Animal House

Admittedly, against all odds, I am, a dog person, or more generally,  an animal person. But what exactly  does this mean? If it means I'm a tad cooky, then I am fine with that. I even embrace cat people now.   Can you even believe it?   

I was not raised by "dog people."  Oh no. I was raised by the the     other. My parents do not even enjoy when other people have indoor pets. So, I group them into the non-animal-people  (but polite enough to give your pet a little pat on the head if you have one)     group. In fact, I don't know that any one of of my four grandparents has ever had an indoor pet, so neither of my parents lived with indoor pets, and that's how    that panned out in the first half of the 20th century. 

Thanks, though, to the vast gene pool, which seems indifferent to one's immediate past and sometimes dips back into time, I came out an "animal person" because I   assume that someone somewhere in my geneology loved animals. There is simply no   other explanation for this one - it's all nature and no nurture in my case. In    fact, not one of my siblings has any interest in having a pet. *Disclaimer: my    sister does claim to be an animal person, and I'm hoping she gets a dog soon      (Jury is still out on this one).

Let me break it down for you. Since I was very young, I have had a  a lot of      animals. Many have involuntarily shared a part of their lives with me. My dad's   inability to say no to me won out over my parents' true wish to not be bothered by having a pet along with 4 kids. This worked out great for me! Baby deer,         countless mini-lop rabbits, dogs, pastel-colored dyed Easter chicks, ducks, calfs - the whole lot of them at one time or another. 

Twice, one of my brothers did go through some short-lived animal-loving periods.  First instance: He wanted a couple of gerbils for Christmas Eve. Two little gerbils - easy enough. The pet shop had assured my dad that they were both females, but they were in fact not two females and, as fate would have it, they got busy and   one of them gave birth to around SEVEN babies on Christmas Eve. SURPRISE! Now     there are 9 gerbils in the family who were delegated to the garage-only area      instead of 2. Not exactly a mistake that Santa should have made. Ehem. 

Second instance: Same brother wanted an iguana. Dad (always dad) drove him to the pet store to get the terrible creature of a pet, and I am 90% positive my mom's   power of prayer worked on this one, because the second he got out of the car at   our house to take the iguana inside, it darted into the yard, never to be seen    again. WHAT a miracle, I'm sure my mom thought. I think the iguana had heard the  rumor that he would have to sleep in the garage! This was around the end of my    parents animal house phase and besides the occasional outdoor dog, around the age of 12, my animal days ended for a time being.

To each his own, I like to say. If you are not sure what side of the farm fence    you would land on when it comes to being an "animal person," or, in the least, a "dog person," then these qualifying factors might help you.

Are you an animal person?

You might be an animal person if:
1. Has at least 1 non-human living being roaming around their home or at least    like the idea of it
2. Is not bothered by animal "extras" (ie. shedding, accidental poops and chewed  items)
3. After you hear someone telling a story about something funny/exciting their    child did, you then proceed to tell a story about how your dog LOVES the movie    Marley and Me.

You are not an animal person if:
1. You have no idea why people let non humans in their house
2. You can't imagine dealing with the animal extras
3. You roll your eyes after the animal person (above) tells said story and you    continue your story about your child

I think, though, that even if you weren't born with a love of animals, you can    love one if you give it a shot. In 2007, the family dog, Mia came to live with me (FINALLY!!), and I was suddenly a true animal person. Mia doesn't even know that  all the other animals had to sleep outside! I definitely think my dog communicates things to me, and so.... it must be true. There's a certain whine for "I have to pee" and another for "I want to go for a walk" - I swear! 

OH, It's truly a dog's life, even when Mia eats through the trash on a random     hunger binge. To that, my mom will graciously remind me, "It's your dog."

There Was a Wall in New Orleans

A large scale art installation project has taken over a street corner in the Marigny, New Orleans, and the wall of a very condemned-looking building has taken on new life. I have been thinking about this wall a lot lately. I can't remember how I found out about it, and though it's a new installation, I imagine it's filling up. Wonder if there is still room for me! Down in the Marigny in New Orleans, there was this wall... that made me think about what I wanted to do before I die.... And, all you get is one line... Written in chalk, so you better take a picture and get it to a more permanent bucket list... And there is an app for that - actually, there are about 4,000 bucket list apps for that.

I imagine this comes easy to some people. John said, "to have a son" within about 1.2 seconds after I asked him what he would write. My dog would probably say "to have my own bed," and maybe, after much deliberation, mine will be "to learn a third language." Now, if only I could commit to which language (anyone who knows me, knows I need serious time to make this decision - and that it has been on my list for years now).

