Red Box Review: The King's Speech

I've always been interested in the spoken word.  Maybe it stems from my years on speech team. Or maybe it's because i enjoy listening to words, reading them or maybe it's just because communicating has always been important to me.  (I've been told sometimes that I can't shut up and that even in these notes or on my blog that I write too much and who really cares anyhow...)
But what if you had an impediment that made you feel inferior and you knew that you needed to lead your country into a wartime.  You needed to be confident but just didn't have confidence you knew how to do that.

Enter a stranger who becomes a friend and together you craft a story that allows itself to reach into the corners of your confidence and pull itself up by it's bootstraps.

That's the story of the King's Speech, I think.  I'll admit it was a little slow of a movie for me and I started multitasking so maybe I didn't catch the whole storyline.

What I did catch is a story that does deserve the accolades it was given during this last oscar season.  I can see why Collin Firth won the oscar.  Nearer to the end I was pulled in and stopped doing anything else and actually concentrated on the movie.  It would be great if some time when our confidence is dragging that we could find a faithful friend to believe in us like Geoffrey Rush's character.

I'll admit again that I have issues with accents in movies.  This wasn't so bad - not as thick a brogue as it could have been.

I will say that at the very beginning and at the very end of the movie they have text on the screen.  I have pretty decent eyesight but could not read it without getting really super close to the screen.  I guess the filmmakers considered it from the standpoint of a really large movie screen.  I'm not so interested in what it said, but it really bugs me when I feel old and unable to do something simple like read a screen.  Guess it's not as difficult as not being able to deliver a speech to your countrymen. I could have hit rewind or gotten up off my couch and move closer to the screen, but I really didn't care enough about what it said to bother.

three stars...it was okay and I'm glad I watched it but it was kind of slow.

MOVIE REVIEW: ADMISSIONS

Tina Fey and Paul Rudd star in this movie about a Princeton Admissions Counsellor (Fey) who is approached by a teacher about one of his students who is brilliant, but not the best student and wants to go to Princeton.

Fey seems stuck in a rut and nothing seems to really go right for her. While I thought there was chemistry between the two, it just seemed sort of halfway there. Or maybe it just seemed too easy to fall in love?

I so wanted to really love this movie but in the end, some of the actions of Fey to get the boy into Princeton just seem so beneath her character and not really that funny.

2 stars

Camping

This past weekend I went camping for the first time since I was a teenager. Okay, so it wasn't the deep woods or a KOA but it was the yard of my Brother and Sister in Law's house and they do live in more of a countryfied setting and I have seen wildlife (wolves etc.) in their yard over the past year.

My brothers were both boy scouts and were always more of the camping types. We didn't really go camping as kids except for one time I did join my friend kim's family on a campout in tents at Kettle Morraine State park. I remember that trip as being fun. I always sort of envied my brothers that they got to go to boy scout camp. It just seemed so fun.

I guess as an adult I have a different perspective about camping. I think if I go again I would need to go with other people. We would need to have a campfire to sit around late at night and go hiking etc so that when you finally fall into your tent - you are so tired you don't have a whole lot of time to think.

You are after all merely constructing a piece of fabric into a shelter. It's not like it's really going to keep some stray wild animal from attacking you in the middle of the night.

The second night I was sleeping in the tent, some animal started scratching at the wall of the tent...I felt it's paw. It probably was a squirrel or a mouse but it somewhat freaked me out and yet, I was alone in the tent with my lantern and really I did not really want to find out what it was. Yep - that's why I'd want someone else with me...someone to say "did you hear/u that?"

I do so many things by myself...mostly because I have the theory that I can't just let life pass me by just because I haven't really established friendships or romantic relationship who would want to share time or adventures with me.

Chalk up camping as one thing I probably will not do again by myself...unless we are visiting the Strelau's at the dells and they have a full house. It was a good way to get some sleep without feeling like I was interrupting someone else with my terrible sleep patterns.

The tent - which I got several years ago as a free with establishing an account from a bank was good for one or possibly two people who really like each other. It was small and I'm not sure it really would survive a rainstorm but it was a good option for what I needed that weekend.

Restaurant Review: Starks Saloon (Eagan, MN)

A few months ago I was watching one of my favorite public access tv programs called Twin Cities Originals, where they feature locally owned restaurants and do cheesy restaurant review (sometimes with gouda results)

So a few months ago they featured a restaurant that I've seen across Hwy 55 when I've swung through the McD's drive thru on my way to and from the mecca that is Eco-Research&Development.

