My first award
From Annarella:
Annarella writes,
Balls and Walnuts fantastico quando commenta “The Idiot’s Guide to Getting Girlsâ€, per i post sempre interessanti, ironici e divertenti su vita americana, sesso, politica.
Fortunately for me, Annarella translates, too.
Balls and Walnuts who’s really great when he’s commenting about “The Idiot’s Guide to Getting Girls†and for all his very clever and smart articles about USA, politics and sex.
Yup, this really is my first award. And completely unsolicited, too. And especially tasty since it’s coming from a reader whom I have not met. Welcome, Annarella! Stay tuned for another installment of the Idiots Guide to Getting Girls, this weekend. I’m still waiting for the nasty email from the author. Or from the author’s lawyers. Cease! Desist! Shrivel up and die, blogger!
***
Rough day today. I had a stressful case in the OR which kept me late, and I’m looking at a nasty day tomorrow, too. No doubt I’ll be coming into the hospital this weekend to check on patients.
Upshot, it’s only 9:09 and I’m having trouble keeping my eyes open. When I think back to the things I did during residency, I’m amazed and disgusted by my present wimpishness. Whatever happened to the guy who could take shit from general surgeons, neurosurgeons, ER docs, nurses, and surly patients, stay up all night sewing up drunks, and round in the morning with a smile on his face?
I need a new category: whining. Heck yeah, why not?
D.
PS: I need to come up with an award for other bloggers. It looks like fun. What should it be — Smart Mouth Award? Or perhaps, Smart Ass Award. I’d be qualified to judge that.
Wherein I talk politics with my recovery room nurse
I check the political blogs several times a day, so it surprises me when I talk to folks who don’t even read/watch the news. One of our nurse anesthetists spotted me reading Daily Kos between cases, and he asked me, “How go the primaries? Who’s it coming down to?”
“Looks like a three-way race, at least, with the Republicans. Two-way with the Dems, but I’m not counting Edwards out yet.”
“Two-way? Which two?”
Uh-huh. Nice guy, and I don’t mean to suggest he’s dumb. But he does have different priorities than me.
Anyway, that’s when one of the recovery room nurses said, “I like Giuliani.”
We’ll call her RN, for short.
Pooties
Modern day kitty gets the mouse!, originally uploaded by tryingtolearn USA.
Nothing tonight, my pals. Karen and Jake are both under the weather, and I’m pretty wiped, myself. Not fair! I’m supposed to feel like this at the end of the week, not the beginning.
I want an orange kitty.
D.
That lamb recipe
This is one of those instances when I’m using the blog as backup memory. Some day, I’ll buy a few chops and think, Now, what was that great thing I did to the chops last time? And I’ll search my blog for “lamb,” ignore the references to Moore’s book, and find this recipe.
Of course, if y’all like a delicious, fast, and easy lamb chop recipe, you’re welcome to it.
1. I bought three hefty lamb chops, each about 1.5 inches thick. One of these is enough for me, but your mileage may vary.
2. Sprinkle each chop with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Finely chop some fresh rosemary and sprinkle the chops with that, too. Drizzle some olive oil on the chops, top and bottom, and wrap them up in plastic wrap. I did this about two hours before cooking, but I doubt that is critical.
3. Prepare: more finely chopped rosemary, chopped shallots, chopped garlic. Mix with a bit of kosher salt and more black pepper. Have some orange marmalade handy — you’re going to need it.
4. Optional mango salsa: Combine chopped fresh mango, chopped shallots or Spanish onion, chopped green and red jalapenos, chopped cucumber, some lemon juice, salt, and black pepper to taste. It should be salty/sour with only a little sweetness from the mango.
5. Cook the chops just as you would a ribeye steak on a cast iron pan (see recipe number nine, here). When you have finished cooking the chops, turn them onto their narrow, fatty sides — the “edges,” essentially — and sear a minute longer on low heat. Sear each edge this way for a minute, and while doing so, add the mixture of shallots, rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper to the pan. There will be enough grease in the pan to saute these items.
6. In that last minute of cooking, turn up the heat and add a heaping tablespoonful of orange marmalade into the pan. This will melt, boil, and caramelize rapidly, so keep a close eye on things. Stir vigorously to combine the syrup with the rosemary, garlic, and shallots. When it starts to thicken, put the chops back on their sides and toss to coat. Serve with salsa, sugar snap peas, focaccia, and a smile.
***
Either it’s a quiet Sunday or something is funky with my email. And my comments. No one wants to leave comments! I’m even losing comments — is that strange, or what? Only a handful from the last few posts, but still, it’s an odd thing.
D.
