For Mom: The Most Shameless Lilac Thief Known to Earth

The Lilac Thief

She is aghast
as I explain that once each year,
just about now,
I drive slowly through the neighborhoods casing likely targets,
and when I find one,
I park just across the street and walk over
with a great inner calm.
I use the very sharpest snips possible,
and cut one, two, but never more than three
clumps of perfectly bloomed purple lilacs,
then move on until the lead-heavy scent
inside the car makes me almost dopey.
I bring them home and arrange them in vases,
place them where they will find afternoon light.
But, she cries, that is just wrong!
Lilacs belong to all the people.


Yes, I say. Yes.
And I am one of the people.


- Young Dawkins

Old Song Obsession

This one isn't new or anything, but it started playing while I was listening to music on my computer while doing homework and I have to say, I think it's amazing every time I hear it. "Eastern Glow" by The Album Leaf.

New little one

I'd like to welcome to the world the newest little family member, my cousin Ryan and his wife Ryan (yes, that is correct)'s new baby boy, Graham Finley Vacca. He was born at 1:44 am on April 11th weighing in at a healthy 8 pounds exactly. Happy birthday, sweet baby.

Pickled Carrots

Ingredients:
1 pound carrots
1 1/4 c water
1 c cider or plain vinegar
1/4 c sugar
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed (I just used minced garlic in a jar)
1 1/2 T dill seeds (you can also use fresh or dried dill--if it's dried, put it in with the brine as you make it; if it's fresh, put it in the container before refrigerating)
1 1/2 T salt

Directions:

1. Buy carrots, especially if they have legs because that's just more fun. Arrange creatively on a cutting board and admire how orange and bumpy they are. Feel good about buying from the farmers market before realizing that these monster carrots are hella hard to peel.



2. Cut carrots into sticks. Add regular store-bought carrots because you had to throw away some of the farmer's market carrots because you cut them all wonky and plus, they had a lot of bad spots. Put carrot sticks in heat-proof container. Admire the symmetry. Wonder why Gourmet magazine hasn't called you yet to beg for your amazing food photography skills.




3. Combine all other ingredients in a pot. Wonder what the difference is between dill seeds and dried dill. Why do they look so different? They still smell the same. Speaking of smelling, take a sniff of your brine and break out into a vinegar coughing fit.

4. Bring brine to a boil. As soon as it's boiling, turn down the heat so that it is simmering. Hope your blog readers don't notice your kind-of messy stove.

5. Go kiss your Beara while you let the brine simmer for two minutes.

6. Pour the brine over the carrots. Fret that you didn't make enough brine to cover all the carrots and therefore the ones on the top only get seeds and no liquid and will be failures as pickled carrots. Damn underachievers. Vow to eat the bottom ones first.

7. Let the carrots cool, uncovered. After they have cooled, cover and chill in the 'fridge for at least a day so that they can soak up the flavors. Hope that your blog readers notice how nice your newly cleaned-out 'fridge looks.

8. Eat 'em up. Feel healthy and accomplished.

Call the Mortuary.

On Saturday I went to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago with my friends Katie and Ann, and Ann's four-year-old son, Owen. We were in the middle of debating whether zebra stripes are really black and white or more of a chocolate hue when Owen said, matter of factly, "There is a dead monster out there." Come again? "There's a dead monster. It's right there," he said. So I look to where he's pointing and sure enough: dead monster.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Dance Experiment

On Thursday night I went to see my friend Cortney perform in the first ever Dance Experiment put on by Saya Hillman's Mac n' Cheese Productions. Saya is one of the coolest people I've ever heard of (I can't say "met" as I haven't officially met her, though several of my friends know her). She is 31, single, and this incredible innovator and imaginative force. She comes up with all kinds of cool and crazy ideas and, unlike so many of us, actually goes through with them. A while back she started these parties she calls "Minglers" wherein she has a large group of people gather at her home for dinner and drinks and get to know one another. The only catch is that no one is allowed to know anyone else that is going to be at the party. It's an entire party full of strangers. There are ice breakers and conversation starters and I have several friends who have gone (separately, of course) and said they are awesome--you meet so many new people and have a blast. The minglers have become so successful that Saya's been able to make a meager living from them!

According to my friends who know her, every year Saya chooses to do something that scares her, and this year that thing was to dance in public. So she started The Dance Experiment. She picked 17 people who she knew, but who did not know each other. None of them had any dance experience whatsoever. They then hired a choreographer who worked with them for three months. Additionally, Saya and another of the dancers worked with children at an inner city school, teaching them how to use video equipment and also teaching them one of the dances the group was learning. This weekend was the performance. They did one on Thursday and one on Friday (the Friday one sold out!) and it was great fun to watch. Since they had videotaped the entire process, about half the show was scenes from the documentary and the other half was the group actually doing the dances they had learned. There will be a Dance Experiment DVD coming out in a few months, and you can watch the trailer on YouTube here:

It was a truly cool thing to experience and learn about, something I would definitely have partaken in had I still lived in Chicago. Apparently the interest has grown so much that there might be a Dance Experiment 2, so if you're interested, you should go to Saya's website: http://www.macncheeseproductions.com/ to sign up.

I love people who just take life and run with it.

Education Library

U of I has the largest collection of children's books in the country, outside of the Library of Congress. Pretty impressive, I must say, especially for one who wants to be a children's librarian. The other day I was studying at the main library and decided to take a field trip down to the Education Library which is in the same building, and houses all of these glorious picture books. It's crazy how, once you're in there, you feel like you're in an actual school. From the checkered floors to the posters on the walls, all I needed was a Weekly Reader and some #2 pencils.