Sofra - Thursday Lunch

The food is like unicorns and glitter, only it's edible. Delicious experience at Sofra today. My review is here. The place features fresh produce from the chef's husband's farm!

This is my iPhone photo of the Siena delivery truck to prove I'm telling the truth. Not that you doubted me.

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Making Salads Interesting

The key to staying on a restricted calorie diet? Eating salads for lunch. Only that gets boring.

I love making "alternative" salads, like my spaghetti salad, which both use up leftovers and make for a more interesting lunch than a dumb ole garden salad. (Not that there's anything wrong with an occasional garden salad, they just aren't that exciting.)

I had some leftover kebab veggies (no meat, it was way too tough and got thrown away), grilled green beans, and 1.5 heavenly slices of thick cut bacon, all from this past weekend. My salad solution? Putting the vegetables and natural "bacon bits" over a bed of spinach, heating it in the micro for 3 minutes, and lightly sprinkling balsamic vinaigrette over top.

The result was a lovely lightly steamed bed of spinach with fragrant veggies. The bacon added a nice flavor kick, and I was full until dinner time at the cost of just ~375 calories.

"Eating right" doesn't have to be a sacrifice...

Photo is from my iPhone of the aforementioned warmed veggie salad. Yum!
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Podcast Review Monday: The Moth

Raise your hands if you have heard of "This American Life."

Keep your hand up if you love it.

That's what I'm talking about, peeps. TAL love, in da haus!

At one point in my earlier career, I had a series of mind-numbingly boring tasks to do in my otherwise OK job. I listened to ALL of the TAL archives during that time, and it saved my life. Or at least my mind. And since the weekly radio show is often re-runs, I'm pretty much always up to date on it. The result? I'm a TAL-lover, with no fresh TAL. What's a girl to do?

This girl found "The Moth" podcast. It's live recordings of people telling true stories from their lives. It's not "around the bonfire" style, it's performance style. Clearly they have rehearsed their stories, which vary from tales of father-son relationships gone awry, prison life, a fainting problem, and more. They all involve some kind of emotional ride --- both for the teller, and for the listener.

Oh my. Yes, this DOES sound like TAL, doesn't it? Only it's less scripted, less comprehensive, it's just one person's story, the way they choose to tell it. And I can't get enough.

Title: The Moth
Subject: Non-fiction stories, live performance
Length: 10-20 minutes
Available: iTunes
Cost: Free
Quality: High
Interest: Broad

Photo Credit: Andrew Steele
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Everything tastes better...

on a bed of steamed baby spinach. It's so buttery smooth, I *almost* prefer it to pasta. Almost. At the very least, it's a delicious, low calorie alternative.
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To Sir, With Love - A story of letters

The summer after my senior year of high school, I visited my bosom buddy Vivian in her new hometown outside of San Fransisco (Freemont). We were sitting around one afternoon, shooting the shit with her friends, and I started cutting up magazines --- specifically a picture of Jamiroquai. Cutting, and gluing, and cutting, and the result was an anonymous letter sent home to my friend Mike. I promptly forgot about it.

Upon receiving the letter, he was flummoxed. 100%. Who the hell would send a chopped up, glued photo of Jamiroquai? He and his mom spent hours wondering, speculating, thinking, laughing... and then I returned and confessed.

An accidental act of entertainment, but something I should do more often - send fun letters. Random letter sending can bring joy into the world, like this project by Lenka and Michael, who are writing to everyone in the world, one by one, starting with a small town in Ireland. I can only imagine the delight and wonderment of the town's residents as they open their unexpected post, and it makes me want to participate as well. Kind of like pen pals, only it's one way... and for grown-ups. It's even more special as we further immerse ourselves in digital communications.

Who should recieve my first letter?
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YoMa Boston Menu

My love of YoMa, a Burmese restaurant in Boston, is immense. Simple, delicious dishes, lighter than Indian, tastier than Thai. This is the one restaurant from which I order take-out food on a regular basis. T and I LOVE it, and have most of the menu memorized.. but not all of it. So when I'm craving something new, I look to their online menu. But Shock! Surprise! The online menu link is not working! And it had been broken for over a week. Yes I can pinpoint the day it stopped working... I'm addicted.

Here, my friends, is the YoMa Boston menu so you too may order takeout in a speedy and well-informed manner.

Enjoy!

Podcast Review Monday: The Sound of Young America

Inspired by Jen's schedule of posts, I have decided to start a more disciplined approach to blogging. Yes, discipline. Schedules. With that in mind...

Podcasts are something I have recently discovered. Ok, so I've known about them for a few years, but have had trouble finding ones I really like. Sure, I'm an NPR junkie, but I hear most of my public radio live on public radio, so I don't need a podcast for most shows. I will be exploring the deep and murky depths of the podcast world because from now on, moving forward, forthwith, Monday will officially be "Podcast Review Monday."

