Hunk of the Month Club - Jon Hamm

 

Last week my mum emailed us to nominate Jon Hamm for Hunk of the Month Club. Unlike that time L-Bomb suggested David Duchovny, we gave this one some actual consideration. I mean, we really like this guy. And what do you know, lookey who we have here.

Jon Hamm is 41 and, according to Wikipedia, became an actor after visiting his buddy Paul Rudd in Hollywood. While trying to get acting roles he worked as a set designer on softcore porn films. Ladies and gentelmen, Jon Hamm.

J: Jon Hamm. He's handsome, he seems to have an adorable doofusy side, and he plays, without a doubt, the biggest hunk on television. Welcome! to our newest  Hunk of the Month, the Hammster!

Mate, obviously the Hammster can't join us today, why don't you give us your thoughts on the latest addition to HotMC.

K: Sure Mate, I can do that.

My thoughts on the Hammster are simple. He has a very pretty face and everyone loves a pretty face. But a HotMc needs more than just a pretty face (depending on how we are feeling at the precise time we choose a HotMC) and I'm not sure if Hamm has it. Until he becomes Don Draper, and then he becomes bona fide HotMC team captain.

J: Well Don Draper is no doubt a hunk, a HotMC even, but team captain? One of the crazy things about Don Draper, and keep in mind I have only watched half of season one of Mad Men, is that he is a hands down hunk and a hands down a-hole. I'm pretty sure that only in fiction does a cheating, misogynist pretty face become a HotMC. He does have that mystery, and that devil-may-care attitude to smoking cigarettes. HOT.

K: I have a little more Mad Men under my belt and I'd like to say that Don becomes a better person and therefore a more appropriate choice for HotMC but no, he really doesn't. He kind  of gets worse. But he stays pretty. And hot. Less mysterious. But still hot. It must be the durries!

J: Also Don is always so well groomed. And you certainly do not see that every day. Hot! I think the Hammster could be a genuine HotMC if he took a leaf out of Don Draper's Book of Grooming. Not that Hammster doesn't scrub up as his own self.

K: That's absolutely true, Hamm would be wise to take some grooming cues from Don. All dudes really. Heck, I could learn a thing or two from Don.

But yes, Hamm as Hamm is still pretty pretty. 

I feel that I should acknowledge that unlike his HotMC alumni, Hamm is perhaps not a super versatile hunk. Sure, he broods well, but does he look as pretty when he smiles?

I'm not sure. 

J: Oh, look, Hamm can look real nice smiling but it's true it's the kind of smile that makes you think 'That's a nice looking man' rather than 'Phwoarrrrrr!' Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Also, you gotta respect that he has been with his lady for more than 10 years even though he found fame and become recognised as a hunk worldwide during that time.

K: Yeah, way to go Hammster. Don Draper may be (somehow) prettier than Hamm, but there is no way he could do that.

I also like how this clip indicates he is a bit of a spazz.

J: I definitely think that Jon Hamm must be a bit of a spazz. Other than his pretty face it's my favourite thing about him. It's what elevates him above just a handsome man. 30 Rock, Bridesmaids, the random funny shit I have seen him in on the internet. Dude seems quite spazz. And that is one of man's hottest attributes. Another good attribute can be a beard.

'

K: Spazz is really very hot. More dudes need to understand that. So basically, the Hammster is a well groomed, slightly broody (as Don Draper), slightly goofy ( as Jon Hamm) handsome guy. 

Hello, Mr November.

Jon Hamm, if you asked me you just made it into HotMC by the skin of your teeth. But, K, well she's got the fever, she emailed me yesterday with this: "The dude really quite hot." Yeah, she got the fever.

Haiku Thursday (PM)

Nature

Nature, you're pretty

Are you seeing anyone?

Is it serious?

If things don't work out,

Call me. You're real special

I'd treat you so good

Haiku Thursday (AM)

Goodbye Spring

I'd like to thank you

For showing up and acting

Like a good spring should. 

You made me forget

Winter. You made my garden

Grow with sun and rain. 

