"The Godfather" Bread Soup

Yesterday, Alex and I finally got around to watching The Godfather and The Godfather II. I know; it's shocking that we hadn't seen them before. And now having seen them, I'm even more appalled, because they are so very freaking good. I think I need to see III even though I heard it's not so great, because I want to see what happens next. In any case, what could make any experience watching The Godfather better than eating some amazing Italian Bread Soup? Now apparently, the soup I made might be Tuscan, not Sicilian, but I think it's close enough and whatever region it's from, it's amazing. So, for a rough facsimilie of what I had last night, you could just click this recipe for Pappa al Pomodoro. But for something even yummier, that you can have for two meals, do this. A few days before you want the bread soup, make this amazing Rustic Cabbage Soup from 101 Recipes. Accompany it with some baked French or white, country bread. Have that for a few meals until you get kind of sick of it and have a medium pot left, and about 1/3 loaf of the white bread. Then take the soup and put it in a big pot over low-medium heat. Add 1-16 oz. can of diced tomatoes. Add a 16 oz can of organic, low-sodium tomato soup. Stir gently. Toss in bite-sized chunks of the stale French or white bread. Do not stir -- the bread's too delicate for that. Gently push in the bread so it soaks up the liquid. Serve hot with grated parmesan cheese on top. Tocca a te...Buona fortuna!

Lawyer, Store Owner, Housewife?

"The Christmas Wife." No, it's not the title of a Lifetime Original Movie. It's me. It's what I was thinking I would call a TV show or movie based on what I've been doing lately. Now that I'm not a "lawyer," and the idea of saying I'm a "writer" just seems ridiculous given how much time I actually spend writing as compared to cooking, I'm not really sure what my identity is. But "wife" will do for now, I suppose. How about "baker"?

My 2009 resolution was to make a perfect cream-based pie. I have to find a new resolution because I did it. It wasn't that hard. Just follow the recipe in Joy of Cooking exactly. That means where it says whole milk, you use whole milk, not skim (who knew milk fats were so important?). Where it says bring to a bare simmer, you don't let that bad boy boil. And for God's sake, where it says to toast the shredded coconut at 300, don't just throw it in the oven at 400 because you already have a freaking lasagna in there and you just figure you can get away with it if you watch it really closely. Nope. Do it EXACTLY like Joy says.

Now, I wish some people actually read this freaking blog, for instance, people who make Red Velvet cakes. Or people who just really know their cake and want to contribute their favorite Red Velvet cake recipe. Because unfortunately, Joy doesn't have a recipe for Red Velvet cake, and I made the one posted by Sara Moulton on the Food Network site. What a terrible disappointment. The icing was great (how can you go wrong with an entire POUND of creamcheese, and the cake was indeed very, very red. It was unfortunately dry, not as tall as I would've liked, and flavorless. I don't think I overbeat the cake, but even if I did, that wouldn't explain the flavorlessness.... I think the recipe just isn't that great. Quantities seem off. You'd be better off buying a Betty Crocker white cake and adding 2 tbsps of red food coloring and a quarter cup of cocoa than making this recipe. But by all means, make the frosting! Just put it on a more worthy cake.

Other recent firsts: first pork chops, first lasagna, first many different types of cookies. Not lemon bars though. Those I've been making for years.

Advice for cooking holiday favorites: play Christmas music really loudly. It makes you feel like you're in this fabulous holiday musical. Wear a holiday apron. Sing along to the music, even the really cheesy songs you don't like. Talk to your pets! You'll feel like Snow White meets It's a Wonderful Life.

Holiday stuff I did lately: a seemingly endless pile of Christmas cards. It took hours; enough to watch the Woody Allen movie Love and Death (very funny send up of Russian lit), two episodes of Emeril Green's cooking show (Cajun cooking was the topic of one. Can't remember the other.), two episodes of Wife Swap (horrifically entertaining), and one episode of a show called the First 48 Hours (unrepentantly grim with major gleams of bleakness). So, like five hours. And I already worked on it a few hours in the preceeding days. Wow. If you didn't get a Christmas card from me, then here's your big "Merry Christmas, Love Heather & Alex." Hope that'll do, because I'm not doing any more.

Previously: Shopping. I'm almost 100% done. Luckily I did it almost all ahead of time. That really, really helps make Christmas more fun. However, I do still have to brave the stores for one last gift. For those of you who haven't begun your shopping yet, all I can say is that I've been there too, and may the Lord have mercy on your souls.

Tomorrow: I have to stamp and mail the freaking cards, wrap the Christmas presents for faraway family, and ship them off. I can't stand packing the presents in boxes... way too much spacial reasoning for my pleasure. Boringly enough, I also have to do some menial chores: laundry, dishes, cleaning. But then there's the thing I really want to do, which is to make a gingerbread house. Guess which one I'm prioritizing? Gingerbread house, I'm gonna make you. I don't care if you're difficult and not all that tasty. A house made out of candy just sounds too sweet not to make.

Tomorrow is pretty typical of my days these days. Is it wrong that I actually kind of like it? I wonder if I should feel guilty that I'm "just" a housewife. Truth is, if there was no money worry attached, it would be a pretty greaqt gig. However, money is an object, and I do wonder if eventually I'd feel unfulfilled or regret leaving the workforce (though never will I regret leaving the public defender office).

So what to do next: I'm thinking of opening a clothing shop. That might be more interesting than being a lawyer. My worries about that are that we might not stay in Tacoma. It wouldn't make sense to start a shop here if we're moving back to Seattle (or elsewhere). But I have a lot of experience with retail and I do love clothes, and I love business, and it would be a great thing to be my own boss. But then there's that worrying voice in my head that says, "What about the economy? Are you seriously considering starting a small business during this terrible economic downturn?" and "You could make so much more money being a lawyer!"

Oh, and in case you've been reading long enough to know that I have been considering starting a wedding planning business, I still think it's a great idea, but my location is not ideal for it. I don't have many contacts in Tacoma yet, and I'm just a leetel to far for it to make sense to commute to my clients and vendors up in Seattle. Plus the economy thing again... who is seriously going to pay to have their wedding planned if they're worried about losing their jobs? So that idea's on the backburner for now to dust off for later.

There are some interesting law job prospects that I'm seriously considering. I am definitely not completely tossing out that possibility. It will be fascinating for me to see what the new year brings.

Britney & Bush: Please Go Away in Peace!

Recently the January issue of Glamour arrived at my door. The cover features a noticeably cleaned up Britney Spears in a white shirt against a white backdrop. She's all brown eyes and tenuous smile, legs folded underneath her demurely. The headline reads: "Healthier at Last, She Finally Opens Up About Her 'Crazy Year.'" In the article, the interviewer notes that her manager is there, disallowing Britney to answer many of the questions. Furthermore, Glamour states "it's a recovery in progress," and that her energy levels fluxuated wildly from alert to lethargic.

I hope, for Britney's sake, that she's better. But more importantly, I hope for the purposes of branding "American culture," that she's done making an ass out of herself. I think the comeback attempt is sweet, but unlikely to succeed, and it would be better still if she would just go away.

I don't hate Britney. I'm not crazy about that kind of music, but honestly, I mostly feel sorry for her. I just wish she would knock it off because she's embarassing me.

Same thing with George W. You'll never see me with an "Impeach Bush" bumper sticker, because I actually feel sorry for the guy. He wasn't really capable of dealing with all the problems that came with running a nation. He's just kind of ... embarassing.

So we're wrapping up with George W., and that makes me feel incredibly relieved. Maybe it's time for Britney to "retire" as well? Wouldn't that be grand? Please, Britney, Bush -- just go away already?