Today I got out of a painful 4 hour meeting and decided I deserved lunch and while I stood at the stoplight I looked to the left and saw the sign for Starks and was reminded that I wanted to check this place out.

The parking lot was obnoxiously full (probably a good sign) and upon entering the lobby I was reminded of any number of Stuckey's or Union 76 truck stops that we used to stop at when we were kids. There was a write on / wipe off sign that said seat yourself.

I'm not a fan of seat yourself except for maybe at the North Pole restaurant. It's just difficult to know, especially if you are eating alone, exactly where to sit and whether you will be selecting a waiter/waitress that is especially speedy. So I chose the bar.

"Pour me a coke," I requested of the bartender as she handed me the menu and told me of the specials, which sounded delicious and cheap (turkey and trimmings for $6.00 or a taco salad for $5.00).

It was actually kind of fun to sit at the bar as there were a few chatty "regulars" who gave me the scoop of what they liked to eat and how long they had been coming to the joint.

If you have never been there, they have a large sitting area and bar and really a pretty large area with pool tables and a pretty large dance floor. I decided that if I ever needed a bar to just go and hang with friends, I might consider checking this place out.

So I looked over the menu and decided on a french dip. Which was HUGE and delicious. Enough beef really for two sandwiches and really quite flavorful and not at all tough. The au jus was also quite tasty (if but a little salty) and the waffle fries were crisp and perfectly fried.

The gentleman next to me ordered a burger for $5.00...with fries. So for under $10.00 he had a drink and a complete meal and it too looked delicious.

It's not a fancy place by any means, however it probably would fit in my imagination of what a typical saloon would look like.

The dinner menu has about 10 items on it and the appetizer menu looked good too (if you just wanted to go somewhere for a few drinks and apps)

It looks like they have country dancing there on Wednesday and Saturday nights and Swing dancing on Fridays for a $5.00 cover charge too.

I know y'all probably know all about this place, but if it weren't for twin cities originals I probably would have just kept driving. I'm glad I didn't. Three and a 1/2 stars out of 5. (Holding out until I can go dancing for a better score)

Whistle Stop Cafe (Froternac, MN)

The Whistle Stop Cafe is one of those places you expect to see when you get off any highway and take a more rural route and the place delivered both in charm and quality of food.

Even before Alton Brown featured this little diner on his Feasting with Asphalt show, I had wanted to stop. It's located between Red Wing and Lake City along my favorite drive between Winona and St. Paul on Highway 61.

It has a typical diner fare with breakfast being served all day and a blue plate special of sorts. Today's feature was Turkey or Ham Dinner with all the fixings and a trip to a salad bar.

The place isn't much to look at, but the food was excellent. The people watching was even better.

While I was there a woman and a newborn came in and asked the table of regulars sitting near the door whether mom was there. The woman paused and talked for a moment and assured the rest of the crew that she was heading over to the house to check for "mom" there. She promptly left.

The waitress stopped by that table and asked "So Cheryl, coffee today?"

Cheryl said, "Sure, filler up."

I ordered a bowl of soup and a piece of pie. It took me a few minutes to decide on the pie as they had a large list of pies on the write on / wipe-off board above the cash register.

The soup was wisconsin cheese- a lovely, velvety cheese with a hint of smokey bacon-y goodness and a few vegatables thrown in to distract from the basic fact that really I was just eating a bowl of cheese. Mmmmmm, it was good. I probably would have licked the cup if that wasn't uncouth and just a little gross.

I was barely done with the soup when my pie arrived. After pondering the choices between lemon and cocconut cream and strawberry cream and pecan, I landed on Strawberry Rhubarb. And because I hadn't yet had enough dairy for this visit I had an icy cold glass of milk.

And I ate every bite of perfectly stewed rhubarb and firm, ripe strawberry wrapped in a flaky crust. It probably would have tasted great with a scoop of ice cream but I thought I had better limit the further indulgence of dairy for the day.

And it was cheap too. I probably could have had a whole turkey meal for under $10.00 with pie. Instead, my bill for the soup, pie and drink was under $6.00.

