Leftover Chinese Only Told Half the Story

Remember when I posted wallpaper pictures of my childhood home? I think I said something about how it's the main reason I'm comfortable surrounded by solid white. Over the weekend, I was looking around again and noticed that I forgot the curtains/shades. Yes. The curtains matched the wallpaper.


The wallpaper in one room is the window shade in another. They work together!


In the high school bedroom, we've got the Space Exploration pattern against a blue/white lattice. This did nothing to stop the sun in the morning.


Note the awesome headboard. Note the blankets on the windows. On the opposite walls: jungle pattern.


I'm not sure what this is, but it covers the top portion of the windows. The pattern is pretty complex.


Bathroom. Legible walls. Towel curtains...again.


You should have seen the old shades. They looked like a layer of wavy blankets. The pattern on the fabric is something you find on a vase or something...

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Leftover Chinese Counts Up

1 - Number of Laundromats I currently sit in front of while I ponder my birthday. It's nice out today.
2 - Loads of rugs from my parents house that are currenly sitting in the washers.
3 - Years since I got a big raise at the day job and felt like I was "going somwhere."
4 - Number of hours of random television I watched last night.
5 - Years since I left college, got a job, and thought I'd have a concrete plan by now.
6 - Consecutive days that I've consumed turkey.
7 - Total number of times I've seen an actual dentist or doctor in my lifetime.
8 - Years since I lived with cockroaches.
9 - The approximate frequency in months that I visit this laundromat.
10 – Years since I’ve spoken to some people I’ve encountered in the last three weeks. They say I’m exactly as they remember me. Not sure if that’s good or bad.
11 – Months that have flown by in what feels like the fastest calendar year ever.
12 - Years since I got my drivers license.
13 – Number of people my nuclear family counting wives and kids.
14 - Halfway between 1978 and now. Not a pivotal year. Same might be said of this one.
15 - Age my mother still thinks I am based on this quote regarding a restaurant we just might dine at tonight: “Oh, they say it’s a good restaurant for teenagers.”
16 - Days a month I have band practice.
17 - Years from now, I'll be 45.
18 – I don't have anything signifcant here, but when I was loading my wash, the angry woman next to me was complaining about her comforter not being dry and I almost stopped her and said: "of course it's not dry...it's a washer."
19 - Fill in the blank.
20 – The number that pretty much everybody I know can say in reference to ‘years ago’ and have that memory be pretty vivid.
21 - Years that I've known some people whom I discovered on MySpace.
22 - Years since Van Halen released '1984.'
23 - Pretty rough year in retrospect.
24 - The number I played in Wednesday's Powerball Lottery and went zero for five.
25 - Was apparently the quarter-life crisis age, but I tend to care less about what's next these days.
26 - Letters in the alphabet.
27 - Much busier than 26.
28 – Age at which my father said he was pulling down $300 a month as an intern in a New Jersey hospital and when my brother got engaged to his now-wife and said: “yeah, it’s about time.”

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Leftover Chinese and Teeth

I'm not scared of the dentist, I've just been too lazy to schedule an appointment for the last ten years. Over that time a friend of mine went to college, finished dental school, and set up shop in this city. So I figure now's a good time over any. The verdict: four minor cavities, a filling that needs repair, and wisdom teeth that are okay as long as they don't cause pain. Good times.


Easy enough to get done in the morning. 20-Across (Illinois City) shows up in the NYT as well.


This was completed on the city bus with screaming high school kids all around me. Was I like that? Probably. 45-Down (Homeland to Horace) makes sense...but who the hell is Horace? 36-Across (Motto of New Hampshire) is my favorite state motto. I like being threatened by a state.

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Leftover Chinese Explodes the Fridge



After having one pre-thanksigiving dinner with the entire family yesterday and a lunch visit from the parents today, I'm left with quite a bit to consume. By my count, I have two days to consume leftovers of ten dishes and two cakes. High sodium, high flavor. Ready. Set. Fork.

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Leftover Chinese Tries to Stay Awake

On occasion, I wonder what exactly it is I'm supposed to be doing at my desk all day long when my necessary obligations are met. I don't get stir-crazy wondering if I should be always be doing something because I'd like to think that by making sure my desk doesn't defy the laws of gravity I'm at least accomplishing something.

So what else is new?

The mp3 player carousel continues with the acquisition of a new tech toy as a big fat happy birth-mas present to myself. My jogging companion was a nice fill-in, but I didn't have the time to keep cycling 1 GB of music in and out of the player. Now I can sit on the train in peace and not have to listen to phone screamers, mushy couples, or the Mr.Loud-earphones of the world.

Did you know that the Heinz company bottles and sells different kinds of gravy? Well. They do. It's not even that expensive. For a fraction (okay, half) of what a bottle of ketchup costs, you can pour beef, chicken, or mushroom gravy all over your dinner. Stay tuned for a comprehensive comparison. So far...the chicken gravy tastes like it should.

Kris was correct about Monday's puzzle sort of. 'Dees' should be 'Deer'. 'Yats' should be 'Yaks'. Fair enough. I don't claim to be an expert.

The Queue is back up. I restarted the Netflix subscription because I felt compelled to rewatch They Live. The frightening thing about re-upping with them is that all I had to do was click 'yes' to restart. They still had my credit card info AND my old queue in tact. Considering that I had to make a telephone to cancel in the first place, they sure make it easy to volunteer your money.

