IMPEACH cheney?

Click the link to vote.
Should Vice President Cheney be IMPEACHED?

tell us the mission

http://tellusthemission.org/

scara

me & christina

ratchets

open letter to speaker pelosi

One of the contributors to one of my favorite 'blogs (FireDogLake) wrote a fantastic open letter to Speaker Pelosi about her comments that "impeachment is off the table.”
Please take a gander here.

Given the horrendous executive power grab of our current administration, nothing should be off the table.

Please check out the great post and pass it around.

seltzer

speed chief

baronet

a lovely new blog

My friend Stephanie has joined us in the 'blog world with one of her own! She's only just begun, so check back often and see what she's got cookin'.
Pun completely intended.

http://yumyumkidcupcake.blogspot.com/

PHOTO SHOW

airport sunset

phillips avenue

nightime in the city

ice storm redux

a tree encased in ice after the storm the other day.
the sky was really that blue.
beautiful.

bah humbug on valentine's day...

I hate Valentine's day. I think it's crap.

Don't think me bitter, it's just.......

It's a day that puts an undue amount of stress on lovers and mates in a forced expression of love and devotion. They should not be beholden to one particular day, where expectations are high and disappointment is bound to happen.
Even though it is meant as a day of romance, because of the high level of presumptions, it's all but killed.

A person should be able to express their love on any day of their choosing and do so in a manner of their own choosing. It should not be dictated by Hallmark and over-priced roses. Why is it that flowers cost so much more on the 14th of February than any other day of the year?

And then, there are those not in a couple who are made to feel like less of a person because they don't have a valentine. They're made to feel small, slight, inferior. It's just wrong.

Profess love on a random day and surprise your partner. For the better part of the past sixteen years I've preferred to be wowed when I'm least expecting it rather than have it be forced and hold less meaning. I like the spontaneity, it's more exciting that way.

p.s. i didn't take this photo. it was found on the google.

love is a mix tape

I literally just finished the book, "Love is a Mix Tape" this morning on the bus.

The book hooked me right away and had me laughing and then crying all in the first short chapter.

For those of us that remember mix tapes, actual TAPES, and LOVE music, this is a book you MUST read! And even if you don't remember mix tapes, this is a good book that describes exactly what a mix tape is and what it means.

It had me reminiscing, waxing nostalgic for that mix tape Matty made for my birthday the second year we knew each other. The actual tape has ceased to exist; it snapped from over-playing, but I still have the cover he hand-made and drew a photo of a bicycle on and wrote sweet things on the inside. It doesn't even have a song list, but I remember some of the gems, that no matter where I am when I hear those certain songs, they will forever remind me of him.

It's a quick read that you're kind of sad to have end. It elicited a whole range of emotions and had me actually laughing out and reading passages to Matty so he could laugh too. I started reading it Friday evening and by Friday night when I was out, I already had to tell anyone that would listen to read this book.

It's a non-fiction work by the Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield. You can purchase the book from here or here. I won't shop at amazon.com any longer, so the links are to Powells Books in Portland, OR and to Barnes & Noble dot com respectively.

As an aside... Amazon likes to contribute a lot of money to Republicans so I don't give them business any longer. Plus, Powells is an independent book seller and a really rad place. If you ever get to Portland, OR go check it out. It takes up an entire city block.

So go buy the book and then tell everyone YOU know to read it too.
It's that good.

uptown A-train

meatloaf muffins with barbecue sauce

Yesterday I was sent a link for something called a "meat cake"... Click here to see for yourself.

I was repulsed and facinated at the same time. Then I had a craving for meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

Weeks ago I would have been bummed about this, with our oven being on the fritz and out of order, but it was just fixed last week and I was ready to bake!

Now, meatloaf takes FOREVER to cook. The prep time is negligible, but the cooking... Ugh! You could starve before the damn thing comes out of the oven!

Thanks to the internets, I found a recipe on foodtv.com by Rachel Ray of the 30-minute meal fame. The wonderful thing about her 30-minute meals is, obviously, they're ready in 30 minutes! Now maybe you're wondering how you'd prepare and bake a meatloaf in 30 minutes? Well, I'll tell you how! MEATLOAF MUFFINS!!!

Ingenius!