This week, I'll be listened to PRI: The Sound of Young America, one of the most more popular podcasts available on iTunes. It's put out by the same people who do This American Life, only it's not well sculpted stories, it's interviews of varying lengths by Jesse Thorne of people of interest.

Yes, I realize that's a broad description, but the interviews vary widely from Ira Glass to Jenna Fischer, Brother Ali, and Malcolm Gladwell. The other day I listened to an interview with a guy who wrote a book about the history of comics. I was *not* excited about listening to this. But somehow, between Jesse's questions and comments, and the interviewee's enthusiasm, I enjoyed myself. I learned a lot about both the author's personal history (he loved superhero comics growing up), but also about the role comics have served in our own history, and how they are a reflection of culture.

I have dozens of past interviews archived on my iPhone, ready for my listening pleasure. The ecletic mix of topics ensure I'm never bored. I pretty much will listen to any of the interviews all the way through - they vary in length from 20 to 35 minutes, a reasonable dedication of time.

Verdict? I'm on board with the crowd - definite yes.

Title: PRI: The Sound of Young America (also known as MaximumFun.org)
Subject: Real live interviews
Length: 20-35 minutes
Available: iTunes
Cost: Free
Quality: High
Interest: Broad

My Top 10 Foods

We're talking foods/ingredients, not meals... with the exception of pizza.

1. Pizza
2. Arugala
3. Blueberries
4. Tart yogurt
5. Goat cheese
6. Mint chocolate chip ice cream
7. Quinoa
8. Sweet potatoes
9. Oysters
10. Dark chocolate

Yummy!

Why Healthcare (not insurance) Needs to be Fixed

My cardiologist needs a copy of my echocardiogram. To quote the receptionist: "all you need to do is sign a release form, and they'll mail it out."

Call 1: Internal medicine receptionist in Medford. No dice.
Call 2: Medical records in Somerville. They don't send out CDs, I am put on hold.
Call 3: Radiology. The girl on the phone says they don't send out CDs, that Cardiology has to do that.
Call 4: Cardiology in Medford. Tells me to call Radiology, where I got the echo. I tell her I already did that, she says "well you need to call Radiology."
Call 5: Radiology again... and realize I was calling the Cambridge office and needed to talk to Kenmore. My bad.
Call 6: Radiology in Kenmore. They try to transfer me, the call is dropped.
Call 7: Radiology in Kenmore again. They transfer me correctly.
Call 8: Cardiology in Kenmore. FINALLY praise be, the woman can help me. I don't know why they can send out CDs in Kenmore but not in Cambridge, but I don't really care.

ARF!!!!!!

It's a pre-teen man... it's a tiger.. it's...?

.... a pre-teen man running across an intersection with a 3 foot long stuffed tiger on his back at 11 PM! Followed by another pre-teen.

Definitely my favorite thing that happened yesterday. I only wish I had a photo, but alas, the man-tiger was too nimble on his feet for my camera to capture him.

Brighton Center is so fun.

This is the tiger I sighted! Only not with a cute little girl, with a pubescent boy. Running.

The Christians in TX Love Me

The Christian saga continues.... either this other Casey Williams doesn't know her own email address, or people in Texas don't know how to write down her email properly!!!! ARG!!

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Hi Casey,
It was great to see you at the Interest Meeting This past Sunday, thank you so much for coming! I know you got there a little late but hope that you were encouraged and had a few question answered. That’s great that you are wanting to start a group for Mom’s in your home! Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you, we have lot’s of good studies available and I’d be more than happy to recommend a few. Please feel free to call/email me if any questions come to mind, I am here for you.
Thank you for your heart to open up your home and minister to women!
Blessings,
Laurie
Laurie Sutherland
Groups Pastor
Valley Creek Church
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caseywilliams to Laurie

You have the wrong Casey Williams. The Casey Williams you're looking for gives out the wrong email address wherever she goes - I have gotten several church-related emails meant for her. I do not live in Texas, I live in Boston. I am not a Mom.

Please remove me from your email list, and let her know that she needs to learn her own email address a little better.

Thanks and take care,

Casey Williams
Boston, MA

Fight the Good Fight

Australian researchers have found that a man who sits at a desk six or more hours a day is almost twice as likely to be overweight as someone who sits just 45 minutes a day.

Day-m.

Get up out of that chair! Do a little dance while writing that email.
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Funny Cardiologist

I went to the cardiologist yesterday.

She offered me a danish. The cheese centered, fatty kind.

Apparently a patient brought them in.

HELLO people at a cardiologist's office should not be eating clogging-arteries-pastries!!!