Oh, how I miss them! Way back when the Sopranos were still on the air, back when I lived in my first college apartment (probably the most posh pad I lived in!), we made a weekly tradition of Sunday dinner. Brian bought The Sopranos cookbook and every so often, we'd make a recipe from it. From scratch gravy, chicken cacciatore, lasagna. One thing that was never in short supply was the good friends and flowing beverage. By the time 9:00 rolled around, HBO was a little bit blurry, our belts were a lot bit tighter, and a warm afterglow of a good night permeated the room.
I miss that camaraderie. I suppose that's why I try so hard for '80s movie night to be a success. It was initially, but trying to do it weekly in D.C. is a bit tough. Once a month is more doable for most, though the number of occasions with more than 4 attendees are few and far between.
Flash to tonight. Big, loud, Italian dinner resumes. I actually didn't have enough chairs. First time I've had that many over for dinner. What'd I make? My Pinch-of-this, Pinch-of-that Sauce over homemade gnocchi. Yeah, that's right. I made gnocchi from scratch. To be fair, I had 3 pairs of hand to shape them properly and cook them up right. For what occasion did we undertake this elaborate meal? Mom's in town.
Want the recipe? I learned it from my mom, who learned it from hers, who learned it from hers in turn. One of those, yeah.
Peel the potatoes, boil them. Put them through the potato ricer. Let them cool enough to handle. Knead with some flour. How much? Enough. Add an egg to bind them. Roll the dough out on a floured surface, and cut them into knuckle-sized morsels. Drop them individually into boiling water. They're done when they float. Sauce 'em and serve 'em. Mangia!
Notice how that recipe doesn't really have quantities? Yeah, that's how I learned it, and that's how I remember it. Just like polenta. But that's another day, another meal.
Showing posts with label nostalgia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nostalgia. Show all posts
Friday, April 17, 2009
Sunday, December 28, 2008
the last two
the last two nights have been really interesting. i'll start with recent, and work my way back. last night, i met up with two friends from high school. ok, that's not entirely accurate. i was friends with them in high school. mike and mark were in scouts with me. mark's my age; mike's a few years older. mark and i lost touch shortly after high school; mike wound up dragging me kicking and screaming into greek like. we've kept in touch pretty well over the years; i even got to stand for him when he married his wife. suffice it to say that it's hard maintaining a conversation when you can't all three really participate, more than listening to the stories. that's one of the funny things about meeting up with old friends over the holidays. you always find yourself in a situation where someone is the odd one out. someone is enjoying himself, but simultaneously feeling left out of the "old times" stories when they start talking about people you don't know or don't remember real well.
case in point, the night before we had a mini high school reunion of sorts. yeah, our reunion passed already. a year and a half ago, but that's beside the point. some of the people at the get together had stayed in touch far better than others. for example, living together and going to the same college. that helps. the stories are still funny, you still feel welcome, but left out just the same. it's weird. i guess that's one of the things about not being in a small town for one, but still trying to keep up as if that's the case. were it not for the interwebs connecting and reconnecting people we've lost touch with, i don't know if i'd ever run into any of these people again. is that a good thing, or a bad thing? i'm not sure. what say you?
case in point, the night before we had a mini high school reunion of sorts. yeah, our reunion passed already. a year and a half ago, but that's beside the point. some of the people at the get together had stayed in touch far better than others. for example, living together and going to the same college. that helps. the stories are still funny, you still feel welcome, but left out just the same. it's weird. i guess that's one of the things about not being in a small town for one, but still trying to keep up as if that's the case. were it not for the interwebs connecting and reconnecting people we've lost touch with, i don't know if i'd ever run into any of these people again. is that a good thing, or a bad thing? i'm not sure. what say you?
Friday, October 31, 2008
random movie quotes, halloween edition
we decided to watch the cheesy 80s slasher flicks, in honor of all hallow's eve. all the movies we weren't allowed to watch back when we were kids. understandably so because they would've scared the pants off us!