I love stopping in towns like this and in family run establishements like this. They provide more than nurishment, these places provide fuel for the stories that roam inside my head. I appreciate the little things like the community cards and poster tacked up by the register that was collecting money for a young man injured in a terrible motorcycle accident. The interaction between the line cook and the wait staff. The youngsters in the corner playing solitare probably because their mom or dad run the place and that's just what they do on sundays. The two older men, eating the blue plate specials and complaining that there's just too much on the plate.

The sign as you leave reads "If you liked what you ate, tell others. If you didn't, tell us."

It doesn't get simpler than that.

Restaurant Review: Barrio (St Paul, MN)

Tonight I met a couple of friends after work at Barrio at St. Paul. I've been intrigued by this place since it opened, but the idea of going to a tequilleria over the lunchhour has never won when we debate over where to go for lunch. So when at the spur of the moment I was invited I decided laundry and packing and anything else I had remotely planned to do. And ultimately it was fun, despite some extremely awkward service issues.

We arrived and the reservation we thought we had was non-existant. Pretty much the hostess shrugged her shoulders and tried to be accomodating . We ended up waiting at the bar. However part of the issue is that the service was practically non-existant so that by the time someone had paid enough attention to us, we were already able to head to a table.

We all decided to go with the prixfix meal/special. First to arrive was this super tasty corn. It had mexican cheese sprinkled on it and a little reduced pepper sauce. There also was a buttery garlic on the corn and I seriously could have eaten another corn cob and been extremely happy. It was messy and corn tends to stick in my teeth so to quote my friends - surely not a good date food.

Did I mention the service was slow? Dont really know what our server had going on but she surely had a bunch of excuses as to why our drinks were taking a while...why the guac was taking a while...and when she did attempt to stop at the table, it was just an interuption and often not very genuinely helpful.

Their guac is very tasty. It has thinly sliced radishes and jalapenos and comes in this ridiculous mortar and pestal type bowl that just seemed too gimmicky and not really that necessary.
The meal also came with several different types of salsa and homemade chips (which seemed to have a sprinkling of lime/salt on them.)

The main meal was tacos served family style. Chicken and pork with soft taco shells and a rather pathetically small pile of tomatos, limes, onions and cilantro.  There were also some pinto beans and some cilantro rice (which was a little under done) We sent the rice back as it really had too many hard kernels. The chef offered to buy us desert.

At this point my friends had finished their drinks but our waitress was nowhere to be found. The other roving pseudo manager who had already been more accomodating to us than our waitress offered to get us drinks. Our waitress then finally came to our table but by then it was too late.  We asked to speak to a manger.

So my friend told the manager of our story so far. The lost reservation was explained away that the person answering the phone didn't know how to use the reservation system and how he really was going to train them next week. As we continued you could totally tell the manager had had other people complain about this server. He was accomodating to us but somewhat disloyal to his staff. Do you really tell a customer that their waitress was going to only be working for another week? As if keeping someone who clearly doesn't have joy in what they do is okay if you shrug your shoulders.  Anyhow thanks to our complaint, our meal was comped. Which wasn't completely necessary but a nice offer.

The food was pretty good, the company was excellent and ultimately it might be someplace I might go again.  3 stars.

Restaurant Review: Meritage (St. Paul) AKA My Adventures with Pig

We haven’t been back to eat at Meritage since last fall and that was well before they knocked through the wall and tossed Annie’s Ice Cream out on their ear from the Hamm Building.  Okay so technically it was up to the building’s owner to allow annie’s ice cream to stay in the building but, well, I imagine the idea of Meritage expanding was a whole lot better than a sort of worn down family owned and operated established icecream stand/card shop.
Anyhow we decided in the gloom and doom of the pending snowy weekend to depart from our usual skyway fast food fare and eat at the newly created oyster bar for lunch today…mostly because I couldn’t seem to get the idea of tuna tartare tacos outta my head, since receiving one for an amuse busche last fall.

So we sat at the bar.  I must say the new renovations and bar area at Meritage are quite comfortable and I typically don’t like sitting at bars but this was very nice.  The bar is stainless steel and the soft spoken bartender was attentive (of course we were his only customer as it was only a little after 11)

I ordered a tuna tartare taco, a pepsi/coke, and a grilled brie sandwich and fries.

The tuna tartare taco came out.  And maybe it was because it was free the last time, but I remember it tasting a little more zippier.  That said, it was still delicious and somehow the combination of the crunch of the cute mini taco shell and the soft velvety unctuousness of tuna cubes just works.