Like I said, the prep time was pretty painless... For the meat part, you pretty much just dump all the ingredients in the bowl and then mix everything with your hands. The sauce is super simple and should be made in a separate bowl and mixed with a spoon, which you'll use again. So don't throw it in the sink like I did and then smack yourself on the head after, muttering, "Why did I do that? I could have used that spoon again!"

The recipe called for use of an ice cream scooper to get the meat mass into the muffin tin, which is what I did but if you don't happen to have a scooper, I'm sure many other things will work. ...
Fill all the muffin cups and use the remaining sauce (plus that spoon you didn't chuck in the sink) and slip the pan into a pre-heated oven and let them bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.

Once they're done, you let them cool a bit and then pop them out and serve!


Now I left out a bunch of steps, which will make sense once you check out the recipe in-full. So if you click here you can check it out at your leisure.


It's also here...

1 2/3 to 1 3/4 pounds ground sirloin
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
2 ribs celery from the heart of the stalk, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 green bell pepper
1 large egg plus a splash of milk, beaten
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
1 cup smoky barbecue sauce
1/2 cup tomato salsa
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil
(or oily cooking spray, which I found to be easier)


Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Put ground beef into a big bowl. Put onion and celery into a food processor. Cut the bell pepper in half, rip out the seeds and throw them into your garbage bowl. Cut the pepper into a few pieces and add to the food processor. Pulse the processor blades to finely chop the vegetables into very small pieces then add them to the meat bowl. Add egg, beaten with milk, bread crumbs and grill seasoning to the bowl. Next, mix together the smoky barbecue sauce, the salsa and the Worcestershire sauce. Pour half the sauce mixture into the bowl with the meatloaf mix. Mix the meatloaf together with your hands. Wash up. Brush a 12-muffin tin (1/2-cup each) with vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil. Use an ice cream scoop to help you fill meat into a each tin. Top each meat loaf with a spoonful of extra sauce. Bake about 20 minutes. Cut open 1 muffin to test that the middle is cooked through.

images from oz

been away for a bit...

Right after the elections, literally the day after, I left the country for three weeks on a trip to Australia. It was amazing. Photos will follow soon.

Another Black Mark

Today is a sad, sad day.

With the passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, we have now said to the world that the United States condones and legalizes torture and has given our Leader a blank check and the power for indefinite and unreviewable detention (even of U.S. citizens).

What adds to my feeling ill is my two Senators from NJ vote FOR this hideous bill.

When I have more time and can expound further, I will add to this post. But suffice it to say that today is a dark day in American History and I am ashamed.

Five Years

I can't watch TV today or listen to the radio. Surrounding the fifth anniversary events of 9/11/2001... I don't need to be reminded, it's with me every day.

I was born in NYC and lived in NJ practically my whole life. I work in NYC.

Every time I go through the Lincoln or Holland Tunnel or take the subway, I think about 9/11.

Every day when I leave NYC on the bus home I look at the skyline of the city and notice what is not there.

If it weren't for the brisk wind blowing today, the weather is EXACTLY the same as it was on 9/11/2001. Sunny, bright, crisp with a touch of the coming fall.

I am fortunate not to have lost a dear loved one that day... And not that I took life for granted before that, but now every day before I leave the house for work, I kiss my husband and say, "I'll see you later" and hope that it's true. I never leave him without that kiss... it could be our last.

I hope everyone takes some time today to tell at least one person they love, how much they mean to them and their life. You never know...

Peace be with us all.

What kind of Christian are you?

I am not a Christian and was not raised in a Christian household. However, my husband was and his grandmother, who is one of the people I admire most in this world, is the epitome of what I think a "good" Christian is supposed to be. Gram is neither preachy nor judgmental. I'm sure she could recite the bible forward and backward and has a great deal of faith in her religion. She never once made our differences in religion or beliefs a factor in getting to know me and making me feel a part of her family. An oft repeated refrain from Gram is, "It's not for me to judge." And she firmly believes this. She is one of the most giving, generous and open people I've ever met. Even if she disagrees with you, or knows of a wrong you may have committed, another thing she'll tell you is, "I'll pray for you." And she means both of those things. She DOESN'T judge and she WILL pray, all the while not trying to impose her beliefs on you.