1) "I just asked you to do one thing, to stay awake and watch me and to wake me up if it looked like I was having a bad dream, and what did you do, you shit?"
2) "Did you know a young boy drowned the year before those two others were killed? The counselors weren't paying any attention... They were making love while that young boy drowned. His name was..."
3) "I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply...evil."
1) "I just asked you to do one thing, to stay awake and watch me and to wake me up if it looked like I was having a bad dream, and what did you do, you shit?"
2) "Did you know a young boy drowned the year before those two others were killed? The counselors weren't paying any attention... They were making love while that young boy drowned. His name was..."
3) "I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply...evil."
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
puppy love
i often wonder how my kids will turn out. no, not biological kids. none of those in my life yet. there's a few more steps in the path between me and munchkins.
how my students will turn out. my first year teaching i was sure that i was going to stay around alachua long enough to see my first class graduate from high school. different plans were clearly in store for me. i'd even gone so far as to plan to take out an ad in the santa fe high school yearbook for their senior year. maybe i'll still do that. let's see...they'd be in eighth grade now. i think. four more years!
it's funny seeing the kids in my class interact with one another and wonder who will still be friends beyond this year. which friendships will fail, as they often do. which ones will flourish or begin anew, much to the surprise of those around them now. i think about the friends i ran around with in middle school, in high school, in college. they couldn't be more different. as kids change, so do their friends. some of my best friends in childhood were from the neighborhood or scouts. i couldn't tell you the names of many friends from elementary school, excepting the few that wound up at my high school.
what train of thought led me to this wondering state? last night at the gym, two of the kids on the climbing team were goofing off with one another. he clearly had a crush on her; she was completely oblivious to his flirting, likening it to normal friendship. that body language gave him away. his goofy grin when he looked at her; her annoyed sighs when he wouldn't stop bothering her. they'll probably remain friends if they keep climbing. something more, who knows. on the playground today, i saw two of my kids from last year. neighbors and friends, they'd make a cute couple.
in high school, that is. now, that's just too weird to contemplate.
how my students will turn out. my first year teaching i was sure that i was going to stay around alachua long enough to see my first class graduate from high school. different plans were clearly in store for me. i'd even gone so far as to plan to take out an ad in the santa fe high school yearbook for their senior year. maybe i'll still do that. let's see...they'd be in eighth grade now. i think. four more years!
it's funny seeing the kids in my class interact with one another and wonder who will still be friends beyond this year. which friendships will fail, as they often do. which ones will flourish or begin anew, much to the surprise of those around them now. i think about the friends i ran around with in middle school, in high school, in college. they couldn't be more different. as kids change, so do their friends. some of my best friends in childhood were from the neighborhood or scouts. i couldn't tell you the names of many friends from elementary school, excepting the few that wound up at my high school.
what train of thought led me to this wondering state? last night at the gym, two of the kids on the climbing team were goofing off with one another. he clearly had a crush on her; she was completely oblivious to his flirting, likening it to normal friendship. that body language gave him away. his goofy grin when he looked at her; her annoyed sighs when he wouldn't stop bothering her. they'll probably remain friends if they keep climbing. something more, who knows. on the playground today, i saw two of my kids from last year. neighbors and friends, they'd make a cute couple.
in high school, that is. now, that's just too weird to contemplate.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
mmm, sulfur!
i'm a writer for a music website called jamsbio. well, sort of. i was a beta writer. once they stopped paying for contributing, i kinda quit doing it. more important phish to phry. the premise of the site is that certain songs are linked to memories in your life. listen to a song, tell a story to go along with it. interesting concept, no?
whilst on a bicycle ride today, mind a-wandering, i connected another sense to memories. the beginning of my ride was hella fun. zipping along a paved path, twisting alongside four mile run in breezy wooded glory. much fun. except for that god-awful smell. sulfur. it immediately linked to several happier memories in my past. thank goodness! here it is, my moment of zcent.
