Jezebel

Ode(s) to the Best Blogs Ever

Ever since I discovered Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks I have been even more aware at the overuse of the curly punctuation. On campus, there are two signs in the same building that abuse the use of quotation marks. It's funny because there isn't even a reason to use them.

The single quote marks around Mexican perplex me more than the two signs on campus. The period bothers me too. There is no reason for one word to be punctuated like that. Grr.

Thank you, Apostrophe Catastrophes and The Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks. Without you, my life would be less entertained. I am also a HUGE fan of Fail Blog. Definitely one of the best blogs ever. Enjoy.

"Suite" Mates

I was waiting for my book editing final to start and I came across this sign. I couldn't help but snap a picture of it (and send a copy to my editor friend). Sweet! There are other little grammatical things that need help, but the fact that someone thought that a neighbor in the dorms is a sweet mate is frickin' hilarious. My neighbors in the dorms were sweet, but they were my suitemates. This is an awful poster, really--it completely lacks parallel construction. The author didn't even try. It's fairly ironic that I found this on my way to an editing final. Enjoy.

It's the End, the End my Friend

I knew this was coming. The moment Alan made a comment about it being "over" I knew I was in for dissapointment. Only more dissapointing is the fact that the SERIES finale of Boston Legal was on at the same time as Heroes and Prison Break. So, my Tivo had to choose, and it chose both of those instead of the BL.

So I missed the series finale, which sucks, but I just found out that they started to finally put the episodes online. I get to watch it at some point, but that doesn't change the fact that my favorite show on TV is toast.

I'm not sure why I started watching BL. I loved James Spader in Secretary, so that may have had something to do with it. Also, David E. Kelley is a genius. I remember falling in love with the characters on that first episode, and I've been an avid watcher ever since.

I loved that the show pushed the envelope all the time. It wasn't really realistic in some ways, but it also tackled real issues that we deal with today. I loved how the cases were extremely pertinent to current events, and the writers always had brilliant closings to sum up these issues. It was smart, funny, and aware.

I have to admit it was very liberal. Even though Denny was a staunch republican the show was still extremely liberal. That is probably one of the reasons I loved it. I'm a liberal, therefore shows with a liberal bent appeal to me. It may have been too liberal for some, which can be witnessed at the message boards on abc.com, but it always focused on issues that are important to us right now. I felt like the show broadened my horizons, forced me to think about political and legal issues. Not many dramas can actually teach you a thing or two about current events and the social and political climate we live in.

Alan was a great character. I loved him. I wanted to bone him. His closings were brilliant. But Denny ultimately made me laugh more. He always pushed people's buttons, and I don't know how many times he shot people and got away with it. I'm glad he moved to a paintball handgun in recent episodes. I'll never forget the episode where we meet Shirley Schmito. I think it was a season premire--what a way to start the season off. That episode was frickin hilarious, and that life size doll and Denny being "caught" with her was priceless.

There are so many great moments. Great Halloween costumes (remember the flamingos?). Great road trips. Great Christmas parties. Great cases. And Great closings. I'll miss this show a lot.

I've asked for the BL seasons for Christmas, and I hope I get some of them. Now that the show is over I could relive the greatness all over again. If I don't, hell, I'll probably buy them anyway.

O Happy Day

It's a good day. Obama will be our new president. The streets of Portland were alive with honking cars and excited voters. The energy was off the charts, and I'm glad I was able to share this moment with others who were just as excited as I was.

This being said, some things didn't go the way I wanted them to. It looks like Merkely will not take the senate seat for Oregon. The Dems did not get the filibuster proof senate they need, but at least they gained some seats.

Prop 8 passed. This is one of the saddest of the losses to me. Gay marriage rights are extremely important, and for a huge state like California to ban them sends a message to other states. I feel bad for all of those couples who had their wedding day and now can only see it as a distant memory, something that was then a victory for gay rights and now just another day when two people loved each other and committed to each other.

