Simple Lighting System for Seedlings

With the "polar vortex" settling in multiple times this winter, who knows when the last frost date will be this year?! The winter's shenanigans may not actually affect home gardens unless it means spring will be cold (I had an opportunity to observe that last night's didn't stop the Wrigleyville drunkards waiting in lines outside to get into bars, jaywalking by purposefully sliding across the street in snow, and otherwise acting foolish), but I thought I'd start some of my garden inside this year just in case. I also had success last year starting some plants from seed, so I also thought it'd be nice to start my own seedlings and cut the umbilical cord from Gethsemane and other garden centers and grocery stores that provide starter plants.

Apparently grow lights can be kind of fancy and really expensive, or it can be cheaper but slightly complicated, but I just wanted powerful lights over the seedlings and a way to adjust its height. So Mordecai built something simple and cheap--the lights, fixture, chain, and light switch all came to...$30? The pine was leftover from some other project and he assembled that in two sittings. The starter kit and starting mix soil were also inexpensive. The most expensive thing was probably the seeds, which I get from Kitazawa Seed Company out in Cali.  

Last year, I had great success with Japanese pumpkin, kabocha, which I started from Kitazawa seed. I still have a couple left over--I use this recipe to simmer it in the holy trinity seasoning of soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. (I never take any of the skin off; I don't always cut the corners; and I have no idea what that paper dome thing is about.) My cukes also made it from their seed but they were not that skinny long classic Japanese shape even though they were supposed to look that way. It may have been because I neglected to harvest them at the right time... I've had other successes with them (chinese cabbage, pak choi, carrots, snow peas). This year, I'm starting indoors Japanese eggplants, "Money Maker"!!!; Japanese green peppers (not spicy but a little bitter), shishito (my friend Naomi points out you start to see this as a "fancy" ingredient at restaurants); another variety of Japanese cucumbers; a pink-fleshed tomato called "Momotaro," which I bought for the name and its referent. I'll be planting straight to the raised beds the following: turnip, green onion, komatsuna (like spinach, good for smoothies/juices), mizuna (salad green), "cosmic purple" carrot (orange on inside, purple on outside!), and daikon. 

Requisite helper shot.

From this picture, I will be able to remember what is where. But the bottom far left section only has seed in only one cell, the top far right corner--I found an old watermelon seed that never made it and wondered if it was dead or not. We'll find out. The top far left section has four edamame seeds from last year, and some old spinach seeds. There's no need to start spinach indoors but again..why not? Especially when you are sent hundreds or even thousands of some varieties of seeds. 

Last night, I also got to observe a friend's ecosystem setup: turtles, whose poop gets filtered to starter plants, which can be fed to snails, who get fed to the turtles. They had grow light bulbs attached to a light stand made to light up bedrooms, not for plants, so it was all quite simple and they worked with what they had. That was cool to see. MiMi needs to step her helper game up! Although I will say, Yoshi the timid German Shepherd didn't seem to be contributing much to the turtle ecosystem. Just some sad, concerned looks in the general direction. Maybe we don't want any of that in our bedrooms anyway, poop and sad looks alike.

Our setup is in the bedroom, the warmest room in the house. We may still be frozen over in Chicago, and Mitsu's winter coat is still locked in securely. But garden work has begun. Spring is near! 

First and Last Lollapalooza

On Friday, Mordecai and I got daring and we went to Lollapalooza to see New Order, The Killers, and Nine Inch Nails. I'm not interested in crowded outdoor concerts, nor the culture of Lollapalooza or music festivals, but these were bands he and I wanted to see. I had never been to a Lollapalooza (Mordo has back in the day when it toured) and figured I may try it out with at least two bands I'd want to see; plus, who knows what the future holds that may or may not be commensurable with outdoor summer concerts. So, as I said on Instagram, we went, and the kind of crowd was a bit much for me, but I was glad we went.

I don't know how people do Lolla all day long, for three days long, and with alcohol and/or drugs. I was exhausted after waiting for New Order, waiting for The Killers, standing for The Killers (damn the people around me, who I thought wanted to just chill and sit on the side, but in fact were just waiting for the opening guitar riff of "Mr. Brightside" to begin the set so that they can jump and scream and sing along, thus forcing me to stand up to see anything). I was so tired this morning I couldn't even ask Blathers to assess my fossils for me so I could at least see if I had to donate any of them to the museum or if I could just sell them. When I can't bring myself to continue playing Animal Crossing, that means means I am tired. Ooh wee!

