Square Root Day, 03/03/09

Square Root Day

How much do we love square roots at the Almanac of Merriment?  So much that we are prepared to give up our lunch breaks to blog about them.  (Your wish is my command, Edgy.) 

Today, 03/03/09, is one of just ten Square Root Days that we will have this century.  To have a Square Root Day one must have a day and a month that equal the square root of the last two digits of the year.  

The other nine Square Root Days in this, or any, century fall on 01/01/01; 02/02/04; 04/04/16; 05/05/25; 06/06/36; 07/07/49; 08/08/64; 09/09/81; and 10/10/2100.  As you can see, the amount of time between Square Root Days increases exponentially as the century progress... much like the distance between um...prime numbers?  No, wait I remember... numbers with perfect squares.  (Whew!  It's been a really long time since my last math class.  My last math class that didn't involve Excel, that is.)

Anyway, Edgy thinks this is a perfect day to eat square root vegetables.  Root vegetables that are square is shape, that is.  I wonder if there are any restaurants that are offering square veggies as a special today?   

Just Because Day, August 27th

Just Because Day

Just because it takes at least a week and a half to normalize from a week and a half of vacation.

When I got home from airport via the Blog Party on Saturday night a week ago, I discovered that The Ants had moved into my apartment while I was gone. The Ants where everywhere. I was not happy with this, and bought poison for them. Now, nine days later, The Ants have mostly moved out. It took them as long to move out as the had to move in. Just because, The Ants are not entirely gone, I still don't feel like it is my apartment yet.

Just because I am a very clumsy person, both by nature, and by disease.

Saturday, while I was getting ready for a birthday party where I was to dress up as a nerd from the eighties (not much of a boost for my ego by the way) I stepped on a piece of broken glass in my kitchen. And when I stepped on the glass I jumped very clumsily backwards and twisted my shoulder in a way that it probably I could not replicate, but it probably looked a bit like a move that we all have seen Shaggy do when running away from ghosts. Anyway, the glass was deep in my foot, and when I tried to get it out, a piece of it broke off deep in the blood goo of my foot. So, I went to the emergency clinic, because I wasn't making the mess any cleaner. They got all the glass out and told me to ice my shoulder for the next few days and stay off my foot as much as possible. And, so I missed the 80's party, just because I wasn't in the mood any more.

And just because when I worry about things I can't control, I tend to lose control of things I should control.

Sunday night I had a good conversation with Edgy about things that kept me concerned and concentrated. But, while I was talking with my brain focued on him, my body was cleaning my kitchen, loading dishes in the dishwasher, getting the garbage ready to take out. And after the conversation had ended, I distinctly remember thinking about which pocket to stick my keys in so I could go check my mail, I had to worry about pocket because I also had to carry my cell phones, since I am on call for work this week. I needed to check my mail, which now hasn't been checked in two and a half weeks, because I haven't had any garbage to take out, because I have been limiting the food in my house just because of The Ants. I am sure my mailperson hates me. Just because the mailboxes are so far away from my actual apartment and from where I park; it's just not convenient to check the mail unless I am taking out the garbage.

So, anyway, after the garbage was dumped in the Dumpster, (see I can be cool and capitalize Dumpster just like it is all through Eclipse) I walk over to the mailbox and wait... no keys. Um. Problem! I hobbled good-foot-over-bad-foot back to my apartment and yes, I did lock the door. Why? Just because.

But, all is well just because I have Good Friend who said she didn't mind phone calls in the middle of the night, and who drove my extra key down to my apartment to let me in. And she brought freezer apricot jam for me and and for me to bring to Edgy. Why did she bring me and Edgy apricot jam? Just because.

And all is doubly well because I have Edgy, who text messaged me during the lockout to keep me company, just because he is cool like that.

So, through all the not-so-good just becauses, it's pretty good that I have some good friends- just because.

The Feast Day of St. Philbert, August 20th

The Feast Day of St. Philbert

I was really glad to read about The Feast Day St. Philbert, because I learned why Oregonians call Hazelnuts Filberts.

As a child when I was driving around the orchards of the Willamette Valley with my mom, she would point out the rows and rows of low and gnarled trees and say, "Those are the filbert orchards. In the United States, Filbert trees only are grown in Oregon. Some people call filberts hazelnuts. People that call them hazelnuts aren't from Oregon."