You made promises

And you kept more thank you broke. 

You're a lovely thing. 

I am not buying it (PM)

And to make matters worse, it's a shit idea. The first, second, third and fourth times.

You are the jumper?

Honestly.

I am not buying it (AM)

You know, I can't help but think that I if I was  a big business spending my big bucks on advertising, I would maybe feel ripped off.

Carlton Football Club campaign

Nikon campaign

FCUK campaign

Keep a Child Alive campaign

Also, I can't help but feel that Goop might actually not be African.

Anticipating Christmas (PM)

JC at karaoke*

Yes! YES! YES!! A thousand times YES to Kristmas Karaoke!

But, Dude, you are totally over thinking this Christmas thing. Anticipation rules! Go with it! Christmas anticipation doesn't have anything to do with Christmas day, you fool. It's got to do with summertime, summer fruits, time off work, getting hammered with your friends. Maybe a good gift if you are lucky. The beach. Food. Christmas is just confused in this whole thing and brings a different depth to summer holidays. 'Cause there is this weird added anticipation we have thanks to movies and songs and the collective consciousness. But really it's just the other stuff. Plus I like to clean my house. And hanging with he fam is fun. It's not about chestnuts, it's just about letting the good times roll.

*I stole this picture from a Christian blog. I hope I don't go to hell. 

Anticipating Christmas (AM)

Last night I listened to this She and Him Christmas album that Scampy gave me last year. Zooey Deschanel sticks in my craw a little, but for some reason, I don't hate this album. It's full of those secular christmas carols that reference snow and santa and family, not the baby Jesus (hello, if you're reading baby Jesus). You know the ones. They say things like chestnuts roasting on an open fire and silver bells, silver bells.  That sort of thing.

Of course, my idiot heart started filling my evening with pangs of longing, though the Christmas those guys are singing about bears no resemblance to the K Christmas experience. There are no chestnuts in Melbourne in December. There is no snow, thank Christ (hello, if you're reading Christ).  And because the K family has no Christmas traditions meaning we do something different every year, there is no idealised Christmas day for me to get sentimental about.  And if you guys promise me that you will interpret no disrespect to my fellow K family members when you read this I might as well tell you: K family Christmases are kind of lame. So why am I such a goddamned sentimental fool?

I pondered this as I lay in the bath listening to these songs and feeling all these feelings and decided that it's the anticipation of Christmas that I was feeling sentimental about.
When you're little, December is full of dreams of Christmas. All that Christmas-themed busy work at school,  then school holidays, then day after day of staring at the Christmas presents under the tree even though you know you're not allowed to and you try not to  but you are only human and very little, so you do. December for little people is pure anticipation and it's the best thing. December for an adult is pretty much day after day of feeling frazzled and disorganised, culminating in a disappointing Christmas day.

Anyway, I don't want to be a scrooge or anything, but I think I need to inject a little sweet anticipation in to these pre-Christmas weeks.  I'm thinking of getting an advent calendar and maybe trying to convince J and Pickle that we should do some pre-Christmas karaoke some time. I'm open to other ideas.

Promising Combos (PM)

I wish I could share your muted enthusiasm for Admission Mate, but that poster with the giant heads and the superfluous tick in the 'o' makes it hard for me.
Sure, Paul Rudd and Tina Fey are a promising combo. And I like that Michael Sheen. Apparently he is in it too. But that poster. Eww.

Speaking of Mothers, it's my Mum's birthday today. Hooray! Happy birthday Mum.

The back of my Mum's head is so cute!

Promising combos (AM)

Remember that time I wrote about winning combos? Of course you do, no doubt the best of my posts are burned into your brain like the flash bulbs of photographers flashing at a starlet in a movie from the fifties. What? Anyway, you know what is great? When you get prepared for a combo you never expected and haven't seen in action yet. Like this combo of Tina Fey and Paul Rudd.

