Lights + Leftovers + Trust Issues

It's still Christmas in my corner of the world. My neighbors decorate our house every year and this year is more of a light fantasia than the last. Every year I try to remember when "Christmas" ends (i.e. when the lights come down), but for now the answer to that question is a definitive "not yet." This is great news because it means you still have a little longer to drive by and get the full effect. From this picture you can't really enjoy the blow-up Santa on his motorcycle or the entire village of Snowmen with spotlight. If you won't be able to make the drive may I recommend you hack into NASA and check the satellite photography. I'm pretty sure we show up. I'm also pretty sure we are on CPS's "Nice" list every year. Before I go further, let me clarify for my non-San Antonio readers...round these parts CPS has got two meanings, but City Public Services is the one to which I refer. This electricity bill subsidizes the river walk lights.

Christmas continues in the leftovers arena as well. When my mom and I were packing up my ziplocks of joy I was stymied as to the best way to transport a slice of carrot cake. (Yes, let me retract the statement that there were only 8 desserts at Christmas...we had 9...the carrot cake was under wraps until late in the day.) My mom and I decided that the best way to get the cake home with icing mostly still in place was to use a plastic plate with foil over the top. My parents have an assortment of kid-friendly dinner ware and mom pulled down the one from the top of that stack -- the Winnie the Pooh plate.

I witnessed an inner struggle. I think she nearly snatched the plate back to offer me a different one. Evidently this is a favorite with her niece and nephew who are both 3. She made it very clear I could take this plate, but only if I brought it back. I would like to note, I have a pretty stellar track record for returning tupper ware, but this plate is clearly a family heirloom and I am a shady character. Mom, I'll have you know the plate is drying and will be returned tomorrow. Oh, and thanks for all the delicious leftovers!

Hope you all have a good wind down to 2009. You ready for the teens?

Bliss of Nothing

Today is the first day in months where I have very few plans, commitments, errands that *have* to be done. I woke up sans alarm and I just lay there. My one major must-do outing today is lunch with friends and then I can sit and stare into space if I so desire. It feels so wide open and spacious to have a whole day that is Mindy-centric. I may choose to clean or run errands, but it is a choice and there is zero hectic frenzy involved.

Allow me to share my day of luxurious time so far:

I sauteed mushrooms with garlic, cut up a home-grown jalepeno, and scrambled an egg with some cheese and avocado. Wrapped up all that goodness in a Central Market tortilla and finished off my deliciousness with some Ritual Roasters espresso. Not too shabby.

Craft time was up next. I have had the supplies to do iron-on stenciling for months. My friend and fellow blogger, Rachel, inspired the freezer paper acquisition and I have been putting off craftiness for far too long. This morning I realized I finally have the time to find my exacto knife, cut out the stencil, and play with fabric paint. I'm fairly pleased with the result, and can see how this could become addictive!

I had lunch at Twin Sisters with fabulous folks and I am now headed out for a long walk in crisp, sunny, "winter" air. After that the next major agenda item is Christmas leftovers...the day is shaping up well. Hope your boxing day is also glorious and relaxing. Best boxing wishes to each and to all!

Merry Christmas

Hello dear readers. Merry Christmas! I hope your day is full of food and fun regardless of whether you officially celebrate. Yesterday the familiy + my Jewish boyfriend decorated Christmas cookies. This was a first for him and he was a star. He even decorated a gingerbread man as Grimace (see picture at right). Last night my family gathered with some family friends of 26 years for Suppe de Pesche. Shout out to Chef Matt on an amazing feast and for noticing Grimace as soon as the cookies were unveiled. Today is just family with plenty of food and at last count I tallied 8 different desserts...it will be a good (read sugar frenzied) day. All the best to all of you!

PS - If you are still reading here is the dessert line up for all you Baker Peggy fans out there: Date Nut Bread, Forget me Cookies, Fudge, Christmas Cookies, Apricot Squares, Walnut Cranberry Cookies, Nut Butter Crunch, Peasant Apple Pie...This holiday brought to you by the sugar council (and Grimace).

Oh Sweet Stereotypes

I am not against stereotypes. A lot of people write off stereotypes as being false, racist, mean-hearted, or a waste of time. Though they may not always be flattering, stereotypes can many times be grounded in some snippet of truth or reality. The valley girl stereotype exists because, like, there are, like, totally people who, you know, act like that, right? Yesterday I was stereotyped in an innocuous way, but reminded me how many of our interactions and assumptions are based on these tricksy things called stereotypes.

I was in the elevator heading out for my lunch break. Ran into one of the executives who offices on my floor (eleven if you must know), he asked:
Exec: Where are you headed for lunch?
Moi: Actually I'm going to finish some more X'mas shopping. I really don't want to shop
the week of X'mas. Actually I just don't really like shopping.
Exec: (As he exits the elevator) Really? But you look so much like a woman.

Sidenote: I would like to pose a question to my lovely non-Texan readers, would that statement be made in Chicago? New York City? San Francisco? I'm really not sure any more because I have been re-immersed in Texas culture for 5 years.

I have lived a blessed life and had never personally felt the racial side of stereotyping until I lived in rural Mississippi. Before the school year even began, there were parents who tried to get their children out of my class based on my whiteness. I was called Cracker and the principal (remember spell it with an "a" because she's your "pal") told me to my face I would fail because I was white, talked to fast, and came from up North. Not the smoothest of beginnings. I understood why this community held such a negative stereotype of White People, but it made me sad to be lumped in.