Somehow, Oregon voters passed Measure 64 this time, after three other failed attempts. I guess they just got tired of voting for it, but it is extremely disappointing.

In more good news, Washington I-1000 passed! The Death with Dignity act joins Oregon's law to provide terminally ill people with the right to choose death. Such a basic right, but one that is only allowed in these two states. Seems ridiculous to me, but I know how religion drives the American train.

So, victory for Obama and the terminally ill in Washington. A sad loss for gay couples in California and the Dems in the senate. Despite the losses, the main thing is that OBAMA won, and none of us have to seek refugee status in Canada.

Seriously? Don F*ing Cheadle?

Ok, I just read that Terrence Howard has been replaced in his Iron Man role by Don Cheadle.

Don Fucking Cheatle.

He's okay, I guess. He did a good job in the Ocean's triology. But he's not Terrence Howard, damnit. Not even close.

Let's compare:

In terms of hotness, Howard wins hands down. In terms of acting, it's a toss-up. But I don't think this role is good for Cheadle at all. He's a little too wacky for the part, and Howard provides more of classy approach. Howard started it, and he should finish it. This is BS to the highest degree. I hope that what I read was BS, because if not, Iron Man will be dead to me. DEAD.

Hmm

Okay, it's officially been more than a month since my last post. School certainly has put a damper on my posting, plus work has picked up. Those are good problems, for sure, but I feel like I have neglected my blogging duties here at Jezebel's Rant.

I guess it's because there hasn't been much to rant about. I could go into the state of the world, the upcoming election, why Paris Hilton is no longer in the news, but those are very daunting tasks (aside from the PH situation, which I really don't care about at all).

I had a guy come up right behind me yesterday when I was ordering food, almost breathing down my neck, all up in my business, and start to hit on me. Usually this wouldn't be a problem, but he was creepy. He asked me where my boyfriend was, to which I replied, "at home watching football." Yea, then he said, "You look like you are single" after giving me the once-over with his eyes.

I wonder what that meant. How does someone "look" single, and how do I look extra single to the hotties out there? Is there a way to look single for the good ones and taken for the not-so-good ones? I should have asked him what he meant, but I wanted nothing to do with him and didn't want to continue the conversation more than what was necessary.

I guess I must exude singleness. It's spewing out of me like a crazy form of pheromone, and I'm not sure what to do about it. I've been single for a super long time, and after that long of a time it must start to show. I must carry myself differently than I did when I was taken ... which was at least four years ago, if not more. After that amount of time, no wonder I look single. I've been single for almost five years.

I had a couple of guys I dated, but this lasted no longer than two weeks. I haven't really thought about this before, and it's almost sad thinking about being single for that long. The worst part is that not only have I been single, but my sex life has dwindled considerably since I graduated from college. No more good times after a night at the bar for me. Now I go to bed early and do homework on Friday nights.

I guess this is what happens as life happens. My life is pretty damn good, though, despite not having dates and boyfriends. Hopefully my time will come, and when it does it will be a welcome change of pace.

Rant No. 3: Living with Boys

I could go on and on and on about my frustrations with boys, but this blog will be about living with them.

I live with a just-over 30 gay man. I thought that this would mean I was out of boy territory. Logic would say that this man would have his shit together and contribute accordingly. Wrong.

I've known him for quite a while. He's always lived with super-nasty boys, and I just thought that those super-dirty boys trashed the house just as fast as he could clean it. Wrong again.

Fuck. He's as lazy as a bear during hibernation. Although when prompted he cleans the house, and is always good to do the dishes on one of his two days off (which leaves 6 days for me), he doesn't take the initiative. All he does is sit all home all day on his days off, you would think that doing dishes wouldn't be so difficult. It usually only happens on one of the days though, which to me is ridiculous.