Of course everyone loves Tina Fey. I mean, Mean Girls, Saturday Night Live, that show she's in with Alec Baldwin. Jokies. 30 Rock. I love 30 Rock. And who doesn't love Paul Rudd? Ever since he played Cher's sensitive older stepbrother and love interest in Clueless, everyone loves him right? I always thought he should be in more stuff, maybe be a leading man, but then I saw I Love You Man an I thought maybe he couldn't carry a whole movie. Then I watched it again and think I must have been crazy that first time! Slappin da bass! Hahahahhaahah!


Anyway, I felt really happy to see that T.Fey and P.Rudd are in a movie together, but I know, in my heart of hearts, that it will probably be kind of lame. Mind you I did enjoy Date Night a lot, and that had the promising combo of T.Fey and Steve Carrell. But as discussed here previously and extensively, those filmmakers really knew what they were working with and used everyone to their full potential.




Anyway, fingers crossed for Admission,because when a promising combo becomes a winning combo it feels like all is right in the world.

Friday Favourites: Friday (PM)

Friday! Good call mate. Friday is the best. I only work 2 days a week and one of those days is Friday, and still this day is my favourite.

Music sounds better on Friday because you know there is a chance that you could go out and dance to that music that very night!

Even though Monday brings a longer break for me than Friday, I still love Friday better because it means that everyone is on break, not just me and Baby.

Plus it's just the vibe of it.
And even though I slept in this morning and was 45 minutes late for work, my computer isn't working so about 60% of my tasks are unavailable to me and BOM said it was going to be 27 degrees but instead it was cold-as degrees this morning, you know, it's Friday, so I'm doing ok.

It's like R Kelly said, it's the freakin' weekend baby, I'm about to have me some fun!

Friday Favourites: Friday (AM)

Clearly Miss Soft Crab is a pretty massive fan of the weekday 'Friday'. 

You can tell because of all the special things we do on Friday, like Hunk and Babe of the Month, Friday Favourites the use of the tag TGIF, which we have done 15 times. Also because we are regular people and all regular people love Fridays. You can tell from that too. 

I have been longing for this particular Friday all week, because of the struggles that have beset me due to the vodka situation last Friday. All week I have been eyeing it in the corner of the room that is my mind. Casually sidling up to it, basically doing to Friday what K-Stew is doing to 'that ass' in this picture.  

 

Thank you, Hey Girl it's K-Stew for this photo, and for all the good times. 

It was while thinking how fine Friday is looking (on Monday, probably) that I realised, Friday really deserves a Friday Favourites post of its own. And because of the struggles that have beset me due to the vodka situation last Friday, I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to post about today. 

So lets consider just a few things that are wonderful about this truly wonderful day of the week - apart from the fact that it is the herald of the weekend which we all know and we don't need to go on about here. 

Undeniable supremacy. Everyone knows Friday is the best day. It is a fact, it is a stone cold truth. The only days that give it a run for its money are Monday, when Tuesday is a public holiday and Thursday when Friday is a public holiday. But they don't really come close.  That Friday is so clearly superior to the other days is special, and hot, and what Lance Armstrong was trying to achieve, I assume, by cheating. You wish, Armstrong! You're no Friday! You're a goddamned Tuesday at best. 

Enduring love. I have loved this day forever and I don't think my feeling will ever change. The only other things I can say that about are certain people and hot chips.  That's special. 

It brings good things. Friday is a casual day at work. You want to know what I'm wearing? Jeans. Yeah I am. Clean jeans that I washed during the week so are a little tight but I'm managing, thanks for asking. The only work outfit that can challenge jeans for comfort and style is the t-shirt/no pants combo I wear when I'm working from home and want to really take advantage of the situation. 

Sometimes, on Friday, Russeth and I go out to lunch. We call those days Special Friday and they really are special. Only on a Friday, readers. 

I could go on and on but lets hand over to J to see what she has to say. 

Let me finally say that Friday's child is loving and giving. Well I don't care a damn what Friday's child is like, because Friday itself is one magnificent Mother. Over to you Matey. 

Haiku Thursday (PM)

Haiku Thursday

Remember the days

When Pluto was a planet? 

