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Last night I made an end of winter break steak dinner for Trinity and I using a new cast iron grill pan. It didn’t turn out too badly for a first effort though I suspect my technique needs a bit of work.
We haven’t had much snow until this morning though. Here is what we woke up to.
Well, at least it isn’t flooding like it is in other parts of the world.
Turns out Trinity came down with some sort of bug, probably the same one that has been trying to undermine my health for the last few days. Given that the roads were terrible and her health not the best, the decision was made to keep her here on this first day of the new semester.
I spent part of the morning reading the paper on the new Kindle.
For the record, that is black tea.
Later the Commanding General took over the couch while I worked on my very first batch of homemade chicken noodle soup.
The above is edited to clear up some of the underexposure. For those that have been to the Pod for parties, we see the living room in normal configuration.
Finally, the soup was more or less ready.
It seems a little bland and not salty enough for my taste but Trinity kept it down. Plutarch is taking a break so riding shotgun there is Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. On this reading I notice that Scout has a thinly veiled contempt of the public education system. In fact, her attitudes mirror my own.
What I like best is that it is subtle, woven into the general narrative without cracking one upside the head with a ballbat. I wish writers would get back to this method.
So it goes. I’ll get my workout and my writing in a bit later.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
So, I cook. But sometimes, the hard part is the harvest of the ingredients.
That said, I am a stubborn man and the meat ended up in the oven after a protracted struggle. Here is the menu.
After a few mishaps in the kitchen, I managed to produce something edible.
And since it is Trinity’s birthday, there must be cake.
No, I didn’t bake the cake. Why do you ask?
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
Once upon a time when I was still a grad student, I wrote for the campus paper, the University News. They weren’t all that thrilled to have me because I am . . . well, I’m an unrepentant combat veteran who doesn’t hold the right views on many things. On the other hand, they were willing to let me write food reviews for the paper.
It was a hell of a gig. Maybe I would take a friend along and we’d eat at places like Jalepeno’s down in Brookside or Chubby’s, write up a review for the paper and get reimbursed for the meal. In addition to reimbursement for the food, I’d get paid for the article. Thirty bucks per article wasn’t much but frankly, writing them was pretty easy. I crapped the articles out in less than ten minutes most of the time.
So it is no secret that Trinity and I like to eat out. Perhaps we like it a bit too much. With this weekend being the last before school starts, we decided to go to a few places and sample the wares.
The Westport Flea Market
I’ve been here twice now, once early in the summer on a Sunday when the rain prevented us from doing anything else. The other time was yesterday around two in the afternoon when Trinity’s friend and one of my former students arrived to see what was what.
We both ordered the Mini Market Burger, five ounces of burger while Rodney went with the 10 ounce version. Simple and as American as you can get. Rumored to be the best burger in Kansas City according to many, I thought my burger was pretty good.
Was it the best?
Well, it was pretty good. Best? I think the jury is still out. Winstead’s often serves up a pretty mean burger, one recommended by Calvin Trillin no less.
Service was first class though I had to haggle about the onion rings I was supposed to get. That said the kitchen staff took the initiative and made sure I had the onion rings. If you’ve got time they have a flea market next door but Trinity’s recon report was not promising.
“Nothing I want.”
Well, that is the danger you run with a flea market.
Afterwards we sat around nursing full tummies and adult beverages while shooting the breeze. It is the sort of thing places like Westport Flea Market were meant for.
The Original Arthur Bryant’s
I always wanted to eat there at the original location near the Historic 18th and Vine Jazz District. We were driving by around five or so arguing about whether or not we should eat there.
“We can get it to go,” Trinity said.
“But are you hungry?” I asked. I couldn’t make up my mind, which isn’t a typical state for me. Usually I make a decision and that is it. Eventually I did meander my way to deciding that we could indeed get something to go.
