Odds and Ends
I feel like this day is going to drag on forever. At least I have the Postal Service on my ipod to drown out the mindless chatter around me...
Inspired by Nick I have been cleaning out my e-mail inbox. Not that it was that bad to begin with. I have virtually nothing in my inbox since I organize everything into folders. Anyway, I did still have this from a website where you enter random information and then it tells you how you're going to die and when...
At age 36, while showing your work at a major art gallery, you will be accosted and later slain by PETA activists.So that's good to know.
Yesterday I read an article about how multi-tasking makes you less efficient and should be avoided. This is on the heels of last week's article on why you should be a slob at work because neat people waste time being neat. I'm so tired of articles like this...people are lazy so they just grasp at some random study that tells them what they want to hear. As if people need an excuse to be messy. It's the same thing with nutritional studies...chocolate is good for you, eat all the fat you want, etc... How about you just eat less. I have a very short fuse today.
Here's
something to brighten everyone's day.
Les Elephantes
Another late night for the Langfords last night... To start things off Andy had his first soccer game, which his team won, 3-2. I'll let him blog more about the game if he would like to do a guest post. While he was out running around I had girl's night out with Karin, Michele, and Jen. After his game Andy met up with us for a few drinks and then he and I headed down to 34th Street to see the elephants from the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus march into Manhattan. Apparently the trucks that carry the elephants are too big to come through the tunnel so they haul the elephants to Queens and then they march through the Midtown Tunnel, all the way down 34th Street and into Madison Square Garden. This all takes place after midnight so it doesn't cause a major traffic disruption.
Here's a blurry picture of one of the circus trucks...
PETA was set up in front of Madison Square Garden...I tried to get a picture of their sign which said "Circuses Are No Fun For Animals"
We were down there a little early since we didn't see the elephants until almost one in the morning so Andy took the time to pose with the R2-D2 mailbox, which is to celebrate the release of a special Star Wars stamp.
We walked up and down 34th Street while we waited...the entire street was lined with barricades and there were alot of people out. In front Yeshiva University there was a huge group of students making cotton candy and eating peanuts. When we got to Park Avenue we finally saw the elephants coming...in this really bad picture you can see the lead elephant with the ringmaster.
And here they are...the elephants walking down 34th Street, each one holding the tail of the elephant in front...
I love the circus and I will definitely be going this year!
Labels: NYC sights
Night with the Knicks
Yesterday got off to a really crappy start. When I got to work I realized that I had left my keys AND my cell phone at home. To make things worse Andy wasn't going to be home until after 11 because he was taking a group of kids from school to the Knicks game last night. I eventually solved the key problem by getting a spare set from Karin but better news arrived even later when Andy informed me that there was an extra ticket for the Knicks v. Magic game that I could have.
So, I became a chaperone on the field trip to the Knicks game last night. The tickets were courtesy of Spike Lee who pays for school kids from Brooklyn to see Knicks games for free. We got into the Garden really early, at like 5:45 for a 7:30 game. Then we got to sit in the courtside seats while the players did their warm-ups. I didn't recognize many of the players but they are so much taller in person than they seem on TV. Also, their feet look about 10 times bigger. I felt like they were all walking around in clown shoes. From time to time one of the players would walk over and shake hands with the kids for a minute or two. The only player that I recognized from the Magic just by sight was J.J. Reddick. I wanted to harass him about his crying tendency but Andy informed me that that was not proper chaperone behavior.
While we were watching the team we spotted Walt Frazier who Andy described to me as "the guy from the Just For Men commercials" I guess because he thought I wouldn't know who Walt Frazier is. He was wearing a ridonkulous suit...cornflower blue corduroy suit with a pink tie, pink pocket square and gray crocodile skin loafers. Nice!
The celebrity highlight though was when Spike Lee came over. He is even shorter in person than he looks on TV, if that's possible. He signed autographs for the kids and shook hands. Andy and I were at the end of the row and a very irate security guard cut Andy off for some reason and wouldn't let him get near Spike Lee. Andy didn't care so just called his name and then thanked him for all the work he was doing in New Orleans and then Spike Lee shook his hand...all very exciting! We are in middle of watching his documentary on Hurricane Katrina, When the Levees Broke. It is a must see in my opinion...very powerful and very sad.