Here's one final stereotype encounter: I wear scarves to work, many of which are brightly colored. In this conservative corner of the world, that is enough to have me labeled Artsy Bohemian. I don't mind being lumped in under these stereotypes especially because it means I can get away with more. Case in point. One day I was at work all day and then at a work function that night and no one mentioned to me that I was wearing two completely different earrings. When I realized my gaff I had a sneaky suspicion. The next day I asked my colleagues if they had even noticed -- one said no, the other confirmed my suspicion. "Well, sure I noticed, but I just thought it was a fashion choice..." Because of my status under the heading of Bohemian I don't even need to match. Awesome! Thanks stereotypes (this time)!

Christmas Plans

Much to the chagrin of my Jewish boyfriend, my family has a semi-tradition of going to a movie on Christmas afternoon. He is of the opinion that all the Christmas celebrators should not be crowding the official Jewish movie day... I say, "Tough luck." This year I am very excited about Sherlock Holmes. Why? Let me wax cinematic:

• I heart Robert Downey Jr. -- Wonder Boys...Iron Man...What's not to love?!
• It looks like it will appeal to my entire family. (There may only be 6 of us, but we have very diverse taste in movies.)
• I am a big fan of reading and of shoot 'em up movies...what a lovely intersection!

Another major X'mas release this year is It's Complicated with Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin. I went to a screening last night and will reiterate how excited I am about Holmes. It's Complicated felt contrived. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of romantic comedies and I don't mind a good formula movie, but my rule is I need to like the characters enough to root for them. These characters were enjoyable with some high moments, but, overall, a bit bland. There's also the latest Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. A high contender in my family for sure.

Wine of '09

Dough, my favorite Italian bistro in SA, has been very good to me this year. This place is not much to look at in its strip mall residence, but they make their own cheese, have out-of-this-world food, and a wine list that makes me very happy. Dough introduced me to my 'wine of '09' (i.e. this year's favorite wine varietal) Ripasso. This type of wine uses partially dried grapes (Amarone style) mixed with young, fresh grapes which means lower tannins. (That's what he said.) All that I know is that it is simply delicious and so easy to just keep sip, sip, sippin' away.

Tonight I went for happy hour and was flabbergasted to find zero, zilch, nada, no Ripassos on the wine list. How can Dough do this to me? Will the week be ruined?!? Never fear, the waitstaff had two recommendations and, more importantly, two samples. One was blah, but the other, divine. If you are in need of a lovely, smooth red this holiday season -- Allegrini Palazzo della Torre (2005 I think), Veneto. Yum. Yum. Lip smackin' good.

In my professional research mode, read Google, I just discovered that the Allegrini uses partially dried grapes as well! Evidently I like raisin wine! Who knew? Thanks Dough. Thanks 2009.

Fantastically Fantastisch

I'm not one to tell you what to do, but I will strongly recommend you at least click here to view a few moments of ninja-foxy joy. The Fantastic Mr. Fox was the bees knees, the cat's meow, the foxiest piece of cinema I've seen in quite some time.

I didn't know how well Wes Anderson's dark, dry sense of humor would translate into a Roald Dahl story, but I never should have doubted that Dahl and Anderson would make a great team.

In my opinion it is rare for a movie to appeal to and be appropriate for a seven year old girl, a San Franista, a lawyer, a great aunt, and me. If possible, see this at the Alamo Drafthouse because the animated shorts at the beginning are amazing. I hope you are lucky enough to see Potat.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving filled with turkey/tofurkey (pick your entree), dressing, and maybe a craft table. For some reason I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for the days when the last day before Thanksgiving was filled with finger paint, pipe cleaners, construction paper, glue sticks, and limitless possibility. At least I have plenty of markers at my cubicle. I think for today I'll call it a cubby because it sounds like craft time is just round the corner.

Be blessed and eat plenty!

Calculators + Penthouses

I pulled up one of the mortgage calculators on the interwebs to see how much house I could, in theory, afford. I do this every once in a while to a) dream and b) marvel at how crazy banks are for wanting to give me too much money. The last time I did this little entertainment exercise was about 2004 and banks were throwing high sums at these calculators (that approach worked out really well).

So, I was curious to see if the numbers were more conservative now. I entered the basics, clicked calculate, and my eyes popped out. I placed my finger on the screen and started counting decimal places. Something was way wrong. The banks were crazier than ever. Oh wait. . . I entered yearly income on the monthly income line. Yup, that would do it.

What was even more eye opening, is a friend shared this website which advertises a Brooklyn penthouse for the tidy little sum of 25 million. Um, so if I made my yearly income every month that penthouse would still be a stretch. This really brought home the whole concept of wealthy for me. Holy cow, how much do some folks pull in on a weekly basis?! I probably shouldn't think about this before work!

Trials & Tribulations of Seeking New Tunes

So, the past few weeks I have been on a crusade to find some new music. My multi-tiered approach includes catching up on Sound Opinions episodes, listening to KEXP song-of-the-day downloads, and asking friends what they are digging at the moment. I heard a song by the band Fruit Bats and liked it okay. I went onto emusic to see if they had an album that I could listen to snippets of and perhaps purchase.

