BingBongBoom!!!
A place for anything and everything that comes to mind.
NYC=Broadway
Sure there's the Statue of Liberty. There's also a little thing called the Empire State Building. Times Square? Yeah, heard of that one, too. But for this Midwesterner, there's only one reason to visit New York City:
BROADWAY!
We were only supposed to be able to see one show, but husband was so generous that we got to see two. Now that might not seem a lot to you, but two shows in three days is pretty good odds, yo!
Xanadu might just be a failed 1981 musical starring Olivia Newton-John, but it's found a new home on the Great White Way. And, it was absolutely FANTASTIC. It was so much more entertaining and wonderful than it had any right to be (considering it's humble failing roots). So funny, so lighthearted, so big, bright, and bold: it was made for Broadway! If you don't leave the theater with a smile glued onto your face, then you just don't have a bone that can be entertained in your body...or you could've been the dude sitting next to me.
And what's visiting Broadway without a little Stephen Sondheim...and what if that Sondheim starred Miss PATTI LuPONE!?! Would you just die??? Well, you probably wouldn't, but I almost did when Martin gave me permission to pick a second musical and said it could be Gypsy, Broadway's tale of the original stage mom(/monster). Oh, Miss Patti, hot off her Tony win, was simply beautiful...even if she was in Isotoners the whole time. I was in musical heaven.
TRY THIS!
I implore you to try the following recipe from FN doll, Giada de Laurentiis: Orecchiette with Mini-Chicken Meatballs. It was simple, easy, and SO DELICIOUS! Don't be scared with the pasta cut, "orecchiette." I just used a small cut shell pasta instead. We had it for dins yesterday, and I'm still dreaming of eating it. Thank goodness there are leftovers! There's no heavy tomato sauce involved, so it's perfect for a summer time dish. In fact, I bet it's also great cold.
My only advice: cut back on the cheese and some calories. You don't need as much in the meatballs as is called for, and you don't need extra on top...of course, if you're a true Italian cook, you're probably thinking I'm completely out of line suggesting it, but it is just that, a SUGGESTION.
Seriously, give it a shot!
I'm Baaaaaaaaaack!
Hello, friends & neighbors!
After a long absence, which included trips to the fair Cape of Girardeau, NYC, and our nation's fair capital, I am back and ready to write! The beginning of summer has had it's ups (my trips!) and downs (flooding, car & elliptical trouble, softball team still losing), but with two months of freedom left, I'm rarin' to keep you entertained.
Over the next few days, expect to be entertained with some awesome stories* of NYC/DC, and after that? Well, I'm sure I'll come up with some inane topics. :)
And the following picures is just to get you ready for July 18...and maybe a leetle bit scared, too?
*Well, let's face it: We all know they're really just gonna be ramblings.
Happy Birth...WTF!?!
Dear Ms. Winedrunk,
You are cordially invited to sing at the 90th Birthday of one of the most inspirational and ifluential figures of the 20th and early 21st centuries, Nelson Mandela. We would love for you to come and celebrate with us and perhaps sing a couple of ditties in celebration. Dress will be formal; nothing too outlandish, mind you.
We look forward to seeing you, and we hope you comply with our dress code wishes.
Sincerely...
Red Dawn
Everytime I watch I Love the 80's: 3D (and believe me, I think I've seen all episodes in their entirety about five times), I ask myself, "Self, why haven't I seen 80's Cold War classic 'Red Dawn?'" I mean, it stars several 80's icons: Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Grey (pre-cut up), and Lea Thompson. It has a horrible premise: Ruskies invading the great U.S.of A. to take our corn!?! I mean, c'mon! How have I NOT seen this??? The 80's teen dream team take those Ruskies down. USA! USA! And, it also co-stars Harry Dean Stanton! Hello! "Dream a Little Dream?" "One Magic Christmas?" Anyone? He's the coolest and creepiest at the same time (see: "Big Love").
I think I know what's going to the top of my Queue. Seriously: I'm gonna go do it right now before I forget again. Cause the next time I see I Love the 80's: 3D, I'm gonna be able to say, "Yep, I've seen that."
But I Don't Live There!
This is my response to Husband everytime he reminds me of the gas prices in the UK. Today he sent me the following image to let me know that we shouldn't complain about our gas prices as much.
Now everyone at once: BUT WE DON'T LIVE THERE!
Or we could all move to Venezuela. Niiiiiiiiiiice!
Clues to Summer
There are certain clues around my house that let you know it's summer (in case the continually escalating heat wasn't clue enough). First of all, I've posted two days IN A ROW! It must be summer! No papers to grade, meetings to attend, parents to call...all my attention can be put on you, dear reader. Clue number two is that the TV is constantly tuned to 42--Food Network on the Champaign Comcast feed. For the next couple of clues, I have some visual aids. Visual aids=FUN!!!
Check out all the fresh produce in the fridge!
Grapes, fresh homemade salsa (made today by yours truly), cucumber, mushrooms, Bing cherries, pineapple, watermelon!!! I'm going to have so much fun eating all that! And, do you all love my Rachael Ray Magazine photo!?! I sure do. Hey, FoodNetworkAddict, your next contest should be people sending in pictures of their fridges, a la RayRay!
Look at my counter and stove top! All ready to prepare dinner! The pot and pan are laid out (and, yes, the fruit bowl to the right of the stove is full, too!), the chicken is defrosting, and all ingredients are ready to be chopped up, opened up, or cooked up. BTW, we'll be dining on chicken enchiladas with salsa verde and pinto beans tonight. Uh-huh: delicious. Just in case something goes wrong, I consult the Messes & Successes section in the RayRay magazines that are stacked up on the toaster, cause really, who needs toast when you have RayRay's help? Ah, I love spending summer time in the kitchen!
How do you know it's summer? :)
1968
For me, a child born in 1979, it is impossible to comprehend what the year 1968 meant to the people who lived through it. I once asked my mother how she made it through the year, and she said she was still unsure how so many did. It was a year rocked with tragedy that few even speak of today. No history class I ever had studied the tumultuous events of that year in America's history. Amidst the Civil Rights movement, a violent Democratic Party Convention, and participation in the VietNam war, we lost two giants among men, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bobby Kennedy.
During a week in which history has been made, with the light at the end of one of the darkest tunnels being a man of integrity who is a spiritual son of both King and Kennedy, it makes sense to meditate on and remember that year. To live for and to believe in this nation is something that quite a few have had trouble doing lately, but when you pause and think about the change that could occur in the next six months, an electric current of hope should run up and down your spine. Let this spark of hope, initiated by two men 40 years ago, linger in your mind and heart, not the devastation of assassination.
Xanadu might just be a failed 1981 musical starring Olivia Newton-John, but it's found a new home on the Great White Way. And, it was absolutely FANTASTIC. It was so much more entertaining and wonderful than it had any right to be (considering it's humble failing roots). So funny, so lighthearted, so big, bright, and bold: it was made for Broadway! If you don't leave the theater with a smile glued onto your face, then you just don't have a bone that can be entertained in your body...or you could've been the dude sitting next to me.
And what's visiting Broadway without a little Stephen Sondheim...and what if that Sondheim starred Miss PATTI LuPONE!?! Would you just die??? Well, you probably wouldn't, but I almost did when Martin gave me permission to pick a second musical and said it could be Gypsy, Broadway's tale of the original stage mom(/monster). Oh, Miss Patti, hot off her Tony win, was simply beautiful...even if she was in Isotoners the whole time. I was in musical heaven.
