piss and vineger

I’ll be turning 30 years old on July 12, 2010, and I decided to partake in the project where you make a list of thirty things you want to accomplish before your 30th birthday. I don’t have long to go, but I’m hoping I can polish off everything on this list by making the items reasonable:

1. Hang curtains (whether store-bought or handmade) in every window of the house, and get rid of every shred of miniblinds that have been haunting my windows and my dreams since we moved in.
2. Install hardwood flooring throughout the main floor of the house (!!!).
3. Pay off my credit card.
4. Brew a batch of stout beer.
5. Plan and start saving for an autumn vacation in Vancouver/Seattle.
6. Grow delicious foods from heirloom seeds from Baker Creek, including a healing herb garden.
7. Get a really great haircut from my bestie JoAnn at G Spot Hair Design, one that is an actual hairdo rather than something I pull back into a bun everyday.
8. Get new glasses and contacts.
9. Paint every room in the house something other than “Ultra White”.
10. Scan all of our photos and organize them somewhere online.
11. Update my Iowa City tumblr at least once a week.
12. Continue my weight loss/fitness streak. Weight Watchers is working!
13. Throw a May Day party.
14. Organize and clean the basement.
15. Try sewing another purse.
16. Bake the perfect Blondie.
17. Finish watching the whole Arrested Development series (we’re on an extended hiatus, mid-season 2).
18. Create monthly music mixes without missing a month.
19. Try making homemade ketchup.
20. Build a pergola on the patio to continue cultivating an awesome backyard oasis.
21. Finally part with (donate) the ugly fleece that’s clogging up my fabric stash.
22. Go scooter camping in Palisades.
23. Buy a bike helmet so I can safely ride all over town.
24. Start really using the calendar/scheduling app on my iPhone to help keep my life more organized.
25. Try raw milk.
26. Mail goodies to my faraway friends.
27. Build a respectable cocktail station.
28. Start a food blog with aforementioned JoAnn.
29. Make a batch of Navratan curry.
30. Throw a fabulous 30th birthday party on my patio.

Wherein the kitties use me as a bed.

Iowa City:
Sun 01/25/09 Willy Porter  The Mill
Sat 02/14/09 Marah  The Picador
Fri 02/20/09 Mason Jennings  The Englert Civic Theatre
Sat 02/21/09 William Elliott Whitmore  The Picador
Sun 02/22/09 William Elliott Whitmore  The Picador
Tue 03/03/09 Duncan Sheik  CSPS / Legion Arts
Tue 03/17/09 Bonnie “Prince” Billy  The Picador
Thu 03/26/09 Squirrel Nut Zippers  Redstone Room (Davenport)
Tue 04/07/09 The Hold Steady  The Picador

Des Moines/Ames:
Wed 02/04/09 tapes ‘n tapes  The Maintenance Shop
Sat 02/28/09 Andrew Bird  Hoyt Sherman Place
Mon 03/16/09 Bonnie “Prince” Billy  Vaudeville Mews
Fri 03/27/09 “The Harlem Globetrotters”  Wells Fargo Arena
Wed 04/22/09 New Found Glory  People’s

Omaha:
Fri 01/23/09 Cursive  Slowdown
Sat 01/24/09 Cursive  Slowdown
Fri 01/30/09 Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin  Box Awesome
Thu 02/12/09 Peking Acrobats  Orpheum Theater
Mon 02/16/09 Marah  The Waiting Room
Fri 02/27/09 Andrew Bird  Slowdown