The Officers' Spouses' Club

Sixteen military wives
Thirty-two softly focused brightly colored eyes
(The Decemberists, 16 Military Wives)

When I married Alex, I jokingly asked if I should join the Officers’ Spouses’ Club, but I never thought I would actually do that. However, when I first moved to Tacoma, I had only two friends down here besides Alex. (Now I have roughly four friends – the number has doubled! Not bad.) Anyway, I needed to find a new doctor very quickly, and I had no one to ask for a reference. I remembered that there was the Officers’ Spouses’ Club, and I contacted the club president to see if she had a recommendation of doctors in the area. She didn’t, but suggested I start getting involved so I could talk to the other wives and get their opinions. She was so friendly and welcoming that I thought it was worth looking into joining.

Meanwhile, I’ve already found my own doctor, but I still wanted to see what the OSC was all about. I agreed to volunteer as a docent for today’s Tour of Homes. Once a year as a fundraiser, ten higher ranking officers open their homes and people tour through them to see what their homes are like and also for decorating ideas. This year it’s on Fort Lewis in the stately Broadmoor community. Since I’m pretty nosy, I knew I just had to get involved with that!

Last night, the OSC held a reception at the OSC president’s house for the volunteers who were opening their homes as well as the docents. Then we got a VIP tour of the houses ourselves; otherwise, we would only get to see the house that we were volunteering in.

I was surprisingly nervous getting ready. It felt like the first day of 7th grade all over again. Would they shun me? Maybe I don’t look officer-wifey enough (whatever that means)? Maybe the fact that my husband is full-time active duty National Guard, as opposed to regular Army stationed at Ft. Lewis, would be a barrier? And then I thought, so what if they don't like me? Will the world end?

Then I told my wussy butt that facing fear is the best way to make it go away, and I walked into a throng of about 30 beautifully dressed and coiffed ladies. A man in a red shirt and jeans slunk out quickly, sensing that this was not a place for men. Oh no. It was all about the ladies. It reminded me of my sorority from college except the women were for the most part nicer and much less drunk.

We ate amazing baklava and drank punch or wine and chatted.* I met a woman who worked in investments until she had her son, who is autistic and needs a lot of care. She was my age, pretty, smart, and hip. I also met a really nice lady who unfortunately tried to convince me to go to her church. She explained that even though I’m Catholic, God is God and it doesn’t matter which church you go to. While on one level I agree with her, I just simply couldn’t do that. Not just because her church is one of those Assembly of God things, but because I’m Catholic. I like my worship old school. Really old school. But I digress.

One of the most fun parts of the night was hopping in this lady Kathy’s SUV to go to the other houses with two other ladies. Kathy is a former military police officer (MP) who now works in public affairs. My favorite thing about her is that she had her satellite radio station tuned to Butt Rock and we were rocking out to Poison, Junkyard, Def Leppard, and other hair bands. That was hilarious.

So about the décor. Some of the homes were a little too robustly patriotic (think all-American red white and blue Christmas tree) for my taste. But most of these places served to make me feel deeply, irreparably inadequate in terms of how clean, organized, well decorated, and large my home is, for my homes is none of those things at present time. I gasp to think at the hours and hours of labor hanging all the greenery, putting up multiple Christmas trees, and installing a myriad of soft white lights must have taken. Not to mention the women who sew their own drapes, who hand make appliqués for the walls, who make adorable curtains out of ribbons and Christmas ornaments…. Wow.

But that feeling of inadequacy apparently is something we all share. Almost everyone said something about how they felt guilty at the state of their own homes. One of the women whose home was in the tour was fretting about how lame her house was compared to all the others. It wasn’t as big, she didn’t have as many Christmas decorations, she didn’t have handmade drapes. She only had one Christmas tree! Her home wasn’t nearly as clean, nearly as sophisticated, nearly as lovely as all the other homes, she lamented. I went there and it was full of beauty. She had the cabinet her grandfather made her that her husband refinished as a surprise. She had a painting her grandmother made. She had personal mementos all through her beautiful, clean, organized home. How dare she feel inadequate? She’s a freaking domestic goddess, and she works full time on top of that.

Maybe it’s too far to say these women are the real heroes of the Army, but really, it’s probably not that far from the truth. Rock on, officers’ wives. You all are pretty, you’re good moms, and your houses are great. And don’t let anybody, including yourselves, tell you any different.


*Diet tip: to avoid eating a lot, wear a skirt with a really tight waistband like I did. The discomfort literally prevents you from eating so much.

Goodbye, Myspace Blog

Dear Myspace Blog,
I really loved you at one time. Most of my friends were active on you in one form or fashion, and my blog got some readers because I had so many myspace friends. (Honestly, I think it might have helped that I was single. Marriage hasn't been kind to me in terms of blog readership). Plus myspace was so easy to format and just very user friendly.

Now it's feeling like I'm talking to myself out there. I'll still keep up the blog on myspace, but I can't help but think that this crosslinking my posts is really a waste of time.

So for now it's adios myspace blog, hello Blogspot!

p.s. If anyone knows secrets for making my blog look better, let me know. I am still basically a luddite at heart.

The BEST Pulled Pork Sandwich

My mom used to make this amazing pulled pork. Turns out I can make something that tastes just as good using a crock pot and a whole lotta liquid smoke (which is not some nasty chemical -- it's the collected, distilled water they get from burning a bunch of hickory chips. So it's like charcoal-y water).

I gave some to an Army Sergeant from Arkansas. He loved it and said it reminded him of pulled pork you could get at a shack these black folks had run for generations way out in the middle of nowhere in Arkansas. Never have I recieved such a compliment! And a friend asked me for the recipe after trying it, so I'll share this with you too. Please, by all means, experiment with it and let me know what you come up with!

Heather's Not-So-Famous-But-Maybe-Should-Be Pulled Pork.
Ingredients:
1 nice Pork Shoulder (3-4 pound size)
1/2 bottle (5 ounce size) Hickory Liquid Smoke1
1/2 cup ketchup, divided
1/4 cup whole grain mustard
1 cup brown sugar
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon each: salt and pepper
Reserved broth
2 packages hamburger buns
Your favorite BBQ sauce (I like Jack Daniels original)
Couple dashes Worchestershire Sauce
Coleslaw to serve on the side
Mayo for buns

Directions:Place pork shoulder in a crockpot (fat side up) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add liquid smoke, 1/2 cup ketchup, spices, and mustard. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours. Do NOT open the lid at all during the cooking process.

At 8-10 hours, check meat w/ meat thermometer and make sure it's done. Set aside to cool. Save juices from pot and separate broth from fat.
Mix in the reserved broth, 1 cup ketchup and brown sugar in medium bowl.
Pull the meat into shreds for the BBQ, using a fork if the meat's too hot. Place in pot on stove and pour the broth mixture over meat. Put in several generous squirts of BBQ sauce and a couple dashes of Worchestershire sauce. Stir it up till it's nice and warm. Serve on steamed (NOT toasted) buns, lightly coated with mayo on one side. Side of coleslaw is recommended.

Serve with love! (Love is the secret ingredient.)

Letter About Dreams, Horseback Riding on Mount Ranier

Hi you.

Things have been crazy. Bona fide certifiable.

I hope you're well. Miss hearing from you. I had a dream you were working with me at this coop which was under construction. We were involved in some big media start-up venture. It was all very exciting. But the place was haunted by this ghost that you and I both saw.

