Laurie says

I got an email from my sister recently (forenamed in the title) and she had an interesting, if not oft overstated, comment:

hey chris,

i guess it's been about 2ish months so i figured i should say hello. i know what you've been up to since i've gotten your emails and read your blog. your new cooking fetish btw is just another stop along chris' obbsession train. recent trips have been made to guitarland, movie-makingville, and techno music town. i don't know i couldn't thinking of anything cute for technomusic making. anyway, i can't help but wonder what your new thing will be.

She's right, you know. I do make trips to those various 'villes, but only once a piece, and I usually never return to those places again. Now people who know me know this is true--it's the just a thing that I do. I could go on to list all of the places I've been, but I don't think that I will. I'll just give a quick sampling, though:

Pets:
Dogs
Birds
Cats
Rabbits
Skateboards
X-Men (huge one, with subcategories)
Board Games
Juggling (again, subcategories (oh man I rock the devil sticks))
Electronic music
Guitar
Video Production
Murder
The novels of Stephen King
Gardening, if only for a week or two
Nintendo

I'm sure there are more. Feel free to remind me of anything I forgot (Charlie). Have a nice day.

In Other News

Another random celebrity sighting for today. This one is pretty obscure, but if I have a talent, then I have a talent for two things: obscure celebrity identification, and Connect 4. Anyway, the actor's name is Cillian Murphy--you may know him as the main character from the horror film 28 Days Later, a zombie movie where the zombies run, instead of just walk slowly.

Anyway, the same actor will star in the upcoming Batman flick as the Scarecrow. Like a lot of people's reactions to celebrity sightings, I thought he was was shorter than the screen makes him out to be.

Not much other news. Rome in a few days. That should be fun. I'll let you know how it goes. Until then, you all can begin sitting on the edge of your seats...now.

Out.

Easter

Today is Easter.

Happy Easter.

Went to mass, then came back and had the best meal of the semester.

We had:

Stir-fried sauteed vegetables
Salad (3 types of dressing)
Homemade wheat rolls
Mashed potatoes
Homemade apple sauce
Rosemary and garlic injected pork roast
Gravy
Wine

I didn't put the stuffed lamb medallions on the list, because they sucked. Bad buy on my part.

But, everything else was last meal death row worthy. Seriously. I made the rolls and the mashed potatoes (dad would have been proud of the spuds) and my good friends Emily and Jess made the vegetables and the pork roast, which was just frickin' great. Also, yesterday, Emily made the apple sauce, which tasted like the inside of an apple pie, except better.

I had that good, time-to-unbuckle-the-belt feeling afterwards, and usually I only get that on Thanksgiving and Christmas (and I would never imagine that I could get that feeling in London, where a McD Quarter Pounder is so in name only--and yes, I've factored in the knowledge that it's pre-cooked weight--they're just smaller here).

Next week I go to Rome, and then I come back for my London Theatre tour. Should be an alright time.

If you're reading this and I wouldn't otherwise hear from you, let me know what's up--send an email or something.

Bye.

In Other News

A few things:

1. I made bread yesterday. Gonna do it again tomorrow. It turned out pretty well; I got crafty: it was sunflower parmesan, plus, I braided it.

2. The Harvard Hat died. The button that holds the strap across the back of the hat fell apart. I think I'm going to order another one from the Harvard website. It has to have an H on the front and nothing else to identify it as Harvard. It might be maroon this time. Or crimson, that is.

3. Highlander: a movie about a Scottish guy, played by a French guy, who has a friend that's an Egyptian guy, played by a Scottish guy.

The opposite of hello

Where do you think you are? I don't know, the Library of Congress? Detroit? Beyond the sun?

The sad thing about getting "bomblasted" (copyright Rich Pasiewicz) is that, for all the fun you have at the time, you never remember it afterwards. Here is a random sampling of conversations from "the day after":

"Dude, you were sooo wasted last night!"

"Dude, I think I was so wasted last night!"

"Damn it, and I really liked that shirt."

"We have some crazy videos of you, man."

"I use alcohol to drown my sorrows and hide from my lack of self respect."

"I'm sorry, man, I'll buy you a new one."

"I woke up this morning wearing Kevin McCabe's clothes. Why?"

We had a little flat bonding last night: a rousing game of quarters, which basically involves playing a game that I am no good at, and thereby getting me wrecked. But hey, everyone had a good time, and I can't say I didn't. Also, I got a job last night--I will be working downtown at a fund of funds, which is a hedge fund, which is a way for people to invest their money. So I dodge the "uh oh no job this summer, have to deal at the playground" bullet once again.

On another note, Big Daddy was a pretty funny movie.