the ball fields in north lauderdale were next to the water treatment plant. every fall (or was it the spring?) i played ball in the asphyxiating stench of sulfur used or released in the treatment of raw sewage. i loved playing baseball, bad as i was, so my young mind came to associate that smell with baseball. the smell of the non-potable sprinkler water used municipally at most city and county parks always brought me back.
when we moved to coral springs in the last month or so of fifth grade, i quickly realized that living less than a quarter mile from the treatment plant would put that smell in my nostrils for the majority of the days i played front lawn baseball or football or rode my bike. it was then that i also started camping in boy scouts. any of you that've been to camp seminole in davie (few in number for sure!) know that the water we were supposed to drink and clean with was tainted by the same resident of number 16, periodic table. it took a few years before my taste buds would adjust to the shock of such a vile elixir, nevermind my body to the simultaneous shock of a cold outdoor shower and the sensation of not getting clean in tainted water.
i'm not really sure where the stench came from today. dog poo fermenting in four mile run. industrial runoff along west glebe road. stagnating water. straight up raw sewage. who knows. all i can say for certain is that, pretty as it was, i'm probably going to avoid that route until it cools off and that cooked putrid olfactory assault subsides to less nausea-inducing levels.
whilst on a bicycle ride today, mind a-wandering, i connected another sense to memories. the beginning of my ride was hella fun. zipping along a paved path, twisting alongside four mile run in breezy wooded glory. much fun. except for that god-awful smell. sulfur. it immediately linked to several happier memories in my past. thank goodness! here it is, my moment of zcent.
the ball fields in north lauderdale were next to the water treatment plant. every fall (or was it the spring?) i played ball in the asphyxiating stench of sulfur used or released in the treatment of raw sewage. i loved playing baseball, bad as i was, so my young mind came to associate that smell with baseball. the smell of the non-potable sprinkler water used municipally at most city and county parks always brought me back.
when we moved to coral springs in the last month or so of fifth grade, i quickly realized that living less than a quarter mile from the treatment plant would put that smell in my nostrils for the majority of the days i played front lawn baseball or football or rode my bike. it was then that i also started camping in boy scouts. any of you that've been to camp seminole in davie (few in number for sure!) know that the water we were supposed to drink and clean with was tainted by the same resident of number 16, periodic table. it took a few years before my taste buds would adjust to the shock of such a vile elixir, nevermind my body to the simultaneous shock of a cold outdoor shower and the sensation of not getting clean in tainted water.
i'm not really sure where the stench came from today. dog poo fermenting in four mile run. industrial runoff along west glebe road. stagnating water. straight up raw sewage. who knows. all i can say for certain is that, pretty as it was, i'm probably going to avoid that route until it cools off and that cooked putrid olfactory assault subsides to less nausea-inducing levels.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
roots
since high school, i've been rootless. the longest span i've stayed anywhere since then was two years each in room 27, the laurels, and 3913 with lee. moving is apparently in my character. mind wandering today, bored in class, i realized a few things.
i wish i weren't so rootless. growing up in south florida, my classmates uprooted and moved quite a bit. not often somewhere to a new school, just bigger and "better" houses trending westward and northward towards parkland. i'm thankful that my roots stayed put for ten and a half years, then about eight more until college. my new friends around here are locals. by locals i mean that they returned to their hometowns, more or less, following college. i'd venture to guess that aside from it being expected of them, most of their friends did the same. it sure makes it easier to go home (or near there) if your good friends do the same. while my roots have become more like spanish moss, theirs are like oak trees. it's hard settling roots in rich soil when you're used to the silty sand down south. tropical trees grow slowly in mid-atlantic winters.
i miss roots. i do miss the familiarity of home, though in my case, it seems the old adage is true, "you can never go home again." not because i got kicked out or my folks wouldn't love to have me, but it's never the same. the nostalgia of what it was overshadows what it's become.
