Not Over

Get it? It's like

mind

matter

Click Here

I direct this to my FB readers, Click Here. On the title. Point. and. click.

See? Easy.

Ran into a friend of mine who said she couldn't read my posts because they're too long. Now, I suppose she meant - Sheesh. I'm just on FB to catch up a little when the boss isn't looking. I don't have time to read a novel.

But what I heard was - Wow. Really love your writing. Can't get enough of you. How in the world can I get more?

Reality was probably somewhere in the middle.

Anyway, now you know how. And once you master that little maneuver, you can click on View Original Post (at the bottom) to see the real deal.

Boys

I like 'em. Always have. Grew up with them, played with them in the neighborhood, lived with them. The only time I've lived with a woman other than my mother was when I was forced to by my parents when they put me in an all-girls dorm at the University. (Maybe they knew I liked boys.)

But it wasn't all bad. My freshman-year roommate ended up as my Maid of Honor in my wedding three short years later. But my relationships with women have never been enduring as evidenced by the fact I've had not contact with any of my bridesmaids ever since "I do."

Men are easy. Their wiring is not complicated. But what really intrigues me is that I like to compete with them. I'm not sure why this is. I remember playing touch football with the neighborhood boys on the church lawn next to the house where I grew up, Red Rover, climbing trees. I played Barbie with one of the neighbor girls but the girls on my block were older. The boys were closer to my age and the games they played were way more fun.

From then on, all I wanted to do was to compete with boys and, more importantly, win.

When I was in Junior High, I went to a summer camp where they had a swimming race on Fridays. Girls didn't compete even though there was nothing to say they couldn't. That's just what gets me going. I joined the race wearing a bikini that was handed down to me from the same neighbor I used to play Barbie's with. But that didn't make me look like a serious competitor. The other kids laughed. I was obviously the new kids who didn't know the ropes.

I won. And then I beat them at diving too.

I remember wanting, briefly, to be a fireman. The only reason was because that was before women were fire fighters.

My stepson wanted motorcycle lessons. I took the classes with him and was the only woman there (not to mention the only adult other than the instructor). I wanted to own a Harley when I turned 40 and I wasn't planning on riding on the back either. (Upon turning 40, however, I discovered that 40 hurt a lot more than I expected. I got a convertible instead. My grandmother drove a convertible which I thought was very cool. But that was before car seats. I won't be able to take my grandson anywhere with the top down until he gets a bit older.)

I got to ride in a race car once, going close to 200 mph on the Daytona International Speedway. That was fun, but I want to drive the car!

We got a RV and I drove it. Alone. On this same trip, I maneuvered it through the Boise Airport arrivals to pick up my husband who flew to meet me there. No scratches (and no arrests).

Now I want to drive the boat. It's not that I haven't before. I've docked it a couple of times and taken it in and out of the slip a few times as well. This is good as many women I know won't even take the controls. But that's not good enough. I want to compete with the men not the women. I don't want to be good, just embarrassingly great. (And humble, too.)

There are a lot of wonderful, talented, beautiful women in my life and I am so privileged to know them. As I get older I get better at my relationships with women. There are many I couldn't live without. They are women who have enriched my life beyond what I could imagine.

I guess that's the beautiful thing about getting older. Getting better.

Girls

How many lotions does it take to be a girl? The real question is, does it really matter? The very fact that I have a lotion that is specifically for my feet and which is different from the very specific lotion for my cuticles is justification enough. How many? I'm embarrassed to say. (Not to mention I've never counted.) Worse, is the number of lotions I own but don't use.

Zoo Doo

The compost, made up of feces from exotic species at Woodland Park Zoo will be available by drawings.

The price varies ... depending on the size of the load.

Need I say more?

Audio Track To My Memory

(Title and topic inspired by Kellie.)

A friend just reminded me how old I am (unintentionally) by providing some trivia about the song "You're So Vain" which was a hit in 1972.

