Oh, Lori, I so wish I could join you in the Florida now. I'll go check the concerts in a park...

I am presently cooking. Some garbanzos with veggies and a curry sauce of my making. I'll cool it and take it to the Riverside for lunch-on-the-grass.

I might attempt to Ratatuille the gang later. It's all gourmet it seems.

I need to do some work at one point. Tonight or tomorrow.

There is a corona, lonely and cool in my fridge. Every time I open to get something, it is staring me in the eye, all wet and inviting. I crave.

I have a friend I gave an old G4 mac to, that's on it's last legs. I have another friend who has gotten into photography in a big way and is suffering along on a single processor G5. I have a new Mac and my old dual G5. Today, I'm going to go swap the DP G5 for the SP G5 so that photo processing isn't so slow for friend B. Tomorrow, I'm taking the SP G5 to friend A, so that she can have herr music and email back (and probably go to lunch at really, really good Thai restaurant).

I'm going to my little sister's high school graduation party today. I think I'll get raucously drunk and let mr. rossi worry about keeping the kids alive. He won't mind. We rossi girls are fun drunks.

A friend lent me the first series of 24. Never having seen it, I put it on to see what the fuss was about. I watched it until gone 1am this morning and have watched another 5 episodes today. God, it's good.

I went to the green grocer today and saw some chicory that looked really good. So I got some. Anyone got any recipes?!

It's my niece's second birthday tomorrow, so I'm off up to London for a picnic (assuming it doesn't bloody rain again). If it does rain, it'll be a picnic my her parents' place.

I am HOOOOOME ALOOOONE! arrgghh! Runs screaming around the house.
Wilderspog02 is in Athens (having been upgraded to Business class yesterday and will be going down to the beach tomorrow for 3 weeks - he's ecstatic!) WilderHubby is on-call for the ITU & Labour Ward tonight. And just now Wilderspog01 tells me she's going to a Fancy Dress & sleepover. I can't remember the last time I had the house to myself. I'm going to post a thread and get ghost stories and scare myself senseless when the wind blows against the windowpane..... ( its a biggish newish house but the middle floor is wood and it creaks people!)

Oh theDonF just put some roquefort on very lightly blanched chicory, it is simply heaven

After my sister brings Smike back from Dog University, my sisters and I are going to the mall (mainly to check out Sarah Jessica Parker's line at Steve & Barry's) and Super Wal-Mart. Oh, how I love to shop!

Last night: laughing at how bad Episode III is. What a turd.

Today: family unity/photography

Tonight: rock and roll

Tomorrow: writing / recording

Tomorrow night: folk

I'm working! I woke up SUPER tired this morning, but am now surprised at how much two cups of coffee and a shower has woken me up. Tomorrow morning I hope to be a little more ambitious and hit the gym before work.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Currently: cleaning hundreds of vintage mother-of-pearl buttons for a jewelry project I'm devising as I go. The buttons are coated with dust, grime, and sometimes patches of tacky gray-black gunk.

This afternoon: my physical therapy exercises, like every day. If the thunderstorms let up, perhaps a walk around the neighborhood.

Tonight: if it seems wise, I'll do the PT exercises again. I have a follow-up assessment next week, and I want to be strong!

Also tonight, scary movies. Ooooooooo, scary!

Episode III is the best of the newer films. Sure, it's not great, but it's watchable. I'd see it again, which is more than I'd say of I and II. I tried to watch I a second time, but had to turn it off it was so dire.

I drove over to Forest Gate today for a lunchtime AA meeting and a mooch around the shops there, which are more interesting than the ones round here. Forest Gate is a multi-racial area, so there are shops and restaurants selling things from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the West Indies, Africa and, lately, Eastern Europe. They also have a great pound shop, which is something sorely lacking amongst the designer boutiques where I live.

I had to hunt down some hairball medicine for Bailey, who coughed up something vile the other day. Lucy loves the medicine, it's extract of malt with a little liquid paraffin mixed in, but Bailey hates it so I have to smear it on her face to make her lick it off. She hates me now.

[Aside: But it's revenge for her (and Lucy) scaring the crap out of me at 5am yesterday. I was sound asleep when I was awoken by the sound of voices, in my living room. I was just about to reach for the phone to call the police, then I heard the sound of the cats fighting and I realised (and soon discovered) that, not only had they managed to switch on the TV, they'd turned up the volume as well. I'd left the remote on the sofa, which is where they hold Fight Club.]

This evening I had a long chat on the phone with a friend, and am now settled in for the night. 'Jaws' is on TV tonight, and I loooove that movie. It's also the start of a British film season, so I'll see if there's another film I fancy. Otherwise I'll read. I bought three books today for a grand total of £1.20.

Dinner is nearly ready - chicken with garlic mushrooms, with salad, followed by strawberries. I'll try to resist eating all the cherries I bought today, but they look soooo delicious.

I also started some alfalfa seeds in a container for sprouting. I'm not a huge fan of sprouted seeds but I do love alfalfa and it's really easy to grow.

Tomorrow, I have some work to finish, I'll have another kettlebell workout, I may go for a swim, plus the usual laundry, housework and making sure I have everything I need for the week ahead at work.

I've actually already done a lot! Got up, took my bridesmaid dress to get fitted (since I don't have the time to do it myself- takes forever without a dress form just to find someone to help with the pinning), then went to lunch at the Anchor Bar with my roommate (a friend works there).

Then I went to the paint store and got everything I needed to paint my bathroom. Two gallons, rollers, caulk, all that stuff. So I'll be doing that for some hours.

