Another Duality - Just Eat Already!

Life if full of dualities, ying and yang, the haves and the have nots, Hatfields and McCoys , Cubs fans and White Sox fans. Recently thought while having lunch with a friend I stumbled into another duality – those who eat to live and those who live to eat. If you have been reading this at all there really is little question as to which one I am – me, the girl who schedules her life around the next dining event – I view time as those things in between breakfast, lunch and dinner, I derive sheer joy from thinking about a meal, reading recipes, planning the food at an event – I enjoying thinking about food as much as I enjoy eating it (on occasion the actual eating itself wins out). However, in this lunch with my friend who actually confessed that she totally forgets to eat sometimes then wonders why she feels like she’s going to pass out at 3p.m. , I fully began to realize what the lives of those others, those non-joy eaters, must be. Food is something that just happens to pop up in their path as something that will help them continue on and while I find this concept totally foreign, I think it would be interesting to go through life in this way. I would love to do a further study and see if these ‘eat to livers’ are planners, I’m inclined to think that they live more in the moment because unlike me they are obviously not planning the next meal, although I find this somewhat ironic as I am very in the moment when I am eating a meal!
So one of my new missions is to be more proactive with all those eat to livers that I know – no longer will you be faint with hunger because you’ll have lunch plans with me!

It’s That Time of Year Again

So I am now four weeks into my summer softball season and I can’t believe I’ve entry to write an entry about this! Softball has to be one of my all-time favorite things, I have been playing since I was seven years old and I am still excited to play every time there is a game, I am hard pressed to come up with something else in my life that I have been as consistently excited about (eating ice cream and doing my hair are probably are the only other two). I play in a 12 inch co-ed league and I am proud to say that we are so far undefeated – which obviously means that our athletic prowess and stunning physical ability have lifted us high above the competition or more appropriately we all just happen to hit the ball more often than we whiff it and occasionally catch those pop ups, which is really about all it takes in Chicago softball, slightly more focus on playing ball than drinking beer after the game and you are on your way to the league championship.
A few fun things that are pretty much constants for any rec league softball team: each team having that weird, older guy who takes the games SO seriously and wears actual baseball gear (although nobody on my team is like this yet – it’s not to say that it couldn’t happen in the future – I have my bets on who it would be but you’ll just have to wonder ; ), every team also has that “tough” girl who likes to prove she is as good as the guys, there is also that guy who strides up to the plate and looks out into the outfield, pretending to search for a gap and even further pretending that he has the skills to actually hit in the gap – I have yet to see a guy actually achieve a hit in the gap after giving “the stare”, my personal favorite, the guy who is willing to take a walk – if you are this guy in slow-pitch softball, stop now, just get out of the game and leave, if you don’t want a hit when you are up there you should go play t-ball. I don’t like to say the P word but when this does happen I am tempted to yell it. I’m sure that I’m missing some of the other key “positions” but hey the season’s not over yet – I’ll be back to tell you about our championship win in July!

Scylla - A Jewel of the Sea

A definite Bucktown treat that you don't want to miss out on, Scylla did not fail to impress yet again.
Scylla is a small, seafood-influenced spot in Bucktown that I have always enjoyed, however, I had not been there for a quite awhile
and upon returning was pleasantly surprised.
For how often is that a restaurant continues to deliver high quality food AND lowers their prices - unheard of right?! Well Scylla has bucked
convention and done just that - with a menu that is mainly of the sea (but several tasty options for you red and the other white meat eaters) most
of the selections are very light, but don't mistake light with lacking flavor. I had an appetizer of skate wing and pork belly, with a rhubarb compote, interesting combo, it was the rhubarb
that influenced my pick (my grandma made the BEST rhubarb and strawberry sauce - I am still sorry I never learned that recipe) all the flavors came together beautifully though. My boyfriend (there has been a group vote that S.O. is apparently an awful name) had the soft-shell crab starter and I was suffering from ordering envy, it came in a saffronesque broth with a tiny bit of proscuitto and fava beans - so tasty!
We stuck with the theme for dinner and each the halibut and sea scallops respectively- the sea scallops must have been so good that as I glanced over to check them out, they were already gone! The halibut on a potato puree with a slight balsamic reduction was also not to be beat. Dessert was a chocolate panna cotta with creme fraiche and raspberry sauce - I had to get aggressive with my spoon in order to get my due share if that tells whether or not it was any good. To top it off our service was very competent, the right amount of attention (interested but not hovering) and actually provided us with some great wine suggestions for individual purchases as we were chatting about the wine list selections.
If we hadn't ordered a bottle of wine and instead gone by the glass our bill for two starters, entrees and one dessert would have been under $100 and although I have been mocked for this statement before ....... that is a deal in this town!!!!