To be precise, and particularly honest, probably the actual morning I woke up in Madrid, Spain, and realized I had just had an entire night's dream in Spanish, I think I also had, as an after thought, the thought of "well, now that that's done, I can learn another!" Then, my brain hit the snooze button and went back to sleep.

The trick to learning another language as an adult -- besides the fact that you can never actually speak with a perfect accent due to some change in the brain during puberty and besides the fact that your ear will never truly recognize the slight inclinations and vowel sounds the brain and voice are missing when you speak -- the trick is pursuing the learning stage through years of plateau-ing. Years. The plateau I got to when learning Spanish lasted a good 2 years, and then suddenly, boom, you go to sleep one night and dream in Spanish and suddenly your brain's translating skills move from conscious (hearing in Spanish - translation in head in English - translation in head back to Spanish - then coming out the mouth in Spanish) to unconscious. There it is. Like your brain had it in there the whole time. It's the most liberating experience I had ever known up to that point in my life (age 20), and it is the kind of liberation that is wholly addicting. It's especially liberating because you can throw your hands about and yell at people in the street like a real Spaniard - finally, aahhh, finally. Eh! Eh! Hombre!!

I have read that bilingual people have different personalities in their two languages. I am very confrontational in Spanish. Maybe because there is a slight disconnect with my past there, or any old timidness, and I feel like I can just say anything. Or maybe because I spent a lot of time imitating my co-workers in Madrid who were very feisty, espresso-drinking, tan, cigaratte smoking (in the office back in 2004/5), wine-loving fools who talked alot alot alot and very quickly.

Is this what I'm going to write on the wall?


Before I die I want to: __________________ (ex: commit to this one thing I have written on the wall)

Here's the site:
http://candychang.com/before-i-die-in-nola/

Austin Review Part Uno

The first stop in Austin was to my friend Ana's father's wine bar Opa! in south Austin. Ana's dad is from Greece, and while Spiros was impossible to understand, that didn't matter as the tapas and wine were tasty enough to makeup for it. My friend Ana says she doesn't speak Greek, but I don't believe her.  - she seemed to understand exactly what her family members were saying all around her, while it was all Greek to us! (I've ben waiting to use that expression). Also, Opa! has the most beautiful outdoor space, with white lights hanging from a huge tree, which is the center point of the patio area.

Kelly and Ana enjoying wine at Opa!

Our next stop was Polvos, also in south Austin. A tasty Mexican restaurant with a worn out patio area and a parking lot for drinking while waiting on our table. My NYC friends were thoroughly amused by the drinking outside in the parking lot, and I know they have pics of it somewhere. As it was Mardi  Gras season and all, I had brought a king cake with me to Austin, and Diana found the baby, so we made her buy us a round of margaritas on the rocks. Mmm. The drink-buying rule had been previously decided upon since we couldn't keep up the real tradition of buying the next kind cake as none of my Vanderbilt  friends live in Louisiana.

Saturday morning and early afternoon was very misty and rainy. So, our morning walk was cancelled and instead we decided to have tacos at Torcy's in the "Trailer Park".  The fried avocado taco and the migas taco were both awsome. Fluffy, warm, mm.

Diana and Lillian with everyone's plates.
(More to come in Austin Review Part Dos when I get my new Mac Mini; my old 2005 Powerbook G4 is officially dying and this post alone has taken me 2 hours due to the slowness! )

Kale for Sale

This week's Modern Family asked the question "is Kale ready to anchor a meal?" and the conclusion was no, it should be happy being a garnish- haha! And I pretty much agree. So far, I have successfully done two things with Kale other than look at it in the grocery aisle and wish it was as tasty as spinach, lettuce and it's other green cousins. But since it is supposedly one of the most nutritious food items around, I wonder about kale a lot, wonder what else i can do with it because, i agree, its not ready to be the star of the salad.

1. Actually my favorite smoothie of all time, and it's all vitamins and no calories. Combine kale, ( a nice handful ) with frozen pineapple (a nice handful) and water in a blender. That's all!! This is so tasty and light, and extra healthy because its GREEN. I've converted a lot of people with this smoothie, so give it a try if you are looking for someone, anything to do with kale. I first discovered it at Pure Foods in Lake Charles, who served it as the Grasshopper and what I still call it today.

2. Kale chips. I had seen this a few places, and decided to try it once i saw it on Hungry Girl TV on the Cooking Channel. You put kale pieces on a baking sheet, spray with non-stick spray and bake for A very short time, maybe 4 minutes or so. They get pretty crispy, so I attest that it helps with a chip craving, but I still tasted the bitter kale taste. Will have to give it another shot -- maybe i won't burn them this time, oops.

Since these are my only attempts at kale, I think it's no spinach, but maybe it'll get there.