This is where you stick random tidbits of information about yourself.
Just Jen
Friday, February 15, 2002 Power of the Printed Word Well my dear friends I had thought the reach of my infant blog to extend only to a select group of friends and family but today I have received my first comment back from someone I did not know. Yes, today, I received an email from the owner of Colorado Kitchen thanking me for my comments. I again highliy recommend this lovely neighborhood restaurant. You will not be disappointed. And to Robin Smith my thanks for a wonderful dinner and for the obvious care you take in your culinary venture.
9:49 AM
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Thursday, February 14, 2002 A little something something I just made someone's day. It was very cool. The Director of my department abstains from all meat and dairy products, in short he is a vegetarian's vegetarian as my dad would joke, or a vegan. His birthday is coming up soon and it's our standard practice to bring in a big, yummy, delicious homemade birthday cake for all the birthdays in the month. Unfortunately the run of the mill cake we usually indulge in is chock full of butter, eggs, milk and all sorts of other delicious ingredients the various farm lobbies love for us to eat. Knowing David's dietary preferences, and always looking for a new culinary challenge, I found many a vegan cake recipes on-line and produced a cake with an exceedingly tender crumb. Delish. The frosting was not quite as successful, margarine just does not taste as good as butter. Well David was very touched and even the non-vegans enjoyed the 'health' cake. SO it has been a good day!
Calling All Single Ladies This is from Amelia's friend Margo, it is SO funny. She's letting us know the Vagina Monologues are on TV this fine evening.
For those of you ladies that will stay at home tonight with your cable instead of having a romantic dinner out with a loved one.... don't sit there all sappy thinking that nobody loves your vagina... somebody does.... turn on HBO at 9:30...
5:17 PM
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Happy Valentine's Day my dear blogger friends. I've made a card for you all. Have a lovely day and if you are bereft of plans this evening, we are watching Moulin Rouge and enjoying some pretty sweet V-day food courtesy of the domestic goddess that is my roommate Melissa.
9:42 AM
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Wednesday, February 13, 2002 Musings on Paul My friend Tressa sent this bible verse to me today. To me, Paul encapsulates two distinct parts of the Lenten call, first the image of what we are to become - the aim of our fasting and feasting, and then the idea that we are Christ to one another. As Tressa was, I am particuarly drawn to the notion that we "hold out the word of life." What a fantastic notion. Our hands contain life not only physically form our bodies but in how we choose their work. We can hold crookedness and depravity or the word of life itself. What an amazing choice. Lent is a time to assess the work of our hands and hearts. I hope Paul provides similar guidance for you the next 40 days.
"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life."
Hmm, I am still not caught up on what I want to say from this past weekend - this looks so much like my written journal, completely disorganized and not following any particular date order. Well perhaps that's the way I organize myself, so it shouldn't be such a surprise.
On Sunday night I went to Frontline for the first time to hear Heather Mercer speak. For those of you not in the know, Heather Mercer was one of the American Christian Aide workers imprisoned in Afghanistan for evangelizing to an Afghani couple. A crime in Afghanistan under the Taliban punishable by death. Heather's talk was wonderful. She was well composed, well spoken and her story resonated with the conviction of her beliefs even as she shared her doubts and struggles. She was genuine and affecting. If you have the opportunity to hear her speak, please avail yourself of it.
As far as the media is concerned Heather's saga began in early August with her imprisonment, on Sunday however, Heather began her story a number of years earlier with her decision to open her heart to God and to put her faith and trust in Him. I mention this because it becomes a necessary point in understanding her experience nine years later when she was imprisoned by the Taliban. Heather's conversion to Christianity came in high school and throughout her college years, she developed a close prayerful relationship with God. Following graduation, God led Heather to pursue a mission to His children in Afghanistan where she worked for a number of months before being imprisoned.
