never interested me. Hunting -- eeeeeewwww! Looking Bambi right in the eye through a scope, and killing an innocent creature? SO not for me.

Killing a Bad Guy who's hellbent on Doing Evil? SIGN ME UP!!!!!!

I need to take a firearms class or three. I will apply for a CCW, which I understand in Colorado is pretty much a birthright. And I will find a gun range where I can get good at shooting.

And then I want a Concealed Carry Purse -- that's a dream gift. A sneaky and heavy purse, that can cripple my spine with the combined weight of my wallet, makeup, Blackberry, Flip video camera, library book, notebook, and pistol. Woo hoo! That's for me.

Bang! Bang! (Just not from a clocktower, or at a high school. So, nobody will ever read my blog. Who cares?)

Mixing food metaphors can work

I have not yet taken the plunge and subscribed to Real Simple magazine, but I really need to . I find that whenever I see it near the checkout, I nearly always tend to buy it. In October, there was a recipie for "Bacon and Eggs Spaghetti" that just sounded weird. Until I tried it.

A few days ago, Marty had cooked spaghetti, and we didn't use all of it. So it got stored, cold but cooked, in the fridge. I had bought what I now consider to be a Cooking Magic Bullet -- a big bag of Kirkland Cooked Bacon Morsels from Costco. And we had eggs, and we had frozen chopped shallots.

I didn't have the Real Simple recipie at hand, but I had a vague recollection of how weird I thought it was.

So, I heated up a skillet with a little olive oil, dropped in a scant handful of the cooked bacon (just to warm it up) and dumped in a portion of cooked spaghetti and some frozen shallots, shaken from a "juice box" type container.

Sizzle, sizzle. Whoa. Smelled good!

Got everything pretty hot, cracked in two eggs and let them cook, flipping slightly. Topped wiht a bit of grated cheddar.

OMG.

I would never have thought to mix "breakfast ingredients" with spaghetti, but it turned out to be one of the absolute best pasta dishes I had ever had.

Weird, to think that what can really hit you is just the simple combination of mundane ingredients that you'd never think of putting together.

But man, it worked! It was awesome.

Next time I' stuck for what to fix in a pinch, I've got a new go-to recipie.

Music to My Ears -- Pandora

OK, This has turned into a favorite Web site -- www.pandora.com. Build your own virtual radio station. I have no idea why anyone would want to actually turn on the radio again, other than to check news, weather and traffic.

Right now I'm listening to Phillip Glass, but I'm finding my tasts keep getting more and more out there, especially because of my daughters.

Thankful, so thankful for work

I'm not ready to blog about the "why" yet -- but I just need to say that I am SO amazingly THANKFUL for the people that I work with. My boss, and the people who work for me have shown themselves to be just flat-out Good People in recent weeks.

We all tend to take "our job" for granted -- I have a feeling that in 2009, that's going to become more and more unusual, because it seems that layoffs are looming for a lot of people. I've been there, and it sucks! But right now, I'm wrangling with unexpected family stuff, and I have been blown away by how wonderful, thoughtful, and just great my work-folks have been for me.

Sometimes, you just need that kind of support. I am thankful.

Target Groceries

The box said, "Apricot Currant Chicken Cous-Cous" -- and I bought it on a whim. Damn, that was one FINE dinner! Just under five bucks, and YUMMMY. And EASY to fix.

Archer Farms. Target. Go figure. But it's good -- dinner in a kit.

I'm saving this for those times that we're basically "out" of food -- when the fam says, "there is NOTHING to eat here"-- I can whip out this green box and amaze them. (And fill them up with heathy, yummy stuff.)