Did you know that when you dream about houses or buildings, apparently the building represents your mind? So if you dream of construction, it means there's new growth and new ideas forming in your head. But apparently I have a ghost in my mind. Also, I've heard that everyone you dream represents a different facet of your own personality, so if you ask your dream friend a question, you're asking it of yourself. I personally think that sounds a bit egotistical. What do you think?

I miss LA really bad. I was listening to America on the radio and that "Horse with no name" song reminds me of running out in that arroyo in S. Pasedena where that horse ranch is. Did you know the rangers in the parks there ride horses? It's so cool.

Yesterday I went horseback riding way up in the mountains on these trails. It was terribly cold and rainy. I was wearing an Underarmor long-sleeve shirt, a fleece sweatshirt, a waterproof jacket and a down vest, a hat, jeans, waterproof pants, wool socks, hiking boots, and roping gloves made out of kangaroo skins (yeah... not so animal friendly I guess) and I still was cold. But the scenery was beautiful. It was way up by Mount Ranier and the fall leaves were all orangey and red and the drops of water looked like crystal on everything. My horse was named Desperado. There was this point at which we were coming down this steep precipice and the trail was very muddy and slippery, and Desperado nearly fell down and he sat on the ground, and somehow I stayed in the saddle. I felt like such a horsegirl.

Please tell me about you. Something besides work and relationships and such.

For some reason I really love this email. I'm reposting it as a blog.

Miss you,

Heather

City of God and Other Brilliant Movies

City of God (2002) Portugese with English subtitles.

I had heard about this movie, but only here and there. No one looked me in the eye and said, "See this movie. See it or I can't be your friend anymore." And I don't really understand that. It's about a boy named Rocket growing up in the gangs of Cidade de Deus (City of God), and one of the other kids from the city Lil Dice, who later becomes Lil Ze -- the worst bad guy in the City of God, and possibly in movie history. He is a very, very bad guy. A gang war starts, Rocket gets a camera, and the movie captures it all so poetically. It's tragic and brilliant and the cinematography is breathtaking. MUST SEE. A+

Full Metal Jacket (1987)
WORSE STILL is that I only saw this movie for the first time a couple of months ago. How did that happen? I really don't understand how I missed seeing it. This is now my favorite Stanley Kubrick movie besides The Shining, and it's stunning to me how the same director could do arguably the best horror movie and also arguably the best war movie. How did he do it? I don't know.

Full Metal Jacket is a two-part affair, from the point of view of a Marine cadet named Joker (Matthew Modine). First we see the dehumanizing effects of training on the soldiers, specifically the tragic consequences for poor Gomer Pyle (Vincent D'Onofrio). It's tragic, but it's also extremely funny. The drill sergeant is outrageous. The second half of the film takes place during the Tet offensive in Vietnam. For those of you who have seen this movie, I haven't really got any great pearls of wisdom about it. This review is just saying to my readers, please, please, don't be like me. Don't wait years and years to see this movie. Watch it now. Brilliant. MUST SEE. A+

We Were Soldiers (2002)
A good war flick, starring Mel Gibson. The scene where the soldiers' wives have to give the bad news letters to the other wives made me weepy. It's sentimental and misty-eyed, the opposite of Full Metal Jacket, and most would say not as good. But still an enjoyable and emminently watchable movie and I recommend it. I give it an A- because I like war movies and am a sentimentalist.

The Last King of Scotland (2006)
I saw this movie at the wrong time. I saw it after it won numerous awards and all my friends really talked it up. I had very high expectations, and it was a little disappointing to me, though I would say on the whole it's a great movie. I also have to disclaim that mutilation scenes really, really bother me, so the part with the hacked up body was not ok. Also, I found it really annoying that Mr. Scrawny Scottish Hotpants (James McAvoy) sort of barged into a very stupid situation, got in way over his head, and then expected everyone to bail him out. But I guess he didn't exactly get off scotsfree, so to speak. Haha. Anyway, yeah, it's a good movie and you should probably see it if you haven't, but don't be like me and expect it to be as good as Full Metal Jacket or City of God, because it isn't even close. B+

And hopefully that's enough movies to keep you out of trouble for awhile!

INCREDIBLY Delicious: Cherry Tamarind Pork Tenderloin

As you probably know, pork tenderloin is the filet mignon of pork. But even a filet mignon can use a twist now and then. If you want a reasonably easy dinner that tastes remarkably high end, try my recipe that I invented last night.

I started with a 1.5 pound tenderloin, which is a little larger than the 100% perfect tenderloin should be, but ensures some delicious leftovers. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Next, take Tom Douglass's "Pork Rub" and rub the pork generously. Place pork in a square, glass baking dish. Next, take two cans of Oregon brand tart cherries. (NOT pie filling -- the cherries). Drain one can and set aside the juice. Use the cans of cherries to make a fabulous pie according to the recipe on the inside of the can, if you like. Take the drained juice from one can, and put in a sautee pan, along with one tbsp cornstarch, and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Tamco tamarind sauce, according to taste. Stir constantly over medium heat until sauce thickens, about 4 minutes. Once the sauce is thick, pour it over the tenderloin, making sure to cover the exposed skin. This keeps your tenderloin juicy. (Since it's incredibly lowfat, it has a tendency to dry out. This is also why to cook it at a higher temp for a shorter time rather than slowroasting it).

Pop the pork in the oven for about 30 to 40 min. Remove from oven when meat thermometer inserted into thickest part reads 145 degrees.

Enjoy your pork. My side dish was a green salad and Zataran's long grain wild rice. Start it right after you put in the pork and the timing should be about perfect. Surprisingly delicious. And with the pie... what an incredible dinner!

Happy cooking!

Point Defiance: BEST Park in the Northwest

I love walking down at Point Defiance. The garden area with the roses and hydrangeas and duck pond and pagoda are beautiful, but better still is the long, long waterfront walk. I went there the other day with Alex and we saw seals diving and playing in the water. A baby seal popped its head up above the surface and stared at me for a long time. Its dark eyes were like a playful, shy child's. I returned its gaze and looked forward to the next time I can dive and be under the water like him.

That same night, we saw two beautiful egrets at the water's edge. One flew away upon seeing us. The other just shifted down the beach a bit. It seemed to meditate as it was standing there, though I imagine the main thought in its mind was, "Fish?" I envy that kind of focus and clear sense of purpose. An egret's purpose: fishing. A seal's purpose: fishing, and playing. A Heather's purpose: that's a bit hazy. Bringing delight and innovation to people everywhere? Um, sure.

Alex saw a fox at Point Defiance. I wish I had seen the fox too. I'd love to see a fox in the wild.

Tacoma is so much nicer than I thought it would be from my limited previous experiences of just passing it by on I-5. I just wish my friends were here. I am starting to meet people but it doesn't replace the 12 years of making friends in Seattle. I miss everyone today.

Superfunds in Tacoma

I'll start with the bad news. Superfunds. Yes, those big, toxic nasties that you hear about? Well, they're real and they are right in our backyard. there's a big superfund site from toxic company ASARCO in the town of Ruston, better known as the place just west of Tacoma near my beloved Point Defiance. Ruston seems like a great place, but this smelter created tons of toxic waste. The company causing the problem is now in Chapter 11 (of course), and they're literally building condos on the site of the superfund, saying that that portion of the land has been successfully reclaimed. I'd never seen a superfund before, so tonight after work, I drove down there.

