I’m in Heaven!

 

Finally, after more than a month without cable and Internet at my house I have it Wow, you never really now what you got til it’s gone. Let’s just say I got watch a lot of local news, semi-entertaining sitcoms, and even ice skating during my 30-plus days on the rabbit ears.

Alex, the friendly Russian U-Verse man set it up bright and early this morning. This was only after two other AT&T techs came out to get some install work done. So far, so good. The picture looks good, the recording function seems cool, and I have some 300 channels! I’m rather clueless when it comes to technical electrical stuff. I’m just happy that I can now catch up on some of my favorite shows like Top Chef, AND the Big Love premier, which comes on HBO this Sunday! OOOO how I love catty chefs and polygamists!!

Now you must excuse me, I have some TV watching to do.

Longhorns, Cotton, Red Raiders and Tumbleweeds….a winning combo

My trip out to West Texas for the Texas Tech vs OSU game was awesome. It was a thrill to get back on campus and and watch the No. 2 team in the nation at work! I haven’t seen Tech fans so energized. It was great to see. 

Pre-game activities included a visit to my family’s farm. We fed the cows, walked around in the cotton and hunted down a few tumbleweeds for my friend, Holly, who wanted to take an authentic West Texas Tumbleweed home with her. 

 

New House

So we didn’t quite get it together in time to buy a house, but we decided instead to rent a house in a neighborhood we love. We move in on Dec. 1. It’s a cute little  bungalow with 2 bedrooms and a nifty loft bonus room/attic space. Decorating ideas welcome. The exterior is this funky color that I’m calling avocado/salsa verde green. 

This is Lindsey, our new neighbor/landlady.

The kitchen is a little small…but the sacrifices you make to live in a cool neighborhood.

The front door.

The loft space up the spiral staircase. Not really sure what’s going to be put up in here…but we will see.

I’m so gay for Sarah Silverman

Sarah Silverman, the Jewy chick that can make me laugh no matter my mood is back on Comedy Central this week with the third season of The Sarah Silverman Program. Fart lovin’, cringe inducing, gross out, racist humor…yay!

Watch it! If you don’t like it, you’re a douche nozzle.

Wednesday 9:30 pm central

A is for Autumn and Apples!

 

Photos by La tartine gourmande

On this first day of Fall I celebrate the apple…..more specifically, Honeycrisp Apples. It may still be 90 degrees here in Texas but one bite of these yummy fruits and it’s automatically autumn. I like apples but I love Honeycrisps. They are only around once a year, and they are a little more expensive than your old Granny Smiths, Fujis or Washingtons, but they are definitely worth it. They are sweet, tart and the texture is just right. They are great raw or dipped in a little peanut butter….yum! Plus they are really pretty. Beautifully pink peach with flecks of yellow, green and orange. Toss a few in a wooden bowl and let them pull double duty as a nice centerpiece (before you eat them all).

A Tribute to Galveston

So. It’s been a week since Hurricane Ike smashed the Texas Coast and made a horrible path of destruction all the way up to New England (a coworker’s parents have even been out of power in Pennsylvania for days due to the storm!)

I lived and worked in Galveston for a short time and my husband attended Texas A&M University at Galveston there and lived all over the Island, including a cute little house on the canal in Jamaica Beach. His folks have a beautiful home there on the West End and we visit often (see previous post about recent trip here). It’s like a little second home for us. We are still unsure how their house faired. We have NOT been able to return. This week has been pretty stressful and hurtful and I’m not even in the middle of it all. Maybe that is why it’s so hard. I feel helpless and disconnected. I’ve been pouring over Internet and TV coverage, trying to make sense of it all. In the process I decided to make a little photo slideshow.  

 

I found a great song, “Galveston,” performed by Jimmy Webb. The song was actually made famous by Glenn Campbell and I think it’s about a Vietnam War vet, but I still think it’s a beautiful, emotional song that works here.