Our tickets for the game were in the highest level but close to mid-court so they still afforded a pretty good view. Plus, it was just cool being in Madison Square Garden watching the Knicks for the first time...and for free!! We also got a free hot dog, chips, and Coke and a mini Knicks backpack and t-shirt. Quite a good haul. The game was really fun to watch even though I'm not a big NBA fan. The Knicks should have won but Stephon Marbury is a huge ball hog. I've boiled all of the Knicks problems down to that. Overall, we had a great time.
Pictures from Lousiana are finally up...or will be in about 15 minutes if you have RSS and you read this immediately after I post. Enjoy!
Labels: NYC sights
Taste Test
A few weeks ago I read online about "Kosher for Passover" Coke now being available in New York City. The "kosher Coke" as I call it is made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Apparently this version is also quite popular in Mexico where they always make Coke with real sugar, not because of the large Jewish population, but because they use the corn for other things, like tortillas. Two nights ago we picked up a 2 liter bottle of kosher Coke at our local Key Food, then after the purchase of of the normal, HFCS version last night, conducted a blind taste test.
Andy drank first and he guessed incorrectly and said that he like the HFCS version better...no kosher Coke for him. Then it was my turn. I closed my eyes and Andy gave me the first sip, then the second sip, ok..so I started to think about which one was which..then he says, ok, a third sip...even though there was no third option. I protested because there was no third choice! He persisted and was like, just take it, just take it....so I drank it and it was one of the two cokes. So then he asked me to decide which was which...I guessed between the first two but I was wrong...because the first two that he gave me were the same...both were the HFCS Coke and the third was the kosher Coke. So, basically he cheated on the taste test...not that it really mattered because I couldn't tell the difference either. I haven't had a Coke in months so apparently my Coke palate isn't that sophisticated. It even tasted the same when I mixed it with Beam a few minutes later...still delicious.
Labels: food
Quinoa-tastic
Last night I continued in my quest to rid the food cabinet of all of those odds and ends like half full boxes of noodles, old candy canes, etc.. by trying quinoa. I bought a box of quinoa on our trip to Fairway and we had never tried it. Quinoa is a grain eaten by the ancient Incas and is an excellent source of protein. Needless to say, Andy was very resistant to the idea. First of all, it looks like couscous which he hates. Plus I think he's resistant to any new grains because he doesn't want it to compete with his precious white rice. When were discussing quinoa he decided that it was the "Dipping Dots" of the grain world. Dipping Dots being the disgusting BBs of ice cream you can get at the mall. The slogan for this awful creation is "The Ice Cream of the Future" So after discussing the quinoa over the course of the day and him joking about the Dipping Dots I opened the box to find a recipe booklet that labels quinoa "The Supergrain of the Future." This did do much to support my completely baseless argument that the quinoa would be delicious. But, as usual, I was right...it WAS delicious. Andy made this recipe:
Quinoa with Black Beans. He really liked it too which was surprising. In exchange for the quinoa, tonight we will be dining at a meat-centered restaurant. Yum. More on that tomorrow.
Labels: food
Waste Not
This weekend in the New York Times I read an article about a man in New York City who, along with his wife and daughter, is attempting to have no net impact on the environment. This means no riding the subway or driving, creating no trash, no television, etc... He's writing a book about his experience, a movie is being made, and of course,
he has a blog. Reading his account is really interesting because Andy and I have started, over the past month, to implement some of these changes in our lives as well. We've switched over to energy saving light bulbs and we've started making the transition to only natural cleaners. Today I contacted the credit reporting agencies so that we will stop receiving credit card offers in the mail...which you can do
here. I can't tell you how excited I am about this. Right now we receive at least three credit card offers in the mail every single day. I'm also cancelling all of the catalogs we receive because frankly, I don't need a new J. Crew catalog every month. You can do this by calling the 800 number on the back of the catalog. These obviously pale in comparison to the extreme measures he's taking, like not using toilet paper. That is a line I am not crossing, but I would like to make more changes because obviously these are pretty superficial.
Along with reducing waste and energy consumption, we're also trying to make changes in the way we eat. This Saturday we're going to attempt to do all grocery shopping at the farmers market. We will definitely have to change the way we eat and obviously some things we will have just have to go without but I think in the long run it will be worth it. Of course I say all of this with the optimism of a project not yet attempted but I hope we can do it.
I would love to hear anyone else's waste reduction tips or things that you've tried that work and things that don't work. On the blog, No Impact Man, he discusses how he was just another liberal ranting and raving about the environment but not doing anything about it...well, I feel the same way so I guess the time has come to do something about it.