While I like Gates BBQ I have to admit that the “HI, MAY I HELP YOU!?!” has always been a bit much for my ears. They are more restrained at Bryant’s, which was slammed with hungry people not more than a few minutes after we got in line.
“Perfect timing,” Trinity said.
What to get, what to get. I had the burnt ends at the Ameristar Casino Arthur Bryant’s but I just wasn’t in the mood for that. Trinity wanted pork ribs. The gentleman behind the window convinced us that a slab of pork ribs was cheaper and in this way I was convinced.
I had no idea what I was in for as we unwrapped our package at the Pod. Loading up my plate I expected a standard evening of dealing with chewy, difficult meat still stuck to the bone. But I was wrong. The first bite came straight off and kicked the living crap out of my tongue for being such a doubting Thomas. The rub and the sauce brought the full power of the pork forward before melting away any lingering second and third thoughts.
“Wow,” I whispered. “This is the most incredible rib I have ever tasted in my entire life.”
“Pretty good, huh?” Trinity replied.
The perfect beverage for the ribs was a Boulevard Pale Ale, which we had restocked on yesterday. Toss in the pickles and the bread and it was possible to cleanse your pallet completely before taking another bite. And you want to cleanse that pallet because you do not want to miss an ounce of that flavor. You want the rib meat to explode in your mouth again and again.
My only regret?
We didn’t get a second slab for later.
We B Smokin’ BBQ in Paola, Kansas
Yeah, this one isn’t in Kansas City and didn’t we have enough BBQ yesterday? Well it just so happens that we were not going for BBQ, we were going for breakfast. I had some pretty good intel from Terri Lowry that the breakfast at this joint was first class.
Located at the Paola Airport, it is part pilot’s lounge and part BBQ shack. Planes and pull up on the tarmac and disgorge hungry patrons who flew in specifically to eat there. Trinity went with a single pancake which arrived with a crane that lowered it to the table. Having her back, I helped her work over the pancake but at the end of the day, the remains of the pancake beat us out.
It was good, by the way. That pancake.
I had the We B Smokin Breakfast of three eggs over hard (no running on my plate, damn it), hash browns (not brown and crispy enough for me) and bacon.
Bacon. Australian writer John Birmingham was horrified to learn that Americans will eat an entire plate of bacon. I know I’d eat a plate of this bacon because it was infused with what seemed to be maple syrup and brown sugar. A close contender with the ribs for best meat of the weekend, the bacon made up for the hash browns.
Speedy service like a well oil flight line crew, we were back on the road by 1000 hours with a note in the log to try it again for dinner sometime.
Finally, to top it all off, lunch at the Pod. We had a french baguette from Bloom Bakery in the River Market in desperate need of attention. I sliced off a couple of pieces and added some Corrollo’s Italian Deli Genoa Salami to the mix. We have to buy that stuff a half pound at a time because if we buy more than that, we’ll eat it all before two days are out. It is that good.
So I’m sitting here with a belly the size of a tractor trailer tire while Trinity naps off the breakfast. The ceiling fan is going, the windows are open and the sun is shining. By tomorrow it will all be over.
The Fall Semester comes.
Summer 2010, so long and happy journey, my friend. Pass your ways onto your successor in 2011.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
Arrival at Gym: 1000 hours
Departure: 1130 hours
Weigh in at Start: 206 pounds
Weigh in at End: 203 pounds
Warm Up:
Stretching followed by 5 minutes on the elliptical trainer.
Weights:
Benchpress: 3 x 6 at max, 175 pounds
Back Press: 3 x 6 at max, 80 pounds
Barbell Curl: 3 x 6 at max, 80 pounds
Seated Leg Press: 3 x 6 at max, 340 pounds
I learned I was doing back presses, where I stand with a barbell and press it behind my head. This works the triceps as well as the shoulders. I should be using a Smith machine for this task and the true military press (in front of your head). I’ll adjust accordingly.
Cardio:
Elliptical Trainer: 20 minutes
Swimming:
150 meters.