I quite liked those days. 

Who benefits from

Downgrading Pluto? Who needs

Micro-planets? Who?

It's so very small

And so very far away.

Just let it stay, guys. 

Haiku Thursday (AM)

The grooming journey continues

I

Hey, yo, concealer

Where have you been all my life

Got me lookin' good

II

Perhaps your special

Age defying qualities

Make the timing right

(Actually) Wordless Wednesday (PM)

(Substantially) Wordless Wednesday (AM)

Oh, hi guys.

So this morning, when the alarm went off, I wished the alarm had not gone off, and I made it so the alarm had not yet gone off.  I rolled over and slept sweet and long for a whole extra hour. I've been so sleepy lately  you see. I thought I needed the extra zzzs. I should have been writing my Miss Soft Crab but no, I was asleep and I wasn't writing anything at all.

I feel pretty great now, I can't lie.  I had a long shower, then watered all the plants on my balcony, and have been listening to nice soothing cello music, which is what I do when I want to feel nice and soothed. All of this is great for me, readers, but not so great for you, because it means I have nothing prepared for your AM reading. It's not what I would like for you guys, but nevertheless it is where we are.

Instead of trying to muddle through, I am just going to share this photo with you and be on my way.  It's what I always think about after I've been listening to cello music for a while and am good and soothed.

And now, off to work with me. Bye, you guys.

Is this guy a hunk? (PM)

I haven't seen or dreamt about The Avengers, so this post comes to you without the taint of Whedon, which as J says makes everything great/hot.

Most of my Hemsworth knowledge comes from a Foxtel ad, where he walks around some house encountering characters from TV and looking hot.

At one point, a horse becomes involved.

So obviously, hot.
Also, as you can see, he is wearing a gentleman's bun in his hair, which is almost impossible to do and look hot. That he even remains a contender with that bun makes me think he might actually be quite an advanced level of hot.

It pains me that we don't just know though. God I wish this hunk recession would end. I had a dream about Channing Tatum the other night. Channing Tatum, you guys. We need a real hunk.

Is this guy a hunk? (AM)

On Sunday night I dreamt I was an Avenger.  It was confronting given that I didn't have an inkling I even had super powers. It was more than confronting, it was really upsetting; suddenly I had to defend the world from some great evil. And there was hardly anyone else around. Wolverine showed up (yeah, it was a Marvel mash up). And then Thor. Thank God for Thor.

When I saw The Avengers a few weeks ago I was kind of unimpressed at first, with the movie and the heroes, but then Iron Man and Thor meet and fight and, well, it all changed. I haven't seen the movie Thor, but in that first fight with Iron Man I knew he was my kind of superhero. 'Thor is my favourite!' I told LB. Later when the Hulk first appears we both said 'The Hulk is shit!' But then later when he comes into his own, channelling all that aggression towards the bad guys we declared 'The Hulk is my favourite!' 
 
Thor was a great hero and so was the Hulk, but I don't need a superhero movie to tell me Mark Ruffalo is great. But perhaps I needed it to figure out where Chris Hemsworth fits in this modern day hunk recession. Then again, maybe The Avengers is an unreliable source. I mean I have fallen in love with Joss Whedon's characters a million times. I've pretty much fallen in love with them all, so maybe that's just what was happening here? Plus, Thor! A Norse god that makes storms and protects mankind! Hot! So I guess for a bunch of reasons The Avengers won't tell us anything about Chris Hemsworth. Digging Joss Whedon's Thor was always going to happen I guess.



So what else do we know about Hemsworth. Well, every time I see him I can tell he is quite handsome but lacks a certain je me sais quoi. But he does look a little bit like Nate Archibald. Aka Chase Crawford. Hot! I mean, creepy!






Also Hemsworth was in Home and Away but I don't watch that shit so I never saw him in it and thus he is not tainted. Still, it's a not hot fact.

According to Wikipedia, he married his wife the same year he met her. I don't know, that seems like absolutely not a normal thing for an Australian man to do so...not hot.

