Cuteness in the house

Our neighbor Grayson hung out this morning while his parents were working/running errands. He's just the cutest, sweetest kid.

Also, last week I started volunteering at the Dumb Friends League, where we adopted Esther. Today, in only my second week, I already managed to fall in love. There is a little skinny Chihuahua who is the spitting image of Angus. She isn't up for adoption yet, as she has some fear issues, but is enrolled in the "Canine Courage" program to get socialized. You could've fooled me. She is a super-sweet dog and loved my attention. She even has expressive eyes like Angus. So if anyone's in the market for Angus' double ...

Life in the city

Living close to downtown, we often find fliers left on our windshields, usually for clubs or DJs, but this is one is the best by far -- a drag-queen competition at the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Center, which, among other things, puts on the annual gay pride fest that starts in the park near our house. I only wish I'd gotten to see pix of the other candidates!

Happy Peepster!

Check out these brilliant uses of Peeps. My favorites are Mommie Peepest, The Peepsons, Reservoir Peeps, Little Miss Peep, Peep Haw and Say Anything.

Oh, and remember how spring was springing a few weeks ago? Well, now, snow is snowing. It's our third snowfall in the past two weeks. When does it ever end? It does remind me of the year it snowed on Easter back home once when I was a kid and, instead of a snowman, we made a snowbunny.

A 1 and a 2 and a 1 and a 2 and a 1 and a 2 and a 1 and a 3

Well, all I can say is it's a good thing the Oregon Ducks are in the Elite Eight to mix things up ever so slightly. Of course, given my marital lineage, I'd be cheering for them regardless of their seed, but, c'mon, 1's and 2's?! I stand by my earlier assertion that, overall, it's been a fairly boring championship.

I know my brother-in-law thinks it's only because of my bracket in his pool, but I have so many brackets in so many different pools, it's not about that. Just always nice to see some low seeds in the mix. Even with the nail-biters, they mostly came down to the higher seed winning.

So, that's all I have to say on that topic, except: May the better water animal win today in Ducks vs. Gators. GO DUCKS!

Spring is springing

Let the madness begin

Sheesh, what a boring NCAA Tournament so far. Give me some upsets!

A snowball's chance in hell ...

... is pretty good, as apparently we live there. Yesterday we were out in the bare-grass backyard with our neighbors, with temps around 55. Since early this morning, it's been snowing steadily (with no signs of stopping yet again), and I just cleaned off what looked to be 6 inches of snow from the car.

Sure glad we didn't get that carwash we wanted yesterday.

On a sweeter note, made King Arthur Flour's Apple Cobbler today to warm things up. That cookbook hasn't let me down yet. Unlike the #*%&#(*&%W#)*&% weather.

Oscars

As usual, I'm working on an awards night so get only a secondhand version of the goings-on and who wore what. I did take part in the Oscar pool at work and one online, but this year my viewing is pitiful. Of all the movies that received nominations, I've only seen "Little Miss Sunshine," "Little Children," "An Inconvenient Truth," "Jesus Camp," "Babel," "Borat," "Superman Returns," "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Pirates of the Caribbean." So, really, very few of the major contenders.

My favorite movie of the year was "Sunshine," though frankly I was surprised to see it get nominated. It faces stiff competition from some heavy-hitters. I had high hopes for "Babel" but was really disappointed. It was too slow, too long and I didn't get enough of any characters to really care what happened to them -- not even Brad Pitt!

While all odds point to Eddie Murphy winning for best supporting actor, it's hard to cheer on the guy who's also currently starring in "Norbit." I may feel different if I'd actually seen the movie. Jackie Earle Haley is my sentimental favorite, and he absolutely has an award-worthy performance for his creepy yet heartbreaking turn in "Little Children."

Sounds like Forest Whitaker, Helen Mirren and Jennifer Hudson have the other awards wrapped up, and I have no real opinion on any of these categories. Of the supporting actresses whose movies I've seen, Adriana Barraza was the best, and her storyline in "Babel" was the most compelling.

Sheesh, what a lame blog entry. I guess next year I'll need to see more nominated films!

I wore no flowers in my hair

Nor did I see Haight-Ashbury or City Lights bookstore*, Pacific Heights or the Painted Ladies. But we had a blast in the Bay Area and covered a lot of ground while we were there, with lots of sights left on our checklist next time we visit. We stayed with Ann & Curt, who live in a super-cute area of Oakland called Rockridge. Had several meals and drinks in that area, including at the Conga Lounge tiki bar. Michael and I sampled the "Elixir of Love," similar to a White Russian.

Michael and I spent a day in San Francisco while Ann & Curt were at work. The weather was dreary during most of our trip, and while walking down Lombard Street, we got caught in a rainstorm. It was the first heavy rain for my new "raincoat," which I discovered isn't one at all, so I spent the next few hours trying to dry off and warm up. During our visit to the city, I had shrimp cocktail at Fisherman's Wharf, and we had Chinese lunch in Chinatown and chocolate from Ghirardelli Square. I think my favorite part of the city was the cable cars. They are charming and efficient, and it's amazing they can make it up and down all those hills.

