2020 ADK Journal (aka why haven't i kept up with this AT ALL)

 Sunday, August 9th

Left Boston way late.  However the drive up to immediate load onto Ferry was a great welcome.  Got to Nadal camp at 5.  Lots of greetings sans Elbows and Masks.  The YEAR OF COVID officially starts!  Alli and Ben started dinner.  We ate on the porch with masks.  Drank with masks.  Luca and Penny can share the same house!  Alli, Ben and kids went back to Judy's camp.  Jude Jim and Tobin went to sleep.  Pilar and I stayed up talking for awhile.  I picked the room above the kitchen and went to bed.  

Monday August 10th

Woke up to annoying text fight.  And that's all I will say about that.  Wow, is it warm here this year!  Pilar and Jude went to Jude's camp, I stayed and hung out on dock with Jim.  Went swimming with Tobin.  Water was delightful.  Dock is all rotted, we watch people trip or almost fall in a lot.  I started drinking at lunch, no one made fun of me.  Pilar got mini ice cream sandwiches which we ate as appetizers. Monday night was my dinner night, made a meat smorgasbord, worked the grill, had no idea what i was doing but somehow all the meats came out fine.  After Dinner I said, "oh look, there's a rainbow."  no one believed me. It was there.  Alli, Pilar and I took a driveway walk. Stayed up and talked to pilar.  went to bed.

Tuesday, August 11th

Warm day again, lots of dock swimming and hanging.  Driveway walks, reading.  Brooks and his finance amanda came over and swam.  We no longer have masks on when we are on the porch.  Sometimes we don't have them on in the kitchen!  Another rainbow tonight!  It was better than yesterdays!  after dinner we get ice cream (i got a hot fudge sunday, should have gone with a shake).  Got back from ice cream, went to bed.  We are old.

Wednesday, August 12th

Found a house to buy!  Everyone is very excited. 1/2 hour from pilar camp.  Went to Judy's camp to see ben and alli.  Hung out on dock.  Took boat out and did some skiing and tubing.  I got dropped off at Nadal dock with Penny, Penny did not like that boat!  Hung out and swam.  Alli and Ben and family came over, ate lunch, said goodbye.  Some dog drama as Luca tried to eat Penny. Tobin made dinner.  We decided to stay up for the persiods.  Drank lots of wine and then went to the dock and watched the stars for a long time.  It was a good viewing.

Thursday, August 13th.

Sadly pack.  sadly sit on docks for the last time.  Tobin brings Pilar and I breakfast.  I read and drink coffee.  Then I say goodbye.

What my BioWare romances say about me (part 2)

Suggested Pre Reading:  Part 1
Warning:  Major plot spoilers for the following games:  Mass Effect 2 and 3, Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age:  Inquisition - Main story through Trespass DLC, SWTOR - Main Story through Level 50.

It's been 4 years and multiple games later and I did promise you some follow through on where my relationships have taken me. 

We last left off in a world of triangles and tribulations.  Thane the dying assassin and Liara my lovely asari consular both seemed to be back in my life and both simultaneously disposed with other more important business.  This left me to wonder...what about ME?  Yes we have entered the self centered egotistical timeline of the heart.

Inue, Jedi Consular

Zenith

But let's back up.  Before Mass Effect 3 came out there was a short lived involvement with a game called "Star Wars The Old Republic."  I could really go on for a long time on how amazing my character was (double edge lightsword jedi consular....i mean, stop the awesome press) but finding love was another affair.  I often felt repulsed to the strangely effeminate professor Theran Cedrex.  He was slimy and overtly aggressive.  I much preferred Zenith, the sniper twi'lek.  Here was a real man...err alien tentacle thing.  But not to be, as he wasn't even a romance option.  I flitted about the world without a real anchor of romance, somewhat depressed.  Zenith reminded me a bit of Fenris, my love/hate relationship from Dragon Age 2.  

