Confessions · of · a · Pre-Raphaelite · Hedonist

Okay I made crumble today and it was good enough to merit a blog post so that, six months from now, when I am thinking about this crumble and wondering how the hell I made it, I will have a template to follow. Here goes:

PS. The whole S&M title thing is a long story, but I thought it was funny.  The only really sadistic thing about this dessert is making your guests share it amongst themselves.

I am in DC visting my mom and sister. More specifically I am in Woodbridge Virginia . . . but it's close enough and tomorrow we will be going to the national mall to go museum hopping. Hop! Hop!

New things:

• Learned to crochet (you would be very proud of me, Diamond Fatale). I can't make mushrooms or bacon yet, but I am attempting to make a bed spread. I haven't gotten bored with this project . . . yet.
• Found out that the big brown skirt I sewed for myself at Aunt Feisty's house causes me to be frisked at airport security. The first time it happened I thought it was fluke, but it happened again when I flew here on Wednesday. Guess I will have to stop wearing that skirt when I fly (boo! It's comfy!) or I'll have to develop a kink about being frisked by butch women.
• I cleaned up my facebook page and un-tagged all of the photos that documented me behaving like a skank. This doesn't mean I'm going to stop behaving like a skank, but I'm going to confiscate all surrounding cameras before I get my skank on.  If I un-tagged a photo of me that you took, posted or tagged, pleas don't be offended.  I work with kids and thought it would be better if there weren't photos of me on the internet that exhibited my visage is the following situations: dressed as a dominatrix, obviously drunk, in mid dishabile, grabbing my own bosom whilst wearing a black corset, reclining on a bed in a pink satin prom dress and a black top hat with a cat and a bottle of rum.  Yeah.  All those images are sort of bad for the professional image.  

Dinner . . . . . .

Last night I made this amazing cake from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook which is now my favorite cookbook.  Thought I'd share the love.  My eggs weren't room tempurature and my cake turned out great.  Also, I don't have a stand mixer and I used a hand mixer instead.  I'm sure I could have used a wooden spoon too, although it would have taken a lot longer to mix

 

( Recipe of gooooodnesss . . . . . .  )</div>

 

I had the most wonderful trip to California last week! Thank you to everyone who met up with me while I was there. Sorry that I couldn't spend more time with everyone.

Here is a quick trip recap:

• Flew in a day late due to flu conditions. Arrived in San Francisco just in time to have an amazing dinner with the family and then catch a showing of Wicked. SO GOOD. If you have the opportunity to see this, definitely go!
• Went to Ghiradelli Square and watched my little Sis OD on chocolate fudge.  Rode the cable car with her and my Dad.  Took a nap then had amazing dinner at Clementine (French restaurant).
• Got up early, found the Caltrain station and eventually Nut Brown in Redwood City.  Saw NB's new, totally cute place, then drove to Santa Cruz via Highway One. 
• Ate at Upper Crust Pizza and then dropped into the Beehive.  It was so weird to climb those steps again.  Up at the top, Earth Goddess and Tea Warrior were waiting.  Tea Warrior had made the best Cognac creme brulee ever, but I had to torch the top sugar by myself.  Scary!  Caught up with EG and TW and Diamond Fatale when she came by.  Got to see TW's amazing tricycle and EG's sexy motorcyle (I even got to straddle it!).
• Went by the library and got serious chills walking in through the door.  The check out line was almost to the Ref desk and all of the circ desk staff were running around like crazy people.  The most amazing thing was that patrons were actually waiting patiently in line and not snarking or rolling their eyes.  This led me to think that this long line was now a common occurence.  All of the employees looked so hagard.  It was very sad.  Very glad I don't work there anymore though.
• Red Room!  Jean Grey martini!  Man Magnet! Ran into old roommate Kali totally by chance.  One old library friend came by and it was great to catch up with him.  He got into a snipe with Man Magnet about Gov Swarzenegger though.  Eep!
• Went back over the hill and ended up doing a short karaoke stint with Nut Brown, Mortal Wombat and Steinway Man.  It was wonderful to see Mortal Wombat again and to see him looking so well.   Steinway Man has too many students (jealous) and is always an inpiration.  Sang "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" ala Marylin Monroe.  Everyone clapped even though I was mega congested and didn't do a "sexy dance."  Got tired very early and was a party pooper.
• Fell sound asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.  Got up early to meet the family for brunch and to catch our flight back to ABQ.  All flights out of SF ended up being delayed though and we almost didn't make it home.  Read "Ghostwritten" by David Mitchell on the plane (OMG Diamond Fatale, I am loving this book, thanks for the rec!).  Little Sis listened to my Ipod and found the piano trio by Shostakovitch on it and was entralled (YES!  SUCH GOOD TASTE IN AN 8 YEAR OLD).

