Hot Celebrity News

The Hartford-Northampton corridor in which I live most of my current life has been the site of much national news lately. From the arson spree in Northampton to the tragic bullying case just miles away in South Hadley, the record flooding in Connecticut and last night's national championship victory for the UConn women's basketball team, our little neck of the woods has been turning heads recently.

But two recent and otherwise overlooked local news items caught my eye. One is about an national award-winning photograph by a young up-and-comer, the other about a young woman making a difference by helping confront an important and timely social issue.

Here's a scan of the first one, from Sunday's edition of the Hartford Courant:



And the second, from the April 2 issue of the Springfield Republican:



In other news, I just enjoyed my first soda in a month and a half, and found it incredibly sweet. Also, last night's episode of LOST was the best of the season. Comments are welcome on any of the above topics.

Recombobulating

Northampton is a town of juxtaposition.

It's a town where the most progressive and new-age of our nation's young women flock to take classes in buildings constructed some 200 years ago; where Dunkin' Donuts shares storefronts with the most bohemian of organic coffee shops; where the cash registers of fair-trade vendors bear hand-written signs happily exclaiming that they accept all major credit cards.

It's also a place that just days removed from some of the bitterest ice storms my senses have ever borne, today wears a spring day rivaling any of the most beautiful of my childhood.

I took advantage of the weather and decided to stroll downtown to pick up a weekend newspaper and a trinket or two for Mom's birthday.

My, what sights to behold.

Homeless men played junk guitars for change, just steps outside some of New England's trendiest and high-priced boutiques. Amidst one busy section of sidewalk, in front of the retro-chic style store 'Faces,' I heard a large, bearded man playing a passable, if simplified, version of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." Just across the street, on a nearly deserted patch of pavement in front of a local confectioner's shop, a skinny black man struggled painfully through a few bars of "Yellow Submarine."

(I know not whether the crowd size varied based on the quality of the store or the music.)

Further down, a sizable gathering of self-declared liberal labor supporters carried signs and shouted in support of healthcare on the steps of a large Catholic Church.

Fortunately, in this proudly feminist- and lesbian-friendly hollow, I have to this point been spared from the sight of any nudist displays. Unfortunately, as the warm weather portends, the daily attire of many 'Smithies' has become so negligible as to be nearly indistinguishable from the latter.

Many men here wear women's jeans. Many women wear men's shirts.

When I got to a spot sporting newspaper boxes, I looked down to take my pick. On the left was a bright yellow box, holding copies of the free alternative weekly, the Valley Advocate. On the right was a red box which held the daily Springfield Republican. ($1.75 on weekends). Split in between in a tattered orange box were copies of the Hampshire Gazette, which publishes a Saturday-Sunday edition that can be had for $1. I dropped in my four quarters and went on my way.

Returning to the apartment with my paper in tow, I was nearly sweating through my T-shirt. Two blocks on I passed a waif-like young girl bundled in a woolen sweater and parka, lugging what appeared to be a large instrument case. I said hi to her.

As I stepped up to our front porch, which lies just over the apex of Round Hill, I took a look around. Down the hill to the left is a straight path to the local mega-mart and, just beyond, to Wal-Mart. Straight to the right leads to the downtown I'd just departed.

"Eh," I breathed, and walked inside.

(Sarah, when you're in Milwaukee today, take some extra time in the Recombobulation Area.)

Secret Shopper

Normally, I am a pretty laid back, quiet, non-carousing type of guy. But this weekend, I got license to have up to $75 worth of unadulterated and under-the-radar fun. How?

I got an alias.

It all started a few weeks ago, when I purchased a new bed at Sears. The mattress set was on sale for 50% off, plus an additional rebate. A pretty good deal, well in keeping with my mostly inconspicuous existence. However, the rebate was not to be mailed for 6-8 weeks. To be prudent, I've held off from depositing a few other checks (via mail to my online-only bank), so I could combine them with the $75 check to come. Well, it came tonight. But it wasn't actually a check.

The rebate came in the form of a pre-paid Mastercard debit card. (Interestingly enough, the instructions read that one must select 'credit' when using it).

Now, that's not terribly exciting in itself. But then Sarah pointed out the name imprinted on the card. There it was, revealed to me for the first time, my undercover alias: DAN ARMSTRANG.



What an opportunity! I could go crazy with this--head to the bar and run up a pretty decent tab; purchase a few more seasons of Gilmore Girls on DVD; go to Dollar Tree and leave with a veritable trove of slightly defective treasures; all without fear of public judgment! After all, any repercussions of such behavior would be hung around the neck of this ARMSTRANG character!

But alas, I did none of these things.

Instead, we headed to the mall and picked up some new additions to Sarah's work wardrobe. We did quite well, gathering a new sweater, blouse, tank tops and even a few new undershirts for me, and we didn't even use the entire card's value.

But, I must admit, I'm not entirely thrilled with the idea of some other guy buying my fiancee new clothes.

Weather Pain

As many of my co-workers warned me upon moving to the Northeast, winter here lasts at least all the way through February without respite. And they are correct. We have been the victims of another Noreaster the past few days, and will continue to be through the weekend. It's not actively snowing right now, but it should pick up again. The strangest part is that the temperature has been hovering right around the freezing point the entire time, often going a few degrees above and making the snow extremely wet (and heavy to shovel). Here are a few pics of it:

Hartford's skyline, obscured by fog

Our next door neighbors. The giant tree is more impressive in person.

