June 2011
2 posts
“Blood makes the grass grow.”
– Variously attributed
Employ with severe discretion
An All-Purpose DIY Anxiolytic and Dopaminergic Tonic. The curative properties of this formula must not be underestimated. Its sincere and faithful application guarantee speedy relief of plaints relating to vapors, hysterias, moon-sickness, unrequited love, intestinal binding, dropsy and ague.
You shall require:
One (1) bicycle
One (1) portable music player with headphones
The most righteously...
December 2010
1 post
1 tag
“Show me someone who likes their meat overcooked and I will show you a picky...”
– A well-done steak isn’t a food choice: it’s a crime | Life and style | The Observer
November 2010
1 post
Women like Sarah Palin are calling themselves... →
The older definition is what I mean by it - a woman with a fixed residence who’s tasked with helping to keep its shit together.
September 2010
3 posts
New blood
It’s my pleasure to introduce Kyle Strickland, woodsman, runner, and Missourian, as sometime contributor to PRHW. Kyle wrote a great post about death in gardening and I’m looking forward to more.
Tumblr has some silly set-up where you can’t add members to your primary blog, but I’m gonna try to work around that somehow. The last thing I want to do is move all these posts...
1 tag
Gardening as a primer to the natural order
I take no issue with other folks’ dietary restrictions, but regardless of what you eat or why you choose to eat that way the taking of life is inseparable from the process. Exhibit A: my dad’s garden.
This is the first summer my parents’ house has been without a pet of one kind or another. When we gave my beagle to my uncle so she could run on a farm the raccoons started...
August 2010
7 posts
Yosemite Road Chardonnay 2010?
Chardonnay
California
2010?
Smells like: spoiled apple juice
Price: $2-6
ABV: 12.5%
M and I bought this with four of our last twelve dollars on our bike ride home from the Y. Apparently 7-11 wine is the new Charles Shaw or something. It tastes all right; I really can’t say like what. If being a Chardonnay were a class, this stuff would get a perfect C average. The minute it hits your...
Customer: You're so smart, why are you waiting tables?
Me: I dunno. Go get a linguistics degree and find out.
Fine Cell Work : Prison Stories →
Even I can’t be snooty about needlework in this context. PRHW identifies with many of these depressive stories.
Does repetitive, mindful/mindless work help you ease psychic or personal dysfunction? Is it more in the spirit of meditation or in that of accomplishment, or are both important? I hate all housework but caring for my plants, which entails both.
Literacy
Me: The U.S. Constitution makes really good toilet reading.
M: Why do you think I'm a libertarian?
Everyone should wait until they're 26 to read...
I did. Most persons in the English-reading universe read it at the behest of some cagey high school teacher (or, I shudder to think, after Googling their latest favoritest Top 40 hits and finding their derivation; to be fair I once did this with R.E.M. lyrics and hope I’m a little better read for it)
In School, it’s sexy and stimulating to think you understand the idea of a...
Ridiculous question
What exactly is Woolite? We have a bottle of it under the sink. It just says “Woolite” - nowhere on the bottle does it self-identify as fabric softener, laundry detergent, flesh or fish or good red herring. I want to know if I can use it to wash clothes.
Westchester Man to Run 100 Marathons in 140 Days... →
July 2010
47 posts
1 tag
Korean-Style Tacos Move From West to East -... →
I’m usually deeply skeptical of all things fusion, and I wish Korean food didn’t have to be veiled in other-ethnic-food to “go mainstream” in America. Nevertheless, these sound really good.
Also: “Portlandize”?
1 tag
1 tag
Thank you M.
Me: Hang on, let me look up something good to do with frozen spinach.
M: Throw it away?
2 tags
I tried to roast some garlic and it came out all...
Garlic is one of my favorite things on earth, but of course, I can’t cook. Normally I just chop some up, throw it in my rice or soup or stew beef, and don’t mind much when it comes out burninated or underdone. So when I read about “osso buco with mashed garlic bulb au gratin” or, more prosaically, Anthony Bourdain’s exhortations about how dead simple it is to roast...
