t
o
n
y
a
n
g
'
s
 
w
e
b
l
o
g


for lunch i had channa dal masala with yellow lentils with a glass of daily fruit elixir (peaches, grapes, strawberries, tropical fruit juice, yogurt). since living on my own, i've never had so much fruit in my diet. granted, it's all mushed up into a pulpy yet tasty slush, but i'm still getting all that fruity goodness. i got a chance to use my timer for the very first time, the instructions called for 5 minutes of boiling, i set the timer, and went into the living room to watch tv, before i heard the ringing tell me my 5 minutes were up. no more spotty science of minute counting in my head! i don't not have an atomic time piece in my skull, but now thanks to the handy cooking timer, my timekeeping will be accurate.


somerville
armory

somerville
armory

nativity scene
(highland ave)
despite the heavy downpour, i couldn't stay in the house today, i just had to go outside, to get some fresh air, to stretch my legs. so i put on my winter coat, grabbed my umbrella, and headed out the door, destination unknown. i felt it right away, this isn't winter. it was 60 odd degrees today. where's the freezing cold temperature? i totally missed the weather report on this one. i crossed the secret underpass and went across into somerville, where i just basically wandered around, looking for photo ops. i made it as far as highland avenue, where i saw the somerville armory. if you've never seen it before, it looks like a miniature fortified castle.

somerville
museum

candy cane
columns
(central st)

brooks
pharmacy
it struck me as something new, but actually, after jogging my memory bank, i remembered this place. the somerville armory was where i had my driver license road test. i remember driving around the block, and then coming back to the armory, where the police officer stamped my paper saying i passed. i walked down central street, hoping to visit the somerville museum. despite the hours on the said the place was opened, and there was at least one person working inside, all the doors were locked, and i wasn't that excited to see the somerville museum anyway so i left. back on somerville avenue i went to the brooks pharmacy, where i bought a packet of mint strips and a 5-pak of generic shaving razors, in preparation for my near future goatee removal. there were a lot of kids there of all ages, apparently it's a local after school hangout of some sort. a little kid came right next to me really close, i looked down, he looked up, and nonchalantly asked if he could have a dollar. "no, i don't have a dollar for you," i told him, while i put my hand in my pocket around my wallet, in case he wanted to try some slight of hand gypsy pickpocketing move. he mumbled under his breath and walked away. when i got back home, the bottom of my jeans were soaked, but i was glad to be back in someplace dry for a change.

i cooked the chicken tonight, about an hour in the oven at 375 degrees, flipping the bird over midway to cook the other side. i used the timer of course, informing me when to take the next steps. while waiting for the chicken to cook, i watched the food network, 30 minute meal,

got some good tips on making spaghetti sauce, which was what i was about to do. one burner boiled the tricolor pasta while another one cooked the tomato sauce with ground beef. the final pasta dinner with sauce was sort of bland, i could've added some chopped onions (which i didn't have) or minced garlic (which i did have), that would've added more flavor to the mix. when the chicken finished cooking, i took it out of the oven. it smelled great, reminded me of the street foods of taipei, that marinade is magic, and i think the garlic powder really makes it very fragrant. unfortunately, i'm weird in that i don't like to eat freshly cooked birds, i like it when they're a day old, cold and dry, when they had some time for the flavor to settle in. so i wrapped it up in tin foil for tomorrow.

around 8pm julie dropped by briefly to lend me her copy of youth in revolt: the journals of nick twisp by c.d. payne. i'd first seen it on her bookshelf, but later saw it again at newbury comics, where after reading the first few paragraphs, i was immediately sold on the book and just had to read it. in exchange, i lent her two birding books, my sibley guide and stokes nature guide to bird behavior volume 1. julie's voice was still a little raspy, but not as course as the last time i saw her. her sickness however still seemed strong, with symptoms like runny nose and coughing. she noticed the curtain on the door and the new tv, things that weren't here the last time she visited. after briefly browsing said books, talking in gross details about nose blowing habits, and then showing her my audobon bird whistle (people just seem to love it!), julie left.

i spent the rest of the evening watching the celtics beat the timberwolves and reading youth in revolt.