Archive for October, 2004

“Hi, it’s the very first San Francisco Movie Bears Night. We went to see Team America at the AMC 1000, there at Van Ness and O’Farrell. And there’s a whole bunch of guys, somebody will probably know all the names better then I do (hehehe). But it was fun and the movie was really good. Team America:World Police. Much better movie then I was lead to believe. Much much better. Anyway, it’s time to go, and I will have more to say about it when I get home.â€?

http://static.vidvote.com/movies/bushuncensored.mov

perkk had a good idea, so I thought I’d post the info for San Francisco, too.

Total Eclipse of the Moon

                    SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
                            o  '    o  '
                         W122 26, N37 46

                      Pacific Daylight Time

                                                      Moon's
                                                Azimuth   Altitude
                                     h  m            o        o
Moonrise               2004 Oct 27  18:09          73.5     ----
Moon enters umbra      2004 Oct 27  18:14.3        74.3      0.6
Moon enters totality   2004 Oct 27  19:23.4        84.1     13.4
Middle of eclipse      2004 Oct 27  20:04.0        89.8     21.3
Moon leaves totality   2004 Oct 27  20:44.6        95.9     29.2
Moon leaves umbra      2004 Oct 27  21:53.7       108.0     42.4
Moon leaves penumbra   2004 Oct 27  23:02.7       124.9     54.6
Moonset                2004 Oct 28  08:06         290.4     ----

Last night at Sunday Dinner™ I made some Potato Leek Soup, and we had it again tonight for dinner. I love how soup is always better the second night when all those flavors have merged and blended together.

My soup started with several cloves of garlic, finely chopped, sauteéd in olive oil, followed by four thinly sliced medium-sized carrots. When the carrots are al dente, I add the six or seven cubed potatos, with the skins. when the potatos have just started to become tender, I added three sliced leeks, including most of the greens, and a red pepper. The leeks get all sweaty and just starting to turn translucent, when I added two liters of vegetable broth, maybe two teaspoons of carraway seeds. I brought the soup to just boiling, then turned the heat down to simmer very slowly for about 45 minutes. Just before serving, I added two pints of cream, and salt and pepper. I would add some sherry or another wine to it, but I was too indecisive to choose one from the cache, so I left it out. I also left out the bacon, for the benefit of Herman and tardis, and I was still pleased with the results. One could pureé it in batches in a blender at this point, but I like the small chunks of vegetables, so I leave it rustic. I served it with a sweet French baguette.

I wanted to make dinner for a much smaller than usual Sunday Dinner™ – albadger and progbear were returning from Ashland and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and hardybear was at a Gay Buddhist Retreat, so we were three fewer than normal. With Autumns crisp clear weather yesterday, I wanted something that reminded me of Fall, so I made a Potato and Leek Soup and roasted a Spaghetti Squash.

I love that squash: you take a largish spaghetti squash, split it lengthwise and scoop out the seed. Then place it cut side down in three-quarters inch of water in a baking dish and place into a fairly fast oven (400F) for 45-60 minutes. Remove it from the oven and set it aside to cool enough to handle. While the squash is cooling, place a stick of butter into a small sauteé pan and put three or four minced cloves of garlic upon the butter, being careful not to let the garlic touch the pan – place the pan over very low heat until the butter is brown – the garlic will be nicely toasted without being bitter.

When cooled enough, take a fork and run the tines over the flesh, which creates the “spaghetti” – the fork separates the thin strips of squash flesh into spaghetti-like structures. Place the squash into a large bowl, pour the browned butter and garlic mixture into it, and stir in three or four tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese and salt and pepper – transfer the squash mixture to a casserole dish and cover with a thin layer of parmesan, and broil until the cheese is golden brown.

This is a classic way of eating spaghetti squash, and it so yummy it breaks one’s heart with joy.

This past 22nd of October marks one year that Bob and I have been seeing each other. To celebrate this special event, I was in Emeryville at IKEA and the Public Market with tardis and bigjohnsf. No Bob in sight. I hope this isn’t an omen. Hurry up, Thanksgiving, and get here already!

My Butt Hurts.

A bowl of Life Cereal.

A bowl of Cottage Cheese.

A glass of POG.

Pushing a client’s website live.

Pushing another client’s proposed website live.

A Peanut Butter Sandwich.

A half-glass of POG.

A LiveJournal Post.

Mailed an invoice to a client.

Last night, bigreddee let me have his extra ticket to see Surviving Christmas, a vapid little romantic comedy starring Ben Affleck and James Gandolfini, as a millionaire who decides to try to have a merry christmas by renting a blue collar family. Christina Applegate plays the family’s daughter, an independent-minded career girl. There’s also the 17 year old son who stays in his room all the time with his computers – I’m sure you can guess what he’s doing! Anyway, it was a light and fluffy studio pic that pushes all the usual buttons at the usual times. I wouldn’t pay to see it, but it was a fun evening’s diversion. Donovan and I had a nice conversation about comic books while waiting in the line to get in, and I thank him for the ticket and conversation.

I got home to find my bean soup bubbling in the crockpot, so I turned it off and had a bowl – yum.

Bob got back from the field yesterday, and Jeff took the afternoon off to see him – it’d had been six weeks since they saw each other. It’s only five weeks to go for me to be seeing them.