Labels: environment
Case of the Mondays
Another weekend...gone. I usually don't dread coming to work on Monday but not this week. I've definitely got a "case of the Mondays." Since we get up so early we usually go to sleep around 10 (no comments please) but last night I stayed up and read my book because I didn't want the weekend to be over. I guess the last three weekends have been so much fun, I'm getting spoiled.
Friday night we went out for drinks for a co-worker who moved on to bigger and better things. We were at the bar until around 11 and then I found myself back at the exact same bar the next morning at 8:45 a.m. We actually lucked out because the soccer game normally would have been at 7:45 but daylight savings time pushed it up an hour. The bar was almost full when we got there because Ireland was playing rugby plus it was St. Patricks Day. The cover to watch rugby was $20...which was insane. The rugby match didn't start until 9:30 so people had gotten there over an hour early just to get a seat. By the time we left the bar was PACKED with people dropping $20 to watch rugby. On the way to the subway I kept saying how crazy it was..how I couldn't believe people had woken up that early and paid that much money and then I realized I do that for soccer pretty much every weekend without the cover charge.
Saturday night....another suprise birthday party...this time we were at the restaurant for over 4 hours. The place was really cute and we had a room all to ourselves but there was one chef cooking for over 20 people with no help. Very strange. After dinner we went to an Irish pub in anticipation of some traditional Irish music but instead we got Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston...very odd.
Yesterday I was out all day having brunch with friends so I basically watched no basketball all weekend. When I got home I caught the end of the evening games but that was it. It feels very strange not to watch the games and not to care about them more.
Labels: weekend
Odds and Ends
It seems like I have nothing to blog about this week even though it also seems like I've been really busy. A few things....
- a rat ran across my foot in the 34th street subway station on Monday morning. I understand that rats will always be in the subway but I expect them to be down on the tracks or at least near a garbage can, not running around on the station level where it is very well lit, in the middle of the morning commute
-Andy and I went to a surprise birthday party on Saturday night and we have another one this weekend...I've been to more surprise parties since I moved here than the rest of my life put together. Is this some sort of NYC thing or is this going on everywhere? what is up with all the surprise parties?!
-after the surprise dinner on Saturday night we went back to the friends apartment where his wife had decorated the whole apartment in a He-Man theme...it's obnoxious because this guy is so cool, he can make having a He-Man party seem cool
-I filled out my NCAA bracket yesterday but I couldn't muster much excitement for it..this is the first year since I can remember that I have watched basically no basketball for the entire season. I have seen 0 complete games and parts of maybe 5 games. I'll probably still watch a lot of tournament games but I just can't get into it this year. It has nothing to do with LSU not being in the tournament...maybe it's all the soccer I've been watching lately
-This really deserves it's own post but on Monday afternoon Andy bought me one of the best gifts ever....the MR. CLEAN MAGIC ERASER. You may be thinking Magic Eraser..is it really Magic? and I'm here to tell you...YES! The black marks all over your walls from shoe scuffs, etc...GONE! I spent two hours Monday night erasing all of the scuffs from the walls. Not only is the Magic Eraser effective, it also a joy to use. I'm considering intentionally scuffing the walls this weekend just so I can magically erase them later.
A Night at the Opera
Last night Andy and I attended our first ever opera. We saw "The Magic Flute" or Die Zauberflote for those who speak German. We saw it at Lincoln Center which was really nice. The interior was covered in red velvet with huge, star shaped chandeliers. Exactly what I would picture an opera house to look like. We sat in the "Family Circle" also known as the cheap seats, but the view was still really nice and I didn't feel like we were overly far away. We went with Chuck, Christina, Cassie and Martin and our tickets were divided into groups of 3, 2, and 1. It was Martin's idea that we draw tickets randomly so Cassie and I ended up in the 2 seats together. Right after the lights went down the two women in front of us were still whispering a little so the woman at the end of our row said very loudly "Why don't you shut up!" Not exactly what I expected from the opera crowd. For the record one of the whispering ladies later pulled about a gigantic fruit pastry from her purse and ate it at intermission. The issue of the cheap seats also reared its head later when Christina's hat was stolen...you really have to be careful at the opera these days.