Instead of doing the usual workout, I decided to see how far I could swim without a rest. It turns out I can swim further than I thought. I got to 100 meters before I had to stop. I did another 50 after a break before deciding that was enough for today. I’ve got two problems. The first is that my breathing form gets erratic when I get tired. The other is that I really use a lot of energy on those flips/turns. That is what is wearing me out. The actual swimming doesn’t wear me out as much.
So I think I’ll revise my workout plan for swimming. Instead of 50 meters per set, I’ll do 100 meters per set and go for a total goal of 500 meters per swim session.
Consumption Log
Not so good here.
Breakfast:
-Two Waffles plus two brownies.
-Tea
Lunch:
-Pot Roast and Sweet Peas
Snack:
-Two brownies plus three chocolate chip cookies.
It is a wonder that I am not heavier than I am. One thing I have noticed is that my workout and fitness plans go to crap when a test for my teaching classes comes up. I’ll have to watch for that on the next cycle.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
The Writing Project: Trying on Steampunk
I threw the book out this morning, found a quiet spot on campus where I would not be bothered and actually managed to get three pages written for a Steampunk short story. I try to keep the ball rolling daily.
Right now I’m writing what I’d want to read which means I threw out all of the crap I had to put into my first two story sales to make them work. It is working a lot better that way.
We’ll see how it goes.
The Fitness Front
I’ve been eating too much crap. I can’t keep eating endless gobs of fried food, fatty crap and mountains of meat. Days pass without a decent salad and I sometimes wonder what it will take to get the venerable salad back into my diet. I’ve got from 195 to 200 and a waistline of 37 inches (probably closer to 38 inches).
I’ve got to get this under control.
The good news is that we started our workouts in Body Building today (yes, I signed up for a class). The first thing I learned is that one probably needs twelve exercises for their program. They need to work their legs first, then upper body, then arms. One is probably looking at three sets per exercise but I am thinking five for dropsets is what I am going to do. I didn’t get through the entire workout (I had to go pick Trinity up from UMKC as we still have only one car) but I got through enough of it to see that it will probably work for me.
The plan, starting tomorrow, is to get in an hour on the strength training and body building. Then I’ll follow it up with an hour of cardio. I have to work out an hour for each of my classes (the other is Physical Fitness) until I reach 30 hours (which is an A). If that doesn’t start to strip the fat off of my body, then I don’t know what I’ll do.
The Teaching Front
I’ve got the last of the Quakers for American History tomorrow. I think I may chat with them about primary and secondary sources first. They’ll hate that. In Western Civ I’m moving into the Egyptians. We’ll have the same chat about primary and secondary sources. Some might actually like that discussion.
On Wednesday I am going to have to hack out some time to work on Thursday notes. I’ve not written a single word for my notes since Thursday. And I’m behind on study guides. They should have gone out already.
Trinity’s Big Day
Trinity started pre-law today, working toward her BA in Sociology. She was nervous about it and I tried to reassure her that she’d do fine. She did as much for me back in August 2007 when, terrified out of my mind, I started my first day of teaching.
Problem is, Trinity doesn’t always listen to me. In fact, a lot of people do not listen to me even though I am bound to be right. This seems to be a recurring theme in my life, so much so that I think my nickname should be Cassandra.
In any event, she had a great first day. And she has homework.
Now I’ve got to try and get some work done.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
Father in the Hospital
Mother probably wouldn’t approve but my dad is in the hospital. He has been undergoing treatment for his lung cancer (the third one they’ve found). In any case, I suspect he’ll be down at the VA medical center until tomorrow morning.
My younger brother is also having trouble and I’m not at liberty to discuss it. In any case, Trinity and I are manning the phones, keeping an eye on the approaches to Maternal Support Command and waiting for news.
