day one hundred and forty-four

we. are. raptor death monkey.

our first game (#79) was last week and it was a sweeping victory. i'm sure we've already got a reputation as the most obnoxious team in the league because we're also probably the most high-fivingest-team in the league (seriously, i'm hoping they give out spirit awards!) we were up against a group that had never played together before, so i don't know how telling our wins are just yet. more on how we're shaping up next week!

i also made the first of five mix cd's on the list (#58) and sent it back home to my sister to return a cd-related favor she did for me over the holidays. the track list included the coral, mgmt, m.i.a., peter bjorn and john, the beta band, hotels, guster, the anniversary, muse, the temper trap, spoon, passion pit, g love and special sauce, nil lara, matt and kim, santigold, lyrics born, and ben lee. it was made with care, so i hope she digs it.

i sent three more postcrossings (#92) to england, germany and orlando.

oh, and another word origin i learned from my calendar (#8): blog. apparently short for weblog. ironically, and probably not surprisingly to some, i did not know this.

day one hundred and thirty-three

slow list week, but i did watch west side story (#33). it came out in 1961 and won best picture, best director, best supporting actor and actress, best color cinematography, best color art direction/set decoration, best sound, best scoring of a musical picture, best film editing, and best color costume design. whew.

some things - i did not know it was a musical; now i get those nineties gap ads; and even though it clocked in at over two and a half hours, i thought the ending was too abrupt. most of the songs were a bit cheesy for me, and i'm not sure how i feel about non-animated musicals in general, but i did love "america." i guess this film has merit because it tackled some pretty groundbreaking issues for its time: immigration, poverty, gangs, racism, troubled yet stylish youth, etc. plus it's the fourth most-oscar-winningest film ever, so that's something. i think it challenges us all to dream of a better place where we leave the knives at home and let the dance fight our battles for us.

in other listy news: go-karting is happening soon! groupon posted a great deal yesterday for half-off racing sessions. you know that's right.

day one hundred and twenty-seven

roller derby (#28) happened! the second bout of the fifth rat city rollergirls season went down last weekend at key arena. first, derby liberation front took on the throttle rockets, then it was the sockit wenches vs grave danger. the team names are great, but the player names are even greater - sarah impalin, yoko o-no-u-di'n't, and jalapeno business to name a few (i had to say that last one outloud a few times before it became my favorite). it took a little while to get the rules down, but once we did we were INTO IT, and plans are in the works to get a crew together for the june championship. they could use the bump in attendance too - apparently the five thousand or so people in the arena on saturday amounted to the largest roller derby crowd in u.s. history. i was totally inspired to get some skates and try out but then i remembered how well #27 on this list went... i forgot my camera (i keep doing that!), so these few pictures are courtesy of kyle's iphone. check the grave danger cheerleader!

they're all a blur!

i did not know this was being taken - i'm too intent on picking up some derby strategy. derbegy?

kyle doesn't know what's going on, but that won't stop him from cheering whenever a derby girl bites it!

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i've got two quick food updates too (#59). i tried a great recipe for chicken fajitas that included marinating the chicken in a mix of soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, vinegar, garlic powder, chipotle chili powder, paprika, and onions. again, i didn't have my camera, so there are no accompanying pictures. but trust me, it was tasty. i also helped lily make some roasted root veggies. i DO have pictures of this process:

veggies as delivered by full circle farm. the big ugly one is a golden beet!

me chopping vegetables in the only thing i ever wear, apparently

olive oil + salt + pepper + tarragon + fresh rosemary...

...equals delicious!


two pans' worth and we're still chipping away at it. it's been a savory week.

day one hundred and eighteen

how is it march? the insanely quick passage of time since the new year is making me a little anxious about this list. and while nothing has been legitimately crossed off since my last post, i've taken the first steps on some more goals and wanted to pound out this week's update during my lunch.

i started a book (#7) recommended and gifted to me by my good friend kristen - the life of pi - and i'm already diggin' it. in the first fifty pages yann martel (the author) has managed to challenge, and perhaps even alter, a strongly held opinion of mine: namely, that keeping wild animals in zoos for human recreation is a bad, bad thing. i do love when that happens, though, because it proves the great thing about beliefs - you can change them! i actually have no idea at all where this tale goes, since i decided not to read up about the book at all before diving in, but if the first few chapters are any indication i'm pretty stoked about the journey.

i've also been gathering with some friends for a biweekly book club to tackle douglas hofstadter's beastly godel, escher, bach: an eternal golden braid (i'm counting this bad boy towards #7 as well, since kyle's been wanting to get through it for some time). someone could, and many probably do, devote an entire blog to this book alone, so i'll keep mention of it here to a minimum. but it's both a real challenge and a great joy to join the GEB community.

and... this one's big for me... i'll soon be playing (semi-) competitive volleyball again (#79)!!! hell, more than that - i've recruited five lucky friends to join the league with me and have been designated captain of our team. written words can't convey my level of excitement about this, but i'm sure some well-earned bruises will soon tell the story of how much i've missed this sport. i'll consider this one crossed off once we've played our first game later this month.