The opera itself was entertaining. There were some funny parts which I didn't really expect. Apparently "The Magic Flute" is a good opera to see for first time opera goers. The storyline is very fantastical, which lent itself to a lot of really cool costumes and an interesting set. I didn't really care for the storyline which seemed very disjointed. I don't know if this applies to operas in general as a result of the constraints of the medium but it made it hard to follow at times. Even with the subtitles, if I had not read the synopsis in advance I think I would have been lost.
Andy and I both agreed that we definitely want to go back, but to see a tragedy instead. I think something more dramatic would come across better. Maybe that's just my stereotypes about the opera, but I think I would enjoy that more.
Back to the sledding...here's a
slideshow Martin put together with all of the pictures and some cool music. I think you have to download the file titled Sled4. Enjoy!
Labels: concert
Book Review- The Omnivore's Dilemma
One thing we all have to think about every day is what we eat. But, do we REALLY know what we're eating? Does anyone really know what all 15 of those ingredients are in their breakfast cereal? The Omnivore's Dilemma discusses that question...what are we really eating? and why are we eating it? There are many ways to address this question but here Michael Pollan follows the origins of three meals: and industrial meal at McDonalds, a purely organic meal, and a meal that he hunted and gathered himself. Reading the section on the industrial meal was truly frightening. The treatment of livestock and the conditions they're kept in are truly horrific. Even more than that though is the shocking realization that almost everything we eat is CORN. This is a direct result of the glut of cheap corn in the U.S. Cows on factory farms are all fed corn, even though they are herbivores. Also, all processed foods are made pretty entirely of corn. It's a really scary thought.
The second meal is completely organic within the guidelines set out by the FDA, mainly food purchased at Whole Foods. It was really amazing to see how the definition of organic has become so twisted. In the past I had occassionally indulged in organic meat but definitely not anymore. The living conditions are really not much better than for factory farm animals and most of the time the slaughtering process is exactly the same.
For the third meal the author hunts and kills a wild pig himself and then gathers the other ingredients for a meal. He does this mainly to demonstrate that people used to eat like this, and to highlight the disconnect that we currently have from our food sources.
I found that this was the strongest point of the book. Pollan is rarely preachy...he never says "don't eat meat" or "don't eat at McDonalds." The point is that we are ignorant about our food and where it comes from. All he's asking is that the reader educate themselves about their food sources. If you can honestly say that you know what a factory farm is like and you can still eat the meat then fine, if you know that your lettuce has to be shipped all the way from California and is picked by migrant workers then fine, but to remain ignorant is shameful. He also talks about adopting a more common sense approach to eating and ignoring the constant barrage of health claims and studies that seem to come out every other minute. Overall I think it was an excellent book and one that everyone should read.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
If anyone wants to read this book I will gladly lend it to them...I'll even pay the postage.
Labels: books
Andy and Martin's Antics
This weekend also afforded me the opportunity to engage in another activity I missed out on growing up in the South...sledding. There was a really nice sledding hill not far from the house we stayed in so on Sunday we all bundled up and headed out to the hill. The sleds were big enough so each couple usually went down together. There was plenty of snow but it was frozen so the ground was really hard...it wasn't the nice powder that should have provided a little cushion. I think I got more beat up sledding than skiing. Apparently there was plenty of sledding on the hill before we got there because someone had made ramps out of the snow, creating a couple of little jumps that you could ride the sled on. In addition to the little ones there was one big one...so OF COURSE Andy had to ride his sled over the jump. I will preface this by saying that Martin has taken over for Nick in the "egging Andy on" department. Except now, it's not just encouragement to do stupid things, but it comes with the promise of being photographed.
While we were in Louisiana we were swinging on the playground and Andy jumped off of his swing while it was still moving. This resulted in Martin laying on the ground in order to get the perfect shot of Andy in mid-air.
Andy of course had to swing higher and higher and perform this feat several times in order to get the perfect shot.
This scenario pretty much repeated itself with the sledding. At least this time Andy was wearing a helmet.
Martin laid on the ground next to the jump while Chuck pushed Andy in the right direction for added speed. And this was the result....
On the walk back to the house after sledding Andy commented that if he had been friends with Martin when he was a kid he would have gotten injured a lot more often. I agreed and then he added, "but I'm sure I would have had a lot more fun" I'm not sure this bodes well for the future. I have a feeling "Andy and Martin's Antics" will be a regular feature on the blog.