I enter "Fruit Bats" into the search and got a hit for the artist, so I check it out. I notice the album title is in French, and translates to African Savana. I didn't think the band was international, but whatever. I click play and hear ambient sound -- very Flaming Lips, but a band isn't jumping in. . .

Oh wait.

This is a recording of the sounds of the wildlife in the African Savana. Fruit Bats are indeed performing on this album, but as a species not as a band.

Gin+ Tonic = Injury

Blog muse, neighbor, and good friend Sara has a wrist injury. I was quizzing her as to whether she should get worker's comp. since it is probably carpal tunnel and thus a result of repetitive stress. Her response, "Pretty much at this point, I am looking for anyone to blame." This evolved into her telling me I am at fault because "your drinks are too heavy and your ice cream is too hard." Clearly I am causing her wrist injury via the harsh methods of southern hospitality including offering gin + tonic with ice cream for dessert. . .

I should start being rude and stop offering any refreshments. . . Except I don't think my genetics will allow such behavior. I am encoded to offer food and beverage. Can't help myself!

San Miguel de Allende - Mexico

So, I deserve a pat on the back today. It is a major feat that I am back today. Just check out where I was staying!

Walking up the driveway to Casa Ojo de Agua:

My balcony view:
Last, but certainly not least, as you walked into the front door the wall opposite was floor to ceiling sliding glass doors overlooking "our" infinity pool, patio, and gardens.

Do you see why it might be considered miraculous I am back and up for work this morning?!?

Tequila

Tequila has not been the drink of choice at the Thompson household -- that would be tea (either hot or cold, we live on the wild side). Let me clarify. Alcohol has never been something my parents particularly like. They will try a little wine occasionally, but rarely go back for more. This year was the first time I gave my dad a beer and he liked it enough to finish it- Woo hoo!

So when I was traveling with the esteemed parentals in Mexico I did not expect any renditions of Parents Gone Wild. Sure we planned to take taxis back "home" from different wedding festivities, but that was just because we didn't have a car, right?!

Oh, the crazy mountain air of central Mexico got to the padres. Pictured here you can see the three of us taking a shot of tequila! I was so proud and slightly dumbfounded. They didn't go back for more shots of tequila, but this means I've now taken both tequila (San Miguel de Allende) and vodka (Moscow) shots with the RoPeg! What country will we go to for our next shot?

Australia Restricts Drinking

Say what? NPR told me this morning that Australia is restricting drinking?!

That is just crazy talk.

What has the world come to?

But then I heard the details.

Bathhurst, Australia hosts a car race where the spectators have evidently been getting a bit too rowdy in their drunkenness. The answer? Clearly, some daily consumption limits needed to be put into place. Now each person can only consume 24 cans of beer or 4 liters of wine. Now that is going to reduce drunkenness for sure.

Just going to set the record, if I ever get married in Australia I will not be paying for all you people to have open bar. I repeat, no open bar if I'm in Australia!

Echoes

You may already know that I heart RadioLab. This week while walking, I've been catching up on my podcasts and on my learnin'. On RadioLab's After Birth podcast they were discussing with a developmental psychologist, Charles Fernyhough, how babies see/sense the world. What is an infant experiencing? One hypothesis on the auditory experience is that babies hear echoes. The brain has to develop the ability to screen out the echoes and only hear a voice or a sound once. I thought this was an interesting idea, but received greater insight today.

My co-worker, Candy, and I were conducting a webinar. She was on her phone and I was on mine in the cubicle right next door. This meant that as she spoke I heard her in both ears, but with a tiny time delay for the phone ear. All I could think was, "No wonder babies sleep all the time. This whole sorting through echoes thing is EXHAUSTING."

Made me curious about the book written by Mr. Fernyhough himself, called A Thousand Days of Wonder. Anybody read it?

One of These Things is not Like the Others

In case you were wondering, I'm the spoon in this scenario.

Have you ever started a story, thinking everyone will nod and smile along with your preamble and let you get to the meat of the story. . . only to be met with blank looks, then hysterical laughter, and then, "At what age did you start doing THAT?!"

At happy hour tonight (that's right, it may be Tuesday, but happiness still abounds) with a group of work gals ironing somehow became the topic of choice. I casually begin my story with, "Well, I never put clothes away in my closet until they are ironed..."

I thought this was fairly normal.

How wrong I was.

Does anyone who is not in my direct family do this?! It just makes so much sense to me (and my mom). In answer to the age question I had to bashfully admit I'd always done this which was met with yet more cackling and tearing up by the girls. I would like to clarify that I was only referring to the few items that truly HAVE to be ironed - it's not like I'm ironing t-shirts over here!

It is once again clear. I am not like the others, unless by 'others' you mean my mom.

Watch Your Dirty Mouth!

Several months ago, my co-worker Candy exclaimed, "What the French Toast?!" I looked at her quizzically and she pointed me to this Orbit gum commercial (it is well worth 30 seconds of your life). This got me thinking about what non-profane substitutes I have used in the past. I've also started a collection from friends.

When seeking cursing alternatives, think retro:
Curses, Batman!
Suffering Succotash!
Tarnation!
Egads!
Criminy!
Gee Whiz!
Bloody hell!

Don't forget Shakespeare:
I bite my thumb at you, sir! (The sir is optional:)
Taffeta Punk!
Toads, beetles, bats!
A pox upon thee! (Just so you know, you are wishing death by small pox or syphilis upon the receiver of this little gem! Ouch!)

