The Little House I Used To Live In

Well, periodically.

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Flip Cafe would indeed be the best cuisine in town if its chefs weren't so darned scared of NaCl.

I ordered and omelet with something called "flip potatoes," which is just hash browns, but they partially steam them somehow so they come out downright fluffy. Or maybe they rice them. I don't know; there is a quality to these potatoes that are just a bit more luxurious than an eater is accustomed.

The omelet was a spinach and tomato affair topped with pepper jack cheese. It was technically excellent; fluffy, well-folded, the spinach still retained a nice bite. Not to mention: The toast is sliced from a homemade loaf.

The only thing missing was seasoning. Until I picked up the shaker, no sodium had touched my plate.

This might (and that's a BIG might) be okay for my Mom's dish, a little dish we like to call "Egg." I mean, someone who orders scrambled may not be looking for a more seasoned dish and may not mind adjusting with the salt shaker if needed.

An omelet, however, sigh. A little snowing of kosher salt sometime during the cooking would have been helpful.

Despite this overlooked detail, it is safe to say the best plate in the 'boro these days is Flip. My new goal is to try its lunch offerings.

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It was a nice visit, a fine way to cap off my summer. I got to see Auntie and Uncle from Big Bear and got marched all around and up and down the Lake by my Mom. Got to see my Gramma to boot, and I finally got the friggin' Roku set up for her. Now she can watch Frasier to her heart's content.

We also took part in the human tradition of driving up to a rock in the ground with a person's name on it and saying nice things about that person.



Yeah, that was a pretty nice week.

Short Bobby the 14 Shingle

It is, as I had anticipated, a pleasure to be able to hike for .22 miles with an over-sized bag and hike back with a satchel full of victuals.

I first went Friday at the Grand Opening. I was too late to catch Mayor Warren, who was apparently present for the ribbon cutting. I went in first and walked around and even put a six pack of beer in my cart. However, I had a problem.

I hadn't yet eaten.

Not eating can have several effects on me, one of which is to render me utterly unable to make any decisions.

I put the beer back, walked up the street to Matthews, and had a wonderful BLT club sandwich. Then I went back to Hart's, got a cart, and put the beer back into the cart.



Then, a few other things fell into my basket.

Mushrooms. A couple of nice cube steaks. Broccoli. Some russet potatoes.

Day one at Hart's was rather successful. It's a lovely market, though I will continue to pine for the opening of the CityGate Costco (there is a BJs in the area, but why renew that membership when a Costco is approaching?) As it's trying to be of the downtown/upscale variety, you will not find Totino's Party Pizzas here, nor even Stouffer's French Bread pizza, nor much in the way of frozen zza at all. There are a few flatbreads, but not much else. One would still have to drive to Top's if, say, one wanted to stock up on those.

But it is a quality grocery. The meat is good. They have fresh fish, and many items ready to mange on right there (they have a bit of cafe seating) or for take-out. Hart's is also emphasizing local items, so you can pick up Pittsford Dairy milk, Ithaca Farms ogret (which is DELICIOUS), Flour City Pasta, etc...

Yes, I am certainly glad Hart's is here. What it does for a downtown rat like myself is to make it possible to have an entire weekend at home without ever getting in the car, without having to plan out an entire menu ahead.

Day two, Hart's:



(Did I mention their ground beef is excellent?)

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Note to self: Immersion blender does not work properly unless it is, you know, immersed. Otherwise it is just a messy blender.

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Also managed to solve another problem this weekend. Most of my vinyl was living in a cardboard box! Am surprised the Record Album ad Litem hasn't been knocking. Sokay boff! My records have a home now.



("Easy to assmeble" my ass. 24 screws! Drat!)

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Shonda Rhimes to the White Courtesy Phone!

Violinist Plays During Brain Surgery To Help Surgeons Find Exactly What’s Causing Tremor (Elite Daily)

Hart's Eve

I have never anticipated a trip to the grocery store as eagerly as I am today.

There has been a certain disconnected sense I've had since I moved downtown, and that's not why you move downtown. You move downtown specifically to be connected. You want to walk downstairs, leave your building, and then there it is, everything in the world you could possibly need. That is the downtown experience I've always imagined. It is what my Uncle Jay and I used to call "The Dream."

But that hasn't been the case. We have coffee shops, bars, nice restaurants, a (sketchy) booze store, pizza, a beautiful gym, and a fine cinema. But we have lacked perhaps the most basic amenity a neighborhood can offer: A grocery.

Until tomorrow.



For me on my work schedule, grocery buying has involved either a midnight run after work or I have to go get my car. I know it sounds like not that much, but I do estimate it's like 15 minutes from my front door to my car. There's no running up the street for that thing you forgot. There are no spontaneous runs to the grocery to grab something for supper.

But tomorrow, friends, is the grand opening of Hart's Local Grocers in the East End. People I talk to frequently are probably tired of hearing about it. But I'll tell you what, this is going to improve the living standard in my neck of the woods by thousands of percents.

Ya'll know where I'll be tomorrow.

I might make a few trips.

