What I Learned This Week: #114

Monday, August 5 – Sunday, August 11

The Week in Taking a Week Off: Last week ended on a Four-Day-Lake-Trip weekend, and I could not bring myself to the computer. This blog is an exercise in getting to the computer every week and writing 500-1000 words. It’s not an Iron man stamina competition. I skipped 7/29 – 8/4. It was a stellar, though unrecorded week!! So…What happened this week? Let’s see.

The Week in Smelling the Roses: Walking to my car Tuesday morning I came upon a man on the sidewalk who was wearing a black dress and a pink sweater. He was literally stopped and smelling the roses at the entrance to Ziegler Park while smoking a cigarette and drinking a cup of coffee. He said: “I had a Doctor named Ziegler one…he was sexy as hell, but he didn’t like me much. I didn’t like him much either.” What a great urban way to start the day.

The Week in Mason: Mason is the northern most suburb of Cincinnati, and as a Downtowner, the southern most Cincinnati neighborhood (27 miles away!!!), I don’t often have a need to go to Mason. This week I had three separate occasions on three separate days and by the third outing I was desperate to not have to go back to Mason for a long, long time. On one of the nights I met up with some out of town friends who were passing through town. After they got their local Skyline fix, I tried to find a locally owned place on Fields Ertel Road (One of Mason’s main arteries). I couldn’t. Best I could do was a locally made beer at the National steakhouse chain Longhorn. It may me a little sad.

But Seriously, The Week in Holding People Close: What I’m saying though, is even though I had a super long drive back home instead of just walking home like I normally do, in the end it was worth to see some friends I hadn’t seen in while. Relationships are hard work!

The Week in Lo Mein Confusion: Lo Mein is a noodle dish. That’s the Mein in Lo Mein. It always cracks me up to get rice with cheap Chinese restaurant lunch specials. It’s like American’s feel ripped off if they didn’t get the rice that comes with a lunch special. Win Wok in Kenwood took Lo Mein and rice a step further by filling half my to-go container with Lo Mein and the other half with rice. I don’t have a picture of that carb fest, but I do have a picture of their fabulous, deep quote painted on the wall behind the cash register.

I remember you do not miss — It’s like something you say to someone who is pointing a gun at you

The Week in Cooking – Part 1 A Clean Apartment: After a couple of very busy weeks including a road trip, I spent a couple hours getting domestic and putting my apartment back in order, from the laundry, to the kitchen, to general tidying up. And, in burst of energy, I even mopped the floor. Really, a satisfying and productive afternoon. But then my house smelled like cleaning products. I like my house to smell like I’ve been cooking. So…

The Week in Cooking – Part 2 The Answer to That Clean Fresh Smell: To destroy the smell of Pine-Sol, I went on a long cooking bender. And, fair to say, after not participating in my regular Sunday meal prep for the last couple weeks, I had a pent up need to produce food. I stayed mostly vegetarian attempting to buy as much as possible from farmer’s at Findlay Market. I made a zucchini frittata with a potato crust, a kale/bacon/fontina/bleu cheese pizza, and some banana bread to keep my co-workers on my side. I also made a shrimp and green bean salad with a basil vinaigrette that gets served over corn bread. The house smells like a restaurant, just the way I like it.