Then we waited.  And waited.  And just when I was thinking “how long does it take to make a grilled cheese sandwich?” the waitress came with another amuse busche…confit pig’s tongue.

Uh, what?

Seriously, I realize we are in a world where foodies abound and want to try different things BUT, I don’t know if the chef realized that I ordered a relatively safe grilled cheese sandwich?

I actually consider myself pretty adventurous.  I know what I like and there are a few things that I don’t like.  I like liver pate.  I don’t like onions.  Tongue is way outta my comfort zone.  But if Andrew Zimmern and Anthony Bourdain can eat it on a regular basis, I was game.  Of course they also eat disgusting things like fried maggots so I’m not sure that was really solid reasoning.

It tasted like a really rich, kind of melt in your mouth pork roast.  You know that inner cut that has been roasting for an hour in it’s own fat (which is pretty much what confit is…)  They gave me two pieces.  I wasn’t sure if this was a couple of slices of the tongue or if pigs tongues were small and thereby I was eating two of them.  And there was a sort of odd shape to them.  Anyhow, I ate the first piece quickly, with a follow-up cleansing rinse of pepsi and all was good…so long as I didn’t remind myself I was eating an actual tongue.  The second piece was fine too.  But I don’t think it will be anything I will be dreaming about anytime soon.

What is it about amuse busche’s that make me feel guilty.  It’s sort of like the chef is saying, “I know you are hungry and I want to gift you with my masterpiece creation.”  Something in me always feels like I have to eat it or insult the chef….and as long as it isn’t onions, green peppers or anything remotely spicy, I will probably eat it. (although I do like French onion soup so I’m not sure even that is accurate?)

Ten minutes went by and I still hadn’t received the brie sandwich.  Was I missing something?  It’s bread, butter, and brie.  Oh and some sort of apple jam.  Yep that’s gotta be what was holding it up.  Oh and they had to fry their yummy pommes frites.

The tv over the bar was playing CNN without the sound and close-captioning.  I might say that either the autocorrect on the close captioning was terribly off or someone needs to learn both grammar and spelling.  Terrible! Randi Kaye looks great though - haven't seen her since her local news days.

The sandwich finally arrived.  The fries were delicious.  Seriously among the best French fries in the the twin cities.  The sandwich was really fried to a perfect brown crispness.  The melty brie was good.  I wish they had put the apple jam on the side.  It was just a little much and the spice mix didn’t really work for me with the brie.

The bill arrived. $3.00 for a pepsi?  Really?  Seems a rip-off when it’s the same pepsi I get in the food court for a 1.00.  Oh it must be the glass.

All in all it was good.  And I can check off “tongue” on my list of culinary adventures.

Three stars

Editor's note: To die for Steak Frittes is my favorite meal here...Bearnaise and fries have got to be one of my favorite combinations. It's a little pricey but for a special treat...so good. 

Snow Blogging

This is probably the 50th blog post I've written over the last year.  yep - guess there's a lot to say, but when I read it, it's merely the ramblings of some really confused single woman over 40 who really shouldn't be blogging.  It's like drunk texting (although seriously I've sent maybe 2 or 3 texts total in my years of having a cell phone - I just don't see the novelty.)  Although I can't use the excuse of drinking because I have one bottle of wine and a full bottle of brandy in the cupboard and both have been around for over a year and a 1/2.

And so I'm going to give up trying to write the things that are confusing me right now and concentrate on this blog for recording observations of 2011. 

I know I'm short but is anyone else bothered by the HUGE piles of snow strategically placed at the very end of driveways or streets?  There should be a law that says you need to keep them under 3 feet.    Its not like it wouldn't be a true blessing for my car to be crashed, but c'mon more than likely it wouldn't do that much damage and the driver who hits me will probably be uninsured (just like the two other drivers who hit my car on two separate instances last year. 

Gleek

Okay, I admit I'm a gleek...it serves to reason that even though I can't sing a note, I did hang out with choir people and really enjoyed watching dance line and enjoyed my time on forensics/speech team in high school and college so...yep I'm a gleek.  I think what I appreciate about this show is that they mix things up.  I can't say that every episode has been my favorite (case in point, last week's episode a-la brittany spears was a bit too music video and not enough story line for me) but I still watched it and had fun.