Trip was wonderful, but it made me realize that I need to go back for a longer time and really get to visit with everyone.
( Pick-ee-tures! )

Some quick updates:

- Made crash debut as Trumpet accompanist at local swank piano bar. Was fun but music sucked. Have come to realization that I'm terrible at promoting myself and that bad things happen when I try to leave the promoting to other people.
- Bought news shoes I can't afford (AGAIN) and can't seem to make myself care.
- Broke some jewelry from work by packing it insufficiently when I shipped it. FAIL.
- Have discovered that I actually like Meringues which is a win because they are fairly low calorie.
- Took myself on a date to watch Twilight. I snuck some popcorn into the theater with me because I am a cheap date. I didn't make out with myself in the theater though, cuz that would be weird.

Here are some chickens playing piano:

My favorite part is when they say: "Porcelain's the surest plan!"
Enjoy.

Looking for the holy grail, but ending up drinking too much holy ale instead? Relieve yourself with this King Arthur inspired toilet seat:

Not kidding. This medieval accessory is available through the Pyramid Collection.

Yummy!  Why cost $300?  :(

Music is amazing. There's some metaphysical comfort where it allows you to be isolated and alone while telling you that you are not alone... truly, the only cure for sadness is to share it with someone else.
Wayne Coyne

I can't make you-- Bonnie Raitt
Gold Dust --Tori Amos
Wreak of the Day--Anna Nalick
Precious Things--Tori Amos
Little Earthquakes--Tori Amos
Ice Cream--Sarah Mclaughlin

Gravity -- Vienna Teng

London Still -- The Waifs

Fear -- Sarah Mclaughlin

Piano Concerto #23 in A, K 488 Mvt. 2 -- Mozart

Tall Trees in Georgia -- Eva Cassidy

Two engineering students are walking on campus. One of them has a really nice bike.

"Hey, nice bike," says one student, "where'd you get it?"

"Well," say the other engineer, "the other day I was walking to class and this beautiful woman rides up on this bike, then stops, throws the bike to the ground, tears off all her clothes and says: 'Take what you want!'"

"You made a good choice," says the first engineering student, "I doubt those clothes would have fit you."

I keep losing things from my kitchen.  My place is so small that I can't imagine where they are going.

Somewhere, hidden in my house, or probably in the fifth dimention, just outside of the wormhole that leads out from somewhere in my kitchen is a pile of:

1. One red placemat from target (come home please, your three brothers and sisters miss you).
2.  A small baking tray, usually used for baking cookies.  (Cookies baked on a pizza pan just don't come out the same)
3.  Several purple plastic lids to tupperware containers.
4.  My smoothie container which I mix up salad dressing in.

Actually, I just found the smoothie container in the fridge when I KNOW THAT I LOOKED IN THERE FOR IT YESTERDAY AND COULDN"T FIND IT.  Guess I'm going crazy, or I have a kitchen poltergeist.

This has definitely been one of the stranger nights of my life.  Sight-reading Beethoven with a long lost friend and TOO much cognac.  How strange we humans are.

Sleep now.  No more keys with six flats.  No Comprendo.