i want to give it justice
i’d like to spend some time to write about the state fair, but for now i just want to get some pics up. a writeup to follow (i hope).
it's that time of year again!
no, not christmas. there are at LEAST 4 months until THAT rolls around!
state fair time!!!
nate and i are going on friday when it’s supposed to be cold and rainy. i’m hoping it will deter the crowds and let us have run of the grounds. old standbys as far as food is concerned. i’m definitely stopping at the blue barn again – that was a great addition! i’d like to get a cannoli this year in addition to the normal stuff (especially that deep-fried milky way, mm mmm).
so, prepare yourself for pics come friday evening or saturday!
what is offensive about me?
my best friend in junior high has defriended me on facebook.
twice.
to which i ask, what is so offensive about my facebook posts (and therefore, i guess, me)? am i too liberal? to libertarian? too weird? too many tattoos? too obsessed with grammar? i don’t have kids and therefore you can’t relate? my cats aren’t cute enough? you didn’t really like me that much in jr. high? i exercise too much? you don’t care about my running? my food is too good looking? i read too many literary books that make you feel inferior? i like too many hick things and make you feel far superior? i spend too much time with my siblings? i’m too much of a nerd? i live in too small of a town? i eat too many minidonuts? you’re jealous of my christmas tree? i’m not religious enough? i’m too crafty? i’m not crafty enough? i hate scrapbooking? (THAT’S GOT TO BE IT.)
in all seriousness, i haven’t talked to the girl in 22 years, so it’s not like it’s a big loss, but it’d be interesting to know why she defriended me and is still friends with all the other people we knew in jr. high (who also left the same time i did).
ah well.
FOODBLOG canning season
OMG WOW this weekend was a whirlwind of cooking. it’s harvest time, so i was canning up a storm, and at the same time i made a cheesecake for a birthday tomorrow at work, ice cream, and fancy ribs and potato salad for supper tonight.
BUT CANNING.
a couple weeks ago i put up a batch of pickles and a batch of tomato sauce. this weekend, i canned another batch of each as well as some pickled green beans and salsa. oh, and blanched some green beans for freezing. i was a canning fool all weekend. i’m glad it’s over. i enjoy doing it, but it’s a lot of work.
book review: "go set a watchman"
“go set a watchman” isn’t a page-turner in the traditional sense. i didn’t feel an overwhelming sense of emotion like i have with some of my favorite books. it isn’t a modern book, and it isn’t a book about the past written in a modern time. it’s a snapshot of time that makes you sit back when finished and say “huh.”
the writing is beautiful; it’s a meandering drawl of a book, like a well-educated southern gentleman taking his time wandering around his words, crafting his sentences so as to lull a person into trusting him, scattering in a selection words you don’t hear in everyday conversation, just to keep you on your toes.
**** below COULD be construed as spoilers, but a lot of it has been in the press anyway***
the haters can complain all they want. “to kill a mockingbird” set a precedent, although this book IS the precedent. because of TKAM, readers have held up atticus finch as an advocate for equal rights. the pedestal was wrongly signed; atticus is an advocate for justice. and here’s the problem with putting atticus finch on a pedestal: he is on the pedestal because scout has put him there, and we read “to kill a mockingbird” from her perspective. this book merely makes that a little bit clearer to the reader. if that makes us a little uncomfortable, then i think ms. montgomery has done her job. (and she did it well.)
wedding time!
i LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE weddings! went to tasha’s wedding this weekend and had tons o’ fun!
top ten reasons why you should not live in the city
1. it’s quiet (when charlie isn’t marble running)
2. you can go out at night and not be afraid of dying
3. you can see the stars
4. the lack of every resource at your fingertips makes you…resourceful
5. golf carts and gators everywhere (is that a positive? i don’t know)
6. your neighbor’s sex den isn’t two inches from your sex den
7. the employees in the stores know you
8. small-town bars
9. fewer emergency vehicles
10. it’s quiet (still)
an ode to 1970s joy of cooking
i think i’ve waxed eloquent about my circa 1970s joy of cooking that contains sections on canning, freezing, making preserves, and even recipes for rabbit.
well, it was that time of year again, so i pulled out my JoC and started canning. got two batches of pickles done and a batch of tomato sauce (and froze some green beans).
green day lyrics go here.
september is going to be a MEAN old month to me.
this year is whizzing by entirely too fast. i can’t believe it’s time to pickle my cucumbers already and think about tomato sauce. crazy! i feel like i can’t grow gourds to save my life. i planted tons of butternut squash and haven’t seen anything yet 🙁 that was the ONLY gourd i cared about! meanwhile, my garden neighbor has pumpkins out the wazoo. ugh.
i am so excited for this weekend. why? because i am doing NOTHING. it will be glorious. i will go to the farmers’ market in winona, do some pickling, do yoga with my mom, maybe go swimming. it’ll be grand.
the right equipment
i know i could run with just myself, my clothes, and my shoes. i know i don’t need all the fancy accoutrement that runners have with them (i don’t count underwear and shoes as fancy). but i like to listen to music while i run. and on long runs, i need that dumb fanny pack to carry water and electrolytes for long runs.
what does this mean? this means i have gone through a LOT of headphones to find ones that work. i’ve used the apple brand (which sophie likes to eat), skull candy, cheapo in-ear, cheapo over-the-ear, not-so-cheapo (but still inexpensive) over-the-ear.
NOTHING is as good as a pair of big ol’ headphones (over-the-WHOLE-ear), but i’ve found that the over-the-ear ‘phones work well.
but that dang cord.
i’ve always wanted to try out a pair of bluetooth to see if it’s worth the fuss. so when one of my amazon review groups had a pair up for grabs, oh boy did i grab. i got a decent pair for a pretty reduced price so i could review them.
after i charged the ‘phones, they were pretty easy to sync with my phone. much easier than trying to sync the selfie stick we got at work! unfortunately for my poor iphone 4s, the gps is bad, so i had to turn off the sync with that and sync with the 3gs to go for my run tonight. it synced just as easily. instead of putting my armband, i shoved my phone in my running fanny pack and took off.
it was a bit choppy at first, but once i got into my running groove and got my pack placement figured out (it’s always such a pain to get situated), it worked like a charm. they have a little flap that sticks in your ear above the earbud that helps to keep it in place, which is nice because i always have problems with just earbuds tending to fall out.
it was nice to not have a cord flopping around in front of my shirt and it was nice to not have to mess around with that armband! i think that was the best part of this! now, granted, if i’m going for a short run, i’ll still wear the armband, but anything is better than nothing!
i still want to test it out with my iphone 4S, since it’s possible the bluetooth on the 3Gs is just a little bit on the crappy side.