What Cats Want

Cats boss us around.
I believe it: "cats deliberately and cunningly domesticated themselves and so they could persuade people to give them free food and shelter"

My Zodiac used to do the same:

"And Cecile Moore put up with acts of extortion from her cat Henry who regularly sat on the top of the bureau of her Athens, Ga., home and scooted a bottle of perfume toward the edge until she got out of bed."

Diva tells me when it is dinner time but she's more mellow in the morning than Zodiac was. She definitely lets me know when she wants to be petted by sticking her head under my hand. She often comes over by my feet and then humps her back up so I'll scratch her.

Be Careful What You Ask For

I stopped watching Grey's Anatomy two seasons ago; it got a little too soap opera like for me. I watch medical shows for the medical stuff not for the personal drama. I've heard Grey's has dead people walking now and affairs right and left. So be it. They have a huge audience and I don't begrudge them.

I see now that the character George is leaving the show. T.R. Knight is not happy with the management and he feels his character isn't going in the direction he wants. Fine with me. Apparently fine with the producers too.

If you view T.R. Knight's career information, you'll see he really didn't have a career until he was on Grey's Anatomy. I think perhaps he should have considered that people love the character George and not necessarily T.R. Knight. It might have been smarter to get some other work during hiatus, ala Katherine Heigl and test his staying power before quitting.

I wish him well. I loved George. I hope I love T.R. Knight too. We'll see.

Tomatoes In A Tube

I made spaghetti squash primavera again today and it is just so, so good. I will confess I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I usually follow a recipe once or twice and then just do it my way afterwards. Today I sauteed some onions, tossed in some red pepper and a little garlic. Okay a lot of garlic. Then I opened a can of diced tomatoes with jalapenos and added that. I like jalapenos but don't like cutting them up so the tomatoes with them already added is great for me. The finishing touch is the tomato paste. Is is thick and sweet and just makes the sauce. Today I squeezed some in because I just bought a tube of paste. I bought it because I hate using part of a can of tomato paste and then putting the rest in the refrigerator only to toss it a week later. Or a month later when it has fuzz on it. According to the tube, my new tomato paste will last indefinitely.

The paste in a tube costs more per ounce than paste in the can. I wonder if the can version should last indefinitely too. Or are there extra preservatives in the tube? I should check that out.

In the meantime I'm enjoying my delicious spaghetti squash.

To The Moon

40 years ago today, I rushed home from my job at Ladera Taco to watch a man walk on the moon. We sat in our living room watching the landing and then that famous "one small step". We went outside to look up at the moon where a man was walking. A man was walking on the moon!

Today we take space travel for granted. There is a space station that people travel to and from without much notice from us. Space shuttles take off and land while the rest of us go about out business. We only pay attention when there is a disaster or the possibility of a disaster. But I still remember the awe I felt in 1969 when, for the first time ever, there was a man on the moon.

Freezer Find

I'm still in the midst of cleaning out the pantry and freezer before doing any major food shopping. Yesterday I discovered some frozen leftovers from P.F. Changs which I had forgotten about. I took them home from a monthly girl's night out a few months ago. In it was the left over stirred fried eggplant. This is SO yummy, I intend to figure out how to make it for myself. The menu says it is stir-fried eggplant, tossed with scallions in a savory chili pepper sauce. It isn't hot spicy so I might add some heat in my own version. Once I get the recipe down, I'll post it.

Stay-cation Dreams, Retirement Wishes

Over the 4th of July weekend which nicely coincides with my birthday, I took some extra days off work and had a 5 day stay-cation. I didn't do anything strenuous. I read, played some penny slots, cooked and enjoyed some wine. It was a wonderful, restful time.

The down side is that I just can't get back into the 9-5 routine. I go to work, I do my best, but I really, really want to just spend my days doing what I want to do. Unfortunately, because of the economy, I won't be able to have a permanent stay-cation for several years.

I know it sounds whiny but I'm not miserable. I do like my job. I enjoy the people I work with and the work I do - technology and customer service is a great combination. I just would like my schedule to be my own. I've been working pretty much straight since I was 14 years old. That's a lot of years to be bossed around by other people.

Okay, I have that out of my system. I have to go to bed now so I can get up for another day of 9-5.

United Breaks Guitars - UPDATED

Thanks to chele for this link. Musician Dave Carroll traveled on United and his guitar was broken by luggage handlers. His efforts to get reimbursed for the damage were unsuccessful and so he wrote this song. I'm betting he still won't get his money back. As you know, I'm a big fan of writing letters of complaint (or praise) to companies. A song is even better. A viral web video is best.



You can read more at Dave Carroll's site.

UPDATE: It appears I was a little behind the times and United had already responded to the song and offered 'hush' money. Which Dave declined.

Depptabulous

I went to see Public Enemies this weekend and it was a good choice - action packed and good acting. I don't think it will be up for any Oscars but it was definitely worth the price of admission. Lots of violence and breath holding while Dillinger is being chased. And Johnny Depp is such a great bad boy. And, OMG, he is good looking. And as my movie buddy said, "the only thing better than Johnny Depp in a movie is Johnny Depp with a gun."

I admit I had a hard time with liking John Dillinger. He was a bad, bad person who killed people. But he was loyal to his friends and he really loved Billie and I felt torn. I didn't want him to die. That isn't a spoiler because, of course, going in, you know the he gets killed. You just wish things could be different.

You don't have to see it on the big screen but, if you're wanting to go to the movies, this is a good choice.

Dry Scallops

I was whining to BFD, chef extraordinaire, about how I can't seem to sear scallops the way restaurant chefs do. She told be that is because my scallops have too much moisture and she told me to buy 'dry' scallops. As you know, I'm eating up the food I already have in my freezer and pantry and so I did not allow myself to buy new scallops. I did have a bag of frozen Japanese scallops from TJ's though. So I thawed them and then dried them very, very well. I patted them with paper towels until I couldn't detect any moisture. Then I sprayed them with olive oil, salted and peppered them and tossed them in a very hot pan. It worked! They were brown on the outside and tender on the inside. I served them up with some jalapeno rice - rice I cooked in water that I had added one diced jalapeno to. With a some soy sauce it was perfect!

Pasta With Wine Sauce

Yesterday I cooked myself some pasta with viognier sauce. I melted some butter, added a little bit of olive oil and chili oil. After I added some wine, I let it simmer over a low flame while I cooked my pasta. By the time the pasta was cooked and drained, the butter was light brown. I tossed the pasta in the butter and served it up with some of the Thumbprint viognier that was in the sauce. Along with a tossed green salad, it was an almost perfect meal. To make it perfect, I think I'll add garlic next time.

Shrimpy Meal

Yesterday breakfast was easy, toast and eggs. At lunchtime I grabbed a bad of TJ's stir fry shrimp out the the freezer and added some slices of TJ's savory tofu along with a few red pepper flakes; I improve a lot of my meals with those flakes. I hadn't had the stir fry before. The veggies were great; pea pods, broccoli, sprouts and water chestnuts. As most frozen meals, the broccoli was more stalk and less floweret. The seasoning was pretty good (once I added the flakes). It was plenty for two meals along with a nice green salad.

Happy Birthday To Me

This year is starting off great with a 5 day stay-cation here in LV. I don't plan to do much besides read, play penny slots, eat sushi and relax. There is the small item of having a new water heater installed tomorrow but that should be pretty simple. Other than that, I have zero appointments. It's all me, all the time.