Joe Blubaugh’s Blog
Because the city of Milwaukee has decided that extension cords are too much of a fire hazard to trust an adult with them in an apartment building, and because my landlord has grievously failed to install more than a single outlet in my entire room, I have to take everything down - refrigerator, microwave, computer, lamp. I’m thinking that the alarm clock and the fan are the two most currently necessary appliances. Someone get me an electrician!
There’s nothing quite like hearing a 42-year old computer consultant say ‘w00t.’
Someone just told me “That’s bridge under the water.” I work with rhetorically stunted illiterates.
If you ever, ever see Paul Bocuse In Your Kitchen anywhere, you must, must buy it! It’s a compendium of simple classics from the master of fancy French food. Stuff you can make at home easily with a basic but decently-equipped kitchen. I borrowed Kat’s copy, and I’m going to need to go to the library and photocopy a lot before she comes back up here. There’s a recipe in there called Tomate Provencal that is just the most basic delicious idea I never thought of. I added a green pepper to the recipe, and I love it:
Baked Vegetable Dinner:
Preheat oven to 450 F (240 C) Chop the tomato and pepper in half. Place them in a baking dish with the tomato cut side up and the pepper cut side down. Sprinkle the basil and garlic atop. Pepper the veggies lightly. Drizzle with olive oil and place in oven. Cook for 25 minutes.
So good!
It is the most glaring of my yuppie tendencies, but sailing is, at every moment, my favorite outdoor activity. I raced today on a coworker’s boat. It’s a 39-foot CM 1200, and that thing can cook. It was wild out on the water today - there was a major collision at the start line, a squall that we sailed straight through without loosing a sail (nearly going over at one point), and a million dollar racing ship to square off with. The crew were all tremendously friendly people, and I got an invitation to keep sailing with them all summer long. I’ve always been impressed by how hospitable the sailing crowd is, and today sealed the deal. I’m glad I’ll be able to keep doing this. I must settle somewhere with open water.
I’m heading down to Valparaiso this weekend to check out Kat’s environs and enjoy what will hopefully be some beautiful Memorial Day weather. Scattered thunderstorms, we’ll see.
Ten from the iPod:
So it’s done. Goodbye Veronica. I’ll miss the entertainment value, the highly improbably rich-poor dynamic, and the dialog that delightfully treaded the line between Gilmore Girls absurd and One Tree Hill banal.
I won’t miss this season, though. Weevil has just turned into one giant charity case when he could have been a great story about a guy trying to live clean. Mac and Wallace are barely there. Veronica can’t carry a show on her own, and Logan is so moon-eyed and mopey that I could care less what happens to him.
The biggest problem with VM season 3 has always been that college is just not as good a setting as high school. The show had to spend too much time introducing relationships between characters to get a good mystery going. Then, the characters would disappear for a while. College is too big for a show that tries to have a continuing plot line like VM, and the experience is so varied that you can’t appeal to a stereotypical experience the same way as in high school.
VM relied on the stereotypes, twisting them slightly and making them more fun. They failed that every time they tried it in college, with sorority girls, frat boys, and feminists. The two-episode shadow organization from tonight’s episode is a prime example of the problem. There’s no archetype, no history to draw on. Still, it almost managed to pull me in because the writers finally hit a plot that resonates: Wallace willingness to sacrifice his own luxury for his morality and his friends. Unfortunately, they discarded it far too quickly in favor of another go-round with the Kanes.
Bonus points to tonight’s episode for the Neko Case.
Kat came up to visit me in my new Milwaukee place this weekend. She got to my place before me, due to some sort of mysterious traffic attack. We were both greeted to an apartment building with no electricity. It’s a good thing that it’s summery, so we were able to spend time walking around outside and going places, neutralizing the effect of the outage.
I’m even more enthralled with my neighborhood now - I can walk to everything that I would need or want in an environment. There are parks, shops, restaurants, bars, theaters, and a hospital, so I’m covered for just about anything, including bike repair.
I eventually got fed up with the power outage, since all the other buildings on the block were lit up and we were sitting around in the dark. I called the power company, and they told me that the service was turned off. They couldn’t say why, since I didn’t own the place, but I finally got through to my landlord (five hours after the first message that I left him) and he did whatever it was he had to do to get the power back.
Yesterday I was talking with a girl who lives in my building and found out that the power bill had been delinquent for something on the order of months (!!) and that our property was listed as a commercial entity for some reason. It is illegal in Wisconsin to cut the power to a residence without some kind of court proceeding, but not for businesses. I’m ready to go toe-to-toe with my Aunt Sue about bad landlords now. I haven’t had to get a restraining order against mine like she did, but I think I’m pulling ahead in the irresponsibility department. I’ve had a landlord fall through my ceiling, leave my roof half-finished, and fail to pay the power bill now. Top it.
It’s been fantastic having Kat here for the weekend. I’ve had a great time showing here all the reasons I like living in Milwaukee. There’s something great about watching someone else discover something you love and love it, too.
