A 2007 Of IBKC

I started this blog early in January, 2007, and so today marks the end of a calendar year of blog entries. As I've actually settled more with our current menagerie and been able to concentrate a little more on my poorly neglected writing, my blogging has petered off without seriously diminishing anyone's life. With any luck I'll be updating the blog a lot less in the new year, as I devote even more energy to making up for my lost writing time. Expect the occasional Kitchenarium update and mostly unannotated pet pictures, and little else. To my reader, thanks for the company :-)

New Year's Eve

Now that we're a staid married couple, NDM and I have quiet New Year's Eves with the beasts. Well, beast-level quiet. For dinner, NDM treated me to shrimp cocktail -- which I am required to mention was, and must always be, made with ecologically green Hawaiian farmed shrimp. I made the wife take lots of documentary pictures of her process, so I may post a recipe at some point. The nice horseradishy cocktail sauce is of course also home-made.
We had dark chocolate mousse for desert...and no, those aren't dishes that traditionally go together, NDM was merely indulging my lack of refinement. There is never a wrong time for mousse. My offhand comments pay off again!
NDM actually spent a good portion of the day studying, her activité du tout jours. Every once in a while, however, she can be caught doing this... Any activity on the couch that lasts for more than a few minutes will generally end in dog brackets.
Demonstrando. Gracias, AM. He'll also be the sole guest gracing us for our highly exclusive New Year's Day party, which is planned to consist of eating some succulent lobsters and steaks my parents gifted us with while working on a puzzle.
This evening is also when we bid farewell to our Seasonal Tree Of Agnosticism. Farewell, tree, and happy New Year's, readers!

Privated Profits, Socialized Risks (Reblog)

Who was the first person to talk about "privatized profits, socialized risks" to describe the United States' current capitalist society? It is so succinct and so true, and I wish I knew what name to hang off of it when I'm inevitably caught stealing the line at parties.

I think I first saw the phrase in Water Wars, a 2004 piece focusing on water companies in the developing world. It is everywhere now, currently popping up throughout discussion of the real estate crash and subprime meltdown.

How uneducated -- or reducated -- do we have to be to think this business strategy is a good thing to apply to every aspect of our lives?

Clearly we're at that level of education now.

'Twas The Night Before... (Pets)

My puppies are sweat and gentle animals. You'd never know that tomorrow they will be cavorting in streams of wrapping paper entrails... Well, maybe there are hints.

Hobo Kitty (Pets)

The cats' favorite part of Giftmas is the packaging. Scylla may not come out until New Year's.

Chimp Lovin' (Pets)

When the lights are low, and there's no one around... Here's a night-vision photograph of our own 'Dolon caught in flagrante delicto in his boudoir with a pink fuzzy zombie chimpanzee wubby. So much for his chances of ever running for elected office.

This is the chimpanzee's second life, repaired by Dr. Frankeniczenko. Originally it had a fairly sizeable agitating motor and chimpy speaker as a heart, with wires leading to one hand that you could squeeze to set it off. Mag quickly learned how to trigger it, and it was a brief favorite before its inevitable demise. Of course while I was enjoying the dogs focusing on something other than me, they opened the poor pink animal up and chewed right through the wires. I took away the electrical components, but not before Mag had figured out how to bridge the wire stubs coming out of the motor with her tongue to make it shake and shriek like a horny primate. As a zombie the chimp makes do with just a normal plastic bulb squeaker heart.

Recent Edibles (Chow)

Going through the camera I came across some food that escaped Kitchenarium inclusion but was still mighty tasty. At the top of the list is NDM's single-serving molten chocolate cake sauced with a blueberry reduction. This is the same cake that was supposed to have made it onto her boob, although in reality it fell short.
Then we have our pasta Christmas tree. We had our neighbors -- the only neighbors who will give us the time of day -- over for dinner, and NDM made fresh noodles to go with my chèvre red sauce. I also made some tiny individual artisan breads.
Our neighbors were very sweet, not only putting up with our obnoxious dogs, but actually pretending to like them despite their heinous disobedience and generally vile skullduggery.
Lastly, and most lately, tonight NDM made me a challah to celebrate my halakhic ethnic-Jewosity-as-opposed-to-Judaism. It was really good, and NDM's mother and I almost spoiled our glazed salmon dinner by eating far too much of it as appetizers.

Scylla's White Christmas Lap (Pets)

Scylla is trying to log all of her holiday hours sitting in my wife's lap in front of the fireplace. My wife is only too happy to cater to Scylla's heat-lust, cranking up the fire place and putting on a ceramic heater despite the already steamy indoor temperature I'm indulging in for the holidays. I suppose it is hard work maintaining a body temperature of 102°F.