Reliving the dark ages May 29, 2008

This morning on the way to work, Scott and I were trying to speculate on phone rates for calling Mongolia (I missed a call from Jay the other day). I said I would look it up online when we got to work, which led to a discussion of what we ever did before the internet was invented. I mean, I remember it, and I don’t remember life being distinctly terrible, but now that the internet is so integrated into my life I can’t help but imagine sepia-toned images of myself dressed like one of the Little Rascals, rolling a hoop down the street with a stick.

Anyway, I found the rates, but then I started thinking about our first computer, a Commodore Vic-20, and how I used to entertain myself for hours by laboriously typing in four pages of code just to make the screen flash different colors. Par-tay. I also remembered a text-based adventure game I used to play on it called Voodoo Castle, and Googled it in a fit of nostalgia. Not only did I confirm that it really existed and wasn’t just a feverish dream, but I found an online Java-based version of it. It’s… not exactly what I would call fun, but as is the style of the time, I’m obviously going to play it and ironically like it.

So, thank you, Internet. Both for allowing me to relive my childhood, and giving me something else to do when reliving my childhood gets intolerably boring.

May 19, 2008

Scott and I drove down to Atlanta last weekend for a wedding. We weren’t there for very long (drove down Saturday and back on Monday) but we had a good time. We got to see Scott’s brother and sister and went to a few good restaurants, and the wedding was really nice. We went to a farmer’s market at one point and the fish section, MY GOD. I’ve never seen a selection like that and it was all really cheap. I know it’s my own fault for only ever living in landlocked states, but I was so jealous. I meant to get boiled peanuts at some point before we left, but we didn’t see any places that had them on the way out of Georgia. I’ve made them at home before, but I’ve never had the “authentic” kind, so I wanted to compare. That, and Scott won’t eat them, so it’s a waste to make a big batch of them at a time. I had to settle for deep fried peanuts, which tasted good, but ow, my arteries. We also stopped at a roadside stand and got a bottle of peach cider, which was really good, and a jar of moonshine jelly, which… wasn’t. I think it might be good if I use it in a glaze for a pork roast or something, but I won’t be putting it on my toast.

The drive was surprisingly painless, only about 7 hours each way (we didn’t have to drive around downtown that much, fortunately), I-75 goes straight from Cincinnati to Atlanta, and the scenery in Kentucky and Tennessee was beautiful. I think we’re going to try to go down there again later this year (preferably with a huge cooler).

Dragon fruit May 5, 2008

Scott and I did some shopping over the weekend and stopped at Trader Joe’s for some groceries. While we were there, a bag of dried dragon fruit caught my eye:

(I didn’t actually take that picture, by the way, I just stole it from some other website.)

I’d never had dragon fruit before, so I went ahead and bought it (it was only $3). It’s … interesting. There’s not much in the way of flavor; it has a nice enough aftertaste but doesn’t really have a regular taste. The texture is pretty satisfying, though. It’s tougher and chewier than other dried fruit I’ve had, almost like fruit jerky. It actually kinda reminds me of the scene in The Three Amigos where they roast bats over the campfire. YUMMY.

And now I really want to watch that movie. I think I’m going to rent it tonight. It is Cinco de Mayo, after all. You son of a motherless goat.

In a surprising twist… May 2, 2008

I won the Iron Chef contest! I think everyone was freaked out by the ice cream at first, but apparently it was a big hit after people actually started trying it. I decided to make some cinnamon-chocolate syrup (with a little cayenne pepper) on a whim last night and that turned out really well, so I credit that with my success. Here’s a picture of the finished product:

I was going to garnish it with a dried chili pepper, but I couldn’t find them (although I did borrow one from one of the other contestants when I had to present it to the judges). And here is a picture of the (surprisingly good) prize I won:

A “wine and cheese” basket with 2 bottles of wine, a little cheese cutting board, knife, and corkscrew, and gift cards for Blockbuster and Red Lobster. This almost makes up for the fact that I have to go in for a meeting tomorrow morning.

Well… no it doesn’t. But still, woohoo!