This made me feel awkward. Now, I have a bit of pride for my Oregon pioneers who had come across the Oregon Trail and settled in the Willamette Valley, but if everyone else in the world called them hazelnuts, maybe that meant that we Oregonians were a little bit backward. I mean really, why filberts? Filbert doesn't even have the word nut in it? We were trying to hide the yummy goodness that is the filbert away from the rest of the world? Because really, if you didn't know that a filbert was a nut, and some one offered you one, you would think that they were offering you a beloved pet to eat?

Anyway, I was always curious as to why these seemed to be a great hazelnut debate.

According to School of the Seasons, St. Philbert was a French saint, and Hazelnut Trees are ready to harvest around the time of the Feast Day of St. Philbert, (which is on August 20th according the the School of the Seasons, and on August 22nd according to other sites) and so his name has been lent to the nut in areas with strong French influences.

Oregon doesn't really have a strong French influence. So, I did some more research.

Soupsong.com stated that

Frenchman David Gernot arrived in Oregon in the 17th century with European hazel trees and a personal mission. When he stumbled into the beautiful Willamette Valley, he was reminded of his home in the Loire valley. Without hesitation, he staked out his home and planted the first of his 50-tree grove. Other planters followed and by the early 1900s, hazelnut orchards had taken root in Oregon, where their nuts are produced commercially to this day.

Now, there are lots of different ways to eat a filbert.


If you are not if you are not afraid of cracking your teeth, you can eat them straight from the shell.



You can grind them up and put them in cookies and cakes.



Or you can cover them in chocolate, and then they are just perfect. If you are looking for Chocolate Covered Hazelnuts, Edgy has some, straight from Oregon.

Oh, and I have some too, but I am not sure if I am nice enough to share.

The Harry Potter Countdown... Only 12 Hours!

If you have already read Edgy's post, you are aware that we are in the midst of planning a Harry Potter Non-Sleepover Party for tonight.

Now, like all good sleepover parties, we must have good munchies, and since this will be a theme party, we are having Harry Potter munchies. Now, because I can get a bit carried away with celebratory themes, I have tried to limit myself to an amount of food that can reasonable be eaten in the amount of time it takes to read one book. For example, I only made ten chocolate frogs. Because, as of now, only Edgy and I will be at the Harry Potter Non-Sleepover Party, and I think that five frogs each will be plenty. But, I still have chocolate left, so I might make more. We'll see how much time I have left.

I also have finished six peppermint toads. And while I didn't have high expectations for them, I am quite happy with them now.

I have been trying Butter Beer recipes for about three months, and I think I have finally perfected a formula. It has all the qualities of butter beer, except it isn't warm and it doesn't make house elves, or anyone else, drunk.

1 tsp Torani Ginger Spice Syrup
3 Tbls Torani Butterscotch Syrup
1 12 oz can Club Soda
Ice

Edgy asked for Pumpkin Pasties. I am all for making them, but I am not sure how I want to go about it. It seems, since we are first introduced to them on Hogwarts Express, that they could be sweet or savory. You know, like a little bit of lunch to satisfy until the big feast.

The pasty is traditionally a Cornish meat pie, carried by the tin miners for their lunch. It is meat, onions, and potatoes wrapped up in pastry without any gravy, and only salt and pepper. It's one of my family's recipes that has lasted crossing the ocean from Cornwall to Virginia, to Michigan, to Oregon. So, I almost want to hold to the tradition that pasty is a meal, not a dessert.

But, Edgy always imagined them sweet, and all the pumpkin pasty recipes that I have found have been more like pumpkin pie with a top pie crust. I am thinking about experimenting with phyllo dough.

I am also thinking about getting more creative and doing a kind of pumpkin/meat pasty, to be a little bit closer to the Cornish tradition of pasty, just replacing the sliced potatoes with sliced pumpkin... and maybe more seasonings. But, I would have to be able to find fresh pumpkins. And so I need to get shopping so I can fully explore my options.