If you don't know, I'm big on pop music, with a penchant for big voices and R&B sounds. I basically grew up on Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, and production by Babyface, LA Reid, and Jermaine Dupri, and later Diddy. (Now that I think about it, Mariah's divorce and thus venturing away from her innocent pop star image and towards R&B and hip-hop influenced my tastes a great deal. Perhaps I have Da Brat and their friendship to thank for this, or Tupac winking at her that one time or whatever it was.) I largely avoided "alternative" music throughout the 90's and beyond. (Oasis was an exception, and I'm only a little better now thanks to Rock Band.) I encountered cable at my grandmother's in late grade school (a.k.a. junior high in other regions) and I would get so angry that MTV and other channels (and people--remember The Box?!) would waste my precious cable time airing videos of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and basically any other band made of white men with guitars. So, two relevant things here--one is that I did not care to see NIN (I am now fully aware they are not really a band, and that his sound far from relies on guitars) and so I thought it was better for me to see The Killers, and the other is that even though New Order has a dance-y quality to their music (I guess it's called "new wave"), their music seems largely centered on instruments I don't historically care for. Put another way, I don't know if the elementary school Kei would approve of or could accept older Kei loving New Order and demanding them to produce the soundtrack of her biopic.

I don't know a whole lot about New Order (I know how they formed--good premise/story!), but I read that their old bassist Peter Hook either quit or was asked to leave the band as of late, and that they continue to bicker amongst each other. In some interview, Hook described the current formation of New Order as a mere "tribute band," pandering to the masses by just playing old hits. Whether this was a mere "tribute band"or not, I loved hearing the hits live, my physical body completely enveloped and saturated by the music, reminding me that music is not just meant to be heard but also physically felt, as though you could put your hands out towards the speakers and touch what comes out. I'm so not used to live music that I sometimes wonder if I might literally be blown away or moved by it. Bernard Sumner sounds just like he does on the records, but his voice doesn't really match the power of the music. It's like another instrument, and I think this is what makes their music soundtrack-like and what I like about it.

New Order performed at 6:15, The Killers at 8:15. I wanted to be closer to the stage for New Order, so we were in what might be the third row if there were such civilized things. We got there around 5 or so, after eating chicken tenders, ice cream and a big donut, so people must have been there since the prior band (Crystal something). It rained that morning, so the grounds were muddy.

Mud tries to suck you in! We were next to a big mud pit, behind two guys who were clearly there to see New Order. (Older, crabbier.) I'm sure there were other New Order fans up there with us, but a lot of the people were there to see The Killers. Their plan seemed to be to stand and wait possibly more than four hours to see Brandon Flowers up close for another two hours during the show. There was a young crowd fine, even happy, to be in the mud next to us, but they got a little rambunctious during some of the most popular songs like "Blue Monday." Among the rather mellow crowd (either because New Order fans are relatively so, or because Killers fans don't care for New Order or their music), one drunk and wild girl started flinging mud in the air, which landed in some people's faces. Her boyfriend was more aware than she was and tried to do some damage control, but he was at least two or three selves short of the job. At one point they yelled, "It's Lollapalooza, people need to lighten up!" which was probably true, but still, "read the air," as we say in Japanese. No one else wants to dance with you and have mud in their faces on your account. They got a warning from the bouncers, who were obviously born to bounce. But during "Temptation"--the soundtrack to all great moments in life whether you're an active participant or not--she flung a little mud in the air again and the people got upset again and got the bouncer to bounce for real this time. She and her boyfriend were lifted above the barricade and were escorted out, to I don't know where. I felt kind of bad for them--my guess is that they were there for The Killers (dunno how that blasted girl was going to make it another few hours)--but this ain't no Woodstock. On the other hand, I don't know what the crabby folk were thinking, coming to an outdoor concert with a lineup of New Order and then The Killers. I was so mad that the two older guys in front of us left after the girl was escorted out! One of them was particularly pissed because he got a decent amount of mud on his face (I almost gave him my towel to wipe his face off but...but...it was a Yokohama Baystars towel...I shoulda done it...but...maybe next time I'll be a better person...okay there will be no next time, sorry, sir). They should have stayed but I guess they were out of patience and tolerance. Perhaps they were there longer and had to endure other tests and were low, whereas I had just gotten started and was high on patience. I got some mud flung on me, and I was honored since the girl was removed, but I was most of all amazed that I only got a few specks of mud on my white skort (yes SKORT, get one here! As seen on Fashiontoast!). I'm almost thirty and can wear white! I can do it!