Chicago:
Tue 01/20/09 The Killers  UIC Pavilion
Thu 01/22/09 Animal Collective  Metro / Smart Bar
Thu 01/29/09 Vic Chesnutt/Elf Power  Empty Bottle
Sat 01/31/09 Gene Ween  Schubas Tavern
Fri 02/06/09 Sybris  Schubas Tavern
Fri 02/06/09 Rhett Miller  FitzGerald’s
Thu 02/12/09 Fujiya & Miyagi  The Bottom Lounge
Thu 02/12/09 Antony & The Johnsons  Vic Theatre
Sat 02/21/09 Smoking Popes  The Cubby Bear
Sun 02/22/09 Juana Molina  Morse Theater
Sat 02/28/09 Dropkick Murphys  Congress Theater
Sat 03/07/09 tapes ‘n tapes  Metro / Smart Bar
Sat 03/07/09 John Prine  Genesee Theatre
Sat 03/14/09 Bonnie “Prince” Billy  Vic Theatre
Tue 03/17/09 Flogging Molly  Congress Theater
Sat 03/21/09 “The Oddity Faire: A Mutated Mini Fest” (DeVotchka, Les Claypool)  Riviera Theatre
Sat 03/28/09 Bloc Party  Riviera Theatre
Wed 04/01/09 “Speaker Series” – Al Gore  Chicago Theatre
Sat 04/04/09 Morrissey  Aragon Ballroom
Fri 04/10/09 Andrew Bird  Civic Opera House
Fri 04/17/09 Vienna Teng  Schubas Tavern
Thu 04/23/09 David Sedaris  Paramount Theatre
Sat 05/02/09 Joel McHale  The Venue at Horseshoe Casino
Sun 05/03/09 The Books  Museum of Contemporary Art
Sun 05/24/09 Boyz II Men  Private Function
Sat 06/20/09 Matthew Sweet  Naper Settlement

Minneapolis:
Fri 02/06/09 tapes ‘n tapes  First Avenue
Sun 02/08/09 Rhett Miller  Fine Line Music Cafe
Wed 02/11/09 Fujiya & Miyagi  7th Street Entry
Sat 02/14/09 Antony & The Johnsons  Pantages Theatre
Mon 02/23/09 Flogging Molly  Myth
Sun 03/01/09 Dropkick Murphys  Myth
Thu 03/19/09 Bonnie “Prince” Billy  McGuire Theater
Thu 03/19/09 “The Oddity Faire: A Mutated Mini Fest” (DeVotchka, Les Claypool)  Myth
Tue 03/24/09 Squirrel Nut Zippers  Varsity Theater
Mon 03/30/09 Bloc Party  First Avenue
Sat 04/04/09 Margaret Cho  Treasure Island Event Center
Mon 04/06/09 Morrissey  The State Theatre
Fri 04/10/09 Art Garfunkel  Orchestra Hall
Sat 04/11/09 “The Harlem Globetrotters”  Target Center
Sat 04/11/09 Andrew Bird  The State Theatre
Thu 08/06/09 The Guess Who  Private Function

Kansas City, MO:
Thu 01/29/09 Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin  Jackpot Music Hall
Mon 02/02/09 tapes ‘n tapes  Jackpot Music Hall
Thu 02/12/09 G. Love & Special Sauce  Harrah’s North Kansas City
Fri 02/13/09 Joel McHale  Uptown Theater
Sat 02/14/09 B.B. King  Midland Theatre
Tue 02/17/09 Marah  The Record Bar
Sat 02/21/09 Rufus Wainwright  Uptown Theater
Tue 02/24/09 Flogging Molly  Uptown Theater
Fri 02/27/09 Ryan Adams  Uptown Theater
Mon 03/16/09 Andrew Bird  Liberty Hall
Mon 03/16/09 “The Oddity Faire: A Mutated Mini Fest” (DeVotchka, Les Claypool)  Beaumont Club
Tue 03/17/09 Joan Baez  Liberty Hall
Tue 04/07/09 Morrissey  Midland Theatre
Tue 04/07/09 Bonnie “Prince” Billy  Granada Theatre
Wed 04/29/09 Reverend Horton Heat  The Bottleneck
Sat 05/02/09 The Killers  Capitol Federal Park At Sandstone
Fri 07/24/09 Reverend Horton Heat  The Crossroads
Sun 10/11/09 Lewis Black  Ameristar Hotel & Casino

It’s probably going to be pretty quiet over here for a while, but if you’re interested, come visit me at Seven Ten Clark, where I’m updating every single day with progress photos and descriptions of the work that I’m doing on my new house. I don’t think I’m going to have time to do much of anything else until we get moved in, and we have a LOT of work to do before we move.