There are lots of other foods to choose from. In the Harry Potter books, they mention food all the time. Like, Roast beef, milk, roast chicken, ham, tea, fried sausages, stew, pumpkin juice, hamburger casserole, casserole, tripe, pork chops, shepherd's pie, Cornish pasties, lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, steak and kidney pudding, steak and kidney pie, black pudding, rock cakes, bath buns, chicken and ham sandwiches, bread, marshmallows, lemon drops, crumpets, baked pumpkin, roast potatoes, jacket potatoes, boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, chicken drumsticks, homemade bread, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, sprouts, carrots, gravy, ketchup, custard tart, apple pie, treacle tart, chocolate eclairs, jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, and rice pudding, bouillabaisse, blancmange, porridge, rolls, orange juice, kippers, eggs and bacon, toast, jam, corn flakes, turkey, chipolatas, gravy, cranberry sauce, turkey sandwiches Christmas pudding, eggnog, trifle, Christmas cake, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, treacle fudge, chocolate frogs, pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes, Liquorice Wands, Pepper Imps, chocolate balls full of strawberry mousse and clotted cream, Sugar Quills, tooth flossing string mints, Jelly Slugs, mince pie, brittle, nougat, coconut ice, ton tongue toffees, Fizzing Whizbees, ice mice, peppermint toads, blood flavoured lollipops, Cockroach Cluster, fudge flies, Acid Pops, sherbet balls, pumpkin tart, Butterbeer, Red Currant Rum, Gillywater, Mulled Mead, Firewhisky, and elderflower wine. And I am sure that I have missed a bunch.

I had plans to make chocolate wands, but now I can't find a reference to chocolate wands, only licorice wands. And I don't think I can get very creative with licorice wands, so, I have decided to focus my efforts on the pumpkin pasties.

Although pancakes are never mentioned, I have a very good recipe for pumpkin pancakes, so we are having pumpkin pancakes for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin
3 eggs
1 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 oz. chopped pecans (optional)

Sift dry ingredients and set aside. Using a large bowl, combine
pumpkin, eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir
until blended; stir in pecans just before ready to cook.


Pumpkin pancakes with sausages, almost more excited than the book! Yum! Yum!

Puppy

For the last week, I have been dog-sitting Edgy's dog, Puppy. And now I want to take her home with me. My mom also want me to take her home with me. I want to take her home with me, because she is very good company, and I think that I am getting tired of living by myself. My mom want me to take Puppy home with me, because she thinks that I am cranky if I am tired, and likes that Puppy makes me go to bed. Yeah, Puppy decides when it is bedtime, and makes me go to bed.

I also have decided that I want to move to downtown Salt Lake City. I have decided it is much more fun to live in a ethnically diverse and richly cultural area, at least an area that is more ethnically diverse and cultural than the area that I live now. It's just neat to see dread locks and goths and non-white people, and Churches that aren't Mormon while walking on a simple morning walk. That doesn't happen in Pleasant Grove, where I live, or in Provo, where I work. Yeah for diversity!

Anyway, I've been having lots of fun with Puppy. I have tried to discover how much fur I can brush off of her, given unlimited amounts of time. I stopped after two hours. My black t-shirt no-longer looked black, and there were still loose hairs. I was trying to help her loose a layer of her fur coat because it is unbelievably hot here in Utah, and no relieve is in sight. But, now, Edgy's living room rug has a lot of dog hair on it, and I can't find the vacuum... but I haven't looked too hard. Sorry, Edgy, you are going to have to vacuum when you come home.

Tonight, while I was packing up to go back home in the morning, Puppy knows something is up. She stole one of my flip flops, and ran out into the dark back yard. Now, normally, this would not have been a big deal, because they were four dollar flip flops, but, they were the only footwear I had brought, and I didn't fancy the thought of limping alongside Puppy on her morning walk with only one flip flop. So, I ran outside after her. I couldn't see her for a while, but I did, she was there, running full force at me, and she head butted me! Right on my shin! That will leave a mark. Well, we chased each other around the yard for about a half and hour, and I eventually found my flip flop, so all is well.

Now, she is calling me to bed, with short brisk barks, so I had better get going, mostly because I am not done packing up my stuff yet. I am especially not done packing if I am to sneak her home to live with me.... just kidding Edgy!

Frankin Days, or the Reason Not to Kill the Messenger

It seems that my life is in jeopardy since I quoted an old bit of Devonshire weather folklore.

Thunder in May
Frightens the Summer away.

In my own defense, I would like to state that it is not my fault it is snowing in Park City, Utah. It is, however, the fault of a Devonshire man named Frankin, because apparently, New England Puritans weren't the only people who frequently sold their souls to the Devil. According to The Perpetual Almanack of Folklore:

"Sharp frosts which sometimes occur about this time are the revenge of one Frankin, a beer-brewer put out of business by competition from cider. He therefore vowed his soul to the Devil in return for frost on each of the three 'Frankin's Days' around May the twenty-first, hoping that these would kill the apple-blossom and ruin the cider crop (Kightly 82).

So, Edgy, the reason why it snowed today? Because hops bloom in August.