Even from where we were standing, they were pretty tiny. The keyboard lady looked like a bored substitute teacher. The bassist seemed to be proud of his role in the music and perhaps his relatively new job. Bernard did a little footloose-type dance during "Bizarre Love Triangle"! 

Melodica! (Sorry about the hat. But I remember it was a Detroit Tigers hat!)

Whoever performed on the Red Bull stage got a nice view of the city's famous skyline. You can see the Sears Tower, also know as the Willis Tower, or also known as the "Williams Tower" according to tourists who asked us on the street how to get to it. Mordecai said, "The Willis Tower?" "The Williams Tower." "Oh, okay, just walk down a few blocks to Adams, then turn right and walk down a few more blocks, you'll see it." 

Mordo and I split up afterwards so he could see NIN and I moved over to the side where civilization resumed. I had a far but decent view of the stage; I was mostly concerned with seeing the screens because there was no hope in trying to see little people on the stage. A group of kids, who I initially thought were in the 8th grade or so but turned out to be at least 15 or 16 suddenly appeared and I heard too much of their non-interesting conversations. They were more talking at or to each other rather than with, though I suspect many 12 to 18 year olds do this to varying degrees. One girl, Bridget, got some beer from some older friend who was not part of the group; once the older girl disappeared, the redheaded girl within the group immediately asked Bridget "what that was all about?!" So they were quite innocent, which I could tell by their system of protecting their cash and iPhones in Ziploc bags. Jake wouldn't stop talking about awesome he experienced first hand, including the best concerts he had attended where he was in the VIP section for Phoenix? (is that the Sophia Coppola husband/baby daddy band?) and it was his 15th birthday, it was so awesome. One girl was upset about not being able to enjoy some performance because nearby people were rude, so she had to leave. "I can't even talk about it, I'm so upset about I'm about to cry." That was sad to see, more so than the people who were upset at Mudflinging Girl, maybe because Rude People weren't called and kicked out.

This was the best shot I could get; you can't even see Brandon Flowers clearly on the screen. He had a short-sleeved collared shirt on; I think it was a royal blue-ish color with white stars of varying size on it. He looked tan and fit and moved around a lot on the stage. 

These kids loved The Killers, and so did the solo guys around me who seemed to be lounging but suddenly got up, cheered, and recorded from their iPhones when "Mr. Brightside" started. The Killers just performed old hits, which I guess upset some people on Twitter who go to concerts for new music, but the sublimely huge crowd seemed to love it. Brandon Flowers' voice traveled well with the music through eight softball fields. He also seemed cordial, amicable, in his bantering to the audience. I realize it's part of the act, but he seemed appreciative of the gig. He sang "My Kind of Town"; I then realized I had never heard the song all the way through. And you know I thoroughly appreciated that he shouted out both the Cubs and the White Sox when he switched up the lyrics to the song! He also brought Bernard Sumner back out on stage for a cover of a Joy Division song. Today I revisited some of their music videos and forgot how much I loved "When You Were Young" (featuring bucktoothed GACHAPIN), which was their last song of the setlist.

Some Friday and Saturday shows seemed interesting: 2 Chainz, The Cure...2 Chainz...The Cure...I don't really recognize any other names. But no, practically never again. I don't know who would have to be performing or headlining at Lollapalooza for me to go again, to put up with the outdoors and unruly people. I prefer seats, everyone sitting down and golf clapping, a clear view, appreciating sounds and stage presence from a safe distance. Maybe I should go to more concerts in Japan. I know some people go to shows to dance and sing and stuff; I am not opposed to all of that, but at a live show, I would just like to see the performance and observe. I am turning into Steve Harvey: "You ain't gon work my ass half to death! I came here to enjoy the show."

America is big and dirty!

This isn't quite a fair comparison; it might be like "comparing apples to oranges," which I've noticed my students like to say (which is code for "Why are we talking about this?" to which I want to exclaim "Because it keeps philosophers employed!"). But these are the streets with which I am familiar.