Hrm. What else. I discovered two blogs this week.
- First up: Blank Top. File this as a "everybody is stupid" blog, we read the sort of things taxi service dispatchers put with. Some of it is trite, but most of it is hilarious.
- Secondly: Permanent Monday. An apparent philosophy major makes insightful, yet dead-pan observations about Garfield comic strips. Both should be required reading.

Thanksgiving week ahead. Get them turkey churners ready.

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Leftover Chinese Looks Out



Ever feel like you're on the wrong side of the 'out' door and the path to the real 'out' is probably somewhere else but you're not sure where exactly that is...and at the same time everything around you is uncertain yet you're relatively safe for the time being?

That's how I sometimes feel about my daytime career.

Actually that's a horrible metaphor for the picture. I was getting my car washed this weekend and the above picture turned out okay.


Easy Monday puzzle today.

I've never heard 1-across (Change the Length) used before in conversation. Ever.
10-across (Hunter's Prey) and 34-Down (Chatters) is a bit of a stretch. I could be wrong on both accounts.
16-across (Chocolate Cookie) is getting a bit too common these days.

Back to the usual.

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Leftover Chinese Continues November

So the antacid habit has gone from 'zero to dependency' in one week. Well. It's not that bad, but I did buy a pack of rollaids after lunch today because I forgot my generic Walgreens ones back home. The unnecessary Italian Beef sandwich will pass without any incident.

I suppose I could just eat healthier, but that's not the solution.

Through the power of the internets, I purchased a flash compatible to my camera. It's one of those directional flashes that lets you bounce the light off walls and ceilings. Since mine was a relatively inexpensive piece of sh- er, equipment, I kepe thinking it will fall apart whenever I change the flash angle. I can tell early on it will take some time learning the ins and outs of flash blubs.



Happy weekend.

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Leftover Chinese Celebrates Election Day


America is deciding policy for the next two years, but more importantly...Breaking news.

Sigh.

During my voting session this evening, a voter in a neighboring box broke out in laughter. I can only assume he wasn't laughing at the gun referendum. The state happened to be asking us if we wanted a speedy withdrawl from Iraq. I spent a few minutes thinking about this because we can't just pick up and leave...but yes. I voted 'yes'.

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Leftover Chinese and the Losing Streak


More people are showing up at the United Center these days.

Starting off the night with sixteen chicken wings turned out to be the high point. Then we went to the see the Bucks play the Bulls. My friend CJ, a Bucks fan, recently moved to the city and learned the same, painful lesson that I learned when I first moved here: The Bucks don't play well at the United Center (lost nine out of the last eleven in Chicago). I've yet to see them win a game in person in this city.

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Leftover Chinese Should be Posting More Often

I know that the two to three people who hit the site on a daily basis seek the news, a crossword puzzle, or even a hilarious anecdote. Lately I've been too busy doing things to step back and mock my life.

Most of time I just don't want to sit here and write because I have things to do...like, you know, watch TV, give my cat needed attention, or stew in my own thoughts after having to be 'on' for weeks straight (that's correct, not hours but weeks...I've engineered things to the point I'm always supposed to be 'on'. It's actually a good feeling most of the time). This bolg was established to keep those who don't live around here informed of what's going on in my world, so I guess a dry recap on this easy Friday would be nice.

Hmm...where do I start?

I recently completed a streak where I had to be at a band rehearsal or performance in eight out of nine days. Don't worry, I still have a day job and didn't catch a flu or cold. During that streak, nothing but good times occurred such as: driving thirty miles to eat at a Ponderosa steak house; seeing the hard work pay off in the form of compliments (rather than polite indifference); and discovering a band the other night that I enjoyed watching.

I really can't think back to what happened before last week.

Last night I had a night on the couch and realized that television programming is a lot different now than it was in 2003 when I watched a lot of TV. Also, is it just me or are campaign ads sponsored by groups rather than candidates the norm now? Is this now a new way to get around campaign finance rules?

The only thing that really needs 'fixing' in my world involves contemplating a career change or move in my day job field...but since I'm in no danger of losing my current job, I don't really need to 'fix' anything (unless I really want a raise).

The newspaper is finally arriving on a daily basis but now the mail delivery is inconsistent. I guess I can't have it all.

I recently started a fantasy basketball league with a $10 pay-in despite never ever finishing higher than 4th or 5th place in ANY league participation. What makes you think the tide will change now?

Today I went to the local Pharmacy/Convenience Store (I use the term 'local' loosely since in downtown Chicago, Walgreens or CVS Pharmacies are on every block) and bought toothpaste to resume the work-brushing, hand lotion, and for the first time in my life: Antacid tablets.

That last one makes me feel sort of old.

Last night, my friend Dan said that back in the 80's and 90's, heart-medicine commercials showed only old, white males so everybody thought only old white guys got heart attacks. The same can be said for heartburn. My family never used them, so based on media exposure I thought only fat, white guys got heartburn. That's not the case.

Despite adding coffee to my regular diet, my blood pressure consistently registers in the normal 120/80 range. Yes. I still use the BP machine. Good times.

So that's about all worth airing on the le internets. Normal programming resumes as soon as I can get some crossword puzzles done and/or I experience something that will make you chuckle.

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