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Overheard: "Football is so dangerous. I would never let my kids play football."

:: eyeroll ::

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In Other News
• Tips For Being An Unarmed Black Teen (The Onion)
• Neural Nostalgia: Why do we love the music we heard as teenagers? (Slate)
• Americans' optimism is dying (Washington Post Opinion)
• 20 Wine Words Most Drinkers Don't Know (Food and Wine)
• The Muppets got mashed up with the Beastie Boys and the whole world sings along (AV Club)
• Sarah Palin Picks Imaginary Fight With Elizabeth Warren, Loses (Mother Jones)

Upstate

Why do we sit through a polar vortex through the winter? Why brave subzero temperatures, frozen faces, wet feet and shivers, and a wintry grasp that seems never ending?

This:



If you look closely, you can see a small farm creature named Anna B. Cat making her way across the pasture.

I did warn you I'd be playing with the panoramic camera setting.

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Yes, sir!

"Using drugs meant for individuals with medical needs to carry out executions is a misguided effort to mask the brutality of executions by making them look serene and beautiful — like something any one of us might experience in our final moments. But executions are, in fact, brutal, savage events, and nothing the state tries to do can mask that reality. Nor should we. If we as a society want to carry out executions, we should be willing to face the fact that the state is committing a horrendous brutality on our behalf." (U.S. 9th Circuit Court Chief Judge Alex Kozinski)

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In Other News
• 10 Obscure American Presidents and Why You Should Know About Them (Answers)
• Sinéad O'Connor interview: 'I deserve to be a priest. Music is a priesthood' (The Guardian)
• Bad news, hipsters. Vinyl is mainstream again (The Washington Post)

The Cheese Table and Other Adventures

This was a banner day.

The mobile phone I previously used, an LG Marquee, was originally purchased as a point-of-entry phone to a new mobile service. I did not want to buy a higher-end phone at the time until I had faith in the carrier, Ting, a Sprint MVNO that has rates a human being can actually understand. The coverage is generally good, although it can get touchy when I'm out at Gonfalon. But that is the case with many carriers; some sort of hole or triangle seems to have converged on that spot that zaps mobile phone signals.

Anyway, the Marquee has gotten mighty sluggish of late, and I decided it was time to upgrade. Today I took delivery of an iPhone 5 (one new development with Ting for the last year or so was its ability to carry certain models of iPhone). I had forgotten what a difference it can make to have a good phone. I'm sure I'll be bugging people with panoramic photographs soon enough (can't wait to shoot one out at the farm).

Dad also helped me deliver two key pieces of furniture today; my office chair and this short table that Hic found for five bucks and that my Dad stabilized mightily with extra nuts and bolts. I have needed a piece in my studio apartment to give me just a little bit more counter space. This is that piece. It's perfect.



I will most often use the thing for preparing the cheese and Triscuits snack that so often fortifies me. So it's a "cheese table" to me. What it means though is extra counter space, an extra drawer, another shelf, and all that at a size that isn't too obnoxious.

We ended the day with blackened catfish, sweet corn from a farmer's stand that may be the best corn I've ever eaten, and broccolies right from the back yard. A bannner day, indeed. Did I mention how beautiful the weather was today?

Nice Job

To the young mother I saw allowing her young towhead son to drag her around the grocery while he sang a made-up nonsensical song and seemed to be the happiest person on Earth at that moment, to you, for allowing him to pull you and for singing along right with him, I say: You're doing it right.

Rewriting History

I have lately been embarking on a new project here at the 8WK.

Doing a bit of editing.

You might think, how can you edit a blog that's been around since March 2001? It's ridiculous, you're being ridiculous, now on your bike, good chap.

Well, I can. It's a living document, that's what makes it so vital. I can fix or delete broken links. I can overhaul categories to make things easier to find. I can try to fix or replace pictures. I can edit to enforce a more cohesive editorial style. I can even add entries retroactively.

For instance, I created this nice Thanksgiving entry from 2011 by rummaging through my Twitter archive.

There are some handy add-on tools to help with such a process, including:

• Broken Link Checker
• Jetpack by WordPress.com
• Multi-column Tag Map
• Static Random Posts Widget
• WordPress Editorial Calendar
• WP HTML Sitemap

It just seems like something I've put so much into all these years ought to be more complete. And, it gives me a nice organizational construct with which to retrace my steps a little.

Not to mention, I'm finding lots of KITEEH PICTOORS.

In Other News
• Around the World in 7 Grills
(Fix)

I don't know who Greg is. But he has a fan club.

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Must have been one of those days. I saw this today, and I saw a man taking a piss on the sidewalk in downtown Rochester in broad daylight. He wasn't hiding behind a building or anything. Right out in the open on Chestnut Street.

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But, mission accomplished. The turntable has a new home.

In Other News
• Amazing Shots Of Dogs Diving Under Water For Balls

What Time Is It?

"I have that shirt," I said to the liquor store checkout girl. It was the iconic 1977 Led Zeppelin tour shirt with the Icarus figure on the front.

"Everyone should have that shirt," she said.

