Moving -- again!

Hey everybody --

I've moved my blog over to Wordpress. The new address is:

http://YankeeL.wordpress.com

See you there!

Another meme

OK, I know I haven't had any "real" posts in a while. Don't remember the last time I posted a photo. Some of that could be because I broke the LCD display on my camera last month. :-(

But here's something. KnelleyBelley tagged me. So here goes.

The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) What was I doing ten years ago?

Ten years ago, I was busy busy busy… I was a 9^th year senior at LSU, finishing up the second-to-last semester of my undergraduate studies. I was also an administrative assistant for a domestic violence program.

2) Five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:

1. Work on my apartment (I moved about a month ago, and I’m still getting settled in)

2. Return phone calls to my dad and my sister

3. Knit while watching season finales I’ve taped on the VCR (poor man’s Tivo)

4. Answer some e-mail that’s piled up in my inbox

5. Answer some paper mail that’s piled up on my desk (and on my coffee table, and on my kitchen counter, and on the hall table...

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Chex Mix is one of my absolute favorites. I generally prefer crunchy, salty snacks to sweets, but a Caramel Coolatta from Dunkin Donuts would hit the spot right about now.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Pay off my student loans and credit cards. Give money to family, friends, and selected charities. Invest. Probably buy a house. Travel.

5) Places I have lived:

Mobile, Alabama. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hamden, Wallingford, and Middletown, Connecticut.

6) Jobs I have had:

Bookstore clerk. Record store clerk, buyer, and slacker. Olive Garden hostess. Door-to-door political canvasser. Office manager. Administrative assistant, payroll goddess, and later grantwriter for a domestic violence program. Teacher of English as a second language. Waitress. Graduate assistant. SAT tutor. Blog moderator. Intern architect. I could go back through W-2s, but then I’d probably got depressed seeing how little money I’ve made.

7) Peeps I want to know more about:

I think everyone I know has been tagged already. If not, consider yourself tagged now.

Who said that?

So a really fun meme seems to be making the rounds. I enjoyed writing this post as much as I've enjoyed playing the game on others' blogs.

Here are the rules:

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie (or get them out of your capacious memory).
3. Post them on your blog for everyone to guess.
4. Bold it when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. Looking them up is cheating, please don’t.
6. HAVE FUN!

MOVIE #1

A: How could it take you five minutes to cook your grits when it takes the entire grit-eating world 20 minutes?
B: Um... I'm a fast cook, I guess.
A: [across beside the jury] What? I'm sorry I was over there. Did you just say you were a fast cook? Are we to believe that boiling water soaks into a grit faster in your kitchen than any place on the face of the earth?
B: I don't know.
A: Perhaps the laws of physics cease to exist on your stove. Were these magic grits? Did you buy them from the same guy who sold Jack his beanstalk beans?

MY COUSIN VINNY (Nice going, Melanie M!)

MOVIE #2

I'd be the worst possible Godfather. I'd probably drop her on her head at her christening. I'd forget all her birthdays until she was 18. Then I'd take her out and get her drunk. And, let's face it, quite possibly try and shag her.

ABOUT A BOY (WifeMomKnitter)

MOVIE #3

A: Where are you giants from?
B: We're from New York.
C: All hail the New York Giants!

MADAGASCAR (CostumeChick)

MOVIE #4

A: What was that ruckus?
B: Uh, what ruckus?
A: I was just in my office and I heard a ruckus.
C: Could you describe the ruckus, sir?

THE BREAKFAST CLUB (WifeMomKnitter)

MOVIE #5

A: It's part of a trilogy, a musical trilogy I'm working on in D minor which is the saddest of all keys, I find. People weep instantly when they hear it, and I don't know why.
B: It's very nice.
A: You know, just simple lines intertwining, you know, very much like - I'm really influenced by Mozart and Bach, and it's sort of in between those, really. It's like a Mach piece, really. It's sort of...
B: What do you call this?
A: Well, this piece is called "Lick My Love Pump".

THIS IS SPINAL TAP (also CostumeChick)

MOVIE #6

A: So what's this big news, then?
B: [excited] We've been given our parts in the nativity play. And I'm the lobster.
A: The lobster?
B: Yeah!
A: In the nativity play?
B: [beaming] Yeah, *first* lobster.
A: There was more than one lobster present at the birth of Jesus?
B: Duh.

LOVE, ACTUALLY (WifeMomKnitter)

MOVIE #7

Oh, he's very popular Ed. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.

FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF (CostumeChick is on a roll!)

MOVIE #8

Excuse me, sir. Seeing as how the V.P. is such a V.I.P., shouldn't we keep the P.C. on the Q.T.? 'Cause if it leaks to the V.C. he could end up M.I.A., and then we'd all be put out in K.P.

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM (WifeMomKnitter)

MOVIE #9

A: What are these? [holds up a bag with 3 lemons]
B: You asked for lemons. What my baby wants my baby gets.
A: There are 3 lemons. I asked for 12. Baby wanted 12.

THE BREAKUP (KnelleyBelley)

MOVIE #10

A: Well hell, it ain't square one! Ain't nobody gonna pick up three filthy, unshaved hitch-hikers, and one of them a know-it-all that can't keep his trap shut.
B: Pete, the personal rancor reflected in that remark I don't intend to dignify with comment. But I would like to address your general attitude of hopeless negativism. Consider the lilies of the goddamn field or... hell! Take at look at Delmar here as your paradigm of hope.