I also know that when I looked for pictures on the internet of Hemsworth it took a long time for me to find some I thought were good enough to grace this here blog. And yet I also know that when I told K I was thinking of writing this post, she wrote to me, "YOU LOVE HIM DON"T YOU!!???" And I instantly thought "YESSSS!" But if I"'m really honest with myself I know it's Thor that is the hunk and that Hemworth is just doing a fine roll playing that hunk. What can I say, I'm just really into fictional hunks right.

Highlights of a weekend where I ate well but lacked focus (PM)

For some reason that I really cannot fathom, K thinks that I am the responsible, sensible one in this outfit. Is it because I have a baby? Dude, getting knocked up is like the easiest things in the world, it don't mean a damn thing. Anyway, I feel confident that if you asked any number of people that know K and me they would disagree with K's position. (Feel free to comment friends! Lets get some numbers on this.)

That aside I probably was more responsible on Saturday merely by fact of my state which was a hangover-free one. Having said that though, I don't really have any photos of chutney club because I mostly spent my time trying to make sure Baby wasn't breaking shit/himself in the next room, wasn't eating bulk cheese or cake and in my down time I was eating delicious food. Such is my lot, thus I always lack focus.

Here's what David's dish looked like up close.

Delicious.

Apart from that and Miguel and Legsly's leek, onion and garlic jam toasties and Blizzie's tamarind and tomato chut with someone else's homemade bagels we enjoyed tomato and chilli chut with vegetarian sausage rolls (by me), K's green tomato chut on corn bread, Biggie Little's pulled pork buns, Welly's lemon curd tarts, Pickle's fruit salad and this birthday cake Little Wonders made for Biggie's birthday the day before. Happy birthday guy.

IT LOOKS LIKE A WATERMELON!

Yep that is about the extent of the food photography I can offer. Sorry. Mostly I took photos of these.

This one includes Miguel having the requisite post-feast lie down

See, no responsibilty here folks.

Highlights of a weekend where I ate well but lacked focus (AM)

On Friday night, I drank vodka on an empty stomach. Then, I did that about 50 more times.
What followed was one of the most ineffectual weekends of my life. Honestly, I feel sorry for the people that had to interact with me this weekend.  Talking and making sense, keeping focussed on what other people were saying, observing basic rules of human interaction like not yawning in people's faces - all of this was pretty hard for me over the last couple of days. And I kind of had a lot of stuff to do, like:

• make chutney
• attend chutney club
• interact with my brothers and sisters of chutney
• make something out of Plenty for the second Plenty Pot Luck dinner
• attend the second Plenty Potluck dinner
• interact with my sisters of plenty (I love how that sounds like a religious order). 

So it wasn't a good time to say goodbye to cognitive function. And the really unfortunate thing about it is that it was a weekend that involved a lot of really great food that I would have loved to have talked about today. But do you think I managed to photograph all that delicious stuff? No way, no how, readers. Happily, J was on hand to be the sensible and responsible one so this afternoon we should be able to count the ways we ate so well on Saturday. I'm on my own for Sunday's Plenty Pot Luck of course, but I was feeling a bit better by then.

Anyway, before J sweeps in this afternoon and returns respectability to Miss Soft Crab,  I can share the following snaps that I managed to take during brief moments of lucidity.

Here we have the chutney table, at the beginning of the session.
David pickled some beans and then turned them in to a salad that was like a sauce gribiche, but in salad form. With prawns!

Miguel made leek and garlic jam that he lathered on toasted cheese sandwiches for all of us.

Blizzie made tomato and tamarind chutney, which they served with delicious bagels and cheese.

Some other people we don't know grew some grapes then made them ferment and carbonated them and turned them in to prosecco which everyone seemed to enjoy a lot. I had a can of coke (not pictured).

I'm afraid that's the only  chutney photo I have to share, with the exception of the one at the top of this post, which is what it looks like when Miguel uses tongs to put a toasted sandwich on your plate and the following, which is what it looks like when a dog wears a baby's bib.