It would have been hard to personally relate to Heather's story if she had concentrated solely on the physical experience of being imprisoned. I have no means of comparison - I've never been questioned by guards concerning my activities while in prison, I've never hid under the bed throughout the night because bombs were exploding near by, I've never been locked in a metal storage container not knowing if I would ever see daylight again - her experience is so beyond my own. But Heather shared her story from a much different perspective - one that allowed all in the audience to relate and absorb and to place into context our own struggles. The story she told is as old as Jacob wrestling in the tent - her story was a struggle with God, of learning to trust Him and overcoming the physical and spiritual fear she felt during her 3 months of imprisonment and being able to see the blessing the experience was. Lessons applicable to all of us, lessons we all probably need to relearn with each new and scary experience in our lives.
I would love to write more about this, perhaps I will even edit this sometime in the future, but I wanted to share this by today as we begin our Lenten journey. God's peace to all of you.
We will rise again from ashes
From the good we fail to do.
We will rise again from ashes
To create the world anew.
If all the world were ashes,
How can our lives be true?
An offering of ashes,
An offering to you.
11:36 AM
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Tuesday, February 12, 2002
Here is the first of many restaurant reviews I am sure. This one is a bit belated since it was last Thursday when the lovely Emily and I went to Colorado Kitchen for dinner. This small neighborhood restaurant is a great place to meet and catch up and enjoy some very well prepared American food. Located in Upper NW (we're talking Carter Barron), it's a bit inaccessible without a thorough knowledge of the 16th street metro bus service, a car, or a desire to go on a long walk. Provided you are well equipped for one of the three, your efforts will be well rewarded. Not knowing what to expect, Em and I were greeted by a chic storefront on approach. Taking this as a good sign, we entered only to find ourselves in a comfortable rendition of the American diner. A black and white tile floor is nicely complemented by bright red vinyl seating. Three dining options presented themselves, a lunch counter, tables, or half booths. Our waitress directed us to a half booth where I was delighted to find my silverware nicely wrapped in a red bandana which serviced well as my napkin for the evening. The menu was small and limited and contained three different categories of food, appetizers, small eats, and large eats. I should say, the menu is not that of the American diner - while home-style meatloaf and gravy with mashed potatoes does appear, so does pecan crusted fish and a delectable sounding steak topped with a Roquefort crust. I have been hankering to go to Colorado Kitchen since last November when Tom Sietsema reviewed it in the Post Magazine and I craved what he described:
(Chef) Gillian Clark treats the hamburger with reverence. She takes ground meat with sufficient fat for flavor and seasons it with minced garlic and onion and just enough salt to bring out its beefy personality. She shapes the meat with just a few pats of her hands to a size that fits neatly yet impressively into a sesame seed bun, one that is tender but sturdy enough to contain the patty's hot juices. A ruffle of Bibb lettuce and a few nice tomato slices rest on top of the meat.
It was one of the best burgers I've ever tasted. Burgers are only served two nights a week as a special, Thursday and Sunday, so we were in luck. Colorado Kitchen does not have a liquor license (Chris, good things can exist without one) but does serve sweet tea. Any restaurant in the DC area, no matter what flaws they may possess are endeared to me by the presence of sweet tea. It's one of the true pleasures of life and one never available in my home state. The joys of living south of the Mason Dixon line. My burger was delicious. It was well formed, well spiced, and cooked to my specs - impressive when you consider I ordered mine rare and Em ordered hers medium well. The burgers were accompanied by some amazing onion rings. These were not the cafeteria classics, but lightly breaded red onions fried crisp - not at all oily. They tasted more like onion tempura than onion rings. Our hamburgers were huge and left little room for a very tempting dessert menu. I have little doubt that another visit will be in the works and will update you all soon. I should say, the one downside was our waitress, she was nice and friendly, but did not write down our order and came back to verify it twice. (Chris, as an aside, we went to the Childe Herald afterwards to enjoy different libations - the lack of a liquor license not detracting from the overall enjoyment of the evening)
11:00 AM
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Monday, February 11, 2002
I just needed to share the most excellent Olympic quote to date. Merv Albert was interviewing the young, rather cute Swiss ski jump gold medalist who kind of came out of nowhere to win. Let's just say the boy was ecstatic and utterly filled with joy at his moment of triumph. So Merv decided to ask him some pretty random questions, nothing serious, but the boy was way too excited to be coherent in English and kind of switched to French and German and some unknown language interchangeably while letting loose some pure shouts of glee. In response, and here's the quote, Merv says, "I don't know what he's saying, but I sure like it." Score one for Merv. Bob needs to work harder, I was hoping to have him up here by now. I am sure there are some more inane broadcaster moments out there, feel free to email them to me for inclusion here.