I missed yesterday's episode thanks to the fact that I had other stuff going on but thanks to fox online, caught up tonight.  I'd say the episode was spot on, and while maybe a little slow in some places it did feed my curisity to explore a couple of ideas.

I grew up knowing there is a God right from the moment I was born.  Okay, maybe that is pushing it, but I am blessed with a family who believes in God and I have quite a few people in my life who have fueled my belief system that God exists, that He loves me and that He does have a plan for my life.

The episode started off with Finn making a grilled cheese that ended up burning a face of jesus onto the bread.  He started praying to grilled cheesus. 

Yep, a whole lot wrong with that theologically but honestly that's one of the things that I struggle with ...I pray and believe in God and don't have any idea what he looks like and some days it's just like talking to air which in turn makes that prayer a whole lot meaningless. 

For a non-christian how do move beyond this etherial idea that God doesn't exist and jump full force into believing and praying and worshiping God with all your heart ?  You hold onto the image in a grilled cheesus to look at and maybe you end up only pointing to the cheese instead of Jesus. 

But maybe instead it helps you understand more this God you've heard about and makes you turn and look further. 

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.


3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 4By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

...By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

...Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

...these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring[b] will be reckoned."[c] 19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

[And seriously, I read this story for the first time with my small group a year and a half ago and thought to myself - would I be able to do what Abraham did at God's promise?  What would I even do with a voice from God commanding me or commissioning me to do something?]

Hebrews 11 continues....32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned[f]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

How often are we just thinking about the here and now or the twenty years from now and how often are we thinking about forever?


Anyhow...I cried.  The I want to hold your hand song was almost too much for me.  I call my dad and mom every day.  I cannot even imagine a day when I can't hear their voice but I know in my heart that day is getting closer.

The only part of the episode that is getting a bit tiresome is Lea Michelle's character.  Maybe that's what the writers want the audience to feel for her but honestly she annoys me that sometimes I can't even listen to her sing.

It was a good episode, even though I know some people thought it was too depressing.  I think sometimes comedies need to take a step back and toss in something else...a-la the family ties episode where Alex gets hooked on drugs...

Mall of America

I met up with an old friend at the mall of america this past weekend.  Jennifer and I were friends in junior high and although she lived on the other side of town and ended up going to a different high school, we remained in contact with each other and through other friends throughout the years.  At some point she was even married to one of jerry's closest friends...although I have to admit that we weren't that type of friends that I ever was invited to or went to any of her weddings.  She divorced Dave years ago and we lost track of each other but thanks to facebook...we've caught up again and she's married to a nice man named jim.

Jennifer and Jim were at a concert in Rockford IL and decided that they wanted to go to the House on the Rock (which is located in Spring Green, WI and nowhere near the Mall of America)  Somehow they decided that they were already that far north, why not go visit the Mall of America? 

I have to admit I've always wanted the kind of lifestyle to just get in the car and go like that, but somehow my weekends are more along the lines of staying close to home.

So she wrote that they were in town and did I live anywhere close to the Mall of America, to which I said (like any good minnesotan) of course I live 20 minutes from there.  It's a running joke that almost anything in the twin cities takes approximately 20 minute to drive...except maybe anywhere in carver county (which takes an hour)

So I had plans to be at church until 12:30 and decided since I hadn't really talked to them, that I would just head to the mall and "meet them".  I walked around the third floor and fourth floor...looking at the new stores and noting some of the places I might like to visit the next time insanity rules and I decide to wander over to the mall.

It was insanely busy...like everyone was grasping hold to one last shopping spree before school starts.  It wasn't quite as bad as the day after thanksgiving but it was close...

I like the mall of america for only one reason and that is that there are a few stores that have eclectic stuff in them so that when I have to get a gift for that hard to shop for person, I can typically wander around and get ideas.  Also christmas is coming and I need to start shopping.

So around 2 p.m. I finally got in contact with Jennifer and low and behold they were on 3rd floor and working their way downstairs.  Typically the tourists in my group of friends and family make it at least to 2nd floor and decide they've had enough of the mall, but Jennifer and Jim made it through all four floors.  And bought a few items too.  They seemed to gravitate to the stores that were my favorites so it wasn't a hardship and we also had time to catch up and most chat about nothing in particular.

I rather appreciate conversations with friends that work this way...the conversation that just leaps in without the idea that we really haven't seen each other for 20 years but yet we can just pick up and start talking without wandering through the "stuff".