Create your own/the inside joke option:
When creating your own curses, make sure they have the right sound when exclaimed and that they are fun to say. Many times the whole reason to curse is to let off steam. Lots of hard consonants can be particularly satisfying.
Goram! (Firefly TV series)
Shostakovich (Mindy's college days, I hung out with a lot of music majors. Just try it!)
Hovering Sausages! (Mindy's work, I never said they had to make sense people!)

Some other favorites:
Mother Scooter!
Shut the Front Door!
Frickin' Frack!
Son of a Biscuit Eater!
H-E-double hockey sticks!

Orbit and Mindy... working together to make dirty mouths clean. If you are feeling a bit blue or lethargic, I recommend reading through this list with feeling. Wakes ya right up, every time. Happy non-cussing and please share more favorites!

Over-Inflated Optimism?

Let me set the stage. Today there was a very loud drilling noise in my office building to the point that the walls were shaking a bit.

Co-worker: What is that noise?
Me: I dunno.
Co-worker: Do you think we're okay?
Me: Oh we're fine. I'm not worried.
Co-worker: What would it feel like if the building were about to collapse?
Me: (From my vast expertise on the subject) I'm sure things would be falling over.
Co-worker: Do you think we would die if the building collapsed, I mean we're on the 11th floor. . .
Me: The 11th floor means we'd be close to the top of the rubble. They'd totally find us first.

Gotta love the silver lining!

Health-Conscious Drinking

As previously mentioned, I am a self-professed health nut; I even prefer my hard alcohol with healthy accouterments. I try not to be overly high maintenance when I'm out by asking questions like, "Do you mix your drinks with juice that has additional sweetners?" But never doubt, that I'm thinking it! In the comfort of my own home, I've been known to juice grapefruits to go with the vodka and breakfast tacos, not on work mornings though.

I love Gin and Tonic, but usually finish my drink a little sad that the tonic has to be so over -poweringly sweet. You cannot imagine my joy when I first learned of Q Tonic through Goliblogski, dear college friend and San Francisco culture chronicler. Q Tonic is made with agave nectar instead of high fructose corn syrup (yay!) and does not have any artificial flavors (yay!). Dreams of a drink with just me, gin, agave, quinine, and bubbles. The quest began to find Q Tonic. It is available in Austin and I finally purchased some last weekend. Ooo-la-la. Delightful and delectable if I may say so myself.

Sitting around with friends enjoying my first Q drink ever, Sara (neighbor and Blog Muse) read the Q label and one sentence stuck out, "We [Q-makers] began with handpicked Peruvian quinine, just like when tonic water was invented back in 1825." I mean sure it is interesting that tonic water has been around since 1825. Some interesting history surrounds tonic water and I love that the Brits took what was essentially medicine and transformed it into cocktail hour, but come on, the real question here is obvious, right? What is Quinine? Obviously it is hand-pick-able and prevents malaria, but I didn't even know it was a plant. New quest: find out about this Quinine character.

Here is what I learned:

• Quinine comes from the bark of the Cinchona Tree.
• First discovered as an analgesic and fever-reducer by the Quechua indians of Peru.
• Quinine is flourescent under UV lights - break out the black light kids and lets drink gin and tonic!
• Many tonic waters actually use synthetic tonic, but not my new buddy Q.

I don't know how James Bond's buddy Q feels about this elixir, but I love it!

RPCV + Personal Chef

My college friend Julie just returned from Romania where she recently finished Peace Corps (thus she is the RPCV - Returned Peace Corps Volunteer). She has lived primarily overseas for the past 8 years, so she is having to adjust and acclimate to life back in the States. She spent most of this week at my house and cooked for me quite a bit of the time. Luscious! I have now learned I am not at all averse to having a personal chef and that I think Tex-Romanian food has a bright future in the fusion cuisine scene.

Julie made a traditional peasant dish called mamaliga. It is polenta served with sour cream and cheese. However, Julie makes it as a lasagna like dish, layering the polenta, cheese, and sour cream and then baking it all together. Since we are in San Antonio Julie used Pepper Jack cheese and diced avocado into the layers. Oh my goodness. A little spicey, a lot gooey, and so very tasty.

My favorite quote for the week with Julie was when she stated in all seriousness, "I had no idea the state of jam in the States." She was apalled at how sweet store-bought jams are here; culture shock takes many shapes. I didn't mind her dismay as it meant she made fresh plum jam for me. We bought 4 lbs. of the most delicious black plums I have had in years (Central Market - from California)! The whole time Julie was making the jam I kept quoting the movie Crossing Delancey, "Ripe plums are falling. . ." (Don't worry if you don't get this reference; it is fairly obscure. I mainly include it because it made me very happy and I think it will make my sister laugh too.:) I am so very excited about my stash of jam. Julie worked to find the coolest, dark closet in my casita for storing said stash. After testing all the closets, the jam now lives with my linens!

This morning I had a great start to my day with the following equation:
greek yogurt+homemade plum jam+ tiny candied ginger pieces+crumbled kashi granola bar= AMAZING! (That's right, I used all CAPS, that is how good this was!) Officially this could be considered a parfait, and, therefore, a dessert. Whatever. My dad believes cherry pie makes a suitable breakfast, so who am I to stand in the way of family tradition?

