Words of Lizzardie

Words of Lizzardie

Thursday, February 24, 2005

More randomness....

Very quickly, I think everyone should get off of Larry Summers' back. Freedom of speech says he can say whatever he want, and I believe what he said was meant to provoke people. So let's use that to our advantage and prove him wrong - which he said he hoped to be anyway!

Rachael Ray has a kickass vodka sauce recipe. I was a little turned off at first, of course, because it's called You Won't Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Sauce, but it truly is excellent. Something to remember: just because you're cooking doesn't mean you shouldn't use a quality product (think butter v. margarine in cookies), so use good vodka! I used Stoli, which is what I keep around anyhow.

Does anyone else think that Magna is set up to lose on The Apprentice? I do. But maybe that makes sense, because if the college kids won all of the time, the show wouldn't be very interesting.

That's all for now. Back to The Apprentice.

- Lizzardie, at 9:18 PM Post Link

Once again, I haven't updated in awhile. To be honest, there have been things I've thought about saying, but then thought better of it. They either don't belong here or I knew that whatever I would say here would just turn into a nonsensical rant about something none of you understand because I wouldn't be saying anything coherent. So I'll give you the short-short synopsis: life kinda sucks again and I have new things to figure out.

Anyhow, for a more thorough re-hash of the last 15 days (since the last update):

- Went to Ithaca last weekend. The whole purpose was the Tome Review Board meeting, which was 6 1/2 hours of pain. And to top it off, that wasn't even the worst part of the weekend. I hope my trip back there for Founders Day is better.
- Got my wine. Haven't had any of it yet. I need to change this.
- I have no tolerance to alcohol anymore. It sucks.
- I went to the supermarket the other day on my way home to buy groceries and a bottle of wine (most of mine aren't appropriate for me drinking alone on a weekday). Except the supermarket refused to sell me the wine. It sucked. I gave the cashier my ID, he called a manager over because it was an out of state ID, this took several minutes, she came and took my ID and walked away, this took another several minutes, then she came back and told me she couldn't take it because it was out of state. I was pissed, because she lied to me. I went back the next day to complain to the store manager.
- I fixed my windshield wipers today all by myself with a wrench.

That is all for excitement. I'm going skiing with Susan this weekend. And tomorrow I get my first paycheck with my raise on it. Woo.

I'm going to go and pretend I don't care about things I actually do care about now.

- Lizzardie, at 6:46 PM Post Link

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

It's been awhile again. Sorry. Let's see.... I was sick for awhile and then I wasn't. And then Ian and Dan came to town! It was really awesome to see them. Neither of them knew that they were going to be in town at the same time, either which was funny. In fact, I didn't know that Ian was going to be in town until after he'd arrived, and kinda the same with Dan (he was going to get a ride with his roommate, but then his roommate cancelled, and he was considering coming on his own, but didn't actually tell anyone what he'd decided until he actually got here). We did fun things like go to the good Chinese food place (Changsho) and went to the Lizard Lounge for fun music (no cover!). Of course Karen and Susan were with us. And then Dan, Susan and I went to the Museum of Fine Arts and ate at Boston Beer Works (I had the blueberry beer!). Susan doesn't like beer and made sure we knew it as we drank it. And I saw the most fabulous Monet at the MFA - I don't remember the title off hand but it's a great wintry piece. When I tried to buy the poster, they didn't have anymore, and the woman couldn't find it, so she just let me have the display. I now have 3 Monet wintry prints - I want to get them framed and then make them the main art in my room. Framing is expensive, though. After the day in Boston, we came back to my apartment in Somerville, and Ian and Karen once again joined us. We played games - Wordsters, Rapid Recall, Scattergories (my first Scattergories experience since the time in July... and I didn't get upset!).

Last week was dull. Then Sunday I went back to the MFA (when you buy a ticket, you can go back for free within 10 days, so why not - there's no way you can see the whole museum in one visit - not even in 2 or 3 or... you the idea). There I saw this horrible horrible exhibit - don't remember the guy's name - but one of the things was a dead lamb in a case of formaldehyde (or however you spell that). Also a canvas covered in dead black flies. Yuck. There was also a nice piece by a Boston artisit of the Common - another winter scene - I bought a little print of that so that I can frame it and hang it in the living room.

And then the Super Bowl! I watched with Karen and her roommate Liz and Liz's dad (so much Liz). We of course were a little worried, but no one was allowed to vocalize that! And of course we should have known that the Pats would win by 3 points - Boston's the place to be! :-) Favorite commercials: the Ameriquest (I think) one with the cat, the Fedex Kinko's Top Ten list and the P. Diddy Diet Pepsi one.

This week has been good because of a few things. One is that our wine "co-op" at work is finally coming to fruition. Basically, it was an entirely voluntary thing (and OF COURSE I wanted to partake). We gave our preferences in how often we'd get wine, what kinds we like and how much we're willing to spend. We settled that everyone would get a case (or a half a case - a couple people are splitting), we'd do it every 3 months and the average bottle price would be $20. So then the guy who organized it went and found us a wine "dealer" - really a source to buy one - to put together the wines for us (so we're getting quality "gems" that have been hand-picked by someone who picks what to sell and knows what's out there - WAY more of an expert than I am - which I am not). And they're delivering the wine on Friday!!! So here's what we got (in case any of you are super interested):

Winemaker & label	Varietal(s)/Category	Country (Region)	Vintage	Price
Acacia Pinot Noir Carneros	Pinot Noir	USA (Napa)	2003	24.99
Livingston Moffett Stanley's Selection	Cabernet Sauvignon	USA (Napa)	2001	24.99
Terre di Bo Barolo	Nebbiolo	Italy (Piedmonte)	2000	19.99
Zenato Ripassa Valpolicella Superiore	Corvina	Italy (Verona)	2001	24.99
Nicolas Catena	Malbec	Argentina (Mendoza)	2002	19.99
Bodegas y Viñedos Fernández Rivera Dehesa La Granja Zamora	Tempranillo	Spain (Toro)	2000	19.99
Chateau Tournefeuille Lalande de Pomerol	Bordeaux-style blend	France (Bordeaux/Pomerol)	1999	16.99
Montes Alpha	Merlot	Chile (Curico Valley)	2002	19.99
Iron Horse Cuvée 'R'	Sauv. Blanc, Viognier	USA (Alexander Valley)	2003	22.99
Terre di Tufi	Vernaccia	Italy (Tuscany)	2003	21.99
JA Ferret Pouilly-Fuisse	Chardonnay	France (Burgundy)	2002	29.99
Weins-Prüm Estate Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett	Riesling	Germany (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer)	2002	17.99

I'm super excited. :-D

Another good thing about my week was my raise. I know I mentioned my raise a few weeks ago, and that was good - it was really good. But yesterday, it got increased by 50%, which is great. I'm much happier with the amount of money I'm making now, and feel it is much closer to what I should by making (giving my skill set and education). I don't want to focus on money too much, but it'll also make bills and such much easier. So yay.

I'm going to Ithaca President's Day weekend and then again for Founders Day. I decided to take March 4th (Friday before Founders Day) off so that I can go see Jon Stewart with people from the Chapter. Yay. :-)

You know I'll be bringing some of those wine bottles with me. Ugh - where am I going to put them - that will put my rack WAY past capacity. Guess I'll have to start drinking more! :-D

- Lizzardie, at 9:48 PM Post Link