oHai! I’m in California.

So I’m in Alameda CA for @ 6 months for a change of scenery. Maybe I’ll stay longer.

Am interviewing around. 2 of the places I’ve interviewed at are real software cos. It’s like the ones in NYC I’ve worked at were like baby software dev compared to these ppl. They seem much smarter and methodical and measured than NYC ppl. However, those are 1st impressions from interviews. One place I met w/ 5 ppl one on one and the other w/ 6 ppl one on one. All consecutively. It’s exhausting. Also interviewed at a UX agency. UX agencies are a new thing. A very good thing of course. Respect. I interviewed at another place but I didn’t like them – seemed kinda boring so I won’t say anything about them in case someone is stalking me. Had some phone interviews w/ some other places I didn’t want to pursue. I’ll get something in the next month. I don’t want to rush into a new job.

I got a bike! I love riding around. You can ride to get groceries or to get take out or to the beach or around the former navy base.

ohai! let me procrastinate here: italia, cat, cali and queen books

i need to go out an buy boxes and pack shit. and help sister take down xmas tree so ornaments can b stored in my apt (where they came from)… and have to call for a laundry pick up/delivery… doesn’t sound like a lot. but when i’m comfortable in bed with a good ass book (new york by edward rutherford) and a cup of tea, it’s hard to get moving. even if it’s to get up and open the door for the laundry guy. i know i am lazy sometimes. but when i am not lazy i am as productive as i am good at being lazy… writing this is procrastination.

wnyc has pledge drive again. that’s so annoying. they should have a pwd for ppl who gave already this year so i don’t have to listen to the babbling.

i haven’t written in a long time.

i went to italia last summer and saw where my great grandparents came from – a small town of 800 in the calabria mountains called miglierina. we’ve become friendly w/ some distant relatives (my grandma’s 1st cousin’s daughter and her family). they are so awesome. in miglierina, almost everyone i felt resembled the italian side of my family! fotos here:

Calabria & Sorrento Area, August 2012, a set on Flickr.

what else? i got a new cat. i think i posted about that already. yeah, mr peepers starting dying (standard old age renal failure) while i was traveling back. they day after i got back the vet came and did a home euthanasia. poor kitty.

i heavily grieved. i’d had him from age 6 months for 14 years. a few days after he died  i stopped at petco kittykind to look at the cats just for kicks. the inevitable happened – i fell for a qat and filled out an adoption form. picked him up the next day, friday sept 7. he’s the opposite of peepers. he’s totally social and loves ppl! Fotos here.

so i quit my job which is a little sad. the ppl were really nice and respected me and it was easy and i only worked 40 hrs/week… i could go into more detail but i won’t.

BUT NOW i’m going to the san fran bay area now for 6 months. i need a fucking change. i’ve been in the same nyc apt since like 1991 doing the same kind of work and same kind of life all this time… there are a lot of things i like about nyc. but every block i walk down i feel i’ve walked down hundreds of thousands of times… it’s all so boring now. and, the block i live on is not what it used to be. i moved to this hood in “91 to get away from bourgeois uh’merrica. now it’s the center of the fucking douchebag universe. well, i bet there are worse places. like places where westboro baptist douche church ppl hang out. but still – fucking st. marks place in nyc is douchey as all fuck. it’s becoming like temple bar in dublin or that part of new orleans where douchebags go to drink too much and act like assholes.

anyhoo, after 6 months in cali, i think i’ll either end up:

1. stay in cali – like close out the apt in nyc and move permanently. i can’t really imagine that.
2. come back to nyc without car
3. come back to nyc with a car and get a 2nd place in bumblefuck upstate or new england so i can get out of nyc more. (tinyhouse cottages i can have made for not too much.)
4. keep the apt in nyc and keep apt in cali and be bicoastal.

i’ll see.

i am totally procrastinating… i don’t want to move i am too comfortable. blah blah blah.

what else?

oh i’ve been reading the jean plaidy queen books. i ordered the next 2 to be sent to the cali apt where i’ll be – the one about lucrezia borgia and the one about catherine de’medici.

i’m reading new york by edward rutherford now. it’s quite awesome.

i haven’t written here in a long time.

my own blog even bores me so here’s a picture of my neue qat. you’re welcome.

Hitler reacts to… When the power came back on after Sandy.