i wish i weren't so rootless. growing up in south florida, my classmates uprooted and moved quite a bit. not often somewhere to a new school, just bigger and "better" houses trending westward and northward towards parkland. i'm thankful that my roots stayed put for ten and a half years, then about eight more until college. my new friends around here are locals. by locals i mean that they returned to their hometowns, more or less, following college. i'd venture to guess that aside from it being expected of them, most of their friends did the same. it sure makes it easier to go home (or near there) if your good friends do the same. while my roots have become more like spanish moss, theirs are like oak trees. it's hard settling roots in rich soil when you're used to the silty sand down south. tropical trees grow slowly in mid-atlantic winters.
i miss roots. i do miss the familiarity of home, though in my case, it seems the old adage is true, "you can never go home again." not because i got kicked out or my folks wouldn't love to have me, but it's never the same. the nostalgia of what it was overshadows what it's become.
Friday, August 15, 2008
my first car
what should be elation over driving something a little sportier, a little roomier, a little newer quickly turned to sadness last night, thanks to a chevy silverado commercial. you know the type. "i've had this truck since i was 16, and i'm 120 now. it has 2,000,000 miles on it, and it still starts right away." the thing that hit me hardest were the guys that had less than 180,000 miles on their trucks. less than my danger ranger. i remember going home for the chili cookoff, her first tailgate, nights spent asleep in the cab or in the bed, hauling ridiculous construction or landscaping materials, getting stuck in mud or sand, going coast to coast. now she's gone. abandoned to a new home. rolled off into the sunset with someone else behind the wheel and a fistful of c-notes in my pocket.
there's an alan jackson song about his first car called "first love." it tells about how excited he was to get her at 15 years old. he sold her to a pilot in north carolina and was a wreck. many years later, he still holds a special place in his heart for that old car. his wife and daughter find it many years later for a christmas gift. i used to think it was ridiculous. now, not so much.
comment me a story about your beloved (or not so beloved) first car and when you had to let go. small comfort maybe, but it might make me feel better...
there's an alan jackson song about his first car called "first love." it tells about how excited he was to get her at 15 years old. he sold her to a pilot in north carolina and was a wreck. many years later, he still holds a special place in his heart for that old car. his wife and daughter find it many years later for a christmas gift. i used to think it was ridiculous. now, not so much.
comment me a story about your beloved (or not so beloved) first car and when you had to let go. small comfort maybe, but it might make me feel better...
Friday, July 11, 2008
happy 7eleven day
being deprived of them for ten years, the novelty of a slurpee has now returned. [for those uninformed readers, gainesville florida, for reasons beyond my comprehension, has neither a 7eleven or a jiffy store with a passable substitute for a slurpee.] lucky me, there's a 7eleven between my apartment and the pool, er...her new townhouse. a buck thirty-two and some sweet summer refreshment. hey, it's hard work coming up with things to do all summer long!
today is july eleventh. 7-11, if you will. to slurpee lovers everywhere, free slurpee day. i stopped for mine on my way back from the pool this afternoon. not only were they out of freebies, they were out of my second favorite flavor--coke. traditionalist that i am, i pretty much refuse to try these new incarnations of flavors made out of crappy energy drinks. i remember when they rolled out the coke flavor. i was skeptical, but at least coke tastes good on its own. actually, there is one other flavor that i liked. waaaaaay back in the day--well, before my 7eleven exile known as gainesville, there was a 7eleven in deerfield beach at A1A and hillsboro that had tangerine slurpees. my girlfriend at the time really enjoyed that tasty flavor, so by sheer high school goggled logic, i did too. i distinctly remember getting at least one tangerine orange stain out of my shirts from their leaky cups or my sloppy pouring. anyhow, we'd get slurpees and walk along the beach...until the cops came and yelled at us for loitering or trespassing or some other nonsense.
