Amber & As Good As You Remembered

I used to love Northern Exposure.

I used to watch it every week and delight in the exploits of the big city doctor who finds himself in a quirky (but charming) small Alaskan town.  When I visited Talkeetna, I took pleasure in knowing that knowing it was the real life location inspiration for the show.  And, I even got the cookbook!

Now, I've watched the show recently and it does not stand the test of time.  The doctor is a trite caricature of a New York Jew ("oy!"  "bagels!"  "moose!"), the "natives" are an embarrassing mystical wise yet simple people and... it's just not that funny.

But, that cookbook still stands the test of time in the form of a baked burrito recipe.  I don't have the cookbook anymore (I think Ed was the character to whom it was attributed?), and I've made the recipe so many times I don't actually refer to it anymore.  And, I think the original called for some kind of chicken or beef, but I used ground turkey.  And I added spinach.  And I forgot the cilantro.  So, really, maybe I'm not making the exact recipe.

But boy are they delicious all the same.  So much more enjoyable than the show.  And longer lasting.

Amber & Diversity and Ancestry

Kevin and I were talking today about species diversity.  You know: horse, pony, mule, donkey, zebra.  And maybe Przewalski's Horse.

And that made us think of Homonids.  And how there used to be so many more of us: Humans, Neanderthals, Homo Florensis.  And now we are all alone.

And that made me think back to when Neanderthals had pets.  You remember the part in The Inheritors where Fa and Lok are petting their pet pint-size Eodromaeus?

A little known fact about the Eodromaeus is that its full name is the Homo Bigtiggula, which is actually--and you can totally tell by looking at it--one of Tiggy Winkle's ancient ancestors.

See her there?  Walking in the footsteps of her wild, woodland ancestors?  Or, see the similarity here?

Science and history.

Amber & Something's Fishy

This time of year, I start to crave Fish House Punch.

We were friends for many years, FHP and I, and many holiday parties were well and festively spent together.  (Although there are stories out there about people who had too much of a good thing and then woke up with the Abominable Snowman stomping around their heads.)

Wikipedia tells us the root story of my favorite winter punch might just commemorate ladies being allowed into the Schuykill Fishing Club for the first time and that it was concocted to "please the ladies' palate but get them livelier than is their usual wont."  Exactly: being a lady I can say that it is indeed both palate-pleasing and lively-making.

Plus, every cocktail should have its own song.

There's a little place just out of town,
Where, if you go to lunch,
They'll make you forget your mother-in-law
With a drink called Fish-House Punch.

Amber & Target Demographic

So, I was just in D.C. overnight for biznusses.  And I stayed at the lovely Quincy hotel, mostly because it was cheap and also right around the corner from where the biznusses were conducted.  (And because my old apartment at the Argonne has probably been rented.)  There were several notable things about the Quincy which I will proceed to note hereforth.

1.  The couch in my room was totally the larger L version of my home couch.  Same fabric, same feet shape, same velcro attachments for the pillows.

Same, same, same-- except less cat fur.  And no sheet covering it to protect it from cats or little decorator pillows or Ginger.

2.  There was a very strange music thing happening, both in that they chose to blast all of the songs from my "HS Memories" playlist in the lobby (see sidebar), but also because, very randomly, there was a Billy Squier album cover on the wall on my floor near the elevator.

True, they never played any Billy Squier in the lobby, but there he was, gazing at me while I waited for the elevator.  This prompted Kevin to say, "This must be a hotel for young people."  And that made me laugh uproariously since that album came out before some of my younger friends were born.

3.  There was a giant mirror against the wall.  (Even bigger than yours, CRD.)  It made me realize that I really need a full length mirror if I am going to avoid making outfit mistakes like that one time I wore the balloon top out in public.  Or, maybe just forgetfully not make outfit choices at all.

4.  In this big mirror, I also noticed that my skirt (seen here with the oddly ruffly sweater, both acquired during my total blogging black out at Outlet Mall Weekend Edition of Awesome Club) matched the orange couch pillows.

Is there such a thing as fate?  Are some matches are meant to be?  E.g.,  My skirt + the couch pillows? Me + The Quincy?  This must be a hotel for me.

 Billy Squier doesn't want me to embed his video as my conclusion, but it's here.  But, we also heard this song in the lobby, and it made me touch my heart in nostalgia and emotion.  And a voice inside my head said, "Don't look back-- you can never look back."



Except at the Quincy.

Amber & I Love Pooh

And not just Classic Pooh or Pooh from those Taoist books.  I was raised on Sears & Roebuck Disney Pooh with the red half-shirt, and Piglett in the pink-stripe leotard.  And I love that Pooh.  I loved my aforeblogged Talking Viewmaster Viewer with the amazing depth to the images, but I also loved the flatter hand-painted animations.  Like with the Heffalumps and Woozles.