Day of Edgy, May 7th

Day of Edgy

"There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents ... and only one for birthday presents..." -Lewis Carroll

Happy Birthday Edgy! May you get one new book for each of the candles on your birthday cake!

Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day, March 27th

Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day

Last year Edgy wasn't happy because I did not include a list of quirky country music titles with my post that noted the existence of Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day. I am not a lover of country music, in fact, my vision of hell is me sitting at a desk with a broken chair in an unconditioned office in Arizona, in July, and having to correct circular reference errors on a neverending pile of useless spreadsheets, while listening to country music. But, since we are quickly approaching (in 41 days) the Day of Edgy, I thought it would be appropriate to concede to his year-old request. So, everyone should go thank Edgy for this cannon of quirky canticles.

I decided to split these titles up into three quirky categories in order to maximize their impact, otherwise, the funniness gets lost, at least for me.

Livestock

"Hair In My Eyes Like A Highland Steer"
"You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd"
"May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose"

Good Love

"It Was An Absolutely Finger Lickin', Grits And Chicken Country Music Love Song"
"She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy"
"Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off"
"Get Your Biscuits out o' the Oven and Your Buns into Bed"

Love Gone Wrong

"Get Your Tongue Out of My Mouth 'Cause I'm Kissing You Goodbye"
"I Gave Her The Ring, and She Gave Me the Finger"
"I'm Gonna Hire a Wino to Decorate Our Home"
"Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass"
"You're the Hangnail in My Life"
"It's Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long"
& "I Can See Your Aura and It’s Ugly"

Oscar Preparation

After an orgy of movies this last week and weekend, I have now seen 28 of the 58 movies that have been nominated for the Academy Awards. Edgy shouldn't have encouraged me to rent Cars, because that was the movie that pushed me ahead of him in numbers of movies viewed. Well, Cars and The Illusionist, but The Illusionist has been on my list of movies to see since LL recomended it over The Prestige, and that was a long time ago. The upcoming Academy Awards just urged me to see it a little sooner than I probably would have.


With only five days left to see movies, I probably have seen most of what I will see before the show. But, there are a few more that I would like to get in before I have to fill in my ballot at Edgy's Oscar Party. And because I like to share, I will share with internet my list.

Red indicates movies I have alreay seen, blue, are movies I would like to see before the Oscars on Sunday, and green, are movies I would like to see eventually, but know that I can't reasonably get to before Sunday. Black is for those movies that I probably will never see. (The parentheses indicate how many nominations that film has.)

Eventually, I might get around to writings reviews, or recommendations, or complaints about movies that were missed, but as tomorrow is Mardi Gras, aka Pancake Tuesday, I might be out partying hard and flipping pancakes, so, I might forget.

1. After the Wedding (1)
2. Apocalypto (3)
3. Babel (7)
4. Binta y La Gran Idea (1)
5. The Black Dahlia (1)
6. Blood Diamond (5)
7. The Blood of Yingzhou District (1)
8. Borat (1)
9. Cars (2)
10. Children of Men (3)
11. Click (1)
12. Curse of the Golden Flower (1)
13. The Danish Poet (1)
14. Days of Glory (1)
15. Deliver Us from Evil (1)
16. The Departed (5)
17. The Devil Wears Prada (2)
18. Dreamgirls (8)
19. Eramos Pocos (1)
20. Flags of Our Fathers (2)
21. The Good German (1)
22. The Good Shepherd (1)
23. Half Nelson (1)
24. Happy Feet (1)
25. Helmer & Son (1)
26. The Illusionist (1)
27. An Inconvenient Truth (2)
28. Iraq in Fragments (1)
29. Jesus Camp (1)
30. The Last King of Scotland (1)
31. Letters from Iwo Jima (4)
32. Lifted (1)
33. Little Children (3)
34. Little Miss Sunshine (4)
35. The Little Matchgirl (1)
36. The Lives of Others (1)
37. Maestro (1)
38. Marie Antoinette (1)
39. My Country, My Country (1)
40. Monster House (1)
41. No Time for Nuts (1)
42. Notes on a Scandal (4)
43. Pan's Labrynth (6)
44. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (4)
45. Poseidon (1)
46. The Prestige (2)
47. The Pursuit of Happyness (1)
48. The Queen (6)
49. Recycled Life (1)
50. Rehearsing a Dream (1)
51. The Saviour (1)
52. Superman Returns (1)
53. Two Hands (1)
54. United 93 (2)
55. Venus (1)
56. Volver (1)
57. Water (1)
58. West Bank Story (1)

(Yes, Dreamgirls is on my "probably will never get around to seeing it" list. I'm sorry, I just don't even have an inch of desire to see it, even if it did get 8 nominations.)