Dragon Age Inquisition had me torn between Solas (elven mage) and Cullen (strapping blond human commander) but after Zevran and then Fenris, I felt I needed to explore a bit beyond the elven paradigm.  So I set off in my new world with the intent to be open minded!  Take the road less traveled!  And Cullen seemed familiar, and safe.  So we cozy up.  He seems stable, he gives good advice...and that accent!  And then.  AND THEN i realize why he is so familiar and reminds me of home.  This was a character from the first game!  3 games ago!  I met him in another character at the mage tower!  He was a templar and he had a crush on me!  But not me...the other me!  AWKWARD.  And here I am, a mage again, and I'm like...Oh i get it.  But i don't really get it, I can't get it.  I can't know.  But I DO KNOW.  So then my character from the second game shows up (sans Fenris) and she meets Alistar (the prince who turned my other character down in the first game after that accidental threesome) and character #2 and Alistar go into the fade and I need to sacrifice either one.  And honestly, Alistar made better sense to keep alive from a story point but I was still really pissed off about him dissing me from game 1.  And he had that demon baby with Morrigan.  So bye bye Alistar.  And I couldn't break up me and Fenris.  But I digress.

Cullen ends up being a lyrium drug addict (I know how to pick them) and I had to quietly nurse his ass while not pressing him too hard.  Touchy male egos abound.

But this is all rather trite when it comes to the triangle of Liara and Thane.  Liara, you see, had become the Shadow Broker.  When we finally met back up I had a hard time being with her again. And i think she knew it.  Thane on the other hand, was where my heart was.   And then bioware took my heart and ripped it in half.  Thane, was in fact, dying.  But not dying well.  He was in a hospital on the citadel and when I got there....after being on earth and not being able to speak with him...it was so so sad and terrible.  And then.  And then...this.

I have no words bioware.  None.

Liara comforts you but being with Liara again...it's just not the same.  I miss Thane.

Back to my inquisitor - who if I did not mention is kicking ass and taking names - and is also the most waif-y unlikely hero ever - and Cullen.  This is where the disaster usually happens for me.  I mess things up, I die, or something terrible happens.  But Cullen seems to be genuninely engaged.  I don't push him away with his addiction thing, I don't say the wrong thing, and somehow things just work out.  The most strange pairing, not 100% romantic or perfect, but yet the most stable and rewarding.  And then, well - we get married.  And I lose an arm.  But I mean, generally a happy ending.

Mrs. Cullen Rutherford

New House, new perspective

I am creating a new bucket for this site, and would love to expound on life as it now entails moving to the suburbs.  Here is a pic of our house:

Cute! 

Here is how I feel about owning a house in the suburbs:

Here are a few interesting things about suburban life that i have noticed in the past few weeks:

• It's quite white here.  Everyone is white.  Moving from boston to outskirts, one needs sunglasses for all the white skin. 
• It's far away from everything, you must plan to get in the car and go somewhere
• You must plan dinners because you cannot call and get your favorite indian food on the fly
• Neighbors...want...to talk to you. 

The trials and tribulations are ongoing, I look forward to sharing them with you.

4/18 - 4 days later

It's only a few days after the bombing.  People are still posting Meme's.  News shows all over the country talk about Boston.  Newspaper articles post support for boston, late night shows yell and rally the poeple of boston, Obama provides his voice at an interfaith service.

Elsewhere:

42 dead in Iraq Bombings Monday:


27 dead in Iraq bombing at a coffee shop today: 


New generation radacalizing due to US Drone strikes (18-23% of people killed not militants):

Bomb threats amid historic Syrian sites:


I only point this out because of our significant lack of understanding or wanting to even listen to the plights of multiple other cultures and issues.  We NEED to be more open and empathetic.  We need to understand.  I think we can do that better after this week.

OMG it's been a long time.

Hello!  I felt the need to post here and I'm afraid it's going to be a post that pisses people off.

Why you might ask?  Well see, I live in Boston.  And Boston got "bombed" yesterday.  More accurately boston got some crazy asshole deciding it would be fun to blow things and people up (I only assume this as an organized syndicate would have proudly claimed responsibility by now).

Tragic.  Horrific.  I did feel my chest tighten.  I felt real sympathy toward those involved.  I put myself in the shoes of being a friend or a loved one, or god forbid - someone hurt.  It is incredibly horrible and it happened here.  A place of safety even when 9/11 happened, and wars, and earthquakes.  Yeah, boston is a nice cocoon.

But something happened to me in the past 15 years or so that doesn't happen to a lot of people.  I lived in a city that was terrorized.  Where people are terrorized daily based on their gender, their religion, their race.  I lived in a daily environment where we needed to rebuild cell sites due to terrorists bombing them.  Where 2 hours away in Pune, bombs exploded.  Where I would walk down the street and see the remnants of the terror attacks a few short months earlier.

