Spinach, Honey, and Stevie Nicks.

Work ended a bit early, today, in honor of Halloween. I think this is somewhat silly, truth be told, because I was never all that into Halloween. True enough, I enjoyed getting candy as much as the next kid, but it didn't keep me up nights dreaming and wishing the way, say, Christmas might have.

Anyway...

I got home and realized all I really wanted to do was...brace yourselves...go buy my weight in secondhand books and LPs.

So by golly, I did.

Currently, Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" (50 cents!!) is crooning from the phonograph in the corner and I'm a happy, spoiled little gal. Four LPs and at least five or six new books. Plus I stopped at Jo-Ann's and got myself a new stitch counter (to replace the one the fairies stole) and a new circular knitting needle. Rawr, life is good!

But I got home at 8:30 and realized I hadn't eaten a thing. My, my...what to do? Experiment? Forsooth!

Sautee three diced cloves of garlic in some olive oil, add a box of Trader Joe's chicken stock (how I love it so), season with salt, black pepper, and red pepper, then once it's boiling nicely add in a lot of frozen spinach, mixed tricolor kidney beans, and a beaten egg.

Dinner of champions. Especially with a glass of sweet Riesling and some whole wheat crackers slathered with sunflower seed butter. Gosh, I'm still experiencing the joy.

For the record (ha, get it?), I'm a bit in awe of the fact that I've recognized every song so far on Rumours' A-side. This doesn't usually happen to me. I follow a pretty strict "Do not buy the record unless you know and love at least two songs on said record", and I've toed the line quite a bit on a few purchases. But this one is in no danger, on that front.

Have a great weekend, y'all. I fully intend to.

-The GLS
(NaNoWriMo starts in a few days!! AHHHHHH!!)

Go Do.

Oh, dear. I appear to be deep in thought, preparing for this year's NaNoWriMo novel. My notes are open, my character sketches are getting filled in, and names are tripping across my brain and out through my tongue.

Apologies.

I'll leave you with this loveliness.

...and I made homemade ginger cookies. But you can't have any.

Narf!

-The GLS

Do You Have A Dollar?

I can't help it.

I need to go do my laundry, now.

-The GLS

Palomino.

Shameless musical plug:

Trampled By Turtles, a Minnesota bluegrass band. They're awesome. Go. Seek. Listen. Dance in your chair. Realize just how awesome that fiddle player is. Figure out that you really should purchase a mandolin sometime soon, no matter the cost. No matter how much money is involved. No matter how many stores you have to go to. NO MATTER BLOODY WHAT.

...

Maybe that's...just me.

-The GLS

An Old Favorite. Listen, Repeat.

The Penalty
-Beirut

Like in ancient day, and I'm on trial
Let them seize away, this once was an island...
And I could not stay for I believed them,
Left for the light always in season.

Impossible night in a crowd of homesick
Fully grown children, you'll leave the light
Your family may not wait to see you breathing
Or bend through the day they find us kneeling
Let them think what they may, for they don't reason
Left for the light always in season.

Love to you and yours on this dreary, rainy, truly sublime evening.

-The GLS

It Means Umbrella, Actually.

I think I need three days of music, music, music.

And rain.

But mostly music, music, music.

And festival food.

But...music. And music. And music again.

Oh, could I have some Bob Dylan, too?

Think I could manage that?

Yep. I think so.

Good deal. See y'all later.

-The GLS

Way, WAY Too Catchy...

Question:

Do you ever vow never to buy music from iTunes ever again, noting the extraordinary suck of financial resources it is?

And then...

Do you ever get a song so interminably stuck in your head that your only source of relief--beyond allowing your own head to explode--is to buy it on iTunes?

Well, I am currently stuck in this whirlwind of conviction and challenge.

Curse you, Muscles!

Welcome, "Chocolate, Raspberry, Lemon, Lime" to my family of iTunes favorites.

-The GLS

I Scream, You Scream...

(Listening to "Ice Cream" by Muscles. It just seemed appropriate.)

Dear David Lebovitz:
I have never actually seen you face to face, but you are a beautiful man. I love you...if only for your ice cream recipes.

