Saturday, November 08, 2003
I normally wouldn't write about this, but I have to say something to someone outside of this apartment (I'm thinking of starting to call it a flat, we'll see how it goes). This apartment - flat - by the way which is really beginning to take shape. I'd say we're close to 80% moved-in and wow does it make a difference. We still need to get a ground telephone line. International calls with the family are not that clear. Jen and I were cut-off after basically saying that the connection stinks. That is something that will make a difference. It would be nice talk with everyone at least once a week and to do so with a clear connection. It'll happen, but it just takes time.
The conversation Jen and I had reminded me of the conversation I had with Kelly during the blackout. I had been trying him for maybe 10 minutes straight, which is a lot of dials when you stop to think about it and finally I got through. We were so excited that we our phones actually worked we spent the entire conversation revelling in it and after 10 seconds of self-congratulations the phones went dead and we weren't able to speak to each other again until power came back on. This wound up being a very good thing considering he was telling me not to walk back to Brooklyn, but to simply take the ferry to Jersey. My journey home was a measley 4 hours and I was home and showered (thank God I still had running water) by 8:30; whereas Kelly wasn't home until midnight thanks to the hordes of people crowding the ferry and the fact that he was dropped off miles from home. Lesson here folks, skip the shit and get right down to it.
So, the news is this: we have had two of the best dinners I've had in a long time these past two days (Friday and Sat.). Last night we pan-fried two nicely sized pieces of a fish similar to flounder, but tastier and more fluffy. Karoliina simply covered them in flour and cooked with a little butter and oil, salt pepper and lemon, which she cut into small slivers and cooked with the fish.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the kitchen (and after 3 years of a kitchenette it is nice to be able to say that) I was preparing a mozzerella, tomato and basil salad. Granted the cheese was dramatically better in Brooklyn - it was so fresh at the Italian store, sometimes less than an hour old and it milk would gush from it when it was cut into, damn that was some good cheese - but we make do with what we got. We topped it off with a nice bottle of wine (our Alko has a decent selection of very affordable wines), a very unique Spanish fruit which was a looked like a tomato and tasted like candy and a kick-ass pasrty that I wish we had more than one of. Wow I ended that sentance poorly and I'm not sure if I spelled sentence right, sentance?
And tonight we tried our hand in Asian soups. We were really missing the wonton soup we could get at Red Hot on 7th Ave and 10th St, so we decided to make our own. Immediately we experienced setback, noodles, there were no fresh noodles and we couldn't spend all day making the wonton so we put some farfalle in instead and just made meatballs. We made the meatballs with ginger, soy, cornmeal, shallots, pork/beef and minced shrimp. We cooked them halfway and placed them in a simmering pot of stock and then added the half cooked pasta with leeks, cabbage and some red pepper and mustard to taste. Those of you who have had this mustard know what I'm talking about.
We were wanting to go see Kill Bill tonight, but work got in the way so we will see it sometime this week. Tomorrow we're meeting with Lasse, a director of the film commission here. We're hoping to convince him to give me a job sometime in the near future, but we will see. On Monday I'm meeting with a director of adult education. I will be teaching some classes next year on indie-filmmaking, which should be fun and challenging.
Oh, for some reason I cannot spell check when I am working on K's Mac, but I can when I'm on a PC, so please excuse the errors, I will correct them soon enough.
It's getting late here and I've been giving thought to waking up sometime in the night and game-casting the Longhorns, but that could be slightly ridiculous. I think I'll turn in for the night. So long. hb
The conversation Jen and I had reminded me of the conversation I had with Kelly during the blackout. I had been trying him for maybe 10 minutes straight, which is a lot of dials when you stop to think about it and finally I got through. We were so excited that we our phones actually worked we spent the entire conversation revelling in it and after 10 seconds of self-congratulations the phones went dead and we weren't able to speak to each other again until power came back on. This wound up being a very good thing considering he was telling me not to walk back to Brooklyn, but to simply take the ferry to Jersey. My journey home was a measley 4 hours and I was home and showered (thank God I still had running water) by 8:30; whereas Kelly wasn't home until midnight thanks to the hordes of people crowding the ferry and the fact that he was dropped off miles from home. Lesson here folks, skip the shit and get right down to it.
So, the news is this: we have had two of the best dinners I've had in a long time these past two days (Friday and Sat.). Last night we pan-fried two nicely sized pieces of a fish similar to flounder, but tastier and more fluffy. Karoliina simply covered them in flour and cooked with a little butter and oil, salt pepper and lemon, which she cut into small slivers and cooked with the fish.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the kitchen (and after 3 years of a kitchenette it is nice to be able to say that) I was preparing a mozzerella, tomato and basil salad. Granted the cheese was dramatically better in Brooklyn - it was so fresh at the Italian store, sometimes less than an hour old and it milk would gush from it when it was cut into, damn that was some good cheese - but we make do with what we got. We topped it off with a nice bottle of wine (our Alko has a decent selection of very affordable wines), a very unique Spanish fruit which was a looked like a tomato and tasted like candy and a kick-ass pasrty that I wish we had more than one of. Wow I ended that sentance poorly and I'm not sure if I spelled sentence right, sentance?
And tonight we tried our hand in Asian soups. We were really missing the wonton soup we could get at Red Hot on 7th Ave and 10th St, so we decided to make our own. Immediately we experienced setback, noodles, there were no fresh noodles and we couldn't spend all day making the wonton so we put some farfalle in instead and just made meatballs. We made the meatballs with ginger, soy, cornmeal, shallots, pork/beef and minced shrimp. We cooked them halfway and placed them in a simmering pot of stock and then added the half cooked pasta with leeks, cabbage and some red pepper and mustard to taste. Those of you who have had this mustard know what I'm talking about.
We were wanting to go see Kill Bill tonight, but work got in the way so we will see it sometime this week. Tomorrow we're meeting with Lasse, a director of the film commission here. We're hoping to convince him to give me a job sometime in the near future, but we will see. On Monday I'm meeting with a director of adult education. I will be teaching some classes next year on indie-filmmaking, which should be fun and challenging.
Oh, for some reason I cannot spell check when I am working on K's Mac, but I can when I'm on a PC, so please excuse the errors, I will correct them soon enough.
It's getting late here and I've been giving thought to waking up sometime in the night and game-casting the Longhorns, but that could be slightly ridiculous. I think I'll turn in for the night. So long. hb
// posted by Howard @ 11:45 PM 
