Musings

I had veggies on the brain today, and I happily wandered the aisles of Ye Olde (Not) Farmers Market (all-in-one store) until I gathered a fine selection of plant foods for stir-fry-ish-ness. Plus some other goodies for my fave-o-rite hummus, the kind with pine nuts and mint.

En route from the veggies to the Korean hot-food counter (I looked and bought nothing, but I lingered over the soy-saturated hard-boiled eggs, for their exoticism), I saw these leetle fishies, labeled “golden pomfret.” I didn’t know there was such a thing.

’Course, I dunno much about feesh.

Googling suggests that “golden pomfret” is a fairly newly named (late 1980s) species from down-under waters, a bramid species. Another new word. Ummmm. Okay, I’ve googled more, and I’ll stick with: here’s a fish photo, and, no, I didn’t Photoshop the color one bit.

Posted at 9:34 PM | 2 Comments »

I’m still (ha! always?) catching up with old New Yorkers, so forgive me that this statistic is from the Dec 20/27 2010 issue: prediction—by 2014, the computer network in the USA will require the amount of energy used by the whole country of Australia (now? author David Owen isn’t clear) to power it.

Add to that the power it takes the rechargers, and, whew, how efficient Wal-Mart makes its buildings and delivery trucks pales.

The article is called “The Efficiency Dilemma,” and starts here. Owen gets the statistic from Stan Cox, I think from his book Losing Our Cool.

Posted at 7:30 PM | 4 Comments »

It’s an annual seasonal dance, and this one is ending: the amaryllis is fading. I know it was silly of me to cart it north and back, yet I am tickled to have been able to see the blooms in full glory.

Posted at 6:47 PM | 2 Comments »

I’m guessing these are hyacinths, but I can’t remember where I put which bulbs last season when I moved them into this bed. I would have written, “Something in the lily family, most likely,” but then I read that molecular studies have the set on its ear (can you say that about plants?—I’m giddy; time to finish the split pea soup, and sup) the old-style taxonomy based on morphology, etc. of these species.

Posted at 6:46 PM | Comments Off on Scratching my head

Let’s see. First, Happy Valentine’s Day!

…although which Valetinius was meant to be honored—there were at least fourteen martyred saints of Rome with that name—remains a mystery….

So, bits.

The top photo: recycling at its best, this time from the flower shop. Pick up the petals that fall off the roses while they’re being packaged and otherwise handled, and box ’em up. Then, sell them—six bucks a box, and a modest box at that…. Some of these were a tad brown around the edges….

The vertical photo: we stopped for the first time (seemed like the right day for it!) at Sugar-Coated Radical—an unfancy shop with very nice chocolates—and selected some goodies. I can hardly wait until sundown to taste them!

And, I wanted to note, for the first time in almost/about six years, there’s no Grumbles* in the Sunday Paper. The Sunday Paper (a free weekly here in ATL) went defunct, and, pfft, no publication of Grumbles. I’m proud of my brother-in-law for his long-running weekly strip…. Check out more of his comics are here.

* No saint, no Grumbles…I don’t think there’s a connection….

Today is just an ellipses day….

Posted at 3:28 PM | 2 Comments »

Sad to say, but the amaryllis’s lush petals are desiccating, and the cycle of life continues to unfurl.

And the snow is, pfft, liquified.

And I know that a certosa is the Italian term for a Carthusian monastery, which in English is a charterhouse. And the Carthusians are a Roman Catholic order who live like hermits. Their motto, apparently: Stat crux dum volvitur orbis, Latin for “The Cross is steady while the world is turning.”

The world turns, life unfurls—same thing, ¿no?

Posted at 8:27 PM | Comments Off on Petal empowered, fading

Apparently winteriness has moved elsewhere, or at least departed our garden—although the last of the snow hasn’t quite yet melted in the deep shadow (tomorrow should wipe it out, though).

The party team descended on Buckhead–Sandy Springs (actually, I think it’s uphill—so: ascended?). “A good time was had by all.” Another octo commences a personal new year.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Sproinging underway

Recognizing that today is Friday, maybe this’ll help you ease into a weekend mood—if you need any help!

To yodel is to swap between normal (chest) and falsetto (head) singing or calling, often holding notes for a while. Gouda is technically a cow’s-milk cheese, and usually is recognizably yellow. There’s plenty that’s confusing about this product.

Posted at 4:00 PM | 2 Comments »

We did have snow overnight. I took this at 5:30 am (perhaps even earlier than KW emerged), and the melt-dripping was already nearly a sound-symphony.

So…not frozen. City not paralyzed. Just some strange light from the snow reflections as dawn crept in on little polar bear-cub feet.

Posted at 8:43 PM | 1 Comment »

From yesterday….

With all this talk of pending snow overnight—perhaps a bit more than would be called a dusting across the Midwest—I almost forgot to post a blahg entry today….

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Trees reigning over a cemetery on a hill