(Yes, that Pooh nightmare gave me nightmares, but it was a growth experience.)

So just imagine my excitement, when Jimmy directed my attention to this.



I cried. That is how excited I am.  Who is in for a midnight screening on the day it opens?  Huh?

Come on, people.  It's Pooh.  And there seems to be a honey dream/dance sequence.

Love.

Amber & Baby Kevin

It was on this day in history that baby Kevin entered the world.  He was very small and probably wrinkly, like babies are, but I imagine he looked something like this.

Only maybe he didn't have glasses then.  But that scarf is from his heritage and so it seems likely they swaddled him in that in the hospital.

Well, today we celebrate that day, long, long and almost six feet tall ago.  Several rotations of the hands of this clock have passed, anyway.

(Photo by Jimmy)

And, now Kevin is my professional colleague in addition to being my morale booster, musical entertainment, life advice coacher, and truly wonderful friend.  He is also a snappy dresser--this jacket is also heritage, so maybe this was what he wore to his Christening?

(Photo by Jimmy)

Kevin is the kind of loyal, heartful friend that you need for your first chakra.  If someone is going to pack up the contents of your life and present them to you in a U-Haul truck, you want it to be Kevin.

(Photo by Jimmy)

 Kevin will present you with the truth (maybe that you are a hoarder) with humor and caring.  Kevin understands that you're just a regular person and he respects you for it.

Thanks, Kevin, for being born, and for being one of the smartest, generous, funniest, most celebratory, best-haired, book-lovingest, tallest, most dedicated, strongest, and kitty-lovingest people I know.  Had we not met sometime in between your birth and now, I would be much, much less and not at all who I am today.

So, Happy Birthday, Baby Kevin.  And Big Kevin, too.

Amber & History

I know you know about this already if I do.  And I know you know I love Jimmy Fallon, and you know I love me some J. Timberlake.  Add in the roots and some of my favorite songs and I find myself watching this every day lately. They're just so adorable.

Amber & Totally, Like Fer Shur

I just rewatched Valley Girl.  I really enjoyed it, mostly because* I remembered how much I had wanted to share a coke with Nicolas Cage and his amazing, amazing hair.  And how pretty Gunne Sax blouses were.

That was 27 years ago.  And this song still makes me, well, melt.



*Full disclosure: I am on muscle relaxants for a frozen shoulder.  And I didn't sleep at all last night. But I am sure that has nothing to do with my film taste.

Amber & Oh, My Queen

Thanks to the tornado (which I witnessed outside while picking up farm share and running a fever of 102), I had no Internet yesterday.  Time Warner's lady robot who answered their phone when I called yesterday from my sick bed, desperate for amusements, described it as a "storm-related outage" and assured me that the technicians knew how important my cable was to me and were trying to restore my service.  (She also didn't understand my responses when I said "yes, please."  Robots do not appreciate courtesy.)

But, it came back in the middle of the night with a vengeance, in the form of a dedicated foe of evil, defender of the weak, champion of truth and justice.

I loved Isis.  I remember very little about the show, except that it was on at the end of Saturday cartoons and that she would invoke various Egyptian gods to give her powers.  I would get the TV listings from the paper and then highlight the shows I wanted to watch so I would know to change the channel when needed at the right time.  And, I always changed to channel 3 for Isis.  I seem to remember some episode about an archeological dig?  Or maybe that was just the backstory in the opening credits?  I remember, though, that I loved it.  And so it must be good, right?

After all, she's a snappy dresser and a part of my heritage.  And she predates this other part of my heritage by about ten years.

I wonder if she will scare Nick, Diana, and Kevin as much as that younger heritage.

Amber & Blogging Can Only Get More Abundant

I promise.

Amber & The Art of Tray

River House is a long-standing tradition, spanning multiple actual houses, guests, hosts and kitty companions.  But one thing has remained constant: the necessity of Making a Tray.  A Tray can be featured for lunch, a light dinner, or for an appetizer course served while grilling dinner.  Beth, our first 2010 River Guest and an excellent start to the season, is seen here with a lunch tray, featuring garlic- and prosciutto-stuffed olives, cracked green olives, roasted red peppers, marinated sun-dried tomatoes, a baguette, multi-grain chips, genoa salami, marinated mozzarella, sliced pickle, sauteed zucchini slices, and prosciutto bread.

