a pensacola mardi gras

Went to Pensacola over the weekend to celebrate Mardi Gras and to run a 5K with my friend Jennifer. Here are some quick pictures from the longest parade I've ever been to--we left after 2 hours, but I heard that it continued for almost 4. Laissez les bon temps roulette!!

**okay, I used photobucket and my pictures are all cut off. I'll reload them, one by one, tonight. I think if you click on the pics you can see the whole, if not just be patient. Darn size restrictions....**

King of the Sea

These were big dolphins!

Car full o' Britneys

Live band playing on a moving float

This tree was better at catching beads than I was--better assets??

I was impressed by the mermaids--it was not THAT warm out!

Pirates were a big theme

Do you see the Mario Bros?

Here's one mid-catch!

Happy Mardi Gras!

partly cloudy, 48 degrees

I've been at conferences, different campuses, and in general work upheaval for the past week, hence no posting.

Today, I had time for a lunchtime walk. It's not t-shirt weather yet, but getting closer. Usually February is the last cold month in Georgia--and even then, it's not that cold. Here are the sights of Midtown Atlanta.

The ongoing drought has caused festivals to be moved, parks to look brown and fountains to run dry.


sun


no mud on my shoe


tall.


there's still room for more.


and back to work now.

Oddly good Coconut Sweet Potato Curry Soup

Sounds like something you make when you empty out your cabinet, eh? This recipe is courtesy of the folks over at Post Punk Kitchen--if you haven't checked out their recipes, give them a gander. Good vegan food with lots of comments and suggestions, which is how I like my recipe sites.

First you bake some sweet potatoes and peel them. Cut into 1 inch (or smaller) chunks.

Meanwhile, get your broth going with some onion and ginger cooking down, add curry paste.  (Okay--here's where I made a known error.  This should probably have thai flavors, right?  Well, I'm down to the end of my Indian curry paste...so I just used that instead.  Then added some extra crushed pepper and garlic.  Probably destroyed the integrity of the dish, but this is a clean-out-your cupboard dish anyways....right?)

Add coconut milk and bring to boil, reduce and simmer for 5 minutes.

Then add the sweet potato. Hmm...it just looks too orange for me. And chunky. I don't like big chunks.

Not a problem! Broke out the ever handy food processor and reduced the chunks considerably.

For color?  Threw some spinach in a pan and wilted it to add to the soup as well. I'm like popeye when it comes to spinach.

After the excitement of pureeing and wilting, there was nothing left to do but add some lemon juice, divvy into lunch tupperware, and drizzle with the sesame oil pictured above.  Here's hoping for some good end-of-the-week lunches!

Verdict: Surprisingly good.  Spicy and sweet and sour--the lemon juice adds an unexpected twist.  I tasted it pre-lemon juice and was concerned with how "blah" it tasted--but that sourness won me over.  We'll see how it tastes tomorrow--which is the true test of blended flavors.  To truly do the recipe justice, I'll try it again with thai curry paste before making the final call on whether or not this goes into regular rotation.

snowing in Georgia

Now, if you're from the North, this is going to seem a bit pitiful and silly--but in Atlanta, people go absolutely nuts if it snows. And if it snows and sticks to the ground? Go to the grocery store and buy everything on the shelves--we'll be stuck here forever!!!

So here is a picture of the miracle of snow last night, taken at 10 pm outside of our buddy's loft.


It melted by this morning, but last night was wild. Tavo picked me up from work and instead of fighting the midtown traffic, we ate...pizza (can you tell this is our favorite food?) at Rocky Mountain Pizza which is right by the Georgia Tech campus. (I really have no idea why a pizza place in midtown Atlanta is called Rocky Mtn Pizza) One of the redeeming features of this place is their extremely reasonably priced pitchers--$7 for a full pitcher of Harp:


and $9 for a pitcher of Sweetwater 420.


We couldn't decide which one to choose, so we had a pitcher of each--definitely a place to return to!

fun with photobooth

I think we are very hot as comic book characters.

just pictures

I don't know what to write today, so I'm just going to post some pictures--the highlights of 2007--January - June.

JUNE--our former roommate, Darryn, putting up the rope swing. At midnight. After a few beers.


Tavo swinging over the bonfire--those are ashes in the air.


Darryn swinging over the fence into the neighbor's yard


Not from the roof!!!


Lini's paintings for the bunny show


MAY--Going to New Orleans over Memorial Day weekend--and sleeping in the car. Don't worry, we practice good hygiene regardless.


French Quarter


Hurricane aftermath...we drove all through the eastern side of New Orleans and along the gulf coast--Biloxi was totaled. Still. Two years later and it just blows my mind.


APRIL--Not sure if this picture was taken in April--but this is definitely one of Tavo's favorite activities--mudding in rural Georgia. Or in not-so-rural Georgia. Sometimes the park down the street will do...


MARCH--Tavo and Kate on top of Chicago! Amazing 75 degree weather in early spring.


interesting ad campaign...


Lini got in trouble for touching the plane


FEBRUARY--meeting up with friend Zak and going to the Brick Store Pub in Decatur--always smart to take the train instead of driving. You can see that the beer had addled my sitting abilities...


and Tavo's


No trip is complete without a midnight stroll past the Beauty Spot. With balloons.


NEW YEAR'S EVE 2006--St. Petersburg, Florida--before drinking a few "Call a Cabs"


-Lini

WE DID IT!!! ---- BRASIL!!!!!

Hey all, well before we get to the big news... When I got home I was greeted by my Lini and my buddy Joe having beers on the porch. Joe had great news, the Go-kart I had recently purchased had actually started. So he fired it up for me and I did a quick tour around the neighborhood and encountered some mud.


Figures, eh? We are at record lows on our water supply in Atlanta, but I somehow find a puddle.

I park the whippo and Lini has finished a slamming pizza with breakfast sausage on it. SLAMMINGLY delicious! As always.

BUT, now the real news, Lini and I have kicked the idea of going to Brasil back and forth for a minute. Finally, as we couldn't sleep and had a million things to talk about at midnight on a monday we decided to get online and purchase the tix!!!!!

This is my "I'm a few grand light on my AMEX"face

Lini with all the study material we need to get in our brains.


So, there you go. That is where we will spend Lini's 30th, doing the samba and trying capoeira.
YEAH!!!!