Adventures in Dallas

After a short writing hiatus, I am back.  Chuck and I are spending the month of January in Dallas.  I am vaguely familiar with Dallas and what I know of it hasn't overly impressed me.  I must remember that my exposure to Dallas is through the eyes of my in-laws.  They re lovely, lovely, giving and kind people...we just don't have the same tastes in entertainment and culture.  No biggie, but I forget that there are other things out there from what I have seen.  One goal for this trip was to find the culture in Dallas.  I know it's there. 
Just to recap on the week...we drove down on Saturday (Christmas Eve).  It was a long drive because a) flying is so much more -efficient and I like efficiency,  b) our trainer drilled us on Thursday and our legs were really sore and a long drive was only tightening them up.  I felt like I was 70.  We got in at 6pm and walked into a one bedroom apartment, not the 2-bedroom we requested.  No biggie, we can move, we would just have to wait a few days.  We can't unpack, we can't settle in, but a minor setback.  It was 60 degrees...nice weather just makes things better.  I would be the most easy-going person in the world if it constantly sunny and 60-80 degrees.
Christmas morning we walked to church and then spent the day out in Addison where Chuck's parent's live.  Addison is less than 20 miles from us.  It is well-planned and tidy.  Lots of shopping centers and every chain restaurant you can imagine (I didn't know there were that many chain restaurants).  It is a nice area and very well suited for them and probably what I will be looking for when I am their age. 
We're currently living in Uptown.  It is a lively area with new construction, tired buildings (which is our bldg), and great remodels.  I like the un-planned-ness of all of it. The area has bars, restaurants, shops (chain and unchain), a grocery store, gym, Walgreens, Target,and an independent movie theater all within a mile.  Without a car, this is perfect for me because I can easily get out of the house and be functional. 
We moved into the 2 bedroom on Wednesday (when Chuck was in St. Louis for the day...yup, that's right St. Louis).  The space is nice, more room to spread out and better windows.  Tonight is our first night out.  It is 70 degrees (sorry, weather will definitely be a constant theme) and we are just going to walk and explore.  I love this neighborhood.   The last 3 day weekend for a looooong time.  I am definitely taking advantage of it. 

Fun facts about Dallas and explains a WHOLE lot:  according to Wikipedia (we have a 50/50 chance of its correctness), Dallas is the 9th largest city in the US.  They have more shopping per capita than any other city in the US and consume more energy per capita than any other city in the US.  Yes, I definitely believe these facts.  I personally believe that my in-laws are setting a world-record in paper towel consumption. 

What I learned last night

If your child eats his/her own poop, it's ok (from a poisonous perspective, not a health or social one).

If your child eats another person's poop, you need to call your doctor or poison control. 

When I told Chuck this, he asked why I continue to go to BFDC, and I responded, "because it just solidifies the decisions I have made in my life."

Oh yeah, and it's fun minus the brief fluids talk.

Best weekend ever

There are just some weekends that click and there are some weekends that just fall flat despite even the best efforts. Two weekends ago, Chuck and I were staring at each other with no motivation, 12 degrees outside and a serious case of cabin fever. This weekend was an entirely different story.


Friday night, Chuck and I met cousin Sarah to see the Oscar nominated animated shorts. Good films, overall entertaining, Wallace & Gromit are nominated and I am always a big fan of their shorts (even if they are the popular ones). After the show, we went to Barrister’s, a bar in Clayton that we have become regular patrons. Great night.

Saturday started with a beautiful warm morning. I am on a young professional board for Mayor Slay and we had a meeting downtown. I grabbed my essentials and headed to the Metrolink. The meeting was at Soldier’s Memorial (which I thought was just a park until a couple of weeks ago). What an amazing building! First, the outside is an impressive and massive building. We have all seen it a thousand times, I just have never looked at it. Our meeting was in the auditorium (it looked like a courtroom) on the second floor. I was just taken aback when I walked in. I felt like I had stepped back in time to 1964. I felt out of place without a pillbox hat, white gloves and not discussing segregation in the classroom. It was an adorable room. I tried to take pictures on my phone, but that was useless. St. Louis could make millions renting it out to movie theaters. Since I am currently obsessed with all things 60’s, I was just tickled to death sitting in the meeting. The meeting was pointless, but that’s not important to our story. Go to the second floor of Soldier’s Memorial, it’s just fun.