out of sheer desperation after being in the pool for three hours, i tried the mountain dew flavor today. in a word, awful. the coke flavor wasn't frozen at the time, and the other three flavors were monster energy drink urea. that 7eleven needs to get their act together and bring back the original cherry fanta.
today is july eleventh. 7-11, if you will. to slurpee lovers everywhere, free slurpee day. i stopped for mine on my way back from the pool this afternoon. not only were they out of freebies, they were out of my second favorite flavor--coke. traditionalist that i am, i pretty much refuse to try these new incarnations of flavors made out of crappy energy drinks. i remember when they rolled out the coke flavor. i was skeptical, but at least coke tastes good on its own. actually, there is one other flavor that i liked. waaaaaay back in the day--well, before my 7eleven exile known as gainesville, there was a 7eleven in deerfield beach at A1A and hillsboro that had tangerine slurpees. my girlfriend at the time really enjoyed that tasty flavor, so by sheer high school goggled logic, i did too. i distinctly remember getting at least one tangerine orange stain out of my shirts from their leaky cups or my sloppy pouring. anyhow, we'd get slurpees and walk along the beach...until the cops came and yelled at us for loitering or trespassing or some other nonsense.
out of sheer desperation after being in the pool for three hours, i tried the mountain dew flavor today. in a word, awful. the coke flavor wasn't frozen at the time, and the other three flavors were monster energy drink urea. that 7eleven needs to get their act together and bring back the original cherry fanta.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
water, water, everywhere
i just finished reading life of pi. it was a long overdue read, considering everyone i know raved about it when they read it. i thought it was going to give me a different perspective on religion. teach me respect for other religions. not so different from my own outlook, "they're all different passports to the same afterlife." or something like that.
for those of you who haven't read it, go get it. it's a great story. slow going at first, i polished off the second half of the book yesterday after taking about a week to read the first half. oddly, pi's struggles to stay hydrated got me thinking about water.
water. we all need it. as kids, we didn't like it, but we drank it. a glass of water was unheard of. other sources, however, bring me back to those hot summer days playing outside. what triggered this? yesterday, i had a nice cool drink from a water fountain. in elementary school, water fountains were the best consistent source of water. i remember comparing notes with classmates on which ones worked best, which ones were the coldest, and which ones tasted good. yesterday, that water fountain was a blessed elixir to soothe my parched throat. exceptions to this rule are water fountains in churches and those that are outdoors. they just don't taste right. kids these days probably don't compare these notes, as their parents are more likely to send them to school with water bottles. i even had one boy who claims his mother told him never to drink from the water fountain.
coming in a close second is hose water. i thought clowe was getting a drink from the hose on saturday when we returned to his house. that earthy, metallic taste. i used to drink more than my belly could hold. it was just cool enough, never the first stream though. that was the water that got heated up and had the strongest hose flavor. just a hint of rubber or vinyl and the metal pipes. delicious!
incidentally, water has been in the news a lot lately. cities such as atlanta banning bottled water in light of environmental concerns. i thought i'd heard it all. then i saw this. ridiculous, no?
for those of you who haven't read it, go get it. it's a great story. slow going at first, i polished off the second half of the book yesterday after taking about a week to read the first half. oddly, pi's struggles to stay hydrated got me thinking about water.
water. we all need it. as kids, we didn't like it, but we drank it. a glass of water was unheard of. other sources, however, bring me back to those hot summer days playing outside. what triggered this? yesterday, i had a nice cool drink from a water fountain. in elementary school, water fountains were the best consistent source of water. i remember comparing notes with classmates on which ones worked best, which ones were the coldest, and which ones tasted good. yesterday, that water fountain was a blessed elixir to soothe my parched throat. exceptions to this rule are water fountains in churches and those that are outdoors. they just don't taste right. kids these days probably don't compare these notes, as their parents are more likely to send them to school with water bottles. i even had one boy who claims his mother told him never to drink from the water fountain.
coming in a close second is hose water. i thought clowe was getting a drink from the hose on saturday when we returned to his house. that earthy, metallic taste. i used to drink more than my belly could hold. it was just cool enough, never the first stream though. that was the water that got heated up and had the strongest hose flavor. just a hint of rubber or vinyl and the metal pipes. delicious!
incidentally, water has been in the news a lot lately. cities such as atlanta banning bottled water in light of environmental concerns. i thought i'd heard it all. then i saw this. ridiculous, no?
