The most familiar song in the world

It floats over to you across the spaces between your office and the next in a quiet rumble, growing nearer, a gathering storm of well wishers. Voices mumble the tune in shy strains; they know the notes so well but struggle to find each other. This is the song of the ages, the one you've heard every year for your whole life. But now you're old and eating a sheet cake with your colleagues and nobody will say that you look or smell like a monkey because that is just not the professional thing to do. Suzanne from accounting tries to harmonize and it's a beautiful break even if she is entirely tone deaf. You feel like you should be embarrassed for those assembled here singing the most familiar song in the world to a near stranger, but you're not, because the light is so beautiful outside and the song has ended and melted into gentle laughter and soft clapping and it's time to blow out the candles.

Yes, we do this every time.

Him: Let's see District 9. It has political undertones!
Me: It's also rated R for "bloody violence"!
Him: So was Terminator
Me: That was robots. It is different.
Him: Yeah, IMDb says you can never watch this.
Me: Man...
Him: Like, EVER.

Oh dear

I am all kinds of out of whack right now. I am retaining water like the Hoover mother flippin' dam, my cramps have cramps, and I am currently having a panic attack for reals. For real reals. I would like to crawl into a hole now plz.

30 Days away from a nice rump

I've decided to do the Tracy Anderson Mat Workout every day for 30 days. I want a nice bum.

We will see how this goes. You should not be alarmed if I claim that I'd like to maim her with her "YOU CAN DO IT LOOK AT ME I'M SO GREAT AT THIS AND NOT EVEN SWEATING" thing. It's a hard workout.

Also, what is with the shoes, lady.

Oh gosh it's August

You know what that means. Time to get back on the knitting wagon! Here are some things I'm looking forward to:

- Actually finishing something

Actually, that is probably my only goal.

AIM HIGH, KIDS.

Mediterranean Diet - Pan Seared Salmon Over Veg and Cous Cous

Justin and I decided that we need a diet, and who doesn't love the Greeks? The tenets of this diet are the following:

• Good whole grains
• TONS of fruit / veg
• Not too much red meat (only two or three times a month)
• Fish at least three times a week
• Eggs every once in a while
• Not too much dairy
• Olive oil and nuts for good fats
• Little to no salt - instead the idea is to use fresh herbs and spices

So yeah. We'll see how it goes! But here's what I came up with for tonight, and lo and behold it was pretty flippin' yum.

Ingredients!

• 2 6oz Salmon Fillets
  
• ½ cups Cous Cous
• ½ cups Water
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 5 ounces Grape Tomatoes (or Cherry Tomatoes)
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• ⅔ cups Red Onion, Chopped
• 1 whole Red Pepper Chopped
• 1 whole Zucchini, Sliced Into Circles
• 15 leaves Fresh Basil, Chiffonaded
• ⅛ packages Fresh Chives, Cut Into Tiny Disks

Make it happen:

1. Chop all your dang veg. Rinse your salmon and pat it dry.

2. In small sauce pot, put 1/2 cup water on and bring to boil. Add 1/2 cup of cous cous, stir quickly, cover, and remove from heat. It will soak up the water.

3. Forget about the cous cous for a second. In a large skillet over medium high heat, dump in those 2 tbsp olive oil. Let it get nice and hot, and then pop in your minced garlic. DO NOT LET THAT GARLIC BURN. Just let it get happy and fragrant.

4. Dump in your grape tomatoes whole. Toss them around with the garlic and let them heat up. They’ll start to burst pretty shortly and when that happens move on to step 5. If it’s taking a while and your garlic is threatening to get cranky I am not against squooshing them a bit with a fork.

5. Add your chopped onion and saute until it sweats. Take a deep breath because it smells good.

6. Add the red pepper. Saute everything until the onions start to get transparent. Flip it all around to get that juice from the tomatoes on everything.

7. Place a smaller nonstick skillet onto another burner and turn on the heat to the higher end of medium high. You want to let that pan heat up. Leave it alone and go back to your veg.

8. When the onions get floppy and translucent, add your sliced zucchini. Stir it all around.

9. Turn down the heat to just below medium (medium low?) and cover the skillet. The juice from the tomatoes will simmer into everything and it will be good.

10. Remember that pan? That hot one over there? Place your salmon fillets in it, skin side down. Watch out, they’ll sizzle. DON’T WORRY it is not too hot. Salmon can take it; it’s a tough fish.

11. You have to use your eyes for this. Cook the salmon skin side down until it is light pink halfway up the side. You’ll see it! At that point, gently loosen the salmon with a spatula and flip it over. The skin will be a nice pretty brown.

12. While it cooks the second side, remove the skin carefully with a very sharp paring knife. You’ll see where it’s connected to the flesh; just make little sawing motions underneath, keeping the flat of the knife parallel to the pan. That salmon is probably spitting some liquid. Be careful not to get spattered. Use a long fork to hold it if you have to.

13. Keep an eye on your fish. It will need about 4 minutes after you flip it to get to medium rare, 5 or six to get to medium. After removing the skin and making sure it’s been the required time for doneness since you flipped it, FLIP IT AGAIN. This is a flip just to sear the now naked previously skinned side. It also let’s you get up in there to check doneness. Don't cook it for more than a minute on this second flip!

14. Take a fork and poke it in over the thickest part of the fish. Turn the fork slightly. If the fish is opaque, it’s done. It doesn’t have to be nearly white unless that’s how you like it. You could also forgo the forking and make the OK sign with one hand. Poke that bump of muscle under your thumb and feel the muscle. Now poke the fish. They should feel the same. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, use the fork, Luke. Remove from heat and let rest for a sec.

15. Dump your chiffonade of basil into your veg. Dump your chives in too. Give them a stir. Yumm.

16. Time to assemble! Remember that cous cous? Take the cover off and fluff it with a fork. Dump it into the tomatoey veg concoction and stir it up. I really just like the cous cous for texture, so it won’t look like there’s much in there but it will be good. Spoon a ton of that goodness onto plates.

17. Lay your fillet on top of that delicious mound. Serve with a glass of chardonnay if you’re feeling fancy. If you’d rather red, I would go with a pinot noir.

18. Eat that thing.

Happy Introspective Day!

Oh wait. That is pretty much every day because this is my very own blog.

One day you're 20 and happy to just be alive, the next you wish you were off having adventures with the man you love (who is actually not so keen on adventures but would probably come anyway because he looooooooves you).

I don't know that I'm built to change the world. I'm sure that we are all capable of greatness in some capacity but I don't know that my medium will be phenomenal activism or a rallying call to rise up and fight against anything.

Maybe I am just a tiny human who doesn't want to be any bigger. Maybe that's a bad thing. In my head, it is just as probable that maybe all we need to do is focus on our corner of the world before we strike out to change everyone else's corner. The thought can certainly be applied to other arenas: war, hunger, and poverty to name just a few old fiends.

So here's the plan:
Accomplish what I want to accomplish, without direct harm or foul to others
Minimize indirect harm in as many ways as plausible (buy fair, local, green, etc)
Continue to pursue happiness

That's it. That's all. What to do next - that is the question.