Sincerely,
The Gutsy Little Lover Of Your Ice Cream

Sorry for that little aside. But it needed to happen. Because...with the help of my Fairy Godblogger*, David Lebovitz...I have created a beautiful, beautiful ice cream.

Banana-Brown Sugar Ice Cream, to be exact.

If you have an ice cream maker, you need to try this recipe. If you don't have an ice cream maker...buy one, and try this recipe. And there's NO excuses, because it's even vegan! Ha! Beat that!

Can you go wrong with bananas caramelized in brown sugar and coconut milk, pureed to smooth perfection with vanilla and a pinch of salt? Then frozen into a delightfully creamy creation and drizzled with chocolate syrup? Can you? CAN YOU??

No, that's right. You can't.

Excuse me. I'm in ice cream bliss. Must go smile some more.

-The GLS
*Ignore that. I don't know what came over me. That's weird.

Wa-Wa-Waaaaa!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Wow.

Okay, let me first admit that I wasn't going to watch it. Despite my recent addiction to all things taking place in the USA from 1860 to around 1900 (ie...Westerns)...I knew that spaghetti westerns were a bit different, more graphic, etc. I wasn't really all that interested, to be honest.

But I'm a curious critter. And I had exhausted most of the American-made westerns I wanted to see. And...I mean...it's Clint Eastwood.

So I borrowed it from some friends and gave it a good, honest watch this evening.

Wow.

I'll further admit that the first hour and a half were underwhelming. I mean, I was tracking with it, but I was still getting used to the overdubbing and the fact that Eli Wallach is the REAL main character of the movie (sorry, Clint...Eli gets WAY more screen time).

But then? Ah, then. Around the point that Tuco and Blondie get taken to the prison camp and Angel Eyes is posing as a Union sergeant...then things REALLY PICKED UP. The rest of the film was fantastic. And I think I'll need to watch the beginning again, now that I know what to expect.

Don't worry. Clint is still the man.

In other news, I went to Half Price Books today. Regular readers of this blog (if I have any) may recognize that this is a bad sign. I DID spend money, yes, but not all of it was for me. A bit of it was, though. Enough for three LPs (Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, and Paul Simon) and a book of Old West folklore published in 1951. Yeah, I know you're jealous.

For the record...I promise that this Westerns thing will pass eventually. Also, I haven't bought a Stetson, cowboy boots, or an amazing array of handkerchief-patterned clothing. I don't listen to modern country music, on the radio or otherwise, and I don't have any overwhelming urges to start.

Phew. I had to get that off my chest.

Now, to go proudly belt "Tea for the Tillerman" at the top of my lungs. And then drink some chamomile.

-The GLS

Elementary...

Watching a video of a Gogol Bordello performance. While I like GB, watching them perform in Letterman...is...an interesting experience. I mean...it's Letterman. And...it's Gogol Bordello. I dunno. You be the judge.

I'm a wee bit tired. I watched the new Sherlock Holmes (finally!) this evening at a movie night of good friends. Dogs and babies were everywhere. Food was spilling off the table. There was laughter and someone threw a bottle at my knee (I'm still holding a grudge!). But it was good, clean, wholesome fun.

And Sherlock Holmes, or what I caught of it between snuggling the kids and smushing the dogs and snacking on snap peas (don't get all of that confused), was pretty darned cool. And gritty. I think gritty is the word that all the reviewers used, so I'll use it too. I mean...does it get any better than Robert Downey Jr? I love that man. And I love waistcoats. Did I mention I love waistcoats?

Off to bed.

-The GLS

Starting Tonight...

(Tonight's soundtrack: "I Wanna Be Loved" by The Andrews Sisters. Classic.)

So, awhile ago I wrote this post in which I extolled the virtues of tiny Le Creuset casserole dishes. However, after doing some research, I determined that they were WAY out of my price range and would stay that way.

And then PCC happened. And this was the result:



Yep. There's four of them. They were $12 each. Ummm...I can't pass that up. And aren't they adorable? Yes, in this photo they are sitting on my roof. Because that's the only place where there was enough light left to take a picture. I don't make a habit of keeping cookware on my roof.