I can say that David and Welly were first class hosts and a lovely time was had by all, even me and I'm not sure that would have been possible anywhere else.

Right, on to Sunday night.  Crimpy hosted Legsley and I for the second Plenty Pot Luck dinner, which is what we call it when we get together and eat things we make from the book Plenty.

I made the Very Full Tart which is Very Effing Good. Legsley made a zucchini and hazelnut salad which was delicious and Crimpy made eggplant croquettes (not pictured). (Idiot).

Again, it was a lovely time and Crimpy was (as always) a first class host.
As you can see, I'm still a little tired and spaced out, so I think it's best for everyone if I press on. Don't worry readers, I'll be fine, and J will be here in the afternoon to make everything better.

How things work - blog writing (PM)

F*(k that Jenga was a funny cat.
And f*(k yeah  it's hard living the bloglife.
My idiot brain is always trying to find ways of making boring things I encounter in my day to day life in to enjoyable blog posts when it knows damn well that most things we encounter are not worth the grey matter they are stored in. (What?)
Brain has to learn that though I appreciate it's efforts, not everything is funny or interesting.
Now lets listen to Kanye!

How things work - blog writing (AM)

K and I used to know this guy, let's call him Jenga, he was funny, total drama crew, wanted to be an actor. I wonder what happened to him. Anyway if you were in a room with him and he was stoned he would do these quite hilarious monologues. He'd start talking about something and he'd go on about it for as long as he could maintain the attention and laughter of everyone and when the laughter waned he would move on to some other schtick. He'd try something out for a few lines to see if it got laughs and if not he would drop it, try something new and so on and so on until something he said got big laughs and then he'd go with that for as long as the laughter was sustained. Sometimes you'd just become hysterical because watching this journey of his search for laughter was really funny, but his monologues, they were really funny too.

Anyway, sometimes when I am thinking about what to write I feel like that. Yes, sometimes the gold you read here just trickles from my finger tips like hot, golden showers, but sometimes I'm just like Jenga, I think of a topic, I compose a few lines in my head, if it seems good I keep going, but usually after a couple of lines I ditch it. And sometimes I just think, 'Fuck it, let's just listen to Ice Cube instead!'

Haiku Thursday

Hair

My sweet dear hair

You've stayed fairly abundant

And you have stayed brown

It's time to accept

Stop trying to change you. Let's 

Stay together, hair

Haiku Thursday (AM)

Every second Wednesday

Yesterday. I read. 

In bed. Long as I wanted. 

Before I got up. 

Then, I had coffee. 

Took my sweet time with it too. 

Then showered at noon. 

You let me do things

Other days don't let me do. 

You're my special day. 

Wednesday wonders - watermelon (PM)

Watermelon is beautiful and delicious. It is one of the best things about summer, along with icy-poles cicadas and southerly breezes.
As a rule, I don't really care for melon. It is one of the only things I will leave on my plate, if I find it on my plate, and I won't offend anyone by leaving it there.
Whenever I tell people that I don't like melons, they say "even watermelon?" and I say "no, what are you crazy? of course I like watermelon" and it's true. I really like watermelon.

Wednesday wonders - watermelon (AM)

Regular readers of this blog must think my brain is a total light weight, the frequency with which it is blown. But it's like the ads for SBS used to say, the world is an amazing place. So what's blowing my mind this week? Good question!

It's not just that watermelons are delicious. I mean most fruits are. Watermelons aren't even close to my favourite. Maybe that's too harsh, They are in the top 10. Probably. Whatever. The thing that blows my mind about watermelons is that they are huge and they have this very hard green shell and this soft, sweet, watery, PINK flesh. I mean, does that not blow your mind?

Think about discovering them! Watermelons are originally from Africa. Hot ass Africa and these sweet bastards just grow wild there. What a delight! I just think that, even though watermelons are not as delicious as mangoes or a good apricot, they are the most magical fruit. Apparently watermelon seeds were found in Tutankhamun's tomb! But I really hope they were not only for fancy people. I guess they are native so probably they are and have been widely available in Africa. According to the bible the Jews ate watermelons when enslaved by Pharaoh in Egypt! I guess watermelons were too bulky for them to take when fleeing, what a shame though, imagine watermelons at passover!