I Can't Help, I Still Like Lindsay

So I feel remiss in saying this but I still like Lindsay Lohan. I have no use for Paris, Nicole, any of those others but for some reason I don't totally laugh at the 20 year old party machine. Yes, she is a big cokehead and is in rehab for the second time in 5 five months but hey come on she is still only 20 years old and that is young. Being 20 you naturally can get into plenty of trouble, but take her case she has unlimited access to cash any everything and anything, I got into plenty of stupid situations when I was 20 in Valparaiso, Indiana and the only access I had was to copious amounts of Bud Light. So while I am fully aware that I'm buying into the celebrity machine on this one, I still can't help but feel for her a little because bottom line when you're 20 you're an idiot - so when every temptation is thrown in your face it just makes it all the easier. But I still think Paris and Jessica Simpson are awful so give me some credit !

Just a few thoughts

I'm still coming down from the long weekend so just a few thoughts.......

The mailman (or lady) how do they have a universal key to get in every house/apartment? I want to know and are they abusing this power?

Are there any female camera people working baseball games? I would like to get a pan of the hot guys in the crowd instead. I feel this is a fair request.

Forgo the Pretenses, Admit Your Annoyed

Recently I went out of town for the weekend to visit some friends of my S.O., since my S.O. is not as youthful as myself, several of his friends already have small children so I got to be exposed to the 2 and 3 year old set.
While I don't have any children myself, I like children just fine, they are cute, sweet, etc. but I think that parents out there are keeping a secret from us non-parents and I think everyone needs to fess up and admit that - quite often those 2,3, and 4 year olds are not likable little people. Before you get all indignant on me and say that I can't possibly understand (which you're right I can't) just hear me out. These kids, no longer babies, not quite fully functioning, interesting 5 and 6 year olds can really drive us all nuts. They can't articulate what they are thinking/feeling and therefore scream, whine and are generally irritating to the point of pulling your hair you - which is through no fault of their own, they are developing, it's natural - what's not natural is everyone else parents and the childless included just nodding politely and ignoring the fact that these kids are driving us crazy. I think everyone could benefit from fessing up to the fact that sometimes kids are highly frustrating/annoying - it would be cathartic. No longer would the mother have to slink away embarrassed in the store when her kid goes nuts - she can look others in the eye and say "yes, he is getting on my nerves too". Everyone should take the pressure off of themselves and quite pretending that little people who have only been on this earth 24 or 36 months are always delightful. God knows that we are all too ready to acknowledge that those our own age can be highly annoying so why not just extend that down to those in diapers?

I'll Always Look Younger Than Vivian

There is a phenomenon that I experience if not on a daily then at least a weekly basis and I'm convinced I live in some sort of time warp. Why is that when I look at pictures or film of people that are older than me but are at least the same age or younger than me in said pictures and film that they do not appear younger or the same age as me? This is truly puzzling. For example, I recently caught a glimpse of Pretty Woman on tv and while Julia Roberts can be no older than 20 in that movie, somehow when I look at her she still appears older than me (let's keep in mind this is all a mental thing - if we were to compare 20 year old Julia to 28 year old me I am sure there may be a few slight differences).
I just find it so curious that the brain somehow cannot process the image of someone you know to be older than you ever looking younger than you. Is this some sort of self-preservation mechanism that keeps us from running to the Botox until absolutely necessary? I am envisioning an older version of myself only watching 'classic' movies and tv in order to feel forever young!
Am I alone in feeling this way or was there a point when you were watching your Molly Ringwald movies and finally felt older than Andie, Claire or Samantha - I have yet to.