Earlier that day
Trinity and I enjoyed our first day of unemployment together. Granted, I still have a paycheck or two inbound and I still have some work to do before it is all said and done. In any case, we spent the morning getting some government items dealt with for her. Then we made our way to Zona Rosa Shopping Mall for an early lunch at Noodles and More.
Noodles and More is a relatively inexpensive place to get some decent food. I got the chicken noodle soup with a side salad. She had some whole wheat pasta topped with broccoli and chicken, tuscan linguine (sp?). We sat out under one of Missouri’s brilliant blue springtime sky plotting our next move in our plan to dominate the local region.
We did some window shopping and walking around after that. We’ve decided on a landline phone for . . . ahem, Trinity is calling the new loft the “Pleasure Pod.” I’ll roll with it. The landline is the cheapest and most secure option, immune to the fickle nature of cellphone use. I believe it is important to have a line which will always be up so long as we are in the Pod.
We also went looking for kitchen tables. After a bit of effort, we stumbled across a very nice table at K-Mart of all places. I think we will pick that up when I get paid next.
The next stop was going to be the gym but that has been aborted due to the current emergency.
Trinity did get some additional good news. The campus bookstore has offered her a summer position, which should take care of her employment needs. She’ll head down to campus tomorrow to get that squared away.
Now I need to find something.
Research Project Number – 04
I now have Chapters 16 to 19 onboard with 19 awaiting conversion. 19 is also a military heavy chapter with a lot of local material. I’ll put some extra time into that chapter, probably tomorrow while Trinity is talking to the bookstore people.
So it goes.
We will be moving in less than seven days. When we get established in The Pod, I’ll post some pics.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
Wolverine
Trinity and I went to see the new X-Men film on Friday at the Screenland Theater on Armour Road in Northtown. Personally, I can take or leave the X-Men series but I did enjoy watching Hugh Jackman portray the growth of a confused young boy with bone claws into a tortured, conflicted man struggling with the bloodthirst of his own brother. Toss in a military conspiracy (isn’t there always one of these in films like this?) and you’ve got enough explodey goodness to keep most folks happy.
I enjoyed the film when I didn’t spend too much time thinking on it. I thought there were moments of violence (I won’t spoil it) that were just a bit excessive and cliched. Maybe it is what that one reviewer meant when they said that one of my stories was emotionally manipulative. Perhaps.
In any case, a good film worth seeing.
As for Screenland, I think I have talked about this theater before. It is North Kansas City’s historic one room theater which was recently expanded to two screens. I saw Indian Jones there when it reopened after the restoration last year. Beer, wine and bar food can be had for reasonable prices. Further, your student ID still gets you a discount, meaning that Trinity and I (who are both still students) got to see the film for $12.00 between the two of us as opposed to $20.00 at any given AMC theater.
When we return to Northtown on the 15th (can’t quite say where, given Trinity’s troubles) we will be making frequent trips to this theater.
The Big Saturday Out on Eight Months
Yesterday was a long day and one of those moments where I had to compromise. My maximum hang time with any human being, even the ones I love, is about six hours. The longer the time goes, the thinner my patience becomes. I can’t tell you why I am this way. Probably the nature of my family. In any case, a sizeable portion of the population isn’t this way. I’ve adapted to the alone time but Trinity, who got entirely too much of it from her ex-husband, can’t stand it.
So we spent yesterday together.
Breakfast was at Room 39 down on 39th Street (notice a pattern?). We’ve got pictures. Maybe at some point I’ll load them. Room 39 runs toward the organic side of the house with prices that are reasonable enough. I had the traditional Midwestern Breakfast, eggs hard, bacon (three strips, not a plate, Birmo), potatoes (which are sometimes hash browns but not this time) and toast. Trinity had a salami bagle with two egg yolks on it along with some fresh fruit.
The setting is small, intimate and tastefully kitted out with the work of local artists. For those who want a latte there is a coffee bar/counter or you can sit at the table. Neither of us know if the coffee would pass the standards as neither of us drink the stuff. But the tea was good.