Introducing Cornucopia, the food printer →
I’m not by nature an early adopter, but I will probably make an exception for this.
Man decorates basement with $10 worth of Sharpie -... →
I want to do this in the kitchen.
Is Picky Eating an Early Sign of Autism? - Yahoo!... →
I knew it.
Chicago White Sox vs. Minnesota Twins - Recap -... →
UNF
Maple Bacon Coffee →
Where does M find this stuff?
Hearts don't break/The division is innate
Yesterday night M and I cycled over to the Y to work out. He’s an inveterate jock; I’ve been known to dabble in martial arts, kick a ball around, and yell at the Sox game. Mostly I ride my bike. I’m trying to get rid of this tummy, while he’s trying to cement his already-uncanny resemblance to certain gladiators as he coasts up on his thirties. I therefore do about 80/20...
1 tag
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Compost glasnost
So here’s my compost as of the 12th:
I think you can see those Alaska peas that didn’t make it, some photosynthetically unfortunate tomato leaves, banana peels, coffee grounds, some old garlic and various cutting-board scrapings in there. Since, I’ve added green Bell pepper remnants.
About my compost, I keep wondering: when and how am I supposed to use this stuff? The time...
1 tag
What is up, hyacinths!
A few months ago some random, wavy-leaved bulbs appeared out of nowhere in M’s aquarium. I thought they were water hyacinths. M was skeptical. Last week he put them outside in a glass water pot. Last night they were showing a few shy fuchsia petals.
This morning?
The hell you say, those aren’t water hyacinths.
Amazon.com: Cookin' with Coolio: 5 Star Meals at a... →
What.
What car is punk rock? →
All and none of these, obviously.
3 tags
Recipe: Cheddar, pinto bean and carrot pepper...
Although between us I’m the one who lived in Mexico for six months, M is a devoted practitioner of the quesadillic arts. He never doesn’t want a folded tortilla with melted cheese and sundry other items up ins. He likes them with store-bought shredded “Mexican” or sharp cheddar “cheese,” chorizo cooked to foie-gras texture, grilled Bell peppers, and lately,...
Cogs and Ink: Steampunk Tattoo Designs that Wow |... →
Some of these are terrific. I especially like the biomech arms.
2 tags
Chili Pepper Chocolate Cookies
jwannie:
Chili and chocolates are a classic pair. Have you ever had them together in a cookie?
Read More
Oh, damn. I’m not a baker by nature, but I might have to try these.
Run for the border
Taco Bell farts smell exactly like Taco Bell food.
1 tag
Long before nuclear Gaga boobs...
Remember that foxy, butch Vasquez character from Aliens?
In real life she’s Jewish and owns a large-size brassiere company.
1 tag
No loot, no booze, no fun
Yesterday was my 26th birthday! M, his little sister B and I went to Irish Fest and saw the Tossers. As always they put on a terrific show, although the Jim Beam I’d smuggled in to mix with lemonade got moshed all over me by some white-hat buffoon.
Tony. He kept hocking foot-long loogies all night. The rest of the band, and I, were pretty concerned for him. Kept singing like an angel,...
1 tag
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The Glorious Revolution
2 oz Hendrick’s or other very good gin
1 can Hansen’s or other no-HFCS orange soda
lime wedge
Pour soda over gin in glass. Garnish with lime wedge. Feel erudite.
1 tag
Mosquito bites
Protip: to alleviate itchy mosquito bites, use your sharpest nail to make an X in the surface of the bite (best if you break skin) and dab a bit of Tabasco or other hot sauce on the cut. It’ll burn for about two seconds but never itch again.
2 tags
51 Uses for Coca-Cola – the Ultimate List →
I’ve actually used a few of these. Now, anyone know where I can get real-sugar Coke in the greater Chicago area?
Men active around the household are more... →
They don’t mention the simple fact that no woman feels like screwing after spending hours on housework.