It's weird to see something that you know is dangerous intellectually, but where you're unable to see the danger. Sure there's environmental impact signs everywhere and chain link fence, and "Private Property" notices -- but that'd be the same at any construction site. Maybe what scared me the most was the cheerful sign that said "Welcome to Point Ruston!" and the fact that there's a huge sign reading "Condos! For Sale NOW!!" What's really scary is how normal and everyday it looks. What's scary is that people are going to buy those condos and maybe not really understand what happened there. It's scary that that must happen all the time. It's scary that the only reason I know about it is because I'm a little obsessed with the history of this beautiful place I happen to be living, and I love researching these little mysteries.

And why did I get so obsessed with Tacoma history, already? Because it's a wonderful place. As someone once said, "Scoffers may scoff and be damned." I mean it -- it's gorgeous here. Commencement Bay gazes back serenely whenever I look to the north. There are so many old, lovely homes. There's a real sense of community here. I think I really like it.
I had my housewarming and my neighbors came. The across the street neighbors brought a big ceramic fish filled with pepperoncini, and an amazing fresh tomato and basil salad with veggies fresh-picked from the garden. The next-door neighbors like cats and offered to catsit for us. I think I can live with that.

Other exciting news: I go to Point Defiance about every other day. It is the coolest park ever. It's got the pretty coastline and internal beauty similar to Stanley Park in Vancouver, but it has also has a zoo, rose garden, beautiful pagoda (where I insist on planning weddings at some point), an old Fort, and a logging camp. Everyone is invited to come ride the Santa train with Alex and me at Christmas, and to take a tour of the Zoo Lights, which are supposed to be beautiful.

My big news: Friday is my last day at work, so I'm looking for a new job. I'm really looking forward to a little time off.

Other news: I'm planning on doing a lot more hiking! These hour-long walks at Point Defiance are inspiring me. I'm also interested in trying camping. If you have gear you want to get rid of, let me know.

I'm just really enjoying life lately. I like being that lady that walks forever along the shores of Salmon Beach, and the lady that knows where the superfund is.

Book Reviews: Lunar Park, Prep, Good Omens, My Soul to Keep

Some book reviews. You should probably read more, you know?

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
I really loved Neil Gaiman's book American Gods and so I went on to read Coraline (cute, not nearly creepy enough) and Anansi Boys (slick in a way that intrigued me a little but annoyed me more than intrigued). I came away from those three books thinking, "I like Neil Gaiman. He's the kind of author I like." But having read only one of Terry Pratchett's novels (the first of the Discworld series), I knew Terry Pratchett was the kind of author I do not like. I even had a thought that reading the coauthored Good Omens might associate Gaiman and Pratchett in a way that would put me off Gaiman for good. And I fear that's what's happened.

Good Omens is funny, I suppose. In a trying-way-too-hard, "aren't we so very, very English and very, very clever, and ever so impressed with ourselves!" sort of way. In short, it's this book about the Apocalypse, and it's supposed to be funny, and it reminded me of drinking a soda which doesn't totally suck but which you realize about two sips through is way too sweet and why did you decide to get a damned Orange Crush anyway?? and you don't really want it but you already bought it and well, you can't really just dump the crap out where you're at so you take unenthusiastic sips and think how it's just another 250 cal you have to work off and another little bit of tooth decay and by the end it's flat and your tummy hurts and you just can't stand Terry Pratchett.

Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis
Amazing! Page turner + literary genius + creepy as all HELL. I cannot recommend this book enough. I ignored everything else in my life until I finished this book. As a result, I hardly noticed the fact that I moved to Tacoma. It just sort of happened in between slipping away to go read.
Briefly, it's a semi-autobiographical supernatural horror with strong ironic awesomeness. Wait till you get to the plot summary of Teenage P-. I laughed out loud really uproariously on the train. And then I almost started laughing later the same day in court, on the record, remembering how the narrator couldn't concentrate because he kept thinking about Teenage P-. Read it. Read the book now. And then if you want you can come talk to me about it at my beloved Nerd Out! bookclub, which will be October 12. This book goes on my list of favorites, which I'm starting right now.

My Soul to Keep by Melanie Wells
This was a quick little read and I feel kind of stupid for having read it. It wasn't really that great. However, I mention it in case you want to have a little mental break and read about some psychology professor who discovers that demons were somehow involved in the kidnapping of her friend's little boy. It's like watching The Closer or one of those shows. My Soul to Keep is entertaining, but the romantic line completely falls flat and the Christian overtones might annoy some readers.

Prep by Curtis Sittenfield
This portrayal of prep school culture and teenage insecurity is definitely making it to my unofficial list of favorite books. Having survived an incredibly snobby school in my high school years, it rang very true. I won't say this is a happy-go-lucky feel-gooder where you get a tear and say, "Wow, those days were really something, weren't they?" But if you're me, you'll say, "That's right. The good, the bad, and oh, GOD, the ugly was in me and everybody else."

So, read Prep and Lunar Park. Let me know what you think. Especially Lunar Park. By the way, Lunar Park would be a great choice for Halloween. Go buy it and read it and love it, please.

Thanks for reading!

Tacoma, Ellen DeGeneres, Monkeys

Last night, we finished moving into our two bedroom craftsman in Tacoma. With our things in it, the vibe has switched markedly from somewhat creepy to mostly homey. I love it. We still don't know where to put the tv. Apparently they didn't think about tvs when they designed homes in 1930.

I had somewhat troubled dreams. The Tacoma version of Ellen DeGeneres was showing me around the Point Defiance zoo, saying how ridiculous people were for not getting how cool Tacoma is. She pointed at the monkeys and shook her head, saying, "See? Just as cool as Seattle monkeys."

I thought the neighbors would be a little nicer in our beautiful neighborhood. So far, only one neighbor has said hi to me. I live across the street from an older man who drives a Subaru Outback and has an immaculate garden in front of his huge colonial-style house. You think he'd say hi, welcome to the neighborhood, right? Wrong. He looked towards my general direction and glared a little, then walked into his house without even waving. However, a local five-year-old drove up to me on his tricycle, abruptly shouted "HI!," and then pedalled away as quickly as his little legs would pump. The welcome wagon it was not, but it beats the neighbors by Marcus's place who welcome you by furtively smoking crack and leaving greasy nacho containers in your yard.

I drove to work to day... only took about 40 minutes and on the way I listened to "Guns, Germs & Steel." I love the drive to my new house, actually. As I get off my exit in North Tacoma I see the port on the right side, and as I pass through Old Town, it makes me feel like I live in a small harbor town. It's beautiful.

Things are good!

Kayaking the Arboretum

Alex and I kayaked in the Arboretum this weekend. We rented from the Aqua Verde Cafe & Paddle Club (I'd always rented from UW in the past and found Aqua Verde to be just as good. I'll have to compare rates).



The Arboretum is beautiful on foot, but even more so by kayak. The lagoons glimmer green in the We wandered amongst lily pads and dragonflies, ducks, and a lone egret stalking some fish. We were on our way back near Montlake cut, when the sky opened and we got drenched. The rain plastered my hair to my skull and we paddled through the choppy water in the cut, yelling, "1-2-3-4, I love Marine Corps!" to keep time.

Rain or no rain, I love it! More kayaking to come!

Prospects on the Proctor District

Last night we took a trip down to our new place in Tacoma. It's right in between Old Town and the Proctor District, which are both nice, old fashioned neighborhoods. Proctor District reminds me a bit of Wallingford or the Admiral District in West Seattle. The neighborhood is quiet and pretty, and most of our neighbors have flags. I want a flag too.