Saturday night was the night. We have been waiting for this: Bugs at the Symphony. We went to Herbie’s for a pre-show cocktail to make a whole night of it. I did not realize that Herbie’s has quite a drink menu. Not the tuity-fruity cosmo/apple martini’s drinks, wonderful delicious drinks with bitters, Benedictine and a flaming orange peels. Don’t ask me, I don’t make them, I just drink them. Amanda (my new best friend or as some people would call her, the bartender at Herbie’s) walked us through all the drinks let us taste all the different gins, scotches, and bourbons that went into the different drinks for different reasons. Yum. We decided to make dinner reservations after the show just to get another drink.

The show was so much fun. You know, but you forget how much goes into a Wil E. Coyote short. To see all the instruments doing their own thing to work together into an amazing complex piece, just humbled me. The conductor was great in explaining the history and importance of the pieces and composers. I struggled between paying attention to the cartoons and the musicians. I am really looking forward to going back and enjoying the symphony again.

After dinner: back to Herbie’s. Drinks were still very good. We split the rabbit pasta, which I loved. The conductor or the symphony came in after us and we heard him refusing the rabbit (because of Bugs), but I blamed him for ‘kill da wabbit! Kill da wabbit’ and we had to have the rabbit. Amanda even came by the dining room and check in on us while we were there too. Herbie’s has moved up to one of my favorite restaurants, very very impressed with the food, drinks and people.

Sunday we ran errands and bought a new sofa. Someone is coming by tonight to buy the old ones.

Life is good.

Thank you Mr. Pollan

He’s at it again. Michael Pollan has a new book out, it’s called Food Rules. He has actually given rules to live by on how to choose what you eat. It can’t get easier than this. I do not have the book but I have been following the reviews closely and here are some interesting rules:
#11 Avoid foods advertised on TV. Reasoning: Only the biggest manufacturers can afford to advertise their products on TV. These manufacturers have simply reformulated their food-like substance into the trend of the moment (no HFCS, fortified with grains, low-sodium, etc). Avoiding TV food is avoiding food-like substances and not paying for the advertising in the price. It makes sense to me except for Kashi. Darn it, I love that company (even if they are owned by Kellogg’s, I always imagined them different than others). He has a point though; there are LOTS of other good things out there.
#19 If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made from a plant, don’t. High-fructose corn syrup, enough said.
#39 Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself. I love this. If you have to clean up the mess, you are going to eat a lot less often, but you still can eat it. There are also so many things that taste so much better homemade: cakes, ice cream, doughnuts. If you do happen to break this rule, just remember french fries, chips, and cupcakes are TREATS, not food.
#47 Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored. This is where I struggle the most and my thighs are finally taking notice. I am trying so hard with this one.
Oldies but goodies from Pollen (I am sure they are in the book, but I don’t have the number):
Don’t eat anything that won’t rot. Snack cakes, cereal, etc.
Don’t eat anything you can’t pronounce: sodium caseinate, dimethylpolysiloxane, calcium pantothenate.
Don’t eat anything your Grandma wouldn’t eat or recognize (while that’s true for my grandma, I think he meant his, so go back another generation)

There is a difference between food and food-like substance and there is a difference between food and treats. Please know this difference.

While we are on the subject, Chuck and I have joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Every week we pick up a load of meat, cheeses, produce and condiments (jellies, butter, salsa’s, etc) all produced and grown from small local farms in the area. I pick up my first load tomorrow and I am excited to see what I get. I will keep you posted.

it slipped to #2

I have made my love for 'How I Met your Mother' very known. It is a great show: funny, original, the timing /writing of the show is a breath of fresh air, and Neil Patrick Harris. I am here to tell you that HIMYM has moved to #2 in my favorite TV shows. 'Modern Family' has moved proudly into that spot. Holy hilarity Batman. Genius. Cameron and Manny are the two that keep in in tears throughout the show, but the whole cast is a bowl full of talent. It can get a little happy family Brady Bunch at times, but overall, a good watch.