The garbage and recycling is what pisses me off most. I think he's taken the garbage out maybe 3-5 times since we moved in March. I try to leave it in there as long as I can to see if he will take it out on his day off, but alas. How fucking hard is it to grab the trash, walk it down the driveway during a cigarette break, and then put a new trash bag in? It's not! I do it all the time and I don't even take cigarette breaks any more. Oh, and he's never taken the recycling out, mostly because he doesn't even believe in recycling. I can see if you don't believe in something then you don't want to do it, but He-sus! (I always pronounce this in the Spanish way, hence the semi-phonetic spelling.) It's just a little more difficult than taking out the garbage. I guess at least he throws his recyclables into the bin.

Other things he doesn't believe in? Conserving water. He will let the water run and run and run for no apparent reason at all. It's just laziness of turning the nob off and then back on again I guess. He even said to me, when I asked him why he left the water running, "why not since we don't pay for it." Ugh! I wanted to fucking punch him in the face after saying that.

He also takes things out of the refrigerator, does his business with them, all while leaving the refrigerator door wide open. There's no reason for this, except to let all the cool air escape and piss me off. It's not just a couple of seconds. I've seen this go on for a good minute. Ridiculous.

He does contribute more than any other boy roommate I've had. But those boys had an excuse -- they were 20-something college students. Of course they will be lazy and make me clean the house and wash all their dishes every fucking time (all while saying "I was going to do those" as I'm staring at two overflowing sinks full of nasty, weeks-old dishes).

Ugh!

Aahhhhh. I feel better. Now I think I won't have to go fucking crazy on his ass because I've gotten my frustrations out in some way. Let's hope this feeling holds.

My Weekend in Pictures

One of my most favorite friends came to visit this past weekend. We had a blast, and of course ended up getting out in nature. We even did a nice hike near Multnomah Falls. Here's a few of my favorite pictures from our adventures.

The Japanese Garden

There were huge Koi swimming in the ponds. It was very difficult to capture the fish with my slow digital camera. This picture turned out pretty nice, though.

I was glad when I saw that my camera actually picked up the pattern in the sand. I wish the middle areas had grass, but it is still a beautiful scene.

The Rose Garden

This is by far my favorite picture. I just have a simple digital camera, but it did an amazing job at capturing the roses up close. Even the dew looks great.

I thought this rose looked like candy. The colors remind me of salt water taffy. The International Rose Test Garden is so beautiful when in bloom. I forgot how big it was.

Wahkeena and Multnomah Falls Hike

This is the bottom of Wahkeena Falls. Apparently Wahkeena is an American Indian word for Most Beautiful. It certainly was a gorgeous site during our hike in the Columbia River Gorge area.

This is, of course, Multnomah Falls -- the highest falls in Oregon. Luckily, my friend didn't want to hike all the way to the top, which is the worst hike I have ever done. The hike to this bridge isn't so bad, though.

A Spicy Life is a Good Life Indeed

I'm talking here about spices, but there is nothing wrong with a hot-spicy dish.

I'm a self-professed food junkie. Not only do I love eating good food, I love watching other people make delicious food and then eat it. On those lazy weekend mornings I love to flip on the TV and watch Giada, The Neelys, or Tyler. The Food Network is an amazing thing, and people like Alton Brown make it that much better.

His show, Good Eats, is a fun way to not only learn about cooking food, but also just learn about that food's history, best cooking methods, etc. He's doing his third version of Feasting on Asphalt, only this time he is sailing through the Caribbean and Feasting on Waves.

The show is great, as it is mostly just an impromptu look at island food and culture. At the end of one of the segments on the last episode, it had this little note at the bottom that made my brain wheels start turning:

"The geopolitical shape of our planet is greatly determined by mankind's pursuit of spices."

I've never really thought about spices before. I mean, they come in bottles, I buy them, and I use them to spice up my food. I slightly remember learning about the Spice Trade in school but haven't given it a second thought since then -- until now.

This phrase made me consult Wikipedia for more information about spices and why they were so important in shaping the world as it is today.

