Noelle's Comfort Food

A little late to the game

American Idol has been on TV for, what is it?, like 9 years? I'm just now getting into it for the first time.

They axed the nerdy blind guy last night.  That's harsh. And Paula was wearing elbow length formal leather gloves.  That's wacky.

I guess it's better late than never to the conformist party.

SON of a.....

Looks like more waiting for me... pass the chips and a people magazine...:

from the website RoyalRomance.com

"The Mail Online reports that Prince William and Kate Middleton won’t be getting married in 2009 — because William has already used up all his vacation days for the year!

William went with Kate and the rest of the Middleton family on a ski holiday to France recently, and that apparently ate up the lion’s share of his leave time for 2009.

Sounds like perhaps 2010 is looking more and more likely for another double-royal-wedding summer?"

Busy Bee!

We have a 200 person donor event on campus tomorrow and I've been slammed for 2 weeks at work. John's been tending to his step-mom as her surgical procedure heals all week so I've been running the homestead alone as well.  He's running errands in her fancy German car that starts with an "M" while I've been wiping mud off Solomon's paws. 

I'll post soon!  Love you all, happy weekend.  Someone needs to...

P.S. Huge wind and rain storms today knocked down my next-door neighbor's front yard retaining wall - spilling the myrtle and dirt (mud) all over the sidewalk. That can't be a cheap fix. Hopefully my turn isn't next. 

Random thoughts this afternoon

Vitamin Water: has such a mild flavor that it tastes like you are drinking water out of a glass that was dirty from something else that was in it before.  Gross.

There is just ONE man who repairs torn leather furniture in the entire metro Pittsburgh area. Isn't that odd? If you wanted to make some money you could learn how to repair leather furniture, move here and under cut this guy's prices. It's like a positive micro-economic guarantee. I wonder what will happen once he dies?

I saw a man today outside of Macy's with the cheapest, ugliest toupée ever. WTF? I wanted to snatch it off his head and chuck it into the muddy curb so bad, I had to physically stop myself.

Poli Sci

When I was an idiot innocent freshman in college I thought I would major in Political Science. Why? Who the hell knows. I knew nothing about actual politics but did know that I was dying to live in DC.

I took one class in the Gerald Ford Institute for Public Service at the venerable Albion College and was bored to tears. I would pass class time by timing how long I could hold my breath over and over again.

Since those lazy, beer/fratboy indulgent halcyon days of 1989 I have come to sincerely appreciate - might I even say love - politics. But it's a damn good thing I never pursued elected officedom. (Other than the fact that I'm WAY over living in DC). It would be perfectly in character for me to say something totally assholeish like this:

"IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley suggested that AIG executives should take a Japanese approach toward accepting responsibility for the collapse of the insurance giant by resigning or killing themselves."

Now, I hate wallstreet greed as much as the next person but that's the sort of thing you either keep to yourself or only say to your wife - at least if you are a politician.

More signs point to YES!

The Point de Vue, a French tabloid "which has impeccable contacts within royal families across the world," is claiming that Prince William is set to marry on-and-off-again girlfriend Kate Middleton.

And the proof?

The magazine points out that the couple did not go skiing this year, opting for a Scottish vacation, which is symbolic because the couple met at St Andrews University. William supposedly proposed to Kate upon their return in January.

There has also been a flurry of activity at the Harewood Estate near Ross-on-Wye, which is supposedly to be the eventual home of the married couple.

Kate spent the Christmas holiday in the Caribbean with her family, which people say is because it will be the last time she gets to do so.

Sources within the royal family claim to have been told to keep their calendars clear for a summer wedding. Insiders also say that, "She [Kate] is treated by the staff with the kind of deference reserved for members of the family. Everyone thinks she and William are a done deal."

I am GIDDY with anticipation!!! Can you imagine getting married at 27 and then moving into a place that has a name like the Harewood Estate? With ladies in waiting and chefs and shit???....

I think I might faint.

Shady John Edwards Confesses!

WE ALWAYS KNEW IT WAS YOUR BABY YOU SKUM BAG!!!

John Edwards has finally confessed to his cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth what the rest of the world already knows - that he fathered a child with his mistress.