Taj Mahal hotel, Mumbai.  You can see the boarded windows on the bottom floor from the blasts

I see all the internet Memes and prayers and slogans and media outlets all saying wonderfully helpful things. Every FB post another uplifting banner or some some angry shout out to the people who committed such an act. "We are runners!  Be gone evil person!"   Or my favorite vein of "Boston is resilient, we are a united city, we will own you!"  Cheeky and untrue as most of us spend an awful lot of our normal lives being dickheads to each other.  You ever drive here?  Yeah,  resiliency indeed. But I get the point.  It is comforting and supportive and people like it.

What I do mind is what we will not take away from this moment.  One day and we are terror striken and grief ridden.

Now, take that mindset.  Take it and hold it.  What did you feel like last night?  What did you feel like when you heard about the blast?

Now, imagine feeling that way every single day.  Put yourself in the shoes of an Israli citizen being terrorized, a Palastinian being terrorized, afghanis being terrorized by drones, Sunnis being terrorized by Shia, Shia being terrorized by Sunnis, Pakastanis, Indians, Tamils, Somalis, Iranians, Syrians.  Imagine that everyone you know has lost at least 1 if not more family member to violence.  Imagine going to the store could result in a bomb blast.  Imagine your fear for someone you knew in boston until you found them via cell or FB post...that 1 or several hours of terror.  Imagine that for every second of every day of your life.  Will they blow up where I get food?  Where I go to school?  Will they just burst into my house and kill me?


My empathy goes to every victim of every senseless tragedy. 

Labor Day, meatless mondays are back!

Has it really been almost a year since I posted about food?  Well let me change that immedately.

Due to the bit of hiatus, there are now 2 new meatless monday meals to inspire you to go all...meatless...on mondays.  remember, if everyone chose 1 day to not eat meat we would reduce meat consumption by 10% !  You yourself will eat 7-10% less per week.  Not bad for one day off.

So on that note, two of my more recent fav dishes:

#1 - Zucchini and polenta
I took this recipe and modified it a bit, reducing the time to prepare by over an hour.  I didn't ball up the zucchini, simply cut it up and threw in a pan with the indian spices and tomato and poured over the polenta.  Still delicious.  The side dish was an attempt at a spicy red bean dish.  And it was spicy.   Added garam masala, cayene, and some cumin.   I forgot the onions and anything else for that matter so threw in some bean sprouts at the end.

#2 - Taboleh Risotto and Indian eggplant & potato

This entire meal has quickly become one of my favs.  In fact I think I could eat one of these dishes every day for the rest of my life.  But here they are together, an amazing overdose of flavor.  The Risotto is something i came up with after being inspired by a dish at a restaurant that they wouldn't give me the recipe to and as payback I decided to make my own version and post it everywhere in the world.  I don't have a lot of internet clout though so making it for myself will have to do.  The eggplant and potato can be found here and is an amazingly simply dish and worth making yourself.  I add tomato into it.

AJ's taboleh rissoto:

• Take an onion (shallot is best) and garlic, chop up and sautee in a pan (medium skillet that is at least 1.5-2 inches deep
• Add chopped tomatoes
• Add 1 cup bulgur wheat and stir around (like a risotto)
• add 1/2 tsp salt or salt to taste
• Slowly add 1/2 cup of veggie stock at a time, and stir (like a risotto).  I usually add around 2-3 cups of stock depending.  Takes about 20-30 minutes to cook through.  Your wheat is done when it's soft but still textured.
• Add about 1/4 chopped kalmata olives
• add 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• stir and heat in for a few minutes
• Place on plate.  Sprinkle with Brie cheese (rind removed).  I kid you not, it is delicious.

 

ok i'm a little drunk

But really, what the hell is the point of opeening a bottle of wine if you aren't going to finish it?

And why do i feel so tired all the time?  I'm so tired.  I feel like i"ve been running in a circle for days.  Years.  months?  Is that order time consecutive?  i think not.

All my relatives are in separate rooms of the house looking at their laptops.  This makes me laugh.  As  I am on mine.  Right now.  Blogging.  Blogging while drinking. 

i hate being home.  I really do.  I feel like i'm in a time warp and my mind gets warpy.  I feel weird, isolated, limitied.  This place is weird.  Did i mention weird?