I thought 1972 seems like decades ago and then I realized it was.

1972. Really? Whenever I think of this song, I remember skiing somewhere in the Midwest on what was more like a bump than a true hill of any kind. My memory, faded as it is, is of a “bunny slope” with a rope tow and, as I remember, music being played on loudspeakers. (Could that have really happened?) This song is the only audio track to this memory.

She had her own memory to which "So Vain" provided the audio.

I just remember listening to it in the car with my Mom in the winter to/from school, and it was dark because it was Alaska and it seemed like it all of my commutes were in the dark since we only had daylight from like 10am to 3pm

It's funny that some memories are set to music. On the other hand it's all part of the human experience, music. First songs together and all that.

I love that some of the old cartoons used to be set to classical music or opera. Now, sometimes, when I hear a piece of music I think of Bugs Bunny. But it's clear I'm not the only one. This July Seattle Symphony is hosting Bugs Bunny on Broadway.

Big screen, Bugs Bunny, The Barber of Seville - I can't wait.

Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Asian Pork Shoulder

(link)



This recipe was easy, tasty, and cheap (if you already have the spices). I have a whole collection of ingredients that I've purchased only to use one tablespoon. The rest is either stored or thrown away, depending on its shelf life. I already had the Chinese five-spice powder but I had to buy the chili-garlic sauce, probably not for the first time.

Lately, I've tried to avoid recipes with specialty ingredients, the kind that aren't just hanging around in my pantry. Maybe I just have to get better at making a recipe more than once which is not what I'm known for. You never know what you're going to eat at my house. More likely than not, I'm trying a new recipe and it'll either be great or we'll have to get take-out at the last minute. You take your chances when you eat with me but it usually works out.

So if you're nearby and want to use some of the ingredients for this recipe, be my guest. It's definitely worth it.

(I didn't buy the scallions called for in this recipe because I was using cilantro for another recipe and had some leftover. Worked out fine.)

Bigger Tips

Tax Court rules boobs are depreciable.

Oddball Tax Deductions - Kiplinger

Posted using ShareThis

On School Closures

...if you're going to teach kids skills that will help them better their lives the first of such skills should be: Get your butt to work.

(Link to A Community snow on 76003.1414)

Pretty funny since this quote comes from the guru of Work Avoidance. And yet, while I am an admitted disciple, I agree. How am I supposed to Avoid Work when they don't even show up for it? Something is definitely wrong. We have apparently taught our children to Avoid Work. At all costs, it seems.

Well, not at all costs to them, although there are many which I have seen first hand. Seems their Avoidance is costing me as well. Not professionally. (We have a great crew this year.) But personally and publicly.

Every pendulum swings both ways. So their their kids are likely to be hard working and tell stories of how they survived the Great Recession. And they'll try to make their kids lives easier. And they'll complain about how the following generation is lazy, their hair too long, their music too loud.

And around we go.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Nut Biscotti

Recipe here.

Photo by: Lynn C.

Anything But Live

That's pretty much the rant on the Left (coast), specifically the Upper Left. For those of you not in my time zone, please don't let on about any of today's events at the Olympic Games because I haven't seen them yet. None of us have so don't spoil it.

I can drive to the Olympics (both the mountains and the games). It's only a few hours away. (How cool would that be to have the Olympics in the Olympics? Makes more sense than Whistler, imho.) In fact, if I drive there, I can not see it twice. I can't see it when it's happening because NBC does not broadcast live here and if I drive there, it will have already played out for the day. But prime time lasts until midnight in the Wild Wild West so after I've fed the animals and locked the gate I can watch to my heart's content, delayed for my convenience by NBC.

People are pretty upset about it 'round these here parts. I don't know if they're upset about it in California (help me out, my Western friends) but Seattle is not too happy about it and considering we're next door neighbors to the Olympics at Vancouver it doesn't make sense to many of us.