We also caught up with Michael's crew of SF friends (sans our friend and wedding officiant, John, who's studying in Ireland) before heading to the gorgeous Art Deco Paramount Theatre in Oakland. Based on our past experience, Michael and I were excited to see opening act Neko Case but not so much main attraction Merle Haggard. Neko shone, as usual, and she always manages to hit every note (I'm betting the national anthem would be a piece of cake for her); Merle, not so much. And Merle's wife-backup singer, not at all. Ouch. (In Merle's defense, he had a cold, but it's the second time we've seen him, and both times he's just gone through the motions. And as Michael said, "I don't really like saxophone solos in my country music." I'm sure he put on a fantastic show back in the day.)

Ann & Curt took us to Sausalito before we flew out, and we got outstanding views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Also loaded up on saltwater taffy, which I love but my teeth don't.

The best of the rest:








Michael got his fortune from this mechanical lady at Musee Mecanique, a cool old-time arcade at the wharf. I would include the link, but as soon I went to the Web site, I got scary laughter and ventriloquist-doll-looking beings, so I steered away immediately. You can look it up yourself. Funny, it wasn't so creepy in person.


Musical monkeys at the Musee Mecanique. Some of the displays were macabre -- a man hanging from a guillotine and guys freaking out on visions in an opium den.


I had to see Lombard Street. I always associate it with the Barbra "I'm married to Dr. Kiley" Streisand and Ryan "I'm a mean dad" O'Neal flick "What's Up Doc?" but honestly don't remember if they even drove down it. I do know their zany antics in a stolen ice-cream cart take them down steep streets, through a Chinatown parade and through a truckload of chicken crates. Anyway, to me, Lombard Street has always been the quintessential San Francisco site.


A view from the Bay. I liked this little tugboat.


I took this photo for my mother-in-law, Becky, and because it struck me as funny. Akin to Ping's Home Cooking.


Cool sign on the BART (Bay Area Riders Together) train.


An adorable Chihuahua, Prada, at an upscale pet store in Ghirardelli Square. She was full grown, but I'd bet anything this is what Angus looked like as a puppy.

***

*While we got no dose of the Beats in their native habitat, Michael and I did see part of benzedrine-amped Jack Kerouac's typed scroll of "On the Road" at the Denver library recently. Cool to see, even though I'm not a fan of the book. No photos allowed, though I did get this shot of Flat Stanley hanging with Gregory Corso, Kerouac, David Amram and others. The photo was among those accompanying the OTR scroll (Kerouac spent a lot time in Denver, apparently). As for Flat Stanley, he's wrapping up his whirlwind tour of Denver and ready to return to my goddaughter Claire in Indiana.

Getting back to my roots

I was getting tired of having eyebrows that were darker than my red hair (though now they are lighter than my hair), so I dyed it "dark brown." Michael assures me it's brown, though it looks more black to me. I am getting used to it, but it is darker than I'd planned (so now I'll get light roots, and the gray ones will particularly stand out). Anyway, I was ready for a change. With me, who knows if it will last. I think a few people at work might do a double take when they see me since they've only know me as a redhead.


Ann's blog reminded me to take photos of Valentine's flowers (though, in our case, they were anniversary flowers). Michael got me lovely organic orange roses (they were out of carnations); the yellow tulips are from our neighbors Cristine, Shane and Grayson.

Michael and I celebrated our third anniversary with dinner at Red Tango in Wheat Ridge, a suburb about 20 minutes away. I had a black-bean ravioli in gorgonzola sauce with grilled chicken; he had barbecued pork loin with chipotle sauce.

Oh, and it's been snowing. As of the 20th, we will have had snow on the ground for two solid months.

Next up: Photos from our Bay Area trip.

Soaking up the 60s

Woo-hoo! I guess the arctic blast has moved east and we now have pleasant temps to go along with the sun. That's not to say the snow is gone or that we won't be getting more, but Michael and I will be jetting off to the Bay Area for a few days at the end of the week, so maybe we'll miss it for a change. And I can guarantee you we won't miss it!

Same old, same cold

I marked last week's snow No. 6 with Lemon Zucchini Muffins from King Arthur. Yesterday was snow No. 7 in seven weeks, and it's currently snowing again. Even worse, according to the newspaper: Denver has now had 42 consecutive days of snow cover, putting this winter fifth in the record books. To break the record, the snow will have to remain on the ground until Feb. 22, which would be 64 consecutive days. The record of 63 days was set during the 1983-84 winter.


Sigh. I must say the snow coupled with bitter cold is getting majorly depressing. Enough already!

Michael and I picked up another cool baking book at a local used store where we have credit.



We haven't made anything from the Betty Crocker circa 1963 yet, but we will. The pictures are alone were worth the price. I also see where Amy Sedaris got some of her food-styling inspiration for her fab entertaing book, "I Like You."

Meanwhile, speaking of baking, go to my California friend Michael's designer-cupcake site, Em Editables.

What's the story?

Yum: King Arthur Flour's Morning Glory Muffins for breakfast. Apples, carrots, coconut, almonds, sunflower seeds, raisins.

Ho-hum: It snowed 6-8 inches yesterday. Fifth week in a row. Another is predicted for next Monday.