Here are a few of the other culinary treats of my week, thanks Julie! Clatita which is Romania's take on crepes. Julie used jam in some and nutella in others. Ciorba which is the name used for a variety of sour soups. The one Julie made included chicken broth, saurkraut, carrot, potato, onion, garlic, served with sour cream. I wasn't sure about a soup with vinegar, but it was delicious! Roasted/ Charred Eggplant mashed up with onion and garlic. We enjoyed this on black bread and also as a spread with our hamburgers. It was a delicious week!

Thank you, Rhonda!

Rhonda Kuhlman, a local artist, died this week. I have a couple of her pieces and loved talking to her whenever I stopped in her art space. She made Day-of-the-Dead, bottle-cap cuff links for my brother-in-law to wear at his wedding --so she obviously had to be cool! Her obituary is inspiring just as she was. Her story is one of triumph and every time I saw her she radiated joy. I thought she was in her 20's until one day we were sitting around and she mentioned she was celebrating her 40th that weekend?!

May your today sparkle whatever you choose to do!

*More pictures of Rhonda and her work, click here.

Shopping and Guano and Bats, Oh My!

San Antonio is known as a tourist destination and not just for humans. Every year an estimated 100-million Mexican free-tail bats visit Central Texas to raise their young. 1.5 million take up residency on Congress St. Bridge in Austin, which is the largest urban bat colony in the world. 20-million of these bats set up camp in Bracken Cave just 20 miles north of San Antone, making it the largest known bat colony in the world!

Now for all you math whizzes out there, 20 million bats + 1.5 million bats still falls well short of the total 100 million bats who visit Texas. The rest of the bats find favorite haunts in other caves, bridges, and apparently the North Star Mall Parking Garage (Macy's end if you must know).

I stopped by the mall after work one day for an event at Lush (just the most amazing bath products ever) so I was in the parking garage at 6ish. I suddenly realized that the swooping all around me was not birds, but bats. I had a wonderful Batman Begins moment of Zen standing amongst all the bats. Some flew close enough that I felt the whoosh of wings.

Slightly less glamorous is the smell of guano in the parking garage. Guano has a very particular smell and the dog days of summer have ripened this smell to quite the strong olfactory experience.

After my mall-meets-super-hero experience, I googled to find more batty info. I learned that the newest section of the San Antonio Riverwalk, the Museum Reach, actually has a bachelor colony of 8,000 bats. Bat Conservation International has a wealth of really groovy bat factoids. Who wouldn't want to know that our bats consume about 1,000 tons of insects nightly?! However, I found zero mention of the size of the fashionista bat colony at the mall.

It's the Little Things

Sharpie makes an ultra fine tip marker that is just dreamy. For the last two years I have had red and purple and only fantasized of having a complete set. Thursday night I learned that dreams do come true. The parentals had a coupon for buy one set, get the second set free of any of the Sharpie markers. . . I am now the proud owner of a dozen assorted colors, Thanks, mom and dad! Sure I could have (and was close to) buy them for myself, but how much more fun to have them magically appear in my life?!

The markers are shown here in my card making station.

All a girl needs: glue stick, scissors, and some super fine markers!

Ant Wars

Arg. Blurg. Tarnation.

Every time I think I am winning the ant wars, the little monsters show up again. I was hoping that with the rain this weekend, they might decide to quench their thirst in the great outdoors instead of my indoors. But no. Tonight, I look up and they are happily marching along where the ceiling meets the wall. Tell me, how does one put ant traps up there?!

Lots of South Texans seems to have ants this summer because of the "extreme & exceptional drought." [By the way, that is the official term for a drought this severe! The purple on the map is a nice accent, but not actually good news.] One friend suggested I try setting water out wherever the ants were entering. Umm. Great idea, except I think my house construction is closely linked to Swiss cheese.

Looking for ant images just made me itchy, hence I opted for the picture of drought conditions. Anyone out there actually winning the ant wars without massive chemical warfare? Lavendar oil neat seems to keep them at bay long enough to give me hope that they are gone for good... and then they re-emerge. Hrrumph.

Press Release Bliss

Extract, Mike Judge's new movie, came out this weekend. [Mike Judge is the great Texan behind the movie Office Space.] The idea for Extract came from Judge driving past the Adams Extract building in Austin. The movie revolves around the owner, Jason Bateman, wanting to sell his extract company, but running into bizarre obstacles. I will totally be seeing this movie if for nothing beyond my devotion to the cast of Arrested Development. However, my resolve to see the movie solidified when I heard the Press Release quote from Adams Extract's Chief of Marketing on my Friday morning commute.

"It is going to be unbelievable how many young people will be introduced to what baking Extracts are for the first time. Hopefully they will go home and learn to bake some cakes and cookies from scratch."

I let a snort and giggle escape when I heard this. Adams Extract is expecting a lot from Mike Judge fans, but I will let you know if after seeing the movie, I am swept away by an inescapable baking mania!

If you want to read more of the serious devotion to the joy of extracts, the complete press release is here. Also, just because I love snippets of Texas History, I've included the history of Adams Extract, straight from the official website:
Adams Extract traces it beginnings back to 1888 when John Anderson Adams sold extracts in the harsh Michigan climate. In 1905 he moved his family to Texas. At the time, most vanilla was sold to pharmacies and was often labeled “Do not bake or freeze.” John A. Adams, a pharmacist whose imagination was stirred by his wife’s yearning for a flavoring that wouldn’t bake or freeze out, announced that he could produce a better vanilla than the one his wife was currently using. Working with just $6.71 worth of materials on top of an old icebox, Adams discovered the formula he wanted.

