Friday Food - Fall Fents... err... Scents

I knew that it was fall a couple of weeks ago when the mensroom at work suddenly started smelling like manufactured fall. In other words, instead of smelling like random institutional air freshener, it started to smell of fake cinnamon, dry leaves, and bonfires. Or something like that. Whatever they say in the masculine version of Glade and Febreze ads on TV. 

And, okay, I have to admit that I kind of like the new scent. It's certainly better than it could be (after all, it's a mensroom), and at least it isn't sickeningly, sweetly floral. (Which is apparently what has materialized in the women's restroom.)

All this (well, not the women's restroom aside, but the rest of it) got me thinking about how there are definitely "fall scents." But there aren't really scents for the other seasons. At least not that I can think of. I mean... There are all kinds of "holiday" fragrances, but they are specific to leading up to Christmas, and not something you smell and think "Wow, that smells like mid-January to me." 

Summer has all of the "cooking out" smells. Along with charcoal and grilling meat, there's also the smell of "hot dirt" (you know the smell, right?), and the smell of rain. 

And, yet, spring doesn't really have anything that comes to mind, either. Sure, there are days that simply feel like spring, but offhand I just can't think of any smells of spring. Maybe warm, damp dirt if you're someone who gardens? The smell of rain probably overlaps both summer and spring, but when it's cool out, the rain doesn't have the same smell as in the hot summer. 

But fall... Fall is all about spices. Heavy, heady spices. It's the season of cinnamon and nutmeg baking apples. It's when pepper and wine and onions bathe meats that sit for hours on the stove. It's when chilis of all kinds show up and the house simply smells warm, like the yeasty aroma of baking bread. When tomatoes meet oregano and basil and garlic and the house smells like a trattoria for days (this works especially well with someone like Christopher around). 

It's when I break out the baking cookbooks, when hot apple cider gets both spiced and spiked, and when leisurely meals that have simmered for hours take over from the flash-in-the-pan-ities of summer.

Which, come to think of it, probably explains why I've been feeling hungry after each trip to the mensroom, lately. But, more importantly, it explains why I'm contemplating going out to buy some canned pumpkin (Libby's, of course), and thinking about trying out some recipes with the warm butterscotchy aroma of curry, and contemplating spending a whole weekend in the kitchen. 

World Weary Wednesday

I fully admit that I am *not* currently watching the presidential debate.

I know that I really ought to be. I ought to be listening to them each speak and seeing how it goes. I ought to be getting a feel for how each of them really addresses the issues.

But I'm so tired of all of the political talk this year already - and we're still a month away from the election - that I just couldn't watch.

And, of course, in this electronic age, I'm sure I'll see a gazillion news clips in the next few days. They'll be on TV. They'll be online. They'll be all over social media sites.

So, for tonight, I'm going to assume that they both were well-rehearsed. There were no surprises. And they wouldn't have changed my decision on who to vote for in November.

And, instead, the TV is off and a book will be in hand as soon as I'm done with this post. I suspect that would be a great way to make it through the next month, as well.

Movie Monday - New Year's Eve

If people celebrate the whole "Christmas in July" phenomenon, then "New Year's Eve in September" makes sense too, right?

Okay. Maybe not. 

But I did watch the movie "New Year's Eve" on Netflix last weekend. It's a Garry Marshall film in the same style as "Valentine's Day." Of course, I don't know how many people actually saw "Valentine's Day," so I should probably just explain the premise. 

You've got about a dozen storylines, all populated with interesting people, all taking place on the same day. And you know that they'll probably connect, but you're not sure which ones will connect with which other ones. 

Oh. I know. It's like "Love Actually" - you've seen that one, right? 

Anyway... The thing is that I kinda love this kind of movie. I love the blended stories that you're pretty sure you understand, but which still can give you a twist that makes you laugh a little or smile or tear up. 

And the cast in this is really fairly A- -list. (Yes, that says "A-", not "A".) It's got Michelle Pfeiffer in a storyline with Zac Efron. Sarah Jessica Parker and whatshername from "Little Miss Sunshine." And there's Robert DeNiro, and Jon Bon Jovi, and Halle Berry, and Sofia Vergara, and Lea Michele. 

And it all takes place on New Year's Eve in New York City. And some of the stories are happy, and some are sad, and some of the people you really just want to throw out the window. But, in the end, I really have to admit that I liked it. 

Overall rating: A. Yes, it's full of schmaltz. But it didn't overpromise. It didn't overtry. And if my own New Year's Eves turn out as well in future, I'd be happy with that. 

Signs and Signs

Remember how I talked about the "Vote NO" signs a little while ago? (If not, you can refresh your memory here.)

Well, a friend came over for dinner a week or so ago and commented how cool it was that so many Vote NO signs are on our block. I believe that we're up to 5 out of 6 houses in a row on our side of the street, one on the other side of the street, and two on the other side of the block (we live on a corner, so those two on the other side of the street are our "contiguous" neighbors).

