yes. yesyesyes.

I made a bed this weekend. Hooray, I’m no longer sleeping...

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:38:15 -0500

I made a bed this weekend. Hooray, I’m no longer sleeping on the floor!

Photo

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:49:16 -0400

Back to Barcelona

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:07:56 -0400

I just got checked in at my hotel for the week in Barcelona. Time-wise, my body is all confused. I left LAX last night at 7:30, ate and watched a movie, slept for 6 hours, then landed in the middle of the afternoon in Zurich. Continued on to Barcelona after a short layover. Now it’s 8, I’m crazy tired, but not sure I still will be in 4 hours when I should be going to sleep. Definitely more jet lag coming from the west coast than the midwest.

On the plus side, Barcelona is great. It’s weird to feel so comfortable in a city even though I haven’t lived here for four years. But my hotel is just a few blocks away from my old apartment, and even the walk from the bus to here felt right. It’ll be a fun week.

Sesame street spoofs the old spice guy. Amazing.

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:01:32 -0400

Sesame street spoofs the old spice guy. Amazing.

Puns!

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 18:50:47 -0400

Puns!

I always love watching this Bright Eyes video.

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 22:41:39 -0400

I always love watching this Bright Eyes video.

New OKGO video, with dogs!

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 11:00:23 -0400

New OKGO video, with dogs!

Yes, please. Seems like a new high-end beer store is going to be...

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:32:24 -0400

Yes, please. Seems like a new high-end beer store is going to be opening up on Sunset in a few months. And they’re hoping to have beer tastings on site as well! This would be a huge step up from what’s available right now in the neighborhood (Vons, Riteaid, and an okay selection at House of Spirits). Of course, because it’s Echo Park and people here basically hate anything new, there is already some local opposition (see the comments). The same thing is happening with a new restaurant/bar a few blocks down the street, which is moving into a building that has sat empty for decades (http://www.quarrygirl.com/2010/08/18/call-to-action-lets-help-tony-of-tonys-darts-away/). People in both cases claim to be worried about people getting drunk and being loud. I think, frankly, if you decide to live a block away from one of the main arterial surface streets in LA, you should know what you’re signing up for. But I guess it’s better to let stores sit empty or get (yet another) 99 cent store, right ? Hopefully it all work for both businesses, because they sound like great additions to the area.

I want to make these scalloped tomatoes SO HARD. Oh my lord,...

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 12:58:43 -0400

I want to make these scalloped tomatoes SO HARD. Oh my lord, they look amazing. But I don’t think I have enough ripe tomatoes yet, and the farmers’ markets I go to are done for the week. So, I have to wait. Next week, tomatoes…next week.

What if the Tea Party was black? Honestly? I think this guys is...

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:53:34 -0400

What if the Tea Party was black? Honestly? I think this guys is pretty much exactly right.

This site is full of middle schoolers’ drawings and...

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:28:32 -0400

This site is full of middle schoolers’ drawings and descriptions of scientists before and after they made a trip to Fermilab. It’s awesome to see how just one trip has a HUGE impact on these kids. Their image of scientists turned from one of socially isolated, workaholic old men who are way smarter than everyone else to a (thankfully more realistic) one of normal people who happen to be interested in the pursuit of knowledge and do it for a living. So many kids said in their “after” essays, “scientists are just normal people” or “scientist are just like you.” And (perhaps more importantly?), they realized that women are scientists too. How awesome is all that, from just a one-day trip? This is the type of exposure all kids need to get, so that they realize math/science/college/etc. isn’t just for someone who “never got into sports as a child; he was always trying to get his straight A grades even higher.”

Ohmygod, everything on this blog is...

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:52:45 -0400

Ohmygod, everything on this blog is amazing.

thebigcaption:

Fuck You, Flowers.

original

OK Go’s new video, like all their videos, is awesome. And...

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:22:41 -0400

OK Go’s new video, like all their videos, is awesome. And it was filmed in Echo Park! So, hooray.

Listen, I like bikes. And it’s not like I’m against...

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:27:28 -0400

Listen, I like bikes. And it’s not like I’m against fixed-gears. I ride one most of the time and think they’re a lot of fun. But lets be serious—this shit is crazy stupid. I’m sure the people doing it had fun. It looks like they did. But IN NO WAY does this need a highlight video and Nike sponsorship. When your highlights are mostly people turning their wheels while doing trackstands or biking slowly, random shots of bike parts, and people crashing a lot, that might mean you should not make that particular video. Even if you add some music to it.

Just an idea.

(video via yimmyayo)

Do people read A Softer World? If not you should be. It is...

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:08:00 -0400

Do people read A Softer World? If not you should be. It is beautiful and funny and sad and wistful and joyous. Be sure to read the alt text.

On Saturday Dave and I bought a duck at the Chinese market in...

Mon, 03 May 2010 12:23:00 -0400

On Saturday Dave and I bought a duck at the Chinese market in Echo Park. Not the most sustainable choice, really, but it’s hard to find fresh ducks. So last night I butchered the duck up into pieces. Dave put the breasts in a salt cure for the second try at making duck breast prosciutto. The first one didn’t work out so well as our curing fridge was too humid, but after the wildly successful pancetta that Dave made last week I have high hopes.

Left with the legs and carcass, I made a few things. First, a big batch of duck stock that I then reduced by at least half for freezing. It’s in the fridge now and today I get to skim off the fat (mmm…duck fat). Having that rendered fat is one of my favorite things about cooking duck. Okay, okay…everything you get when you cook duck is awesome. The fat I like to use for roasting root vegetables, or sauteed greens, or popcorn.

Having dealt with the carcass I seared the legs off after salting/peppering (15-20 minutes skin side down, flip and brown ~2 minutes on the other side. Bonus: more duck fat). I removed the legs, deglazed the pan with about a glassful of red wine, added a bunch of duck stock I had in the freezer along with a bay leaf, 3 cloves, 2 juniper berries, 2 cloves garlic, and some mandarin peel (didn’t have any orange around). Added back in the legs and braised for ~ 2 hours at 375°. Along with that, I roasted potatoes and carrots in the duck fat with garlic and rosemary, and sauteed some kale, also using the leftover fat from the legs. Everything was really good. But the best part, and the thing I usually don’t do, was to make a sauce out of the braising liquid. Basically, I strained it, reduced it by a whole lot, added in a butter/flour roux. Oh my word it was tasty.

So that was all last night, and then today I see this video in my RSS reader. It’s in Catalan, which I bet most anyone reading this doesn’t speak, but basically it’s seared duck breast with asparagus in a morel/moscatel sauce. It looks incredibly good, but I can’t even imagine how much so many morels would cost.

I was watching a Michael Pollan video today and an add for Hot...

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:29:00 -0400

I was watching a Michael Pollan video today and an add for Hot Pockets came up pretty much exactly as he was saying “don’t buy anything with more than five ingredients.”

Really, is there anything that would be less appropriate as an ad?

Yup, that about sums up spring break.

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:21:40 -0400

Yup, that about sums up spring break.

Brian Williams is the funniest news anchor ever. This type of thing, along with his Daily Show...

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 22:04:37 -0400

Brian Williams is the funniest news anchor ever. This type of thing, along with his Daily Show appearances and cameos, proves it (and you can blame Hulu for not easily allowing embeddable videos).

Go here. Watch the movie. Wonder how a 30 minute film about...

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:11:29 -0400

Go here. Watch the movie. Wonder how a 30 minute film about robots falling in love can be so awesome. Love Spike Jones more than you did before.