Since I've Been Gone

Two weeks of no blogging? Are you kidding me?

Here's the excuse: much of that time, I was visiting my folks back in Michigan. As they live over the border of the Digital Divide, I usually make trips to the local library to get my blog fix while I am there, or at the very least ask a friend to blog sit for me and write up something guesty. This time, I didn't do a damn thing. I just up and left without a word, like the ungrateful heifer I am.

The heifer is back! Woot! Can I get a whut-whut??

...How about just a single whut?

Anyone out there?

***

Ah well, serves me right.

Rather than going into lots o' deets about the trip, I shall summarize it all with some lists. Because you know I love me some lists.

List of Books on My Childhood Bedroom Bookshelf
(Alternate Title: Why I Was A Teen Weirdo)
1. The Pistachio Prescription, by Paula Danziger
2. Comparative Economic Systems: Models and Cases
3. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
4. The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough
5. Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller
6. Waiting for the Barbarians, by J.M. Coetzee
7. Pretty In Pink, movie novelization
8. The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekhov
9. Anne of Avonlea, by L.M. Montgomery
10. Jacob Have I Loved, by Katherine Paterson
11. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
12. Dracula, by Bram Stoker
13. Betty and Veronica Double Digest
14. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
15. The Art of Making Dances, by Doris Humphrey
16. Maggie Adams, Dancer, by Karen Strickler Dean
17. The Great Wall of China, by Franz Kafka
18. Staying Alive movie novelization
19. One Brief Sweet Hour (a Harlequin Romance)
20. North and South, by John Jakes
22. The Second Sex, by Simone de Beauvoir
23. The Shy Ones, by Lynn Hall




Homemade things I stuffed in my gaping maw this past fortnight...(thanks, mom)

1. Cinnamon rolls
2. Blueberry muffins
3. Curried black eyed peas and potatoes
4. Fiji-style cabbage curry
5. Okra masala
6. Hummus
7. Baba ghanoush
8. Spinach pie
9. Tabbouli
10. Falafel
11. Veggie calzone
12. Dahl with dried mango strips
13. Breaded mozzarella sticks (ok this one wasn't homemade)
14. Chicago style pizza (that one either)
15. Stuffed grape leaves
16. Banana bread
17. Currant scones
18. Raspberry trifle
19. Lemon bundt cake
20. Veggie samosas
21. Baked eggplant
22. Sauteed spicy spinach
23. Rice pilaf (three varieties)
24. Avocado salad
25. Portobello mushroom sandwich
26. Sesame ginger stir fry
27. Channa masala
28. Cassava and tomato stew
29. Apple pie
30. Gallons and gallons of tea

Things Nordic Boy Fixed At My Parents' House
1. Re-tiled the floor in the laundry room and entry.
2. Replaced old parts in the furnace.
3. Replaced old parts in the de-humidifier.
4. Repaired a leaky sink.
5. Fixed a breadmaker.
6. Fixed creaks in the floor.
7. Fixed sticky windows that wouldn't open properly.

Things I Do Not Miss about My Hometown
1. The potholes. HOLY JEEZUS. I don't think I can even call them potholes. The roads where my parents live are like cement streets that have been walked on by Gojeera and Mothra. They are just big huge cracks filled in with large pieces of rubble. It is not even right.
2. The lack of basic things you would think an American town would have. Like ditches with drainage. It is really not cool, people. Shouldn't tax-paying people have yards that are not buried in muck, rather than shit that looks like this?

3. Trash. There is trash all over the place. It's sad.

So basically my message here is that if you live in a depressed town, shit just don't work. Like, infrastructure that should work, just doesn't. And it makes me kind of crazy and mad.

Things I Do Miss about My Hometown
1. The friendly people. People are so nice there, it's weird. All the warmth is like, overwhelming.
2. The pretty, flat grasslands. Makes me want to run around and fall down like Carrie Ingalls.
3. Huge, puffy white clouds in deep blue skies. We don't have those in Seattle.
4. Big factories. I know it's odd, but seeing a big smokestack makes me feel right at home.
5. My folks. Really, my parents rock, ya'll. They really, really do.