It's amazing how many of those signs have popped up over the past few months. People seem to really be understanding that the Anti-Gay Marriage amendment is more than just another run-of-the-mill amendment to the state constitution. More and more people seem to be understanding that this is a hateful amendment (and - for the record, I got into some trouble for calling it "hate" the last time I wrote about it, but I stand by the word) and doesn't have a place in the state constitution.

And the support for people like me... well... that's a really nice feeling. It's good to walk around the block and see all of the signs. It reassures me that this is a great neighborhood and we have great neighbors.

Did I mention, yet, that we have a new neighbor? She moved in next door (the one house out of 6 without a Vote NO sign, because... well... she just moved in), and she told us that she wasn't sure about the neighborhood when her realtor suggested it. But when she came around the corner and saw all of the signs, she knew she was in an okay place.

So... Anyway... There is one "Vote YES" sign that we pass when we're out for our walks. And another that I pass on the drive home from work. With all of the positive energy from the bright orange Vote NO signs, it's amazing how those two solitary signs can be such a shock to the system.

On the other hand, I guess it's good to know where people stand on issues. I think I'd rather know that there are bigots living in the neighborhood so I can try to avoid them, instead of being surprised by them when I'm not expecting it.

I can only hope that, as more people become visible and vocal about standing up for basic rights (you know, like the right to equal protection under the law, or equal taxation under the law, or simply equality in the eyes of society regardless of who you love), maybe we'll see more Vote NO signs out there, and fewer and fewer Vote YESes.

And even if people are afraid of putting up a Vote NO sign in the lawn for the world to see (after all, there has been vandalism of some signs by hate groups), hopefully, in the privacy of the polling booths in November, they'll vote for love, instead of hate. And, in the future, they'll be able to hold their heads high and say "See that leap forward toward equality? I helped do that."

(For your own lawn sign, or to donate money to the cause, please visit MNUnited.org .)

Vicarious Living

When I was growing up, my mom used to say that no one needs soap operas when you live in a small town.

Which is not to say that my small home town was (or is) any more imprudent than anywhere else. It's just that, in a small town, you hear all that's going on, and because everything is condensed, it seems like more.

Nowadays, I live in a city, and I barely know my neighbors, and many of my friends don't know many of my friends. And the only small "community" that I spend time in is my work. And, well, I would never want to watch a soap opera with my office mates as the main characters.

So I have to find other ways to live vicariously.

Luckily, these days, there is the Internet. And, even luckier, some of my friends have pretty interesting lives.

Right now, I've got a Netflicked movie on in the background and someone that I used to know (years ago - although he's still a friend of a friend) is a much bigger presence in it than I was led to believe.

Then there's the other friend of mine who had the John Barrowman sighting last week.

And, of course, Christopher is out in Northern California with a friend of ours this week and I've been getting to see pictures of where they are in some kind of almost-real-time.

There's probably something in there about how the Electronic Age makes the whole world a small town.

But, at the same time, I do kind of miss the days when a small town was the whole world, and vicarious living... well... that came from post cards and phone calls.

John Barrowman Sighting (Once Removed)

A friend of mine who was in Vancouver over the weekend apparently passed John Barrowman on the street.

He didn't get any photographic proof, but Barrowman is currently in Vancouver for the filming of the new Green Arrow-based TV series on the CW. So it's entirely plausible that this happened.

There's a little info about his upcoming stint on that show here (that's where the pic in this posting is from).

And... well... since I got up at about 4 this morning to take Christopher to the airport, that's about all I've got to say for today.

So the Story Goes (Away)

Nobody really likes commercials on TV. I get that. I fully admit that now that we have a TiVo one of my favorite things is the fact that I can pause a show for a while and then fast-forward through the ads.

But, even so, there are times when I'm watching "live" TV and I do watch the commercials. And, amazingly, sometimes in the middle of the crappy commercials something will happen and you'll find a really good commercial that tells a story or somehow, someway, actually makes a connection with you as the audience.

And it'll be good. And you'll actually look forward to seeing it again or sharing it with someone else.

But the next time it comes on, something's missing. The story and feeling that were there are suddenly gone. And you realize that the formerly 30-second commercial is now only 15 seconds. Sure, the product pitch is still there, but the humor or emotion that made you like it has been stripped out.

Suddenly you really don't care about the product. You don't care about what you're watching. You just know that you've wasted the past portion of a minute hoping for that payoff that never came.

And you feel kind of sorry for the person who wrote and directed the original commercial, knowing that this new version is probably cheaper to air, but is also less interesting and probably less fulfilling.

It's sad, really.

Okay. Sure. Tonight the part of the ad that got cut was the beefcake in the background and not some great "Rosebud" moment in the commercial I was watching. But that's beside the point.