Somehow I always forget about this thing

Man alive, I need a personal assistant to update this blog. Lately I've been obsessed with Dexter. Showtime must have some sort of magical formula for dreammakerish TV shows. I find myself strangely enamored of Dexter. I want him to be a successful serial killer. Is that weird? Especially since I'm in the mental health profession?

Totally unrelated... Quote for the week- first person to get it gets bragging rights, etc...

"...ASAP, whatever that means, probably Act Swiftly Awesome Pachyderm! I mean, how hard can that be?"

Please watch

This video is possibly one of the more amusing Tom Cruise rants I've ever seen. The best part is it is totally incomprehensible.

Samesies!

"And take off that vest. You look like Aladdin."

First person to guess the movie wins.

I'm not one for the ganja, but...

In addition to eating my way through the country, I watched all three seasons of Weeds, which is the greatest show ever.

The Grand Tour

First, and foremost, Chicago was my favorite city in which to eat. Although I give full credit to my friend who lives there for finding these restaurants. It is the only reason I put up with him continuously calling me names which I will not print in this family-friendly blog. If you're ever in Chicago, order the Chorizo-Stuffed Dates at avec, the Red Eggs at Wishbone, the Red Curry Pad Thai and Passionfruit Souffle at Vong's Thai Kitchen, and literally anything off of the menu at Sepia. Absolutely fabulous. It makes me want to turn this blog into a sort of gastronomic adventure blog. And maybe also a book-reading blog.

I spent a delightful evening with my friends in Rye, NY where after dining at Frodo's (to which I first went after the Hudson Valley Wine tour because we thought it was funny we had Tokay wine and that sounded rather LOTRish), I got my butt kicked in Wii.

Then I went to NYC where I forgot to go to Pinkberry (drat!!!) but did whip up dinner for the sis, including stuffed chicken breasts and Dream Bars, which I must say, are a dream. Half chocolate chip cookie and half brownies. And the brownies are dreamy on their own. They may be the closest made-from-scratch thing to box brownies (which I love).

Then off to Baltimore/DC area where I saw the fam and gallavanted around DC for a few days. I relived a hazy childhood memory and went to Mama Ayesha's for dinner, which was perfect.

I think that might sum up my national restaurant review.

**Update** Although I did not eat anywhere crazyville while I was in Boston, I can't believe I left it out! I'm not sure what the means from a subconscious standpoint. I think though, my favorite part of that trip was the divey bar we hiked to in Worcester. OK maybe it was in Somerville but we walked forever. But it had the best jukebox ever. And karaoke.

I'm back. I know I was missed.

I like to post in six month increments. It keeps people guessing. I'm not making a resolution to post more, but I'm going to try because, well, I have an exciting life and people want to know about it. So, since July, in order:

August: Nothing happened, it was hot.

September: I spent every waking hour at Starbucks. Every waking hour. I endured a serious amount of self-exploration (not the good kind) in order to quantify myself on paper to apply for internship.

October: More of the same.

November: I turned 30. I was freakishly good at beer pong and flip cup for the night. It seems it might be genetic. Other than that, my siblings and I are largely not athletic. I transported 2 pies on the NJ Transit for Thanksgiving, something I hope not to repeat again- it was hot and crowded and people did not seem to be aware of my need to have the pies arrive in flawless condition.

December: I somehow survived the internship interview notification process. I went home for Christmas. And now the fun begins...

I competed against myself in an Iron Chef bake-off where I had to prepare four mini desserts (in addition to being unathletic, we like mini things). Fortunately or unfortunately, we only made it through three desserts. The winner by a mile was the Eggnog Creme Brulee, followed by the Apple Crostata and Dark Chocolate Peppermint Tart. The next day's dessert was the Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding with Cinnamon Rum Sauce. Best dessert ever. Ever. Ever.

The siblings and I started a RockBand band- Donkey Sham. We're kind of a big deal in CFalls. I'm the lead singer. This should give you some idea of the weirdness of the scoring criteria - I'm an awful singer. My singing has been compared to a funeral dirge and a musical argument on two separate occasions. And, if I ever ever hear the song Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs again, I will have a breakdown. However, I highly recommend the game.

The next thing I did was go on a whirlwind tour of the US (well kind of) for internship interviews. That will be in another post. This one is already too long.

A quote for an auspicious week

"I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them. But, I think I could be safe with a nice toffee... Ah, alas, earwax."

I wish that I could invest in the stock market

My new toy! It was a present to myself for being a good runner. And it creates a much less bulky line on my running outfits, which is always important.

I <3 u Michael Bay!

"With the Allspark gone, we cannot return life to our planet. And fate has yielded its reward: a new world to call home. We live among its people now in plain sight, but watching over them in secret, waiting, protecting. I have witnessed their capacity for courage, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there's more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars: we are here, we are waiting."

I'm sure my tiny readership will guess this. It's a bit of a gimme.

I do like my couch, but...

I surprise even myself on occasion. I think I might like running. I decided that if I could get a Ph.D. (which I suppose is still up in the air, since I can't seem to write my disseration), I could exercise. This was part of my whole mental and physical well-being thing upon which I embarked in the middle of this past semester. So Cool Running provides the solution- they have a Couch Potato to 5K plan, which, so far, seems to work! I don't feel like I'm going to have a heart attack like I usually do when I do any type of running. And when I started I felt like a wounded hippo and now I'm feeling more like a tortoise? zebra? (something slow and steady). But nothing wounded. I yearn to be a gazelle or a cheetah, but in time, in time...

And, the best part is that an enterprising middle-aged Californian named Robert created podcasts to go along with the running program (will wonders never cease?) that basically times the intervals for you while providing musical accompaniment.