This is a small, two-way street deep inside of west Yokohama. There's a bus route that stops along here. I don't like it when my grandma jaywalks on this street. 

And here is Chicago's Fullerton Avenue. There are two lanes for each direction. Again, the 74 Fullerton bus is probably not the same as the 53 route that runs by my grandma's apartment, but still, we're talking about bus route streets. I don't like it when big families jaywalk on this street.

Since about high school, when I'd return home from Japan, the first thing I'd really notice and appreciate was the high ceilings of American homes. Lately when I return home from Japan, I feel like in addition to things like ceilings and streets, the sky seems bigger, too.

I walked with Mordecai and Mitsu on Christmas morning. We walked along Fullerton, where I took these pictures. Looking at them walking ahead of me, I remember thinking, "Damn, it's dirty here." Still, it is nice to be back home. 

A Week in Food

In an attempt to keep better track of what I can cook--well, not so well, with what seasonal ingredients, given certain time frames or lack of time limits, when we go out, and so on--I tried to keep track of what I made and consumed this week.

[Imagine French Onion Soup as you wish]

I had recently seen Laura Calder make French onion soup on her show, which I'd never made, so I decided to try it out on Monday. Everything about the soup is pretty straightforward, but I found there were two big "excepts." Except you need, as Ina Garten likes to say, "really good" beef stock (when she says that, she claims to mean that you try as many whatever product you're testing as you can and decide which one you like best; in the case of stock, I think she means "make it yourself; how easy is that?"). I could understand this point, as the instant beef stock thingie I used tasted fine, but perhaps simple, so I might try making my own stock in the future. The other big "except" is producing the signature French onion soup look--broiling the cheese sprinkled on top of the soup. You need soup bowls that can withstand broiler heat, and I couldn't find any at Bed Bath & Beyond or at Crate and Barrel. So I just melted the cheese in the soup, and bought these for future use. One other "except" might be that you're supposed to have some good bread to layer on the soup before the cheese, but if one follows this bread recipe religiously as I do, it's not so bad. I know I vowed not to use this updated version of the bread but it's been fine and I try my best not to dislike people, including Mark Bittman. I watched Alton Brown make this soup, and he put slices of bread under the broiler to toast, placed them toasted side down in the soup, and then layered cheese on top. My mom warned me not to use regular white bread for this (some experiment of hers in high school went awry and she's never made French onion soup again), so I stood by Brown's advice and it worked out. The bread isn't as soggy as you might expect. So, the soup was good, but not at all photogenic, so we'll just skip Monday's photo. For our "green" food, we had a Green Monster smoothie, but Mordo adds random things on hand to make it better--this time, frozen pineapple and watermelon. Delicious!

Tuesday's menu was white bean and kale soup and grilled pesto sandwiches. I like this soup because it's easy to make, though I adjust it by cooking the vegetables longer (I haven't tried using canned vegetables with this recipe; I just use tomatoes and carrots), and I also add as much cilantro as I have on hand. The cilantro gives a little bit of a tom-yum effect, which I don't consider a bad thing, but some might if you want to keep that "Tuscan" theme going. I wanted to make pesto, and planned to make pasta, but Mordo suggested grilled pesto sandwiches using Hippo bread. Grilling anything in Hippo bread is always a winner.

Wednesday was our third wedding anniversary. We went to Four Farthings in Lincoln Park for dinner. The inspiration behind this dining choice was Andy's wedding--there was a pit stop at Four Farthings to watch some college sporting event after the ceremony and before the reception and the location was selected because of Melinda's parents having gone there since forever, or something like that, being Lincoln Park locals. Mordecai and I did not go to Four Farthings then, but I liked the idea of there being some local joint for the people of Lincoln Park. I like to rub my butt in places where I don't quite belong, even if it doesn't matter in many ways. I liked the place a lot though--it's somewhere between slightly-fancy (for me) and casual, and seemingly reliable. Here's my softshell crab, which I'd never had, and whose flavor reminds me of something maybe-Japanese, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it. That sweet potato with brown sugar on top was a gem, too. 

On Thursday, for the second time in my life, I made gyudon. I mostly followed this recipe, adding as much mirin as sake and using about a tablespoon of Ninben soup base instead of worrying about dashi. I produced my mom's gyudon in terms of flavor, but I should've let it simmer for longer so the taste would be a little stronger. I'm afraid of failing any donburi dishes, as it seems a cultural crime to be a Japanese woman and fail to make what children love and remember forever, but I think I just need a few more rounds of practice and I'll be okay. 