Edwards made the belated admission to his wife in an effort to stop ex-lover Rielle Hunter from going public, sources told The ENQUIRER.

While Edwards has admitted to having an affair with Rielle, he has shamelessly denied fathering her baby, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. Instead, one of his campaign workers, Andrew Young, claimed to be the dad.

But now, at least in private to his wife, he is finally telling the truth, sources reveal to The ENQUIRER.

The ex-senator sprang into action when he saw how upset Rielle had become over Elizabeth's forthcoming book, Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities, which will be published in May.

 "Rielle has become extremely edgy, and John's been afraid she might go public before Elizabeth's book comes out so she can put her story out there first," the close source told The ENQUIRER.

"These concerns led to John telling Rielle that he had sat down with Elizabeth and admitted to being the baby's father. This is something Rielle had been pushing John to do for a long, long time because he initially told Elizabeth he was not the father.

"The last thing John wants right now is for Rielle to go public before Elizabeth's book comes out, make new headlines and trigger a nasty battle between the two women."

In what's been called the biggest scandal of the 2008 presidential campaign, The ENQUIRER exposed John Edwards' shocking affair with 44-year-old divorcee Rielle - and the birth of their love child.

Maybe this enhances the experience...

'Drunk' Japanese MP takes touchy tour of Vatican museum

By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy

Posted Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:35pm AEDT

A Japanese minister who appeared to be drunk at a press conference in Rome has also reportedly caused trouble during a tour of the Vatican museums, it has been revealed.

Shoichi Nakagawa is accused of touching art works and setting off a security alarm.

Having just slurred and almost slept his way through a press conference, Mr. Nakagawa then insisted on taking a tour of the Vatican museums.

Japan's Ambassador to the Vatican, Kagefumi Ueno, says the Minister kept touching the art work, at one stage stepping over a security barrier to touch a statue and setting off an alarm.

While denying he was drunk at the press conference, Mr. Nakagawa later resigned.

There have been no official complaints about his behaviour from the Vatican.

And in other ART WORLD NEWS:

An art dealer who bought a painting from an upstate convent for $450,000 and then immediately resold it for $2.2 million says it's not his fault nuns are bad business people.

Alleged sister stiffer Mark Zaplin said he had no obligation to tell the Daughters of Mary Mother of Our Savior, outside Albany, that the painting he was buying from them in 2006 was actually worth far more.

"A buyer owes no duty to advise a seller that the seller should raise its price," Zaplin's lawyer, Tom Chase, said in papers filed in Albany County Court.

"That's an excellent defense," quipped the nuns' lawyer, Bruce Goldstone. "They're blaming the nuns for being too trusting."

Greek Style Turkey Burgers

This one is a winner.
Feeds 4

Burgers:

1 lb. of ground turkey or chicken
1/2 cup feta cheese
2 teaspoons (tsp) chopped fresh dill
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

yogurt sauce:

1 cup (or small container) of plain yogurt - Greek style is best but any plain will do
2 tsp of lemon juice
1 tsp chopped fresh dill
1 tsp chopped fresh mint
pinch of salt

Mix burger stuff up well, form into 4 patties.
pour a small amount of veg oil into a frying pan, just to lightly oil the bottom evenly.
heat up pan with oil and fry patties for 4 minutes a side - browning patties well on each side.
Serve on toasted buns with sauce with sliced tomatoes.

Sweetening

I was cooking dinner last night (which was a total disaster by the way, my Rachael Ray magazine went right into the trash with the "fisherman's bake") and had the TV on to keep the dogs from barking at the neighbor's dogs.

The channel was set to CBS and Two and a Half Men came on. ALL I could hear was the laugh track. It was like "blah blah blah... LAUGH TRACK LAUGH TRACK LAUGH TRACK... blah... blah... blah....  Apparently in TV lingo this is called "sweetening". I find it anything but.

I never watch sitcoms anymore because of this. It is so unbelievably annoying to my ear. Is this a case of re-training of TV audiences? Have cinema verite style shoes like The Office replaced the traditional sitcom genre when I wasn't looking?  Ok by me.