It is refreshing to see that sitcoms are having a comeback. We had a low time of less-than-quality shows and it seems we are moving back into a substantial group of shows that are neither reality or drama. Thankfully, we have grieved 2004 and are ready to start seeing other people again ('04 saw the series finale of Sex & The City, Frasier, Will & Grace, and Friends, among others).


My favorite line:
Cameron: Mitchell is a snob.
Mitchell: No, n-no, I'm discerning.
Cameron: Official slogan for snobs.
If you have time, check out Modern Family on Hulu or ABC.com.

Meandering

Right now, nothing important is going on, just a little of this, a little of that.


• United Way is gearing up for another year (my last year on the Steering Committee). I will still volunteer, just not as part of the committee. I have signed up to be a volunteer for the United Way through there St. Louis Cares program. It seems to encompass an enormous amount of volunteer opportunities, including free stuff (next week, I get a free yoga class!). This year I am also taking part in Mayor Slay’s inaugural young professional committee, The Vanguard Cabinet. I am not sure what it will be yet, my one hope is more action than talking.


• I have signed up for both sewing classes and knitting classes. I need drapes, I want to make dresses, and I saw very cool sweater knitted pillows at Pottery Barn. I am hoping to get all I can out of these lessons. My worry is that I was not thinking when I signed up and they are happening at the same time. Hopefully, I won’t be too confused.


• Chuck and I have a rough draft of a priority list together to work on the house. The basement bedroom is drywalled. Hopefully the taping will be done in the next month and then I can start painting and putting the room together. This weekend we are knocking the doorway out from the kitchen to the family room. The goal is to get the floor transition between the rooms in place and trim up. I can paint any day. It’s going to be a mess. 60 year old plaster is very dusty. After the doorway is finished, we will paint and hopefully update the fireplace in the living room. If I am confident in my skills, I will start on drapes. But I think I need a test run in another room. Then back to the basement bedroom to finish and my room after that.

• I have recently found out that google gives the wrong directions to my house.  I have alerted them to the problem, but be aware. 


• It is Oscar season, I have been doing what I can to watch potential nominees and catch up on last year nominees. I did get a chance to watch ‘Milk.’ I immediately was not overly impressed with the movie (except Sean Penn), but it’s been three weeks and the editing, direction, and cinematography has stayed with me and really has impressed me. This is a great movie. In the 25 recommended movies from Entertainment Weekly to see for the Oscars this year, I have been failing miserably. I have seen ‘Up’ (which is about the saddest movie in the world. How can Pixar continue to crank out these emotional roller coasters again and again?!). From the Golden Globes last week, I can prioritize the list some: ‘Avatar’ has moved up the list, along ‘Inglorious Bastards,’ and ‘It’s Complicated.’ Ugh. All previously at the bottom. Over the weekend, I saw ‘An Education.’ Lovely little movie. Very subtle, good points. The best part of the movie was the early 60’s fashions, hair, and music. That really was a golden age, I am in love with the soundtrack.


• A couple of weeks ago, we went to Taste By Niche and fell in love. This has to be one of the top 5 restaurants in St. Louis. In a teeny, tiny space, you feel like it’s your own world with a master chef and a delicious mixologist at your beck and call. I felt like royalty (well, until I had to go to the bathroom and had to walk outside to get to one). It is an experience that is worth it, even if you have to walk outside in single-digit weather. With one table in the whole place, I suggest go as a couple or a foursome. It may have some quirks, but worth it.