Our house is a 1930 craftsman, with sage-green painted wood. It's all one floor except for the requisite creepy basement. There long, awkwardly shaped front room has a great view of Commencement Bay. The house is quaint, but it has that slightly-off feel that old homes sometimes get. It's been remodeled somewhat, but obviously in a fairly hurried manner. The new walls make strange shapes in the rooms. The "office" is tiny and oppressive feeling, so I'm trying to scope out a way I can do my writing in the front room. The kitchen window overlooks the stairway to the basement instead of outside. I wonder if plants would improve the situation? We were dismayed to learn that there's no dishwasher, so I'm going to be hand washing dishes all winter long. There's no fireplace either. That really bums me out. This winter could be depressing -- moving away from my friends in Seattle to live in an old house in Tacoma with no dishwasher and no fireplace.

We went to dinner at a place called Knapp's. It's one of those classic places that's been around for 70 years. You'd think in that amount of time you'd learn to cook a steak. Alex had the surf n' turf, and his medium rare steak was medium well. It was actually pretty gross. My salad was frozen, the meatloaf so-so, the service was pretty terrible. The only saving graces of dinner was the baked potato, though actuallymy sour cream was frozen, so I take that back. Dessert, however, was great: the coconut cream pie was fresh and delicious and very coconutty.

We stopped by the Metropolitan Market and the Safeway. The vibe I got was that eventually we could call this area home. It'll probably be o.k.

The Perfect Party: Basics & A Little Spice

Every party, no matter how elaborate its trappings, has some essential basics. You can have a pretty good party without these elements, but it will never be an amazing party. The items are remarkably simple, but unfortunately quite easy to get wrong, which is why planning is crucial.

Any amazing party will ensure that there are:

1) Good people
2) Good drinks
3) Good food
4) Good music
5) Optional (particularly if you have at least three of the above): Entertaiment

If you don't have one or more of the top four, prepare for your party to be anything from average to abysmal. But notice that none of these things has to be incredible or amazing for the party will

HOW NOT TO PARTY:
I went to a dinner party very recently, and it was a nice effort on the hostess's part. Homemade dinner, some alternative satellite radio station playing in the background, and a group of friends -- actually, two groups of friends brought together. And honestly, it was an o.k. party. How could this party have been amazing? Skip the weird orzo 'n squid casserole or whatever tf that was supposed to be. Baked chicken legs (legs only -- no white meat?) with nothing but olive oil for flavor? No! And NO BOILED VEGETABLES. Ever. Mushy and tasteless should never, ever describe anything at your party, much less the food. And even more important, the people, while they may have been great, were not getting to know each other. That's an important aspect of hosting a great party. Introduce your friends and acquaintances to each other. Let them mingle. This is very often neglected. So we were all talking to the people we already knew and not to anyone else. It was pretty boring.

Later the host (a lawyer) told a story about a child molestation case that he hadn't even worked on. That's when the orzo squid decided it just wasn't sitting right in my stomach and I needed to make a hasty exit. The party was breaking up anyway. Moral: avoid talking about disgusting subject matter like child molestation at a dinner party. If it's hard to grasp the why on this one, you may want to read up on a book like Miss Manners to get some ideas about basic social skills.

What could they have done? Put spice on the chicken. Spicy (but maybe not too spicy) is more fun. Always err on the side of spicy in your party planning.

If you follow the above advice, your parties will be nothing short of amazing, every time.

NEXT UP: More parties!

Movie Reviews: The Happening, Hancock, WALL-E

Tonight I thought I'd write some movie reviews interspersed, or even nestled, amongst some little tidbits about my personal life. Saving the best for last, we would of course start with the M. Night Shamalayan piece of shit that I was stupid enough to spend money and 90 minutes on... The Happening: Wow, it sucks. Not that I'm surprised. M. Night Shamalayan is the watchword for not-worth-watching, unless you're re-watching The Sixth Sense, which is permitted. So, The Happening should be called "When Trees Do Even Worse Things to You than Cause Hayfever, and It's Not So Much Scary as Really Annoying, and Even Mark Wahlberg Cannot Make the Insipid Dialogue Work."

Speaking of hayfever, I've got it bad. The 20-40 kleenex per hour (kph) kind, three kinds of allergy medecine at once, the kind where I have to breathe through my mouth for fear of upsetting my pathetic nostrils kind of hayfever. It's funny how it always coincides with the really hot weather. So it's 85 degrees and I don't have AC, and if I open the window it just lets in more filthy pollinated air which will kill me if I allow it to. If I were a magazine centerfold, perhaps my turn-ons list would be something like this: Hepa-filtered, anything hypoallergenic, air conditioning, non-drowsy antihistamines. Turn offs: Dextromethorphane, dust mites, grass, and picnics in the park.

Hancock: A run-of-the-mill Will Smith action movie. Which means that it was pretty good -- never terrible or amazing. It starts of very well and then just kind of ... meh? Charlize Theron plays a superhero too. What I don't get is why, when she goes into superhero mode, does that necessarily mean she has to wear so much additional eye shadow?

I watched the previous two movies with Alex in Aruba. So I was in an amazing place with my husband and we went to see two mediocre at best movies, but it was good because it was so nice just to relax and not have to worry about a thing. The one I watched today, WALL-E, was with Marcus at Pacific Place cinemas. We went to the movie theater just so I could escape the disgusting plant sex and microscopic dust mites that are plaguing me. And I wound up inadvertantly seeing a very good movie.

WALL-E: This movie is really great. It's got the dystopian nightmare scenario that I love, AND Robot Romance. It's one of the very, very few really interesting movies I've seen lately. Go Pixar!!

Alex is in Yakima for his job, which is prepping 3500 National Guardsmen for deployment to Iraq. He's a JAG lawyer, which means that sometimes he's doing desk work like a regular lawyer, but other times he's out shooting bad guys with machine guns and rescuing people from hostile territory by helicopter and infiltrating terrorist hotspots, where he wears a wire to collect evidence to get those terrorists! It's awesome. And then the rest of the time, he just really helps out these poor dudes who have to go to Iraq by getting them wills and helping them sort out their child custody/divorce issues, and other uber important stuff. So, I'm supposed to go to Yakima for a few days this week for my birthday. "Happy Birthday" and "Yakima" don't really seem to go together, but what can you do?

So, July. Really important month for me. Alex is in Yakima for the rest of the month, which is terrible. My biggest plans for July are to deal with all the wedding stuff, all the thank you cards, name change documentation, moving from Marcus's place, putting stuff in storage, and prepping to rent Alex's condo, and looking for a new place for us to move --all of this On My Own. I hate it. Newlyweds should not have to do this alone. But, me having things the way I want them isn't always good for me is it?

Besides dealing with the above stuff, I have a couple of other projects going on. I'm helping Ben & Libbe with their wedding, and I'm considering auditioning for some plays and movies, and I'm getting back into working out. I signed up for a half marathon for Labor Day weekend. Things are just humming along. It's basically the usual. Except I'm married now. It's
different, it really is, but I'm not sure why.

More will be revealed.

Ain’t no sunshine

It's 47 degrees in Seattle. This is not the record coldest; that was a high of 40 degrees in 1924. This summer reminds me of the summer of 1997. That summer, it was still cold well into June. I was working at the Pierce County Prosecutor's office as an intern. I would take the hour-long bus ride and then walk up the huge hill to the courthouse in Tacoma, shivering in my penny loafers and suits bought in North Carolina. What a strange summer. And now, 11 years later, I'm preparing for a wedding here in Seattle. I never thought I'd be doing this. I can't believe I've put up with this weather for so long.

Here's the sort of thing that gets me through: today I'm breaking in a pair of silvery Betsey Johnson shoes, with this cluster of cheery golden crystals on them that almost make me feel like it's sunny outside. They make me feel like a raindrop goddess.