On Friday, we went to a White Sox game. It was a nice way to end the week--I'm done teaching the summer course and can try harder to focus on my own work. The Sox won in extra innings with a beautiful walk-off home run by Alex Rios. I was mostly looking forward to a White Sox game because Shaun always gets a bratwurst, sometimes two, and I wanted to try one. It was delicious! Why would anyone ever get a regular hot dog?! Even I could've had two. 

Last night, we met up with Kentaro, his wife, and his ever-growing young son. Hibiki is almost two years old, and apparently, all he does is eat rice balls, edamame, and citrus fruits. He may eat more than I do. We all went to Wasabi in Logan Square. That tonkotsu ramen was goooooood--I prefer it over any variation of Takashi's (Slurping Turtle and his station in the food court above Macy's) and it gives Mitsuwa's Santouka a run for its money. It's a little pricey, but it's nice to have that option so close by. We also tried Heavenly Gelato near the Blue Line; they offer vegan flavors, which is good for little ones who are allergic to dairy products. I was disappointed that the gelato is not really gelato--at least, it doesn't have that sticky texture I like. I obviously don't know what the necessary and sufficient conditions are to be gelato, but I know what I like.

And today, because of having too much zucchini from our CSA farmer and not even being a big fan of it in the first place, I made zucchini fritters using Korean pancake and "flying" (frying) flour mixes. For reference, I used this recipe, but it was mostly useless. Whoever wrote it is right that you just have to eyeball it and you most likely can't fail if you know what to look out for. I also used more onions, because fried onions make everything better. I like the chewy texture of the Korean pancake mix, but adding the frying flour mix helps to achieve that crispy texture. I think you're supposed to make these kinds of pancakes when it's rainy and cool, not when it's hot and the last thing you should do is turn the oven on.

This coming week may be raspberry week, since Smitten Kitchen has a pink lemonade bar recipe, and I'd like to finally try Giada's raspberry vanilla smoothie. I really like the flavor of raspberry, even when it's sour to the point of cruelty, but why hasn't someone engineered them to get rid of the seeds?! 

Hot & Dangerous

1. I did a load of laundry and did not use the dryer. However, a quick Google search shows that drying clothes outdoors is not necessarily permitted in all parts of this country. Then another quick Google search failed to reveal what the rules are in Chicago. But the relentless sun today did its job in a short amount of time, and none of the items being dried were scandalous, so I don't think the rules really matter.
2. My gel nails are holding up really well! I got them done three weeks ago (that's moyashi [bean sprouts] in the background!) at Kupu Kupu in Higashi-Totsuka (Yokohama), by my cousin's friend Aya. She runs her own business successfully all by herself, it's pretty amazing. I went to see her last year and got a mani-pedi fancy gel manicure; I really like the glitter gradation. It seems that as long as I continue to cut and file them, even with the gel on, they last fine. The color I picked (I copied my cousin) lends itself well to growing them out, too.
3. Roses in the front.
4. Every day, I check on the cucumbers to make sure they're not trying to strangle the maybe-bell peppers or themselves. Every day, when I peek around, I go, "WTF!" and end up harvesting at least one or two cucumbers. Today I found three. I also trimmed down the arugula patches and supposedly-mesculin lettuce leaves. They taste more like...what I imagine grass or leaves from a tree taste like. My mom says they're good when you cook them.
5. Making arugula pesto.
6. Eating arugula pesto pasta and bread from La Boulangerie.

Day Twelve

Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.

Day Nine

Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.

I have no photo of the small coffee (cream + sugar) that I bought form Dunkin' Donuts this morning.  When I got my little cup, I wondered why I didn't get a medium. 

 

This evening I went to a Rockies vs. Cubs game, brought to MordeKei by Big John and Little Debby's (Mordo won these tickets). Finally, I made use of this hat (last picture). I was decked out in various non-matching shades of purple. Everything went pretty well--my grandma hooked it up with parking nearby; the Rockies won; I saw CarGo; I may have been on TV briefly in the background of a child boasting his eighth birthday with a giant home-made poster; I ate a slice of pizza and nachos, and I got to smell red rope nearby (I probably would have gotten/felt sick if the guy came around one more time because I would've bought some); Mitsu was fine at home alone while we were gone and seems to be doing well. So, the last thing "I" bought, by which I mean "we," but which I mean Mordecai, was nachos. I have no photo of this purchase either, so instead, I present to you two pictures from the game.