Labels: travel
Ski Weekend
After talking about it for the past two winters Andy and I finally went skiing this past weekend. This was the first time I had ever been skiing so it was quite and experience. Andy had been once before in Montana, and like every other athletic pursuit, he picked it up really quickly. I was expecting the worst when got there on Saturday morning. I am not very coordinated or very strong so I thought I was going to be a skiing failure. To start off, the worst part of skiing is the gear. The boots are the most uncomfortable things I've ever had on my feet, and they weigh about five pounds each. In addition, if your skis aren't on your feet you have to carry them everywhere and they aren't light either. Both were just a big pain in my ass.
We went with Chuck, Christina, and Cassie who are all experienced skiers and Martin who was snowboarding so I was the only beginner. It would have been more fun to have someone else learning with me so I didn't feel like such a loser, but oh well... So I got out on the bunny slope and after falling on the dismount from the ski lift, I got the hang of things really quickly. The bunny slope is obviously not steep at all so I was just gliding along, doing long turns really easily and stopping myself just by skidding sideways. Everyone was congratulating me on how quickly I picked it up and I was starting to think maybe I had been underestimating myself. Of course, a big BUT is coming....So we walk over to the first slope..a green, or easy run. I start heading down and very quickly I am FLYING down the hill and I realize I have no clue how to slow down or stop myself. About 1/4 of the way down the hill, I'm going 10 times as fast as I was on the bunny slope. So I skid to the side to stop myself which doesn't work when you're going that fast. I start falling and then as I hit the ground my ski catches in the snow and my ski doesn't come off, twisting my knee to a horrible angle so that when I stopped and looked at my leg I though for sure it was broken. My eyes welled up and I fought back tears. Andy came over and helped me up and after a few minutes I tried again....same thing. I had no business being up there since I couldn't stop myself. By the time I got to the bottom of the hill I was scared to death and was swearing that I was done with skiing. Never again. Going that fast really freaked me out.
I didn't want to hold Andy back from skiing so I told him to go ahead without me and I would go back to the bunny slope to practice. I got back on the bunny hill but even that was terrifying. I had scared myself so badly my knees were shaking on the bunny hill and I was practically paralyzed with fear. Andy met up with me again and we took a break in the lodge. He promised to teach me the beginner skiing method..the snow plough..which is basically just skiing with your skis in a V, tips together, to slow yourself down. We went back out to the bunny slope and practiced that about 50 times before I would get back on the green slope. I was still scared but more confident in my ability to slow myself down and stop. After that I was fine, but it look a lot of convincing on Andy's part to get me back out there. So in the end I was right, I am pretty uncoordinated but I was happy with myself for a first time skiier. Andy of course was swooshing around, making it look pretty effortless.
The other problem with being an adult beginner is that there are tons of kids out on the slopes who are much, much better than you which can being pretty demeaning. As I'm going down the green slopes with my beginner style, every ounce of concentration on not killing myself, there are five year old kids in pink snowsuits zooming past me while they talk to their friends about Dora the Explorer. Not exactly confidence building.
I would give myself a C+ on my overall first day performance. The main problem is that I really want to go skiing again....right now. It's near the end of the season so we probably won't make it back until next winter but I'm already looking forward to it.
Labels: travel
Happy Birthday Andy!!!
Everyone please wish Andy a very Happy Birthday today!! He is an occassional reader so I'm sure he would enjoy some birthday wishes on the blog.
We kicked off the birthday festivities last night with a trip to a new restaurant near our apartment, Willie's Dawgs. As you may have guessed by the name, it's a hot dog restaurant. I got a tofu dog with avacado, tomato, and cheddar. It was the best tofu dog I've ever had. While I will admit all of the other ones I've eaten have bordered on inedible, this one was actually really good. It was firm, which is a big improvement over the normal mushiness and heated well, which sounds ridiculous but it's hard to tell when they're heated through. Andy got the "Carlos" which was a normal beef hot dog with jalapenos, salsa, and cheddar. He said it was really good and had a good "snap" which is apparently the mark of a good hot dog. Even though I don't eat them anymore I think my favorite will always be the old fashioned pink weenies that we ate when I was a kid or the old Tiger Dogs they used to have at Tiger Stadium, before they sold out and made them "All Beef."
The most intriguing item on the menu at Willie's Dawgs, which I will try if we go back, was the carrot hot dog. They slightly boil a carrot so that it's a little soft, then marinate it in "hot dog spices"- whatever those are and then serve it on a bun like a normal hot dog. Very interesting.
Labels: restaurants