I have some thoughts about maintaining passion. I spoke to my colleague Mark Tackitt today; he's an attorney who does conflict cases for the Office of Public Defense, so he does essentially the same job as I do, except as a solo practitioner. His hobby is civil war reenactment, which he's been doing for over 12 years. I asked how he keeps his interest in his hobby fresh, and he indicated that he tries to work to make everything as close to how it really was as possible, and that this is a very difficult thing to do. He also tries to do better and better events. Soon he'll be going to Gettysburg for a march that he's leading. See http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnppcGNvbi5uZXQvfnNpbGFzL2FuZGVyc2J1cmdtYXJjaC5odG0=

I'm going to try to do that to maintain interest in my passions. It's partly about keeping things as close to your artistic vision as possible, and try to make every "event" better than the last.

Right now my event is, of course, the wedding. I'm working hard and I think it's all coming along. The main things I need to do now are to design the programs, select paper for them and the favor tags, and figure out how much of each beverage we need. And there's a number of other easier to dos (call florist back with updates, bridesmaid gifts, pick up rings, pick up dress, get it cleaned, things like that), but I'm actually pretty happy with the way it's all coming along. I think everything really will be o.k. But anyway, I decided that there were some parts of the vision that could be compromised for the sake of economy (I didn't really need a photo booth, for example), and others that simply could not (I HAD to have terra cotta pots for the floral centerpieces-cum-favors that I'm making. Pastel baskets with checks wouldn't do. I actually had to fire this woman who was going to make them because she couldn't get that it had to be terra cotta pots with pansies and lavendar, not pastel checked baskets with hen and chicks. Sometimes it's difficult to make your vision a reality. I'm just glad my vision was something that is actually pretty doable. It's humbling that my vision is what kind of centerpieces to have on tables at my wedding reception, but that's how it is.

It's freaking cold in my office. Really kinda wishing I were in LA right now.

Aruba Honeymoon

Yes, I'm blogging from Aruba. I can hardly believe that the wedding is done and Alex and I are getting started on our married life.

We're staying at the Renaissance Hotel in Orangestad, Aruba. It's a four-star place with it's own private island, three beautiful swimming pools, a spa, many, many restaurants. The people working here are undoubtedly the friendliest service people I've ever encountered in my life. The motto in Aruba is "One Happy Island" and it fits really well. It's amazing to see so many cultures come together and blend so well, instead of colliding in strife. Aruba is part of the Dutch Federation, and that influence is prevalent everywhere -- many, many Dutch tourists and Dutch is the official language. However, Aruba has people from over 70 nationalities living here -- and the Spanish influence is especially strong. It's really close to Venezuela and many of the natives predominantly speak Spanish.

So far, we rented a Jeep and went off-roading (yee-haw!) and got a flat (awww!) but got it fixed by some nice latino guy, and it all worked out fine. We went diving several times. We have done a lot of swimming and relaxing and sleeping and everything. You know, it's just as amazing as I always dreamed a honeymoon would be.

Well, I have to go now. The pool calls.
See you soon, Seattle!

What to Do When You Have the Flu

My brief blog telling you what sucks and what rocks when you have the flu!

Here's what sucks:
The way you feel

Here's what's great:

Dirt
The second season of this fast-paced FX tabloid-centric drama was cut woefully short due to the writer's strike, but the quick-'n-dirty plots with an easy to follow story arch are perfect when you're running a 99 degree fever. If it gets worse, you're going to need something like….

The Dead Girl
This movie reminds you of why it's good to not be a corpse, even if you're pretty sure that the flu is actually going to kill you. I'm not sure the movie has much more meaning beyond that but it's cinematographically fascinating and there are some great performances in it by Toni Colette, Brittany Murphy, and others. And there was a lovely line about trees and sky that got repeated a couple of times. I really liked this movie and I have no idea why.

The Husky Deli Split Pea Soup
Oh my word. I've always been a big fan of the Husky Deli in general. It has all the fancy foreign foods with none of the uppity attitude. Plus the best homemade ice cream in Seattle, and my favoritest deli sandwich, the Turkish Delight (cream cheese, turkey meat, and mango chutney – get it grilled and praise the Lord for its sweet and savory amazingness!). But I've never had the split pea soup until today. It is sooooo good. It's not a murky, grayish-green-brown mush. It's a wonderful soup with wonderful, fresh tasting peas. So creamy and good. Awesome!

Ratatouille
Pixar is awesome for children and sick people. I'm sure other people like it too. Anyway, this is a cute movie about a rat who dreams of being a chef. I liked it, but then again, by this time my fever was up to 101 and my ears hurt which made me need my Spiderman doll.
What else…

The Riches
This show is so good. It's about the Irish "travelers" and their scheming, conning ways. Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver are so good, even if Izzard's American accent is not 100% believable.

Other Assorted Good Things to Have Around:
The cats!
Bunny slippers
Unlimited liquids
Chicken Soup with Sautéed Garlic
Blankies

Wedding planning and other insanity

I haven't been blogging. I'm sorry about that. It's just that the wedding takes everything I have. Don't get me wrong: I love planning all the little details that go into one great, special day. But it's taking everything. My free time -- gone. I'm at tastings and fittings and planning and scheming. My money is pretty much all going to the wedding. My mind? It's on the wedding. It's hard right now to talk about much else. I went to a "girl's night out" type of party recently where the topic kept veering to local politics (these are not your average girls, apparently). I kept longing, longing, for someone to talk about weddings instead. I should have a little button that says "ask me about my wedding." So it's high time I blogged about it.

So, I got engaged in late January. Here's what I've gotten done since then: choosing and booking the ceremony location (St. James), the reception (Skansonia), transportation in between (for Alex and me, a Rolls; for the wedding party, a really great, um, van), selected a photographer, got a DJ, found a cake baker, decided the menu, registered for some basic gifts, sent e-save the dates, ordered invitations, bought dress, bought corset lingerie thing and stockings, bought crinoline, did first two rounds of alterations on the dress, commenced Catholic premarital counselling, found bridesmaids, picked out bridesmaids dresses, working on picking out their gifts, helped groom pick out groomsman tuxes, looked at honeymoon options with the groom, began shoe shopping (still haven't decided), found hairstylists for rehearsal dinner and wedding, found florist, discussed and decided on floral design, decided on a color scheme (jewel tones) and stylistic theme (vintage and Art Nouveau-inspired).

What's left to do: rehearsal dinner site, contract for DJ, song list for DJ, buy shoes, personalize invitation envelopes, purchase stamps, address and send invites, purchase and assemble favors, let caterer know food selections, create detailed itineraries for wedding party, get marriage license, decide on honeymoon location and pack for that, figure out where we'll live after marriage (I still reside separately from Alex), pick bridesmaid gifts, create hospitality baskets for out-of-town guests, get addresses for the vast numbers of (inconsiderate) guests who failed to respond to my electronic request, finish our registry, book hotel room for wedding night (if we're not immediatly flying off to the honeymoon), buy a guestbook and nice pen, decide what kind and how much beverages we need and order that for reception, buy a veil, go to bridal shower and bachelorette party.

I can't decide if I totally rock and I'm right on schedule or if I should be panicking a little bit. I guess I'll go with totally rock?

Cook or Baker?

"Baking has the reputation of being more difficult than cooking -- the specter of chemistry frightens some people. And baking is different from cooking. A great cook may create dishes intuitively, almost casually, working with what is in the larder and refrigerator, tasting and correcting the work in progress. A great cake baker is attentive to technique, details, and timing. Unable to taste, correct, and create along the way, the baker is a stickler for measurements, insistent on proper pan sizes, and fussy about the temperature of everything from the oven to the butter. Because the same ingredients combined in a different order, mixed differently, or even used at different temperatures result in quite different cakes (or failures), good bakers are dedicated to the small things that produce beautiful cakes that taste heavenly." Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer et al.