Tomorrow I 'defend' my topical. Can't catch up on the latest 90-minute episode of Glee until that is over.

Day One

I got this idea from a blogger I randomly came across long ago. She is an absolute stranger to me but she's pretty and she has pretty jewelry, bags, and shoes, so I check her blog a lot. She once commented on this here blog. Let's see how far I get with these daily tasks.

Day 1 – A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.

Here are 2 photos of me today. Mitsu has amazing teeth. She also smelled my eye for a while.

This morning I got some work done at Argo. I stepped into Rugby across the street for a few minutes and found some nice khaki pants, which I touched. I also saw some nice shirts on sale, but decided that theoretically, if I were to buy anything, it'd be the more practical or needy item, which would be the pants, as opposed to the wanty items. My current pants all fit weird because I've recently gained a significant enough amount of weight to notice such things. I also need nice pants, pants I can teach in during the summer. But I don't live in a theoretical world, so when another customer came in and occupied the employee, I slipped out. I'll probably be back though; let's just face the truth.

I went to yoga later in the afternoon, where I was the only person in my class. It was a lot harder than last week, which was good. But in order to fit into certain pants again, I figure I'll need to go again this week, or add another aspect to my exercise regimen that is not walking Mitsu around the neighborhood for fifteen to twenty minutes once or twice a day. I dread running, and we no longer have a VCR so I can't do "Buns of Steel" from the early 90's and even if Naomi returned Wii Fit (I think I kind of instructed her not to), that'd be of no use to me. To be continued.

Aftermath

So I guess we had only two days off of school back in 1999. Maybe it felt like a week off because it was close to a weekend? Anyway, let's see how many students show up to my sections on Friday.

For some reason, I found last night's epic blizzard to be pretty exciting. Occasionally, I'd hear some voices or tires spinning or snow being shoveled, so I'd peek outside. One group of kids got stuck in the alley next to our house, and seeing it'd be unhelpful for me to go out there, I sent Mordo out with a shovel. Eventually, some other kids across the street joined, and the car was successfully dug out and pushed to Fullerton. It turned out to be a neighbor who had to get his girlfriend home. 

This morning, the snow was still falling, but it eventually stopped and the sun came out. Before noon, people were trying to dig their cars out, clearing sidewalks, and trying to clear the side streets and alleys using shovels and cars. I thought it was kind of interesting how major events like these move many people to do something about their situations instead of wallowing in self-pity, blaming Daley & Co., or napping. Not that napping didn't occur. I thought I'd be cabin fevering it today, but since the snow and wind stopped, walking Mitsu seemed appealing and shoveling necessary. All the physical work culminated into a rather epic nap, which then energized me to make dinner and dessert (separate post). 

Mitsu was less annoyed by the less harsh winds, and she enjoyed a nice long walk along Fullerton and some other side streets that were almost impassable.

I don't have the energy or creative power to make a better looking collage, but I love all these pictures. Mitsu is showing off her good walking skills with me, she's being protected by MoDiddy, she looks deranged because the snow looks like it's taking over her pupils, then she's recovered, then she's looking dainty with me, but with MoDiddy she looks more noble and proud to be a big Shiba baby. I'll end with this one, where she's forging ahead, leading the way, almost getting lost in all the snow.

Mitsupocalypse!

Chicago and its inhabitants are being severely punished right now by a massive snowstorm. The last time we were assaulted like this was in 1999, and I remember having about a week off from school. But I don't remember phrases like "potentially life-threatening," or "thundersnow" being thrown around back then. I am not looking forward to the aftermath, but my parents report that Oji is shedding a little early this year, which hopefully means spring is coming sooner rather than later. I'll put up with a thundersnowstorm and a day (or two? or three? please?) off of school if spring arrives sooner than usual.

Mordecai and I took Mitsu out for a quick potty break. She was very displeased. Mordecai had to carry her out to the front, where there is less snow because it gets blown away. She quickly realized it wasn't going to get any better anywhere else, so she got to business and then immediately started whining to go back inside. I'm glad we have a dog with human-ish sensibilities. Also noteworthy about Mitsu and the elements: she seems to be able to sense patches of ice and water on the ground far sooner than I can. I wonder if she has good eyes, at least for a dog. This has actually helped me out a couple of times when I hadn't even noticed the ice. We don't need a repeat of 2008 of ankle breakage. Thanks, Mitsu!