Best of Texas State Fair 2009

Don't worry, you haven't missed the fair. It's in October. However, there is an annual nationwide contest between state fairs featuring the best "new foods" of the year. Understand that I use the term "food" loosely. Now, the Texas State Fair is the home of the original Corny Dog which premiered in 1942. So we do have a proud history of frying with the best of 'em. The picture is of last year's debut: Fried Coke. Take a dough ball filled with Coke syrup, fry it, top it with powdered sugar and say hello to Diabetes.

Two things before I proceed:
1. Please reference my earlier post In Stairwell #2 where you, dear reader, were enlightened with the fact that Texas has 6 of the 10 Fattest Cities in the U.S. as of 2008.

2. Now, please take any cholesterol or blood pressure medication.

The three new foods nominated to represent our fair State Fair. . .

Fried Peanut Butter Cup Macaroon – A peanut butter cup is wrapped inside a coconut macaroon fried and dusted with powdered sugar. Also available with a scoop of Blue Bell ice cream.

Texas Fried Pecan Pie – A mini-pecan pie is battered and deep fried to a golden brown. Served drizzled with rich caramel sauce, then topped with whipping cream and chopped candied pecans.

My personal favorite. . .

Deep Fried Butter – 100% pure butter is whipped till light and fluffy, then specially sweetened with a choice of several flavors. The tantalizing mixture is surrounded by a special dough and quick fried. Served on a stick.

What else can I say? On the shiny side, at least Texans should have lustrous hair from all that butter. . . We strive to make Paula Dean happy!

Celestia

Since I'm not sure when I will make it to the McDonald Observatory next (soon I hope), I was pretty excited to find out about Celestia. Here is a quick 3 minute demo which shows off some of the nifty features of Celestia.

Personally I just visited Jupiter and learned that this gas giant's Great Red Spot is actually a 300 year-old storm the size of Earth. Wowsers, Jupiter! That is quite a squall! I then visited Eros, "a potato-shaped near-Earth asteroid that is 33km long." There's so much to think about in that short descriptive phrase, I'm not even going to comment on it. So, go explore the universe and find some interesting factoids all your own!

Sporty? Perhaps not

So, every year the Super Bowl sneaks up on me. I generally find out it is happening [again] because avocados are on sale. Not just that, there are signs screaming at me from every corner of HEB, "Don't Forget The Avocados!!!" What kind of slacker ever forgets the avocados?! Needless to say, I'm not the sportiest chica on record.

Yesterday I'm waiting by the elevators at work for my lunch buddy. I'm standing next to someone from accounting and the accounting executive walks over along with an elegantly dressed older black man and starts formulating lunch plans with my neighbor. I'm half listening, half entranced by the black man's snazzy black and white patent leather shoes. She is making introductions and I half hear his name. Then she turns to me, "I'm sorry. I don't think we've met." My brilliant reply, "Oh, I'm not part of your lunch group... but my name is Mindy." Like I said, brilliant!

She repeats the introduction of Mr. Patent Leather dress shoes, "This is Tony Parker, Sr." Hmmm. That name sounds so familiar. He looks strikingly familiar. Where do I know him from? We reach out to shake hands and my eyes no long notice the shine of his shoes, just the shine of the NBA championship ring.

Oh dear. Goodness me. Fish sticks. The tetris pieces are falling into place in my sports deprived brain. He looks like his son, The Tony Parker of the Spurs. (Note: I include the descriptive phrase "of the Spurs" for my fellow less-than-sporty friends.) This man is practically San Antonio Royalty.

Just call me Sporty Spice.

16 Moments

Watch this video, 16 Moments, por favor. It caught my eye on the RadioLab blog. [More info on the best radio show ever (aka RadioLab) at the end of this post.] The most recent RadioLab show featured different theories on death and the afterlife; 16 moments is filmmaker Will Hoffman's response--capturing an array of life.

So much of the media input that confronts me moment-to-moment is negative. There is an entire movement of media that searches for alternative perspectives even (gasp!) the positive ones. Utne magazine comes to mind. It makes me so happy when I happen across uplifting moments in mainstream media. (Yes, I consider NPR mainstream, deal with it.) As I write that, the voice in my head (or should I say, the loudest voice in my head) says, "uplifting sounds like that Hallmark pull-your-heartstrings crap." So, for that voices sake, I say: I don't seek sappy. Rather, I seek a point of view that celebrates life: the good, the hard, the mundane. The world view of awe.

Watching 16 Moments reminded me of how I see differently when I'm on vacation. It is time away from routine and my senses feel sharper. I notice the details. Wandering Chicago I am distracted by the beautiful shadows created by fire escapes. In San Francisco I stop to take a photo of a phone booth showing its gay pride. Visiting Brooklyn I sit in Prospect Park for hours happily watching people. Noticing takes time as does happiness - both of them are cultivated practices. My goal this week is to notice as I go through each day.

Postscript: If you don't know RadioLab from WNYC, subscribe for their free podcast today! The show describes itself so well, I choose to quote it here:
"Radiolab believes your ears are a portal to another world. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience. Big questions are investigated, tinkered with, and encouraged to grow. Bring your curiosity, and we'll feed it with possibility."
How can you possibly resist that?!