I’m a baker. I love that if you follow the directions it will make something beautiful, like magic. Cooking is unwieldy and uncertain. My sister is one of those geniuses that can take random things from the fridge and turn then into dinner, never following a recipe -- just making it up as she goes along. That’s like hell for me. Give me a fantastic recipe, and I’ll make you a fantastic loaf of bread, dreamy pie, or beautiful birthday cake.

It’s been busy lately, but the kitchen has been calling. I made a beautiful key lime pie for a dinner party recently, and then I made a shoofly pie (a delicious, Pennsylvania Dutch molasses-based pie), a childhood favorite of mine. I cooked recently too, but that’s less interesting. I think I might make something today.... what should I make?

So, are you a cook or a baker? Or neither? What’s the last thing you made?

Travel to Long Beach, Washington

I wrote this over President’s Day weekend, but never posted. Hope you enjoy hearing about my little trip.

Writing from Long Beach, Washington: It’s a beautiful night. I’m out on the balcony of my 3rd floor room at the Chataqua Lodge Hotel, watching at the sun set into the surf of the Pacific. The frogs sing a jubilant chorus to the setting sun as its afterglow sends gold, peach, fuschia, flamingo pink, daffodil yellow streamers into the cold dome of sky. And to the north and south, mauve, lavender, slate bleed like watercolors into the deeper blue sea.

First – Bases:
Yesterday morning we began our journey. The night before, I couldn’t sleep. My mind was ready to go much, much earlier than my body. I don’t know why I was so excited. I’m a traveler, right? Why so excited about a three hour road trip? Well, whatever the reason, I was, and I made Alex wake up way too early too. The sun had barely risen when we headed south through White Center and Burien and down I-5. We turned west at Camp Murray, and I got to see where he does his JAG thing. I only saw it from the outside – a tiny, unassuming building, but the fact that I didn’t have to walk over any empty meth baggies or broken crack pipes on the sidewalk to get there make it seem luxe compared to my office. We stopped across the street at Gallopin’ Gerties – an old-school diner with a heart of gold. Our waitress was the kindhearted sort of diner waitress that you can’t help but call a "gal." She reminded me of a great photo-essay in a recent issue of Bust which featured diner waitresses. I have a whole new respect for the ladies who can serve coffee and real good food for twenty plus years, always with a smile. She even took my fussy egg-white and veggie omelette order with only an indulgent smile and an "o.k., sweetie."

Next we went to Ft. Lewis, which has always held some strange fascination for me. Maybe I like watching the Army guys going about their business in their green uniforms and bad haircuts. I like going through the gate, the whole feeling like it’s a border crossing. But most importantly, I love to go to the PX, which for most civilians probably either doesn’t ring any bells or if it does, it’s probably a "who cares" reaction. But the PX is amazing. It’s like a huge Target, but there’s no tax on anything. Because of this, I decided to buy a Zune 80 gig mp3 player (I’m still waiting to find out if that was a mistake). Anyway, the most notable thing besides not paying tax was that there was a huge line of people waiting to see some ultimate fighting champion dude named Iceman or something like that. A HUGE line. People we lined up all around the PX, which is like a mall, so it was a mass of people, mostly young enlisted guys. And they waited patiently for this white trash on ’roids looking guy to sign his cheesy-looking book on which he is pictured topless. (You know, for an organization that is not exactly pro-homo, there’s a lot of homoerotic stuff going on with some of these military guys… )

Something else you may not know about the military: not all branches are created equally. For instance, we had to go to McChord AFB because Ft. Lewis was out of the 80 gig Zune but McChord had it. So when we went to the McChord PX, Alex and I ran into this jail guard from King County Jail. He’s a retired Marine guy, wearing his Semper Fi hat. Ass. I fucked with him when I saw him, saying, "Oh, I didn’t know you were retired Air Force." Boy did he get pissed. He then gave Alex crap about being in the Army National Guard. This guy has the IQ of a slow iguana (and the looks of one as well), but was still all prideful about being a Marine. I think that’s my least favorite branch. They seem the most brutish and possibly evil of the branches of the military. But what the hell do I know?
I never thought I’d be an Army wife. But it’s different, right? My guy's an officer, an Army JAG, for gawd’s sake. Not some jarhead. Does that make sense? It’s still weird that I’m marrying into the military, after all those years trying to escape my dad’s military career. (It’s not Freudian, either. Alex has dark hair and my dad is blonde. And Navy, not Army. Seriously.)

Long Beach:
Long Beach is cheesy and touristy, like most seaside towns. It’s better than Ocean Shores – it just seems to have a friendlier vibe. One thing I noticed is that there were a lot of gay tourists out – and gay tourists would seem to have better taste, wouldn’t they? I should probably know better than to speak in such generalities. In any case, it’s pretty nice.

The first night we got there, we realized that we’d forgotten to eat lunch, so we were hungry at about 5:00 p.m. This worked out well for us because we wanted to check out the 42nd St. Café, which was packed with people having late Valentine’s celebrations. We got in right at the time another party had cancelled. For dinner, we ordered the Valentine’s meal, which was a special menu and came with a free pearl choker for me. We started with the fried green tomatoes, which the friendly and fey waiter correctly advised us "they did exceptionally well." Next we had deliciously fresh wild green salads, with exquisite dressings. I particularly liked my dill and feta dressing. For the entrée, Alex had the duck, which was outrageously good. My only fault was the rockfish with pineapple. It was flavorless and weird tasting – the worst rockfish I ever had. I had to ask the waiter to bring me some more of the dill and feta salad dressing to make it edible. Yes, I poured freaking salad dressing on my fish. All was forgiven after I ate dessert. We had the warm blackberry crisp with ice cream, and it was scrumptious.

The Chautauqua Lodge was one of those somewhat run-down, unfashionable beach places. It was clean and the desk help seemed a little white-trashy. I left my favorite sweatpants there, which really upsets me because they were from REI and were so comfy and fuzzy. Sucks. Anyway, the place was so-so – rough sheets, uncomfortable bed, blah décor – but fabulous in how close to the beach it was. Very conducive to daytime adventures and moonlit hikes.

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse & North Head Lighthouse:
These lighthouses at the south end of Long Beach Peninsula are beautiful and very scenic. Cape Disappointment has the distinction of being the oldest functioning lighthouse on the Pacific. However, I didn’t do the tours of them because I’ve already been on a number of lighthouse tours (Heceta Head, Westport, others) but there are excellent hikes around the area that we did and which I highly recommend.

One cool thing about the lighthouses is that there are two of them, because Cape Disappointment is so dangerous that the sea offshore is known as the "Graveyard of the Pacific." Mariners still need a special certification in order to navigate the waters into the mouth of the Columbia River. http://www.funbeach.com/attractions/lighthouse.html

Leadbetter Point Bird Sanctuary:
This beautiful bird sanctuary at the north end of the peninsula is full of amazing views and hikes, and lots of birds. However, it was incredibly muddy and some areas were completely flooded. Unfortunately Alex and I didn’t have our hip waders along with us, so we had to cut our hike short. Which gave us time to go ride horsies on the beach!
Horsies on the Beach!:

There are pics in my photo album. Check it out. So fun.

