jamelah.net

Random, Part the First

Shostakovich and Ryan Adams. It’s been that kind of weekend.

Meme

Okay, people. You asked for it. And though I could’ve done this as a comment, it involved so much writing and thinking that I figured I might as well go ahead and make it a post of its own. So, without further ado, I present to you the thrilling conclusion to this thing.

Yay.

1. I’ll respond with something random about you.

Linus: You know how we keep having these weird tangential conversations about weird tangential things? That’s pretty fun because it’s rather rare to find people who keep up with the sparring instead of just saying “SHUT UP, YOU’RE CRAZY!” So huzzah and kudos to you, sir.
Waterhot: Voracious cultural consumption and perhaps repeated use of polysyllabic words does it, I think.
Piph: You always cheer me up.
Dale: As of right now, I don’t really know you very well, so this is a bit of a challenge. I always did like a challenge, however, so — Your Flickr icon reminds me of my all-time favorite teacher (who I still see around, on occasion), because he has a similar goatee. He taught history, but also got in lessons about politics, poetry and jazz. He’s also a photographer. But this is supposed to be about you, not him, so I’ll just say that you remind me of him, which is a good thing, because he’s a cool guy.
Alicia: I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to write one of these about you or not, but I am, so there. Anyway, you’re one of those writers who could write things and make me jealous. There aren’t very many of those. I think that sounded quite pretentious, but eh, it’s true.
Caryn: Muahahahah! You do the best Neil Diamond impression I have ever seen.
Mister Toad: Sometimes I’m not sure if you’re being funny or not.
Sarah: I wish we lived closer to each other, because I need more cynical, funny, awesome people living close by.

2. I’ll tell you what song/movie reminds me of you.

Linus: Well, as of right now, it’d have to be “Orange Crush”. Because.
Waterhot: Okay, so if you think Britney’s masterwork, “Toxic” in association with me, is it cheating if I think the same song in association with you? No matter, because I do and that is that.
Piph: The movie Singles because it is set in Seattle and Chris Cornell is in it. And, well. Yeah.
Dale: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” the way Ray Charles sang it.
Alicia: “Rock the Casbah”. No really. Because you were there when I read a poem that started with “the sharif don’t like it/ but back when art garfunkel rocked the casbah” and I remember making eye contact with you and that whole experience was just funny.
Caryn: Heheheh. “Me and Mrs. Jones” because it is our song. Among all the other songs that are our song, that is. And Dirty Dancing because nobody puts Baby in the corner and I really have to stop answering this one for you now.
Mister Toad: Well, I think it’s probably your fault that I have “Froggy Went A-Courtin’” in my head right now.
Sarah: “Livin’ on a Prayer” because of that one CD you’d play during Pleiad nights, and please tell me I’m not just making that up.

3. I’ll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle with you in (even though jello totally FREAKS ME OUT).

Linus: I think maybe that sparkling kind. I know, I know. Sparkling is not a flavor.
Waterhot: Well, if you can pick banana daiquiri, I can pick Campari, right?
Piph: Nothing personal, but can we skip the jello wrestling and go shopping for shoes?
Dale: Hm. Orange.
Alicia: Yeah… you want to go shoe shopping with me and Piph?
Caryn: You know how I feel about jello. So what I think we could probably do is trick other people into jello wrestling for us while we laugh at them. Green jello.
Mister Toad: Whatever the flavor, I’m sure it would be heavily laced with vodka.
Sarah: Seriously, I don’t even eat jello, so shoe shopping? It’ll be a field trip.

4. I’ll try to say something that only makes sense to you and me.

Linus: Perhaps other people will understand this, but anyway. Seriously, I’m not even making this up — the other day, I was thinking that there has to be a range of heights of fun that changes with age, because, well, I think fun that’s at ankle-height has lost its charm since I’ve gotten older and taller.
Waterhot: I no longer feel guilty because I finally got to the post office.
Piph: Well, you already mentioned the frisking thing, which would’ve been my answer, because really. Frisk me, baby. I mean, not you, but you know. Anyway. Since frisking has already been mentioned, I’m going to say assballs, the lot of them, and feel secure that you know exactly what I mean.
Dale: Diet Coke also goes well with rum. I’m just saying.
Alicia: That makes two of us, then.
Caryn: I have so many choices here that I can’t stand it! Okay, you know the thing that will boil the food poisoning out of it? Bring that. I’ll be waiting in the van.
Mister Toad: I’m still waiting on my gingerbread latte.
Sarah: Well, I suppose I would have to quote this horribly racist thing: “I hope an Indian doesn’t run off with your Thanksgiving dinner!”