Our back door neighbors, through the screen of our door. Sorry I was too lazy to go outside to shoot it.

Our front porch

Sushi sushi!

Today is the last day of my nice four-day weekend (CRT gets both Lincoln's B-Day and President's Day off). Sarah and I enjoyed a nice trip to Vermont on Friday, and have pretty much taken it easy for the rest of the time off. For a travelogue of our adventures at Ben and Jerry's and the rest of our Vermont trip, visit Sarah's blog. Here she is at work on the post. I don't know how she manages with that tiny monitor.



But today, we did decide to take advantage of the weekday lunch price of an Asian buffet a few blocks from our place. It's called Sakura Buffet, and it bills itself as "The Ultimate Sushi Buffet." It was pretty good. The buffet featured some traditional American-Chinese buffet staples--General Tso's chicken, Mongolian beef, Sweet and Sour chicken, hard boiled eggs--as well as a fairly impressive sushi buffet. Varieties included lobster, shrimp, tofu, some impressive-looking cornucopia-type wrapped offerings as well as standard salmon, tuna and California rolls. Jeff will be particularly interested to know that there was also an item called a Philadelphia roll. I did not try that one. Here are a few of the items I did try:

Tuna, octopus, and black dragon rolls

The house special, Sakura Roll, tofu roll, and amazing Volcano Roll. The Sakura roll is delicious, with tuna, roe, daikon and possibly some other vegetables, topped with a spicy Sriracha/mayonnaise type dressing. The Volcano roll is a revelation, though not really traditional sushi. It appeared to be a nori roll, tempura fried, filled with avocado and roe, topped with a variety of fish and vegetables, and finished with spicy and sweet dressings. I am not sure whether the name refers to the spicy topping, represents the veritable explosion of ingredients, or subtly warns that you likely will violently erupt a few hours after eating it.

As we moved toward dessert, Sarah enjoyed a fig-filled peach bun.

Dessert proper included the ubiquitous cream-filled pastries as well as a variety of mini cheesecakes. These were chocolate-chip and lemon.

As we left, I snagged a few of these candies. I have not tried them yet, but the fruit pictured on the wrapper appears to be that of the cashew tree. I doubt the letters will be decipherable on this picture.

Now, I nap.

Odds and the End

Odds are, you watched the Super Bowl last night. I did as well, in the comfort of our friend Jordan's apartment, which she shares with an engaged couple (I don't know who would ever want to do that). She is a Tulane alum and big Saints fan, and since neither Sarah nor I have much connection to Indianapolis, we cheered for the underdogs along with her. It was a good game, but since I had no money riding on the outcome and found the commercials subpar, I was much more attached to Jordan's barbecue shrimp than I was to the game.

On more important TV matters, the premiere of the final season of LOST has come and gone, with much ado from me and my fellow LOSTies. I won't get into the details here, because most of you don't care, and those of you who do can check out Pops' take on it at his blog. Suffice it to say that many hours were spent by my coworkers and I Wednesday morning around the water cooler combating out LOST hangovers.

Finally, I thought I'd point out what was both a fiduciary boon and culinary nightmare for me a few weeks ago. Sarah and I were at Target picking up a few items when I noticed a sign that Lean Pockets were on sale for $2. I often buy Lean Pockets at this price--2 pockets per box, or $1 per pocket is a decent deal. They are a reasonably not-unhealthy lunch in a pinch, portable and microwavable. However, I had grown quite sick of them, having indulged in them far too often in my Office at JMU (to the horror of both my palate and my coworkers' noses).

My heart rose, then sank when I examined the sign and saw that the $2 price was not for 2-packs, but rather for the family size 12-pack boxes of Pepperoni and Sausage Pockets! We had to buy them. I've been taking them in my lunch ever since. After three weeks, still about a third of our freezer is apportioned for the little pastry packets of lukewarm pizza goo. My coworkers ask me every day if I like Lean Pockets. Every day, I tell them no.

The banes of my existence.

It's been a long time comin'

Sorry, y'all, for the super-long blog absence. It's been pretty hectic with the move, then limited computer time over break, then travel, then moving in, then settling into and commuting to the new job, then having only my slow desktop with which to work.

I guess I'll begin with a random assortment of photos from the past few weeks.

Pre-move

My largest accomplishment in a year and a half at JMU, the completion of the Public Affairs break room.


My second-largest accomplishment in a year and a half at JMU, hanging Christmas lights in Rachael's office.

Break, part 1: Christmas in Carlinville

Two furry guys, Jack and Nic


Christmas lights, part 1


Christmas lights, part 2


Three Dog Day


Jack getting reacqauinted with Sarah and Grandma

Break part 2, the Second City

Sarah is almost as tall as the trees in Union Station


Vernon Hills Winter Wonderland, part 1


VHWW is a great little drive thru the park with decorations made by local senior citizens


Winnie, as is typical, being the center of attention (see next three pics as well)








Sarah is more affectionate with Winnie...


...Than she is with her aunt


Onion loaf, a necessary part of any meal at Hackney's

Post move

Our new kitchen, soon after being cleaned


Living room, soon after being cleaned


New room, finally with new bed, and clean

It was a terrific break, and it's been a terrific first week at work too. Only twice was I seriously delayed on I-91 during my commute, and only on my first day did I feel discombobulated. Now, with 97 percent of our stuff put away and after the first good deep cleaning, I am very happy to be here and enjoying a restful night. Even if it is spent watching the Golden Globes. At least I don't have to work tomorrow! :)