Sure there are times that we'd forget that there are people  in our respective lives that we don't know but still...it was great to just take some time to just catch up.

Anyone interested in grabbing a burger?  Not exactly sure where this burger bar is open but there were signs up.

Oh, and really...is it really necessary to open a shaving store?  The picture  of eating baked spaghetti on the terrace of tucci bennuch and watching gentlemen getting shaved just doesn't sit well with me and seems like an unnecessary thing in the mall.

remembering Erik

Tomorrow will be the one year anniversary of my cousin Erik's death.  It's not something I think of often and I'm not really like my mom, who keeps a calendar of "death" days alongside her birthday calendar.

I have to admit I've been thinking about him lately because I knew this anniversary was approaching.

The one thing he always wanted was for a woman to love him.  I remember the few years that he was "engaged".  He just seemed so completely in love with the idea of being loved.

I can't say that I blame him.  It's tough to live this life alone.  But more so, it's just nice to have people in your life that look forward to sharing life with you and who take time to consider what life is like with you inside of theirs.

I think everyone deep down wants to be loved.  To have another person care enough to share something so ordinary but also to be considered.

Now my mom and family keep trying to tell me that they are concerned when I ramble this way because they worry that I don't think THEY love me.  I know my family loves me and I hope they know I love them.  But romantic love is just way different and much like Erik, I have a dream that someday, I will find someone to consider who is considerate right back.  Gosh, that's not that much to ask for but seriously, I've failed at this so far.

So to Erik - I'm sorry you didn't experience all of love here on this earth but I'm sure that heaven has been a more stellar experience for you than I can even imagine.

Songs in my head...

Airport

So in the next few weeks the Humphrey and Lindberg Terminals will be changing to the even more clear Terminal 1 and Terminal 2.  We've allocated funding to change this to help people better understand where to go and particularly for visitors to know which terminal they need to depart from.  I recall when I visited here as  much as 20 years ago, it was always a little confusing when I went back to the airport to determine which terminal I needed to go to, but I always figured it out.  I'm not entirely sure that changing the signs to an equally obscure terminal 1 and 2 and adding a list of airlines will help when traveling by at 65 miles per hour.

$5.00 Video bin

Okay, I admit to being one of the possibly soul-less people who rollback and shop at the evil empire. Personally I don't have a problem with that or eating IHOP pancakes made from caged chicken producing eggs. I truly just don't think I'm a "cause" kind of gal. Or maybe I just like IHOP Pancakes?

But there are rollback prices at this store that I honestly just think it's convenient to shop there and I don't mind paying $2.95 for a box of cereal instead of $5.00. Also they typically carry discounted books and I'm kind of addicted.

Alas, I was wandering through the movie section and while I didn't actually see many movies in the $5.00 bin that I just had to have there were a few there that I thought I could own:

Some Kind of Wonderful - who doesn't like a glove with the fingers cut off pixie haired drummer falls in love with best friend movie from the 80's?

Battlestar Gallactica. Okay so I wasn't exactly thinking about this for myself but perhaps for christmas gifts?

100 episodes of Tom and Jerry and Mighty Mouse

The Prince & Me - I'm a sucker for a cinderella movie, regardless if it's good or even plausible for wisconsin (and I don't need to buy it because I already own it)

Mallrats - classic!

Son-In-Law - who doesn't remember fondly Pauly Shore as the loveable RA?

And yes, I guess what I'm saying is it doesn't really cost that much to amuse me ... from the $5.00 bin or perhaps the breakfast menu at our friendly neighborhood IHOP (which, BTW - I have coupons...how can THAT be wrong?) Oh yeah, those poor caged chickens.

Oscar

While surely the oscars honor some mighty fine actors, I just have issues honoring people for seemingly rather easily portraying the same character in movie after movie. And yep you guessed it, this is a short rant about the movie Up in the Air. I just don't really understand how any of the characters or the actual movie deserves such high praise. Sure it was a whole lot less predictable that When in Rome BUT george clooney merely flirted and played himself and the other non memorable actress didn't really wow me either.

Then again, I really haven't been to the movies lately where anything really was spectacularly good. Perhaps I'm just in a glass half empty sort of funk?

Multi-Grain

Really - I understand we all are striving to be more healthy and add more fiber to our diets however when I think of healthy typically I'm not reaching for a can of pringles and there just is something a little wrong with multi-grain pringles.