Baking large loads of goodies is one of my favorite aspects of the holiday season, and despite the fact that I’ll be renovating and moving into my new house, this year will be no different! It might just mean that the food preparation will have to happen somewhere other than my new place (although I’m itching extra hard to prepare food in my awesome new gas oven). Here are some things I want to make:

(photos are not mine, unfortunately)

I discovered chocolate cloud cookies last year right before the holidays and they looked so yummy that I went out and made them right away. Totally worth it. I ended up giving some away as presents, and then made up a whole other batch to serve at my New Year’s Eve party. They were definitely a hit. Make lots. Once you’ve made them once or twice, they’re easy as pie. Bonus points for being able to use my cookie scoop!

I’m not even really a big fan of divinity, but I’m going to make it this year. It’s just a little (or a lot) too sweet for me, and I want stuff that I can snarf truckloads of, rather than things that make me swear sugar off for a year. However, this was a holiday food that my grandmother used to make, so I’ll be carrying on the tradition. I’ll post her recipe once I find it in my mom’s stockpile.

I didn’t realize until pretty recently that I really love sugar cookies. I don’t know if it was that I had been eating bad ones all my life, or if there are so many different varieties that I just hadn’t tried the right one yet, but I can say definitively that I’ve found THE ONE. These are easy to make, very mild and not too sweet, and they’re the perfect consistency (slightly crunchy) to make them firm enough to do intricate decorative icing on, but not so hard that they’ll break your teeth. Thank goodness for Real Simple.

I’m hoping to get an icing/piping set soon, and with that I’ll be able to do some fancy work on cookies. I’m looking forward to edible sparkles, nonpareils, shiny silver and gold balls, and all the rest. I have the feeling I’ll be spending too much money at the new Michael’s craft store out at the mall.

Back before I became a vegetarian, I made some very respectable efforts at making homemade marshmallows. I have faith that these efforts can be replicated in a vegan way, so I’m going to try it. I’ve heard that agar agar can be used as a 1:1 substitution for the unflavored gelatin. Let’s find out!

One of the downfalls of having the word “piss” in the title of your blog is having to see what search strings people were using when they came across it:

Now, I’m perfectly aware that there are genres of porn that involve peeing, and I’m even willing to bet that there are sub-niches within those genres that are enthralled by a woman who can have a long and drawn out urination session. But smelly? Who are these people?

How much do I love the new theme function of Gmail?

A LOT.

The holiday season is almost upon us, and this year it is going to be an exceedingly busy one for me and my loved ones. I took the Handmade Pledge this year, so most, if not all, of the gifts that I’ll be giving this year will be handmade or sold by independent artists. I would love for the same to be done for me, but there are a few practical items that I’d love that don’t necessarily fit the bill. (Click on the images for links to where to buy)

Kevin and I considered asking for Lowe’s or Menards gift cards as gifts, to allow us a little extra money to do some fun things to the new house. If we get one or a few of these, however, we can use them wherever we need them, instead of being stuck at one store or the other.

I really, really want one of these, but I’ll probably never buy it for myself. I dream of all of the things I could make with it (non-meaty, of course), like no-knead bread and casseroles and stews. Mmm! Also, it’s very attractive, especially in the royal blue color.

Hudson Valley Yarn CSA: This one I’ll probably buy for myself if no one gets it for me. How wonderful to be able to support a farm by buying into their yarn CSA! Also, I’ll be more likely to get a lot of knitting done if I’ve got yarn automatically mailed to me at regular intervals.

I would love just about anything from my Etsy favorites (and it fits the Handmade Pledge!).

Since I plan to make the curtains for the new house, a gift certificate to Home Ec. Workshop would be lovely. They’ve got the best fabric in town.

There are a couple of camera lenses that I wouldn’t mind, either: 1, 2, 3, 4.