• Besides sewing, knitting and lots of house products, my new year’s resolution is to read more (14 books this year) and cook more. I am 19 days in and happy to say, it’s going well. Over the holiday we made the best butternut squash soup in the world. I also made vegetable stock in preparation of cooking. Over the past few months, we have been roasting our own chicken to make chicken salad, enchiladas and the like. I am just trying to do more whole foods, make meal prep into its own activity and just enjoy the whole process of it. I read the “Book Thief” over Christmas, and it was fabulous. This is a great book about WWII. The main character is a grade school girl, she is not a soldier, she’s not Jewish, she’s just living life in this very sad and hard time. I felt like it would have been my story if I lived during that time. No real heroics, just a glimpse into the everyday life of Nazi Germany. I am now reading ‘The Shack.’ I am having a very hard time getting through it, but I think you need to be in crises or seeking God to enjoy this book. God and I are on good terms. Nothing in the book is a real revelation to me. I am ready for it to be over.


I am suddenly very busy. Yes, I planned it all myself, but I am not really sure what I was thinking when I did this. At least they are all good things that I want to do, and if I put something off, no one will get hurt or bothered with it, but me.

Guns & Ammo

Hunting. This is a tricky subject.


The pros against hunting:
1. On the surface, it seems to be this violent, barbaric act. Since I typically shy away from barbaric actions and violence in general, this 'hobby' seems to be unnecessary and belittling to a human’s intelligence (read a book, get involved in your community, help others, evolve.)

2. As a sport, it seems even more ridiculous. Where is the sport? Where is the even playing field of competitor vs. competitor? The idea of killing an innocent animal and then to hang it as a trophy seems disrespectful, mocking, and egotistical.

3. It disrupts the natural balance of things. The circle of life has worked for years, why are we playing God?

4. And this was always my personal argument: we need to rid ourselves of unnecessary violence/potential accidents and there is no sport in hunting. It is egotistical and self-serving way to pass the time and many, many people are accidently shot every year from guns. This is why we need to stop this.

The other side

1. I am a meat-eater. I may not eat much of it, but I never plan on giving it up either. Why is it widely accepted to eat meat neatly packaged from the supermarket, but not take the responsibility of one’s on food chain? Why are farm-raised animals deemed ok by society to eat?

I started to explore my thoughts on hunting when I briefly dated a hunter. His respect for the hunt, guns, and view on the whole process was remarkable. He took more time and care in hunting than I have ever put into an activity (my activities don’t usually have the potential to kill someone either). It wasn’t even the way he talked about hunting; it was his actions that spoke the respect and reverence. I still argued that no matter what, he was taking a life and that made me uncomfortable.

But I am a meat-eater, I am not taking responsibility for what is on my plate. I am not acknowledging that I am taking a life about three times a week. If you can’t take the responsibility, you should not have the privilege of enjoying that juicy prime rib.

My next step in this process was listening to NPR’s ‘To The Best Of Our Knowledge.’ They did a show on hunting in early 2009. It really explored what I needed to hear. Stories about why different people hunt. One man was a conservationist. He saw how deer were destroying trees and all their natural predators were gone, outnumbered, or killed. The deer continued to over-populate and continued to destroy plants and trees, which were destroying the landscape and other animal’s foods. The conservationist saw how he could contribute to reconciling the landscape and order and decided he needed to hunt. Whatever the reason was, they all seemed respectable and reasonable. One woman talked about the need for taking responsibility of what is on your dinner plate. This is the one point that obviously stayed with me.

As I was listening to the program, I had my aha moment. As I was listening, I heard people give the different reasons about why they hunt. Intelligent, educated, and evolved people. I have reached a conclusion that has made me feel a little more at ease with hunting. I think I have confused my opinions on hunting with my opinions on a certain lifestyle. The clothes, the lack of amenities, the typical conversations that are involved with hunters have really jaded me towards the whole situation. My exposure to hunting has been very one sided and I am realizing that now. You can hunt and realize that Obama is not a Muslim (aka terrorist) just because his middle name is Hussein. This spoke volumes to me.

Yes, there are some things about hunting that I will never understand: why get up at 4am in single digit weather to sit outside for 4 hours?  Why are taxidermists still in business? I know men that have never changed their child's diapers but will pull all the guts out of an 600 lb animal without blinking an eye.  These are the eternal questions that will never be answered and we need to accept that.

Am I going to hunt? I don’t know. I feel the need to take responsibility, but my dis-connected American mentality is still screaming to stay naïve and ignorant to the whole situation: cows come from the supermarket.