What all Trays do have in common are: a variety of tasty items for picking at, olives or other Italian specialities, some kind of bread or crackers, leftovers from the prior night's dinner which can be eaten on aforementioned bread or crackers, some kind of cheese, and accompanying cocktails.  The quintessence of Tray is really variety, tastiness, and savoriness.  And, ease.  Tray is all about easy deliciousness.  And fellowship.

Diana has raised the Tray game and made it more about antipasto.  And that is fine because it is still about variety, tastiness and savoriness.  And fellowship.

Also, it is about River.

Sorry, Ginger.  Tray is for people only.

Amber & End of Yore (I Promise)

Really?  This was my favorite song.

Amber & More Yore

I loved this song, and this version may actually be better than the original in so, so many, many ways.

Amber & Days of Yore

Yesterday, I became Facefriends with my college-freshman-year roommate Jamie.

Sure, this is the thing about Facebook; people from your past come out of the woodwork.  But, it's really kind of amazing.  Jamie and I actually hadn't spoken since we parted on not-great terms at the end of freshman year.  There's this amazingly good feeling that comes from recognizing just how far behind you those differences are and being able to share in those happy, happy, happy memories.

There's also a sense of wonder, both at the outfits that I chose (that is a Banana Republic skirt from back when they were actually safari-style gear and the name sort of made more sense), and at how very young we once were.  I am a baby in these photos!  Waaaa.  But I still have those pillow shams.

Jamie was hugely important to my transition to college which in turn was hugely important to who I am today.  I have so much appreciation for Facebook today, and for Jamie for making the effort to find me so that we could bask in the warm of nostalgia.

P.S.  And how wonderous and lucky is it that I have made the journey from babyhood to where I am now with James as my friend?

Or that he still has those crazy long toes?

Amber & Six Things At 6 am

1.  What can possibly happen when you are on bed rest and leave your chewy beast alone with two rolls of paper towels?

Shreddy mayhem.  What are those blurs under the drying rack?  Why that is Ginger and Woody rolling around with crazy head in piles of shreds.

2.  Not being as active as I usualy am, I was thrilled to discover this use of my skills while prone.

I am going to excel at this.  I wonder how to interpret Mrs. Tiggy Winkle while asleep.  I bet Miss Tiggy Winkle can help me.

3.  Why am I craving a chili dog at 6 am?

(Photo of my hertiage food, a Capitol Lunch dog, by Candice)

4.  Who knew some kitties had boggled eyes?

5.  What did we do when we had insomnia before LOLcats?

6.  Remember when we went to the River House last year and Pickles was the bravest and came outside to explore before any of the other cats?  Think he'll be that brave again this year?

Amber & Doozers

Thanks to Erl for reminding me how much I love Doozers.



Also, I kind of think my dad looks like one.

With antennae and a yellow hard hat?  And he loves building stuff.

Amber & For Terri Beth

There is really nothing else to say.  Wonder.

Amber & If The Ballet Shoe Fits

I present you, on this fine Sunday, with some Culture.

You see now why I wanted to be a ballerina.  This was made the year I was born.  It was, you might say, the Role I Was Born to Dance.  Coming soon to an office where I work?

Amber & Welcome Back, Old Friends

Two exciting bits of foodie news that confirm the arrival of a new summer and, at the same time, harken back to summers of yore:

1.  NYC Icy has returned to a small space on Avenue A with its ever-exciting assortment of flavored ices.

James sends this photographic proof, featuring the flavors matcha and cherry.  He also reports they had a purple carrot flavor.  This?  Is definitely worth an A train ride.  Even if it's going local.  And I'll wear my novelty t.  It will be just like 1999 all over again.

2.  The Tabla Frankie Cart has returned.  Last week, the fellas and I partook of its food and beverage offerings and then sat in the Park soaking up June.

Although this article claims the lamb frankie is a new addition to the menu, it certainly isn't.  I had it last year.  Hello, FACT CHECKERS?

An added treat was that we got to see Taya's little guy having a fun playtime while we ate our sandwiches.  (But, being responsible people, we did not approach or kidnap him.)  Taya, by the way, just turned 40 and reported, several hours into her actual birthday, that it was pretty good.  Happy Birthday, Taya.  And thanks for being the guinea pig on that milestone for me.

Amber & Newton's Law

Just so no gets confused or feels left out, my hair changed again.

It's my long-standing traditional switch to Summer Hair which involves chunky, totally fake-looking blobs of blonde on the top of my head.

This heritage hair goes back many, many years.  But the oldest photo I could find was this Jimmy one from 2007.

The mustache is not dyed to match.  That's its natural color.

I also got shorter bangs and sort of smoother, blunter sides.  I was going for something like this.

Only, also mixed with this.

I think I came pretty close.