Then she said she had to wear the G-rated version to work. I must have looked puzzled because she then explained to me that the original tour shirt included detailed sketching of the Icarus figure's junk.

"Ah," said I. "I see." Because what else does one say to that?

Speaking of which, I got Hawked the other day.

This rarely happens. I mean, usually it's "Hey, so, uh, are you related to Richard?" My standard response is a straight-faced "Yes. He is my Uncle." If I'm feeling especially plucky, I will explain to the person that yes, indeed I am, and that WE were the black sheep of the family.

But I rarely get Hawked. But the guy at the parking garage, man, he started right out with it as he made my receipt.

"So, are you a boxer?" Heh heh heh.

"Yes, of course, I'm the greatest light welterweight that ever was. That's me, yep."

(Pryor had 40 fights and one loss in his career.)

We chatted about Pryor for a bit as he finished my receipt. I said from time to time I get tagged in his pictures on Facebook (it's true). I didn't tell the fellow that among my most prized possessions is an autographed photograph of the man.

Yeah, I often have people ask after my Uncle Richard. But it's rare that someone brings up The Hawk. Good form, good sir.

In Other News
• Food by Country
• Here Are The Chevy MyLink Voice Commands You’ll Ever Need
(GM Authority)
• Birds With Arms (Sad and Useless)
• What Airplane! gets right that its imitators get wrong (The Dissolve)
• Mine's a pint: Full of vitamins, high in fibre, low on sugar and good for your hair - the benefits of beer (MailOnline)

Happy Independence Day

I'm so glad that Elantra in the garage that I keep mistaking for my own car wasn't my own car. That owner is going to get a nasty surprise today, in the form of a post-it note that says "the license plate of the car that hit you is..."

Ugh. That and the weird way the couple of to-go boxes were piled near the back tire. Somebody had quite a party there, just hanging out in the garage.

I'm going to have to start parking on 3 instead of 2.

Meanwhile, Happy Independence Day! Texas Gov. Rick Perry believes that Americans have "freedom of religion, not freedom from religion."

I distinctly remember the first time someone used the ol' "freedom of religion not freedom from religion" line on me. 1993, maybe? It sounds just as terrifying now as it did then, especially when it's coming from state executive types who have actually been considered for the White House.

Weird Scenes Inside the Building Where I Live

A neighbor performed a Jedi mind trick on me this afternoon as I waited for the elevator.

Neighbor (waving his hand mysteriously): "It is chilly outside, and you will need a jacket."

Me: "It is chilly outside, and I will need a jacket."

Okay, that's not how it actually happened.

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Meanwhile, the Night Before

Attention, my fellow apartment residents: If you're missing your collection of Hustler, Penthouse, and Barely Legal periodicals, they are sitting in a big pile in the hallway.

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Trying To Grok Beef Shanks Barbacoa Tacos Recipe Braised Beef Pasta Sauce Recipe

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And Here Are Some Good (YouTube) Poopers

Dikekike, Orpheusftw, Adventure2theUnknown, Attackofthehank, chemistryguy, Keeperof Porridge, kevmcallister, Likety, MrTPoops, ipoop7colors, Deepercutt, DurhamrockerZ

New Wheels

Pay Attention

I used to think that "Question The Answers" was the ultimate Mighty Mighty Bosstones album. I no longer think this. I reached this conclusion while I was driving home from an involuntarily protracted visit to a bulk/warehouse store known as "BJs." I was involuntarily detained in the BJ's parking lot because there was an accident at the light. Right there. I was going to go off to Wal-Mart to purchase a crock pot because I need said Crock for a shank stew I intend to make at some point. However, since I was so detained, I went back into the BJ's and purchased said appliance there. Traffic was still backed up by the time I returned to the car, however, so I figured I would go visit the weirdly unfriendly used CD store nearby. This place is always strangely unfriendly, at least it has been every time I went in there. There always seems to be some guy standing there talking to the guy at the cash register and making what he imagines is incredibly hip observations about popular music, and the cashier has to stand there and listen. Then when the third guy walks in, the other two guys are too into the conversation for the shopkeeper to acknowledge your presence. It's a weird approach to retail. "People will always know who Bob Dylan is," the guy is saying. "I mean, do you think they'll know who Justin Bieber is 50 years from now?" I quickly spy a pretty healthy section of used ska CDs (that means there are about 8 of them), including a Mustard Plug comp I'm drooling over, but I end up picking up a Madness CD I've not seen anywhere and "Pay Attention" by the aforementioned Mighty Mighty Bosstones. As I'm browsing, I decide how I'm going to get back at this fucker for not so much as nodding at his third customer there. I approach the counter with my purchase. I say in the friendliest voice I can muster, “Hi, Jerry. How are you doing?” Then I look at the other fellow, and I say, "George! How've you been?" George looked like he'd like to have kilt me. Anyway. As I indicated. From my summary listen on the way home from that little adventure, I would have to say that I think "Pay Attention" > "Question the Answers." Also, from this point forth, if I don't know your name, chances are good that I may decide call you by the name of a character in "Seinfeld." Just seems like a great way to break the ice.