Naming Convention

Tonight was the birthday celebration of my friend Sara (or as her mother lovingly referred to her, "Bitch for her Birthday"). As we sat awaiting our luscious Mexican cuisine at Paloma Blanca, Sara announced that we should start using the term "The Great Recession" to refer to the current economic climate.

"It's just not fair,"Sara claimed. "The people who lived through the Great Depression probably never got to call it that while they were living it. I think we should have a better name for this recession-- it seems to be ending, so we need to act fast." With Sara's logic in mind, the Googling commenced.

Oh the disappointment brought on by the interwebs. It's so rude when fact contradicts theory.

1. As late as 1930, sweet ol' President Hoover was still claiming that "the fundamental strength of the economy is unimpaired." However, by 1931 Hoover himself referred to the economic situation as the "great depression."

Oh wait, there's more...

2. The term "great depression" dates back to 1820!

3. The Great Depression was coined early on, but did not take residence as a Proper Noun until the book The Great Depression (go figure) was published in1934.

Enough with the factoids about the Depression. What about the Great Recession?

Sorry Sara, but not a new idea. The term "Great Recession" (caps and all) was used to describe economic downturns in 1974-75, 79, the 80's, early 90's, 2001...

We still need a name for this era, so in honor of Hurricane Season (I heard about Hurricane Bill this morning... Wait isn't Bill a vampire in Louisiana?) I say we give this recession a proper name. Andre. Gilroy. Rasputin. In my Googling I also came across the following suggestions:

• Bush Recession
• Hoovered Again
• Very Good Depression

Any other suggestions out there? Do share!

Street Fights, Bikes, and Chicago

The amazing and wonderful PBarry shared this video link showing a street fight in Uptown. Uptown is a Chicago neighborhood close to where I used to live. My best friend worked in Uptown, so I had many occasions to bike and walk through the intersection of Sheridan & Leland.

Watching this video post started me thinking about my biking days in Chicago and all the neighborhoods I ended up "touring," many times by mistake. "Oh, that's Cabrini-Green," was a phrase I distinctly remember from one such bike ride. Some people bike the scenic lake shore, whatever.

One of my favorite mom-isms from this era is from one of her visits to me in Chi-town. We are walking on Clark Street and my mom says, "Now, this isn't the Clark St. that you always talk about biking home on at night... Is it?" My first thought, "Why, oh why must she pay such good attention to what I tell her on the phone?!" and then, "But, this is a nice portion of Clark St."

On second thought, Mom, maybe you shouldn't watch that video link...

Guest Blogging

Evidently when it blogs it pours. I start a blog and then that same week I am asked to guest blog! [Gushing: "I'm just so popular!" Flips hair over shoulder--oh wait, my hair isn't long enough. Tarnation!]

All that to say, I will occasionally be linking out to the fabulous "Me Versus the Blog" blog when I have a post to share with you, the fair readers of Mermindia.
Procrastination Post

Palin Post

(Clearly, these posts are brought to you by the letter "P.")

Enjoy!

In Stairwell #2

I am part of a very select (read minuscule) group of people in my office building who actually use the stairs. Evidently stair climbing ranks low as a popular past times in dear ol' San Antonio. Not too surprising considering that in 2008 Men's Fitness ranked SA the third Fattest City in America.

Now because Texas loves to celebrate any and all victories, I would like to be fair to the other great cities that are avidly applying the "bigger is better" philosophy... "Six of the 10 Fattest cities in the land hail from Lone Star land: No. 2 Arlington, No. 3 San Antonio, No. 4 Fort Worth, No. 5 El Paso, No. 6 Dallas, and No. 10 Houston."

Wowsers! Thanks Men's Fitness for the downer.

Let me retrace my steps (horrible pun intended). Before the summer heat wave (that started in spring), I climbed the 9 flights to my cubicle at least once a day. On my daily trek, I passed the same cockroach carcass on the same stair. It was just me and the dead roach. One day I was completely shocked because I actually saw another human in the stairwell. He seemed quite surprised to see me and as I passed he wheezed, "It's good to see someone else using the stairs. (gasp) Now I know if I have a heart attack (gasp) in here someone will eventually find my body." Moving from carcasses to corpses - very reassuring.

However, it's not all death and despair in the stairwells. At the end of most days, I take a different stairwell so that I can have my daily chuckle. On my final flight I come across a web of plumbing (pictured above) with little hanging placards, my favorite of which reads, "Main Drain."

I am a huge Joe vs. the Volcano fan. If you haven't seen it, you now have homework. If you have, but can't remember the Main Drain scene from Joe's hideous job where the fluorescent lights are "Suck, Suck, Sucking" his life away... you also have homework. If you know exactly what I'm talking about and can quote every blessed word, kudos. You have optional extra credit--watch Joe again for the sheer joy of it and remember, "I know he can get the job, but can he do the job," from the wise lips of Mr. Watori.

You'll find me chuckling to myself in the stairwell.

Zen Night Driving & A Resolution

Today, I spent the day at the beach.

Read. Swim. Walk. Repeat.

The beach always leaves me fairly blissful, but the drive home was perfection.