1:58 PM
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Sunday, February 10, 2002
One day I am going to be able to personalize this some. My efforts at the moment have mostly been for naught. Why, why did I not bother to learn HTML at some point in my life. What was I thinking? Well needless to say, I now have a mission. I thought I would warn you in advance of the inevitable disappearance of this site when it crashes after some code changes gone awry. Well that's all for now folks. Till tomorrow....
2:50 PM
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Sorry it's been a while, I actually have much to relate. First let me start off with the crazy events of yesterday afternoon. I was at the Potomac Yard Barnes and Noble - kind of browsing, deciding what I wanted to read next and most definitely looking for a birthday present for Anika when 15 or so very heavily armed police officers stormed through the front doors yelling loudly for all of us to get out immediately. I of course placed my intended purchases on a nearby table and made for the door in a semi-orderly fashion. Now, let's step back and think here, why would the police storm the Barnes and Nobles? Has the Starbucks been holding out on free coffee and pastries? Is it because the music selection includes such lawless greats like Willy Nelson? Is the latest Oprah Book Club read so terribly bad that it deserved to be forcibly removed from the shelves? Was I being marked by al Queada? These and other equally plausible scenarios flashed through my head as I fought my way through the Saturday afternoon crowd for the relative safety of the sidewalk. Once out, I realized perhaps there were even more dire circumstances at hand as a low flying chopper hovered over the store and many, many more police officers, assault rifles cocked, watched us file out.
As corporate and wrong as it is, I do hand over my hard earned dollars to the massive world-wide conglomerate that is Barnes and Nobles. I try to tell myself it is the convenience factor, that it's easier to get there than Kramer Books and Afterwords or other such important independent local owned bookstores that I should support - but the truth is, it's the Readers Advantage card. I like to see how much I am saving after paying $25 for the privilege of saving less than $2 every time I go. It's quite a scam, but one I willingly entered so I only have myself to blame.
I should say, if I was ever tempted to shoplift, this would have been the absolutely ideal time to try. Right under the noses of 30 or so cops, within 6 feet of you, not one of them seemed to care that the little alert on the doors was ringing with every other person going out. Of course, for all I knew they were there to test people's honesty for some Readers Digest poll and I for one wanted America and not some little island off of some far away place where everyone knows each other and it would mean social ostracism to steal to be voted as having the most honest citizens - so I didn't go back for my books to try.
Enough asides, after 5 or so minutes, the police let us back into the store, where I was relieved to find my books still on the display table (there was only one copy left of the book I needed for Anika's birthday and I was very worried someone might have thought it interesting enough to take.) I was little concerned that the police might come back for me, so I decided to cut my browsing short and just pay for my intended purchases. Needless to say, the store was a buzz with the events and I soon learned what happened when the sheriff and the store manager conveniently had a debriefing 3 feet from me. I'm not saying I was intentionally eavesdropping, but everyone pretty much got quiet when they realized the full story was being revealed, plus there was nothing else to listen in on except for the faint hum of the still hovering chopper.
It appears that 3 males decided they needed some more excitement and money in their life, so they went on an armed robbery spree throughout Crystal City. Well through some set of circumstances or another, the police found them and the 3 armed males decided to that car tag would lend even more excitement to their day. So after a high speed chase and a dramatic car wreck, the three males abandoned their vehicle (stolen of course) and made for Potomac Yard on foot. Two were less fleet and were caught by a cadre of Alexandria officers conveniently hanging out at the mall conducting car seat safety checks. The more fleet lad, bee lined for the Barnes and Noble with perhaps the intent to buy some books - maybe the Worst Case Scenario Handbook - I wonder if it includes advice on being chased by the police? Well Arlington County got their men and I got my books so all in all, a very satisfactory and rather lively afternoon. And for the second time last week, it appears I made the news. No picture, but CBS carried the story.
1:34 PM
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