Brothas From Anotha Motha

If you know me, or have been to Golden Nugget with me on more than one occasion, then you know that I will likely order the Guadalajara Skillet (first photo). It is a skillet of potatoes, onions, peppers, chorizo, cheese, tortilla chips, topped with a fried egg, accompanied by a side of salsa and a hot pepper, and it also comes with corn tortillas.

Today, I encountered the Guadalajara Skillet in burger form, or its "brotha from anotha motha." At Maddi's request, we went to Kuma's Corner for lunch (best time to go? Sunday, 11:45AM), and I ordered the "Megadeth," named after the band (second photo). It is a burger topped with a chorizo and potato hash, tortilla chips, and a cayenne avocado mayo-ish sauce, served on a pretzel roll. I had the handmade chips, as you can see. I imagine the Guadalajara Skillet and the Megadeth writing letters to each other, reunited without ever knowing they were separated.

Dearest Megadeth,
I hope you are well. At Golden Nugget, they continue to ring the annoying bell every hour so the employees know to wash their hands. I don't know if they actually do. The funny-looking Asian girl continues to order me, regardless of the location. She always takes me home, and I feel special. Maybe one day you will meet her.
Best,
Guadalajara Skillet

Hey Guaddy, Yeah that little lady came, ordered me and took my creamy cayenne avocado top off. She just SHUT IT DOWN. I guess she likes chorizos and potatoes a lot. Over here the music is still loud and I saw a waitress rub her nose a lot with her hand, so I was like Oh Shit It's Dirty Up In Here but then I saw another lady with blonde and black hair find a stray strand of hair and she properly took it to a garbage can, or at least out of my sight so I was like Oh Snap Maybe It's Alright Here. Sometimes I sense that big old devil dog but it stays outside and doesn't eat me. My worst nightmare is to be devoured by the Beastmaster. Anyway this crazy little Asian girl had me BURNT! The waitress was like Watch Out Now but your girl was like Oh You Don't Know Me Honey. Okay I'm sick of writing to you because I'm a burger and I shouldn't be and don't want to do this,  I'm gonna go smell good now, so bye. MEGADETH

We saw Senshi, an Akita, behind Kuma's Corner. I know Kuma was an Akita, and I wonder if Senshi is to Kuma like what Oji is to Yuki for my family. He looks like Oji's "brotha from anotha motha" so I felt compelled to pet him, but I knew better than to stick my hand in between the bars. Not that I ever knew a mean Akita, but you never know. That combo of black head and golden eyes is amazing.

Now I will continue to imagine what life will be like on Wednesday and on. Will the Shiba puppy hate me for the first couple of days? "How dare you take me away from my littermates and mother! Who are you and why do you smell bad?! SHIBA SCREAM!!!"

Damn French Horns

Last night Mordecai and I saw a Chicago Symphony Orchestra performance of some Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn. (I recommend taking advantage of their "student ticket" system.) I've been into classical music lately, but only to the extent that this all pertains to "Nodame Cantabile." (I saw the two movies, which left me with so many questions, but settled the main ones between Nodame, Chiaki, and music.) There were two reasons why I picked Thursday's concert: 1) Jonathan Biss, the pianist performing Beethoven's concerto, looks like a snooty Mordecai, and 2) I recognized the beginning of Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony from the Nodame soundtrack. 

We went to a pre-show lecture on Mozart's Symphony 23, Beethoven's Concert no.2, and Mendelssohn's Symphony 4. The woman-encyclopedia talked for 30 straight minutes about the three composers, what they were going through when they composed the pieces, and how they all related to one another. It was like a human Wikipedia article but somehow more trustworthy. What was most helpful for me was her explanation that the fourth movement of Beethoven's concerto had a rondo structure of parts: A, B, A, C, A, B, A. ("Music students say it as a word, 'abacaba.'") I had been listening to the concerto before the concert, but never really listened for any patterns beyond the first movement, so when Biss performed, it was nice that I could locate the A parts ("like the refrain in a pop song") and anticipate the different B and C parts. Prichard had also explained that the last movement of Mendelssohn's symphony was going to be aggressive, so I looked out for that as well, having never heard that symphony beyond the first two minutes of the first movement.