Pelicano’s:
We heard great things about a restaurant called The Ark, but it apparently closed, so went to new restaurant called Pelicano’s in Ilwaco. Located in the south end of the peninsula, Ilwaco is less touristy and more upscale, featuring a quaint harbor and a relaxed pace of life – kind of like Wallingford crossed with Shilshole. The food was wonderful and reasonably priced considering the quality. Plus, they had one of the best desserts I’ve ever eaten, which was an ice cream "sandwich" made out of baked meringue cookies with pomegranate ice cream in the middle. Yummy yummy yum.

Only downside? The snooty waitress (yeah, waitress. Not server) was of the "aren’t you so lucky that you get to eat here?… you so don’t deserve to be here" type. A side note: we stopped after dinner at this beautiful lake just as we were leaving Ilwaco. The moonlight shining on it was just unreal. So still and perfect and peaceful, with frogs and bugs singing to the moon. I want to leave Seattle and go home, and this could be it.

Long Beach at Night:
First night, we walked along the dunes and up to the ocean, except the ocean looked so huge and alien that I was literally terrified that it was going to turn into a tsunami. I kept a wary eye on it as we made our way along the shore. We saw a fire burning and thought how cool it would be to hang out at the bonfire. We joked that we should just crash the people’s party and just go on up to the bonfire, but as we got closer to the fire, we could see that indeed, there was no one there. We went up to the fire and confirmed the builders of the fire had recently left. We both were uneasy. It felt strange, like an ambush was possible. Why would people build a fire and then just leave? After a time, we found that hanging out at the fire was less pleasant that it originally looked. If we were upwind of the fire, it was cold; downwind was smoky. There was nowhere you could sit comfortably and be close enough to enjoy the warmth of the fire. Plus there was a distinct feeling that we were being watched. We left the mystery fire and went back to the artificial but dependable warmth of our semi-shabby hotel room at the Chautauqua.

The last night in Long Beach, we went for a long, late, moonlit walk on the beach. It was surprisingly mild outside, walking amongst the silvered grass of the dunes, and down to the water. We wandered the beach, trying to figure out what everything was from afar. We had a terrifying moment when we couldn’t figure out what this weird-looking apparition floating out above the water was. Alex said it looked like one of the creatures from War of the Worlds. And to me, suddenly, it was. He was braver than I and went closer to the alien invader to investigate and possibly counterattack. However, the alien suddenly disguised itself very cleverly as a big sign up on a pole. (Why are there signs in the ocean? Who puts signs in the ocean??)

Fort Columbia:
I love how when you fall in love, you find out these wonderful things about your partner, things that they might not have been sure you would be o.k. with but then you wind up loving it. My guy likes, of all things, old forts and battlefields. I am into haunted spaces and forgotten corners, which actually works pretty well with his thing. At all these old sites, there’s enough creepy abandoned stuff to keep my imagination engaged and to make me happy too.

Fort Columbia features abandoned bunkers and observation decks out over the meeting-place of the Pacific and the mighty Columbia, some well-kept and oft-visited by tourists, some overgrown and isolated, even dangerous. We trekked up and down trails, which were actually listed as unpassable. We had to climb over fallen trees. We probably hiked for three hours. It made me want to hike like crazy. Alex makes me want to do everything more. More hiking, more horseback riding, more movies, more symphonies. I want to do it all, with him, over and over again. (I can’t believe I get to marry this guy!)

So now we’ve been to a few of these old military sites. The Civil War trenches at the Shirley plantation on the James River, Virgnina. Fort Worden up in Port Townsend. Friday Harbor British Camp and American Camp (site of the great Pig War – started because a British soldier allegedly shot an American pig. Seriously.) And when I was recently in Hawaii, I went to Pearl Harbor and the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii. I guess he’s rubbing off on me.

Driving Stick:
Only really notable thing about the ride home is that Alex took us to an abandoned part of Ft. Lewis and gave me a lesson driving stick shift on his Mustang. And that just shows that love makes you do some crazy shit: go to abandoned bunkers, trust your fiancé to drive your sportscar, even really outlandish behavior, like inviting someone to spend your whole life together. Ain’t love grand?

Acting!

It has been a long time since I wrote anything! Partly this is because I'm spending a lot of time acting in the WARP Production of nine short plays, "Cupid Goes Berzerk." I'm in the short play "Office Hours," playing a hot, manipulative college student with lesbian tendencies. It turns out that I enjoy acting much more than I thought I would. In fact, I love acting and I plan to continue with it. Oh, and if you want to see it, please don't forget that Valentine's Day (Thursday the 14th for those of you living in a cave) is the last chance ever to see it! I would love to have friends there for my last performance.

Here's a short film I acted in. It's a funny little comedy called "Speed Dating." In it, you'll get to see me knock the lights out of my "husband" Mitch Williams (the adorable Marco Kaiser) The lighting is bad and there's no soundtrack yet, but hey, it's a credit for my "reel." ;) Oh, and I also did the make-up -- check out the goth chick. Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_ZvQrLpgk4 (and Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYKDGgoaV0A -- which I'm not in, but linked in case you want the exciting conclusion).

My next big project is a short film called "Uncle Fox," which I wrote and hope to co-produce and co-direct.

More to come soon! Stay tuned . . .

Heather Gets Engaged!

My boyfriend Alex and I had been talking about marriage for the past month or so, though I think we've thought about it for longer than that. We're both getting to the age where we want to have kids and it didn't really make sense to wait anymore. We've known each other a fairly long time and so even though we haven't dated that long, we know each other really well. Add to that the fact that we fell deeply in love, and it made sense that we should get engaged.

But even though I knew it might happen in the future, I didn't think it would be so soon. This past MLK weekend, Alex told me to dress up because we were going out someplace nice. That afternoon I got my hair done and wore a semi-formal gown (worn only once before at my friend Lara's wedding -- maybe it's good luck?). He was very secretive and gave me no clue as to what he had planned. That night, he took me out to Seattle's premier French restaurant, Rover's. We had this outrageously good eight-course meal, and right before the dessert course, he popped the question. Before I could answer, the waiter brought the dessert course and seeing the ring, gasped and said he'd give us a couple moments alone (gee, thanks guy!) After the waiter left, I said, "I haven't answered your question yet, have I?" He replied, "No you haven't," while smiling at me nervously. I waited a couple of moments, and said, "Yes, of course." Interestingly enough, Judge Veronica Alicia Galvan, who pro tems in Seattle Municipal Court where Alex and I used to work, was also dining at Rover's that night and saw Alex propose. So she (and the waiter) got the news before anyone else!

When Alex put the ring on my finger, I just about died of happiness. It's a beautiful diamond ring with an lovely ideal cut center stone, two smaller side stones, and a pave band. It's absolutely perfect and I love it! Oh, and I have to add that it's certified conflict free -- no blood diamonds here!

After that, Alex told me our night wasn't done, and he took me to the Seattle Symphony. Neither of us had been to Benaroya Hall, so it was a very wonderful experience. I have to add that a symphony is the perfect thing to do immediately after a proposal. The music was romantic, but we didn't have to follow a dialogue and could just get swept up in the music and the moment. Plus the low light of Benaroya is perfect for admiring the fire in your brand-new diamond ring!

And the icing on the cake: Alex told me to pack for two days, but didn't tell me where we were going. The day after he proposed, we hopped in his Mustang and got on the ferry to Bainbridge... turns out, we were going to Port Townsend. We stayed at the historic Belmont Hotel and enjoyed a beautiful, sunny weekend together.

*sigh* If only real life were always like this!I've been floating on a cloud ever since and I am so excited to get married. Particularly since it's to Alex, my true love.