A Historical Overview

"Civilizations of Asia were involved in spice trade from the ancient times, and the Greco-Roman world soon followed by trading along the Incense route and the Roman-India routes. The Roman-Indian routes were dependent upon techniques developed by the maritime trading power, Kingdom of Axum (ca 400s BC–AD 1000s) which had pioneered the Red Sea route before the 1st century. When they encountered Rome (circa 30 BCE– 10 CE) they shared knowledge of riding the Monsoons of the route on to Rome, keeping a cordial relationship with one another until the mid-seventh century, when the rise of Islam closed off the overland caravan routes through Egypt and the Suez, and sundered the European trade community from Axum and India. Arab traders eventually took over conveying goods via the Levant and Venetian merchants to Europe until the rise of the Ottoman Turks."

The Middle Ages
"Spices were among the most luxurious products available in Europe in the Middle Ages, the most common being black pepper, cinnamon (and the cheaper alternative cassia), cumin, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. They were all imported from plantations in Asia and Africa, which made them extremely expensive. From the 8th until the 15th century, the Republic of Venice had the monopoly on spice trade with the Middle East, and along it with the neighboring Italian city-states. The trade made the region phenomenally rich. It has been estimated that around 1,000 tons of pepper and 1,000 tons of the other common spices were imported into Western Europe each year during the Late Middle Ages. The value of these goods was the equivalent of a yearly supply of grain for 1.5 million people.

"A popular modern-day misconception is that medieval cooks used liberal amounts of spices, particularly black pepper, merely to disguise the taste of spoiled meat. However, a medieval feast was as much a culinary event as it was a display of the host's vast resources and generosity, and as most nobles had a wide selection of fresh or preserved meats, fish or seafood to choose from, the use of ruinously expensive spices on cheap, rotting meat would have made little sense."

The New World
"In 1453, the Ottomans took Constantinople and so the Byzantine Empire was no more. Now in control of the sole spice trade route that existed at the time, the Ottoman Empire was in a favorable position to charge hefty taxes on merchandise bound for the west. The Western Europeans, not wanting to be dependent on a non-Christian power for the lucrative commerce with the east, set about to find an alternate sea route around Africa."

***
Throughout history, spices were just as important as gold, gems, and other precious commodities. I never realized this before. Those in control of the spice trade routes would have direct power over many other countries and civilizations. I see now why the continents outside of Europe and Asia were finally discovered -- the spices became too damn expensive and they had to get creative.

Of course, the spice trade is really why Columbus began sailing in the first place. He was trying to find a better way to obtain spices from India. Hell, he thought he reached India. Now I see why the show made this statement: as empires took control of spice trade routes, other civilizations were forced to find their own way to avoid the high taxes and prices imposed by those empires. With this exploration came the discovery of North America, the Caribbean Islands, and South America by different explorers. With these discoveries came the discovery of new routes to India, but also the discovery of new spices in general.

It's amazing to think that Columbus only stumbled upon North America because Spain was tired of paying high prices for spices.

India is still the dominator of spice production. The country produces 1.6 million tonnes of spices, which is 86% of all production in the world. Pretty impressive. No wonder Indian food has one the most complex flavor profiles of all cuisines in the world.

I love spices. Without them, life for me would be oh-so-bland. And I guess that is why spices were so important to civilizations -- because feasting was just as important. Without spices, feasts would just not be the same. I know I would not want to live life without my spice bottles, and I know I have a lot of work to do to learn about all of the flavorful spices available.

Now that I've actually took the time to think about the politics and economics of the spice trade,
I definitely will look at those bottles in my kitchen differently. Before I looked into this, spices were there to make food taste better. Now, spices are one of the most important factors in shaping the world as we know it. It's almost ridiculous to think that a spice, whether it's pepper, nutmeg, or cinnamon, could shape the world's fate. How crazy is that?

I consulted this Wikipedia page and this Wikipedia page.