5. I’ll tell you my first/clearest memory of you.

Linus: Well, I got this e-mail about Utata-ing my photograph of fireflies in a jar. I remember that it made my day, even at that point in the summer when my days were basically unmakeable, so I was really happy for the switch.
Waterhot: Writing a Britney-inspired sketch in return for Blogathon sponsorship and thinking “I don’t really know this person and this is kind of tarty. Oh well!”
Piph: I remember having this conversation with you about boys and ridiculousness and thinking that we should be friends, and then we were friends, so it all worked out really well. Hurrah!
Dale: You commented on my blog and I clicked over to your Flickr photostream and liked what I saw.
Alicia: There was some stupid controversy happening on LitKicks, back when LitKicks was the breeding ground for stupid controversies, and you said something that was brilliantly sarcastic and right on the money, and I liked you so much.
Caryn: I don’t know, we were probably talking about something and saying things like “That’s stupid! Hahaaaaaa!” So I choose instead to pick this memory: standing on the fire escape of Levi’s apartment, talking, smoking cigarettes and looking out as summer and New York stretched out in front of us, knowing that we were good friends, even though we hadn’t been around each other that long. Yeah. Real good.
Mister Toad: I believe you sent me a report card grading me on my writing and web design. I don’t think I did that well, but hey, go figure, hm?
Sarah: You sat next to me in that Race/American Lit class, and I would sometimes turn to you and say things like “What the hell?” especially when Judy would hand out the assignments for papers and stuff.

6. I’ll tell you what animal you remind me of. (Or not, because I am Cheater McGee.) Colors and beverages, people. Colors and beverages.

Linus: Hm. I want to cheat on this particular one, because people don’t really remind me of animals. Things like colors and beverages, yes. Animals, not so much. So I could say that you remind me of an antelope, or something, but I’d just be lying. As such, I am going to cheat and say very dark green, and a nice robust ale. I like Bell’s Amber, which is from the Kalamazoo Brewing Co., and is quite nice indeed. Don’t think it’s available in NYC, however.
Waterhot: If I were to pick an animal, I’m sure it would be something tall. But since I’m blatantly flaunting the rules of the meme, I’m going to say a very precise blue, the color the sky gets on extremely sunny January days. And port.
Piph: A silvery grey (that is very heavily weighted toward the silvery) and Corona, with lime.
Dale: That sparkling blue-green that is the color of bodies of very clear water, and iced tea with lemon and one of those little umbrellas, because sometimes iced tea needs to be festive.
Alicia: A kind of mercury-green and vodka tonics.
Caryn: Orange-red, which is not the same as red-orange. And pi�a coladas. Of course.
Mister Toad: Lemon yellow, which logically leads me to lemonade.
Sarah: Pink and margaritas.

7. I’ll ask you something that I’ve always wondered about you.

Linus: So, how did you get into the whole burlesque thing?
Waterhot: How did you end up in Switzerland?
Piph: How exactly did you end up with a job that actually sends you to places like Fiji? No, really. Because if I didn’t know you, I wouldn’t even believe that jobs like that even existed.
Dale: What is your personal theme song?
Alicia: Metaphor vs. punctuation in a steel cage. Who wins?
Caryn: Dan Quayle?
Mister Toad: Seriously, what is your deal?
Sarah: I just need to know if I’m the only person who thinks this — is the English degree a complete waste of time?

Random, Part the Second

Last night, I made the best dinner ever in the history of dinner. I did. Because I am awesome and multi-talented that way. The crowning achievement was the squash, which was sweet, spicy, and, um, squashy all at the same time. Now, I am an unabashed squash lover — zucchini, yellow squash, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, butternut squash — and I especially love the autumn varieties, because they’re good for those slightly chilly fall evenings.

Anyway, last night, I was thinking that I had this squash I needed to cook and I also had some other stuff that I needed to get rid of, so it was time for an experiment. I do a lot of experimental cooking, and sometimes this turns out well, and sometimes I end up saying “Well, I’m never making that again” but at least I have an adventurous palate (even though I won’t eat things like olives or mushrooms). I was talking to Caryn about this last night, and she asked me today how my squash turned out (yes, these are the thrilling conversations we have) and since it was absolutely smashing, she suggested I share my recipe with the world. So I will. Because why not, right?

1 acorn squash
1 cup fresh habanero salsa (this is very hot — if you’re a pansy about spicy food, get something less hot… but it still needs to be fresh and not the crap you get in jars)
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/4 cup slivered almonds

Cut squash in half, remove & discard seeds. Fill each half with 1/2 cup of the salsa, 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar. Place squash halves face down on a baking sheet (cover baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup) and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until tender. Turn them over, refill with any salsa that came out during the turning process, sprinkle with almonds and additional brown sugar. Serve hot.

Yes, it’s true. I have delusions of Martha Stewart grandeur.

In any case, I’m going to stop writing this post now because I hate it.

The end.

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