O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU? (CostumeChick rocks!)

6 words

Well, my friend WifeMomKnitter tagged me for this meme. She'd been tagged by Mad-Knitter, who'd heard about 6 word biographies in a piece on National Public Radio. I'd also heard that piece (and seen an article online), so I thought it was really pretty cool. Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to be a very wordy person, so keeping it at 6 words is a challenge!

Here's my best effort so far:
So much behind; so much ahead.

I could elaborate, but I think that would defeat the purpose.

Now, being lazy, I tag whoever's reading and hasn't been tagged yet. ;-)

A little shift toward the kitchen

Well, my friend Laura over at The Spiced Life (a very impressive cooking blog that I've referred to before as "food porn") tagged me (actually tagged whoever) for this meme. I figured I'd give it a shot, although I haven't taken much time to cook lately. :-\

Kitchen Meme

What three kitchen items do you use the most often?
Microwave, Fridge, and a good set of knives (you can tell by the first 2 that I don't spend as much "quality time" in the kitchen as Laura does.

What kitchen gadget do you wish you had?
A good food processor. I have a little Black & Decker one that chops pretty nicely, but I lost the slicing wheel years ago.

What kitchen gadget do you never use/wish you hadn't spent the money for?
Since I have a small kitchen with very limited space, I keep my kitchen arsenal lean and mean -- no room for one-trick ponies. I did have a bread machine that my mom had picked up at a tag sale, but I gave it away because I hardly ever used it. Besides, kneading your own bread dough is very therapeutic!

What is your favorite cookbook? (Link if you can!)
Unlike Laura, I don't have a huge cookbook collection. If I need an asparagus recipe, I usually head to the internet. I do have a couple of tried-and-true favorites: The Joy of Cooking is certainly a staple. I also have a great book called How Cooking Works -- lots of good info about the chemistry of cooking (dumbed down for those of us who had to drop college chemistry because it was too damn hard), plus practical knowledge, like substitution suggestions. Last I heard, it was out of print.

Who is your cooking inspiration?
Senia, who first taught me how to cook (at the age of 7 or 8), my parents, who allowed me into the kitchen (and entrusted me with use of everything in it) as soon as I could reach the counter, and my Aunt Helen, who first taught me how to bake bread.

What are three recipes that you use all the time?
1. A good chicken and black bean chilaquiles recipe from Cooking Light (although I've tweaked it significantly)
2. A recipe for honey whole wheat challah that once appeared in the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate. I haven't made it in a long time, but it makes a wonderful all-around wheat bread.
3. My mom's recipe for M&M cookies -- even though I don't have a tremendous sweet-tooth, these are the best. Loaded with brown sugar and butter -- makes me want to get out the mixer right now!

Can you share a cooking secret?
It's more of a philosophy than a secret per se -- if you can read and follow directions, you can cook (and with practice, you can learn to tweak recipes and improve upon them with your own knowledge and experience). Don't be discouraged by the occasional kitchen disaster -- I doubt that even the most accomplished chefs hit it out of the park 100% of the time.

What is your greatest cleaning secret?
Trying to get someone else to do the cleaning. ;-)
No, really -- if you have a pan with really stubborn baked on crud, try soaking it in hot water and baking soda. My mom found this out a few years ago and shared it with me.

What is your favorite thing to clean?
I'm not sure the word "favorite" belongs in that question. That would imply that I like to clean.

What is your least favorite thing to clean?
The kitchen floor -- not a fan of mopping.

What is your most embarrassing housekeeping moment?
I'm not sure if there's a particular moment, but I know my place is a pigsty right now (it was a busy week). So I guess I'd better wrap this up and go tidy up!

Who do you tag to do this next?
I'm issuing a blanket tag to any readers who do any cooking. :-)

Alphabet Soup

Here is what you do. Use the 1st letter of your middle name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real places, names,things…nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person you took this from had the same 1st initial.
You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. Middle name letter: C
2. Famous artist/band/musician: Crosby Stills Nash (& sometimes Young)
3. 4-letter word: Although I can think of a couple of other 4-letter word that begin with "C," I'm gonna go with "crap."
4. U.S state: Kah-lee-FOR-nee-yah
5. Boy name: Christopher
6. Girl name: Catherine
7. Animal: Cat
8. Something in the kitchen: Cake pans (mmmmm....cake.....)
9. Reason for being late? Cuckoo clock is broken?
10. Body Part? Cranium
11. Drink? Cabernet (but not $27/glass Cabernet -- that'd just be SILLY)
12. Something you shout: Crappity Crap Crap!
13. Something you eat? Cookies
14. A movie you've seen? Casablanca

I tag Knelley, passimenterie, and The Spiced Life (a good cooking blog if you're into food porn)

Travelling Riverside Blues

Well, I'd told WifeMomKnitter that I was going to make that the title of my next post. I'd been wondering aloud what the title of that song was after I'd heard it on the radio. I've never considered myself a Led Zeppelin "fan," but I did catch myself doing a little sing/dancealong behind the wheel of my car. Very cool guitar riff. Kinda dirty lyrics -- Robert Plant, you a damn pervert.
Led Zeppelin - Travelling Riverside Blues



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