I also got a haircut, today! You can't really tell unless you're me. Frankly, it's probably the first time I've walked out of a salon feeling good about the way it went down.

(shallow)
I'm growing my hair out, because I haven't had it long since high school. However, because my hair is thick and curly, it inevitably gets too much weight around the ENDS and drags the stuff on my head down flat, so I look like a cocker spaniel. Today I finally asked someone to give me a shape other than triangular. And she delivered! I feel really good about it. I also feel really good about the fact that it was only $28. I mean...it could have been a LOT WORSE.
(/shallow)

Anyway, here's a rough idea of how it turned out:



Yep! I like it. I say "rough" idea because you probably can't even tell the difference. But I can. And that's what matters.

Especially for 28 bucks.

Hey, big spender.

-The GLS

The Stars, The Moon!

Okay.

This Florence & The Machine business needs to stop.

But not tonight.

I fully intend to buy the album "Lungs" in a few precious moments.

And I can't stop listening to "Cosmic Love".

This is madness.

Gotta go open iTunes.

-The GLS

You Better Run!

Tonight's soundtrack, "Dog Days" by Florence & The Machine. To make it better, watch the video as well. She's trippy in the best possible way. :)

I'm too lazy to go back and check, but I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this here before. As a writer, I have a REALLY hard time writing villains. I don't know why this is, although I think it has to do with being perhaps a bit too sympathetic. I honestly can't see anyone as irredeemable, and I never write villains that are self-servingly vile, because they don't seem realistic.

I mean, let's be honest...Adolf Hitler and his ilk are rare enough that we notice and remember forever.

My philosophy on villains can be pretty well summed up here.

Ah well. Perhaps that is tonight's writing assignment: a fantastic villain, redeemable or not. Let's get to it.

-The GLS

Multipass.

By the by, all you budding film students out there who want to know whether "Editor" could be a fun job...

Go watch The Fifth Element, and tell me that the editing alone in that movie isn't one of the funniest characters in scifi.

Anyway.

Purchases of gutsiness, today!

I'm wearing these RIGHT NOW, in fact:



Yes, these are my new PLAID headphones.

I love them.

They make the Sacred Harp music I've been listening to really rock.

Well, sort of.

I think it's time to open up GarageBand and start recording some craziness.

-The GLS

Woo-Woo!

(That sound up there in the title? Yeah, that's a train whistle. Go with it.)

Things I learned from Johnny Cash's "Orange Blossom Special" Album:

1) The Orange Blossom Special is the fastest train on the line. It will also bring your baby back and help you lose the New York blues, whilst you get some sand in your shoes.

2) If you happen to resemble a certain cold-blooded killer, try really hard NOT to be sleeping with your best friend's wife the night of the murder. Not a great alibi (not that you'll actually use it).

3) It ain't me you're looking for.

4) Crime don't pay. Just ask that guy in cellblock ten, where there's a lot of strange men.

5) It's not enough just to treat your man well. You gotta try REALLY hard not to waste his precious time. But don't think twice, it's alright.

6) Suicide by drowning sounds more poetic if you call it "becoming part of the flow"...but it's still drowning.

7) Before you choose to eskimo-hop with Red-Headed Lil at the Red Dog Saloon in Fairbanks, PLEASE make sure she doesn't have a jealous fiance sitting nearby. Seriously.

I don't know what inspired the previous bit of lunacy. It seemed important at the time.

-The GLS

Bacterial Humor? Really?

I'm sorry, I'm a little busy right now. I'm feverishly searching through pages upon pages of food blogness looking for the best dessert recipe to try on July 4th. Something that ISN'T sheet cake covered in blueberries and strawberries. (Huh. Red, white and blue. I get it.)

But since you're here, you might as well know that I listened to Act 1 of Puccini's "La Boheme" on LP last night and I feel VERY cultured right now. I mean, we're talking plain-yogurt cultured. Seriously, it's nuts over here.

That was nerdy. I'm going to go "sift" through some more recipes.

Ha! See what I did there? I'm on a ROLL!

-The GLS

PS: Name my Kitchenaid mixer. I mean it, she needs a name...