And yes, I'm going to attempt to reserruct the blog. I've abandoned it lately to focus my wasting time efforts on things like farming imaginary farms and trying to blast jewels to outer space in under a minute. But alas, the words are starting to feel a little jumbled in my mind again maybe they'll come out?

I can't say it's been an easy year and I've really been struggling lately. But more about that to come as I attempt to embrace the journey.

Album Review: Harmonic Distortion

I somewhat tongue in cheek wrote on facebook the other day that this was one album that I anticipated as much as I did shaun cassidy's album back in the 1970's.

We have a worship leader at church by the name of Brian Smith. By a completely outsider's observation, he's pretty quiet, fiercely dedicated to his family - particularly his three young daughters, and he's a wickedly good guitar player. (there's this vague memory I have from years and years ago that I may have heard him play the mandolin but don't quote me on that.)

Over the last several years he has steadily written music and shared with us at theAlley - the church we all worship at in Cottage Grove, MN. He has a low, gravelly raspy voice.

He has invited some of his most talented friends to join in this project, and for those of us who know and like him a little bit, I can honestly say that it's a fun project and it's great to have something like this to carry along on my ipod now. Who knows where this will lead but God has blessed all of these people with gifts beyond measure and we are blessed to share their talents.

My favorites

Your Plans - I think I like Stans electric guitar solos best on this song...he's just so fun to watch play that I can just envision what he was like in the studio recording this.

Relentless - we've sung this song in worship several times and the words are so appropriate to my relationship with God. When I wander - how amazing is it that God is there when I finally turn around. I know brian will probably hate this statement but - it's a catch tune to bop your head to - particularly the chorus.

Lose this Life - I like the soft beginning and the driving guitar that cuts in. The mixture of Paula and Brian's voice is great. Just a great canvas for all these talents.

When All Else Fails - simple. lovely.

Want to know more about this project? Visit: harmonicdistortion.org

Restaurant Review: Twin City Grill

It's been awhile since I really went out to eat as I'm trying to watch money and I really just haven't felt like going out much by myself. A friend I work with was in town from Mississippi and staying out near the mall of america so I met her there on friday night and we decided to do dinner.

For me there are three main choices there and we settled on Twin Cities Grill because the bus driver from the hotel had also recommended it to her.

We started dinner with an appetizer of bacon wrapped scallops which were tasty. We both agreed that this was a better way to eat them rather than a whole meal of them. The dipping sauce (some sort of sweet/sour thing) was just a little sweet, but the scallops were perfectly cooked and luciously tasty.

I had the twin filet with bernaise sauce. Perfectly cooked beef really does prove that you don't really need a knife to cut it like buttah. My friend had chicken. I'm glad I didn't order it because it really was pretty much the whole chicken (without the head and feet of course) . I'm not a big fan of chicken on the bone, but she said it was some of the best chicken she had eaten.

They also have sides you can order separately and we ordered creamed spinach and aspargus. Both were okay...I've tasted better but it was still pretty tasty.

Both meals came with a choice of potato. We both had mashed, which also were delicious.

Portion size was huge and prices weren't bad for a restaurant at the mall.

We also had fresh squeezed lemonade. I'm a little bit of a picky person when it comes to lemonade...I know it's fresh squeezed but really it is annoying to suck up pits through a straw. They should work on that.

All in all it was a lovely meal with a fun friend from far away.

Three 1/2 stars of five.

Restaurant Review: CRAVE @ MOA

Since I was @ the MOA wandering the mall with the masses looking for the perfect christmas gift and since it was still lunchtime and since there wasn't a line, I thought I'd check out Crave, as I have been hearing about it from friends and others. (And my godmother sent me $20 for a pre-holiday treat.)

I was seated immediately by a friendly host, who I learned, in the short time that we walked to the table, that he too had not started his christmas shopping AND that he was from Chicago. Yep, he was chatty, but I was kind of encouraging it, so he wasn't really that overbearing.

I was seated by the kitchen. Now most people would find this annoying, but it was the perfect spot for not only watching the cook line, but it allowed me the ability to see what the menu looked like as it was waiting to be served.

The menu for lunch isn't large but it seemed to have a variety of little appetizers, burgers, pizza, pasta and more expensive entrees.