Moving on from there, our next stop was a hair cut for me and a pedicure for Trinity. That provided for a bit of alone time as we went our respective ways. Your cunning blogger at the Pondering Tree found a place in Liberty where the two businesses are back to back. At SportsClips I got a haircut and massage worthy of a mob boss or real estate mogul. Trinity, in the meantime, got her toes done.
Pleased with that, we paid bills, reserved a U-Haul for move in day (we no longer have truck access) and made our way back to Maternal Support Command to drop off gear. Then it was a trip to the City Market.
We picked up fruit for the week, she found some bread she was happy with and tried to each lunch down there.
Tried because the first place we went to didn’t have anything she wanted. They had a very good lima bean humus though. I also picked up a beef kebab from a vender for next to nothing. She wanted a turkey leg, which consumed a goodly amount of time cooking. I don’t think I’d have been bothered by the lost time if it didn’t make me sick for being undercooked thirty minutes later.
From there we did some more shopping at this and that before making our way down to World Market, which is a shop that will be providing our kitchen ware. We are still having a debate over the kitchen table (ongoing, stay tuned) and over the practicality of purchasing items en mass now or waiting till we move in. I’ve been arguing for patience but in Trinity’s case, I think the purchase of the items is a tangible sign that the move out of Maternal Support Command is a very real thing and not some cruel joke.
We picked up a few things and moved on from there.
By now it is running around 1900 hours. Lunch had been a bit of a disaster so we were looking for dinner. I was trying to come up with a place that Trinity liked that I could eat at. Both of us are concerned about our weight. We eventually hit upon a solution at Noodles and More, which is a chain store selling pasta, asian noodles and most important of all, chicken noodle soup. We went up there and the dinner thing worked fine.
Lastly, we crossed the road to Barnes and Noble (where Birmingham’s book, Without Warning, is prominently displayed in the science fiction section). We found a teenage jazz band sponsored by a local church performing hits from the Swing Era in honor of veterans. Trinity watched most of it while I wandered the stacks, picking up books for skimming review and possible purchase. I didn’t purchase any books, but I did find a couple of viable ones and the band, it is worth pointing out, was quite good.
A long day. I slept pretty good last night.
Murph’s Alone Day
Now I’ve got an afternoon to myself. Trinity is off with her eldest son (no, I’ve not met him yet and I suspect I will not be popular with him) so this gives me time.
Research Project Number – 04
Three chapters in the hopper now, Chapters 14 to 16 from the client. Fourteen is almost complete. Fifteen and sixteen need conversion before I work on them. I’m going to try and get all three done today.
Other Fronts
Got my dad some gooseberry jam yesterday at World Market. Dad is going through chemo for his lung cancer and hasn’t been eating. The gooseberry jam on some waffles proved to be a hit with him this morning. He polished them off. Trinity and I are still trying to track down some gooseberry pie (our primary reason for going to City Market yesterday).
We also started food journals on May 1st. I grabbed the material for that while I was shopping on payday after waking up at 0300 in the morning. I also picked up binders for the Fall Semester lecture notes. Money will be tight come August so I thought I’d get the gear now. Hopefully later this evening we will get back into the gym.
Hopefully.
Later this week I need to run resumes to the other local campuses for the upcoming academic year. I have a possible opportunity which will give me twelve hours of courses if things play out right. There won’t be anything for the summer though, except perhaps for some substitute teaching but you never know. In any case, I’ll spend the summer looking over the new textbooks and spinning up for the fall.
Finally, I have to solve the summer job dilemma yet again. Full time or part time? How much am I willing to do? Where do I not want to work? So on and so forth. Trinity gets to deal with the same thing.
Joy.
Last but not least, I need a traveling keyboard for my laptop. The fact that the keys stick is driving me nuts. I think I may get an Apple keyboard. I’m impressed with the new design.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
Those that done said stuff