Yeah, where is you all?

I'm in my usual spot on the porch doing my usual thing. Somebody's jackhammering down the block and my neighbor's underwear is swaying in the gentle breeze on the clothesline. The jackhammer noise and occasional freight train forces me to turn my music to create a sonic maelstrom of sorts.

I'm right here. I was just evaluating my library's collection of body-modification-related materials. Also I'm looking forward to lunch. What's the word, Specklet?

I'm over here playing You Don't Know Jack instead of working. Somebody slap me.

Now there's a helicopter hovering. Is this Queens or Baghdad?

I'm around, quietly.

maybe it's LA.

I'm working on a stupid fucking grant application.

hrm. A fucking grant.

Now that would be more interesting.

assuming Grant is into that sort of thing.

Wow, I used to have You Don't Know Jack on some old machine about ten years ago! Completely forgotten about it until now...

box, the word is "twitterpated".

gaspode, my sister was just awarded (and I kid you not) the Cock Grant.

I'd like to get one of those fucking genius grants.

what's good for breakfast that I can eat at my desk at work?

Bagel with something smeared on it?

Slice of Pizza?

mmm. pizza sounds good. None available until 11:30 though. I will check to see what kind is today's. Bagels make me crabby. I don't know why.

I've just been arbitrarily away for a while. Coming back after an absence is harder because of the shame of turning one's back on mecha for no good reason. I'll fpp about pants now.

gaspode, my sister was just awarded (and I kid you not) the Cock Grant.

*walks up to woman at bar...
"Hi gorgeous, I'm here to award you the Cock Grant"...

...mops drink off face*

eww. squash pizza. maybe not.

no Pizza before noon? Fucking California, man.

Also, I got my New York drivers liscence in the mail yesterday. I look like a wanted poster. and I learned that heavy duty flavoring can help me overcome my almond aversion.

Oatmeal raisin bar?

I'm having a smoothie (blueberries, strawberries, yogurt, and a splash of oj) and contemplating lunch while I bake some almond teacakes to take when we go to see the fella's family this weekend. If time allows, I'll make a batch of my new recipe for chocolate loaf cake, too.

Hating my job is taking up a LOT of my time.

gaspode, my sister was just awarded (and I kid you not) the Cock Grant.

Oh how I envy her CV.

box, the word is "twitterpated"

Is that something to do with Twitter?

"underwear is swaying in the gentle breeze" reminded me of this gallery of lost laundry.

Mmmm, almond teacakes and chocolate loaf cake sound yummy. Better than the plain old turkey & cheese sandwich I'm having for lunch. I should take the dog out for a walk. He'd like that.

I had a roommate who made sourdough chocolate muffins and they were AMAZING! (but only if you like sour-y flavors).

Oatmeal raisin bars sound do-able. I've had a croissant habit that I'm trying to break. They taste amazing but they aren't great as fuel.

jon, you're supposed to look terrible on your license so that when they pull you over you don't look more fucked up than your photo.

hi everyone *waves*

i am temping for a large downtown real estate brokerage firm this week.

i just finished typing & editing eight pages' worth of one of the more scarily-formatted and obscurely-worded documents i've had the (dis)pleasure of working on. someone seriously needs to consult their chicago manual of style. and bone up on their business english. and perhaps crack open a thesaurus to boot. sheesh.

the plus is i just got handed an actual, significant cash tip for saving the girl's bacon on whom the project got last-minute dumped. which means i can now go splurge on lunch! mmm, ima get me some kickass muffaletta @ the Market Deli!!

jon, you're supposed to look terrible on your license so that when they pull you over you don't look more fucked up than your photo.

Heh. I actually don't drive anymore, but i renewed it just so I don't have to retake a road test should I ever want to drive again.

ima get me some kickass muffaletta

our local Greek diner recently expanded their menu and one of the new items was called a 'Devil's Muffuletta,' grilled cajun chicken, ham, swiss cheese and chili on a hero. No resemblance to an actual muffuletta, but it was tasty. When I ordered this over the phone the waitress said in a thick accent 'Da Waaaat?' I'm like, it's your menu, people.

