that didn't take long

And on my second night at my new house, I made a Quang run.

it's mine

Now the real fun begins...

photos of the week

Now just two days away from my home purchase, I thought I'd post a couple photos from the past week that have nothing to do with my future abode:

Here we have a rare picture of chabel.net author Simon Chabel cutting onions. In the foreground on the right in the bisected brie, waiting for a poor wrapping of puff pastry that will ensure it oozes all over the baking sheet while cooking.

Trumpter statues flank the entrance to the Indianapolis Conrad. While they did not greet our arrival with bellows, they still looked neat. This was the only photo I took on the drive out here. Probably for the best since I was driving.

Finally, Senator John Edwards will announce his candidacy for President of the United States in New Orleans today. I voted for Sen. Edwards in 2004, and feel even more favorable toward him today. Announcing in New Orleans is more evidence that Sen. Edwards understands the need to make major changes in the way our nation addresses issues of race and class and I look forward to him making this a central issue in the campaign.

a strange threesome

If famous deaths come in threes, who completes the Gerald Ford, James Brown party?

now boarding: flight 1711 to minneapolis

The setting sun peeks through overcast skies behind the enormous windows at the airport. The terminal bustles with post-Christmas travelers, most in good spirits.

I, however, remain apprehensive and antsy. By week's end I'll have bought my house, lifting a great burden from my mind and placing an even larger one on my future income.

it begins

Sitting in a water bath, pumpkin cheesecake cooks in the oven. Fortunately this is the only thing I'm making tonight so I'll get to bed at a reasonable hour.

hooray technology!

This post is being written on my new Treo 700 smartphone. Of course it would have been six times faster to write it on the laptop sitting next to me, but I'm still learning.

After writing the above on my Treo I inadvertently hit a button that quit the web browser, losing all my text. I refuse to retype it there, so this is written on my laptop.

Be sure to tune in after Christmas for a week-long chabel.net year in review. Or you could just go through the archives. Merry Jesusmas.

a night in luxury

A quick note on the luxurious Conrad hotel. The suite is 600 square feet, with two bathrooms, two 42" plasma TVs, two 10" flat screen TVs, one in each bathroom, and the best shower head I've ever used. And finally, luxury hotels are offering free wi-fi. I could definitely live in this hotel.

halfway home

Lovely Indianapolis, Indiana. We're safely settled at the luxurious Conrad Hotel after a boring drive here. There really isn't that much to Ohio. Tomorrow, the rest of the drive. Huzzah!

tools for eating

My new silverware arrived. The accompanying dishes aren't here yet, and if they don't come tomorrow, I'll have to ship them to Minnesota. But the silverware looks great.

the joys of packing

As always, the view from Mike's porch is spectacular.

Returning from Pittsburgh and a weekend of watching things I've seen before and eating well, I have begun packing. It's going well, though I have grossly underestimated my demand for boxes. Speaking of good views:

black cat: we are scientists

Tonight I saw We Are Scientists at the Black Cat. Despite mediocre sound it was an even better show than their summer First Avenue performance. The intimacy of the Black Cat helped lead singer Keith Murray charm the near-capacity crowd with his manic antics and wry banter.

The audience clearly enjoyed itself and there was some of the dancing and quite a bit of the ever-popular indie rock head nodding.

Opening with a cover of Against All Odds, the band played a tight set, showing off skills honed from a year of touring. They played primarily from their recent album With Love and Squalor, throwing in several new songs. If their performance tonight is any indicator, their next album could be full of goodness.

They closed with an audience requested cover of The Ronettes song Be My Baby, bringing openers The Graves to the stage to join in the chorus. The cover was terrific, a brash rock version of the Motown classic. All told this was one of the better shows I've seen this year.

priceline hates me

Once again, Priceline squeezes another abhorrently early morning out of me.

no party

After careful consideration, I have decided not to have a New Year's Eve party at my new house. There's just too much to do, and nowhere to sit.

the long emergency

On my way to Pittsburgh yesterday I began reading The Long Emergency. The book presents an alarming view of the future as diminishing fossil fuel resources will cause global economic catastrophes. The impact on the U.S. will be profound, largely because of the misguided infrastructure investment in suburbia, an unsustainable lifestyle in the absence of cheap oil.

And while some of the arguments are flawed, I found this passage salient (emphasis added):

...[C]onditions over the past two decades made possible the consolidation of retail trade by a handful of predatory, opportunistic corporations, of which Wal-Mart is arguable the epitome. That this development was uniformly greeted as a public good by the vast majority of Americans, at the same time that thier local economies were being destroyed -- and with them, myriad social and civic benefits -- is one of the greater enigmas of recent social history. In effect, Americans threw away their communities in order to save a few dollars on hair dryers and plastic food storage tubs, never stopping to reflect on what they were destroying.

the red and the black: the oranges band

Tonight at the The Red & The Black: The Oranges Band with The Fake Accents.

The openers, The Fake Accents, were pretty good. They sounded a bit like The Strokes, but different enough. On one song, the bassist, an Asian woman whose stage mannerisms seem almost autistic is left responsible for vocals. Bleating incomprehensible lyrics ensue. That the guitars drowned out her wounded moans prevented something utterly horrific. Good band, keep the strange girl in the back.

The Oranges Band played a short set. They were at their strongest when playing the highlights of their 2005 album, The World and Everything in It The hook laden guitar set the foundation for rock hooks reminiscent of The Wrens.

New songs were mixed, the best was more of the high speed pop rock they're good at. Slower songs dragged, with the audience apathetic.

Oh, on my way to the show, it snowed for a second in Washington.

a change of scenery

After spending much of the year with a desktop photo of Norway, I've finally switched.

Now a March sunset over the Atlantic off the Portuguese coast graces my desktop. I'll be sure to keep all chabel.net readers apprised of any future changes.

in the kitchen: ham and fontina sandwich with balsamic onions

Not pictured: Rice Crispy Treats