If you can't tell by now, I've had problems in the past trying to get into classical music. I need something to notice, pay attention to, or else I will get bored and start thinking about random things, or I will just doze off. Even if I am familiar with the music (this past summer, we went to see Beethoven's 1st and 7th symphonies; it was pretty AWESOME to see Nodame's theme music live!), the performances are so ephemeral, not loud enough in my opinion (I want it all to go BOOM in my ear!), and it's all just so different from being able to press << and listen to or see it all again.

Mordecai's advice to J-Biss: Don't comb your hair back.

So aside from some superficial familiarity with the music, I had one more thing to my advantage, which was what Jonathan Biss looked like. We were in the upper balcony, so it was hard to tell exactly what he looked like in person, but he seemed super tall, lanky, even gangly. It looked like his wingspan was such that he could play two concert grand pianos if he wanted to. My guess is that he can reach an octave-and-a-half or more with one hand. His feet looked huge as well, like Sideshow Bob's. Anyway, it was hilarious to see a Mordecai-look-alike sway during the orchestra's parts and wave his head around while he played his parts. (It's even funnier if you imagine Mordecai in this pose, or this one. Maybe I can imagine this better, or find this funny, only because I get front row seats to his comedy acts.) I have no way of  providing a serious judgment of his performance, but it was nice to have a view of the keyboard live, instead of just hearing a version through headphones, or getting a straight-on view of Mitsuko Uchida's ridiculous facial expressions during her performance.

And then came the french horns. Mendelssohn's Symphony 4, or "Italian" Symphony, has two french horns, and they have a pretty prominent part throughout the whole thing. They keep a kind of bass line going while the strings are doing their main-melody thing in the beginning, and Mordecai's claim was that they were way too loud.  This seems to be a complaint not so much about the horns, but the conductor, Antonio Pappano. (I said maybe Pappano's Italian heritage was responsible.) And later, Mordo says, the horns themselves messed up when they had the spotlight. It was as if something was caught in their reed thingamabob (that thing that collects the spit), or as if they didn't blow enough air, or, figuratively, as if the horns' voices cracked. I think that I heard what Mordecai heard (he has more sensitive ears than I do), but I wasn't confident enough to say that this sounded effed up to me. When the concert was over, there was the usual clapping for five minutes so that the conductor could come out three times, but some people left immediately. I thought this was normal especially since it was getting towards 10PM and there were tons of old people whose bedtime was probably when the concert started (you know, like how people leave early or right after a Sox game to avoid parking lot traffic!). Mordecai said he assumed everyone else was mortified by the horns, which I thought was funny. (Does everyone assume that others are like them?) I had no way of gauging whether others found the horns to be shameful, and I wished more than ever that Twitter could be useful for this reason. But alas, 95% of the audience was over 70, so what could I do. I checked, but of course, no one tweeted about Jonathan Biss, the CSO that night, or about those pieces. One person tweeted that they were going, but nothing about their thoughts on the show or french horns. I suppose I could've gone to the ladies room after the concert and eavesdropped, but that only occurred to me right now. Although, I didn't think about checking Twitter for french horn complaints until I was in bed. See, it's not always about "the good old days" vs. "kids these days." I'm just slow!

ETA: Two reviews (here and here) confirm a number of things. The french horns are probably unable to sleep at night; there was a strange buzzing sound during the Beethoven piano concerto; Mozart's symphony was faster than "usual" (at least, faster than the recording I bought on iTunes); though born and based in London, Pappano is, let's just say, "unapologetically" Italian.

Happy Friday

Today I had one of my sections observed by faculty. Each semester, observation day causes me great anxiety despite the fact that things usually go fine, if not quite well. I was so happy when everything was over. My afternoon nap was very pleasant.

I picked up Mordecai after work and we went to the Grandstand. I wanted a Marlins hat, and since they have a wall of all sorts of hats, we thought there might be some selection, but I guess the one I want is only available on the New Era site. I noticed a nice seafoam green-ish White Sox hat that I'm eyeing now, too. Wanty, wanty.

The Grandstand is just west of U.S. Cellular Field on 35th Street.

Giant White Sox Lubie!

We were heading to Taqueria El Milagro in Pilsen but then we saw a bright green roof and red and yellow parasols. This could only mean: White Sox-approved Vienna beef hot dogs!

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