Can I please have an almond teacake?

Is that something to do with Twitter?
Nope. Think Bambi.

dude i dunno if this is greek, east coast style, some cowtown denverite abortion, or what. the Market is purported by those in the know to be one of the few 'real' east coast style delis in town, and all i know is their cold cuts are phenomenal. the muffaletta has bologna, provolone, pepperoni and a pile of fresh lettuce, tomato, and sweet onion on it, but what kicks it over the edge and into the divine ethereal halls of scrumptiousness is the giNORmous spoonload of 'greek slaw' whateverthefrackthatis that they dump on top, in all its wine-vinegar dripping, feta cheese and olive-infested gloriousness.

Thinking of a spoonload of 'greek slaw' makes my CV wet for some reason.

I'm here, I just have a lot of work and thinking and stuff to do. It's been busy and I'm in serious one-day-at-a-time mode. I keep checking in and feeling like I don't have any comments or posts burning a hole in my pocket, so I'm being farily quiet over here.

Is that something to do with Twitter?
Nope. Think Bambi

Oh noes, someone's going to die soon.

spoonload of 'greek slaw'

I'm sure it's good, but I live in one of the Greek-est neighborhoods in America (although this being Queens, we've got a little bit of just about everything else, too. this borough is like a live-action version of the It's a Small World Ride at Disneyland but with cursing and smog) and I've never heard of Greek Slaw. Most of the Greeks in the neighborhood are fairly recent immigrants or first-generation American. We get a lot of souvlaki, gyros, codfish, and spanakopita, that kind of stuff.

This is a fairly typical Greek menu around here.

"... the muffaletta has bologna, provolone, pepperoni and a pile of fresh lettuce, tomato, and sweet onion on it, but what kicks it over the edge and into the divine ethereal halls of scrumptiousness is the giNORmous spoonload of 'greek slaw' whateverthefrackthatis that they dump on top, in all its wine-vinegar dripping, feta cheese and olive-infested gloriousness."
posted by lonefrontranger 25 May | 12:34

Wow. I'll have what she's having.

You're missing your calling, lfr. Surely there's a spot on some Colorado rag for a good food critic...

Jon, I'm droooooling!

yeah, it made me hungry too, so I went to the key food and bought some three-pepper hummus and crackers. I wanted some of this (tried it last week, it's delicious) but they were out and I got the Smores flavor instead).

But Astoria is the best neighborhood for Greek/Cypriot eats in the Northeast.

I have been asking and answering far too many innane, random questions at a new question site: wis.dm

Where is everybody?

Funny you should ask, jonmc. I'm at my desk, collapsing ending net receivables, unused lines, and unadjusted and adjusted risk-weighted asset estimates into region and product class in pivot tables, and wishing BiggyBank would upgrade from Excel 2003 to the '07 model ('07 is sweet: not only can you have exponential shitloads more fields in a worksheet, but table formatting is a snap. You can create your own pivot table styles, for chrissakes! Life is tedious without it).

Though I just ate a decidedly undelicious Subway sandwich for lunch, I'm hungry for Greek food now. The first two places I can remember eating Greek food were The Camel's Hump in Rehoboth Beach, DE, and Mount Olympus in Lexington Market, Baltimore, MD, just across from Faidley's Seafood.

Speaking of Lexington Market, may I introduce you to the Unburger?

I was at work. I am at home.

It is 91º here in Warwick.
91º. In May.

So I'm currently sitting here with a hot laptop on my lap, dying.

box, the word is "twitterpated"

Is that something to do with Twitter?

Is that something relevent to Ceiling Cat's viewing interests?