Sometimes night driving makes me sleepy. Other times I find the Zen traveller within. Zen Mindy could just keep driving into lands unknown. Z.M. sings along to her music at the top of her voice. Z.M. attains that perfect blend of alert peacefulness. Tonight's winning combo included:

• All windows down
  
• Fabulous musica (See below for smattering of tonight's music)
• Amazing stars
• Huge orange moon

I had to pull off on one of the farm road exits to get out and really appreciate the stars. I could see the Milky Way! I made a resolution that I will make it back to McDonald Observatory before the end of this year. They have star parties that are incredible. There is a large outdoor amphitheater and there is a star guide with the mother of all laser pointers who points out constellations and tells their stories. It is awe inspiring.

The afore mentioned smattering of music:
Wilco, Indigo Girls, New Pornographers, Sharon Jones, Blitzen Trapper, Bishop Allen, and finished off with "Golden" by My Morning Jacket just as I pulled onto my street. All is well with the world!

Remembrance at Dusk

Tonight I went to a rosary on San Antonio's South side. The rosary was for the grandmother of a good friend. After the service, I stopped by one of the missions as the sun was setting. It was a lovely moment after hearing about a life well lived.

Here's to Josefine, a Hispanic matriarch. Born an only child in 1921 - she went on to have 10 children of her own. She got to see 29 grandchildren, 21 greats, and 1 great great. She is clearly dearly loved and I was honored to be at her send off.

My thoughts and prayers are with her family.

Conversation at the Cove: TX History

In between ducking ping pong balls, some friends and I enjoyed dinner and a beer at the Cove last night. Before I go off on a tangent about what I ate and how fabulous the food there is, let me just allow you to click here if you want to see their menu. Now, moving forward with the TX History conversation.

All my dinner buddies and I are native Texans. We were all blessed to have a full year of Texas History before our burgeoning middle school minds were introduced to such paltry topics as US and/or World History. However, in all that Texas-themed schoolin' there was very little discussion of what Fiesta commemorates. The official Fiesta website summarizes it with these bullet points:

• 11 days
• 107 events
• 100 local nonprofit member organizations
• Up to 3.5 million attending
• $284 million economic impact
  
• A real Texas-sized festival!

I summarize it with my own bullet points:

• drinking
• drinking while wearing a sombrero
• drinking while cracking cascarones on each others heads
• drinking while eating lots of Mexican food and funnel cake

My favorite Fiesta factoid is that it is the second largest festival after Mardi Gras. Impressive. But why? What is all the fuss about? Are we celebrating the rich Mexican influences in South Texas culture? Perhaps a city-wide appreciation-fest for having been a part of Mexico in our past? Oh no. Not at all.

Fiesta is a big, Mexian-themed celebration of, first, losing to the Mexicans at the Alamo and, then, beating them at the battle after the Alamo. Betcha don't remember that battle! Sam Houston finally showed up and beat Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. So we embrace the culture in memory of defeating the military from that culture? Make sense yet?

Fiesta started with a single event, a parade. The Battle of Flowers Parade to be exact. Every school child in San Antonio gets this day as a holidy, but none of them know the history. It is worth repeating:

"The idea for the first Battle of Flowers Parade was conceived early in 1891 by the wife of a congressman who had seen a similar parade in Spain. She suggested to her friends that a flower parade should be held in San Antonio each year on April 21 in memory of the fallen heroes at the Alamo and to commemorate the victory at the Battle of San Jacinto, April 21, 1836, where Texas had gained its independence from Mexico. These ladies formed the Battle of Flowers Parade committee, enlisted the support of fellow community leaders and the planning began. The first parade had an actual "flower battle" with half of the fresh-flower-covered carriages, floats and bicycles going in one direction and the other half going in the opposite direction, tossing fresh flowers at each other as they passed." - Battle of Flowers Association

Sidenote: Personally I would love to be in a bicycle, flower battle, but that's not the point.

Back to the Cove and conversation. In talking about all of this, my friend pointed out her 'favorite' idiosyncrasy of Fiesta. The Battle of Flowers parade always includes military marching bands from Mexico city. Hmm. The irony is as rich as molten chocolate cake. (Wow, in the end I have a talent for bringing everything back around to food.)

Newsflash From Captain Obvious + Fro Yo

Hate to break it to you, but in case you hadn't noticed and you are in San Antonio, TX, it is hot this summer. In fact we (and by "we" I mean the weather gods and I) have broken the record for number of 100 degree days in a year. This is not a good sign considering it is the beginning of August.

However, enough moaning and groaning. The oven live climate makes it the perfect summer for Prime Cultures to open its doors. This is a "real" frozen yogurt shop in Olmos Park. {For the skeptics: I will tell you now I blog about this place without incentive (nary a free topping as reward). I just want it to stay open.} What do I mean by "real" fro-yo, you ask? It has all the probiotics and a lot less sugar. Prime Cultures has lots of beautiful fresh fruit toppings, as well as nuts, granola, and cocoa pebbles (obviously)! Check it out so that I can keep my summer+yogurt=some-semblance-of-sanity equation working for me.

Prime Cultures is located on McCullough between Hildebrand and the Circle next to Slater White Cleaners. Worth venturing into the heat, I promise.

P.S. 'You don't have to take my word for it' [the weather record], feel free to check the facts for yourself: http://www.weather.gov/view/prodsByState.php?state=TX&prodtype=public Really fun formatting--Thanks weather.gov. To find the record scroll all they way down.