8 hours ago
“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” —Oscar Wilde
Reflections? Me, my turn? Oh, um...where to start...
Feels at once, somehow, like a slog of marathon and a brief page flip. Let's sum up: 2015 was a rebuilding year.
I've learned what an incredible man my husband Joe Kowalski really is, and I've learned how lucky I am that so, so many of you are truly real friends. I can't begin to even express...what can I even say, you guys rallied and saved my life. That's real.
I've learned about mental illness and self-respect.
2016&#…
Just when I decide to write more and Facebook less...
...a friend I never see gets the cutest puppy in the world.
Generation X Problems
When I was little I demanded to know why Goofy wears clothes and talks, but Pluto goes bare and makes dog sounds. Can you DO that? Can you have two dogs in one franchise and only one is anthropomorphic? Were they ever in a scene together? What does Goofy have to say to Pluto?
That's Not A Hoverboard
Why is everyone calling those two-wheel things "hoverboards?"
Roll. No hover. We're just calling shit whatever now? Then I didn't get a Mazda 3 Zipcar and go to Target to find a new trash can. I got a spacebuggy and went to Narnia to find a Horcrux.
You can't just say stuff is other stuff when it clearly isn't.
Cardullo's Has Torrones!
Do you know this box? For the un-initiated, this is a box of Italian nougat candies. They come in lemon, orange and vanilla. In our house, mom placed them on the Christmas tree along with the candy canes and popcorn balls. Torrone is individually boxed. I used to wrap the individual boxes (after I ate the candy) in bits of wrapping paper because they were just the right size for the Barbie Dreamhouse.
Recipe: Loaded Potato Chowder
I whipped up this decadent soup the other night, making it up as I went along -- that's usually how I approach soup-making -- but this one came out so good that I've got to write it down. Sorry, it's not for vegans nor Atkins people. This is a hearty, fatty winter soup that's a stick-to-your-ribs meal in a bowl. You non-bacon, non-dairy, no-carb guys might live a few years longer, but then again, you don't get to have this s…
Throwback Thursday: 2007
Related: WII Cook, WII Eat, WII Drink, WII WII Related: Christmas 2007: Part the Second...Dog Days
Throwback Thursday: 1986
Young people need role models. Having a young and creative woman like my aunt Sharon was great. I had a not-so-happy childhood and she seemed to sense it, seems she went out of her way to spend time with me. She tried to teach me how to drive a stick, and she'd find reasons for the two of us to hang out. I remember this day when she and I went for a walk, she wanted to take pictures of me. I resisted. I hate pictures of me, but I don't …
Top Ten Tiger Beat Stars, Redux
This one's for my girlfriends and all the 80s kids, my big-haired comrades-in-legwarmers, a delightfully shrill roving army on rollerskates. We wore neon and spandex and acid-washed baggy designer jeans, and we launched the careers of our Tiger Beat Star boyfriends. Oh yes, Rick Springfield, you're nothing without us! Same for you, Johnny Depp. You're welcome, John Stamos. And all of these dreamboats whose faces wallpapered our bedro…
You Guys, I Met Peter Sagal
I was recently at a marketing conference here in Boston, and to my utter delight I found out that Mr. Peter Sagal was going to deliver the final keynote. Peter has been hosting NPR's " Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" for about fifteen years or so. Every week the NPR listener-ship tunes in to this news-based radio gem with its rotating panel of players, call-in listener challenges and celebrity guests. Me 'n Joey never miss it. H…
Decaf, son.
Invited this guy to share my table at Panera, since it's a 4-top and has an outlet. Dude's been absentmindedly kicking the table leg for like two hours. Trying to write here, Kicky McJitters, how about switching to decaf, son? 🥤
Throwback Thursday: 1987
Bonus Throwback
This isn't the first time this photo set came around. Prob'ly will again, too. A nice side effect of staying in touch with the people you were stupid with in high school.
Naked Cake: Joe Eats Cake Naked at 3am
September 14, 2015 2:55am · Allston Rock City, MA
The last of the party guests had gone home, hopefully happy. Joey had done his part of knocking out eight or nine bottles of red wine. So I put my none-too-steady husband to bed, assuming he'd be asleep in minutes. Next I set about tidying up, putting away leftover cheeses, covering olives, closing bottles of tonic, organizing the empties...when I heard an exuberant voice from the living room …
Happy Birthday-ay-ay-ay-oh-oh-ooooo...hey, that's nice!, Mel Torme
That was a fun party.
We'd intended to prepare only legit retro party food, but we chickened out once we looked into it. As it happens, party food was gag-inducingly loathesome in the 60s and 70s. Pimento olives made far too much of a showing. Entirely too much ham and gelatin was involved, shaped into something truly diabolical. Everything was formed into a mold or a loaf of some kind.
Friends don't serve friends "molds."
As …