And they need bees for pollination! I know lots of things do, but growing watermelons requires a growers to have a beehive per acre! I kind of love that! And I wonder about watermelon honey! Why isn't that a thing?!

Watermelons, guys! Watermelons!

Terrific Tuesday (PM)

Mate! I can't tell you how happy I am that you nominated today as a Terrific Tuesday!

I was basically all set to have the shittiest Tuesday. Hadn't scheduled a second coffee into my day, my house is so messy, I don't know what to make for chutney club on Saturday, the tax office sent me a letter telling me I owe them a bunch if money (luckily half of that is all in there brain, but it was still upsetting). But eff you Shit Tuesday I'm turning you into Terrific Tuesday! Here's how:

Schedule that second coffee into my day
That's how you have a Terrific Tuesday after all.

Go to the market and get some damn thing to make chutney!

Ignore my dirty house
Or clean it.

Wear a cute kit
Looking cute always makes something terrific!

Make a delicious dinner
Let me just say it will include an eggplant riff on the zucchini dish we had at Rumi last week and this cauliflower thing.

Yeah Tuesday, I'm making you my bitch!

Terrific Tuesday (AM)

Oh, hi guys.
Remember a few weeks ago how J was all "I'm going to have a terrific Tuesday" and listed a whole bunch of great things she was going to do that day, including have two coffees, do all her washing and hang it out in the sun?  I remember it like it was the 23rd of October, perhaps because I haven't had as much on over the last few weeks as you guys, and also because it was.

Well today I would very much like to have a terrific Tuesday too. No special reason why. I just think it would be great if this day ruled. All Tuesdays, really, but one step at a time, non?

OK, here's what I'm going to do terrificify my Tuesday.

Listen to You Am I
Truth be told, readers, I'm doing that right now. I'm listening to Hi Fi Way and I am loving it with my whole K shaped heart. I think Miss Soft Crab should do Friday Favourites: You Am I one day. You Am I rules OK!

Have two coffees
That's how you have a Terrific Tuesday after all.

Get lots of work done so I can have a guilt-free day off tomorrow
As you guys know, I work a niner. That means I squish ten days of work in to nine so I can have one day off a fortnight. Sometimes I feel bad taking the day off because I have the work ethic of a protestant but the guilt of a catholic. But not this week. No sirree. I am going to get heaps done today and just have a wonderful time tomorrow. Try and stop me, universe!*

Um...maybe get things organised so I can do my tax return?
This would make my Tuesday unbelievably terrific, but I don't think I'm ready to commit to it.

Eat leftover hedgehog (pictured above) 
This is something I can commit to so goddamned thoroughly. It was my Dad's birthday on the weekend and that man loves hedgehog like the desert loves the rain. I made him a batch as a special little treat, and quelle horreur! it wouldn't all fit in my tupperware container so I had to keep some for myself and I have to keep eating it. Yeah I do.

You guys should have a terrific Tuesday too if you can. Go for it, you guys.


*Please don't try universe, you will succeed. You are the boss of me. 

Hey! Where'd that mood come from? (PM)

There's something pretty hateful about that Kughesy and Hate poster. I catch a glimpse of it when I'm on the tram and it badly makes me want to look away. The jarring red background (I think it's red). The way they are angled towards the camera like newsreaders (I think that's what they're doing, I try to avoid looking at it so I can't be sure). The handfuls of cash they are holding (this much is clear). Without reading it or properly looking at it, I can tell they want me to listen to their radio show so I can potentially win lots of cash. It doesn't make me angry, it just makes me think:
No.

On a positive note, this is a picture I took looking down from my balcony in to my front yard. That's the cat from next door, with whom I have been trying to develop a relationship for months. Here it is eating the whiskettes I left out for it.

I think we really turned a corner. So my mood is pretty good I guess.