Hitler just wants to ly in bed and read Jean Plaidy books in the dark for the rest of eternity.

I’m going to make this Lasagne alla Bolognese recipe this weekend…

Lasagne alla Bolognese from http://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Lasagne-alla-Bolognese.html

Lasagne alla Bolognese

from http://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Lasagne-alla-Bolognese.html

… because i had it at someone’s home whilst in italia last month. she used less meat and sauces than the recipe calls for, and snuck in a sliced hard boiled egg (a la miglierese moda). so, my destination recipe won’t be as heavy as this one.

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Ragù alla bolognese / Bolognese sauce

Broth of meat 250 ml (1 cup)
Butter 50 gr (3.5 tablespoons)
Beef minced/ground beef 250 gr (8.8 oz)
Pork minced/ground/chopped (thigh) 250 gr (8.8 oz)
Carrots 1
Onions 1
Milk 1 cup
Olive oil 4 tablespoons extra virgin
Bacon (stretched or rolled) 100 gr (3.5 oz)
Pepper, a sprinkling
Tomatoes, passed 250 ml (or 30 g of triple concentrated) 250 ml = 8.54 oz
Salt q.b.
Celery 1 stalk
Wine 1 cup red

- chop onion, carrots and celery and fry in a pan with the olive oil and butter
- Finely chop bacon and a few minutes later
- Add the ground beef
- Fry together for a few minutes over high heat
- Add the red wine and let it evaporate while maintaining the heat.
- Add above mixture (or the tomato paste dissolved in a little broth), broth, pepper and a pinch of salt and let it cook in the pot partially covered for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally and adding broth and finally the remaining milk.

——————————

Besciamella / Bechamel Sauce

Ingredienti / Ingredients

Butter 100 g (7 tablespoons)
Flour 100 g
Milk 1 liter
Nutmeg a pinch
Salt a pinch

(1) Put the butter in a saucepan
(2) let it melt and
(3) add the flour sifted making it cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly and avoiding them take color or make it stick.

——————————

Assemblare le vostre lasagne / Assemble your lasagna

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.
(1) Butter the roasting pan
(2) spread a couple of tablespoons of bolognese sauce
(3) pasta layer
(4) cover with plenty of Bechamel Sauce
(5) bolognese sauce and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese
(6) pasta layer
(7) Bechamel Sauce
(8) bolognese sauce and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese
(9) pasta layer
(10) mix remaining Besciamella and Bolognese sauces and put on top
(11) sprinkle top with plenty of Parmesan cheese

Bake for at least 50-60 minutes, checking every now and then cooking the pasta will be ready when they have taken a beautiful complexion and a golden crust. Once ready, remove from the oven and let the lasagna cool for 10 minutes, then cut into the pan and serve while still hot.

—————

and a giant green salad to offset the heavy fatty ingredients. but, everything in moderation, ya know?

a green salad from freshy D

 

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Update Sat 9/29/12

I made this last week and it came out great!!! I highly recommend this recipe. Altho next time I will use a tad less béchamel sauce.

ksa is a fascinating place in a weird way

read this: http://www.laaltain.com/life-in-the-kingdom-of-saudi-arabia

when i lived in dubai, i was fascinated by the local daily ksa news (it’s next to the UAE). ksa is a f’ed up place. every other day there was some bizarre news story about a beheading or people punished for having a birthday party, women trying to deal w/ the cultural oppression, religious police, stuff like that.

so embarrassing that the US maintains friendly relations with them w/out making their human rights abuses an issue.

Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii was gonna say something, but I forgot what.

:-\

i often think of things to write when i am not poised in front of a keyboard and think “yeah i should write about that”. then i get in front of a keyboard and i blank. i’m like blahhhh my life is so booooring.

i leave for CA in a few dayssss yay. well, i’ll b working when i am there mon, tues, thurs and fri. but still. it’s better than being trapped in an office.

what else?

i made some nice, relatively tasty and healthy dinner food 2nite.

i’ve exercised sun, mon and today, tuesday. it’s a good thing.

remember how i did acid every morning for week in college once? i should exercise every day for a week to see if it’s as exciting. exciting in a middle-aged way. lol.

heavy sigh.

my life is so boring. i’ll add some fotos soon to prove it.