The Idiot’s Guide to Getting Girls, Chapter 2
In Chapter 2, Targeting the Women You Want, we learn that women are everywhere (no kidding!), you have to choose the right time and place to approach a women, and different types of women need to be approached in different ways. Ms. Altalida demonstrates that there are only eight different types of women. Unfortunately, “nymphomaniac” isn’t one of them.
Here’s the video. Karen got into the act this time.
Previously: Chapter 1, Laying the Foundation to Meet Women.
Remember: Live-blogging tonight at 7 PM PST. Be there!
D.
Tiny world
This last Thursday’s Thirteen introduced me to the world of Lego Vignettes, or vigs for short. Vigs are scenes built from Legos, typically on a small base. I presume the size constraint provides one of the main challenges.
The VignetteBricks blog features vigs from different creators and also provides an extensive links list. From that list, I found this disturbing vig from the Brickshelf Gallery:
My mother is always reminding me how artistic I am, just because I did well in high school and college art classes. (Yes, that’s what moms are for.) I suppose I could exercise my talents here; after all, my son has about a billion Lego bricks scattered about the house, and a google search for “erotic Lego vig” failed to reveal any vig-artistes with my unique set of interests.
Live-blogging tonight, and I’m going to shoot for 7 PM PST. Also, if I get a chance, I’ll review Chapter 2 of the Idiot’s Guide to Getting Girls — and this chapter truly is for idiots. Stay tuned.
D.
Next year for sure
Every year when they announce the Bulwer-Lytton winners, I think, Damn. I can do that.
The SF winner for 2007:
What a pity Dave was too young to have seen “2001: A Space Odyssey,” for he might have been able to predict what would happen next, when the ape standing next to the big black slab picked up the tapir bone.
Ann Medlock
Lenah Valley, TAS, Australia
I love it. And the SF Dishonorable Mention is a hoot, too.
D.
P.S. If that link is not enough badness for you, suck up the 2007 Bad Sex Award Winners.
Friday Flickr Babe: LIGER!
Who says a Flickr Babe has to be human?
Worlds Biggest Liger, originally uploaded by georgejbutlerii.
What an amazing, gorgeous animal. Watch the video. Here’s more from the same program.
Karen wonders whether they would survive in the wild. Could they find enough food to satisfy their appetites?
I’m betting yes . . . especially if a gaggle of human tourists are nearby, snapping photos.
D.
Ack, I can’t do this.
I’ve been running on too little sleep for the past four nights. Maybe longer, I don’t remember. This gave me the bright idea of writing a Thursday Thirteen on insomnia cures, but there’s one problem: it takes energy to write a Thirteen. Lots of energy. And I don’t have it right now. Irony’s a bitch.
Here, let’s see how far I can get with Idea B.
Thirteen Things I Hate About Ted
Yup, I hate “Ted,” or as my son calls them, UniTED Hitler; and I’m not the only one. Here are thirteen reasons why.
1. Lost luggage. We returned from Vegas on Dec. 31. Ten days later, Jake’s luggage has finally arrived.
2. The local monopoly. If Walmart pisses me off, I can take my business elsewhere. Same goes for Exxon gas, Safeway market, or the pet store down the road. But dammit if I don’t have to take United for at least the first leg of my journey. Bastards have a lock on the market.
3. Delayed flights. We were supposed to fly out of Medford on the 27th. Fine, fly out tonight, they told us, but you’ll be stuck in Salt Lake City.
Maybe forever.
Me: We’ll fly out tomorrow, thanks much.
4. No leg room. We only realized this when we flew back on Alaskan. What a difference.
5. No smoking in the airplane’s bathroom. Which is fine, really; but when some drunk dimwit started smoking in the bathroom, why did it take them about 40 minutes to throw him off the plane?
6. Gremlins.
Putting up with William Shatner’s acting ain’t much fun, either.
7. Snakes.
8. Singing nuns.
9. Zombies. Sorry, that movie is still under development.
10. Lack of full body massages.
11. Ratio of contributions, Republicans to Democrats: 2:1. A ticket on United means dollars to Mitt!
12. In-air snacks are deep-fried locusts. And they don’t even have a vegetarian option.
And the worst problem of all . . .
13. United’s jet engines are lubricated with baby harp seal blubber.
Told you I didn’t have much tonight. It took me three hours to do this! Of course, I spent 2/3 of that trying to write a post on insomnia . . .
Leave a comment, and, well, you know what happens next.
Tam caucuses, quilts, and grumbles!
Hey, Dan, is that a universe in your pocket, or are you just glad to see us?
Don’t ask Lyvvie if she can spare a smoke
Need a book rec? Ask Darla.
Dean gives us curves and wetness.
D.