I took Thursday and Friday off work last week and I used those days to tidy my flat, with a little help. Yes, two days, 12-hours a day were really needed to do all the work. I threw out 7 black-plastic bags and two boxes of garbage and sent one bag of clothing to charity. We went through absolutely everything and I was ruthless with what I threw out. I haven’t had a prune like that in years, probably 3 or 4. I now have much less stuff and it feels great. It feels really great for the mind, to go through everything, to know where everything is and to know there isn’t as much stuff as there was anchoring me down. My place is like it never has been before, even when I first moved in. It looks and feels huge, everything is organised in wardrobes and cupboards and everyone who has seen it says “wow“. I can finally have company over again and not feel embarrassed or have to make excuses as soon as they enter.
I hadn’t been feeling very good recently and this prune and my new spacious, clean and organised living space makes me feel a whole lot better.
The food log I have been keeping experienced a bit of a burp because of last week, I wasn’t internetting and I wasn’t taking much of a log of what I was eating.
From memory, on the days I wasn’t keeping a log, I had things like (by no means a definitive list):
So, back to regular service;
~2pm - Lunch:
- Heinz tomato soup (91% tomato!)
- 2 small baps, one poppy-seed
- bean salad
~8pm - Dinner:
- Home made tomato soup (yeah, I know, repetition - wait till you see the recipe though, it was delicious)
- 4 vine tomatoes
- 1 red onion
- Half a courgette
- 1 tin of butter beans
- 5 sun-dried tomatoes
- 5 olives
- A few heaped tablespoons of tomato pasta sauce
- 1 cup of wheatgerm
- Seasoning: basil, sage and oregano (perhaps a mistake here as I usually season with this same combination of herbs with the result that a lot of my foods taste similar-ish)), salt, freshly ground black pepper and garlic
- Method: sauté the red onion, finely chopped, in a sauce pan with vegetable oil. Add 300ml of vegetable stock. simmer for a short while and add the tomato and courgette, chopped. Strain and rinse the butter beans, add to the sauce ban. Simmer for a while more. When the soup has amalgamated somewhat, transfer to a liquidiser and blend on high power until the mixture is very fine. Return to sauce pan and allow to simmer at a cooler temperature for a few minutes.
- Had a bowl of this soup with 3 slices of bread. I have a bowl left for tomorrow
Right now I have cooling in the oven, from a temperature of several hundred degrees a pear and apple crumble:
- 3 apples, sliced
- 1 pear, sliced
- Cinnamon
- Crumble (flour, sugar, butter)
Haven’t tasted it yet but it smells jolly nice. I should have got some custard to have with it.
My copy of Mario Kart DS should arrive tomorrow, I’m looking forward to that!
And thus it was written that on the sixth day of the new year the sorcerer Cliph and the bewildered maker of maps would gather their people and say unto them Lo! It is an unbirthday, the most unbirthly of all days.
Yea it is said that our birthdays are nigh, but we must celebrate forthwith. And yea, they will go with them unto a named hall of some repute and there partake of victuals (but not fatted calves for the sorcerer did not eat of the flesh of the ox).
Brethren (and sistren too, verily) remember ye the sixth day and keep it holy. Make mark of it upon the rear of your finest sow, eldest child, or verily, should ye be so furnished, upon your almanac.
Look ye towards the stars for further datum on this event of great import, for surely, as the moment grows nearer will your nets be filled and heralds aplenty shout the tidings: The unbirthday is upon us! The unbirthday!
First impressions of Starbucks in Dublin:
- There was a queue, a queue!
- The baristas were pleasant, overworked (queue!) and well tipped.
- The coffee prices are disappointingly high, prohibitively so for the largest (venti) drinks. I wonder if they have set-prices through-out Europe? Probably not, I imagine they’re paying a premium for the property on Dame street.
- Food prices are reasonable and there is a wide selection, many from the muffin food group.
- Same, earthy-toned, comfortable decor as elsewhere, quite a spacious store too, maybe even deceptively so as there is space ’round the back that one might not see at first. I’ve seen this in other Starbucks too, wonder if it’s on purpose.
I had intended to get something no-fat and de-caf but while waiting in the queue I pooh-poohed that idea.
I’m hoping that Starbucks have the good sense to open this store late. If you want to lounge around in comfortable surroundings late in to the evening, or night, in Dublin, you’re out of luck, which I have always though was ridiculous.
~10am - (full-fat, caffeinated) Breakfast:
- Toffee nut latte
- Apple and cinnamon muffin
Starbucks just opened properly in Dublin and I’m pleased because I like Starbucks. (There’s been a stand in DCU and on the Microsoft campus for a while, but those aren’t real public stores.) I’m not disproportionately extactic or overjoyed about this development, I’m just quietly weighing in my opinion.
I like Starbucks because most places you go in the world, there’ll be one. The stores are the same, the menus are mostly the same but might have some localisations, for example, the Starbucks in Dubai had a chilled fruity tazo tea I’ve not seen elsewhere. The staff speak English and the environment is relaxed and laid back, ripe for enjoying what-ever-you-fancy in peace. I realise that this global nature of the chain is what many people dislike, but if the product is good and the impact on the local and global economy isn’t overtly negative, so what?
On my travels this year I have relaxed in Starbucks in Switzerland, it came to my aid when I was having difficulty finding somewhere comfortable to eat (familiarity and ease of ordering play a big part here). I’ve had similarly pleasant experiences in Heathrow, Dubai airport and Paris.
Starbucks tend to have nice food too, as well as drinks, savoury (quiches etc.) and sweet (mmm cookies (in Canada they had nice maple leaf shaped cookies with a thick icing on them) and muffins), oh yeah, and the Wifi. This, on the other hand, is not the kind of thing I’m so pleased to read about.
When it comes down to it, I don’t drink all that much coffee. When I fancy a coffee I quite like a mocha from the Butlers Cafés, they know how to do the chocolate right. These days I’m more likely to go for a hot chocolate, as you may have seen from the food logs. Butlers do a nice hot white chocolate.
Foody foody Continue reading ‘Hot, steamy, num nums.’
Was sick with a terrible headache all day Sunday and have taken today off work too.
Weekend Eating Continue reading ‘Not these tones!’
I’m in some kind of foul mood this evening. Seinfeld season 4 is helping to put a dent in my mire.
~9:30pm - Dinner:
The gig went well, a few spills but overall quite good I thought. Room 204 were good too. There was a decent-sized turn-out and the venue was nice. The sound engineer was sound too. People danced when I played Starship.
Some new DVDs arrived for me this morning, “Some Kind of Wonderful” and a 3-movie set (it was only a little bit more than Pretty in Pink on its own) of “Flashdance“, “Footloose” and “Pretty in Pink“. The video for the Footloose title track by Kenny Logins is possibly the best 4 minutes of film ever recorded. Glitter! My John Huges collection continues to grow.
Pretty cool wood carvings.
This is also cool, coloured bubbles.
~11pm - Post-gig eats:
- Slice of cheese pizza from Apache
- 2 snack-size mars bars
- Glass of coke
~12pm - Breakfast:
- Hot chocolate
- Pear scone and butter
~2pm - Lunch:
Have to send an email ’round the office before I leave today to let them know I’ll be in late tomorrow. The Clap & co. will be DJ’ing ’til late in The Hub after the gig.
~2pm - Lunch:
First 3 from Blazing Salads;
- Sauteed tofu slices
- Broccoli soup
- 2 slices of rye bread
- Hot chocolate