For some reason sushi sounded good. (I know! I typically avoid it because I dislike the sushi made with seaweed thanks to one really bad experience at Fugiya and I can never remember which version is that type of sushi.)

Kudos to them - they clearly explained on their menu what each item was and what made it tasty and that really whetted my craving for sushi - so bonus points to the menu writer.

Actually I have to say that menu writing is truly a lost art form. Everything sounded just lovely. I could almost lick the spoon from the description they gave for their tomato pesto soup.

So I had two different types of sushi - safe bet salmon and yellowfin tuna. I also am a bread lover from way back and on their appetizer menu they advertise a basket of artesian breads for $1.95 or $2.95 for a full basket so I ordered a 1/2 basket of bread, if only to see exactly what made it artesean.

The bread basket was just a bunch of toasted french bread with two different types of butter oh and I guess what made it artesean is that they also had two crunchy breadsticks with it. I guess bread is a craft and I guess the honey walnut butter was a lovely sweet addtion to the bread. They also had this chipolte butter too but it was a little too zingy for my minnesotan palate. (How do you like that - I've grown a minnesotan pallate in the 11 years I've been here!)

They have a lot of staff there - seemingly running around. Maybe because I was so close to the food prep area that it just seemed this way? For as many staff as there was, my waitress took forever to bring me the lemonade I ordered and it seemed to take a long time to prepare sushi. How difficult is it to mush some rice together and thinly slice fish?

(I know I'm probably going to have hate mail from the sushi masters of america but c'mon. Am I wrong?)

I could tell the cranky older woman and her equally grumpy husband were also getting irritated by the amount of time it took to get their order taken.

Anyhow...aside from the waitstaff, the sushi was pretty tasty. As you can probably tell I don't know much about it. I know what I like. I know I don't have a clue of how to work a set of chopsticks in my small, kindergardener sized hands and as much as I try to follow the protocol of putting the whole piece in my mouth - that's just too large of a bite. And so yes, I scooped it up with my fingers and dipped it into the wasabi infused soy sauce. The salmon was salmon...kind of tasted like the salmon you get to put on a good schmear with a bagel. The yellowfin too was tasty but I'm not exactly sure I'd order it again for a $1.00 more. Didn't taste all that different.

While I was sitting there the chef who was in charge of expediting the orders (see I KNEW TOP CHEF would come in handy in real life.) asked his line if anyone knew how to make their muffeltta sandwich. To apparent blank stares from every one of his chefs. So he called one over and explained in clear step by step instruction how to make it. It sounded really pretty tasty too - but how can salami, ham, olive tappenade and cheese really be that bad (other than perhaps for sodium and cholesterol levels).

Their dessert menu was somewhat small and kind of overpriced. $7.95 for a piece of cake.

The other meals I saw pass by my table looked tasty. The pastas in particular are probably something I would order. The buns for their sandwiches looked flaky and buttery. I saw a scallop and shrimp item that also looked tasty. They also have these vegatable chips that intrigued me. Although, again really - put anything into a deep fryer until crispy and put salt on it and I might find it edible.

I'll also say they have a fun menu for drinks. So if I were to go back to the MOA for a date (if they are still open in 5 years when my next date will probably be) or say out with friends, I'd stop there for a drink and some appetizers.

3 1/2 stars...mostly because it's at the MOA and that's one of my LEAST favorite places to venture but if you are there, and have a craving - it might be worth a stop.

Insurance

So my employer is changing insurance plans yet again. And going to a cafeteria style plan instead of everyone getting the same thing we now have a "choice". The thing about this is that really aside from the last year and a half battle with inner ear woes and mono I've been relatively healthy. I really haven't had a cavity and my vision has stayed pretty much the same. However in looking over the plans I realized that really the difference between being fully covered and maybe being covered by having to pay a higher deductible was really only saving me $12.00 a paycheck. When I think about $12.00 that is just so insignificant of an amount to "save" and spin the roulette wheel of luck and hope that I stay healthy or have to pay a higher percent of doctors, hospital stay etc.

I've seen the hospital bills from what my dad has had to pay. I've seen what it cost me to ride an ambulance eight blocks that time I had a panic attack at work and they couldn't find my pulse and sent me to the ER.

In an instant $12.00 seems like a small amount to part with for the knowledge of being covered. I'll skip eating two lunches at Arby's and boy I'm feeling healthier already.