Hey! Where'd that mood come from? (AM)

Yesterday I was horrified to find out that even though I felt perfectly happy and had a really nice day, I must have been in a secret bad mood. It all started when I saw a car with a bumper sticker that said 'FLUORIDE there's poison in your water'. There was a picture of a drop with a skull in it. Usually that would make me think 'HAHAHA. Idiot,' but instead I thought 'UGH! IDIOT!' Then when LB pointed out the driver was smoking a cigarette I thought, 'OMG YOU EFFING IDIOT I'M PRETTY SURE THAT EFFING CIGARETTE IS FULL OF EFFING POISONS!!!!'

Later I saw a billboard advertising a radio show. Let’s call it 'Kughesy and Hate'. In it, as in every photo ever taken of her, Hate has really bad hair and I thought 'OMG Hate, didn't you have a stylist for that giant billboard photo shoot! GET A REAL HAIR STYLE'. Then I thought 'Gee, why am I so angry?!’

And later, when Blogger wouldn’t let me write my post, there was this:

Obviously I'm referring to the second message only. I'm clearly delighted in the first one.

I guess I was just really tired from lying on the beach in the sun all day.

Pickle is back! (PM)

YEAH! Pickle is back! And what better way to celebrate than with some pickles?! What a great night. The food! The laffs! The delicious complimentary gum they give you at the end of a meal at Rumi.


It's true, there was one dish K did not mention that I loved. It was a pilaf. Rice with dill and broad beans.

It was so damn good. The dill I guess. It's my heritage. I also loved the zucchini dish but for me that was all about the chickpeas, chilli oil and crispy pita chips. The zucchini was kind of redundant if you ask me.

Oh and although at the end of the meal we all said, 'We are so full, we aren't getting dessert.' We got this:



A trio of ice-cream served on a bed of seeds. Pistachio, chocolate halva and cinnamon. Does the phrase 'fucking yum' mean anything to you? These were so creamy and flavourful and delicious. And if you ever thought that coriander seeds and cumin seeds did not belong on a plate of ice-cream, um you were soooooo wrong!


Anyway, it was so great seeing Nikki and I am looking forward to spending the weekend with her and then the rest of our lives. You know, not every day, but regularly for the rest of our lives.

Pickle is back! (AM)

Yesterday, one of Miss Soft Crab's favourite daughters, Pickle, returned to us from England where she had been living for 18 months or so. 

We went to Rumi to celebrate. Me, Legsley, J and Pickle - (back) together at last.  

The first highlight came early in the evening, when we watched as Pickle walked straight past the restaurant because even though she knew it was at Rumi, her brain interpreted this as Bar Idda. 

It had a been a long flight, apparently with a lot of turbulence. 

Legsley ran down the street to get her and brought her back. 

We laid a lot of questions on her as soon as she sat down, but you know how it is when you've just returned from overseas. It's hard to summarise the experience, however much people might want you to.  And there is always so much other stuff to talk about. Who's pregnant (pretty much everyone), who's doing what, where everyone is living, things we've eaten lately. Before you know it, it's the end of the night. Anyway, it was so great to see Pickle. She looked great, and it was great to see her.  

It was also great to see the actual pickles we ordered. And all the other things. Lets go through it, shall we?

Ok, pickled vegetables and giant olives as big as your thumb (if you have a small thumb). You can imagine how long they lasted. The only thing that preserved their lives was the arrival of these school prawns. 

I was going to say that the only time I stopped talking about myself all night was when these babies arrived but no, I'm pretty sure I kept talking while I ate most of them. 

Next, a curly haloumi salad. No really, that's what it was called.

Utterly delicious. Those mint leaves and that pickled onion can get down with my curly haloumi any time they want. 

Here we have zucchini with chickpeas and almonds and a yoghurty sauce, as you can see.

This was my favourite dish. Hands down. 

Here are all the things on a table with pitta. 

There's one other dish we had (before dessert) which I haven't mentioned because J loved it so much, I think she may want to talk about it herself. 

Over to you, Mate.