You call that a knife? This is a knife.

So I am big fan of cooking food. Real big fan. Last night, I went out to dinner, but decided to cook a desert. And what better desert to make than chocolate fudge cake? They didn't have fudge though, so I settled for Bananas Foster. Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:
- 4 or 5 bananas, peeled, cut lengthwise and then cut in half
- A handful of brown sugar
- 5 big tablespoons of butter
- Enough cinnammon to taste
- Vanilla ice cream
- 1 bottle of rum
- Fire
- Vengeance (because I don't put Love in my food)

Heat the butter in a skillet until it's melted, then mix in the cinnammon and brown sugar until they melt as well. Add the bananas and cook for a minute or two, making sure to cover them in the syrup. Next, add the Vengeance by stirring the bananas, all the while thinking of those who have wronged you. Finally, add about 60 ml of rum. Drink the rest of the bottle. Take your lighter, or matches, or flamethrower, and light the rum once you have taken the skillet off of the heat. It will flame out. Eventually. Then once it does, quickly serve over vanilla ice cream. The bananas will leave a sweet taste in your mouth, but the Vengeance adds just the right amount of bitter.

Also, I hung out with Richie Brennan, who is a friend from the good 'ol days at Loyola (high school). He is studying here too, but at Regent's College, which is just a 10 minute walk north of me. To anyone who remembers, remember this?

"Playtime's over!"

Oh man, I love you Richie.

Hate out (instead of peace out...sorry, I had leftover Vengenace...)

We're moving workshops

So I am currently in a class at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, which was reconstructed in 1997. Yesterday, we did a little bit 'o acting on the stage--Act 1, scene 7 of Macbeth. "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition with o'erleaps itself and falls on the other." I just acted that out as I typed it, because I'm good like that. As I did my part, people who were taking tours of the place were taking pictures of me, but I don't care, because whatever; it's no big thing. To be expected even.

The week prior, our instructor told us that next week, to quote, "We're moving workshops." We didn't quite understand what that meant, so on our walk from St. Paul's Cathedral to the Globe, we debated this sentence. Was it some sort of metaphysical, philosophical statement? Like it's a response to the question, "Who are we?" We're moving workshops, not just single actors. Or maybe he meant he was going to get some physical labor out of us: We're moving workshops. Bring your heavy lifting belts. Or maybe he was answering our question as to what we'd be doing the following week, and that minor earthquake that struck as he was answering caused him to say, "We're moving" and then he regained compusure so as to answer the question, "workshops." I guess we'll never know.

Bye

What is this?

TTTTTTIIIIIIIMMMMMMEEEEEE
ABDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Tell me what this means.

Walsingham

Just got back from Walsingham, which is referred to as "England's Nazareth." The town is replete with history; absolutely oozing with it. Mary appeared to a woman there in the very early part of the last millenium, and barring a little run-in with Henry VIII, the town has prospered in its own small way from a steady inflow of pilgrims to the holy shrine there. I went on a "pilgrammage" there this weekend with 17 other ND students. We stayed in a fantastic little house/hotel, and ate like kings, or at very least earls. I had a queen sized bed. I hung my towel to dry on black tudor wood beams that jutted through a corner of the room. There were 600 year old ruins in the middle of town. I love Walsingham.

A lot of ND kids are visiting for the week. I just finished a conversation with Kathleen Ryan, the twin sister of Myfriendpatryanwhogoestoprinceton. That was fun. Otherwise, it's time to get cracking. With crack. Als0, I have to write a paper and study for a test, both due Wednesday, but the problem is that I'm seeing His Dark Materials at the National Theatre on both Monday and Tuesday nights.

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs who uses his butt to separate two rooms?

Wallace.

What do you call a girl with no arms and no legs who is obviously a man?

Amanda.

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs who has a lot of play-doh?

Clayton.

What do you call a man who greets you, then purports the existence of Capt. Solo from Star Wars?

Johannes.

What do you call a Mexican man with no arms and no legs who inquires as to your health?

Emmannuel.

Get it?

Theatre

Got tickets to see His Dark Materials, parts 1 and 2, on next Monday and Tuesday. Looking forward to it. Highly reccommend the books as well, or first and foremost. In the States, the titles are "The Golden Compass," "The Subtle Knife," and "The Amber Spyglass." Super entertaining, and super anti-religion. Those who might offended by that should probably read the Bible instead, or watch TV, or something.

I am also just about ready to commit to Rome for about four days for my second week-long break. Then I would return to London on Tuesday, and see a bunch of shows, like 5 or 10, throughout the rest of the week. That should be fun.

Not much else is up.