Citrusfreak, try a bag of frozen peas!

mmm muffaletta managed.

oh and i forgot to mention: the french baguette style roll they pile all that onto? omg their bread is good... and nicely waterproof to sop up all that slaw dressing. you still gotta eat the damn thing with a fork tho.

jonmc, i'm not being a devil's advocate, just, as a mainly-midwesterner, i really do wanna know: what in merry green hell *is* in a 'real' muffaletta, anyways? and how're you supposed to spell it?

kidding aside i think youall would dig this joint. it's sort of the bricks-n-mortar version of what i picture ethylene's night bus to be. it's old. it's dingy inside. it has marble columns, creaky off-level hardwood floors, a native pink granite stoop and wrought iron. it has a big glass baywindow facade, picture rails, high ceilings, horrible acoustics, shelfloads of books, pigeonholes full of indie and community free press rags, and lots of little nooks and crannies to explore. there's an espresso bar downstairs with rickety wire cafe tables, and that old black-and-white soda-shop style tiled floor that gets slippery as snot anytime it rains (which isn't often here), where they pull some of the best shots this side of heaven. sometimes they play classical music over the air, sometimes 80's avant-garde, sometimes indie rock, sometimes creedence, sometimes mariachi/nortena, and sometimes dylan & the doors - it prolly depends on whether it's the artschool kids, the genX management, the boomer owners or the old hispanic dudes that work there whose ipod got plugged into the sound system. weekend nights they've been known to do live acoustic gigs or open mic. the clientele is a mix of every demographic known to denver, from the elegant old-money crowd in their brooks bros, to the twentysomething up-and-comers with killer heels, pressed shirts, and/or gucci everything, to the highlands library-chic (plaid, converse, horn-rims), to bike messengers (plugs, tattoos, frayed dickies).

upstairs is where the real business of food gets done tho - walk thru the cafe and up some wide old hardwood stairs and holy schwing, the deli case... it's huge, foursquare and five foot tall, and it takes over the entire centre of the building. the holy altar to all that is scrumptious is crammed with pretty much any possible thing you can imagine: soup, cold cuts, meatloaf, falafel, chicken wings, potato salad, babba ganouj, curried this-n-that, pickles, devilled eggs, baked potatoes, green salads, jello stuff, chili, hand dipped ice cream, sherbet, sorbet, brownies, cookies, gourmet chocolate bonbons, cupcakes, eclairs, muffins, every flavour bread known to god... younameit. what isn't stuffed inside is piled on top: jordan almonds, belgian chocolates, green coffee beans waiting to be roasted, yoghurt raisins, peppermint patties, jawbreakers, penny candy, licorice and flavours of jellybeans i didn't know existed.

oh and they serve bottled import beer and wines by the glass or by the bottle as well.

basically, from what i can tell, if they don't got it, you don't want it. oh hell, who'm i kidding, here's a link.

thanks paulsc, i appreciate it. i'll see if the post is hiring (lol).

Breakfast/lunch ended up being a steak burrito. Just so you know.

I was at a doctor's appointment. I'm kind of numb right now.

literally?

jonmc, i'm not being a devil's advocate, just, as a mainly-midwesterner, i really do wanna know: what in merry green hell *is* in a 'real' muffaletta, anyways? and how're you supposed to spell it?

It's actually a New Orleans thing, involving olive salad, that has nothing to do with Greek cuisine. Cold Chef is your man on that one.

i was at work...cooking something other than muffalettas.

more like omelettes and burritos and over easy eggs and sausage and pancakes and french toast and jambalaya...

ugh..i smell like food...

i am now going to drink beer...

Ah, Cock Grant. That explains why the security on my high school's computers blocked the thread.

I also intend to win one of those genius grants someday (course, genius that I am, I forget what they're called).

Now I'm going to go sit on the couch in my underwear in the air conditioning with a pint of Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake and watch the Simpsons with my honey. Spoon, anyone?

I'm in Arizona, not fucking smoking.

No, not literally. Mentally. Got some news I didn't expect.

ugh. That can't be good. I hope you'll tell us when you feel up to it.