AKA Abraham Bacoln

So this guy Steve Thomas (and that may even be his real name) did some fantastic – no, wait, mind-blowing designs for interstellar travel based off the look of those old WPA national park posters.

For example:

You can see and purchase all of them in his Zazzle shop.

I am seriously contemplating just how many I can afford to put up in my place before I look like a world-class sci-fi dork.

Well, it’s only a quarter after two in the afternoon but I’m already pretty sure that this is the coolest thing I’ll see today: Leslie Levings’ Beastlies – a series of tiny little creatures all lovingly handmade. You can even buy them at her Etsy shop as they’re created. Since there are currently only two listed I’m guessing they move pretty quickly once they hit the sales floor.

I wish I had the inspiration to create continuously like that, and with such consistent quality.

I decided to make this a real Saturday morning by watching some of the best old Looney Tunes there are – the Bugs / Daffy / Elmer trilogy.

Rabbit Fire
Rabbit Seasoning
Duck! Rabbit, Duck!

If you can watch all three of those without laughing out loud once then we’re no longer friends.

Anniversary dinner

Originally uploaded by Brother O’Mara

My parents just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary and my contribution was to cook a nice lunch for them. I don’t really have much to say about the food other than I thought it was great, they thought it was great, therefore it was great.

Apparently Angie said something something something about me not posting something something enough, but I don’t remember what it was that I was told she said. I’m posting these recipes because I want to, not because I’m scared of her.

Because I’m not.

Peach-glazed chicken thighs:
2 large peaches, peeled and chopped
6 chicken thighs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper (freshly-ground, duh)
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp honey
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 large peach peeled and sliced
2 tbsp sliced green onions

1. Mash 2 peaches in bowl with fork. Add chicken, toss to coat. Chill covered for 2 to 6 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring chicken to room temperature, drain, pat dry, season with salt and pepper.
3. Heat the oil and cook the chicken skin-side down for 5 minutes until brown and crisp.
4. Turn the chicken.
5. Bake chicken at 350 for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Drain.
6. Heat (in skillet) the chicken over high heat until it begins to sizzle. Add the honey and toss to coat. Cook for one minute or until the honey begins to brown and stick to the bottom of the skillet.
7. Stir constantly.
8. Add vinegar and peach slices and stir to loosen any brown bits.
9. Cook for a minute or two, then plate.
10. Eat.
11. Wait, no, make sure the following has been prepared before you sit down:

Grilled red potato salad:
4 lbs new potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (what else would it be for?)
12 oz sliced bacoln
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup coarsely-chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain. Let cool. Halve.
2. Put potatoes in dish, coat with olive oil, add salt and pepper.
3. Grill for two or three minutes per side.
4. Cook BACOLN until crispy (which goes without saying as flaccid bacon is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord) and then set it aside to de-grease and cool. Reserve 2 tbsp of the drippings.
5. Cook the onion in the drippings until nice and soft
6. Stir in vinegar, olive oil, sugar. Cook that stuff until the sugar is dissolved.
7. Add onion to potatoes. Crumble bacoln. Add that to the potatoes as well.
8. Add parsley. Toss to mix.
9. Put it on a platter and top it with the feta.
10. But first, make sure you’ve prepared:

Pea salad with pecans and bacoln:
20 oz now-thawed-but-previously-frozen baby peas
1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped pecans
2 green onions, minced
1/2 cup sour cream (don’t buy the cheap stuff)
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic salt
more salt and pepper (to taste, yes)
6 slices bacoln cooked, crispy, and crumbled.

1. Stir all those things together and eat ’em.

NOW you can enjoy the very same dinner I cooked.

(but I made changes to these recipes but I’m not going to tell you what they were so that you can never steal my secrets)

(also I like just kind of arbitrarily dividing the steps of the recipe. It’s how my mind works, and if the divisions make sense to you then you should probably seek help)

Congratulations, Mom and Dad. Here’s to 40 more!

HEY SO A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CALLING ME ABOUT MY MYSTERY AND ASKING IF I’VE FIGURED IT OUT AND I JUST FOUND OUT MY PARENTS DIDN’T LEAVE THE STUFF SO MYSTERY IS STILL ON OKAY GOTTA GO FIND MY MAGNIFYING GLASS AND PIPE BYE

I have never in my life seen a Thomas Kinkade painting that I liked. There’s something super-saccharine and kind of grossly Gatlinburg about them. They just rub me the wrong way. Then a year or two ago I read this LA Times article about what a jackass Kinkade really is – pissing on a Pooh statue? Seriously? But nothing will top the fact that this man who is known for his garish cabins, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, and otherwise generally outdoorsy (and radioactive) scenes is now offering a Nascar painting. Yes, now there’s a Kinkade for both the missus and the mister. I suggest putting the Daytona one over the television and the cabin over the couch.

In news that isn’t making me want to throw up, I’m sorry I haven’t been taking as many pictures. I’ve been using film lately and I’m not as adventurous with my shots when I know it’s going to cost me money every time I push that jolly candy-like button. Also I’ve been spending more time outdoors going bouldering, which I would go so far as to say is my new hobby. I’m trying to get as much of it in now as I can since I don’t know where I’m going to end up after I graduate and therefore I don’t know if there’ll be a place to climb.

For those that aren’t in the know, and I honestly don’t know where you fall (yes you), bouldering is rock climbing with the emphasis on the technical, not on the altitude. That’s fine by me, since I’m scared of heights anyway. I get to go out and wear out my body (and turn my fingers into hamburger since all we have around here is sandstone) and be able to drop once I’m exhausted without worrying if the person belaying me is paying attention and so forth. Plus I get this great feeling of accomplishment when I chose a problem, a route or traverse that’s too hard for me, or so I think. Then I work at it all day and if I get it by the end that just makes me feel fantastic.

I have to thank my old friend Alex for getting us into it, and I mean us because there are a few more of my friends that have been going just as much as I have. I used to love going to the rock climbing gym but I never felt proficient or even that I was getting better. Alex is a great teacher and therefore I’m learning and getting better every single time I go out.

Past that it feels like I’m spending a huge chunk of my time reading Don Quixote. It’s fun, but time-consuming. I’d rather be bouldering.

Or setting Kinkade paintings on fire.