Pickin' and a-Singin'...

I don't usually feel that I have to defend my instrument of choice (ukulele) as being a versatile and often gorgeously-used little stringed thing. I just believe it, and I'm happy to oblige myself. But then I invent a potential (and imaginary) naysayer, just so I can post things like this and not feel weird. I'm proving the validity of the art form!

This is James Hill. He doesn't know it yet, but we are meant to be.

(Uhh...not really. But I love this song. And I love that he's playing a slide ukulele.)

James Hill with "Oh, Susanna".

Can't help it. Love it. Gonna go play it, even if my uke doesn't slide. Whatever.

-The GLS

Could We Have Kippers For Breakfast?

You may have to forgive me. I'm in auditory rapture right now; I found Supertramp's "Breakfast In America" album on vinyl today (for freakin' $1.98!), and it's spinning nearby, and...wow. Yeah, just, wow.

My parents are really tickled by my newfound love of vinyl, and I really can't explain the appeal to anyone else. Is it the crackly undertone to all the songs? Nah, it has to be more than that.

Maybe it's the interactivity of moving the needle onto the record surface? The feel of pulling it carefully out of the cardboard cover, then the paper sleeve, and easing it onto the phonograph? The feeling that the band JUST recorded this straight onto vinyl and handed it to me, and only to me? The click of the spindle when it reaches the end of the grooves and slides back across to rest until I turn the record over? The second-hand nature of the albums, that they've traveled through time and space and many other living rooms to reach my hands, my room, and my phonograph? Or maybe it's just the faces staring back from album covers, famous (but not always glamorous) faces that form a sort of history, a musical foundation, a way to be recognized?

Yeah, maybe it's all of that.

But really...it's probably just the crackly-ness. I can't handle how COOL it sounds...

-The GLS

I Had A Dream...

(It occurs to me that my posts of late have been REALLY boring. I have hopes this will change after finals are over/school is done. Sorry about it.)

Early again, tonight. What's the deal?

Here's the deal. Both of my finals are tomorrow, and I'm strangely at peace about it, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to study frantically. At this point, however, there isn't much more I can do other than go over my notes, highlight my study guide, and pray. That last one is a biggie.

Furthermore, I have a tooth-cleaning at 7am, tomorrow morning. Was this my choice? Yeah. Was it a dumb one? Probably, but my alternative was to have it done July 1st, and who knows what sorts of things I'll want to be doing on July 1st? It'll be the middle of the summer!

In terms of gutsiness, I've been singing a silly little song all day. But it's great. It's called "Orange Sky" by Alexi Murdoch, and it's simple and beautiful and all-around terrific. Please go have a listen. KEXP = love.

Alright, friends. I'm off to study hard, eat a brownie, and do my yoga tonight (because there is NO WAY I'm going to try to squeeze a half-hour yoga set in before my 7am dentist appointment. No way, no how.)

-The GLS

Play Games, All Sorts.

Okay, so here's the thing. I'm a little frazzled, currently. I listened to a LOT of classic music on LP all day, because I went digging through my parents' old records. Seriously. There was Fleetwood Mac, Art Garfunkel, Johnny Cash, The Eagles, The Kinks, Lovin' Spoonful, and perhaps two or three more that I don't recall. Wow. Just, wow.

But it made studying go a lot easier.

I did ten or so odd pages of Study Guide for my Astronomy final on Wednesday. I still have two optional labs and who knows how much studying for Logic to do, but it's a start! And it took me all day. Who knew a non-comprehensive final could be so...comprehensive...?

To top it all off, I can't stop playing "Cath" by Death Cab for Cutie on my ukulele (it works surprisingly well!) and I'm just in an all-around jolly and weird mood. So please forgive.

I also feel another short story coming on...but I need a little help. I'm looking for famous male/female pairs from literary history. Not necessarily romantic, just famous. So far I have:

1. Mary Poppins & Bert
2. Scout & Jem Finch
3. Merlin & Nimue

...and that's it. I'm a little ashamed of myself.

Can you think of any?

I'd be most obliged.

And now, to go play "Cath" for the thirteenth time this evening. Please excuse me...

-The GLS