Burrrrr..

I think fall may have just decided to say, "F it," this year and just moved through the fun, colorful, WARMER portion of the season as things seemed to just get balls cold from October 1 onward.  And my creaky, old-man body is not happy about Mother Nature's decision to go ahead with this plan.  This aggression will not stand, man.  My joints are achy, what the hell?!  I'm 25, not 65.  This crap sucks.  My shoulders have been especially troubling all week.  This happens fairly frequently as I've had shoulder problems from mid-high school onward.  I've done the MRI thing, I just opted not to get cut.  I don't like surgery, or even painkillers for that matter.  So every two or three months I go through a spell where my shoulders hurt like hell for a few days, then things balance out and I go back to normal life.  I think the cold has made this particular bout of pain suck more ass than usual, as I've had to pop two Aleve on two occasions this week.  Sonofabitch.  Couple with knee and hip stiffness and I think the years are slowly catching up with this spring chicken.  I may not be as good as I once was.  Shucks.  Maybe it's time to start exercising, that way I have a reason to say I'm in pain.  However, I trust within the week I'll feel marvelous again and be ready to grab the world by the tail, pull it down, fold it up, and stick it in my pocket [Editor's note: As of concluding this blog I'm already feeling better.  No big deal..].  Ya, that sounds swell.

In other news I think I may be back on a little white russian kick.  Caucasians, if you will.  This all started because I went to the Cumberland Farms across from Gipper's Thursday evening to pick up a couple bottles of MD red grape wine for the weekend and for whatever reason they decided 11pm was a good time to wax the floors and not allow anyone in.  Zingered.  So sans keg in the basement I thought quick Friday following work and noticed I had plenty of good quality vodka (Kettle One, my personal fave, and Absolut) and Kahlua.  Of course I was lacking half & half (I prefer half & half to cream or milk.  Kind of the best of both worlds, really.  And that's how the Dude made them, so it has to be correct..) so I had to get a little creative: soy milk.  Ya, sounds gross, I know.  But lemme tell you something: Soy-casians taste just like they smell: DELICIOUS. 
I'm not going to lie to you and say they're better than the way I usually make them (and I make one hell of a caucasian.  Ask around..) but it was definitely better than any skim milk crap would have been.  So all in all it was a productive Friday evening.

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Marie and I like to play a game every fall and see how long we can go without turning the heat on in the house.  Try it, you'll like it.  The way the weather seems to be going, however, it could be a stretch for us to make it until Nov 1.  Usually we can sneak by until about Veteran's Day when Skip finally comes home from a cold practice and turns on the heat after saying "Fuck this.  I pay for the heat and I'll turn it on whenever I damn well please." 

When I lived in Lewiston awhile ago post-graduation I moved into my place on December 1st and for whatever reason the heat wasn't on.  I lived on the third floor so it wasn't a big deal as the lower two floors were occupied and heat tends to rise.  I made it five nights before I woke up and it was 42-ish degrees in my place.  So the next morning I finally called and got the heat turned on.  I wasn't paying for heat, I just didn't see it as being that big of a deal not to have it on, until I noticed it was 42 and thought that may be a little extreme.  Even when it was on I kept the thermostat around 58-60 through the winter, except for when I had my first annual Christmas-time blowout and I wanted to keep the guests happy. 

That was a fun night, and Christmas-time blowout 2008 saw a stretch Hummer party, like rockstars do things.  Not really sure what's to come of this year, only time will tell.  I'm feeling immense pressure to kick it up another notch so things could get interesting.  I also need to find a way to keep my streak of losing my dinner at these Christmas-time blowouts.  The first year I'll admit was related to alcohol, while I swear to Buddha that last year was solely related to food poisoning provided by improperly shilled leftover seafood chowder.  Both Marie and Skip got sick after I did.  I got the sickness well bad, in particular.  Knocked me off my feet for close to three days.  It was ugly.  But I still love seafood chowder, taste aversion be damned.  If you've partaken in the festivities before and you've got ideas then let me know; hell, someone more responsible than myself should restart the email chain we had going from last year and the year before.  Let's dance (Gonna be okay d-d-d dance, dance, dance, just J-J-JUST DANCE!!)


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New random idea that I've been meaning to mention for awhile now as I would like a little assistance before I begin:


For the past few weeks I've done a little bit of canning research and I think I'd like to try it out sometime soon.  Just, I really don't want to buy a bunch of Ball jars and all of the other poppycock that goes along with food preservation.  So, I was hoping if anyone (or anyone's parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, etc...) had some jars, lids, and other canning supplies that are not being used...it would be swell if I could borrow them for a little while so I can try my hand at storing food.  This is all in preparation for when I've got 20-30 acres in the middle of nowhere and I'm leading an agrarian and sustainable lifestyle off the grid for awhile - I'll need some mechanisms to store food to get me through the winters.  Beforehand I'd like to have had a chance to refine my skills.  First on my list will probably be apple sauce (because it's apple season) and pickles (because who the hell doesn't like a good pickle?!).  But if you know of anyone who may or may not be able to contribute then give me a heads up, I'd like to buy some apples and start experimenting within the next couple of weeks so I can get them locally. 


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Last but not least: The pony has made it's return.  While there's no visual evidence, at the moment it's very much samurai-style as I am still lacking a majority of my old-school flow.  Works well balled up under a knit hat while I'm getting my work on outside.  But it's coming, my friends.  It's coming.  Won't be long as things currently stand until I'm back triumphantly rocking the low, loose pony like the old days (a la Olympia Snowe..).  And that sounds like sweet success to me.  Cheers.