Monthly Archives: February 2005

general ramblings

80s and the sway

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i really do enjoy listening to 80s music. i think it’s mostly because i’m a child of the 80s and it brings back nostalgic memories of my childhood. now, that isn’t to say that i enjoy going to clubs that play 80s music all the time, but the occassional jaunt down memory lane doesn’t hurt. i’ve haven’t been to an 80s night in a while, but as i was working on a bit of code today, i was left alone in the office for a little bit and a tune popped into my head.

the song?

tiffany’s – i think we’re alone now.

Children behave
That’s what they say when we’re together
And watch how you play
They don’t understand
And so we’re

Chorus:
Running just as fast as we can
Holdin’ on to one another’s hand
Tryin’ to get away into the night
And then you put your arms around me
And we tumble to the ground
And then you say

I think we’re alone now
There doesn’t seem to be anyone around
I think we’re alone now
The beating of our hearts is the only sound

Look at the way
We gotta hide what we’re doin’
’cause what would they say
If they ever knew
And so we’re

Repeat chorus

I think we’re alone now
There doesn’t seem to be anyone around
I think we’re alone now
The beating of our hearts is the only sound

general ramblings

call of the chantico

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i’ve been trying to avoid the call of the chantico, but today when i went to lunch at togo’s and there was a starbucks right next door, i couldn’t resist anymore. so i got a chantico and i must say that it is just as divine as the first time i had it…maybe more so.

the second time i had the chantico, i had it at a safeway starbucks. let me just say that the safeway starbucks are not even close to as good as the authentic starbucks. not even close!

i never realized that there was a difference until i tried the chantico today and realized how much richer it is at starbucks proper, instead of safeway starbucks. wow, what a difference a store makes!

general ramblings

luckykat lasagna

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i hope [url=http://www.luckykat.com]luckykat linda[/url] doesn’t mind me reposting her lasagna recipe. i tried finding it on her site, but couldn’t find it, so i’m posting it up here for posterity. i did find [url=http://journal.ocliw.com/2002/1015.html]my link[/url] talking briefly about it, but it looks like the recipe page is gone!

Lasagna del gatto fortunato (or luckykat lasagna)
Ingredients:

  • one package of dried lasagna
  • 3 gloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 1 pound ground meat (i use turkey)
  • 1 tablespoon white wine
  • 1/2 cup mushroom, cubed
  • 2 zucchinis, cubed
  • 2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
  • 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (26 oz.)
  • 1 tub Ricotta cheese (16 oz.)
  • 3 cups shredded Mozzarella
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

    (you also need a 13 x 9 baking dish – I prefer the glass kind because it retains heat really well)

    1. Follow package direction and cook lasagna. Drain and put aside.

    2. Heat oven to 350°F.

    3. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, cook onion and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add meat, stir in white wine until the meat is cooked, then add zucchini and mushroom.

    If you don’t like zucchini or mushroom, you can add bell pepper, yellow squash or even olives instead. You can also make this into a vegetarian lasagna by omitting the meat and adding more veggies. If you use spinach, drain extra well because it’ll make your lasagna really wet.

    4. Stir in pasta sauce. You can add more spices if you wish, fresh or dry. Sometimes I add more oregano and basil and even some fresh ground pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

    5. Combine ricotta cheese, 2 cups mozzarella (save 1 cup for later) and eggs in a large bowl; mix well.

    6. Spread 1/2 cup of the pasta sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish.

    7. Start layering! You need about four strips of lasagna, slightly overlapping each other. Next is the ricotta cheese mixture, pasta sauce, and parmesan cheese. The trick here is to divide everything equally so you’ll have enough to repeat two more times to make three layers. I always forget the order so here it is:

    Lasagna

    Ricotta

    Sauce

    Cheese

    (It’s actually written in large letters on my recipe card. haha!)

    8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until hot and bubbly (this is good if you use a glass dish because you can see it bubbling up from the side).

    9. Uncover and top with remaining 1/2 cup Mozzarella and bake 5 minutes more.

    10. Take it out of the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes (if you can withstand the hunger for that long!). Top with more cheese or chopped parsley and enjoy!

    Suggested food accompaniments: caesar salad, good ciabatta bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and a glass of red wine.

    Fell free to add/reduce the ingredients as you see fit — if you like garlic, by all means, use 4 or 5 cloves. If you like cheese, put in more cheese! But I find that with three types of cheese (parmesan, mozzarella and ricotta) in the lasagna, it’s already pretty rich. The pasta is pretty labor-intensive, it takes about an hour to prepare and another hour to bake, so I usually make it the night before, let it sit in the fridge all day and pop it in the oven an hour before dinner. And if you decide to make pasta sauce from scratch, it’ll probably taste even better. I’m just too lazy to do so. This is a really good dish to make because it’s hefty and it’ll feed about 6-8 people, and it’ll win you praises and make you feel like an Italian grandma. 😉 And if you’re like me and only cook for two, you’d be happy to know that it tastes even better the next day. Bring it to work and you’ll be the envy of the lunchroom.