Saturday, June 28, 2008
on the road again
i had a great week. afternoon thunderstorms led to lots of reading, which led into some good naps, which led into dinner and quality time with my parents. a little stir crazy for lack of activity towards the end of the week, but on the whole, it was good to be home.
home. i've written about it on occasion. what my definition of home always has been. florida is definitely still home, for the simple reason that i can find my way around (for the most part) without needing directions or even worrying about it. too many times in d.c. i've gotten completely lost, or so i thought, and stumbled my way into a new route somewhere. luck? probably, but it's not the same as seeing an address, most any address, and knowing not only how to get there, but the landmarks along the way. next summer will be strange for that "home" aspect. my parents are theoretically relocating to alachua. it'll be nice because visiting will also enable me to see old friends in my most recent old town, of whom there are more than those down south. it'll be weird because i'm not sure how my nostalgic brain will react to the difference. i've never really taken to south florida, but there was something strangely comforting about it this time around. maybe in leaving florida, seemingly for good, i subconsciously changed some other feelings along the way. that toes in the water, and florida will always be home mentality came home to roost. leaving gainesville finally put me in the real world, as if it was still sheltering me as in college.
just the musings of a road weary traveler. i miss my bed.
home. i've written about it on occasion. what my definition of home always has been. florida is definitely still home, for the simple reason that i can find my way around (for the most part) without needing directions or even worrying about it. too many times in d.c. i've gotten completely lost, or so i thought, and stumbled my way into a new route somewhere. luck? probably, but it's not the same as seeing an address, most any address, and knowing not only how to get there, but the landmarks along the way. next summer will be strange for that "home" aspect. my parents are theoretically relocating to alachua. it'll be nice because visiting will also enable me to see old friends in my most recent old town, of whom there are more than those down south. it'll be weird because i'm not sure how my nostalgic brain will react to the difference. i've never really taken to south florida, but there was something strangely comforting about it this time around. maybe in leaving florida, seemingly for good, i subconsciously changed some other feelings along the way. that toes in the water, and florida will always be home mentality came home to roost. leaving gainesville finally put me in the real world, as if it was still sheltering me as in college.
just the musings of a road weary traveler. i miss my bed.
Friday, March 28, 2008
flashback friday
on the commute today, i was transported back to middle school and high school by the dj. times at the bus stop watching mtv in the morning, before it gave way to sportscenter.
color me badd, "i wanna sex u up". i think a little bel biv devoe was mixed in the background, not sure.
snow, "informer" a licky boom boom down...[anyone ever figured out what he was actually saying, or was it the 90s equivalent of scat and bebop?]
culture club, "karma chameleon". this was wholly unexpected and likely the only time that boy george has ever been on this station. masterfully mixed in; oddly enough, it fit.
the 5:00 traffic jam on this station is amazing on fridays. i may just stay a few minutes longer than i want to in order to catch more of it on the afternoon commute.
color me badd, "i wanna sex u up". i think a little bel biv devoe was mixed in the background, not sure.
snow, "informer" a licky boom boom down...[anyone ever figured out what he was actually saying, or was it the 90s equivalent of scat and bebop?]
culture club, "karma chameleon". this was wholly unexpected and likely the only time that boy george has ever been on this station. masterfully mixed in; oddly enough, it fit.
the 5:00 traffic jam on this station is amazing on fridays. i may just stay a few minutes longer than i want to in order to catch more of it on the afternoon commute.
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