weapons of massdistraction

During my recent cold weather confinement at home I got a whole lot of cooking done. Even more than usual. I played around with phyllo dough. Made an amazing shaved Brussels sprouts / squash / caramelized onion tart. And two kinds of baklava. And more baked pears with brown rice / almond milk pudding. And cabbage rolls. And paleo breakfast bars. And more. A few friends think I should start a proper food blog. I attempted that here once, in my forlorn recipes section, but I might just do that. I have sharynshoots.com for my photography portfolio. I might just grab sharyncooks.com but that doesn’t sound terribly clever.

Five good-ish things for this fine Friday:

• Even we lifelong Minnesotans were shocked by our recent cold snap. But it could have been so much worse. I can’t imagine living like this: Russians Adapt to a Freezing, Dark, and Polluted Place
• “Fred Armisen imitating Ira Glass on an un-aired Saturday Night Live Weekend Update segment from 2011. It was filmed during dress rehearsal, but cut from the broadcast.” So good. Speaking of Fred, we really need to watch more Portlandia episodes before our upcoming trip.
• And speaking of Portland, after discussing with friends who live there and poking around the internet - we’ve decided to stay in the Division Street area.
• We’re looking forward to this trip for so many reasons. Seeing family and friends. Eating great food. Seeing nature. Seeing nerds in their environment (at the Emerald City Comic Con). And hitting my Fitbit step goals every day of the trip, which brings me to this interesting article on The Anthropology Of Walking and how we, as humans, move across the landscape.
• So many good shows and things tomorrow night! One I’d like to stop by? The Hex, where friends are playing in their Siouxsie & the Banshees cover band called, wait for it, Fauxie and the Manshees. For the holidaze the boyfriend got me some lovely gifts. Including Nocturne, the live album from 1983, both the DVD and vinyl. Sadly the vinyl version reeks like moth balls.

Yesterday I broke my homebound streak. Ordered up an Uber car (first time users, grab my Uber code and we’ll both get a $20 credit) to retrieve my car from Worku, my mechanic. Had a nice chat with him and learned that he is also raising a vegan teenager. He even gave me pro tips on how he prepares tofu, Ethiopian style for her. Neat. Then I relished the feeling of freedom as I drove my car to the bank, TJ Maxx and Target. And later went out to Sakana Sushi for dinner with the boyfriend. Being out in the world wasn’t so bad! Later this morning I’ll even work from my company’s headquarters for the first time in a couple of weeks. Thankfully a wonderful friend there has been watering my sad desk plants.