the difference.

I continue to be conflicted about not trying out for the Charm City Roller Girls. On one hand, I love the idea. The comraderie. The (most likely) fascinating social circle. Plus, I may not have the semi-required sleeves of tatoos, but I do currently have the multicolored hair for it.

On the other hand, I've already broken my nose once, and I think the second time around's results won't be as benevolent.

I can ponder this more at this season's opener. How can you not be entranced by that flyer? Well played.

the isabella stewart gardner museum.

the museum of stones

This is your museum of stones, assembled in matchbox and tin,
collected from roadside, culvert, and viaduct,
battlefield, threshing floor, basilica, abattoir,
stones loosened by tanks in the streets
of a city whose earliest map was drawn in ink on linen,
schoolyard stones in the hand of a corpse,
pebble from Apollinaire's oui,
stone of the mind within us
carried from one silence to another,
stone of cromlech and cairn, schist and shale, hornblende,
agate, marble, millstones, and ruins of choirs and churchyards,
chalk, marl, and mudstone from temples and tombs,
stone from the silvery grass near the scaffold,
stone from the tunnel lined with bones,
lava of the city's entombment,
chipped from lighthouse, cell wall, scriptorium,
paving stones from the hands of those who rose against the army,
stones where the bells had fallen, where the bridges were blown,
those that had flown through windows and weighted petitions,
feldspar, rose quartz, slate, blueschrist, gneiss, and chert,
fragments of an abbey at dusk, sandstone toe
of a Buddha mortared at Bamiyan,
stone from the hill of three crosses and a crypt,
from a chimney where storks cried like human children,
stones newly fallen from stars, a stillness of stones, a heart,
altar and boundary stone, marker and vessel, first cast, lode, and hail,
bridge stone and others to pave and shut up with,
stone apple, stone basil, beech, berry, stone brake,
stone bramble, stone fern, lichen, liverwort, pippin, and root,
concretion of the body, as blind as cold as deaf,
all earth a quarry, all life a labor, stone-faced, stone drunk
with hope that this assemblage, taken together, would become
a shrine or holy place, an ossuary, immovable and sacred,
like the stone that marked the path of the sun as it entered the human dawn.

-Carolyn Forche

politics and pipettes

Indeed.

As Noel put it, it's like the bitch-ifying slime running under New York City in Ghostbusters. Things have just been uncomfortably off. And I can only hope the worst has passed.

the joys of research

Unexpected findings, such as rats....giggling.



Thanks, CuteOverload.

for mah peeps

You have to see this. Be sure to click on the slide show.

sympathy for the tummy

I am no restaurant critic. The pleasure of food defies a pinpointing description far too often for me. Frank Bruni can sleep at night, I'm not after his day job.

At the same time, I can't deny the small triumph of a dish that transcends mere sustenance to become, perhaps, the highlight of the evening. And the small satisfaction that comes from your lucky guess as to what might be the best thing on the menu.

So, here are some of my very favorite items, from some of the places I'm happy to frequent.

Some are places you suffer through abominable service to get to the food (Mezze, Taste). Others are spots where the atmosphere is part of the fun (Henninger's, Golden West, Pazo). And still others you likely don't notice anything, except the Ode to Joy your tastebuds are singing.

But all are dishes I adore.

Akbar - tamarind chicken, lamb pasanda
Attman's - rare roast beef
Blue Moon - cinnamon bun and eggs Benny
Bob's Noodle 66 - oyster pancake
Brewer's Art - rosemary garlic fries
Charles Theatre - the classic combination of popcorn and Junior Mints
Dipasquales - tuna diavolo
Dangerously Delicious - cherry pie (mixed berry running a close second)
Dukem - kitfo and lamb wot
Five Guys - little cheeseburger
Golden West Cafe - whole wheat blackberry pancakes, and Rose's cake (n.b. - the version with chocolate cake & mocha icing. An important distinction.)
Henningers - pan fried oysters with Pernod sauce
Helmand - kaddo borwani and kabouli
Jack's Bistro - smoked gouda grits
La Cazuela - plantains...in all their glory
Mama's on the Half Shell - raw oyster selection and diver scallops
Mezze - grilled mushroom
Nacho Mama's - ribs (best delivery in the [relative] 'hood)
Pazo - fish with pomegranite sauce
Petit Louis - cheese plate, but everything here is good
Salt - pecan-crusted venison with cherry foie gras spaetzle and ginger butter brussel sprouts
Samos - souvlaki
Sotto Sopra - lamb with gorgonzola risotto (a special- if you see it, order it)
Sushi Sono - rolls - some of the absolute best sushi I've ever had.
Tapas Teatro - the olive and cornichon amuse bouche
Taste - grilled Caesar
Teavolve - bubble tea
Thai Arroy - tom yum
Tio Pepe - sole with hollandaise



Feel free to comment...I'd like to hears others' suggestions or opinions.

March 2007 - the books.

Baltimore Noir, L. Lippman (ed.) *
Fierce People, D. Wittenborn (surprising - a dark horse *)
The Memory Palace of Isabella Stewart Gardner, P. Vigderman *
Never Let Me Go, K. Ishiguro *
Speaking With The Angel, N. Hornby (ed.) *
The Dante Club, M. Pearl
Snow Flower And The Secret Fan, L. See
The Shadow Of The Wind, C.R. Zafon *
The Lake of Dead Languages, C. Goodman
Possession, A. S. Byatt *

I've starred the ones I particularly enjoyed.