I also was inspired by this photo taken this week at the venerable seafood restaurant, Gaidos, on the Seawall in Galveston. The good folks there served a free lunch to more than 1,000 first responders. How wonderful. I think the sign says it all.

Keep Galveston in Your Thoughts

Fierce Models, Wack-a-Doodle fashion designers: I’m Hot for Fashion TV.

 

Hey, Girrrl, hey!!

Wednesday must be my favorite night for TV right now. With America’s Next Top Model premeiring tonight and Project Runway in midseason I’m in seam rippin, fashion reality heaven. I am no fashion queen, but I loves me some tragic fashion television programing. The wackier the better. Pre-op transgender models? Bring it on.

can you believe this chick is actually a dude?

Blue-haired dress makers who talk in third person? I’m there.  

As with my previously mentioned love of depressing TV, I too am fascinated with fashion TV. And maybe the two subgenres of reality TV aren’t that far apart.

ah, suede, you’re such a wack-a-doodle.

Depressing TV takes me away to another place filled with drug addicts, dying children, and old people ….albeit, those are not places I really don’t want to stay for very long. Fashion TV, in all its groan-inducing wackiness too is good just for an hour-long visit.

Take America’s Next Top Model season premiere. What was going on in the first hour of the two hour show? Tyra-bot and Alpha Jay and Beta Jay were just too much. Each cycle they try to conjure up some theme. This year it was technology (or the future, or aliens, or something) but all those those zaps and beeps and bad special effects during the first round of eliminations were almost enough to switch the channel. But alas, I love ANTM and stayed on to see which quirky, beauty would win over my heart this time. Will it be Elina the Vegan lesbian who is a little intimidating or Marjorie the sweet and awkward French immigrant home schooled girl?

Let the cat fights and groaning begin!

The Bounty of Summer!

Thanks to our good friends who happen to have a garden, the husband and I had a super yummy dinner tonight. Their small garden has produced tons of basil this summer and they were practically begging us to take some of it. We happily accepted a couple of bunches of the leafy green goodness (along with a homegrown red bell pepper or two) and started pondering a use for our garden gift.

I’ve never made pesto before but our buddies said we should try. So we yanked down our Cuisinart and got to work. It was super simple and has inspired us to make more pesto dishes. Here’s all you need:

 

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

 

You just put that in the food processor, pulse it a few times and there you have it! That recipe was enough for a full helping of wheat pasta. I decided to snazz it up by sauteing some cremini mushrooms, onions and red bell peppers. It was so good and I’m already looking forward to our next pesto pasta night!

Mad About Mad Men

The swell AMC series, Mad Men, has me hooked. This recent Itunes download has me addicted to the drama set on Madison Ave. in early 1960s Manhattan. It was a time before women’s lib, civil rights and political correctness in the the work place…or anywhere for that matter. But I’m in love with the fedora-wearing, womanizing, scotch-drinking, Lucky-Strike-smoking advertising execs of Mad Men. Hot, clean-shaven and kinda mean…these guys are great. Lead man Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm  is suave, mysterious and strong. Ambitious junior account exec,  Pete Campbell played by Vincent Kartheiser is a fabulously bratty, entitled, sexual harasser.

As for the women of the show…they are glamorous sex kittens who love red lipstick, fur coats and their men. I love watching the show just to see what they are wearing. Secretary Joan Holloway played by Christina Hendricks drips with 60s style in short, tight dresses. Meanwhile, Don’s wife Betty lounges at home in great night gowns and gets dolled up in shimmering cocktail dresses for dinner out on the town with her man.

Catch Mad Men and all its greatness on Sundays at 9 pm Central on AMC.

If you love the show or just love to read and soak up behind-the-scenes type stuff then check out this great article and slide show on the New York Times. The article is fairly long but in it you find out that the actors are safely puffing away on non-tobacco Herbal Ecstacy cigarettes and that the creator of the show chose advertising as a subject because, “it’s a great way to talk about the image we have of ourselves, versus who we really are. And admen were the rock stars of that era, creative, cocky, anti-authority. They made a lot of money, and they lived hard.”