The people of the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church are supposed to be Christians. Yet I find their behaviour so bewildering and appalling. These are the very people that go to soldiers' funerals to protest. These aren't anti-war protesters, these people go and hold signs that read, "Thank God for dead soldiers," "Soldiers Die, God Laughs," Their website is called "godhatesfags.com" The reverend of this flock, Fred Phelps, firmly believes in preaching hate. Click HERE for full article.

What spurred me to write this post was the following article: "Family, friends honor Cpl. Baucus" And while the headline of the story looks innocuous enough, it's the content that is worth reading.

While I am all for free speech, this church's actions are so abhorrent that there have been laws passed limiting their ability to protest. "The Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act (PL 109-228, 120 Stat. 387) is an Act of Congress, enacted on May 29, 2006. It prohibits protests within 300 feet of the entrance of a cemetery from 60 minutes before to 60 minutes after a funeral. Penalties for violating the act are up to $100,000 in fines and up to one year imprisonment." (read more)

Are these people so blinded by hate and a literal interpretation of the bible that they forget about respecting life? How do you call yourself a Christian and not have respect for life? These are the same people that think abortion is murder, yet will gun down an abortion doctor outside his clinic. They think that embryonic stem cell research is morally reprehensible because it's murder. Yet already formed, viable people are dying every day from Diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease because valuable research cannot be performed. (read more) Do they not see the contradiction in this?

I wonder if it shames Gram to have people like the flock of this church and people like George W. Bush call themselves Christians and wrap themselves in their "Christian" morals, yet contradict themselves in everything they do? I certainly don't understand it. As a Christian, does it make YOU feel bad?

WHERE is the oversight????

I am enraged by a story I just read on washingtonpost.com...

Click HERE for the complete article

The headline reads:
Much Undone In Rebuilding Iraq, Audit Says

Here are several choice quotes I plucked from the article that need further commenting:

"NASIRIYAH, Iraq, Aug. 1 -- A flailing Iraq reconstruction effort that has been dominated for more than three years by U.S. dollars and companies is being transferred to Iraqis, leaving them the challenge of completing a long list of projects left unfinished by the Americans.

While the handover is occurring gradually, it comes as U.S. money dwindles and American officials face a Sept. 30 deadline for choosing which projects to fund with the remaining $2 billion of the $21 billion rebuilding program. More than 500 planned projects have not been started, and the United States lacks a coherent plan for transferring authority to Iraqi control, a report released Tuesday concludes."

So we're handing back to Iraqis a stalled, actually FAILED, reconstruction effort that they should have been involved in in the first place.

This next part really takes the cake:

"This story is a very disappointing one. Everywhere you look, goals have not been achieved," said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who will hold a hearing on the reconstruction today. "I don't think we can ever get back the billions of dollars that have been lost to poor planning, outright fraud and corruption."

"We paid for air conditioning and ended up with a ceiling fan," Dorgan said. "You had a big pot of money and you had a lot of hogs in the creek wallowing and shoving and grunting, trying to get some of it. It looks like they were a lot more effective at getting the money than they were at doing reconstruction."

So U.S. hired private contractors to do reconstruction work in Iraq, work that plenty of Iraqis were probably MORE than qualified to do. We spent, or squandered rather, billions... BILLIONS!!! of dollars for projects that 1. have NOT been completed or 2. have NOT been started, and yet these contractors STILL get paid!!!???!!?!?

WHY HASN'T A STOP PAYMENT BEEN PLACED ON THESE CHECKS??!!?!?!

If a private citizen hired a contractor to do work at their home and the contractor didn't show up for work and didn't complete the project, would it seem out of line to NOT pay the contractor for services NOT rendered?

Why should it be ANY different for THIS COUNTRY??

If the head of a company were to squander 21 BILLION dollars, that person would at the very least be fired and hopefully be thrown in jail AND asked to pay restitution. Hmm, wait... That DID happen to the head of a company. Does anyone remember ENRON???

WHERE is the oversight?

I REALLY hope that come this November, the Democrats take at least one of the Houses. They don't even have to take both... I'll settle for ONE... then maybe, JUST MAYBE we'll get some MUCH NEEDED oversight.