Tonight I'm going to see the Simpsons movie with some friends.

I know this might sound a bit simple but, i'm looking forward to having a dinner of broiled asparagus and a grilled cheese sandwich with a thick slice of tomato tucked inside. I'll have icy cold water, too. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Trying to make up for lost hours of work this week while looking after mrs newKnee chewie. Except this morning I ran a million errands and cleaned the house and haven't yet begun work and it's freaking 4pm. I'm currently distracted by Earth Girls Are Easy (apparently Finland is the capital of Norway), getting ready to work out, and then figure out dinner.

Yesterday afternoon there was a horrendous wreck that shut down multiple lanes of traffic in both directions. Not a good start for the weekend. :/

MonkeyButter, there is nothing simple about summer tomatoes. They shouldn't even be allowed to call the things they sell the rest of the year by the same name.
We had white pizza for lunch, with extra tomatoes, actually. So good. Anchor Bar may be known for their wings, but the white pizza is the one thing they do better than any other place in the city.

Today was massive home-improvement day. We had all the windows in our nearly 60-year-old house replaced with double-pane vinyl sash type windows... the old ones were so far gone that about half of them wouldn't open anymore. So, for most of the day a crew of five guys was ripping out the old windows and hanging the new ones, while I stayed out on the porch out of their way and listened to NPR and drank tea.

Now that they're done, we had to run a couple of errands, and now are about to start moving all the furniture that we'd moved due to the windows, back into place. Then: beer and video games or a movie. (I have this on DVD and am thinking about watching it.)

Tomorrow, I dunno- I have to get a haircut, but other than that, since it's supposed to keep raining (!!), it'll probably be a stay-at-home kinda day.

white pizza . . . *drops head back, mouth open - gurglegurglegurgle*

I just got back from having a day in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. It was my friend Rachel's birthday, and her boyfriend rented out paddleboats for the lake, and picnic tables in the BBQ area. We had bagels and lox and bloody marys for brunch and then onto the paddleboats for a couple of hours (in the hot hot sun) and then wandered around the park eating ice creams. What a fantastic day.

Tonight we are meeting up with a friend who is in town from Houston. Tomorrow is a quiet day. Cleaning, watching some baseball, and I'm playing bridge tomorrow night.

Oh scary movies sounds like the *best* plan! Alas, I think I'm headed to "Hot Fuzz" at the Brew&View (also a good option).

But first! Tooling along the Lake on my NEW BIKE! happy birthday to me!

Jon's working late tonight, so I'm feeling rather lonesome.

I need to cook the chicken I defrosted yesterday so it won't spoil.

There's a tennis match on, but even that's not cheering me up. (I'm happy he's working, of course, and he seems happier, but I miss him. : (

No internet connection on my laptop. Feh.

I painted my toenails purple, and I think they're pretty.

Jon is off the next two days, so yay! : )

I'm slow roasting a chicken on the gas grill, using indirect heat. In another hour and a half, we'll have that with some cornbread pan stuffing, and peas & onions. The dog already got fried gizzard, heart, liver and neck, and knows he'll probably get crispy roast skins after we eat, so he's laying by the kitchen walkway, watchfully waiting.

My 8 year old Frigidaire refrigerator is running its compressor constantly, and it's not because of the defrost timer or the thermostat being bad. Sigh. So, I'm calling a pro Monday, but am prepared to replace it with a new 'fridge, if necessary. It was only a $300 unit, new, so 8 years of use, and 3 moves isn't too bad.

Went to crappy puff doc about Werner Erhard (est, The Forum)--complete with bodyguard (?) for which I had to pay more than the theater's regular price. Had mediocre chicken and grits in Chelsea. Went to gym. Over to well-known bookstore, browsed for a while, bought two books and said hello to jonmc. Had sushi.

but am prepared to replace it with a new 'fridge, if necessary.

paulsc, you deserve one of those huge double-door fridges that has all the right temperature-controlled areas for different foods. Anyone who loves food and cooking as much as you should have a kick-ass fridge.

And what do you mean, the dog gets the crispy chicken skin? That's the best part!

"Anyone who loves food and cooking as much as you should have a kick-ass fridge."

I like freezer on top refrigerators, much more than side-by-sides. Until they are 48" or wider, the doors on side by side models are just too narrow for effective use.

I have no use for through-the-door ice and water, or storing gallon jugs on the door, and I really like nice, simple shelving and crisper drawers, that are super easy to take apart, adjust and clean. An easy to clean fridge is way more important to me, than any other feature, and still, cleaning mine out thoroughly even once every two weeks is a chore I don't relish. I make myself do it, as my brother is notorious for sticking things in the fridge with drips and lids not well fastened, especially on his midnight raids, and he never cleans the fridge.

After ease of cleaning, the next thing I look for is Energy Star compliance, although what I'm seeing is that that doesn't mean as much in terms of efficiency as it did when I bought this box 8 years ago. After that, quiet operation is my next must-have. An easy-to-clean, quiet, efficient freezer-on-top 18 cu. foot fridge in white is the #1 selling model across most appliance lines, so they are actually comparitively cheap. I like good tools that are good values!

"And what do you mean, the dog gets the crispy chicken skin? That's the best part!"

Yes, it can be. But if he gets skins, he's happy, and doesn't whine and beg for chicken meat. I'm guilty of mis-training, as I got him started, feeding him breaded fried chicken skins, out behind the truck, when we'd stop for lunch or dinner on long trips. So, now, whenever he smells chicken, he expects something crispy.