I guess it depends on how much you really want to see it in the first place. To be sure, there's a lot of entertainment value whether you like comedy

"In an effort to stop Canadian commentators from saying they are wearing clown pants,” wrote Calgary blogger Derek Wilken, “the Norwegian men’s curling team is going to quit coming to games in one car."

... or drama

They broadcast the Olympics for people who like stories about polar bears and gymnasts with rare diseases and speedskaters whose sisters have cancer. ... It’s a miniseries that happens to have some sports in it.

Either way, just don't tell me how it ends.

(Link.)

Serving Reading to Losers

(Title from 76003.1414: Library)

I love libraries. I grew up across the street from one which was housed in an historic building with wood and pillars and stuff like that. I could walk there whenever I wanted to and it also had the advantage of being on a large piece of property which was sloping so in winter months also doubled as a sledding hill, and had lush landscaping good for hide-and-seek in the summer months.

I love that my parents read to me. I loved reading to my kids and I can't wait to read to my grandson. I don't have a Kindle but I do have an iPod. I've listened to a few audio books in various formats over the years. But I still prefer to get them free from the library, on paper.

We just had an election in my city to decide whether the local city library should merge with the larger county system. It so happens the county library system is the third larges library system in the country. It pretty much boiled down to money. The city can't afford to keep it in their budget and can save a lot of money by turning it over to the county. The local residents would then pay additional property taxes to pay for this privelege.

Turns out this was a pretty hot issue as well as the only issue on the ballot. Last I checked, the margin for merging with the county library was only 46 votes. I voted for the measure. I think the county does a great job and although no one wants to pay more in taxes, I think improving the local library goes a long way towards improving the local community.

But now, now that it's too late, I'm wondering about the cost. I have some idea about how much the merger will cost as it was highly publicized. What I don't know is how much to scrap the paper format altogether? What if information was free to all in electronic format? Then the consideration would have to be how much does it cost to get it all in electronic format (if it isn't already) and how much to make sure everyone has access to it?

I would hate to lose the institution of the Library because it is part of Community and it has librarians which are very useful human resources. But which is better for the betterment of society as a whole? Which makes us richer as a community of people?

I'm not sure there's a point to all this except I love my library. In fact all libraries as I like to see the local library in places where I travel, too.

Check it out.

Jalapeño, Sausage, Jack, and Egg Breakfast Braid

It's easier to make than it is to say. Good luck getting six servings out of it, though. It was so yummy that the two of us wanted to gobble it up in one sitting. We managed to restrain ourselves and ate it in two sittings: breakfast and leftovers for lunch.

Recipe here.

Final Resting Place

In case you missed the news, Frisbee inventor Fred Morrison passed away at age 90 on Feb. 9. As Jonathan Harwell noted on The New York Times’ LaughLines blog: “The body will lie in state on the roof of Mr. Morrison’s neighbor’s garage.”

Please see Sideline Chatter on Page D2 of Friday, February 19, 2010 issue of Seattle Times

Sunbeam

NPR reported the appearance of a sunbeam this morning. This is not only true but accurate. I can see it. Right now.

Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Mascarpone

(Title links to recipe.)

Made this last night. I didn't have any white wine open so I used red. I also used dry thyme and skipped the mascarpone. This was a tasty dish but not hearty if you have a big appetite. I served it with asparagus sauteed in butter which added a nice flavor. (The asparagus is very good at QFC right now.)

Dessert was from Oh! Chocolate. Oh, yes!

Lunch

I love eating salad for lunch. It makes eating the cookies afterward completely justified.

Soul Mates

A friend posted this on Facebook:

when you meet someone that turns you on, pushes your buttons, pisses you off an makes you face your shit you know you've found your soul friend. ♥

Either that or you're crazy.

So you have to wonder, the next time you see someone who
-talks to one's self
-pulls one's own hair
-oscillates between frustration and elation

whether that person is
-crazy and/or homeless
-giddy in love, or
-blogs

(Not Responding)

I want a t-shirt that says exactly that!