Pancakes & potions

OK, enough with the snow posts already. It's not going anywhere anytime soon, and I'm sure you're ready for me to move on to a new topic. I know I am.

Instead I give you ... pancakes. My inspiration is three-pronged: my friend Kat, who always has her camera at the ready for spur-of-the-moment blog posts, leaving nothing off limits and offering new posts pretty much daily; my new King Arthur Flour baking book; and Julie Powell's delightful book "Julie & Julia," in which she chronicles her efforts to make every dish in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in a year.

Michael & I have pretty much all the cookbooks we could ever need -- including Vegetarian Times' collection, two Mark Bittmans and at least one Mollie Katzen -- not to mention subscriptions to Eating Well and Rachael Ray's Everyday, which rarely let us down (Eating Well has recently blessed us with Catfish Amandine and Boneless Buffalo Wings).

We had no baking books, though, and I decided it was time. Just got it a few days ago, and on a quick look-through decided the first recipe I'd try was gingerbread pancakes. Despite the altitude, they came out fluffy, not dry and tasty, especially with the suggested dollop of warm applesauce on top. Yum!

Meanwhile, in my never-ending DIY dabbling, here's a slightly fuzzy photo of fizzy bath bombs and lotion (in the jar) that I made. My friend Cristine and I have been taking some free classes at Apothecary Tinctura, a fabulous local shop that sells herbs and gifts, and Mom got me a couple of natural-body-product recipe books for Christmas. I've also been using a homemade lavender-rose-hops-chamomile sleep balm every night, and I'm brewing some bay rum for Michael (a 3- to 4-week process).

Steers & gears

This year's installment of the National Western Stock Show parade was a bit of a disappointment. It lasted only about 15 minutes and was missing features from last year, including the sheepherding dogs. There also were a lot fewer longhorn cattle. Still, it's pretty cool to see farm animals meandering the streets of downtown Denver.


After the parade, we stopped by the Capitol on our way home to congratulate new Gov. Bill Ritter on Inauguration Day and welcome him and his family to the neighborhood (we live in Capitol Hill, and the Governor's Mansion is about a half-mile from us). I told his kids there's good sledding on the hill by their new house. No photos of the guv were allowed, which means no record of my gubernatorial moment.

Even the natives are restless

Remember how we got all that snow almost a month ago? This is what our backyard looks like now. We've gotten four snowstorms in four weeks (it's currently snowing right now, but I'm counting that as part of the one that started Friday). I was starting to worry we'd lucked out last year and gotten a really mild winter, but everyone -- including the native Coloradans -- says this is not normal. My boss, a Texan, says that if she'd seen a winter like this in her first five years here, she never would've stuck around.

The snow, however, is sticking around. We had a few days last week of mild, sunshiny days that started to melt the snow. Then the cold snap set in. Since Friday, we've had highs of 6 to 12 and lows of minus-something-or-other. Really, the snow on its own wouldn't be so bad -- if it would stop coming down! Many side streets are still a beast -- I drove on one last week that was like a ride at Disney World. There were grooves in such deep ice that when I tried veering to the side to park, my car started going perpendicular to the street. And parking in general can be tricky if you don't find out a cleared-out spot. Some areas just have heaps of snow in the gutters.

I'm all for snow -- when it snows, sticks around a few days, looks pretty until it all turns black from cars, and then melts. This is just ridiculous. By the end of every week now, everyone just dreads the next snow. And the snow coupled with this cold is just crazy! Actually, 6 doesn't feel as cold as it sounds. It's really freaking cold, but it doesn't seem a whole colder than, say, 15 or 20. Once you hit a certain point, it's hard to distinguish. I don't think I could live in someplace where it gets to 20s or 30s below zero, though.

The dogs hate the cold. They'd rather pee on the rug inside where it's warm than saunter outdoors. Even Esther, and she's, surprisingly, more consistently housebroken than Angus. So lately we've been suiting up to ensure they do their business outside. I think they're just ready for some grass to run around on. And maybe weather in the mid-20s.

(Oh, and as you can probably tell from the better-quality photos, I got the camera back from the shop yet again. Let's all cross our fingers.)

The white stuff

Figured I'd post some photos from last week's snow before we get another storm this week. I've heard anywhere from 8-20 inches. After seeing the crappy job the city did in plowing streets, I hate to see what 20 more inches could do. The plow came down our street almost a week after the blizzard, and by then it was way too late. All they served to do was rebury our dug-out car. Michael I didn't drive for a whole week; luckily, that's not really a hardship for us. Please keep in mind these photos are from a camera phone, so they're not the best quality.

Esther follows fresh footprints in the back yard to try to find a bathroom spot.

This is the same view of the back yard as previous entries, though this time you can barely see the picnic table for the snow.

With the dogs in Cheesman Park, about six blocks away. This was during the second day of the storm, when people managed to get out and about (though many, including Michael, had snow days).


This is outside our place after the first bit of shoveling.

A view of our street (that's our dug-out Toyota on the right), which looked pretty much the same for days, until more traffic came through. Our car didn't move from a Tuesday to a Tuesday.