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    now…i didn’t feel like an Italian grandma when i made it, but it sure was good. pretty meaty, i think that i may have added a little bit more ground beef than the recipe called for. ground beef is a must! also, the last time i made it, i didn’t use fresh grated parmesan. i think that next time i will do just that. i also found that i ran out of mozzarella, i needed to portion that out better. i think that i will try this recipe out again, it’s been a few years since i’ve tried to make lasagna and this time i’ll add spinach to the mix. the one thing to be careful with if you do use spinach is to make sure you REALLY wring it dry because it holds a lot of liquid.
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    • entertainment

    signs of an addict

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    i think you know you are in trouble when you realize that today is wednesday and the first thought that comes to your head is:

    oh shoot, i have to watch alias, jack and bobby, lost, smallville, and the west wing tonight! damn wednesdays!

    but then after a moment of reflection you realize that yesterday you had to watch committed, house, veronica mars, and gilmore girls…all of which you missed…which means that you are now 4 shows behind plus today’s show.

    but then after another moment of thought you realize that tomorrow is thursday. tomorrow is another bad day with CSI, joey, point pleasant, will & grace, and without a trace…

    and so after all of this thought, i’ve decided to stop watching the apprentice. whew. now i finally have opened up some time to watch me some TV!

    just in time for fridays, because that is when i have to watch andromeda, joan of arcadia, johnny zero, medical investigation, monk, numb3rs, enterprise, stargate atlantis, stargate sg-1, and maybe third watch. maybe i really should drop numb3rs (which i think is lame) and johnny zero (which is also lame).

    yeah…i’m not an addict, really.

    general ramblings

    chantico

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    speaking of the chantico, if one were to [url=http://www.starbucks.com/retail/nutrition_beverage_detail.asp?selProducts=162&x=15&y=7&strAction=GETDEFAULT]look up the nutritional information[/url] of the 6 ounce beverage, they may be shocked to learn that in just one serving it contains:

    390 calories, 190 fat calories, 21g of fat, 105mg sodium, and 40g of sugars.

    but what one would really be surprised to learn is that you also get:
    25% of the RDA of calcium and 30% of the RDA of iron.

    shoot, if i drink 4 of these a day, i’d get my daily recommended allowance of calcium and iron!

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    general ramblings

    it’s all in the name

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    whenever i go to order something somewhere and they ask for a name, i try to come up with anything interesting. at jamba juice, i’ve called myself many things like william, bob, joshua, and other such things.

    the other day at starbucks while i was ordering my CHANTICO (the greatest beverage of all time, perhaps rivaling the joy that is pearl tea) they asked for my name and i think i told them that my name was josiah. i’m sure [url=http://www.aiyah.net]winnie[/url] will get a kick out of how they spelled my name. JOE SYA. I guess looking at me, i look more like a joe sya than a josiah…though i don’t think that sya is pronounced “sigh-ah” anyway, but hey, some thought WAS put into it…

    photographic

    tour of the islands

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    [url=http://www.ocliw.com/things/weekends/island-tour/][/url]

    [url=http://www.track15.com]dardy[/url], [url=http://www.bastalaranza.com]geoff[/url], [url=http://www.phamily.org]paul[/url], nelson, and i went to check out treasure island and yerba buena island on saturday for a little photo shoot. dardy took an astonishing *9* photos while we were out there and i think geoff took about 30 or so.

    i was sort of shocked because i was pushing around 150 pictures taken for the day, and i felt like i was holding back a little.

    i think that i’ve fallen in love with my canon 15mm fisheye lens, but i’m trying really, really hard not to taken too many pictures with the shot. i don’t want to get sick of the effect or to overuse it, but as i was processing images, i noticed that i had a heavy bias for the fisheye images. i think 11 of the 24 images i posted up used the fisheye lens. ugh! that’s just too much. i need to settle down a little bit.

    conditions were kind of crummy, overcast and hazy for the most part. i tried to do some post-processing magic, but there’s only so much you can do.

    i’m curious to see how other people’s images came out, to see what each of us saw at the same location.

    general ramblings

    power supply

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    my replacement power supply is on the way and should be shipped to me today. it’s very exciting. after a week of not being able to use my laptop, i’m very excited to get it charged back and restored to its former glory.

    in this week, i’ve realized that my old laptop is pretty slow, but it is functional. i finally got it to play back videos so that sort of makes it more bearable. i’m not sure what i would do with it, though, i think that i’ve been spoiled with the speed of my new laptop.

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