Hi Neighbor Day, December 11th

Hi Neighbor Day

Today is Hi Neighbor Day. Today everyone should take a moment to introduce themselves to their neighbors, physical or electronic, in order to make the world a happier place.

For example:

Hi neighbor! My name is Absent-minded Secretary. I have a professionally decorated Christmas Tree, I would invite you to come see it, but it is resting today. It needed a break after the rush of holiday cheer that it received yesterday. I coerced my friends Edgy and Dec to come decorate my tree for me because I just wasn't in a Christmasy mood. I made them dinner, which was fun, and now my apartment is all Christmasy. I also got to try out some of my new cooking ideas that I got from watching my gastroporn shows.

I'm sorry, did I just shock you? Apparently, you didn't know that cooking shows are filmed with the same film techniques as porn. It makes sense right? Both are trying to document a sensory experience that cannot be replicated across the medium.

For last night's Christmas decorating party, I tried out a recipe using ideas from Ina Garten, Giada De Laurentiis, this recipe for Pearl Onion Jam, and other stuff rolling around in my head. Probably the two biggest influences on the dinner were the Pearl Onion Jam (because I am from the Northwest) and Ina Garten's butterflied pork loin (because it looks cool). Getting the butcher to butterfly the pork loin was an adventure.

I guess you can tell that I like to cook, but lately I have been forgetting to put eggs in stuff. Yesterday, I made a pecan pie. It turned out very not right. I think I forgot to put in one of the eggs. Edgy and Dec were very nice about it; they both ate all of their pie. When I blogged about making pecan pie, I forgot to put in the number of eggs in the recipe. The correct number of eggs for a pecan pie is three.

Also, I can make a horrible mess with an immersion blender, garlic cloves, raspberry vinegar and hazelnut oil. You, dear neighbor, want me to come over and cook for you, don't you.

You seem to be looking at my eye, dear neighbor. I don't blame you. It is a bit red. You see, I have an eye thing. Do you remember the Friends episode where Rachel has an eye thing? Yeah, that's me.

Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, because I just generally avoid the whole eye-drop thing, but I recently got a scratch on my eye when my eye doctor was removing a cyst, after he told me not to move, and now I look like Darth Maul... or at least one eye does.

To remedy the red-eye, I am having to ask my friends and co-workers to drop my drops into my eyes, and that isn't always convenient. When I have to drop the drops in myself, I have to tape my upper eyelid open and lie down on my bed so my eyelid and eyelashes don't flutter shut diverting the drops all over my face.

Edgy (who is also a neighbor of my cousin, a fact I didn't realize until Saturday night, and they could say "Hi" to each other) showed me a cool trick to help me keep the eye-drops in my lower eyelid pocket, so that I can drop the drops in without the danger of loosing all my eyelashes to Scotch Tape. I'm working on perfecting the technique. Maybe someday, if I practice lots and lots, I will become an expert eye-drop-dropper... or maybe tonight I will be knocking on your door, eye-drops in hand.

Just remember that I am not in the contagious stage of Pink Eye, I just have a scratch on my eye from a surgical instrument... because I flinched.

Anyway, that is how one would celebrate Hi Neighbor Day. If one were inclined to celebrate, or perhaps if one had a socialization problem.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, How Lovely Are Your Branches

Thank you to Edgy and Dec who have decorated me a lovely Christmas tree. Lovely company, lovely tree. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now I will have a happy Christmas.

International Rabbit Day September 23rd or 24th

International Rabbit Day

There seems to be some confusion about what day is International Rabbit Day. Some sources say it was yesterday, some say it is today.

Either way, everyone should read Edgy Killer Bunny's blog to learn about Banned Book Week. You should also read his post about which books to read.

I, myself, am going to pick up The Chocolate War. It seems like a good choice since it is on both top ten challenged book lists, it quotes one of my favorite poems, and it was published the year that I was born.

But, if you are looking for a non-banned-bookish way to celebrate International Rabbit Day, and are still looking to celebrate Read-A-New-Book-Month, I would recommend reading The Runaway Bunny, by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd, or Bunnicula by Deborah and James Howe. Both are very good books for all age groups. Unless animals talking and having human-like thoughts are scary to you... then I wouldn't recommend either book.

Anyway, have a Happy Rabbit-Reading Day!