Here I am at work and Windows Not Responding. Good time for Work Avoidance in my book.

Forever And Always

Can anyone tell me why there's a feminine product called Always? Wouldn't Never be a better name? Even Every 28 Days would be better than Always.

I guess for my age group it could be called Random.

Whatever you do, don't call it iPad. That's not a good name for anything.

Jean Therapy

I recently sent a pair of jeans to therapy. They came back feeling (and looking) much better and we have been able to continue our relationship because of it.

What I'm wondering is if I really meant gene therapy. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with my genes. I got my looks from my mom and my sense of humor from my dad. (I'll never be as smart as either one of them but there's still time....) However, I think I'm missing the procreation gene. Not that I really want it, let there be no mistake. I like the little guys, I just don't want to have one (as in, for keeps). Besides, having children in your late forties may be chic for celebrities, but it's definitely not for me.

I have nine cousins, taking into account both sides of my family and none of us have kids. None. of. us. Genetic or coincidental? I'm also the only one who's married. Okay, to be fair, I'm also the oldest so it wouldn't be unusual for me to be the first to get married, have kids, and now have a grandkid. (There are "steps" in front of those, btw. Not mine.) And there's almost 25 years in age between me and the youngest cousin so that could all change - as long as we really did get the procreation gene somewhere along the line.

Maybe it skips a generation.

Pink

It scares my husband.

I wash his blue ones but he won't wash my pink ones.

Fetching

I just changed my profile picture and after I hit "save" I received the message, "Fetching profile picture...."

I thought so too.

$3

I didn't have any cash yesterday to get my ice cream. (One doesn't require much cash when one is living in one's bedroom.) But I was determined to get that ice cream.

I went to two ATM's that were empty and a bank that was closed and didn't have an ATM on the way to the ice cream shop.

But I wanted that ice cream so I paid a $0.50 surcharge and paid by credit card.

Getting Greened

Thinking Buddy

I think everyone got the word but in case you missed it, it's here:

Game Off

Walking Weather Report

It is beautiful out there today. Sunny, with partial cloud cover, very calm winds. Brisk temperature, but not cold. (Apologies to our Eastern friends. Clarification for YAME's Midwest Bureau, apologies to our Northeast, not Southeast friends. No sympathy for you....)

The lake is calm. I saw only two boats. One fishing, one speeding. Otherwise, empty and inviting.

It's so nice to get outside again.



I found these on my walk. They were just outside my front door, as it turns out, which is interesting because the only deciduous trees in the State of Washington are on the lot next door. Another interesting phenomenon is that the leaves from these trees don't fall on the lot next door. They fall on ours.

They appear to be walnuts and hazelnuts.

It's The Thought That Counts

Does that extend to sex?

I suppose both partners would have to be thinking about it or that would be MasterThinking. (Or, AutoSex - but that conjures up machinery, like AutoMat.)

Can't stop thinking about it now, can you?

Purging

I'm purging my Inbox of unwanted e-mail. I just "unsubscribed" from Amazon e-mail notifications. After I completed the required form, it responded with

"You will receive an e-mail confirming your new choices."

Love it.

Opening Day

Welcome (officially) to Chocolate Chip Mint, the new-and-improved blog all about me. (Because I am the center of the universe although I'm competing for that title with my Thinking Buddy.)

The web address is http://chochimi.blogspot.com/. ChoChiMi is my abbreviation for Chocolate Chip Mint. I thought that was clever. It makes me grin - and grinning is what ChoChiMi is all about.

Facebook readers may not see recipe posts on FB anymore. I'll post them here. I'll also continue to update back(b)log as that story winds up. (We're almost there.) But back(b)log will no longer feed to my FB posts. I'm only importing ChoChiMi. So if you're still interested in finding out how back(b)log ends, you'll have to get there yourself at http://lynnlynny.blogspot.com/.

I'm looking forward to having some fun here and sharing it with you.

ChoChiMi on....